CARLIE: The Adventure Of A Lifetime

05 | the whole story

05 | THE WHOLE STORY

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      THE JOURNEY STARTS OUT QUITE WELL. KELLER hasn't chosen to ask about why we are going to Carveler mountain yet. He's been quiet, helpful and— after I tripped on a rock— made me get on the horse because he claimed the road was too rocky for me to walk. I was on the horse for a while until I got tired of not walking, I jumped off.

Oddly, it's not awkward at all to be walking with him. Maybe it's the small talk we engage in, that makes all this more comfortable. He asks about my hobbies, my likes and dislikes. Makes comments about the weather and after a good hour of walking through the forest, he finally clears his throat awkwardly.

"You most likely saw this question coming," he starts when we start to slow down near a clean stream. "Why are you going to Carveler?"

I bite my lip awkwardly and pull at the sleeve of my shirt.

"I will need to explain the full story to you." I tell him. "My life story."

I glance up at him to watch his facial expressions. I need to know if it's safe for me to start my story. I stop and take a seat on a large rock.

"My mother, princess Minerva, married Prince Hennessy and they were all happy and had three children." I glance at his face and he's raised his eyebrows. "A few years later, king Hennessy wasn't around ad much. So my mo— queen Minerva, got lonely and got together with the throne room sweeper. They fell in love and um... They got pregnant. The baby was me."

I pause as I feel a tear roll down my cheek and the pain that comes in my chest whenever I hear about my parents' story, comes to me. I hold onto my chest and swallow hard as if it will make the tears stop.

A warm hand finds its way to my back and starts to rub it sympathetically. I sadly smile at the kind gesture and look at Keller who has a kind look on his face.

"You don't have to tell me. I'm so sorry for making you." He says and he looks so empathetic.

"No, no. I want to tell you. You deserve to know why you're traveling so far." I say and slightly giggle but the tears are still slowly falling. "Well, the queen kept the baby and gave birth to her on the night that the crystal changed its color.

"And the legend has it that the bearer of the child or the child of the bearer has the power to perform powerful magic with the crystal. So I have to get it in order for my siblings to try and bring our mother back to life."

"But why does it have to be you and why does it have to be now?" He asks me carefully.

"Last night, I overhead my siblings talking about a plan to kill me," I slowly start. "But Brielle caught me listening and helped me get out of it. She told me to get the crystal in order to satisfy my siblings and have them leave me alone."

He's silent for a while and I'm sure he's trying to process all of this. It's far too much and I've kind of hit him with all this at once. He much be so overwhelmed.

"I had no idea that was what you were going through." He says. "I can't believe you're the half sister of my future queen."

I don't know what it is but I feel a little stab in my chest at the sound of that. I'm not sure if it's jealousy or maybe I'm just confused.

"That's me." I say and push a stray hair behind my ear. "I'm sorry for this sad story."

"Why are you apologizing? You're the one who's been through a lot and I should be sorry for putting you in this situation. I'm sorry for asking." He says.

I smile weakly and face him. "Okay, let's promise to stop apologizing to each other?" I ask.

"Sounds like a plan." He says and smiles back. "Do you need a hug?"

I shake my head but I guess I look horrible enough to not convince him. He wraps his arms around me and gives me a big hug.

"You're the strongest girl I've ever met, Carlie." He tells me.

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Keller and I sit for a while and stay in a comfortable silence. It actually feels so much better now that he knows the whole story but there's this small part of me that fears he will leave now that he knows who I am. And I don't want that to happen. I've learnt to enjoy his company on this journey and it will be horrible if he leaves. I just hope I didn't scare him away.

"Carlie," he starts as soon as we get up about to start walking again. I look up at him and give him a smile, encouraging him to keep going. "I need to get home. I don't think I can come with you on this journey."

My heart literally sinks to my stomach at his words. My biggest fear just played out. I should have never explained it to him. I don't even know what I was thinking.

"What?" I chock out.

"My um...parents don't even know where I am so I need to get back to eliminate that fear they must have. I'm terribly sorry." He tells me but avoids eye contact the whole time. "You can keep Tob. I'll get him back once you're done. He's super friendly and he will be a great help."

I look down but nod anyway. I might as well have the horse accompanying me. It's way better than nothing, right?

"Bye Keller." I say quietly then turn to get Tob so we can continue.

"Good luck." He yells behind me but I can't turn back and give him the smile he wants. Instead, I start to cry as I walk with the horse.

I know he wasn't in the original plan when I thought it the journey but it honestly hurts that my life story is what made him walk away from this. Maybe that's how my life will always be; people will walk away because I'm the product of the mistake that broke the royal family of Morderel apart. I hate to be negative but maybe I should have let my siblings kill me when they planned to. It would have been easier for us all.

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word count: 1101