Midale

Chapter Seventeen: Tough Rivalry

"Good morning Princess."

I wake up to his voice, his breath a soft brush on my forehead. My eyes open and then close again, taking their time to adjust to the sunlight.

"Don't call me that."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't like it." I snapped. My limbs attempted to stretch themselves and that was when I felt the steady drop and lifting of my body. My eyes open wide with a start.

"Oh my god, have you been carrying me all night?" I exclaim. This time I don't even wait for his answer or risk him attempting to argue, I just jump out of his grip. And land face first on the ground. Again.

My arms curl themselves around my head.

"Nobody come near me. Just let me drown in this pond of shame and embarrassment." I said, my voice coming out muffled. I hear someone chuckling behind me and that made me lift my head up and turn around. I found a very amused looking Leon with his arms crossed in front of his lean chest. He didn't even try to control his laughter for the sake of common curtsy.

"This definitely made up for all your unbearable snoring."

"I do not snore." I said defensively, disgraced at the accusation.

"Hey, no offense intended. It actually kept me up all night, conveniently."

I gave him one last lingering glare and then collected myself up. I was in desperate need of a change of clothing, the tank top I wore was torn in places and my jacket had blotches of dirt. Unfortunately this had not been a planned trip and so no suitcase of fresh clothes waited for me. I sighed in admittance to my fated nights to come in the same get up and scanned the road ahead.

We were still on the road flanked by forest on both sides and it stretched on as far as my eyes could see.

"Where are we going exactly? I mean do you have a spot on your mind or are we looking for one?"

Leon had stopped walking to stay behind with me and tried to seem deeply engrossed in carving a dagger with another one. My breath caught in my throat for a split second before I forcefully pushed it out.

It was Cole's dagger. The one he had used on me. One look at Leon's current expression made the choice of not asking any questions about it clear. So I waited for an answer to my other, voiced query. It didn't come.

"So now I'm getting the silent treatment? What for?"

Instead of acknowledging my existence or my constant questioning, he started walking forward.

"You know this conversation could be so much more productive if I wasn't the only one talking." I stomped after him, shivering a little because of the significant decrease in temperature. The air had thickened too. The fog made it almost impossible to see where one was going. And so I couldn't see when Leon stopped in his tracks and I ended up bumping right into his back.

I stumbled backwards, almost falling but managed to stand my ground and massaged the bridge of my injured nose. God it was like the guy was made of steel.

"Do you see it?" He asked from ahead.

"The only thing I see right now is, well, nothing." I decided.

His hand found mine and he led me to the spot beside him.

"Now look."

His other hand stretched out in front of me as he pointed to something in the distance. I narrowed my eyes to focus and then saw it. The faint outline of a mountain.