Chapter 14
Iwoke to birds chirping cheerily in the treetops and sunlight filtering through the canopy. I reached over to Forrest, my fingers brushing against his arm as it lay across his chest. His body was warm, and his breaths were slow and even. His other arm wrapped around my shoulders, holding me close.
Judging by the height of the sun, it was already mid-morning. I pushed myself up from Forrest’s embrace, checking over the fire, which had died in the night. Nocturna and Astra were gone, likely wandering the forest, terrorizing the small creatures of this new realm.
Wrapping my arms around my legs and resting my chin on my knees, I let out a contented sigh. Beside me, Forrest stirred. I watched over my shoulder as he stretched, shaking off the vestiges of his sleep. He sat up beside me, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
I reached over and tousled his hair. “Good morning. How was your sleep?”
A large yawn escaped him as he turned to me. “It was all right, for sleeping on a forest floor …” He trailed off as he made eye contact with me. His brows furrowed in confusion.
“What is it? Do I have something on my face?” I asked as I patted my cheeks, looking for whatever had caught his attention.
He rubbed his eyes and looked at me again. “It’s your eyes. They aren’t the same colour anymore.”
“Very funny. But seriously, do I have drool or something on my face?” The pitch of my voice increased as I watched Forrest’s concerned expression remain unchanged.
“No, I’m being serious, Aurelia. Your eyes have changed colour.”
I reached over to my pack and hurriedly fished out the small mirror I had packed among my healing supplies.
Looking into the small compact was a familiar set of eyes, with only a slight difference.
My unique lavender-grey irises were now a dull, steely grey.
A subtle difference, but a change nonetheless.
My fingers gently touched my cheekbones, as if my hands were uncertain of what was staring back at me.
A twig snapped nearby, and then another. Forrest sat up, alert. I tossed my compact back into my pack and eyed the forest, my heart racing.
“Forrest,” I whispered, grabbing his leg. “I think someone’s here.”
The muted sound of boots stomping through the damp underbrush and moss carried through the clearing, drawing closer to us with every passing second.
As Forrest and I stood, the bushes ahead of us parted, and five large figures clad in silver armour, draped in luxurious emerald cloaks, stepped through, silent and imposing.
Their breastplates were all adorned with matching sigils—a golden sun setting over verdant hills, situated above azure waves.
Their large, deathly swords were drawn but not raised.
Their leader, a large fae man with hardened brown eyes and silver hair, stepped forward, bowing his head to Forrest. “Prince Sterling,” he said brusquely, rising. “By order of His Majesty King Julian, we are to return you to the Citrine Palace immediately.”
Forrest froze, his hand instinctively touching his head. “I … what?” he murmured.
The guard looked at Forrest, concerned. “Come now, Your Highness. It’s time to return you home.” He eyed me up warily.
Forrest hesitated, words escaping him completely.
I stepped in front of him to shield him. “He’s had an accident. I found him a few weeks ago, injured in the forest near my home. He appeared to have been attacked, and as a result, he has suffered some amnesia.”
The guard took several steps toward Forrest and me, a look of cold calculation now replacing the concern.
Taking a step back, closer to Forrest, I held my hand up to the guard. “Please let me finish explaining what’s happened before you make any snap judgments.”
“Proceed,” the guard ordered, gesturing at me to continue.
“Where I come from, I’m a healer. So I brought Forrest—uh, I mean, Prince Sterling back to my home to care for him.”
I didn’t think now was the time to go into every minute detail of what I had found that night—that the form I had seen Forrest in was not his present one but a fox, and that he had been tied up with what I assumed were magic-infused chains.
“And where exactly is it that you come from, healer?” the guard asked.
I hesitated for a moment, knowing that where I had come from, and subsequently where Forrest had been found, was going to complicate this discussion further. “The village I’m from is called Shadow’s Gate.”
The guard looked unimpressed at my answer. “I’ve never heard of Shadow’s Gate. Where is that?”
A lump formed in my throat, making my next words all the more difficult. “It’s a small village located in the Umbra Valley.”
A look of irritation was now present on the guard’s face, as if this small bit of information still meant nothing to him.
I took a deep breath before forcing the words out. “It’s in the human realm,” I mumbled, staring at the ground. Unexpected waves of embarrassment rolled over me at the confession.
The guard’s face remained composed. His eyes, though, betrayed his confusion and worry.
He turned to his compatriots. “Gather all their things, and bring them to the coach.” Turning back to Forrest, he gestured for him to follow. “Come, Your Highness. Let’s get you back home so the royal healer can have a look at you.”
Forrest looked between me and the guard, worry etched all over his face. “This doesn’t feel right. I … I don’t want to go.”
I reached down and squeezed Forrest’s hand in reassurance. It didn’t matter that he was technically a prince. I was not going to let him navigate this alone.
The guard pinched his nose and sighed, exasperated by the situation.
“Your Highness, you must come home. You’ve been missing for weeks.
The king and queen have been beside themselves with worry.
Please do them the courtesy of returning home so they can at least see that you are, for the most part, well. ”
Forrest’s body tensed next to me, as if he was preparing for a fight. I rubbed my thumb against his, trying to calm him down before he needlessly escalated the situation.
Forrest turned to look at me. “Aurelia will be joining me, correct?”
“Your Highness.” The formal tone slipped, making way for derision. “It would be best to venture back to the palace on our own. We wouldn’t want to cause any undue concern by your sudden change of proclivities.” The guard turned his gaze toward me.
An uneasiness settled in my chest. What did he mean by that, and what did it have to do with me?
“I am not going anywhere without Aurelia,” Forrest protested.
“I don’t understand why that would upset anyone.
She’s taken me into her home and nursed me back to health.
If I am a prince, as you claim, I would think that the kingdom would be thankful to her for her hard work.
Without Aurelia, I would have bled out and died in some unknown forest, in another realm, no less.
It would seem best to readjust your stance on the decision and let my love join us. ”
As soon as the word love left Forrest’s mouth, the guard flinched, like he had been backhanded in the face.
“As you wish, Your Highness. But you will be the one to explain this to the queen. I will have no part in that conversation.”
With that, the guard turned on his heel and headed back toward the forest where they had entered the clearing.
“Forrest, I don’t think I’m very welcome here,” I whispered.
It would be just my luck to be unwanted in not one but two realms. At least where I had come from, I could understand why I was persecuted, even if I didn’t agree with it. Here I had hostility for no good reason whatsoever.
“It has to be a misunderstanding,” Forrest said.
“Regardless, I’m a prince, apparently. So they have to do as I say—especially if I tell them that they need to love you and adore you just as much as I do.
” He leaned down to kiss me. “Wait a moment. Where are Nocturna and Astra?” He looked around to find the duo.
“I honestly don’t know. They have a terrible habit of running off and doing whatever they want, for as long as they want. I may appear to be the one in charge of them, but I am most definitely not.”
Forrest laughed. “I’m sorry, Aurelia. Who says you’ve ever appeared to be in charge of those two? For as long as I’ve known all three of you, they’ve always done as they pleased. They just let you follow along.”
I smiled at that thought.
“I don’t suppose the guards will let us wait for them?” I asked.
Forrest shook his head. “Something tells me they aren’t very patient or understanding. Besides, the girls have this uncanny ability of appearing out of nowhere whenever you need them.”
Again he wasn’t wrong. The people of my village had always thought it was weird that I let two mountain cats live with me.
Even weirder was how they would always manage to find me whenever I was in trouble, which was why I was certain they had been sent to watch over me by my grandmother, despite their predominantly hands-off approach to protection.
“Yeah, I guess they do. All right. Let’s get going, then,” I said, with as much fake enthusiasm as I could muster.
We made our way through the forest to reach the large guard, who was standing beside the most ornate carriage I had ever seen.
Shielding my eyes with my arm, I had to look away.
The carriage was made of white wood and covered in solid gold trim and accents.
It shone like a beacon with the warm rays of the sun bouncing off it.
“After you, my lady,” Forrest joked as one of the other guards held open the carriage door for us.
The guard glowered and wrinkled his nose at me, quickly enough that only I caught it. I returned the guard’s look of disapproval with one of my own and settled into the carriage beside Forrest for the long, uncomfortable trip into the hostile unknown.
The horses’ hooves beat at a steady rhythm as we made our way along a dirt path heading out of the forest.