A Betrayal of Faith ✔

THIRTEEN: The Woods Beyond

Nerin rubbed his tired eyes with the heel of his palm. He'd gotten very little sleep the night before. Princess Sharina had kept them moving constantly as they tried to find a way out of Ishmar. He'd never gone so long without sleep and walking was becoming an effort. But he understood the Princess's need to escape. It was also his need.

He could have easily left them at any time during the night, found the nearest guard and demanded to be taken back to the palace to sleep. But he didn't want to see his brother. His brother the murderer. His brother the traitor. Nerin didn't want to look into his eyes and see the monster he really was.

He'd been blind to it. Somehow, he hadn't seen what his brother had been trying to do. Not until it was too late anyway. And even then it had taken Isiah confronting him about it for him to actually do something. He'd been so sure that Harudan wouldn't do anything and he'd been so wrong.

If he turned around and went back to the palace, he could find out what Harudan planned to do. But there was no way he could face him. Getting the Princess to safety was more important. It was treason, but it was the truth.

They were heading north, towards the Neverending Sea. Isiah wanted to head west and it seemed to be the better idea, but Princess Sharina still wanted to go across the border. They hadn't spoken much on it during the night, but even Nerin could tell that the Princess hadn't been happy when she'd heard Isiah's words.

Escaping Ishmar had been easier than he had thought. It'd been pitch dark for the majority of the night and they'd stuck mainly to discreet alleyways and the more empty streets. It got harder and harder as the night wore on and the streets slowly emptied, but by that time, they'd reached the outskirts of the city.

People had eyed Sharina warily. Not even the hood could hide the darkness of her skin and the bright white of her hair. Every time they saw guards, they turned down a random street to avoid them. It made the trek out of Ishmar even longer. A lot of the streets were filled with crates and occasionally they would walk past a person sleeping between them. Nerin hadn't even known there'd been a homelessness problem in the city.

There wasn't anything he could about it until he decided to go back to his brother, which wouldn't be for a while. Instead, he'd walked past them in silence and tried to swallow the anxiety that formed in his throat.

Eventually, the buildings had petered off, slowly turning into small farms and tiny houses that the lower class lived in. All the lights had been turned off, but they'd still walked off the roads just in case someone came by. No one had, luckily for them, and they'd been able to escape into the woods beyond Ishmar without issue.

The woods were thick and the Princess and Isiah had decided not to take any of the paths. It was safer and it made sense, but the lack of set path made Nerin nervous. He had no idea where they were going. He'd never even been outside the palace much before. All he knew was that they were heading north.

If he could either figure out where he was or convince Isiah and Sharina to listen to him, he could go to his summer home. It wasn't his summer home per se, it was his uncle's laboratory and home, but it would be safe there for him. He wouldn't have to deal with Harudan and Princess Sharina would be safe there too. He wanted to ask, but he was so tired.

Hours they had been walking. They were nowhere near Ishmar anymore. Surely they would be safe enough to rest for a couple of hours. But even as he thought the words, he knew it was a lie. It had taken them far longer than they'd planned to get out of Ishmar and they were only a few hours from the massive city. People could still easily find them.

So he allowed himself to run on no sleep, praying to Sol and Lune that he would not pass out as they walked. It was obvious that Isiah and Sharina were just as tired as him, but still, they kept walking. They weren't going to stop until they could be sure it was safe.