Into the Land of Valentia

Chapter the Twenty-Second

XXII

There was little wood available around the lake. Cayden managed to scrounge up enough to start a small fire. They settled down beside it, Vivica seated as close as she could in an attempt to dry her clothing. 

"Do you think the horses are alright?" Cayden wondered. Not far away, Mirror Lake glinted in the moonlight. The lake looked far more harmless than it actually was.

"Garrett and Tansy are smart. I'm sure they stayed where we left them." 

Vivica saw the conversation for what it was: meaningless drivel. They feared approaching the topics that really mattered. Six days remained for Princess Aimee, but it mattered naught now that they had ruined any chance they had of getting fairy blood.

"Right." Cayden nodded into the distance.

"Thank you," Vivica said again. "For saving me, that is. It— You shouldn't have."

"You're welcome."

"No, really, you shouldn't have." Vivica heaved a breath. Her lungs smarted, but she carried on. "We'll have to travel to the fairy village now, which could take days. We don't even know where it is. Then how to manage getting blood from a fairy, I can't even start to imagine. I appreciate what you did. I had no way of getting out otherwise. But it shouldn't have been your priority."

Cayden pierced her with his eyes. "Don't tell me what my priorities should be. Am I ignorant to the fact that I put the princess' cure at risk? No. But your life was in danger, and I had the power to save it. I wasn't going to sit back and do nothing."

"You had no way of knowing I was still breathing! I was dragged underwater for a span of—" Vivica searched for a length of time she didn't actually know, then changed tactics. "At least your blind faith will be useful while we search for the fairy village."

To her surprise, Cayden laughed. "Call it what you will."

He stood up to nudge a chunk of wood more firmly into the fire. It was too dark to attempt scaling down the mountainside, and they had already agreed—if reluctantly—to wait for the break of day. With only a sword, bow, and the canteen, it made for an uncomfortable night.

"What happened to your quiver?" Cayden wondered as he sat back down.

Vivica shifted her attention to the fire. She raised her hands towards the flames. The heat produced was meagre, and her damp clothes still stuck against her flesh. Drying would take time. "I lost it."

"I'm sorry. I know those arrows were important to you."

With a slight nod, Vivica accepted his condolences before his words fully registered in her mind. As they sank in, however, she mulled over their meaning and realized just how much her encounter with the fairies had changed her. She twisted to face Cayden, taken aback by how close he was seated. 

"No." She locked her gaze on his. "You don't know. I didn't either, at least not until now. When James died, I continued to use his arrows out of guilt. I believed I was only a dragon slayer because of his death. He was supposed to be the slayer, and perhaps by using his arrows, it would be as though part of him still was. It was never to honour his memory. The fairies did me a favour when they caused me to lose my quiver. I can't carry that burden anymore."

"It does leave you unarmed," Cayden remarked after a moment.

"I'll make more."

"Is it that easy?"

Vivica paused. In the half-light of the fire, Cayden's pupils had expanded. They almost obliterated the dark blue of his irises. He had rotated his entire body towards her, giving her his undivided attention.