[DISCONTINUED] Protector (Zane X Reader) Book 2

Chapter 11

Your P.O.V

The clothes I was wearing were foreign to my body. I tugged at the hem of the shirt, which barely reached the rim of the pants, and crossed my arms over my chest to survey the boots that went to my knees. I had been given a jacket for my journey, and it was made of fine leather with cotton on the inside. My belt was decked out with weapons and I had decided to slice off a piece of Janna's dress to attach it to my belt as sort of half skirt, to remind me of what I never wanted to become.

Aphmau's face of confusion as I cut the fabric was still felt fresh in my mind. Even my reassuring smile didn't wipe the look from her face, so she left the room. The guards were too scared to do anything other than attend to her every beck and call and worship the ground she walked on, so we had been given the finest rooms in the lord's house and Aphmau made the executive decision to appoint Hailey as the new lord.

"I'm sorry if those clothes aren't really your style." A voice said from behind me. I turned over my shoulder slowly to meet Aphmau's gaze. She walked inside and closed the door behind her. She was wearing a pale red dress with long sleeves and a slim fitting skirt. I wanted to say something witty, like 'you look good for being possessed by an all powerful goddess yesterday', but I couldn't.

She surveyed my body and smiled. "The clothes suit you though. If you want, I can request to have you some armor. But it'll take a day or two for it to be finished." I nodded, and her smile faded.

"What's wrong? You haven't said a word since..." she trailed and looked down, before looking back up. In the softest whisper, she asked, "What did she do to you?"

I was kind of shocked, and then I gave a sad smile and looked at the ground. I rummaged in my pocket and pulled out a scroll. She took it silently, then unrolled it. On it was a long letter describing Emmalyn's current physical mental state as well as the last place I had been with her and where I think she might be going.

Aphmau's eyes welled as she read line after line, and I bit my lip when she looked up at me. "This- This is... wow." I nodded and walked up to her.

Then, I plucked the paper from her hands and turned it over. On the back was one line of words, and I slowly pointed to it. Her eyes followed the direction, and widened.

Also, sorry for not saying anything earlier. I'm sure you had your suspicions, and it's true, my tongue is gone. Janna ripped it out.

Her eyes watered again. It was terror, absolute horror. As if she couldn't believe such cruelty could be possible and when she'd considered the possibility earlier at the wedding she hadn't wanted to believe it. But I was now living proof of it.

We weren't emotionally close enough for her to hug me, but I'm sure she wanted to.

"Thank you." She said.

I nodded and walked past her.

-+~+-

I had been riding this horse for hours now, and my ass was starting to hurt, but I knew I was close to the village where I'd left Zane and Emmalyn. In what direction, I couldn't say. All the trees looked the same, and it was getting dark now, so I couldn't even use the sun for the cardinal points.

Just when I thought all hope was lost and I would need to camp out for tonight, a smell wafted past my nose. It was faint, and I barely detected it through the sent of the wilderness, but it was there. Smoke. Something was burning.

I lifted my head as high as I could and inhaled deeply. To my relief, another fume went into my lungs, and I whipped my head to the left. It's coming from over there...

I steered the horse and snapped the reins. He went galloping through the brush and I bent down to avoid the branches I was level with. A million thoughts were running through my head as the smoky scent became stronger. But as it grew and grew and grew, it dawned on me that this wasn't just some family cooking dinner. Clouds of smoke came into view;  reaching high into the air and blending against the night sky.