Alone

Chapter 27

Hey guys sorry for the delay but here it is! Enjoy ;)

"Are we nearly there yet?"

I asked Train while I sat slumped into his chest, allowing him to take control of the horses reigns. Trian let out a little huff of laughter before straightening himself up when he replied,

"Unfortunately  the answer is still no, and it will remain no for many more days."

Ughhh why did I ever agree to ride with this douche? Why did I ever agree to go to Azgeda for that matter? This was ridiculous my ass was already sore and we had only been riding for a day. We had not yet stopped to make camp as my father declared he wanted to keep going until we were safely out of Lexa's territory. I was free game now, free game that would soon be killed if a hunting party caught up with us. My father had stayed mostly silent throughout the whole journey, leading the front of the group and leaving me to talk to Trian. We had never had much chance to talk but I understood that he needed time to get to grips with loosing my mother once again, we both did. Anya was a very special person, a person that neither of us could ever forget but we also had to learn to move on and live without her.

Rowan placed his hand into the air, Palm facing up in the signal to stop. He dismounted his horse and began walking towards me, I watched in amusement as Trian quickly created some space between our bodies and withdrew his arms from around my side while handing me the reigns. Somebody didn't want to be in trouble I snickered.

Trian jumped down from the horse and then grabbed my waist to lift me off the horse. I stumbled at the sudden movement, placing my hands on his chest to steady myself. His muscles felt hard and defined under my palm and I felt my breath hitch when I looked up at him. He looked down at me with the softest smile on his face while I gazed at him from under my lashes.

"Mina?"

Rowan's harsh voice shocked me out of my state gazing up at Trian, causing me to stumble away from him with red cheeks. Trian chuckled under his breath but quickly made his way away from my father and back towards the other guards. I stepped towards my father who held his hands out for my taking. I grasped them with a smile as he gazed over me, checking I was uninjured. When he appeared satisfied with my state he spoke again,

"We shall camp here tonight."

Answers of, 'Yes King Rowan.' Rang about the camp as the soldiers dismounted from their horses in order to set up the tents and start a campfire to keep us warm and cook some meat. My stomach rumbled at the thought at dinner causing me self consciously place a hand over my stomach and shrug my shoulders at my snickering father. A hunting party quickly gathered by the edge of the woods and a sudden thought occurred to me, this was not ice nation territory they would have no idea how to hunt. The animals living under the mountain in the sun behaved completely different to the beasts upon the cold cold mountains.

"I shall assist the hunting party."

I told my father and he nodded while I made my way over to the small group of hunters. I smiled at them and freed my daggers from my boots, sheathing them into my waist band for better reach.

"Ready to go?"

I asked the hunting party causing one of them to glance at me in confusion,

"Princess Mina there is no need for you to accompany us."

I rolled my eyes at him and stamped one of my feet into the ground, causing a sound like thunder to get their attention.

"I want to."

The men looked to each other in silent debate but they soon realised they could do nothing about my presence, their King had no problem with it so they would have to put up with his annoying daughter. At least for now. I giggles as we started making our way through the woods, the inexperienced hunters snapping twig after twig, generally sounding like a group of elephants. After a while I grew bored of their antics and crouched into a low position, springing into a nearby evergreen tree. That soon got their attention.