Keep Your Enemies Closer

A Leaving of Oath and Pledge

"Beauty in distress is much the most affecting beauty." - Edmund Burke

Reyna's toes brushed the ice cold water of the tarn and she shivered as the numbness made its way through her body. It was only dawn, the only sounds the bird song and the light breeze, and of course, her chattering teeth. Fabian had gone to the nearest town to report on any information Donovan had put out regarding her whereabouts and how serious it was along with getting any supplies they needed. So here Reyna was, waiting patiently while breathing in the cool morning air. She had always felt most at peace in nature ever since she was young. It had been reprieve, a salvation, a time to just put her mind at ease, surrounded by wildlife that had no expectations unlike humans. And just like her younger days, Reyna felt calm as she made patterns with her feet in the dark water, watching fish swim by further away. Small fish grouped together and the occasional trout if she was to be correct. She had never been one for fishing and was not starting now.

Reyna tipped her head back to the lightening sky and exhaled, dark hair brushing her waist in frizzy curls. She needed a bath - hadn't had one for days. Dirt still brushed against her face, grime layered under nails, hair a tangled knotty heap and her breath -

She didn't want to think how bad it must stink after hunks of cheese and meat and stew for two days straight. She had smelt Fabian's breath and it had positively reeked. Hers would be as bad as that - or worse. The thought made Reyna inclined to vomit into the beautiful tarn. She sniffed her fingers and screwed her face up. No, instead of sitting here waiting she should go find a bath. So Reyna trotted off to do just that.

She almost cried at the big bath tub, the hot water and the vanilla bean soap she rubbed aggressively into her hair and against her skin until it was red and raw, not a speck of dirt to be seen. She could have lounged there for hours if not for her own bodily fluids and dirt floating around, turning the water a shade of brown. Reluctant and grimacing, Reyna stepped out of the bath and dressed in one of the practical dresses she had bought, combing her soaking hair as she made her way to the Bar. No more luxurious and elegant gowns to be her day wear now but she didn't mind it as much as she thought she would. She paid for a bowl of porridge (that would likely end up being gruel) and took up a table to herself while waiting for Fabian. 

He came in ten minutes later, while Reyna was mentally preparing herself for the spoonful of porridge she held to her mouth. As soon as he came in, she put it down in an instant and leaned forward. "So?" She asked breathlessly. 

"Not as good news as we hoped." Fabian replied, shaking out his wind mussed hair and calling for the waitress. "Oh?" 

Fabian shook his head as he ordered some porridge despite eyeing hers with a frown. "Two thousand for your warrant, alive or dead but preferably alive." Reyna's mouth dropped open in shock. "That's not all," he continued, the look on his face grave. "Apparently you kidnapped or killed me and I have been reported missing." Reyna choked on the lump of porridge she had just swallowed and Fabian patted her back as she choked, forcing it back down. "Me?" She sputtered. The idea was laughable - a sixteen year old girl kidnapping a sergeant - and for what reason?

"Didn't give one." Fabian said in response to her question and Reyna had the urge to laugh in disbelief. How was the Prince fooling the kingdom with these lies? Then again, he had fooled her for long enough. All of them. "And he had now taken Tegan for a bride." Reyna's gut churned in disgust at the monster couple. "Their marriage is in a few days."

Everly?" Reyna asked. After all, her lover was so called missing, friend proclaimed a murderer and unaccounted for. The Princess likely hated her now with all she had heard and Reyna didn't blame her. "No news." Fabian's eyes were filled with sadness for one of his oldest friends. He picked at his porridge somberly, swirling the mush around with his spoon. "I can't imagine what she's going through right now."

Reyna nodded, feeling horrible for Everly - the girl who had been kind to her since day one of her arrival. And along with her sadness came another emotion - undiluted fury. The Prince who had taken a monster for his wife, allowed to get away with all the atrocities he had committed because of the privilege he had and being a powerful male. And yet the Witches in Valbara were shunned and looked down upon although they had been right all along. And she had been so so wrong. She had willingly walked to the cliff of her own impending doom though she had been warned against it numerous times. It had been pure luck - pure luck she hadn't died at the hateful hands of her betrothed. 

And it was that, that boiling emotion that pounded through her like blood that had her standing up before she knew what she was doing. "I need to go." She said, blinking a few times and bracing her hands on the table. "What?" Fabian let out a surprised half laugh. 

"I need to go." His eyes darkened as she said that and he stood up, coming around the table to brush her hands. "Go where?" He asked under his breath like he already knew the answer. She clenched and unclenched her fists. Eventually, she said "to Muiri." 

"You want to go back there?" Fabian hissed, swearing lowly. "Reyna - you'll die. He'll kill you." He pleaded, hands gripping hers tighter as if to prevent her from leaving. "Don't you think you're being impulsive?" 

"I've actually felt a lot more sure than I have for quite some time." She replied, voice steady. "And he won't kill me, not if I kill him first." She stated. 

Fabian gaped at her, dropping her hands like a stone. His fingers twitched, fighting the familiar instinct to eliminate all threats to his future king - and his best friend. "Reyna." He whispered. "I can't lose you."

"You won't," she reassured but he cut her off, eyes on her with a wild intensity. "Do you trust me?" She asked and the world seemed to stop as Fabian mulled over his answer. She sucked in a breath as she awaited his response, aware of what the other tenants must be thinking as they looked at them. A pair of passionate and enamoured lovers. How wrong they all were. 

"Of course I do."

"Then you can let me go." At his expression, she amended, "not forever. I will come back. I swear it." 

"Swear it on..." he glanced around the Inn for inspiration and looked back at her with a kernel of humour. "On Liam's porridge." Reyna glanced down at her and Fabian's uneaten cold porridge and barked out a laugh. "On Liam's porridge." She promised and pulled him in for a hug, inhaling his scent. 

"For Valentina, Julie, Mimoza, Gladys I will end him." She whispered against his ear. "For everyone he has hurt. Me. You. Everly. I'll make sure he gets what he deserves. It will be quick, I can give him that. The Prince shouldn't spend a moment more spreading his black stain upon this world."

Fabian nodded, gripping her tighter. "I'll be waiting for you."

"I'll be thinking of you," she replied, mustering a grin and a ghost of a smile flickered across his face. He opened his mouth, forming the words be careful but thought better of it and shut it. He cleared his throat, stepping back. "Thank you." He said hoarsely. "For making it quick." For the friend he had once known - the friend he thought he knew that had turned out to be a mask as much of her own. In that way, Reyna and the Prince could have been perfect for each other. Two liars, two frauds,  two masquerading as anything but themselves because they knew people wouldn't accept who they truly were. 

For Reyna, her true self wasn't a bad thing. The Prince's differentiated in this matter, his true self an ugly a monster as Reyna had believed she was. "And," she added. "I'll kill Tegan." She threw Fabian a wink, a confident gesture she wasn't accustomed to. But she would pretend, if it made him feel better about her venture. "The Lady Monster herself."

"The Bride of the Beast." 

"The Dark Eyed Menace."

"The Black haired demon?" Reyna suggested as she made her way to the cellar to pick up her supplies, Fabian letting out a laugh that followed in her wake.