Masquerade

Chapter Fourteen

"I never thought you'd be so happy to see me," Jac snorts, clapping Kendry on the back.

Meanwhile, Wren and I suffocate each other in a teary hug, full of her incessant wailing and my awkward attempts at comfort.

Kendry chooses to ignore Jac's comment. "The fog has mostly cleared now, so it wasn't hard to find her." He gestures to Wren but falters when he sees the tangled mess we're in, making a face.

I turn away from her and take the time to look around, surprised to see that he's right. I can actually see my surroundings now, and the sky has changed from an eerie grey to a brilliant pink as sunrise begins. But a loud sob forces me to focus my attention back on Wren, and I lead her to a chair-sized rock so she can sit down.

"What happened?" I ask gently, sitting myself down on the grass next to her.

"I g-got lost! I couldn't see anything! And some m-man was chasing me!" she splutters, flailing her arms about as if she's ready to take to the air.

"Why did you go out in the first place?" Kendry says, not unkindly.

"I c-couldn't sleep! I wanted to see if I could f-find some extra padding!" she cries, causing Jac to roll his eyes. She winces at this, and then turns to me with pleading eyes. "You understand, right Fawn? Y-You know I'm not used to s-sleeping on the ground."

"Of course I under-"

"I bet we're way off course," Jac interrupts me, shaking his head as he stares at one of his many maps. "I can't even tell where we are on the map now. Her fancy desires messed us up."

"My 'fancy desires'?" Wren frowns, quickly wiping her tears and standing up tall to face Jac. "I don't know about you, but I want to survive. How can you expect me to do the rest of this trip if I wake up with a backache? I won't be able to walk."

"I think that's a little dramatic," Kendry cuts in. "Backaches hurt, but they don't make it impossible to walk. Just painful."

"Exactly," Jac affirms, agreeing with Kendry for once. "Just admit it: you couldn't put your pampered lifestyle aside for one night. And because of that, Fawn got scared and hurt. Look, her knees are all bruised up."

"Why do you care so much?" she demands, shooting a sorry glance at my knees but then crossing her arms obstinately. "We all know you don't actually care about Fawn or this trip. I bet you're just here to make moves on women where you won't be seen. The forest is a good place for that, after all."

"Oh, don't flatter yourself. You don't have to worry about me making any moves on you, my lady. I moved on from you long ago, and it's about time you get over it. And I'll have you know that I do care about Fawn, you can ask her yourself. Just earlier I-" He cuts himself off.

This sudden stop confuses Kendry and Wren, but I know exactly why he couldn't finish his sentence. He is referring to the moment we shared earlier, when he willingly gave me the comfort I needed at the time. Oh, and touched me. That too.

But of course he can't share that; Wren would tear him to pieces. And part of me doesn't want it to be shared anyway. I know it probably won't happen again, and I know it probably didn't mean anything, but it was still...special to me. I don't want it to be broadcasted to the world, I want it to be something that I can hold in my heart – something that belongs to me.

After a moment of confused silence, Wren perks up again and continues her bashing. "There's nothing to get over! You're...you're slimy! I was never into you in the first place! And how many times do I have to tell you? I'm married!"

"I think that's enough," I blurt, starting to see that this argument is getting out of hand. It's no longer about Wren's late night escapades; this is personal now. They're grasping at anything they can get ahold of to offend the other.