Guardian of the Frost

26: The Knave of Spades

ANNA'S POV

***

"Sounds like he isn't really a luckycharm afterall."  I conclude after Zel adds that the Ace of Clovers brings bad luck to those around him, most of the time. Yeesh...And I was even thinking that I'd look for him so I can have luck on finding my own special someone. Tee hee~

"But you're more lucky to find the Ace compared to the Knave of Spades." Zel continues as she walks by the chair that has that shovel like design carved at the back of the seat.

"Shades? There's a ruler for shades? What does he do? Sell shades or something?" I laugh and Zel as well.

"You're lucky the Knave didn't hear you." Zel smiles after wiping a tear from her eye. She looks at the chair and sighs. "The story goes that the Knave was a famous archer who was so obssessed in hunting that he wouldn't stop til the hunt was over. He wouldn't eat, couldn't sleep, and refused to give up once the prey was in sight."

"Wow," I gave a low whistle, "must've been some sort of obsessive disorder. Wouldn't want him for a stalker, no siree."

"Right, well, the Knave was famous also for his short temper on very trivial things, always getting mad at the little things she couldn't control. The only one who could control him was the King, him saving her once when she almost fell down a cliff while on a hunt." Zel chuckles but I get up and wave my hands impatiently.

"Hold your horses," I ask, "but the Knave was a girl? Like, for real?"

"Of course, she was a red haired bushead as a matter of fact." Zel smiles and I whistle.

"Well, I wouldn't want to be on her bad side then."

"Ha, you have no idea how unlucky her prey is."

***

KRISTOFF'S POV

***

"Alright...I've...I've had it!" I shout as I slide down the back of the oak I had just reach. Somehow, I had sprinted a good 2 miles within a minute while being chased by a mob of "FOR-THE-KING" fanatics all over town and finally lost them when I swam in the river. Luckily, no leeches.

"Hey! I think I saw something over by the windmill." A voice calls out and I see a small group move to the hill farther ahead. I hold my breath as their footsteps are lost in the sound of the birds chirping.

What did I do to deserve this?

I open my hand and see that my whistle was still in one piece.

"Why do I always seem to get bullied because of you?" I chuckle as I place it carefully into my inside pocket. I listen for more movement before walking to the opposite direction of the hill. All I had to do was survive until sundown and I'll get a normal life. Hopefully.

As I work my way through the thick masses of forest fern, I spot a weird looking set of twigs. Both of then were "oddly" sticking out of the ground. I mean, twigs do that but not like these. It was as if they were positioned there specifically. I take a closer look and see, just as the sunlight struck it, a silver string, leading to something I couldn't clearly see, yet. Then, a metalic blade beneath the green grass.

"Trap, eh?" I crouch and study the ingenius entrapment before me. If I wasn't raised in the wild, I would've had my sorry foot dashed to pieces by the metal claw and the last thing I needed was more bad luck. But I got to admit, the trap was skilled. It could've passed for just an ordinary part of the forestry.