Kingdoms Divided

Chapter 3

The two men walk till mid morning and Lennox is beginning to shiver. Even with the sun out now, it is only slowly melting the snow on the ground. He moves his body closer to Jiban's without much warning to try and steal the boy's warmth. Jiban feels Lennox's cold skin against his own which sends a slight shiver down his spine.

"Not used to the cold I see." Lennox shakes his head and sniffles. They are moving farther away from the Northern Kingdom, slowly getting warmer the further they travel, but after so long Jiban realizes that Lennox's lips are turning blue. He sets Lennox on a tree and takes off his shirt. "Here. It's not much, but wrap it around your arms or use it as a hood or something."

    Even Jiban can tell that Lennox is in shock by what he has just done. Lennox starts to stare not at the shirt, but at the boy's torso and chest. Slowly his eyes make his way up to Jiban's eyes, clearing his throat and looking away. "No- you should keep it on. You're wounded too." Lennox chadders through his words, but sees the wrappings around Jiban's ribs.

    "I'm honestly fine." Jiban takes Lennox's hands and sticks the shirt into his hands. "Just wear it for the next couple miles or until we find water. You are already likely to get an infection in your leg, I don't need you getting sick as well." Lennox tales the shirt and throws it over his head, but doesn't put his head fully through the neck hole to keep his ears and head covered.

    The journey from there is less awkward, but they stay mostly silent. They walk for many more miles before they stumble upon a group of what looks like wanderers, people who do not stay in one village or kingdom. They linger outside the borders, living off of what they can get. Some of these people are pirates or thieves, most ending with being bad news. Jiban takes Lennox and hides them in a bush when he notices them.

"Let me talk to him." Jiban whispers and starts taking the shirt off of the other man's head. "Are you crazy?! They are probably just going to rob you and strip you for the clothes on your back." Lennox rustles to try and stop him, but with his lack of mobility, he fails.

    "You've got a better idea? They have a carriage, a horse, possibly food, and water. I don't know if you have noticed, but we're going to die if we don't have two of those things. We have been in this forest for days and I don't think we'll get out anytime soon. We can't keep eating snow off the ground! You need herbs and bandages desperately and they might have some!" Jiban gets up, but he is pulled back down.

    "If you die. I'm left here alone again." Lennox glares at him, but all Jiban can do is give a sarcastic eye smile. "Oh now don't be too worried about me." Jiban rolls his eyes, pushing Lennox hand off of him before walking up to the wanderers.

    Jiban moves out of the bush quietly, making sure to not give away Lennox's position. He carefully walks over to the people who look like they have not bathed in weeks. They are all wearing ripped clothes, but it looks like they could all be related.

    "Hello there.. I was just wondering if you guys had some spare water?" He slowly approaches them with his hands up, but all he gets are funny looks. He nudges his way closer and closer. "Uh.. do you guys understand?" he asks, looking around at them. "Food? Water? Maybe some herbs?" One of the younger girls goes into their carriage and brings out a couple of assorted fruits. "Thank the stars! Thank you!" Jiban celebrates as the young lady is holding out her arms to hand them to him, but as he reaches for them, he hears a sword drawn and feels something behind his head. 'Yep, that's definitely a sword to my head.' Jiban thinks as he quickly raises his hands again above his head.

    The little girl begins to laugh with the others and Jiban starts to try and figure out an approach while they're laughing. "Hey guys, we can work something out-" he chuckles along with their laughter. It grows tense as the little girl eats one of the fruits to only spit it back into his face. He hears screaming and cheering then- a swoosh sound before a bang on the ground. He turns around to see the man who had a sword to him was shot to the ground by an arrow. Jiban turns back at the girl, who also is taken aback by the arrow. Jiban quickly draws his own sword and the girl runs while another man stays to try and fight, but he is soon met with the same fate as the last. This time Jiban sees the arrows coming from the bush where he left Lennox. Jiban looks around before shouting, "You couldn't let me have the last one?" He says as he runs back to the bush to grab Lennox.