Stalemate | A Rise To Power

𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭

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They made good progress as they rode. They knew to stay clear of any patrols or highwaymen, and the road mostly cut through forests so they could find shelter and follow the road next to a shield of trees, out of view from travellers. Like Luella, Audrey did not complain despite Will's relentless pace. The only sign of privilege she showed was when Will took out the hard bread and goat's cheese that Callista had packed for their journey, making Audrey frown.

"What's wrong? Is peasant food not good enough for the princess?" Will had teased.

She had flushed pink at the comment and snatched the bread from his hands.

They only stopped to sleep and let Bronze rest. True to her word, Callista's horse was reliable and swift, with admirable stamina. Audrey spent lots of her time with her head resting on Bronze's mane, drifting off while Will steered the horse. She had weakened physically over time and the adrenaline from before had faded away to leave her exhausted.

On the sixth day, they encountered trouble in the forest.

Will was on watch, humming to himself and trying to clear his mind from all his troubles. Iowa. Luella.The guards he had killed. Their faces plagued his mind and, worst of all, there was nothing he could do about it.

He was about to drift off when he heard a rustle of leaves, and, suspecting a wolf, Will's eyes narrowed, and he sat up, reaching for an arrow.

Leaves crunched behind him and Will turned, ready to shoot, when he felt a fist hit his face from his left before he could react. He stumbled back and looked around, then saw a figure in the trees above him. They flipped over so they were hanging upside from a branch like a bat, their face inches away from Will's. Will barely had time to process the fact that she was a girl before she grinned at him.

"Nice to meet you," the girl said, and Will felt her fist again, right in his jaw. Will was knocked back by the force of it and he fumbled to tighten his grip on his bow. His hand curled around it and he reloaded the arrow, but when he looked to find the female, he found the forest completely empty except for Audrey, sleeping peacefully through the chaos with her brown hair falling into her face.

Where has she gone?

He was tackled from behind and found himself on the ground, winded, with the female pinning him down and his bow lying away from him. He turned his face up to find that the female was about his age and... colourless. Her skin and hair were white, and she had no colour to her eyelashes or hair. An albino. She slammed his head back into the dirt when she noticed he was watching her, and he spluttered as mud entered his mouth.

"Please get off me," Will groaned. "Your dirty shoes are digging into my ankles."

"Let me think about that," the albino said, seeming to contemplate it. "That's a hard one. How about... no?"

Will rolled her eyes, attempting to kick her and failing.

"Tell me your name," the girl said.

Will did not reply.

"Now," the girl added. "I'm bored."

"AUDREY!" Will yelled.

"That is definitely not your name," she pointed out. The girl's eyes gleamed as she turned to look for Audrey. But there was no one else to be seen. The girl seemed just as puzzled as he was, frowning at where Audrey had been sleeping just a second ago.

An arrow whizzed overhead, missing to avoid hitting Will but enough to let the girl know that someone was there. It embedded in a nearby tree, and the girl smiled.