Collecting the Pieces of the Shandhi Sword (Book 2 of Mark Series)

Chapter 36

We continued to walk down the path that I wanted to take, and my whole body was tense with each step I took toward that way. Dread started to fill the pit of my stomach, and I couldn't help but think that something bad was going to happen the closer we got to it.

"Your Highness?" Gregor asked as if he picked up on something from my body language that I hadn't disclosed with either man. He frowned and cocked his head closer to his chest, and I glanced at him from the corner of my eye before I looked forward. "Are you ok?"

"Something bad is going to happen soon," I said, making sure that my lips didn't move that much and hoping that they would be able to hear me while I did this. "I do not know what, but I am feeling this sense of dread."

I paused and licked my lips, clearing my throat while I moved my hand across my skirt. "It feels like it's too late to get it safely, which is why it's not in the spot where you had seen me hide it a long time ago." I looked at Samuel when I said that before I looked forward.

"So all of this was for naught?" Gregor asked and gave Samuel an annoyed look, and Samuel hesitated before he slowly bowed his head, not saying a word. "You didn't need to go back to collect it?" He looked at me and raised an eyebrow in question.

I set my jaw and was about to shake my head but paused when a thought crossed my mind. "Did you have any idea where it was, Gregor?" I asked and looked at the Lord beside me. "Or where it could have ended up, since it isn't in the last place where Raphael had last seen it?"

Gregor pressed his lips into a thin line and looked away from us with a small grimace on his face. "I did not," he said with something in his tone that I could pick up on, silently telling me that he was lying.

I ignored Samuel's small shove of warning as if he picked up on the man's tone and looked at Gregor. "But you know something," I said, speaking my mind. I scowled and narrowed my eyes while I stood taller. "Or have a feeling about something that has happened to it, which is why you are worried that I am here."

Gregor looked at me with a tight smile on his face, and amusement and this... deep power that I didn't understand filled his eyes while he bowed his head. "You have guts, Your Highness," he said and bowed his whole ever so slightly before he stood taller. "I am proud that you do, but why don't we keep them on the downlow while we are here, yes?" He raised an eyebrow in question, and I couldn't help but scowl and narrow my eyes while I stared at him.

"And why should I?" I asked and cocked my head while I studied him. I pressed my lips into a thin line and waited for him to answer my question, setting my jaw ever so slightly.

"Because it is dangerous, Your Highness," he said and bowed again. He cleared his throat and shifted closer to me, looking at people that I didn't know but knew me as this Evangeline person. "Please, go ahead and look forward, Your Highness. We will continue going this way and will protect you from whatever you are feeling."

I set my jaw but did what I was told to do, bowing my head in greeting when people called me, "Your Highness." "And what about answering my question?" I asked, making sure that my mouth didn't move as much as possible. "Will you answer it?"

Gregor sighed and bowed before he cleared his throat, and I could tell that he was defeated about something. "When we see each other back in your timeline, Your Highness," he said and stood taller. "There are some things that are not safe to be discussed out loud where ears can hear everything, but we do not want them to hear anything that we need to discuss."

I was about to pause mid step when realization dawned on me, but Samuel made sure that I wouldn't stop by gently pushing on my back before he stepped away from me again. "Am I alive?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper when we were not near anyone.