Inferno's legacy

Chapter 14

She laid awake in bed, one hand on her stomach, the other on her pendant, staring at the dark ceiling. The fireplace had burnt out, it was the middle of the night, leaving the room in darkness but she didn't mind. After what happened, she had made it a point that she'd rather not see anyone.

It was funny how, one moment, she wanted to be close to her siblings, but the next, she was pushing them away. Ander had come to apologize but she refused to open the door. Why was he apologizing? She should be the one apologize for making their lives difficult. She caused so much trouble growing up and her siblings had always had to clean up after her mess but no more of that. From now henceforth, she was going clean up her own messes. First, she needed the truth.

She climbed out of bed, wrapping her hair in a bun as she rounded her bed to the other side where she had clothes spread out. She pulled on the black pants and black shirt, sat on her bed wore her boots. Then she slides a dagger into each. She fingered her pendant as she grabbed the black cloak. She walked to the head of the bed where her sword, probably the only gift she got from her father, laid just beside it. She grabbed it, wearing her cloak, she turned for the door.

She took a deep breath as she glanced around the dark room, her decision weighing on her, but it was too late to turn back. If no one was going to give her answers, she was just going to find it.

The guards were on patrol and she had a hard time dodging them. At some point, she knew she was going to run into one of them and at this point, she hated how adequate her thoughts were.

"Your highness?"

She cursed under her breath as the guard approached her. Judging from the armor, he definitely had some ranks but she didn't know which, but she knew he trained under George. She grasped at possibilities for his name, she had definitely heard it. Maybe during the rare occasions she trained with George.

When he was close enough to her, he bowed. "Are you sneaking in?"

She raised a brow in surprise and he misread it. "What?"

He smiled. "Don't worry, I won't rat you out to the commander. But you'll need to be safely back in your room before any of the guards sees you."

She was shocked but decided against saying anything. If he thought she was sneaking in, so be it. But she feared for him. If George finds out he bad seen her before she left, he'd be furious and a furious George isn't pleasant.

"I can manage my way through. Won't be the first time." It was her first time of sneaking out of the palace but there times where she had sneaked around the hallways, for example, attending a ball she wasn't invited to.

She began walking away when he called her again.

"Your highness, your room is this way."

"I know what I'm doing." She called over her shoulder and hastened her footsteps.

Once outside, she heaved a sigh of relief. She brought the hood to cover her face and strapped her sword over her shoulder. She was glad that he hadn't noticed it. She made her way to the stables, to her horse, a chestnut beast. She saddled him and led him out. Once away, she hoped on and rode off into the darkness.

*-*-*-*

There was that haunting melody in the air she couldn't ignore. The moon was bright, casting down eerie shadows but at the same time lighting her path. She was moving at a slow pace, still trying to ascertain where to go from here. The physician was definitely a start. He seemed to have a lot of knowledge. There were other kingdoms who favored magic and magic users, unlike hers. It will be easier gathering information from a kingdom whose culture was associated with magic. She had also heard about Magefort, a fortress for mages and diviners with centuries old knowledge of magic. That seemed the perfect place but she had no idea where it was, hence, her journey to the other kingdoms. Perhaps the physician knew, it will save her a lot of time.

She came to a halt, deciding it was time to rest for the night. But she couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being watched. She glanced around but only the tall shadows of trees greeted her and that made it worst. The fact that she couldn't see beyond those trees. She decided to keep moving. A princess alone in the forest will make her good target. And her journey wasn't going to end with her held hostage for ransom.

Sooner or later, she was going to fall off her horse, she was sure. She had never been up for so long and felt quite exhausted. She finally dismounted, taking the saddle off and went to gather some firewood she could use in making a fire. She was willing to risk being seen for the warmth.

Setting down the firewood, she realized she had nothing to start up a fire. She sat down next to the pile of firewood, staring intently at it in the dark. She sighed and threw her head back, shivering a little from the cold. If only she got start up a fire.

A thought crossed her mind and she didn't think it possible. She stared at the wood again, conjuring thoughts in her head. It had worked fine the other day in the forest. But the firewood sat still, glancing back at her in mockery.

"Need some help?"

She jumped at the voice, her hand flying to her boots for her dagger. She pulled it out and glanced in the direction of the voice but was met with darkness. She was certain she had heard something. Just when she was about to settle down, she heard a twig snap.

Without a second thought, she hurled her dagger in the direction of the sound. It lodged into a tree trunk and she could hear a surprised sigh.

"Impressive. I didn't think you'd have such good aim."

Eretria rose up as the woods began burning. She knew for sure she didn't do that.

"Who are you?" She asked, taking out her other dagger.

The intruder stepped into the light, Eretria's dagger in her hand. Auburn hair in a bon, dressed in grey and black. The light did little to illuminate the place but Eretria could see the brown eyes staring back at her. For some reason, she had little problem seeing in the dark.

"I mean no harm." The intruder said, stretching out her dagger. She gave her a smile. "But it can be quite dangerous here." She said.

"Who are you?" Eretria asked again, studying the stranger. Really, they had to be something about meeting gorgeous strangers in the woods. Only, this one was female.

"You must have been asking yourself that question frequently." She said, tilting her head. "We all are confused at some point. But with the right guidance -"

"The next one goes through your heart." Eretria said, cutting her off as she raised her other dagger.

"I'm a divine being just like you. Eva."

*-*-*-*

It's coming late but I had a rough day and couldn't update earlier. But here it is.

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