The bond we share

6. Swamp forgotten (Aiden)

A sharp pounding stirs me from my sleep. I get precious little since Bree has been gone. That damn pounding echoes through the room again. I growl loudly.

"What is it? This better be good!" I yell.

The door swings open and Nathaniel strides in, not even fazed with my mood. Not that it surprises me.

"Quit your bellyaching, at least I knocked this time." he says with a chipper smile.

"Last time I was with Bree!" I snap, throwing a pillow at him.

Nathaniel shrugs me off again, dodging the pillow with ease. "Oh, are we playing teenage girl games where we have pillow fights and braid each other's hair?" he jibes playfully, clapping his hands like a child.

I sigh, not having the energy to rip into him the way I usually would.

"Get up, get dressed. We have a journey to plan." he says.

I sit upright. "You found it?"

"Of course!" He replies indignantly. "I am offended you have so little faith in my abilities." he taunts jokingly.

I cannot help but smile a little. "Thank you."

"No big deal. I chased some leads to a very remote part of the outer kingdoms. What you want has the highest chance of growing in the swamplands off the border." he says.

"How long will it take to get there?" I ask.

"If we take andocrits we will be there in two or three days. The real problem is finding the moss you are after when we get there." he replies. "Do you even have a clue what it looks like? Because no one I have spoken to has ever seen it before, it's all mostly stories."

I pull Bree's book out of my bedside drawer. "Bree told me about it a while ago. The moss she spoke about is right here in her book." I open the book, flicking through the back pages where I find what I am looking for. "This is what we are searching for." I say, showing him a picture of what looks like a blended looking patch of red, yellow, and orange mossy carpet.

"Okay, this helps a lot. So, we know where and now what we are looking for, let us get the team together and get moving. We should only take a small team with us, with all the chaos at the moment we might need some guys you trust to stay back and watch over things here." he says.

"That is exactly what I was thinking. Luc, Mac, you, and my mother should be all we need for the trip. I'll leave Metikye, Madeline, and Roxy behind to look after things here while we are away." I confirm.

"Is it wise to leave Madeline behind? The kingdom might not be as accepting of your words if you are gone. She did just come back from being on the run after poisoning the lillulian orchard."

"After everyone was told what had happened to the king, their queen and that she acted on her queen's orders she could not be judged for anything they themselves would have done if their queen had asked of them. Not to mention, with the queen's return that in itself has been a big deal."

"I guess you are right, but we still have the problem that Metikye and Roxy are still at the Maiden, aren't they?" he asks.

"No, I already sent a furngra to call them back. With everything going on we need all the hands we can get, and I am confident now that I will know of any changes with Bree before anyone else." I reply. Nathaniel gives me a quizzical look. "I haven't given up on Bree, far from it, I just feel if there is any change I will know. I cannot explain it, but I feel it, I do not need them there. I need them here. Can you just accept that, and stop riding me over every little thing?" I growl.