CROWNS I: Of Desolate Hope | ✔

34. What Jace Saw

Jace rubbed his sore eyes. He had been keeping watch for most of the night. The beckoning of the morning sun creeping up from beyond the horizon told him it was time to wake the others. Sluggishly, he propped himself up to his feet, stretched his aching arms and legs and went to find Sir Alen and Sara. I can't believe I miss the camp. For months, they had used the ruined building as a base of operations. When Jace had first arrived he hadn't known what it was: the walls were crumbling; the grass surrounding it was long, untamed and discoloured but the base of the site was huge. Small rocks and broken pieces of an unknown, surprisingly soft material were scattered around everywhere, leading Jace to assume that there had, at one point, been a large castle or fort of sorts standing there but now it was more like a large home. The gaping holes in the walls and ceilings had been covered with huge cloth sheets but as Jace walked beneath, droplets of water fell and crowned his head.

He soon found Sara and another woman in one of the rooms that still had semi-standing walls and part of a ceiling. First, he quietly woke the other woman up and whispered to her what he planned to do. She smirked as she watched him make his way for Sara. I'm definitely going to win this round. He drew back his arm like a bowstring and then brought it crashing into her shoulder. She jumped up, moaning and yelping and even muttered a curse that would have made Thom Percy blush.

"Just you wait, Jace Fran," she said angrily, all her words slurred from fatigue, "Just you wait! I'll get you when I'm next on watch duty. I'll get-"

Jace high-fived Abigail and ignored Sara threats. You say that all the time and I'm never half as scared as you are. Jace was very competitive when it came to the game and given that there were only five players he always considered himself the winner. The men on the other side of the ruins were particularly bad at being silent, every footstep could challenge a horse's hoof for the sound it makes. Nevertheless, Jace tended to act as if he couldn't hear them just so the game would last longer - it was one of the only things to do that far from another settlement, games and talking.

He waited for Abigail to tie her frizzy, black hair and for Sara to fully wake up. When they were done, they all left on a march to the men's half. Jace chose every step wisely so as to not step on any small stones or other nasty things. He had found out, the week prior, that they can cause quite the infection but fortunately for him, there was a special plant that grew in a forest glade east of the base that could cure such things. Before the injury, Jace had never heard of it and even now, still didn't know its name. Soon, they arrived at what might have once been a sizeable entrance hall but just like everything else, it was cold and broken. The only thing that remained intact was a set of stairs leading up to a hallway which was partially covered by cloth and other tied rags. It's always so quiet. The only other living things that stirred were a murder of crows noisily pecking holes in the makeshift roof. Not again... Jace didn't bother to try and shoo them away. The birds were different from the ones he often saw in Goodwood. They were dark purple rather than black, appeared to be slightly larger and had no fear of anything. Every animal Jace had encountered, however few that number was, seemed different from the ones he had been accustomed to seeing at home. They were all larger, noisier and acted strangely, preferring to attack the base rather than them. Instead, they would watch Jace and the rest of the band for hours from a distance. What is wrong with the lot of you?

The women overtook Jace, who was still staring at the crows and woke up Zachary and James with ease. Nash provide much more of a challenge because he was an extremely deep sleeper but nonetheless the joint effort of everyone poking him made it possible.

"Who's waking the commander?" asked Abigail, quietly.

"I most certainly won't," replied James, shaking his head vigorously. "Not a chance. I did it yesterday so it's someone else's turn." He turned to Jace.