Blood for her Crown

Chapter Six

Jamie

He ran.

He couldn't see.

He only heard the steps behind him.

'You know you can't run away forever, right?'

Yes, he knew. But he would try.

The faster he ran, the closer the boy got.

Then, a sudden wave of pain rolled over him.

He was standing in front of him now, a bloody dagger in his hand.

'Told you.' He smiled at him, watching as he fell to his knees, moaning in pain.

A puddle of blood formed around him.

He had stabbed him in the back. Again.

Jamie woke up. He looked around, his breathing unsteady.

After making sure he was safe, he began to calm down. He was shaking, whether because of the nightmare, or the sweat in the cool air, he didn't know. And he didn't care.

It has been a while since the last nightmare.

No, this wasn't the first one of this kind. This particular one had haunted his nights for the previous five months. There were two others. These three repeated themselves over and over again.

He didn't know what they meant, but all of them came down to the same thing: his death. Killed by this one person, he hoped to never see again, he wanted to leave behind and forget.

But he still haunted him. Now, in his dreams.

He couldn't even close his eyes again, so he just sat there until the sun came up.

When the first rays of the sun shone through the leaves, he understood the amazement of his companions.

This forest was beautiful indeed.

He had always loved nature, especially the woods.

When he was younger, they were basically his home. He used to spend every minute of his free time in the woods behind the village he grew up in. They weren't nearly as beautiful as this one, but one day he had learned that beauty could be deceiving.

He had avoided forests since that day as best as he could. But now, he couldn't help but be fascinated by this one.

When he heard a soft cough, he looked over to Grace.

She was still sleeping peacefully.

He was wondering if it was only due to the poison, but she needed it. Ever since they set off, she hadn't slept more than four hours a night. Most of the nights, she didn't even sleep for a minute. He wondered how she was still alive, let alone fought almost every day. He could never do that.

Maybe it was because of her powers, maybe because she wasn't human. He didn't know. He just hoped, whatever it was would reduce the effect of the poison. He didn't want to think about what would happen to her if it didn't.