The Safest Place to Hide

6. Nowhere to Be Found

 Anna practically ran back to the house. She knew Cora would be worried about her. Hopefully, she wouldn't be mad at her though. She opened the door to the cottage slowly. She didn't want to scare her friend half to death by barging in like some kind of wild animal. When she didn't see Cora anywhere, she walked in and closed the door behind her. She took off her cloak and tossed it aside. She would have to remember to change the color of it later or something. She could leave it the way it was. Merlin had gotten her out of danger.

She searched the whole house over, but she didn't find anyone. Cora wasn't there. She got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. What if she had gone out looking for her? What if she ran into those bandits? Even though Cora was a sorceress like her, she wasn't as powerful, and there were too many of those men for her to handle on her own even with magic.

"Cora?" Anna called. She thought maybe she hadn't heard her come in.

No answer.

Anna chewed on her lower lip. If anything happened to her, she would never forgive herself. Of course, she would have heard her cries for help or her thoughts if something did happen to her as long as she was conscious. She walked back over the front door. She had to find her before something terrible happened to her. She reached for the doorknob, but before she could close her hand around it, the door opened. She jumped back out of the way.

Cora calmly walked in with a bucket of water in her hand. She closed the door behind her and set the bucket off to the side. Anna remained silent and perfectly still. It wasn't until Cora turned around that she noticed Anna standing there.

"Anna!" she exclaimed. She threw her arms around her, closing the distance between them in two strides. "I thought something awful had happened to you." She released her and took a step back to look her over. "What happened?"

"A lot," Anna answered vaguely, "and I'll tell you all about it over lunch. I'm starved. I haven't eaten anything since dinner."

Cora smiled. She was so happy just to have her home. "Sit. I'll fix us some sandwiches."

"No. You sit. I'm going to do this today, remember?" She headed toward the kitchen. "Sit at the table and we'll talk while I prepare."

She nodded in agreement to that. She was eager to find out what had kept the princess so long. She settled down in one of the chairs at the table and waited patiently. She wasn't used to being waited on. This was unusual for her.

Anna sliced the meat for the sandwiches and the cheese. Before she started on the bread, she started giving the details of her adventure. Cora was the perfect audience, gasping in surprise at the appropriate intervals, and asking questions about unclear details. By the time Anna finished putting the sandwiches together, and pouring them each a goblet of water, she had gotten past the part where she had healed Merlin.

"After Merlin finally woke up, we talked a little. He showed me the way back to Camelot," Anna told her. "The only thing was that we weren't out of the woods yet. Danger still lurked around us."

"What do you mean?" Cora asked, taking a bite out of her sandwich. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, and she hadn't eaten yet. She was too busy worrying.

"Bandits," she said. "Merlin used his magic to protect us and I used mine as well."

"Wow."

She then went into detail about how Gwaine grabbed her, when she and Merlin got through the gates of Camelot, and dragged her in front of the king.

Cora gasped. "Oh my gracious, Anna! You could have been killed!"

Anna smiled. "Merlin had my back. He really is amazing and the personal servant to the king."