Magic and Mortality (DISCONTINUED)

Chap. 7 - Thoughts

KEY = Subtitle/POV change | Author's note |"Speech" | 'Quote/Thoughts' | Text | Emphasis

BELINDA'S POV

I stumbled down the gravel road. I would've chuckled at myself if I hadn't been so exhausted. I had left as soon as I could, only to be held in the embrace of fatigue. Amazing. 

The road stretched out for ages, seeming to never end. I knew it was the right direction, or at least it was according to the trashy compass I had fished out of my father's toolbox. I forced myself to keep walking, slipping occasionally in the puddles that dotted the gravel. I knew I could make it, but as the sun beat down angrily I couldn't stop myself from pitching from side to side, dehydrated almost to the point of collapse. I kept walking, unable to stop. I had brought a full waterskin, but it depleted quickly. 

It wasn't until I heard the crumble of gravel under wheels that I shut down, rolling into a ditch on the side of the road. The world faded around me as I sunk into the mud. 

THIRD PERSON POV

Carriages passed Belinda's crumpled from. Dusk passed, then dawn. With the day came rain, lots of it. It was just before Belinda was fully underwater that a familiar elf ran out of a carriage that was headed in the direction she was previously headed.

AELFRIC'S POV

I saw a body in a ditch on the side of the road. I couldn't recognise the person, but it looked like a human boy. I jumped out of the carriage and pulled the body out onto the side of the road, where the boy started coughing and convulsing. It was only when their cap rolled off their head and their long hair fell out of place that I realised it wasn't a boy. It wasn't just any girl either.

I gathered Belinda in my arms, putting her into the carriage that had waited for so long. It swung around as I had commanded it to. 

It took a few minutes for Belinda to wake up. Her eyes fluttered open, startled when she realised where she was. Then she saw me.

My eyes couldn't leave hers, it was impossible. She was the one who broke it. I looked away, flustered. 

"Hey, Belinda. Are you okay?" I looked back at her as I scratched the back of my head nervously — an old habit my mother hated. 

"I need to get out," Belinda croaked, trying to open the door beside her. I reached out an arm to pull her back to sit down again. 

"Belinda, why were you out there?" She swallowed anxiously. "Belinda," I said again.

"I was... searching for..."

"Your father?" She looked at me, stunned. "We got a ransom note. I'm assuming you already have one?" I passed the folded sheet of paper to her. Belinda's eyes widened. 

"They want both of us? I mean, I'm Marcus's daughter, so that makes sense, and you're the elvish Prince," I cringed noticeably as she continued. "But why would they take my father in the first place? There's no point!" The carriage fell silent excluding the rattle of gravel from outside.

"I don't know." It seemed a simple sentence, but from only knowing the man for less than a moon's turn I still was worried. I could hardly imagine how worried Belinda was.