Wake of Darkness [1]

Chapter Seven

♕ Goldcrest ♕

Heat covered every inch of her body. Aubrette opened her eyes, staring directly onto a cloudless sky, a thousand golden rays of sun forcing her to shut them instantly.

There was wood underneath her palms, but not the usual uneven raspy kind she was used to. This one was soft, plain, and pushing her forward. She could hear the rhythm of horses riding in unison, the clicking of metal on metal, soft voices that mixed with the strong blowing of wind.

Her hair was stuck into the sides of her face, the smell of mud mixing with her sweat as it dripped down her neck. The bottom of her feet burned with the slightest touch of the air, which blew into her face like a dragon breathing fire, but Aubrette did not care about any of that. All she could feel was the absence of coldness beneath her skin screaming at her that she was no longer home, and she hadn't been there for hours, maybe days.

She'd been talking to Mason, watching him leave... Aubrette tried to think about the last scrap of memory she could but all she could really focus on was the heat, sticking into her like a second layer of skin, along with the dryness of her throat that begged her for a drop of water.

When she finally could open her eyes again, it took her more than a minute to get used to the brightness, and then all she could see where trees, standing tall towards the sun. All of them were fully green, like there was no such thing as an autumn that forced their leaves to shift in color, or the next winter would not tear them away in a couple of moons. Maybe it wouldn't. Maybe they'd stand tall and green and rising forever.

Aubrette shifted her head slightly, careful to not make any sounds as she realized the metal came from the armor of guards around her, knocking against their swords as they rode beside her. She could hear her heart beating fast, the sound so strong inside her ears she could've sworn they'd hear her. However, they remained too preoccupied with their own thoughts to realized she'd awaken.

Looking around, Aubrette noticed that she'd been placed on a wooden wagon, the small surface moving unsteadily as the horse that dragged her shifted paths. She was being taken away. They were taking her away. It felt hard to breathe. It felt hard to think past the ache of her muscles, to try and settle into the unfamiliarity of the world around her.

"The queen had it coming" She heard them speak, laughter filling the air.

"I actually thought we were heading in for a fight" Another one said. "But there were barely any guards around" Aubrette felt her throat burning.

"The king was right, she ain't fit to rule" Aubrette buried her fingernails into her palms, hard enough that she almost pierced through her skin. "Not without the former king anyway, everyone knows she married him for the wealth"

Not caring to think twice about it, Aubrette stood on top of the wagon and jumped on to the horse in front of her. The guard on top of it barely got any time to react before she'd pushed him off the saddle, pulling the horse to the other direction without giving the rest of them time to move.

When the screaming started, she had already sprinted past them, but not nearly as fast as she could've. Aubrette turned around, watching the guards rush after her. Her eyes spotted the place where the wagon was tied into the saddle of her horse, its weight holding them back.

"For the love of Luna" muttered Aubrette as she pushed herself back into the horse.

Holding herself with as much strength as she could using solely her legs, Aubrette tried to unwrap the rope tied to the saddle. Her hands shaking as she finally got to untie the first side of it. Quickly, Aubrette moved to the next knot. The wagon flew from side to side. Her horse struggling further to keep its speed.