Help from the OtherSide

57. Oracle

It took some pleading from various passengers but the men finally huffed and kept quiet. 

Telsin urged the driver to hurry, while dissipating the tension in the carriage. Liam caught up on the events thanks to Amelia. She didn't hold back on the little moment Killian and I shared as Liam shot me strange looks during the story.

After a while of painful arguments we reached our destination. The driver scampered around, arranging a foot stool and unloading our belongings from the compartment beneath the carriage floor. The moment Deccan and Killian got out, they sprang apart like two magnets of the same polarity.

The animals refused to climb up the hill and so the driver was instructed to wait at the base, since the oracle lived on top.

The hill we were supposed to scale was covered in a thick blanket of fog and mist. Amidst them poked the tip of tall evergreen trees; embracing little warmth given by the benevolent sun. The forest looked less welcoming, crawling with danger.

Killian ordered us to keep our weapons out and we began scaling with dexterity. Occasionally we came across creatures that were the twisted version of the regular animals back home. Telsin kept us updated on the animals that meant harm and the ones that did not.

"Eughh." Deccan covered his mouth in disgust. We followed his gaze to find a half eaten carcass with unappealing insects crawling out of the various openings of it's body.

"For the creepy-crawly or the dead animal?" Princess chuckled.

"Both. Yuck."

"What a wuss. If you look closely,  the thing is dead.  It cannot harm you." Killian sneered looking at the commotion behind. He had taken the lead for navigating.

"And if you look closely, it resembles you on your best day." Deccan pulled the neck of his tunic up to his nose, hiding half his face.

"Now boy. Mind your language. I could throw you off this hill with the snap of my finger." Killian dropped to a steely cold tone.

"Yapa Yapa,  we don't have all day. Get going." He rolled his eyes and brushed past Killian. Liam and Grant rushed after him and Amelia sighed and walked beside me. The siblings shrugged between themselves.

"While I would love to listen to these two fight all day, I doubt it's taken the same by both parties." She murmured.

"What do you mean?" 

"I know-- we all know, that Deccan would stay in his limits but can we say the same for Killian? Deccan will not engage in a physical fight due to his obligation to the Queen, also he's smart enough not to hit a prince. But Killian could snap any second." She gazed at me with an unreadable expression.

"Not to forget the fact that they already treat us like dirt here. So if the physical fight ever got public, the people would definitely support their Prince. Someone of their kind. " Amelia sighed and looped her arm in mine.

"Look, I'm not trying to control you but you need to take a stance. Make up your mind. You need to show your support to either one of them so that the other takes the hint and steps down. With the tensions going on in the kingdom, the least we can do is prevent a fight from happening between ourselves." She said softly.

"You're so right. But it's hard for me. All my life I've been taught to not interfere in fights that aren't happening to me--"