Conquering The Unbroken

Chapter 39

We run until our legs collapse underneath us, our breaths ragged, and the wave of forest spreading out around us is foreign to eyes and ears. Fog hangs over the early morning air and disguises the trees to look like people. But when we run past, carrying an unconscious crown prince with us and a staggering Binx, now able to run on his own two feet, they don't move.

Every few minutes, I swear I hear the calling of a guard or the king's voice booming overhead as if he's flying in the sky. Those threats subside, only to return later.

Bren and Renit have taken turns carrying Silas's limp body over their shoulder and have even attempted to carry the unconscious prince between them like a log. That ended when Bren tripped over a rock and sent half the limp body flying under Renit's control and they stumbled into a stream, nearly drowning Silas.

From what I believe, we're headed north. I know that's the case when we come across a pond that signals the end of the river spreading across the entire kingdom, and all that remains is a faint trickle in the ocean's direction. We stop there, in the clearing surrounding the pond cast over with fog.

My legs collapse out from underneath me. Immediately, before he can do anything else, Renit drops Silas against a tree and ties his brother to the base with strips of rope pulled together with multiple, clunky knots. Silas's arms are then tied behind him, his ankles together, and Renit goes the extra mile to pin his brother's head against the trunk with a rope there, too.

Silas won't be able to move. It's exactly what we're hoping for.

I drop to my knees at the water's edge at the same time Tesha does the same. We cup the clear, cold liquid into our hands and drink as much as required to feel full again. I look down at my hands; the water casting a faint tint over my skin, and realize I'm covered in blood. Not my own. That of the guard I killed.

I suddenly lose my appetite to drink or eat anything, and I drop the remaining water back into the stream to scrub my hands. Blood leaks away, leaving nothing behind but clean skin, and I use the water to clean off the wounds on my neck. Silas drew blood, and from Tesha's careful stares over my neck, the bruising is visible.

The early morning hues will hide nothing.

Binx stumbles to the water's edge, panting. "I haven't run this much since the war," he says around a dry swallow. The water drips from his hands when he cups it within his brown palms and drinks as quickly and sloppily as he can. Droplets roll down his chin and stop at the lip of his leather armor, soaking into the chain mail underneath.

"I haven't run this much in my entire life," Tesha grumbles in return.

Everyone's cheeks are flushed. We can't breathe through our noses, our entire bodies are shaking, our legs are weak. No one wants to stand. I look behind me, to Renit sitting next to Silas's unconscious body, and Bren, his hands propped against his bent knees and his head thrown back against the trunk of a tree. He licks his dry lips and dips his head low, towards his hand, to remove the sweat-stricken strands of orange hair from his forehead.

This isn't over yet. We made it this far away from the capital, but the king could be right on our tails. The desperation to find the crown prince stretches farther than my disappearance or Binx's. This one, the prize we ripped from his bed, is not something the king will allow to happen without a detailed search. It's only a matter of time before they come marching through from all directions in search of Silas. And the amount of time for Silas to start screaming is even less.

He was unconscious the entire way here, but he'll wake at any moment. Once he realizes he's tied to a tree and the people surrounding him aren't the king or the king's men, he'll do everything it takes to get back to where he belongs. Where he thinks he belongs. At the king's side, in the castle, killing innocent witches and making the strong even stronger.