Follow the Arrow

Chapter 12

I freeze, not daring to look up. Could I really be losing it and I only thought I heard his voice?

"Orchid?" he repeats, a little stronger.

I lift my head and look at him. To my great relief, his garnet eyes are looking back. "Zane?" I finally let the tears loose. He sits up, and looks at me concerned. I try to laugh it out though. "See what you've done?" I gesture out the door. "They've never made me cry. But look at me. Seeing you open your eyes brings me to tears. Even when I've been through far worse." Zane still looks worried. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Really. I should probably cry more often anyway. It's unhealthy bottling it all up."

His eyes dart around the place, lost. "Where are we?"

I squeeze his hand, trying not to smile quite yet. "My room. We're at my village."

"Your village?"

"Yes, my village. The one I told you about. Remember?" I wipe my eyes. "We made it. We're safe, Zane. They didn't come after us this time."

"We made it?" the wizard repeats as if he had heard me incorrectly. I nod, making a couple more tears fall, but I quickly catch them with my sleeve. Slowly a smile curls on his lips, allowing me to smile, and before I realize it, he pulls me into his lap for an embrace. It catches me off guard, but it's a celebratory moment, so I won't make things awkward. If anything, I should hug him back because apparently us making it out of whatever we were in is a big deal. And I do, right around the neck, smiling at the joy in his voice. "We made it! We made it! We made it and we're both alive!"

"Yeah, all thanks to you!" Or that's what I'm assuming. "And we never have to go back!"

That last comment really sends him over the top. I don't think I've ever seen my blue haired friend so happy. "I can't believe it, Orchid! We got out!" Zane hugs me closer, which is again, catching me off guard, but again I don't want to make things awkward. But then he cranes his neck to kiss me right on the cheek. I quickly loosen my arms, and when I look up at him to express my utter confusion, he kisses my forehead too. And he's leans down one more time, but I have to stop this.

I lean and push away. "Zane?" I ask shyly, feeling the blush coming on. "What are you doing?"

He stops and looks me in the eye, still in the control of the happiness. But then the smile melts away and his eyes flicker up to my head band, and he gets the idea. His arms drop and his eyes avert to the floor, and he's blushing as he's never blushed before. "Oh, I'm-I'm so sorry. Pardon me. I think- I think I just got, um, caught up in the moment. I'm sorry." He extracts me from his lap, than stands up and starts pacing.

How did things get so awkward, so quickly? He's been awake one minute. I look away too, tucking a loose hair behind my ear. "It's a, uh, honest mistake, Blue." The words just don’t do it again are perched on my lips, but don’t come out.

He stops pacing. "But-but there's something you should know." I'm surprised by the sudden strength in his voice, causing our eyes to meet. I raise my eyebrows, and he blushes yet again. "It's very, erm, important. And it's that I, um, I..."

"I know you're a prince," I finish for him. "I remember that. What I don't remember is anything from this past month. Apparently I completely missed it. I woke up in the snow this morning, thinking it was just last night that we were being chased by those guards, that just two nights ago we jumped from that waterfall, but my step-sister tells me that was a month ago. A month!"

"You don't remember anything from this past month? At all?" He sounds so... disappointed.

"Yeah, I've got nothing. I don't recall a thing. Do you remember anything?" Zane looks like he doesn't want to answer. That can't be good. "Please, tell me you remember what happened. Please, Blue." He runs a hand through his hair, but still says nothing. I slap my hands to my face and lay back on my bed. "Ah, no! If your head's been tampered with too, I think I'll just jump out my window because I can't take-"