Masquerade

Chapter Fifteen

Since Wren is still warming up to Jac, she chooses to walk along Kendry as we set off the next morning. She's always liked him, anyway. Not in a romantic way, of course; she just enjoys his company because he's quiet and allows her to talk about herself the whole time.

So because of this, my companion for the journey ends up being Jac. I would usually be delighted about this, but the cryptic statement he said last night makes me nervous. As we head north, I wrestle between asking him about it and staying silent.

"You alright?" he asks after a while, finally breaking the silence. He doesn't even look up from his compass, but his body language shows that he's still attentive.

"Oh yes, just didn't sleep great last night," I lie, giving him what I hope to be a convincing smile. The truth is, I slept great last night. All the exhausting walking that went on yesterday made it easy to fall asleep quickly.

"You and I both know that's not true," he grins, side eyeing me.

"How would you know?" I demand. "Were you...watching me?"

"Well, yes, but not just you in particular. I couldn't sleep so I kept watch over everyone all night, so I know that you didn't even stir until morning came. Care to tell me what's really going on? Or do you still not trust me?"

That last question catches me off guard, and I'm unsure of how to answer.

"It's okay if you don't. In fact, it'd be wise not to trust me," he laughs, sensing my hesitation. "I think it's probably pretty obvious by this point that I have secrets."

"That's...not very reassuring."

"I know it's not. But for what it's worth, I truly do care about you, Fawn. And I will be here for you until the end." He looks up from his compass and flashes me a genuine smile, making it really hard not to just put all my trust in him.

"Thank you," is all I can think to say.

"Well anyway, no pressure to tell me what's going on with you right now. Want to switch to a lighter conversation? We can comment on the weather like the rich do."

"I suppose," I say, starting to feel slightly frustrated. What Jac just said about caring for me was sweet, but at the moment it only serves to make me more irritated at him. Why does he think he can just constantly say and do these heartfelt things, and then move on like it didn't even happen? It's only making me more and more confused, constantly having to guess at who I am to him.

Maybe this is common for him. He is a flirt, after all. I'm sure he's spent his whole life wooing women and then moving on like they don't even exist. It may work on others, but it sure isn't working on me; it's incredibly aggravating.

He looks over at me with what may be concern but decides to move on anyway. He's smart enough to know that I am not in the mood right now, so we continue our trek making easy conversation. Like always, I am forced to pretend that the moment we just shared never even happened.

I'm in sort of a moody daze for the rest of the walk and barely even notice when Jac sticks his arm out in front of me, stopping me from continuing. I look up to see the reason why: there are fifteen soldiers standing tall in front of us. And not just any soldiers – the ones from the forest gate. I very quickly recognize the gruff leader who almost kept us from coming here in the first place.

"You have been in the forest long enough," he calls out, voice booming through the quiet. "It is time to stop and allow us to escort you to the king."