Dragon Matchmaker

Chapter 13

   Kinsey rushed to the door of the mess hall and was about to shove it open when someone came out. Aldwin yelled as she pummeled into his chest, knocking him back into the door jamb. "Kinsey? What's wrong?"

   She bit back the tears of panic and grabbed his hand. "We need to get out of here. I'll explain later."

   He hid his confusion and followed her down the hall. They made it out to the courtyard and when Kinsey closed the gate behind them, Aldwin grabbed her arm, wrenching her around. "Alright. Now what's wrong with you?"

   She sobbed and tugged him into the woods. "Audrey's evil. He only married me to become king. He said that if I didn't marry him, he'd kill you."

   She tugged him further into the woods, but she was yanked back as he grabbed  her wrist. The expression on his face was filled with both confusion and surprise. "You married that bastard just to protect me? Why?"

   Kinsey sighed and looked into his eyes, seeing the hidden emotion behind his confusion. Hope. He was silently hoping she'd give him the answer he craved. Before she could answer, they both heard the bells start ringing inside the walls, rousing the soldiers. There was no time to waste. "I'll explain later. We need to go. Who knows what he'll claim happened. He may say you stole me. Let's move."

   He eagerly did as she asked and they covered ground quickly, putting plenty of ground between then and the castle. The rumble of thunder ahead caused Kinsey to look up and she saw that it was raining heavily in the distance. "We need to find some cover quick. Some very well hidden cover."

   He nodded and they ran further, scanning every nook and cranny for a place to hide. Soon it began to rain and her frustration rose with her fear. If they couldn't find a place to hide, they were sitting ducks in the storm. The good thing about the rain was that it mixed with her tears and hid them from Aldwin's sight. Not that it really mattered, but she didn't exactly want him to see how upset she was getting.

   When she thought the weather couldn't get any worse, the sky fell open and the real downpour began. She stopped searching and shook her head, holding back sobs. "It's useless. Well never find a cave or anything."

   As soon as she spoke, he grabbed her elbow and hoisted her towards a very large oak tree to the side. "Grab my shoulders."

   She cocked her head, but did as he said, grabbing hold of his lean shoulders, trying to keep hold of his slippery leather vest. He pulled two knives from his belt and sank one into the tree. He stabbed the next one in above it and pulled himself up, climbing the trunk easily, even with her sprawled over his back. She grunted and clung to him, trying not to slip off.

   He eventually got them up into the fork of the tree and he pulled a small ball of twine from his pocket. He reached up and grabbed a handful of branches, shaking the water off of them and tying them together above them. He added several branches to the collection and he eventually had a decent roof for them. He sighed and hunkered down, pulling his bag closer and rummaging through it. "You're lucky I had my bag with me. Or we'd be in serious trouble."

   From his bag, he pulled a blanket and a large piece of waterproof leather. He flung the leather over the leaves that served as their roof and so now there were no leaks dripping onto them. Kinsey smiled. "Wow. You're really good at that. Gypsy skill?"

   He chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. We learn how to do that early on since the safest place to hide from authorities is in trees."

   She nodded and yawned, laying down in the flatter part of the tree. It wasn't comfortable on her back and she rolled around, trying to get comfortable. Aldwin chuckled off to the side and lifted her up, sliding himself into the same spot and laying her on top of him. His broad shoulders filled the spot better and so it probably didn't hurt him as much. Once she was settled on his stomach, he threw the blanket over them and then rested his arms over her back. Before they fell asleep, he glanced down and met her eyes. "Earlier, before we had to run, why did you marry Audrey for me?"

   He got no response. She had fallen asleep, leaving him to stew over his own thoughts.

   The next morning, Kinsey awoke to a small drip of water in her ear. She rubbed her ear and shook her head, feeling the drop come again a few second  later, but with the drop, came a shifting of something below her. She lay still, but her palms pushed down on what she was laying on. It obviously wasn't the tree, but what was it? She glanced up and met Aldwin's smiling face. "Morning sleepyhead."

   Kinsey sat up and rubbed her eyes, the night before coming back to her in a flash. Aldwin sat up below her, but as he tried to get out from under her, his hand slipped  on the wet tree and he fell back. This threw off her balance and she ended up crashing down into his chest. He grunted, but when his hands met her arms, they paused and lingered, holding tightly as he stared up at her face. She licked her lips bashfully and sat up again, getting off him quickly. "We should get moving again."

   "Well, where're we going? First question."

   She sighed and shook her head. "I guess if we can find Ceruleo, he can protect us."

   "I thought he hated me."

   "No. He just thought you were gonna hurt me at first, but he saw something in you that he liked."

   Aldwin sat up and glanced at her, scanning her body quickly. "What did he see?"

   Kinsey shook her head. "That's all I could make out, but he likes you now. End of story."

   She didn't feel ready to tell him about why Ceruleo liked him. She didn't know whether she liked him back or not, but as she helped him fold the blanket, she saw something in his eyes that she'd completely overlooked.

   Whenever he wasn't looking at her with that boundless hope, his eyes were filled with nothing but loneliness. He may have been born to gypsies, but he was lonely and wanted someone in life. It made her upset to think about his story, combined with the fact that he had to watch as she was engaged to some other man. That must've hurt to see that. He sighed and gestured to the ground. "Well, let's go."

   He grabbed her around her waist and swung down, grabbing branches and leaping to others as he descended through the branches, way too fast for her to comprehend. She clung to his neck as he hit the ground, straightening up quickly. She nervously set her feet down and timidly let go, but he kept a hold of one of her hands. "I need to ask. What would been worse for you? Marrying him, or watching me die?"

   "I thinks it's pretty obvious since I married him."

   He nodded and she watched as some of the loneliness in his gaze drifted away, replaced by another small ounce of hope. He was obviously in love with her. If he wasn't in love with her, then she didn't know what was going on in his head.