Songbird

Ch 7

Bae’s lucky that I know the castle so well.

He’s also lucky that I was so ready to trust him.

I still feel the drawback weight of the bow on my arm. I can still feel my even breathing, my relaxed yet firm stance.

I had been so close to killing Bae. Everything felt so natural. I can’t believe that it didn’t happen. I was so ready to put that arrow between his eyes, maybe a little too eager. Even though it is early spring, I feel a chill in the marrow of my bones.

Getting out of the castle was the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Learning a new song on the lyre is more difficult. Bae on my heels, I navigate the halls with such expert precision that a lantern to light the way is not needed.

Then there’s the matter of transportation. Bae picks the lock to the stables while I stand guard, my bow heavy in my hands. I’ve never owned a horse just for me and barely know how to ride. I can tell by the minor mistakes that Bae makes handling the horse he “borrows” that he doesn’t have much experience riding either, but he handles it with such confidence that even the horse seems to think that he’s done this a million times. He’s in total control.

My horse attempts to rid himself of me three times.

We’re in the forest, heading north, much to my distaste. I never liked the wood surrounding the fief very much. I wasn’t afraid of it, but I was a child void of curiosity. I sometimes saw my peers play with each other among the evergreens and small animals. I never found myself wishing to play with them. I felt tethered to my room, to my castle, and to my Grandmother. Even when I ran away, the path in the woods was just a road from point a to point b. I didn’t consider myself in the forest, just on a journey.

Now, it is a moment of self realization. I am on the run from something I don’t know. Even though my headache passed an hour ago, I can still almost feel the looming black presence. I’m also in a place I never thought I’d ever stay. The woods isn’t as frightening as my Grandmother illustrated it would be. There are shadows and there is darkness and there are things to fear, but the more beautiful aspects balance it out. Moonlight softly filtering through the green canopy, early spring flowers budding from the branches, and the quiet of a sleepy forest settling over me like a blanket, create a limbo-like place.

I can’t help but recall something my Grandmother told me years ago. If darkness is the absence of light, then the world will never see a truly dark day.

I find myself homesick already.

When it seems like we’re far enough from the fief and I’m sure it’s the farthest I’ve ever been in my entire life, I finally say something. It’s one word, very blunt, and very to the point.

“Explain.”

“Later,” he replies.

“Excuse me? I trusted you blindy. The least you could consider is-”

“I’m not going to sit you down in the middle of the forest and tell you the story. It’s long, okay?”

“No, Bae, it’s not okay.”

“Well, I don’t think you’ll believe me.”

“Really? Do you really think-”

“Wren, look. You won’t believe me. I haven’t exactly had to disclose this to anyone else before. I think you’ll be more comfortable if I bring you to someone who’s actually made sense of the situation to other people in the past.”

I’m silent for a moment. “So I’m not the first one?”

Bae raises his eyebrow in question. “What do you mean?”

“You just said…” I take a deep breath. “You just said that this person’s made sense of ‘this’ to other people before. So I’m just assuming that I’m not the first person you’ve abducted.”

His jaw drops a little. “No, it’s not like that,” he says, astonished. He pauses for a second, considering his words carefully. “A year ago, on my 16th birthday, I was going through a period of time in my life… similar to yours. I needed answer too, and this is the person who gave them to me. She’ll make things so much easier, I promise. And, plus, she knows way more than I do.”

“She? Who is she?”

Bae pauses again, but for a longer amount of time. I think he’s holding his breath. “I’ll tell you. But you have to swear to not ask anymore questions until we get there.”

I almost ask where we’re going when I stop myself. Grudgingly, I accept his request.

“She’s my mother.”

I have to bite my lip with exceptional force to keep myself from talking. I naturally assumed that like most illegitimate mothers, his had dumped him in the care of his extremely wealthy father and fled. Who could judge her? Even if Bae would grow up ostracized, it was easily the best option that could secure a good future for her son.

How could Bae know her? If she stuck around… I can’t imagine that the Duchess of Cornwell would be very pleased. If Bae’s mother did end up marrying his father, the fact that he was illegitimate at the time of his conception would be hardly relevant, especially with the resources his father has at his disposal to cover up the situation.

Bae leaves me to my thoughts. He avoids any conversation, so I don’t get any opportunity to slyly slip him a demand for more information. I wish he would say something, though, because after two hours, my bottom is sore and while this is the warmest night France has seen in months, it’s not warm enough for my tastes.

I must be hallucinating from my lack of sleep as well because the woods starts looking familiar.

“We’re here.”

Bae’s voice snaps me out of my drowsy half-awake-half-asleep faze. I was about to say something sarcastically back at him to let him know exactly how uncomfortable this all has been for me, but something stops me.

I’m looking at the cabin where stayed when I was a runaway.