Cinderella's Tears

Cinderella's Tears ~ Chapter 35

And we walked.

At first, I walked with a quick pace, in fear of pursuit but a day had passed with no signs of attack. I allowed myself to slow down and save my energy for the walking never ended. We walked for days on end. Edward stayed ten meters behind me at all times but I could feel his eyes on me. When I looked over my shoulder, his dead eyes stared ahead. It was very uncomfortable and made me queasy.

The winter was cold and harsh. The soft snow became heavy. The winds were cruel. It butchered us like raw meat.  Battling the winds was impossible. Snow was flung at us like the rocks. My delicate flesh was  the only barrier between the insanity and winter. It wasn’t enough. It never was enough. I felt it as soon as the deed was done. A clean cut slashed my heart. My spirit was shattered and I fell the powdered ground. Cold seeped through the mental wound. I shivered violently. I could not go any farther.

Edward helped me up. I staggered on my feet. He swung one of my arms around his neck and placed his own on my waist. He forced me to keep going. My legs were numb and I had no energy. Snow piled on us, weighing us down. My breaths became slower and deeper.

We fell in front of a tree. With no words exchanged, Edward staggered off to find firewood, at least that is what I assumed. I knew he wouldn’t find much.

My eyelids were heavy and I allowed myself to close them, for a moment at least. Suddenly, I was violently shaken awake. I stared at Edward with wide eyes. He only shook his head. The man stood up and crouched over the wood he had collected. The sky was already dark. The fallen prince brushed away the snow until he reached the ground. Slowly, he placed a few pieces branches in the center. To my amazement, Edward managed to a small fire. He then approached me. Reaching behind me, he grabbed the quiver and strapped it off my back, forcing me to stand. He pointed to the wood and I understood. As he turned to leave, I grabbed his shoulder. Edward turned to me but yet he wouldn’t look at me. The hazed eyes would not look at me. I took his frozen hands and held them between mine. Mine were also cold but not like his. I held them until they were warm and wet from the snow. I watched him walk away. I then tended the fire before it blew out.

The night came fast. The only light came from the small fire I worked on. The trees that surrounded us were nearly bare. Winter came fast and had not allowed autumn to end yet. There were a few birds that flew overhead but other than that, the forest was bare and deserted. I flinched at every sound, waiting for Edward to return. I felt no concern for his well being or loneliness.

I turned to the sound of snow falling off a branch. There was no being was in sight. The fire crackled and I shuddered at the sound that filled the empty air.

More time passed by before I heard the sound of a person nearing. The new sound of snow crunching under the pressure of boots made me dizzy. The silence was wrapped around my head and every sound was now foreign to me. Edward walked toward the fire. In his hand, he was clutching the ears of a small, white rabbit. In his other, he held his bow. He seemed very comfortable with a bow in his hand. The blood of the rabbit stained the pure white fur. It dripped down, onto the ground changing the white snow into a blood red color.

The days passed slowly and dreadfully. The sky grew dark. There was no stop to the snow. Day and night merged together and was no longer separate.

We huddled close and kept searching for shelter. Once we were able to find a big enough tree to shield us from winter’s worst. Soon the weather had calmed down but the sky refused to even allow a ray of light pass through its somber clouds.  The sound of our stomachs forced us to go on, in hopes of finding company. We were not disappointed but it was only a bit too late.

It was Edward. The drugs had their last attack and a fever overtook him. He often fell to his knees and would not stand. I was forced to carry most of his weight. When I could not go any farther, we fell to the snow and stayed there. I held him close, sharing warmth. Without his constant murmuring, my mind wandered and I panicked.

I took deep breaths to calm my frantic heart but the cold air  did no good to my sore throat. I swallowed the numb feeling in the back of my throat and looked at Edward. I leaned close and placed my cheek upon his. His overwhelming warmth warmed me up but did no good. I cradled him in my arms, brushing snow off his clothes.

The roar of the wind froze my ears.  I didn’t acknowledge the approaching wagon until I heard a rough voice call out:

“Excuse me?”

I looked up bewildered.  I stared in shock as the face of horse examined me. The dark brown animal threw its head back and neighed. I pushed myself away in surprise. The peasant that sat on the wagon jumped off and approached me.

“Are you alright?”

I couldn’t get my eyes of the beast but I slowly nodded.

The peasant was well into his years, with a short beard and a lazy eye. His posture had him hunched over. He petted the animal affectionately.

“I see my Georgia gave you a startle,” the peasant stated.

He spit on the ground near my foot. I jumped back in surprise.

“Ah, yeah. Yes!” I stammered dazed.

“Is he dead?”

“Ah who?” My mind restarted when I saw him pointing to Edward on the ground. “Yes Edward! I mean no, he’s not dead. I was wondering if you could hitch us a ride to the nearest town?” I asked sweetly.

For a moment, he looked at me suspiciously but slowly, he nodded.

“Get in the back,” he grumbled.

“Thank you, kind sir.”

I rushed to Edward and dragged him the back of the wagon. The man helped me lift Edward on the wagon. I jumped in next to him and supported his weight. We were surrounded by firewood, threatening to push us off. The man returned to the front. With a sharp whip, the wagon pushed forward. I grabbed a hold of Edward. The wagon lurched forward and back, making it easy to fall off.

When I managed to secure the prince well enough, my head tipped forward. I had little to no energy left. I drifted into sleep only to wake up with a start every few minutes in fear of falling. Soon enough, I slept like a baby. But it wasn’t long until a force nearly threw me off. I managed to pull myself back on. I took a breath of relief. There was a heavy thud and the heavy weight that was on me, disappeared. I stared in horror at the prince’s body in the snow, slowly getting smaller.

“STOP!” I cried as I leapt off.

I hit the ground wrong and fell flat.

“STOP THE CART!” I yelled at the man.

Either he didn’t hear me or he chose not to hear, but the cart moved forward.

I ran to Edward and wrapped my hands around him.

“PLEASE!” I cried out with one last breath.

I breathed in deeply.

In. Out. In. Out.

I couldn’t hold it in and I burst into tears, holding the fallen prince in my arms. The warm tears ran down my face. I was so lost. I wanted warmth. I thought of home and Magdalena’s warm arms, eager to embrace me. The tears came harder. I wanted to go back. I imagined what would have happened if I never went to the ball. None the less, I did not regret it. I wanted Dylan to save me. I didn’t want his forgiveness, just to see him was all I desired. Afterwards, I was no longer conscious of time.

All I could remember had a brown color coming toward me and the snow trembled. The loud voices of men filled my ears. The ground disappeared beneath me. I was falling. I curled up in a ball and cried.

“It’s her.”