The Snow Princess

Chapter Twelve

*** Drew pictured but he has elf ears, I could not find any elves that fit what I wanted lol ***

   Drew rode off towards the spot of the where the snatchers were to see if he could can Clyde and Dawn as Lily requested. As he traveled, he thought about Lily and the mission ahead. If she even wanted to really proceed. Also how he wished Ryan would not have found them. He felt like Lily was growing to like him but now he was back in the picture. He sighed softly as he rode up to the spot. He immediately saw Clyde filling in a hole, he gets off of his horse and ties it to a tree. "What are you burying there?" Drew asked him. Clyde looked at him "it is not what it is who, Dawn did not make it. So I put him in the same grave as Kira." Clyde sighed in response, Drew rubbed his face this was more bad news to bring back to Lily. "So Ryan found you and Lily?" Clyde asked. Drew nodded, "yeah, he is not in good shape though" he replied. "I should have known he would have went off without us, he tends to do that. Especially if it involves Lily" Clyde said. "I have noticed" Drew replied, "Lily requested for me to find you and Dawn" he said. "Well, you found us, did Ryan not tell you where we were?" Clyde responded. "He passed out and has not woken up since after finding us" Drew replied. "Well, I am done here, I already have everything loaded and horses ready to go so you lead the way and we can get back to them before something else happens" Clyde responds as he went and got on his horse with two more tied to his saddle. Drew leads the way back towards the camp where Lily and Ryan were. 

   Ryan opened his eyes; he felt a strong stinging pain where he was shot. He tried to sit up, "no, you need to rest" he heard a familiar voice. He looked over and saw Lily, he felt a sense of relief come over him as he smiled softly "there you are" he said. Lily smiled "yes, I am here, how are you feeling? Do you need anything?" She asked, "I just needed to know you were safe" he replied. "I am, Drew helped me escape to my knowledge. I do not remember much, I was unconscious most of the escape" she said, "I saw him take you, I was trying to keep the snatchers from getting you but after I saw him ride off with you everything went blank" he replied. "I am glad you are okay" Lily said, "I am glad you are okay too" Ryan said with a smile as he grabbed her arm gently, Lily smiled gently back. Then they heard horses approaching, "that might be Drew returning, I sent him to find the others" she said. "I knew where they were but I am sure he found them" Ryan replied. Drew walks into the tent to find Lily with Ryan who was awake now *dang, I was kind of hoping he wasn't going to wake up* he instantly thought to himself, *can this guy just not leave and never come back* Ryan thought to himself. "Drew! Did you find them?" Lily asked, Drew made eye contact with Lily and instantly smiled but then stopped when he thought about the news he had to bring her *why did I not let Clyde come in first so he could tell her* he thought to himself. "I found them yes but I have bad news..... Dawn passed away. Clyde had buried him in the same grave as Kira so they could be together" he said softly. Lily instantly broke into tears, now she lost both of them in less than a week. Why was this happening? Drew was getting ready to comfort her but Ryan ignored the pain he was feeling and beat him to it. *Ugh! This guy* Drew thought to himself. Lily cried into Ryan's chest, Ryan also was very saddened by this news but was not going to show it in front of Drew. Drew walked out of the tent he was not going to watch Ryan love all over her, it was aggravating. "I am sorry this is happening but know it is not your fault, if I had stayed up I could have prevented all of this" Ryan told Lily. She looked at him and shook her head "no, do not blame yourself. You did what you could" Lily replied to him. Ryan smiled softly, "I will never leave you" he said as he hugged her again, Lily felt a little bit better. She believed him. 

  "At this rate we will never make it to our destination" Clyde muttered when Drew walked up, "have some heart. She just lost two major people in her life" he said. Clyde looked at him "I understand that but we have the world to worry about, everyone is at stake. King Jonathan needs to be stopped" Clyde said, "he also already now has an heir for his thrown. His son Leonard, he is training that future tyrant to replace him. They both need to be taken care of" he added. Drew sighed, he knew Clyde was right. He turned to see Lily taking some tea she had made back into the tent to Ryan, *she is such a beautiful person* he thought to himself. 

  Ryan was sitting up looking at Lily as she set up a spot for his tea and then check to see if his wounds were still responding well to what they had done, "thank you" he said. Lily looked at him "for what?" She asked, "for always being there and taking care of me" he replied. "You do the same for me" she replied with a soft smile, "doesn't feel like I could compare to the treatment you have given for me though" he said, "you took an arrow to the gut for me" she replied. Ryan chuckled slightly "yeah and I would do it again" he said. Lily blushed lightly, "you have always been so brave  but I have known that you would give your life to protect others since the day you saved me from that wolf" she said, "I would give my life for those I love" he said. Lily smiled *he loves me but as family, friend, or more* she thought to herself, "I would do the same for you although I do not think you would let me" she said. "Yeah, no chance I would let you" Ryan chuckled. Drew walked into the tent "when do you think we will be able to move again?" He asked. Lily looked at him, then remembered the kiss he gave her earlier and her face instantly brushed pink. "Whenever everyone is ready" Ryan replied, "I do not think we should until Ryan has healed some" Lily said. Ryan gently grabs her hand "I will be okay" he said, Lily looked at him "I can't lose you too" She replied. Drew felt the burn of jealousy, Clyde stepped inside "it looks like a storm is approaching, we shouldn't leave until it clears up" he said. "I guess that settles that" Drew grumbled, "I am going to set up the other two tents" Clyde said before leaving.  "I guess that settles that, Lily did you want a new area set up to sleep?" Drew asked hoping she would say yes since Ryan was in her spot, "No, I should be near just in case he starts having problems and needs something, thank you though" she replied with a smile. "Okay..." Drew sighed as he left the tent. "You always seem to get what you want" Ryan said teasingly, Lily laughed softly "I am the princess after all" she replied. "I am going to go get you some more tea and some rabbit for us to eat" She said, "okay, don't be to long" Ryan said softly. Lily left the tent and went over to the pot, Drew walked over "hey" he said, "oh hi Drew" she replied. "I wanted to apologize for earlier if I made you uncomfortable with kissing you and all" he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. She smiled "thank you, I forgive you just please don't do it again. I like you but it is strictly as friends. I love Ryan." She replied, he nodded "I can tell, I can also tell he loves you back" Drew replied. Lily smiled "I believe he does to" she said before walking back towards the tent, she paused for a second before walking back inside. "Everything okay?" Ryan asked, she nodded "of course" she replied as she poured him some more tea. She sat down next to him then gave him some rabbit as she also got herself some. They began to eat, Ryan finished his food and put his plate down. He looked at Lily as she finished up hers, "hey, can I ask you something?" He said. Lily looks at him "Ryan, you can ask me anything. You know that" she replied, "do you have feelings for Drew?" He asked. Lily smiled "no, we are strictly friends and I made sure he knows that now. Why do you ask?" She asked. Ryan felt his heart pick up pace, "well I wanted to say that um... I was wandering if, you would allow us to further our relationship maybe possibly into a courtship" he said *finally* she thought to herself as she couldn't help but smile "yes, Ryan, I love you" She said as she hugged him. Ryan smiled "I love you too, I have for a long time" he said softly.