A Most Dangerous Weapon

Chapter 58: Condemned

Running, faster and faster knowing our lives depended on it. An endless repetition of motion... feet pounding against the earth, heart thumping against my chest, lungs wheezing as I take in the cold evening air.

We had been searching the woods for hours now, darting off in various directions half crazed with worry and half with defeat. I would come across a familiar face every so often, but never one of the three I was looking for. Marcus, Diana and Rowan were nowhere to be found. I had to push away the dangerous thought that Marcus had already completed his purpose. If I was to find Diana, I wanted her to be alive and well.

There was also the threat that the Commander's men were combing through the forest for their lost heir. They had long since discovered that she was not in the palanquin, which means they were on their way to recapture her. If we were lucky, they would start by heading straight to her hometown thinking she ran back to her mother. But I saw how many men Cornelius had at his disposal, so this was certainly wishful thinking. He would send even more men to deal with this mistake; a dozen to town and a couple dozen to comb through the forest. We were running out of time. I had to find her before they did, and then we had to escape before we were all captured.

My sandals slapped against the heels of my feet having come loose from the endless, aggressive motion. I didn't stop to re-lace.

No time. Just keep running!

I wanted to cry. I could feel the tears threatening to well up, but my laboured, exhausted breathing and the constant bombardment of wind against my face seemed to stop them from falling. At some point I lost my hooded cape to the forest. The hem had gotten caught on something. Like with my loose sandals I chose not to stop, forcing the knot and clasp to break and send the fabric tumbling to the ground. I didn't even look back. The forest continued to be unkind as I stampeded through the territory. Brush and stones scraped my feet and legs as I jumped through the thicket, and I could feel a dozen or so bruises in the process of forming. Low hanging branches cut my bear arms and face as blindly ran in what seemed like circles. My body was shutting down. I needed water but I refused to go back to the horses for my canteen. I needed fresh air, but I continued to rapidly inhale and exhale the same stale and murky air that the wind and my stomping feet at kicked up. I needed to stop my limbs from pumping at a dangerous rate, but I ran onward as I mentally chanted mind of matter. My head was pounding and I was starting to feel dizzy, but I was conscious enough to realize that giving up was not an option.

Just keep running!

I heard a rustling ahead. Arlo burst through the thicket like a beast. This was the third time I had run into him. We both slowed down briefly to wordlessly convey our findings, even though the fact that we were each alone and still on the run made it fairly obvious that we hadn't found them yet. Nevertheless, we both shook our heads through ragged breaths before changing directions to avoid the places that we had each recently searched. Looking back on it now, I admit that it was slightly strange and dangerous for us all to search alone with an angry Romallian army potentially searching through the same woods. But we were all in a frenzy, too focused on our rescue mission to consider our own safety. Even Arlo was panicked enough for Rowan's safety to leave me behind. I was safe in Marcus' hands while Rowan wouldn't be if my brother somehow found out who Rowan truly was. Arlo was still blaming himself for my disappearance, so Rowan's current absence didn't bode well for the man who just promised to keep the two of us safe. He was going to find Rowan before Marcus or the Romallians could, and hopefully Diana would be safely with The Lost Prince.

Lost Prince... such a perfect title for the boy who once again vanished without a trace.

I blinked for a second too long. Mid-sprint, I tripped over an uprooted branch. I came crashing down into a thoroughfare of rough pebbles. I screamed outright in both pain and frustration. I was bleeding even further. The red pooled out to immediately blend with the caked on dirt on my shins, blackening into a disgusting mess.