See You On The Other Side. . . (Eret x OC)

Chapter 5

Sky POV

TW: Talks of war, mentions of death, panic attack, depressive thoughts

"Eret, where are we going?" I ask. "We've been walking forever."

"Oh, be quiet," he replies sarcastically. "It's been twenty minutes. It'll be five more."

"Where are you taking me that's twenty five minutes away from any civilization whatsoever?" I ask once again. "Are you going to murder me or something?"

"I would never," he tells me, pretending to be offended. "I care about you too much."

"Sounds like something a murderer would say," I joke. "Seriously though, where are we going?"

Eret responds with a simple "Look in front of you."

I do as I'm told, and as soon as I see where we are, I let out a gasp. We're standing on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a huge empty field. It's nothing special, but it sure feels like it. I glance over at Eret. "How many people know this exists?" I ask him.

"As far as I know, just you and I," he smiles. "Although, it might not be just us anymore..." he says, thinking.

"What do you mean?" I ask him.

"It goes back to the reason I brought you here early," Eret tells me, frowning. "Are you sure you want to hear it now? It might ruin the mood."

"Of course I want to hear about it," I reply. "Is something wrong?"

"Very," he replies grimly. "The reason I had to bring you here early is because our kingdoms have declared war on each other."

Already? I guess that explains why my parents were in a meeting without me this morning. "Why- What- How much time do we have?" I ask, changing the question about three times.

"Three days, today included. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I assumed you already knew and didn't want to talk about it," Eret explains.

"Yeah, well, half the time I'm not included in meetings," I tell Eret. "Of course they excluded me from the biggest decision our country has ever had to make. Why can't I have a say in just one thing?"

I'm getting mad, and Eret can tell. My breathing is heavy, there's stress tears streaming out of my eyes, and you can practically see the smoke coming out of my ears. I drag my hand down my face, leaning up against one of the few trees in the area.

I feel hands running down my arms, and they stop at my elbows. I look up to see Eret hovering over me, concerned. He brushes a piece of hair out of my face, and I can't stop my eyes from flicking down to his lips. No, Sky. You're going to war with him. With his kingdom.

"I wish I could tell you that it's going to be okay," Eret says, voice quivering. "Trust me, my every instinct is telling me to protect you. Telling me that we could run away, and not have to deal with this. But we can't. You're the only child eligible for the throne in Cartersburg, and I'm not about to leave Toby to take over when my parents die. I won't let him lose another brother."

"I know, I know," I tell him, pushing off of the tree to wrap my arms around him in a hug. He doesn't hesitate to react, and I find us in a very similar position to earlier. His arm around my waist and his other hand combing through my hair, calming me down. Except it's not happy tears this time. It's tears of anger, of sadness. Everything I've ever felt feels like it's coming crashing back to me in this one moment, and I find it hard to breathe. I pull back from the hug, feeling as if someone is crushing my chest with their boot.

"Sky?" Eret questions. I lean against the tree, finding it harder and harder to breathe. My vision is blurred, and while I can hear Eret, his voice sounds far away. I'm only able to make out about half the words.