A Betrayal of Faith ✔

Fourteen: Hatred

Almost a whole day later, the three of them arrived on the outskirts of a small village dressed in dirty clothes with even dirtier faces. Isiah was freezing, his powers almost useless in the freezing cold. Nerin was the only one who seemed comfortable, able to push his energy onto them when he was rested enough.

There hadn't been a single sign of anyone trying to chase them since they'd left Ishmar. It could have been that they'd gotten lucky. King Harudan and the others might have no idea that they ever escaped the city. That could change quickly with their arrival at the village. People had been few and far between on their travels.

The first snow was starting to fall as they pushed out from between the trees. It was later than Isiah had thought it would be, but even he could tell that it didn't bode well for them. The snow would already be bad in the mountains, but it would make their travels worse if it started snowing regularly at ground level. They would have to get more supplies.

Princess Sharina stopped at the edge of the tree line and looked between Isiah and the village. "It will be getting dark soon, do you think we can stay a night at an inn?" she asked.

Isiah frowned. It would be a bad idea, but it was cold and dark and even more dangerous for them to be out on their own. No one had come looking for them yet. If the King had sent someone, they would have already been caught at the pace they were going. But it would still be good to act as if they were.

"We can, but we leave before dawn," he answered. He had no idea where any of his ideas had come from. No one at the Sanctum had taught him what to do when he was on the run from the monarchy. It could be the same part of him that had killed the guard back in Ishmar, ready to take charge of his body and do unspeakable things.

He shook the thoughts from his head. They were silly, he knew that, but ever since he'd done the unspeakable, they hadn't left him. He couldn't stop thinking about what he had done. It would probably never leave him. He'd killed someone, taken their life away for nothing.

Someone cleared their throat ahead of him. Sharina and Nerin were some distance away, staring at him in concern. "Are you alright?" Nerin asked.

Isiah shook his head, there was no point in lying to them about it if he was feeling awful, but he did anyway. "I just need to sleep," he said. He was exhausted from all the walking. The only sleep he had had was the two hours when they'd given up and passed out in the woods. He needed a warm bed.

He followed the other two up to the main road of the little village. It was tiny, one big road and a couple of smaller streets branching off of it. Most of the buildings were old and wooden, barely enough to keep anyone warm, but it would be better than being outside in the snow.

Children ran about, laughing cheerfully as the snow formed a thin layer on the dirt. Their parents watched from doorways and windows, frowning at the trio as they passed. Sharina had her hood on and her long white hairs tucked underneath it, but people could still see the colour of her skin.

They were strangers and one of them was an Askari. Isiah had almost forgotten. His mind had been preoccupied with other things. Walking into an unknown town with an Askari was a bad idea, but they had no other choice unless they wanted to freeze to death miles from nowhere.

A sign that said 'the bucking bull' caught Isiah's attention and he dragged the other two towards it. The adults didn't stop staring at them as they walked, but the children paid little attention to them. They were too busy playing games to care about the strangers in their streets.

"I don't trust this," Nerin whispered.

"Neither do I," Sharina said.

Isiah frowned at the door of the inn before turning back to them. "I don't either, but I don't know about any other towns nearby. You two don't either," he said and looked around at the people still staring at them. "It's only going to be for a night. We'll get a room, Nerin will stay in there the whole time in case someone recognises him and you and I will get some more supplies if we can."