A Kingdom of Bones

IV | four

I take a detour through the woods, coming up from the back of the battle. Here, the sounds of clashing metal and dogs snarling is much louder, but the screaming, however, stopped a while ago, no longer prompting my impromptu trudge through the woods. Now I am thinking of how dangerous my rash decision is. Not only did I leave Celeste behind, but I took off in the woods towards a war between heavily armed men and skilled warriors without so much as a knife.

My hands shake at my sides as I try to form a plan. I refuse to turn back now. This is what I wanted, no matter how much more terrifying it seems up close. At least without a weapon.

I look along the forest floor, searching for something, anything, to use against the knights. The only thing I see besides frail sticks is a giant rock. I grab it and continue in the direction of the fighting.

As I break through the trees, I start to actually see what is going down. It is a blurred mess of people with at least twenty knights to our twelve Freemen, but here and there I catch a glimpse of West and my mother. Seeing her, uninjured and fighting, steadies my heart rate. It wasn't her who screamed.

The knights have abandoned their horses, left them up against trees. The robed men have as well, having got on foot to join in the battle. It would be hard to fight on horseback in the middle of the forest, even if it isn't a very dense patch. So instead, the knights are cornering the robed men on foot. The Queen's hounds, only five, are distracted with fighting our people's own dogs. It's a whirlwind of blood and silver and black, with the knights seemingly overpowering the robed people. The Queen really did not want to take any chances losing us it seems.

"Is mother all right?" Celeste's voice makes me jump and drop the rock. I curse myself and bend to pick it up, turning to glare at my sister. She always moved so silently, much like our mother.

"What are you doing?" I whisper harshly, grabbing her by her wrist. She returns the glare and yanks her hand free.

"I'm helping. We were both taught to fight, Alycia, not just you," she gestures towards the woods, looking towards the chaos with a worried expression, "Besides, it looks as if they can use our help."

"And what will you do, Celeste? You have no weapon."

She raises an eyebrow and looks at the rock in my hand. "And you do?"

"It's better than my bare hands." I counter, narrowing my eyes.

"Look, we don't have time to argue. I'm helping you. We need a plan."

"Celeste—" I begin in an annoyed tone, trying my best to keep my voice down, even as I'm talked over by Celeste.

"You will not convince me to go back, just like West couldn't convince you." she says, balling her hands into fists. Her tone is laced with resolve and I know she will not budge on her decision. Not unless I knock her out with the rock in my hand.

I tighten my fingers around my make-shift weapon, "Fine," I snap, turning my gaze back to the fighting. It has gotten more intense during our argument and the bodies of the living have lessened while the limp corpses on the ground at their feet grow. The losses on both sides seems near equal, but the knights still slightly outnumber the Freemen.

"There are a lot of them," Celeste whispers, almost to herself, before turning to me, "I can try to draw some—"

"No, absolutely not." I interrupt her, latching onto her elbow in case she decides to bolt.

"It could work."

"Or it could get you killed." I snap, tightening my fingers around her arm. She tries to shake my hand off.