The Forgotten Prophecy

Chapter 48

'Have you ever been to the east?' he asked while searching for the others in his field of vision.

'No, never. You?'

'Yeah, me neither.'

No one really used to travel east. It was like those parts had been ripped off the map and the people had avoided crossing them ever since. The truth was he didn't even remember when that started happening, or for what reason exactly.

'What do you think we will find there?' Peter glanced at him with a worried expression.

'Humans? Maybe. I remember my mother telling me stories about the east. She would talk about a royal family who...uhmm...governed those lands. They used to be our allies.'

'And why did they withdraw from us?'

'The son of the royal family inherited the throne after his father's death,' he began recounting the story as best as he could. 'That son had a sister. She was thirsty for power. She couldn't accept her brother as their king and wanted the crown for herself. So, she killed her brother to ascend to the throne. Her family tried to stop her, but to no avail. They started to kill each other. In the end no one remained to take the throne and their kingdom was left as prey to thieves and killers.'

'What about now? Is there no king? No kingdom?'

'That is all I know.'

'I hope we won't find any surprises ahead of us,' she said in a dark tone.

'Do not fret my lady,' he patted her shoulder. 'Another scar in my collection will not make any difference.'

'Now I feel safe,' she rolled her eyes and ignored his boastful words.

Matthew looked at her, his eyes bright with mischief. A graze on her right cheek was her only souvenir from their little adventure back at the castle and the dirt on her nose and hair did little to stain her delicate features. He knew he had lost the battle to resist her wild beauty long ago.

His thoughts automatically traveled back to that morning's argument when she was standing so close to him every cell of his body was on fire. He had barely managed to contain his primal instincts and not touch her lovely face, her rosy lips that right then begged to be kissed.

He had stared into the depths of her dark eyes, trying to figure out what she was thinking, but she was too good at masking her emotions. She still was a mystery to him. He had won her trust and he had broken it, like all the others before him. He had disappointed her.

There were no words to describe how terrible he felt for his stupid actions. Every minute he spent close to her was a constant reminder of his cruelty towards her. It pained him to think that when she set her hopes on him, he proved undeserving of her expectations.

Matthew believed that he might never get another chance to make it up to her, that he was unworthy of her forgiveness, so he was astounded by her unintentional confession. He had never imagined someone like her, an ass-kicking, mind-blowing woman could look at him twice.

Hearing her soft voice telling him she loved him was all the strength he needed to get back up. The moment he heard her profess her feelings his heart mended and was filled with light, like something had finally clicked in his mind. Maybe he did feel the same way about her.

'There they are,' Peter pointed ahead where the lake met the forest trees.

Matthew squinted hard in order to see the elves rushing towards them. Landos, needless to say, was fuming, while Inerma waved at them with a broad smile on her face. He was sad to admit that those two were the closest friends they had ever had.