Ashes to Ashes | ✓

2 || The Blank

The most gracious and generous Queen Dinah of Furvus granted Felix all three of the months left before the princess's coronation to complete the job. The long timeframe seemed unusual and unnecessary at first, as Felix's speed was one of the reasons people sought him out. When he was offered a horse from the queen's stables, it dawned on him. The distance between Niveus and Furvus was what called for the extended time period.

Despite that, he politely declined the horse. It was another of his master's teachings: do not accept extra help from the one who hires you. He claimed it was a measure built for both safety and pride. It was unwise to give anyone something to hold against him.

More than that, animals held a certain animosity toward Felix. He could never properly understand them, and it took too much effort to try. Because of that, he had never been taught to ride one and had been content to remain in Furvus. A horse would be more of a hindrance than a help, though it was selfish of his mind to make that choice for his feet.

He took a few extra days to gather supplies for his journey, cutting down his time to two months and roughly three weeks. Adding to that an extra day to plot his journey and rest took it down a little more than he would have liked. Getting to Niveus on foot would take nearly two months, and that was assuming nothing happened along the way.

Felix raked his fingers through his hair. If he had a horse, it might have cut his time in half.

"Sometimes, I really hate you, you know," he muttered to his master, though there was no one in the room but himself. With a sigh, he pressed his forehead to his clasped hands.

It was worth it for his freedom, wasn't it? It would all be worth it when he was free.

And when he was free, perhaps he would leave his blades behind and disappear.

With that thought in mind, he rose to his feet. He pulled the map laid out across the table toward him before folding it and stuffing it into his bag. Hesitation flickered in his chest as he stared at the bag. Frowning, he grabbed a few vials of poison from the chest below his desk and buried them at the bottom of the rucksack. Once that was settled, he swept his gaze across the room one more time. There was nothing left to pack, it seemed. Satisfied, he blew out the candle and let the room fall into darkness.

⇠⭑⭒⭑⇢

Only when Felix's feet ached enough to fall off did he truly grasp how much regret a person could feel. Leaving Furvus had been the easy part; a group of kind merchants offered to take him to Kaifel, the trading post nearest to the border checkpoint. When he was comfortably riding on the back of their cart, it was easy not to miss having a horse. Though the straw clung to his clothes and hair, it provided him with something to keep his hands busy every time they stopped.

He grumbled to himself, combing his fingers through his hair. Bits of straw came away between his fingers. He shook them out with a curse.

The sun was high in the sky. At that time, the merchants always stopped for a short break to eat and water the horses. Felix took that time to get up and stretch his legs. He always preferred to eat alone, but the merchants seemed to be full of people-people: those that loved conversation and couldn't understand alone time. Unwilling to cause a fuss, he settled down in their semi-circle in the grass and gratefully took the slice of bread, cheese, and meat that he was offered.

"So, you're heading to Niveus then?" the cart driver asked. He was an older man, with a full beard and a face full of wrinkles. Every word that came out of his mouth was sincere, however. It brought a flicker of relief to Felix's clouded mind—and he couldn't deny that he hadn't hesitated to accept when the man offered to let him ride to Kaifel with them. A person who didn't breathe lies and feed on greed was a rare find these days, and Felix could never pass up the chance to linger in the presence of sincerity and peace.