When Worlds Collide

Thirteen

"What in the name of the Goddess is going on here?"

I stared, shell-shocked, at the King of Inhatia whom was currently swinging a lantern, its flame weakening with each swing, staring down at us with a bemused expression on his face. He was joined at his flanks by two other men, one I recognised faintly as Lex, but the other was unfamiliar. Callan locked eyes with me and I immediately moved my arms to cross them over my chest and cover any indecency he could see. At my discomfort, Callan turned to his men and let out a deep growl, 

"Leave." 

They both bowed their heads immediately and walked away quickly, Lex stopping by the edge of the lake, no doubt waiting to see if Fleur was okay. I knew that he would not have wanted to leave her, yet the command of his King would have overridden any other need or want he had. The sudden interruption to our argument made me all too aware of how cold I was and my teeth began to chatter involuntarily. Callan grabbed my towel and held it out wordlessly, turning his head to the side and closing his eyes considerately. I quickly climbed out of the lake, albeit it was a little more difficult to get out than get in, due to the slippery grass on the side. My foot slipped backwards and I felt a large, warm hand envelope my own to stop me falling. I looked up and Callan averted his eyes, but I knew he had seen something. Blushing, I took my towel from him with a quiet thankyou and wrapped it around myself. 

Lex returned once I was covered to help Fleur and Callan held out his hands for both Maeva and Brietta who stopped glaring at each other for two seconds to accept his help. Once on dry land and covered in their towels, Brietta turned to fire another smart remark at Maeva, 

"You're just a-" 

"Enough!" 

Callan's stern command stopped Brietta in her tracks and she turned to stare at him, before bowing her head in submission. 

"Your Majesty, thank you for coming when you did, I only-" 

Callan held up his hand to stop Maeva from whatever story she was about to spill to attempt to keep herself in favour and looked at me, "Tell me Josephina, seeing as far I'm aware you were not actually involved in the fighting, what happened?" 

I looked at both Brietta and Maeva, one girl my best friend, the other a girl who hated me, and sighed, dropping my head. "It was my fault Callan honestly, I must have done something to annoy or hurt Maeva and Brietta, as my friend, just stuck up for me when Maeva retaliated. Really, I think we are all just high on emotion right now, I truly am very sorry." 

Both Brietta and Maeva stayed silent and I wondered what each girl was thinking. I wondered if Maeva would hate me slightly less for not reporting to the King that it was her at fault. Brietta stood tall, I knew she would admit the truth should it come to that and, as always, I admired her bravery in the face of authority. 

Callan frowned, his eyebrows furrowed as though he was trying to pick holes in my story, but shook his head and sighed, "Let us just go back to camp and you girls can all try and get some sleep." 

Gathering my things from the ground, I attempted to fall in step with Brietta, but Callan lightly took a hold of my arm and pulled me back, waiting for the other girls to walk some distance before he let me go. Confused, I tightened the hold I had on my towel, and bravely decided to look up at him. He was still frowning, lines etched into his forehead and in the creases of his eyes. When he caught me looking, Callan's eyes softened and the lines disappeared,

"Was that the truth? Nothing gets past me in this camp and I've heard that Maeva hasn't been the kindest to you. I will be having words with her mate as it is unacceptable." 

"No, I mean yes, I mean-" I faltered, lying to the King would almost definitely get me in trouble, but I wanted to try and gain some civil ground with Maeva. We were going to be together for roughly a week and I wanted for us to at least share a smile once in a while, I had a feeling we would never be friends, but I didn't like the idea of her hating me; especially as I had done nothing wrong.