Chapter 4 The Girl from the Woods
The Girl from the Woods
Asterious
Awhole day had passed and all he knew was her name.
It brought the prince no further understanding of the strange young woman with eyes like blooming orchids in the moonlight who possessed the Vaerwynd signet ring.
He sat behind her, forced to keep himself distracted from the feeling of a woman’s warmth pressed against him by counting the horse’s footfalls, even as he secretly savored her scent of spices threaded with honey, and fresh rain on leaves.
He should’ve let her ride with Tyrios or Riven, but whatever connection she had to his family secrets made him want to keep her close.
He had to get her talking eventually. But for now, she could hardly keep herself in the saddle as the horses ambled onward.
He couldn't quench his growing curiosity as he focused on the curving locks of her unruly bark-brown hair, barely bound in a loose braid. She looked worn, her eyes tired and her body thin, even for someone of her smaller frame. But she was fit. Certainly not too delicate. Despite her wild look, there was still something lovely and soft about her. And he still wasn't quite sure what to make of those eyes like gleaming amethysts. Of all the Lightborn he’d killed, he’d never seen eyes like those.
His father would’ve ordered her dead on sight for them, regardless.
But she was far more useful to him alive right now.
A clue about his mother was the last thing he expected to find at the edge of the Shadow Woods, and he wasn’t going to waste it, magic or not.
They rode in silence, except for the occasional caw of a single raven circling above.
Color had returned to her skin, a stark contrast from the ghostly pallor that had consumed her when he found her.
But she still seemed far too exhausted and feeble to hold a conversation, as his earlier attempt had proven.
"She seems to be recovering." Tyrios spoke up from his left.
"What did she say her name was?" Wyran asked.
"Carmen, or something." Gariel carelessly waved a hand.
"It's Caramyn." There was a sharpness in the girl’s voice, even as she weakly corrected my soldier. "Ka-ruh-min." She enunciated each syllable through short, labored breaths.
"Caramyn,” Asterious ensured he said the name correctly, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible.
If she felt well enough to correct her name, perhaps she could answer him now.
“What you had in your possession was…is very important to me. And if you tell me where your home lies, I can take you there. First, however, I want to know how you found the ring.” He drew a breath, knowing his next sentence could come across as a subtle threat, but said it anyway. “And how much you truly know.”
Caramyn turned slightly in the saddle, cocking her head. “And if I tell you I don’t remember?”
Something sinister sparked in Asterious. Whether it was the truth or not, it wasn’t good enough. He’d already failed at what he came all this way to do. He wouldn’t let this all come to nothing. Not when it was the only hope he had left.
"Then…you have a long ride ahead of you. Because I'm not letting you go until you do.”
He felt the girl tense against him. "You’re taking me to your father? To Felhold?" She uttered, her voice frail but full of disdain.
"No."
"Then where?"
“When you answer my questions, then I’ll answer yours. But until then, you’re my captive, and I owe you no response.”
Caramyn grimaced. “How noble a prince to save the injured young maiden in the woods and then turn on her like a wolf. I suppose you really are as cruel as they say.”
Her words prodded at something deep inside him, something he’d rather not unleash.
He didn’t want it to be this way. But if she was going to think she could fool him by lying, he had all the more reason not to let her go.
She knew something. She was something. And they were each other’s problems now.
He urged his horse onward to pick up the pace. The sooner they reached the witchlands, the better.