The Flight of the Eagle (Editing)

The Plan

I'd made it back to GoldenGale before anyone had noticed. Quickly, I dressed in a black outfit before sneaking over to Clan Raine. Lyanna's dress had to be put back before she noticed.

The only person up was Amannah. She was getting the morning tea ready. I placed the dress in Lyanna's trunk. The dress that I had made love to Brynjor in. Twice. I still couldn't believe it. No matter what happened to me, I would never regret that time with him.

"Is everything okay?" Amannah asked, gesturing to the trunk.

"Yes. Just needed to put back a dress I'd forgotten about." Too scared to share what I'd done, even with her. I would never breathe it to another soul. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Honestly, they treat me a lot better when you're not around. I think they do it to make you upset." She set the teakettle over the fire in the center of the red tent.

"No doubt." I agreed. My family loved to hurt me. Wish I knew why. I crossed my arms over my chest, the black sleeves throwing me off every time I saw them. "Have you heard any of their plans?"

She looked over her shoulder before coming close to me, "You need to be careful, Sapphire. I don't know why, but they hate you and I think that at the end of all this, they will kill you."

I gave my best friend a tight hug. Her words settled into my body, feeling right. Somehow I'd known that I would never be free, that my fate was sealed since I saw letter addressed to me. Even Herald had warned me to be careful, but I never listened to anyone, always running back to my family, hoping this time they'd love me.

"Just take care of yourself. Things are changing." I warned her. It was all I could do without speaking about things I shouldn't. The bell outside dinged, which had us both jumping.

Amannah went to check on who it was as Lyanna opened the flap to her sleeping area. "Who is it?"

"The young High Lord." Amannah said, "He's looking for Sapphire."

I nodded. "Yeah, I left the castle and didn't tell anyone. He probably thinks I ran away or something."

The sun had finally risen in the sky, but the fog still covered the ground. He stood there with the new black fur that covered his chest. His hair no longer messy from last night. I could make out one little mark on his stomach, though.

"When I saw you were gone..." He looked at Clan Massey's tent.

"No!" I shook my head. "I just had to drop something off here. I've not even been to his tent." It was hard not to press myself against him, kiss him, simply touch him again.

"Good." He breathed out in relief. "I really don't want you doing that for me."

"I'll do what I have to." I reminded him, "It's not all for you. You'll be a better High Lord than him. So I'm doing what's best for the country."

"This is why I like you," He shook his head, "Most people don't care about anyone other than themselves. You're about as selfless as they come."

"No." I had been so selfish last night. "I have my moments." I crossed my arms over my chest.

Lyanna pushed out of the tent, her eyes lighting up when she saw Brynjor. "My Lord! What a lovely surprise."

Oh no. My eyes widened. Last night he'd told me to call him by his name... Lyanna would've taken advantage of that. I snapped my eyes to Brynjor, but he only smiled at my sister, kissing her hand. "I couldn't stay away from you if I tried."

He didn't even seem to notice. Was I just jumpy? I rubbed at my arm. "Well, I'll just leave you two lovebirds alone." Quickly, my feet carried me to Clan Massey's tent. Behind me, Lyanna said, "I love your new fur. When did you get it?"