13. Discovering beauty

2 0 0
                                    


Luc and Aiden are all gone moments after Nathaniel leaves to chase The beautiful bounty hunter down before she tries to collect Metikye's bounty.

The screams and confusion run wild around me, carefully I move up the stairs through people running in all directions and crashing into people including me, luckily Bryce is at my side the moment I feel my balance give way.

"Thankyou" all though I mean the words they come out awkward and a little uncomfortable, it doesn't seem to bother him he seems more concerned with moving me safely away from the crazy panic still going on.

"ENOUGH!" Bryce commands in a tone I have never thought possible from him.

Immediately the area falls silent and all eyes are on me. ........"I know you're afraid, we all are, right now we need each other more than ever. What you just witnessed was nothing more than a misunderstanding with one of our dear friends, no one is here to hurt you or your families. Right now I need you all to calm down and move through the gates and into the shelters we have built for you all, we are all in the same situation and we are all in need of care and compassion, please give it as you accept it, if you need anything please turn to any of the guides or myself to help make this transition as pleasant as possible."

The room claps and cheers while they all bow and curtsey as they pass me through the gates. "That was beautiful little bundle, your people adore you, as they should."

I roll my eyes but don't remark on his tireless need to keep calling me bundle, not to mention these people are not Negalian and they definitely did not like me when I first came, that is for sure. "Thankyou" the words come out but not for anything he might think but for calming them down long enough for me to do the rest.

"I know I don't have your trust and I am not asking for it, at some point if I earn it then that will be a dream come true but right now all I want is to give my all in repaying my debt. You don't have to thank me for anything especially if I cause you to roll your eyes before you say it"

I give him a genuine smile and I can see that means more than I could say, he moves to leave but my hand snaps out grabbing his, the shock on his face I would assume to look the same as my own, quickly I drop his hand.

"Where do you think you're going? You can't just say that speech of yours and then just abandon me, please stay with me until Aiden comes back."

He smiles brightly, "Yes of course ill help with the gate and stay close?"

I nod and he practically skips over the help with guiding people through the gates and even though my legs are burning to be free of my weight and even though they have tried to have me rest I stand at the top of the stairs and greet every face as they enter our gates, with cheers, waves and bows.

Its been a couple of hours now and they still keep coming, homes completely destroyed from the north east and more reports keep coming in, it seems this evacuation has caught everyone's attention.

"You need to rest now bundle, these people are going to keep coming through I don't see it letting up any time soon"

Determined I straighten up and push my aches and pains aside. The sun begins to go down and the light breeze rolls in with a crisp chill. I shiver as I watch the guards gather wood to light fires throughout the kingdom. With magic massively lacking a lot of the old ways have been brought back in for survival.

I feel movement behind me making me jump, Bryce places a warm floor length coat over my shoulders. I enjoy the fluffy material tickle at my cheek for a moment. "Thankyou" he doesn't say anything he just gives me a nod and goes back to directing things smoothly, if I could know that he would be true to his word I would love nothing more than to trust him but I have seen what he is capable of doing to someone that trusts him.

The Bond of a life timeWhere stories live. Discover now