The Nutcracker

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Prince......Eric? King Joseph's son? The one everyone's been talking about?" Clarie was a whole ball of confusion again.

"Yes." The Nutcracker took a deep breath, wondering where to start. "When the mouse king attacked the castle, he turned my family into wood, then he burned my parents in a bonfire"
The Nutcracker continued, this time, he spoke as he wrapped the wound dressing around Clarie's forearm.
"I was supposed to die in that fire too, but the fairies managed to pull me out before the fire got to me."
His tone conveyed sorrow and grief over the loss of his loved ones and it cut through the air like a razor.
"I'm sorry...." Clarie was at a loss of what to say, she avoided the Nutcracker's watery eyes.

The Nutcracker sat at the edge of the bed with his head tilting downwards, hiding his tears.
"I'm sorry." Clarie said again, but this time she placed one hand on his wooden shoulder.

The Nutcracker gave a slight nod and left to put away the soiled towel and the pail of water.
Clarie felt a pang of guilt stab her, she hadn't seen that coming, and she definitely didn't expect the Nutcracker to open up to her so soon, after all they had only known each other for more than a day.
When the Nutcracker came back in, Clarie attempted to lighten the mood.
"Hey, i know its been hard on you. But We'll do this together okay?" The Nutcracker gave her his full attention.
" I mean..... I may not know much about this world but we'll get through this! We'll find the princess and save your kingdom" she paused for a moment, pondering over whether to speak her mind, and eventually she did "then i'll go back to where i belong."
The Nutcracker listened intently, he liked how she said "together", but her last words stung a little. He was fond of her and the thought of her departure made him feel empty and lonely all over again. Nevertheless, he was grateful he had company- at least for now.
"Thankyou" was all he said.
Then there was deafening silence again, something Clarie had always disliked and felt uncomfortable with. She was flipping pages in her mind, trying to find a topic to talk about, or another question to ask. Then she made a mental note to stop asking questions in case it made hurts more tangible.
"Should i just socialise with him normally? But he isn't from my world. What if he doesn't connect with things like that? What if things here are different?" There were so many things running through her mind, but she couldn't find anything to say.

Just as a thousand and one things were clouding her brain, the Nutcracker cleared the fog. "Why don't you get some rest? Its been a long day, and we have more travelling to do tomorrow." He gestured towards the bed and pulled out half the blanket for Clarie to tuck herself in.
Clarie smiled at him and gently lifted the covers over her shoulders, then she shut her eyes and drifted into spaceless time. The Nutcracker watched as her breathing slowed and her muscles relaxed. Her long eyelashes fluttered against her olive skin, and he was mesmerised by how simple and beautiful she looked.
"Wait. This is creepy, what am i doing?" The nutcracker snapped at the suddenly realisation that he had been staring at Clarie for too long. Luckily, Clarie was fast asleep; oblivious to anything happening around her, especially the block of wood that was blushing at the sight of her.

The next morning, the Nutcracker woke up before Clarie did. He rose from the couch and tried to move silently to the door despite his stiff limbs.
He came back into the room with a bag of supplies they would need for their journey. They were fortunate enough to have been give four days worth of food, a wine skin bottle and some bandages. "Nothing would have been possible if we hadn't saved Sam and Kattie from the town." He thought.
"I wonder how Marzipan is doing" he was reminded of the elegant horse who left Sam and Kattie so that they could seek shelter without her.

"Hey"
His train of thought was broken when he heard Clarie's voice.
She had just woken up and was rubbing her eyes sleepily like a child. The Nutcracker smiled and this adorable image, taking in as much as he could.

"Good morning, Clarie"
Clarie smiled sheepishly at the Nutcracker, still sitting on the bed unalert.
Eventually she got out of bed and washed up before joining the Nutcracker by the couch. The Nutcracker took out some freshly baked bread and handed it over to Clarie.
"Breakfast" he said.

Clarie held the bread in her hands and broke it into half, she passed one piece to the Nutcracker. The Nutcracker stared at it but he didn't take it.
"Ermmm i don't really eat. I am erm... I'm wood"

"Ohhh right...." Clarie turned pink unintentionally, "why do i keep doing the wrong things" she thought.

"Its alright Clarie, it was nice of you though. Its the thought the matters" the Nutcracker smiled as he tried to comfort the frantic Clarie. Clarie enjoyed her bread slowly and silently, hiding her embarrassment. The Nutcracker found it rather entertaining to watch how she reacted to the unexpected.
When she was done with breakfast, the two took a map from the burly town chief and set off to find the sugarplum princess. This time they had to head south for 20 miles then head north for another 5, to an area the princess used to live.

Unfortunately, while they were mapping out their route on the map, they were caught offguard by the mouse king's 'spy' who happened to be in the vicinity. It flew to a nearby tree and hung upside down, pretending to be asleep. After the Nutcracker had explained the entire route and how it would lead them to their destination, Clarie and the Nutcracker set off on the trying journey. Pip, the bat, or the mouse king's little spy, gave a wide sinister grin, loosened his grip on the tree branches and flew off to his master with the 'good news'.