Blood Ties

Chapter 22

"Get up."

The rude command slowly dragged Star out of her alcohol-induced slumber, and although the amount she had consumed was small, her head pounded from it. Her wounded leg burned, and she missed the calming factor of the tranquilitas. The woman hovering above her swam in her blurry vision, so she blinked the sleepiness from her eyes and attempted to focus.

"I'm Bella. Pleased to meet you, princess." Bella placed her hands on her hips, a smirk spreading across her smug face. "Very, very pleased."

Star cleared her throat a few times so not to embarrass herself with her raspy voice, and then she replied, "Um, yeah." Wincing at the extent of her early-morning wit, she struggled to her feet, favoring her injured leg. "Why is it so early?"

"It's a few hours before dawn," Bella responded with a relaxed sort of voice, "Not all that early." She waited a few moments to see if Star would laugh, and when she found the younger girl would not, she laughed herself. "Ask my man. We've got to leave early, but I don't know why."

"Mm," came the nearly unintelligible answer. Star yawned an earsplitting yawn and leaned against the tree, closing her eyes. Maybe she could catch a few more minutes of sleep before...

"Come on, then," Bella ordered, "can't keep Si waiting." She jerked her head in the direction of the assembled crew and sashayed towards them herself. Star had no choice but to follow, so she did so, albeit reluctantly. Every step she took caused her to flinch, her leg throbbing in time with her head. She spotted Marco in the small crowd, and she hurried over, glad for a familiarity among the strange, harsh faces. Marco half-smiled at her, the smile immediately fading as the leader, Silas, began to speak.

"Friends, I hate to tell you," he started, a rare serious expression on his face, "But we are going to have to travel continually in order to outrun the search party. Yes, we're being followed. They've also gone by boat to tell of our departure, and while this way is somewhat faster, it's not fast enough at the pace we normally go. Sorry, mates, less sleep, more walking. Let's get started."

The group disassembled, trusting the word of their leader without question, and began to pack up their belongings. Star watched the bustling company with wide eyes, hating the very idea of so much travel.

Within minutes, they had begun their journey through the dark and probably dangerous woods. The trees were so thick and the bushes so thorny Star didn't know how they would make it through soon enough to sate Silas. She remained close to Marco and limped along, quickly falling to the back of the company due to her leg.

"You can go on ahead. I'm too slow," she panted, wiping sweat from her brow and pausing for a moment's rest.

Marco shook his head, his brows lowered. "Never. No one's supposed to travel in this forest –it is, by rights, Faerie territory. They love the dark and a lot of them hate humans." His voice was nearly silent, as though he were afraid to be overheard.

Her eyes widened and she glanced around, shuffling closer to him. "So that's why we're not being watched. They know we aren't going to run off into this forest."

"Exactly," he deadpanned, his eyes glued on the backs of the crowd in front of them. "We're trapped."

"You're also going way too slow," Bella said, suddenly appearing directly before them. "In a hurry, remember?" She shook her long, thick locks, clicking her tongue in feigned sympathy. "Silas is going to get mad..." she lilted in a singsong voice.

Star opened her mouth to reply, but Marco's temper beat her to it. He snapped with an emphatic roll of his eyes, "You shot her with an arrow, and now you wonder why she's going to slow? Really? You stultus."