Cinderella vs. Happily Ever After

Chapter 23

          Though their bodies were much better for having had a second night of rest in real beds, not even Isaac could clear the line of worry that had etched itself onto his forehead.   They ate breakfast in silence, collected their belongings and got themselves on the road just after the sun had fully cleared the horizon. Isaac allowed the silence to continue until they were out of the village then he turned to the other two. “Well, we all look like hell.”

            Valerie glared at him, eyes bloodshot. “We didn’t sleep much last night.”

            He snorted, the bags under his eyes puffy. “Neither did I. Nightmares are a bitch. Now before you get snippy, please remember we’re all a mess. This isn’t easy for anyone and taking it out on each other isn’t going to help us. And we need to focus on allies, not on worry over things we have no control over. In fact wasting time worry will keep us from being able to rescue everyone longer since we need a blasted army to get in.”

            She crossed her arms over her chest. “Just because you’re right doesn’t mean we’re going to be able to do it. It’s hard not to worry when you hear things like ‘everyone in the palace has been frozen solid’.”

            “You aren’t the only one who knows people in the palace, sweetie. So please don’t act like worry is your exclusive domain,” Isaac snapped.

            Valerie’s fists clenched and she opened her mouth to hiss a reply when just who it was that had snapped at her registered at her brain. She paid closer attention to him and repressed a wince. The bags under his eyes were dark as well as puffy and his hair was a mess. Given his habit of fixing her hair, that was a sign to her that something was wrong. “Isaac?” she asked, moving up and touching his arm. “Are you alright?”

            He looked down and saw new worry in her eyes. He sighed and ruffled her hair. “Sorry. Here I am asking you not to snip and I’m the first to do it. I suck.”

            “Something’s not right,” she said, putting her hand on top of his.

            “Val, we’re raising an army to go fight a bigger army so we can hopefully save our friends and not die in the process. Oh and we’re being hunted pretty much everywhere we go and there’s a psychotic fairy after us. Clearly nothing’s right and won’t be until we fix,” he said, slipping his hand out from underneath hers and tweaking the end of her nose. “So let’s concentrate on what we need to be doing, okay?”

            She nodded though she resolved to keep a closer eye on him. She realized she’d been taking his presence for granted, not bothering to see how he was holding up. The guilt boiled in her stomach but she did her best to push it away. All she could do now was make up for it.

            Silence came back and hovered over them for the next two hours, making all three of them uncomfortable. Sleepiness fogged their brains making it harder for them to think of something light to do or say to break the tension that was building. Just before they were ready to stop for lunch, something broke the silence for them.

            They had just patched a way marker telling them they had 4 versts to Frogswell, both of which confused Valerie, when they heard a scream. A moment of shock as they stared at one another was quickly replaced by all three of them running towards the scream. Valerie’s had dropped to the hilt of her sword and Miette pulled the knife she had only the roughest of training in the use of.

            They swung around a corner to a spot where the road widened out and saw bodies. Six of them. Two men wore what looked like a uniform, the rust colour hiding the bloodstains. The other four dead wore a mismatch of clothes and armour, mostly in shades of brown. Just behind the scattered bodies, a carriage of red and white lay on its side, one wheel still lazily spinning, the horses tethered to it rearing and whinnying.

            The screech of metal on metal sent them running around the carriage to find two men trying to fight off four, while a fifth was dragging a screaming woman by her arms. They separated without a word. Valerie and Miette running for the woman and Isaac, with a sudden roar to distract them, heading for the four men.

           

            Valerie drew her blade as they rushed, the man looking up just in time to drop the woman and jump back. She followed, leaving Miette to deal with the girl. She slashed out at the man but he parried it with one of the twin knives he pulled from the sheaths at his sides.

            She turned with the movement of the parry bring her sword whistling around from the other direction. He was forced to block, and she could feel the give in his defense. She pushed harder against it while kicked up at his hands.

            He pushed back against her sword but missed the foot until it slammed into his hands. He cried out, one of the knives falling to the ground as his fingers went numb. She followed up the attack, slicing across his throat as he fell back, his stance broken. He dropped, one hand pressed to his spurting neck. She ignored him, turning around to help Isaac.

            Not that he needed much. Two of the brown clad men were down, one’s neck very obviously broken, the other one with a sword still lodged in his chest. Isaac had moved back with the two men, one now holding a thick branch in place of his sword, the other panting as he swatted a knife away.

            Her eyes met Isaac’s and they each turned their attention to a different man. He lunged forward, ducking under the wild swipe of the man to come hurtling upwards with a right punch to the jaw. The man’s feet actually left the ground as blood came from the tongue that was half-severed by his teeth. He fell to the ground, unconscious and slowly drowning in his own blood.

            Valerie came up behind the man as he lunged toward the panting defender. She swung hard at his unprotected neck, feeling the tip of her sword slice through his flesh, only slowing when it met cartilage and stopping when it hit bone. In a practiced move, she yanked her blade out then stabbed it in through the uncut side of his neck to make sure he bled out swiftly.

            Pulling her sword out for the second time she glanced at Isaac. He nodded at their rescues who were standing staring around blankly. She nodded back. Time to see if they could revive them.