Erivale: The Lost Princess

Chapter 20: Part 1

With every step, I could feel the way my feet stung, thanks to a few lovely blisters. They had begun to form within hours of our departure from the palace.

We had ditched the boats when the lights of Himmelsk were no longer visible. I changed into my traveling clothes, and my coronation dress was left in the boats to continue to float downstream. Part of me was quite sad to see Jae's creation go. The dress has even saved my life, but we hoped the dress would wash up or be spotted at the next town or city, effectively throwing the Ithican soldiers off of our trail. From there we began to travel on foot. Our journey served us best hidden in the thick cover of the forest.

After days of travel, my body felt exhausted in a way I was not accustomed too. I thought that my training with Ulric would have helped to prepare me for something like this, but I was wrong. There's not much that readies you for crossing a country on foot. The days of travel had brought a deep ache to my legs and lower back. My feet were tender to the touch and dragged in the underbrush, too tired to lift even an inch higher.

The toe of my leather boot caught on an exposed root, and I pitched forward. I was just barely able to catch myself with my other foot and a supportive hand on Fenrir's back. His pack had been waiting for our exit from the city and ran through the forests following the river until they were able to meet up with us. Since then, he has been a constant at my side.

At the sound of my stumbling, Ulric looked back at me. His eyes still held a look of pity that angered me. Everyone here looked at me with those sad eyes. I felt like I had turned into a piece of glass, and they were trying to be as careful as they could around me, afraid I may break. I was still mourning the loss of Leda, but I didn't need to be babied.

Ignoring Ulric, I continued on, my hand gripped into Fenrir's fur as he helped guide me through the forest. It was growing dark, and the setting sun was barely able to poke its way through the thick foliage.

I retreated into my mind. There wasn't much else to do other than to think. No one spoke while we traveled, I don't think anyone knew exactly what to say. We were exposed and vulnerable as we moved through the forest, knowing that Ithican soldiers were out there, somewhere, trying to track us down.

The paranoia of being watched or followed never strayed far from our minds, but I at least could count on my danger awareness to provide some semblance of warning leading up to any sort of attack.

I felt a tug on my arm, pulling me up short, and I looked down, realizing it was Fenrir. He and the rest of the group had stopped moving, and Soren was giving some directions to set up camp for the night.

This was at least becoming a familiar routine. Whenever we stopped, everyone had jobs to do to help prepare the camp. Firewood would be collected and lit to provide a source of warmth and cooking. Others would begin dinner, and the rest would set up the tents.

As I picked up a variety of sticks to be used for the fire, I tried to ignore the strain of my sore muscles that stretched in ways they didn't want to from bending over. Even with the exhaustion and pain, a part of me enjoyed the activity because it was a break from the monotony of walking, and it made me feel useful. Most of the time, during our travels, I felt more of a burden than a help. Everyone always watched me wanting to help or frankly just treat me like a queen. I guess I was a queen now, something I would have to get used to. Even so, I still wanted to have some sort of autonomy and to just be treated normally.

I set my pile of sticks down next to Sven, who was beginning to form the structure for the fire. With nothing else to do, I sat down with a grateful sigh on a large, fallen log. My tired fingers unlaced my boots, and I slid them off with a wince. A small rock fell out of the left boot, which I think I picked up near the border of Ithica and Breeze.