The heir

Chapter 7

Right the next evening, the unusual group started their way. "Bye my friend", Sarah whispered to Jaro before she left, "And thanks for taking care of Jacob." Then she turned back to Belle. "So? Where are we headed?", she asked. "See that star? We're following it", the witch explained for everyone to hear. "Is that why we waited for the sun to set?", Jacob asked, "I thought it was because we can move freer in the night." "Both is to our advantage", Belle assured him, "But the star is the main reason." Jacob looked at it thoughtfully. "Did Miriel and Lian follow it as well?", he then asked. Belle shook her head. "It appeared after they left", she answered. "Does it matter?", Nuriel nagged, "We should start our journey. It's gonna be long." "She's right", the witch agreed and without another word, they set off.

xxx

They had already wandered through half of the night as Belle let herself fall a bit back to walk beside Jacob. "You seem so thoughtful", she said to him, "What's going on in your mind?" He didn't look at her as he answered: "Why did they never come back? They had to have reasons to not come back. Then why should they now? Maybe they are dead. Maybe they simply don't want to. Maybe they hate humankind now. If someone's leaving the others behind, why should that someone return even though nothing seems to have changed?" Now he looked up and locked eyes with the witch. She smiled softly. "You got a good point there", she then said, "But I think they want to be found. They want to know that someone wants them return, even if it's only the four of us. They want to make sure we are ready for them again." "Do you really think so?" "Well yes." Jacob went silent and Belle put her hand on his shoulder as she added: "Take all your time thinking about it. If you decide to leave it to us, then go. No one will force you to come along."

Belle left him again, walking to her original position in front of the group again. She realized Sarah was looking at her curiously and smiled. "What seems to be the matter, princess?", she wanted to know. "How come you know so much about Miriel and Lian?", this one gave back. Belle shrugged and answered: "Been around for some time." The witch turned back and looked at the star. She indeed had been around for some time. Some time more than others would expect her to be. But that wasn't important right now. "We should find a place to hide away during the day", she now announced, "And we need to decide on the order of standing guard as well. I know there's a village nearby with an old, abandoned farm. I think we can dare to sleep in the barn."

xxx

Belle thoughtfully looked outside in the rain, falling endlessly. The others had made themselves as comfortable as they could on the wooden ground of the old barn. It was her time for guarding but as she had guessed basically no one paid attention to the building that was slowly crumbling down. Jacob's words echoed through her mind continuously. She knew that Miriel and Lian would welcome them happily. But something inside her told her that Jacob did have a point. It couldn't be the same way it had been before. She didn't know how it would change, but it would, that was for sure.

She snapped out of her thoughts as she got aware of footsteps coming closer. She leaned to the wall, observing the outside carefully. It was a young boy coming closer. He looked at the barn curiously, inspected the entrance. "Malio!", someone suddenly shouted, "Get back here, it is dangerous to go inside!" The young boy looked back and forth hesitantly. "Malio!", the voice shouted again. With a protesting grumble, the boy trotted back. Belle let go off a breath. A little boy could get way more dangerous than one would imagine. She waited a bit longer after he was out of sight before she got back to her original position. Once they were out of the dangerous area, it would get much easier.

xxx

The four of them continued their path the same way for three more days. Only walking at night, using the star as orientation, hiding away in abandoned buildings or forests, far from the path. Until one day they found themselves in front of a seemingly endless forest, mist creeping out between the stems. "Once we passed this forest, we can move around more freely", Belle informed them. "How come?", Sarah wanted to know. "Well, within it lies the border of this kingdom. The guards won't chase us anymore outside of it and it depends on the king of that area if he wants to cooperate with them. But I know of King Cassian as pretty indifferent to his neighbours. As long as we don't get into trouble with his people, we'll be good." "What are we waiting for then? Let's go!", Sarah announced and wanted to enter the forest as Jacob held her back.

"King Levio", he began thoughtfully, "Might be a bad reign, but he surely isn't stupid. Don't you think your uncle will guess that we want to leave the kingdom? He surely will guard the borders especially well." "Not this one", Nuriel shrugged, "No one would dare to enter the forest anyways." The two humans stared at the fairy confused. "Belle, how come both of them are so unaware of the kingdom?", this one sighed. "You have to understand", the witch chuckled, "After all they were raised to know only their actual surroundings, may it be castle or village. The rest – if they even heard about it, it was theoretical. How would they know?" "Will anyone now tell me what the problem with this forest is?", Sarah complained loudly. "Those are the misty forests", Belle answered calmly, "No man that has gone in there ever came back alive." "Oh wonderful", Jacob deadpanned.

Meanwhile, Sarah inspected it thoughtfully. "But the star tells us to go through there?", she asked. Belle nodded. "And we have to find Miriel and Lian if we want to rescue this kingdom?", she went on. Another nod. "And no man that has gone in there came back alive?" "Correct, your Majesty." "Well", she said and took a deep breath, "Good thing I am not a man." Before anyone could stop her, she hurried towards the forest, Belle following her calmly, an amused expression on her face. Nuriel turned to Jacob and smirked: "Sucks to be you, huh?" Then she quickly flew after the other two, halfway turning around and shouting towards the thief: "Will you come now? It's not like you could enjoy your life within these borders anyway!" With a loud grumble, Jacob started catching up. "Just so you know", he protested as he was next to the others, "I am doing this. But I am absolutely against it." "Don't worry", Sarah gave back dryly, "We'll protect you."