The Forbidden Mountains

Chapter 6 - What Lies Beyond -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ALEXA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was shattered. I barely remember being dragged by Aiden from the burning palace into the forest beyond the gates. From my window, everything looked bright and lush. Now it was dark and scary. When I finally got things back together, we were deep into the woods. "Are you ok?" Aiden said. He was always the calm and collected one. It amazed me how he could be like this after what happened. Then again, if he hadn't, we would't be in the situation we're in now. It would be much more painful. "Yea." I croaked. My throat felt dry and scratchy. I had been crying for such a long time. What father said in his last moments shook me. I wouldn't be surprised if they haunted Aiden silently. "You don't have to be strong for me." I said, but he waved it off. "Yes. I really do. The last thing we need right now is a weakness for Kane to exploit." he said. That's Aiden for you. Looking ahead when the past got too difficult. "We should find a village to stay at before dark." he said. I would have never thought about that. "Orania isn't too far away." I suggested, but I knew he would shoot me down. Orania was full of savages and uncivilized people jealous of the wealth of the royals. Or more like envy. But to my surprise, he didn't. He just said, "They can spot a royal from a town away, we have to disguise ourselves." I have to admit, that wasn't a bad idea, but how? "We can smear ourselves with dirt and tear our clothes for one." he said. We were wearing simple leather tunics with wool and cotton linings. After we were done, we hid our shoes under a tree and marked it. "Now what?" I said. We still had our same faces, so that wouldn't help. Aiden had a mess of blonde hair that even though it was all over the place, he still looked smart and sophisticated. All the palace girls would kill for a moment alone with him, but he never indulged himself with such wastes of time. I also had blond hair, but it's super wavy and down to my waist. "You have to cut your hair. You know that right?" He said. And I did. He kept a short blade and cut my hair to my shoulders. Then I rubbed mud into it and he did the same. "You look so... I don't know. Different." Aiden said. I couldn't agree more. By looking at the blade, I could see a major difference. What names should we call ourselves?" I asked. "I though of Alec for me and Abigail for you. Sound good?" he said. "Sticking to the 'A' theme? I love it. Father would be proud.: I said. "Then lets go." He said, extending his hand. So I took it. And we walked into the beyond.