Dryads and Nymphs

Chapter 9-Alliances

Nothing unusual happened for the next two days. The king did hold court with Ivanna but it was short and Ariana could tell the young future queen was more frustrated in the end. That put her and Aron into a frenzy as they had to make sure the princesses did not leave Idelia unsatisfied.
At the end of the night she was profoundly grateful to shut the door of her room behind her and sink into bed. A groan escaped her when there was a knock on her door.
"Come in," she called, burying her face in her pillow.
The door opened and Ethel emerged. "Miss Greene!" she exclaimed, before remembering herself and bowing.
Ariana sat up abruptly. "Yes? What is it?" she asked, suddenly alert now.
"Letters came for you," she said, extending a bundle of letters towards her. "From your family."
She leapt from her bed and clutched the letters to her chest. "Oh thank you! Thank you! This is exactly what I needed right now!" she exclaimed, hugging Ethel.
Ethel laughed as she let go of her. "It's okay, Miss. Don't stay up for too long."
"I won't," she said, still clutching the letters to her chest and grinning. "Good night."
She shut the door behind Ethel and sat down cross legged on her bed, the letters in her lap. Maryse, Salem, her mother had written to her as usual. But there were two more letters, one from Dylan. She hadn't heard from Dylan in so long! And the other was from Collette Iren, the wife of the village baker. She closed her eyes and remembered Collette's sweet heart shaped face, her golden curls escaping from her scarf, her apron always smattered with flour. Why would she be writing to her? Curious to know, she opened her letter first and read it as fast as she could. She was a mother now! The baby girl had come a little early but was as healthy as could have been hoped for.
She read further and chuckled. They had named her Belinda after all. Matthew seemed to have lost that fight to his wife. Collette ended by telling her how happy she was for Ariana and how they all missed her at the village and if she had another girl, she would name her after her. Touched to read all this, Ariana had just put the letter down when another knock sounded on her door.
Thinking it was Ethel again, coming to check on her she called, "Come in."
The door did not open, but there was another knock. Thinking she had not heard Ariana before, she repeated her order.
Still the door did not open and Ariana got up and opened the door herself. There was no one out there. Frowning, she stepped outside to peer into the corridor. It was deserted.
She was about to go back inside, when she caught the swish of a dress out of the corner of her eye. She turned and a blur of vivid purple disappeared around the corner.
With a moment's hesitation, she ran after it. She rounded the corner to find a figure with red hair disappearing down the corridor into darkness. Her suspicions were confirmed. She had seen the same girl outside twice before.
Ariana chased her into darkness but stopped short when she collided with a wall. She felt around and groaned in frustration: the girl had led her to a dead end and vanished. She turned around, her back against the wall and squinted in the darkness, trying to make out any sign of someone else or a way around the wall.
Seeing nothing, she was about to give up and return to her room. She had almost reached her room when she heard a sharp sound that sounded uncannily like the sound of a branch cracking. The sound echoed off the walls of the corridor and the arched ceiling, and it took her a moment to realize it came from the left. She sighed resignedly and ran after the sound. The sound was still echoing faintly and it gave her an idea where it had come from. She was so caught up with chasing the sound that she failed to see a figure making its way towards her. She skidded to a stop just as the figure raised its hands and caught her around the arms. In a moment of confusion she struggled, but stopped when she heard a familiar voice say, "Ariana? Are you alright?"
She looked up, her eyes adjusting to the dim light in the corridor. "Aron?"
"What are you doing, running around the castle in the middle if the night? And why do you always end up knocking me to the ground? There are a thousand other people here."
Ariana made an impatient noise: she didn't have time to banter with Aron right now. "Come with me," she said, grabbing his hand and towing him behind her.
"Ariana-," he started to protest, but she shushed him and he fell silent, sensing her mood.
She trudged forward pulling him along with her. They made their way forward silently for a few minutes before reaching a dead end. She whirled around, searching for some other route but she was certain she had heard the crack sound from here.
"Ariana?" Aron whispered. "What is the matter?"
She looked at him properly for the first time since she had collided with him. His hair was disarrayed and stuck out in different directions. His eyes were warm with worry.
"There was a knock on my door. I went outside and there was no one there but I saw her. I saw her again and I ran after her and I lost her but then I heard a sound like a twig cracking and I ran after the sound but I collided with you and I thought I heard it from here but...," she trailed off, realizing she was rambling.
"That there is nothing here?" he finished for her.
She nodded and he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Ari let me take you to your room."
"But," she started to protest, but he cut her off, saying, "You are tired and need to rest. I can't have you running around all night, Ariana. What will the princesses say if they saw you out here this late?"
"You are worried about the princesses?" she exclaimed, forgetting to whisper. "Your castle's security was breached, you have no idea who that girl is and you are asking me what the princesses will think if they see me?"
"Ariana, try to understand. You are tired, and so am I, right now. We'll deal with this in the morning. Let me escort you to your room, please," he said, trying to placate her.
She stared at him for a quiet moment and sighed resignedly. "There is an intruder in your castle, Aron. If you want to prioritize my behavior over that fact, be my guest. I'll go."
"It's not like that!" It was his turn to exclaim now. "Whoever the damned intruder is, she can't leave the castle at night. It's guarded from outside."
"She got in too. And she's been vanishing. She knows her way around the castle," she stated. The adrenaline she had felt a few moments ago was slowly draining out of her and now she was exhausted.
"Ariana, we'll deal with this in the morning," he repeated, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers as if he had a headache.
"What were you doing out here?" she asked suddenly.
He looked up with wide eyes. "I was headed towards my room."
"You didn't hear anything then?" Ariana asked.
He made an impatient sound. "No. I was headed in the other direction. Don't you think I would have gone after the sound to investigate?"
She shrugged. "Would you have had?"
He looked at her hopelessly. "We'll talk in the morning. I promise."
"There is no need. Forget about it," she muttered, moving away. "Excuse me; I have letters to answer before going to sleep."
She walked away, feeling his eyes at her back, watching her silently as she disappeared into the darkness.
***
His injuries had started to heal but the cold still cut through his bones like a knife through butter as he walked along the village early in the morning. The scant dressing of salve that had been applied to his wounds had started to sting too. The village looked deserted under the pale light seeping in from the thick blanket of clouds rolling above, but he saw a few people moving about, but no one crossed his path.
He limped forward, the howling wind cutting through his clothes. He heard hurried steps behind him but he didn't look back.
"Commander Ziluis!" a voice said, barely audible over the wind.
"What do you want, soldier?" He called back.
There was silence but he heard the steps speed up and he could see his profile out of the corner of his eye, walking a couple of steps behind him.
"Soldier; do not make me repeat myself. Answer my question," Ziluis commanded.
"Sir," Kendrick started. "You should not be out in this weather. Especially with your injuries still unhealed. Let the doctor tend to them and rest. Chief Krez will be displeased-,"
Ziluis rounded on him, cutting him off mid-sentence. "And is Chief Krez your leader or me?"
"You, Commander," the other man spluttered.
"Then you will not tell me what will and will not displease the chief," he ordered.
"Yes, sir," Kendrick answered immediately.
"Good," he huffed, starting forward again. "Training will help me heal quicker than any doctor. I am glad you arrived. Spar with me."
The other man nodded and fell into step behind him.
"How far up North are we?" Ziluis asked after a while.
"It took us a week. The village is on a five day journey from the Black River," came the reply.
Ziluis nodded. "I know of this village but I never visited. I have been told that there is a gorge here."
"Yes. This way," said Kendrick, walking towards a path that led through the woods.
***
Ziluis was breathing heavily, his grip on his sword firm despite the pain that lanced through him and sweat trickled down his arms. Kendrick regarded him solemnly, his mouth pressed into a thin line, holding his sword loosely.
"Again," panted Ziluis. "I know you are enjoying this."
A wild smile flashed across Kendrick's face, before he lunged for his commander again. Ziluis had to work hard to keep him from getting any blows in, and had no chance of offence. His chest hurt as he hurled his sword again to block another blow, and pain lanced up his arm as it made contact. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.
An image flashed up against the back of his eyelids. A brilliant summer day, the smell of fruit both ripe and rotting, the noise, and the pain.... He opened his eyes and thrust his sword forward.
It caught Kendrick by surprise and he had just enough time to lunge to the side. The image was still imprinted on his eyelids and he let it fuel him. The panic he had felt, as they dragged him across the street from the small stall, their hands like tight vises on his thin wrists, the agony of the whip as it came down, repeatedly. Ziluis remembered that pain, relishing in it, forgetting the pain his body was in right now, as the memory of his pain as a child washed over him. He swept his sword at Kendrick again, channeling his anger, letting his hatred flow into the arc of the sword, but still keeping control over his emotions when the threatened to spin out of hand.
They sparred some more, Ziluis beating Kendrick back, striking again and again until at last his sword flew from his hand. He lunged after it, breathing heavily, and caught it just before it went over the edge of the cliff and down into the fast flowing river below. Ziluis waited for him to fetch his sword. He could still feel the heat of that day on the back of his neck, in stark contrast with the ice-cold air cutting through him now. Carefully he folded the memory into the back of his head; there was no use on dwelling on it now, it had already given him the anger that spurred him on. Kendrick turned back to him and Ziluis extended his sword, ready for the attack.
Just then, an eagle dropped onto his arm, its claws cutting into his muscles lightly. Ziluis untied the letter attached to its leg and opened it as Kendrick looked on, his sword limp in his hand, waiting for Ziluis.
The letter was short but as Ziluis read it end to end, it served as a better salve than those Krez had offered him, cooling his temper and setting in cold calculation in its place. Taking a deep breath he folded the letter up neatly and tucked it into his trousers, before turning to Kendrick.
"Saddle up two horses," he said. "We are going to Black River. Someone wants to meet us and I have a feeling the trip will be worth the trouble."

A/n:
Friendly reminder to self: do NOT pull off three all nighters in a row. Sorry for the late chapter guys. I promise I was writing but with another story budding I feel like I have to divide my attention between both of them. I did write more chapters of DaN and will post them as soon as I can bridge up the story between this and that event and trust me it is going to be HUGE. Stay tuned for more. Follow, vote and comment.
P.S: shout out to Ri! Happy belated birthday chapter. I know I am late but soon you'll have a bunch load of chapters. Thank you for threatening to torture me if I didn't write. 😂
Love you all!
-zed