Shadowing the Queen

Elise coughed up water, choking a little as she dragged herself out of the river and onto the land of small, white pebbles. She pushed her red curls from her face as she laid her cheek against the pebbles.

The water lapped at her ankles, and then it was as if it was wrapping around them, pulling her back into the river. She turned to sit on her bum, watching as the water churned, tugging at her. It pulled gently, at first, and then all at once it was violent, causing Elise to fall back and slip waist-deep back into the river.

“No!” She gasped, “Stop!”

The water settled.

Elise scrambled out of the water, her breathing uneven. “What in the world…” She mumbled to herself.

“Princess!” She turned to see Tabor slipping down a hill of pebbles to her. “Are you all right?” He touched her shoulder and he turned her, searching for injuries.

“How many times will you ask me that?” Elise sighed, letting him turn her head to expect every inch of her face, “And at the strangest times. First, when I see a man murdered and then when I was launched into a river!”

“You weren’t exactly launched.” Hardy slid down next to Tabor, leaning over his shoulder to expect Elise with his own eyes.

Elise made a face, “Oh, excuse me; shoved.”

“Yes, yes.” Hardy replied vaguely, touching a small cut on her cheekbone, lingering there for a moment, before pulling away. “Well, at least you didn’t get hurt.” He began trudging back up the pebble-hill to where Brynn stood, arms crossed over her chest.

 

Tabor shook his head, “On a different note,” He spoke softly to her, “I apologize for having bad timing when asking about your well-being.”

“You are not forgiven.” She tried to give him an angry look, but failed. She was very quickly becoming fond of Tabor.

Tabor laughed, “Very well.” He stared at her for a moment, “Your hair is down.”

Elise touched the top of her head, “Yes,” She sighed, “The ribbon must have come undone when I was,” She raised her voice, “SHOVED into the river.” Hardy turned and smirked at her. She was not growing fond of him.

“Come along, your royal majestic wonder.” Brynn called bitterly.

Elise began to wonder why the girl hated her so much.

When the sun set in the evening, Hardy had them stop and build camp in an open field with tall grass. There wasn’t much camp to build, though. They had a few blankets in their bags and that was it.

“We’re going to go fish in the stream.” Tabor told Elise, handing her a blanket. “Brynn and I will return in a little while with some food.” Elise nodded silently, watching as the two made their way through the tall grass.

Her clothes had been sun-dried, and seemed hard against her body; her feet were blistered and sore; and her hair was stuck to her face with sweat. Elise had never before felt more unlike a Princess.

She cursed under her breath.

“That isn’t very Princess-like.” Hardy muttered under his breath.

“I apologize that I’m not the Princess you asked for.” Elise spat, feeling more irritated than she had before. “I’ll work on the traits you find desirable.”

Hardy looked over at her, watching emotionlessly as she tried to brush the knots out of her hair with her fingers. “Well, don’t do that. I like finding you undesirable.” He began searching through his bag, making a clicking noise with his tongue when he found the item.