Into the Land of Valentia

Chapter the Nineteenth

XIX

It was quite dark by the time Narick replaced the strap to the canteen back on his shoulder, but he assured Vivica and Cayden that the lack of visibility would not deter him. If anything, he had found new motivation. They did not spend much time on farewells before he was picking his way through the rocks and mud that lined the riverbank, on his way to find the magus.

"He took to Garrett's being a unicorn quite well," Vivica commented, watching as his silhouette melted into the darkness. 

Garrett neighed and butted his head up against her side, almost throwing her off balance. "Don't begin to suggest I didn't take to it well. I just found out I have an entire family out there that I didn't know about before. All because of fairies." He snorted in irritation.

Vivica carefully didn't mention how the unicorns had only sought out the fairies' help because humans had begun toying with the idea of hunting them in the first place. In any event, the fairies really were largely responsible. 

"Ouch!" Garrett jerked forwards. Cayden moved from around the stallion's other side to hold up a dark grey hair. "You could have asked."

"Sorry." Cayden patted him on the muzzle in an attempt at an apology. "You are a unicorn, though, right?"

Garrett flicked his tail. "How should I know? I speak, don't I?" Huffing, he trotted off, presumably in search for somewhere to rest for the night. "Of all the questions. . ."

Having stood throughout the explanation of Garrett's speaking abilities, the following conclusion that he must be a unicorn, and Narick's departure, Vivica felt an ache grow in her injured ankle. "I think now may be a good time to set up for the night. Would you like me to take first watch?" 

After countless nights of sitting watch without any real danger occurring—barring the one night when Cayden had woken her to announce that Garrett had vanished, which had turned out to be the stallion wanting to stretch his legs—the night watch had become an easy job that meant staying awake for several hours and watching the greenery shift in the breeze. Yet setting up shifts was never forgotten.

"No, it's alright." 

Vivica started to leave when she saw Cayden lift his shirt over his head. The blinding white of the cloth strips wrapped around his torso stood out in the gathering gloom of the night. She could see the rust red of blood staining the spot over his cut. She switched direction.

"Let me check that for you," she said, kneeling before him with difficulty. She made a gesture indicating he should sit, which he did after a second's hesitation. She unwound the makeshift bandages and surveyed the wound. "It doesn't look like you need this wrapped anymore. The bleeding has stopped, and the only reason we covered it in the first place was to—"

"I was worried." Cayden interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. He barrelled on before she could say anything. "When I broke through the meadow grass and saw Garrett in the river with you nowhere in sight, I was scared. I thought for certain that you had drowned, and that I was too late to save you. Or that even if I was in time, I wouldn't be able to pull you out."

Vivica assumed he was referring to how his injury from the fight with the thieves might have slowed him down. She didn't have time to voice her thoughts on anything before he continued, shifting his body to the side so that her fingers were no longer grazing his abdomen. She hadn't realized they were still lingering there, just over the reddened and puckered cut.

"But that was only a culmination of the strains you've been putting on me. When we were attacked by the thieves, and you only stood there as two of them rushed you. . . Leaving Narick to fight alone without a weapon didn't even crossed my mind until later. Especially knowing that the only reason you were so defenceless at that time was because you had sold the rights to your vision for this quest. For me." Cayden raised a hand to his hair and ran shaky fingers through his brown locks. His dark blue eyes locked onto her, conflicted but resolute. "I have to marry Princess Aimee, but I want you."