Charmed

Chapter Seven

Something was draped around my waist, keeping me pressed against something warm. My eyes fluttered slowly open to reveal an arm, and that arm belonged to Darius. At some point in the night, our legs had tangled together and I'd been pulled back against his chest. His arm fitted around me comfortably. Although I knew that I probably should have pulled away, my eyes drifted shut again and I snuggled back to sleep for a good hour or two.

"Wake up sleepy bones!" a voice shouted in my ear.

I jumped and backed away, swatting the air. My hair was a tangled mess and I groaned before standing up. The horses were waiting patiently beside us. Darius handed me a small goblet and I eyed it cautiously.

"It's just water, Gwen," he told me, shaking his head with a smile. I drank it gratefully. "You really like to sleep, don't you?"

I scoffed, pushing my hair from my face and retrieving my bag. I tamed my hair before putting it into a single braid that fell down my back. "Well, I don't get as much sleep with all of your chores piled on top of me. I take what I can get."

He chuckled and handed me Talia's reigns. I didn't wait for him to help me to climb up onto her back this time. I settled comfortably, my mind wandering to when I woke up this morning. Darius had either removed his arm from me before he woke up or saw what had happened and had decided not to mention anything.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he mumbled. He opened his bag and pulled out a lengthy red cloak. I stared at it in awe - it was beautiful. He walked over so that he was eye level with my knee. "This is for you."

I glared down at him. "No."

"What?"

"I really appreciate it, but no thank you," I said firmly. A hurt expression crossed his face.

"Don't you like it?"

"Of course I like it! It's beautiful!"

"So what's the problem?"

I sighed and licked my lips nervously. "Darius, Lisa already thinks that I'm sleeping with you for new shoes. I don't want to keep getting new things and give her more fuel to the fire, so to speak."

He rolled his eyes. "Who cares? Claude packed this for you, anyway. She knew you'd be freezing in that scrap you call a cloak, and she was right."

I narrowed my eyes at him but he seemed to be telling the truth. It wouldn't be the first time Claude had given me something that I didn't need or ask for, but I appreciated it nonetheless. I took it gently from him, removing my cloak and replacing it with the new red one. I noticed the change immediately. It was much warmer, almost like it trapped the heat.

"See," Darius said as he climbed onto Chuck's back. "Better."

I rolled my eyes and gently nudged Talia so she would walk. He laughed at me, a glint in his eye. Chuck suddenly began galloping, and I knew what he was doing. He wanted to race me. I was more than happy to play along. Talia sped up, immediately catching up with Chuck. Soon, we were racing each other towards Bourbon, our laughter echoing along the hills beside us.

~~

Bourbon was very different to Glydale. For one, I noticed how much colder it was here. Snow covered the horses' hooves as we plodded along the road that led to the castle. Even the castle seemed colder; the white dusting of snow made it look like it was made of ice. Guards were huddled around fire pits in an attempt to stay warm. Darius and I were approached by two guards who took the horses' reigns after we'd slipped off of them. They led Chuck and Talia towards what I presumed was the stables as another guard marched up to us.