I sigh heavily as Sosha falls into step behind me and we make our way back towards the castle, through the camp.
"Might've told me," I snapped, "And for Goddess' sake quit walking back there like some sniveling lady in waiting!"
Sosha doesn't say anything, just matches my stride instead so that we walk in step for the rest of the journey.
I hold my tongue from there, I know I shouldn't take out my anger on Sosha just because she's the nearest target. But her lack of response irks me nearly as much as Talon's complete change in demeanor towards me.
We enter the courtyard and I slow down as we near the main doors into the castle where knights are slowly trickling in for the night's festivities. Cheerful music floats on teh air, and smells of roast bird beckon us onward. But I don't have any appetite.
"You've got mud all over that dress," Sosha finally speaks, and it's in her usual, surly and bored tone, which I am momentarily quite thankful for. One glance downwards, and I know I'll have to change. In the fog I hadn't noticed, but now it's gray drying mud almost up to my knees. The poor pink gown is ruined.
"Fine," I answer in my own surly tone, sweeping up the stone stairs and back inside my prison. I didn't even have the chance to tell Talon what my father said... what I learned about my mother today. We bypass the great hall and take a narrower passage backwards towards my room.
There's courtiers passing us all along the way, some do a double take at the Orc beside me, but most give us a wide berth and avoid eye contact.
The door to my bedchamber sits wide open, and before I even step over the threshold I can hear my sisters' shrieks of laughter and raised voices.
"What is... that?" Sosha nearly groans from behind me. That makes me smile just a little as I think of her having to be subjected to them as well.
"Oh my lovely family, of course," I answer smartly before we cross through the doorway.
Isla is wearing Talon's token from the and it freezes me on the spot. My sisters usually find something of mine to destroy when they get bored and come for a visit. A dress, some shoes, my hair. It usually doesn't bother me one bit.
But seeing her standing there, twirling around, laughing as she twists and untwists the thing... it's finally too much.
"Get out!" I screech, the words coming from my gut, "Get out now!"
Isla only smiles like a cat, and I realize this is exactly what she wanted from me anyway.
"Wren! For goodness sake! It's just a ratty old scarf," Isobel scolds, but she's not looking at me.
She's busy glaring just over my shoulder where Sosha is standing at attention against one wall, eyes straight ahead. I roll my eyes at her obvious escape tactics and hurry to grab the scarf from my little sister.
"Give it back!" I demand but Isla only smiles wider, making her eyes go big with feigned innocence.
"What? This old thing?" she coos, swinging the piece of fabric over her head in a circle.
My blood boils as I watch her. I think of that night on the balcony, the way Talon had come to watch over me... and now I realize he'd taken Sosha's post to do it. I just wish I knew why.
Why the scarf, why he'd sat with me and touched my ahri that night... and why I had turned into the equivalent of a piece of furniture in a matter of minutes in his eyes.
"Didn't you get it from one of those dirty old... alligators," Isleen chirps from one of the upholstered chairs across the room.
I try to ignore her, but blood rushes to my cheeks and I can only imagine the restraint this is taking from Sosha.
YOU ARE READING
Stolen Princess
FantasyDays from becoming the prize at her father's Bride Tournament, Wrenifred has a bad haircut and a chance encounter in the forbidden woods. One wounded knight and a simple blood oath later - Wren has a chance she never imagined. She's entered the tou...
