Into the Land of Valentia

Chapter the Twenty-Fifth

XXV

The cart shook and rattled over the rutted dirt path, jarring Vivica into consciousness. While her limbs had been carefully folded up to rest inside the four wooden slats making up the sides of the cart, her body had been placed too close to the side. With each bump, her head knocked against the cart wall.

At least, she reasoned, she knew where the roiling headache had come from.

Pressing the heel of her palm against the bed of the cart, she tried to right herself and see what was happening. Her sudden awakening, coupled with the throbbing in her skull, made for a blank in her immediate memory. There was her and Cayden riding towards the guardhouse, him being an irritation as usual. Something about falling.

Vivica took in a sharp breath and abandoned the idea of sitting up when her stomach muscles contracted. She instead craned her neck to look down. Her white cotton shirt was stained with red. She didn't need to lift the shirt to know that she had been injured badly. The memory of diving to the side, of blood-red eyes and shrill cries, came to her mind.

"Hello?" The cart continued forwards. She looked over the side panels for any glimpse at where she was or who she was with. The pain in her head raced along her jaw, and she longed to close her eyes and rest. But urgency was fighting against that desire, reminding her of the quest and the ingredients that needed to be delivered. What had happened that kept her from continuing towards the castle? Where was Cayden?

The cart hit a rut and jostled Vivica particularly hard. Her head smacked against the bed of the cart. Her vision flashed white. In the aftermath of the sparks tingeing her vision, she saw Cayden being drawn into the air by a roaring dragon, then dropped onto the wall walk. When she gasped, it was not only from the memory of the kertz's tail frills cutting into her flesh.

"You are finally awake."

Vivica craned her neck to find the person who had addressed her. A guard was looking down on her from the left side of the cart. Through the panels in his helmet, she recognized the down-turned corners of his lips. It was the same guard who had confronted her about not being on King Havrick's list.

A surge of relief blossomed in her core. She exhaled heavily and leaned her head back. "We are headed to the castle?" she asked, already certain of the answer. Before the guard had time to finish saying "yes," she began her next line of questioning. "Where is my mount? The dappled stallion, with the dark mane? And the tawny mare? And Cayden, where is the prince?" 

With her last words, Vivica surged up towards the guard, curling her fingers around the cart wall to support her weight. Her arm trembled and a wave of exhaustion swept over her, but she refused to let go. Her eyes burned into the guard's visor. 

The guard's lips turned down even more, were it even possible. His head inclined slightly. "When we arrive at the castle, the royal physician will be able to attend to your wounds. Until then, perhaps it is wise for you to rest."

Vivica frowned deeply. "Because I am a woman?" She dug her fingers into the wood of the cart. Splinters cut at her fingertips, but the pricks of pain fuelled her.

"Because you are still bleeding quite profusely."

She looked down at her torso. The lower half of her shirt was dangling in tattered strips, and the bared parts of her stomach were matted in red. As her adrenaline rush ceded, she sucked in a breath. "Oh." 

She leaned back down just as the cart hit another rut in the road. Hardly more comfortable. Vivica returned her eyes to the guard. "I still wish to know what has happened to those in my party."