The Last Princess [EDITED]

Chapter 19

"That...was awful." Maple groaned, bending over and clutching her stomach.

I wasn't much better, even though I'd done it once. Birch had flung us through the trees for so long I had begun to wonder if we'd ever reach. But we did. And I could easily ignore my nausea at the sight of our camp.

It was horrible.

The camp had been ransacked. We were in the tents' area, where the strategy meetings used to take place. Tents were lying on the ground, muddy and torn, boot prints all over them. We gazed ahead, horrified, because without the tents we could see the cottages where the families of the rebels used to live.

There were many others around us, staring with shock at what was once their home.

Birch moved first.

He sprinted ahead, followed by Aiden, and Arden, then Maple and I. Birch stopped at his cottage and glanced back at me. "Be careful. They could have left a trap here."

We nodded, and he cautiously pushed the door, which was hanging on one hinge, open.

I swallowed.

The sofas were overturned. The dining table had fallen sideways on the floor because two of its legs had broken off and were lying on the floor near it. One curtain was torn but hanging. The other was on the floor. The kitchen was a disaster area, with utensils and food everywhere. We turned to the hallway where our rooms had been, and I felt like closing my eyes to avoid looking at the mess.

We went to my room first. I flinched. It was as destroyed as the rest of the house. We moved on quietly, to the other rooms.

We walked through the house but didn't find anything out of the ordinary. If you can call the ruining of a house nothing out of the ordinary. I tried to ignore the flashes of grief that occasionally passed over Aiden's and Arden's faces.

Aiden hid it well, but I could see how disturbed he was. Arden, however, didn't seem able to conceal how he felt. Every time I saw, a pang of sorrow hit me hard.

Once we were out, Birch said "Come with me." We walked back towards the tents, giving me plenty of time to see all the damage. Every house was destroyed like Birch's. I felt so guilty I could hardly breathe.

Because of me, this whole camp had been destroyed, we were refugees in another rebel camp, and elves could have died. It was all my fault. Just then, Aiden passed me. When he was next to me, in that one fraction of a moment he murmured, "It's okay now. Stop thinking about it, it's over."

I stared at him in surprise as he passed ahead. He glanced back once as he passed me, and in his eyes, I saw neither reassurance nor blame. Just acceptance. Then Arden and Maple appeared on either side of me, and he looked back front.

"So, what really happened in the attack?" Arden asked.

"We were just eating when someone knocked on the door. He said that Ivy - the Queen - was attacking. I went with Aiden and your mother, father and sister went another way."

"And you're telling me that you just walked to the next camp, no attacks or anything?" He asked, sounding concerned.

I glanced at both of them once. I thought it was best to remain silent. Arden apparently took this as a no. "What happened?"

"Ivy," I answered. He nodded slowly. Maple glanced at me once, guiltily, before looking away.

By then, we had reached a large tent. Birch and Aiden walked in and came out with weapons and - staffs.

"We don't have enough weapons in the other camps?" Arden asked. Aiden dumped some staffs in my arms and went back in for more.

Birch shook his head. "We're lucky the soldiers didn't find these - we hid them safely. We need as much as possible."