Forbidden Destiny

Chapter 14

Zilla's View

The sun begins to set as we are galloping down the road. We race onward making sure to pace our horses to not push them too hard. I breathe hard and my head spins, but I keep focused on the road ahead. "Your Majesty!" I slow Moonlight down to a trot as I hear Luna yell behind me. "What is it, Luna?"

She pulls her horse up next to me, her black hair falling out of her braid, "We have to slow down if we wish to keep going. We don't want to push the horses too far."

"Not to mention yourself, your majesty."

I turn to see Celeste pull up on my other side, "You just came out of a 2-day hell. Who knows how much strain you're putting on your own body."

I look down and shake my head, "Ivy has been missing for 3 days now. I don't know what they're doing to her. If it's anything like..." I trail off. My mind races through memories of being locked in a cold dungeon. Alone. Hungry. While knights came in and used me as a practicing dummy. They beat me to a pulp and kicked me when I was down. I didn't fight back.

I had accepted my death.

"Your Majesty..." I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up to see Luna leaning over, "If we get there, and you are too weak to fight, you can't do anything to help her."

"Our Queens are strong," Celeste continues next to me, "She will be okay." I pull Moonlight to a stop and the twins follow. A sigh leaves my body, "Fine. We can stop for the night. But we leave at dawn."

They nod and we hop off our horses. We tie them to a tree, give them some food and water, and carry a small bag with us just inside the treeline. Celest pulls out sleeping bags, food, and water for all of us. As soon as I sit down I feel my body scream in agony as I relax. A groan escapes my mouth and the twins both look at me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little pain."

Celest shakes her head, "I've seen you shrug off a lot of shit. Are you sure you're okay?"

I nod, "Just need some food, water, and sleep."

Luna sighs.

We all eat and talk for a while, then we head to bed.

My eyes flutter open. Daylight has broken, I see the path illuminated in front of me. I sit up quickly and my head spins, "Shit..." I mumble holding my head. My stomach growls and I look around. Luna and Celest are sitting together smiling and laughing. They pass food and water back and forth as the talk continues. Celest has her hair pulled back while Luna has redone her braid. Their clothes are dirty and small tears adorn a few spots. I lean against the tree I slept in front of. The twins both look over at me. Luna smiles, "Your awake!" Celest walks over and hands me some food and water. "Good morning you two," I take the food and start eating. Luna walks over as well and they both take a seat in front of me. "We need to get going," I say in-between bites. Celest sighs, "Eat first please."

"Told you she was gonna say that."

"I know."

I laugh, "You two making bets on me now?"

Luna laughs and continues, "You're just that predictable."

"So do you think we're close?"

I look at Celest, "I'll... have to take a look."

We finish eating and as the twins tend to the horses I look around the trail. The hoofprints from yesterday are clearly visible in the dirt. However, while looking closer at the treeline I notice more faded hoofprints. I crouch down, dragging my hand lightly over the hastily-covered tracks. "Luna, Celest. Look what I found." I hear footsteps behind me and soon enough the twins are by my side.

"Are those-?"

"Tracks."

"From horses."

"Yeah..." I sigh and stand up, "Get the horses ready quickly, along with our weapons. We probably have a fight ahead of us."

The twins run back to the horses while I take one last look at the tracks. Turning around, I walk back to help prepare.

We're almost there. Ivy will be back in my arms soon.