Forever Green

~34 ~ An Unexpected Summons

The sun had barely risen above the rooftops when Theiden was awoken by a scream. He stumbled out of bed and snatched the hunting knife from his nightstand before running down the hall to his daughter's room.

With a single shove of his shoulder against the door, he burst into the room and looked around for the danger.

Em was tangled up in her sheets, eyes closed and a frown creasing her forehead in sleep.

"Please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me!" she begged, tossing and turning as the blankets further tangled and restricted her movements even more.

"Em!" Theiden rushed to kneel at his daughter's bedside and dropped the knife on the floor.

"Em, wake up!" he urged, gently shaking her shoulders. "It's only a dream."

Em's eyes opened with a gasp, and she looked around the room fearfully before settling her gaze on her father.

Her lower lip trembled. "Papa..."

"Shh, it's all right," he said, holding her as she sat up and began to cry into his shoulder. "It was just a bad dream."

Face still buried against his shirt, Em vehemently shook her head.

"It wasn't," he muffled voice protested. "It was the witch cursing me again."

Theiden rubbed her back comfortingly. "That's all in the past," he said.

Slowly, Em raised her head. "Papa, the witch is so scary. How did you survive?"

Theiden took a breath and pulled her back so he could look at her. "She's not all that bad, once you get to know her," he said. "Some of the witches, like Lenesa, are actually working to protect us from the real monsters in the forest. But when you met her, she had to pretend to be mean to scare you back home, since you were misbehaving."

Em frowned again. "Why didn't she just ask me nicely to go back instead?"

Theiden raised his eyebrows. "Would you have listened?"

"I—" Em paused, then let out a grumpy huff. "Hide and seek is no fun if you can't find the other person. Once I found Helaine, I would have gone home."

"And how long would that have taken, hmm?" Theiden asked, gently tapping her nose. "Long enough for a wolf to eat you?"

"Papa!"

Theiden's teasing tone turned serious. "Emmaline, while I am relieved that you are safe and I've missed you so much, I am still very disappointed in you. You disregarded my warnings and directly disobeyed your grandmother's orders to stay inside the city when you left to go play with Helaine that afternoon. You're lucky that Lenesa only gave you a scare. Much worse things could have happened."

Em's young mind was still in denial. "I would've been fine, Papa!" she insisted.

"And is Helaine fine?" Theiden snapped.

Em's eyes widened and for the first time reflected a bit of fear at the possibility of what Theiden already knew to be true. "She'll show up soon...you did..."

Theiden shook his head. "You don't understand, Em," he said. "The forest is a dangerous place. Lenesa saved you by scaring you back home that night. Not everyone has a happy ending after venturing outside the city. Your mother's fate should have taught you that."

Em's lower lip trembled, and her eyes began to water. "Then why'd you have to go leave?" she protested. "You left me and Grandma all alone! Everyone was so mean to us, and we were hungry!"