Bonds that Burn and Bind

Chapter 11 Part 3

 The next thing I knew, a foot was nudging my back, and the sky was gray with dawn's light.

"Our rescue has arrived," Prince Orin announced.

I sat bolt upright. "Why didn't you wake me up to take the second watch?" I asked while I rubbed sleep away as our rescuers emerged from the jungle.

The Prince waved to them and shouted a greeting before looking back down at me.

He shrugged. "You looked so peaceful, drooling all over yourself. How could I disturb you?"

I touched my cheek, my face heating as it came away damp and sticky.

Prince Orin's laughter followed me as I secured my new sword onto my hip and, climbed onto Night's back. I let our rescuers guid us back to camp.

"You have a new sword," my mother said in way of greeting as I stepped into our tent, escorted by a servant who had come to fetch me. Her calmness surprised me considering her reaction to the river serpent hunt.

"Prince Orin and I made a bet. I won. Sorry if I worried you last night by not coming back," I sank into a chair across from her as serving plates laden with breakfast foods were placed on the red tablecloth in front of us. "Night ran, and the prince helped me find him. It was too dark to make it back to camp."

She smiled. "No, I did not worry." She grabbed a biscuit and began slathering strawberry jam across its buttery, flaky surface. "Now eat, you are too skinny!"

I didn't realize how hungry I was until I took my first bite of egg, and then I was shoving every nearby morsel of food into my mouth.

"Did anything happen while the two of you were alone?" My mother asked just as I shoved a piece of salty, savory ham into my mouth.

The timing of the bite hadn't been intentional, but chewing gave me some time to think of my answer. I decided not to lie as I swallowed since my mother had a nose for lies. But I wasn't exactly going to be telling the whole truth.

"We decided that we should spend more time together."

"Ohhhh?" my mother hummed, her eyes flickering with delight before she doused it with indifference.

"I'm going to join him when he prays. I should start praying more since that's what they do in Incartha."

"Yes, but don't get caught up in their fanaticism. They are too attached to the gods here."

My mother and father went to worship every week at our estate's chapel, but neither was very strong in their beliefs.

My mom sat up taller in her chair, suddenly her eyes narrowing on me. "How did this development come? I thought you said you did not care for him?"

"We discovered we had a lot in common," I replied and began to squirm when her stare did not relent.

"Okay," she said at last. "Spend time with him, and make sure he is happy in your company."

"Why should I make sure he's happy?" I asked, not able to resist baiting her.

"Why does any woman make a man in power happy? Because that man's happiness turns into that woman's power, yes?"

"Whatever you say, Mother," I said as I shoved another piece of ham into my mouth.

Me and the Prince's charade began the very next morning. We started by shooting each other longing stares from across camp, which the prince turned into a funny face when my mother wasn't looking. I nearly had to bite my tongue off to keep from laughing. But I got him back by making my own face, causing him to choke on his water mid-swig. At mealtime, we exchanged flirtatious banter and even got into a small food fight after Prince Orin accidentally dribbled some stew onto my lap. I retaliated by flicking some onto his cheek. At sunset we prayed together, and afterward, we had a brief sparring match, which ended in a draw. This routine bled into the next day, and the day after that. I began hanging around his friend group, even accompanying them on a hunt. Before I knew it, we were practically spending every waking second together.

Of course, we both wrote to Prince Adil about our plans, so if rumors of our flirtation reached his ears, he would know it was all just a ruse.

But there were confusing moments. Like when Prince Orin complimented my eyes, and I found myself smiling about it for hours afterward, or during a particularly intensive hand-to-hand sparing match, where Orin won by pinning me under him. I had weirdly liked the feeling of his warm body pressing me into the earth. I didn't think he felt the same way as he practically flung himself off me once I tapped out and then disappeared into the jungle.

Meanwhile, Blood Thorn Mountain drew closer and closer until we were in its shadow, and the day came when we were to finally visit it.

My mother and I sat on opposite ends of the carriage. She scribbled in her journal and I read The Little Dragon Rider, while we waited to be summoned. Ever since I can remember, my mother had always kept a journal— but she was always so secretive about what she wrote.

"How is your hand?" she asked, looking up mid-pen stroke.

I looked down at my right hand, which had a new bandage wrapped around where my old scar had been. In the present, I couldn't remember how I had re-injured it, but my now 15-year-old self shrugged it off.

"Fine," I said as a knock rattled the carriage's door.

"Yes?" my mother called.

"We will be departing for Blood Thorn Mountain shortly!" A muffled man's voice called. We would travel to the monstrous mountain with Prince Orin to make our offering to the Shadowlings.

"Give us a moment!" She lifted the lid of her seat and began rustling around the storage compartment. "Go to the mirror," she instructed, without looking up.

I did as she asked and took in my reflection in the full-length mirror, leaning up against the carriage's wall. My silk, turquoise dress flowed down to my ankles like a calm ocean. A slit parted each side from the top to my waist, and golden lace held it together, leaving just a slither of skin exposed. The dark ripples of my hair, which had yet to dry entirely for my bath earlier, were knotted into a traditional Incarthian hair rope bun encircled with flowers.

My mother's perfume, roses mixed with saffron and cloves, floated to my nose as she came up behind me and draped a silver chain with a green translucent scale pendant around my throat. I recognized the river serpent scale immediately.

"It's pretty, yes?" My mother asked.

"It's pretty," I admitted as green light danced across its surface in fractured line patterns.

I decided not to mention the scale was meant as a gift for Prince Adil, whom I still had yet to receive a single letter from.

My mother's reflection joined mine. Her dress flowed down her body in dark blue currents while a sapphire snood netted her dark curls. Around her throat glimmered her favorite necklace, a large ruby cut into a hexagon.

"You are growing into a beautiful woman." She tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. "I just hope you continue to be smarter than I was at your age." Her gaze grew distant, as if she was seeing the mistake and not what was in front of her.

"What were you like when you were my age?" I asked, my curiosity peaked. It was so rare that my mother even mentioned her past.

My mother blinked rapidly as if coming out of a trance.

"I'm glad the necklace pleases you." She grabbed her journal and closed it as she walked to the truck where we kept most of our valuables. She unlocked it with a key she pulled from a hidden pocket in her sleeve and placed her journal inside while removing a beautifully carved wooden box.

"Come, let's go."

"What's that?" I asked, nodding towards the wood container in her hand.

"Our offering," she replied and exited the carriage before I could press her further.