Legend of the White Witch {#Wattys2016}

Chapter 27

The steady jostle of a trotting horse gradually pulls me back into consciousness. Through my eyelids I can see sunlight above me, bright and irritating to my tired eyes.

Although curiosity is burning within me to discover where we have ended up, I can't bring myself to sit up or look around. Crippling fear pressing in around me has me locked in an unbreakable hold. I'm paralyzed.

Slowly, I become aware of a gentle sniffling sound. Like someone's crying. It takes me a moment to realize that it must be the mare who lost her foal just hours before, now forced to carry me God knows where.

Oh, God, I think, my throat constricting painfully. I killed those people. I killed an innocent baby.

More blood on my hands. More blood that I can't handle. More blood that will destroy me from the inside out with guilt.

It's because of the mournful horse that I finally have the courage to open my eyes.

Not much has changed in the scenery from the previous night aside from the massive sandstone castle that can be seen in the distance over rolling hills of sparse grass which is quickly giving way to sandy dunes. The middle kingdom? I wonder. Why are they taking me there?

They aren't bringing me to Anabella, then. Alec told me that she's holed up in the ruins of the northern kingdom, unable to leave because of awaiting armies fighting against her rule, so it's impossible that she would be here.

My knowledge of the middle kingdom is sparse, but I do know that its many villages are found to the north and the east of the castle. Could the fatoris be taking me to one of the villages, or to the castle itself? Perhaps they plan to take me right through the kingdom to avoid the much longer process of going around, but that would be very risky. If anyone caught a single glimpse of my captors or of me, absolute chaos would ensue.

Either way, I'm terrified.

I struggle to reposition myself correctly on the saddle. I'd been haphazardly strewn across the horse while unconscious and my back is aching unbearably, but my pain is nothing compared to that of the animal underneath me. The poor horse barely manages to keep upright, hooves dragging on the ground and neck slumping downward.

I risk a glance to either side, at the vile demons who walk alongside me. Neither of them have looked my way since I woke, but now Scary's eyes are boring into me. I look down quickly, tears brimming in my eyes, and stare intensely at the horn of the saddle until I feel the monster's cold gaze move on from me. When it does, I take a shaky breath full of nerves and terror. I lean forward, just enough to be allow the mare to hear me without interference from them.

"I'm so sorry for what they've done to you," I whisper. I press my palm against her neck. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop them."

The horse tenses, her powerful shoulder muscles rippling underneath me. Her ears flatten against her head. She suddenly rears up and releases a chilling neigh into the sky. I grab desperately for the reins, but the mare tosses me easily onto the sandy ground. It does little to cushion my fall.

The horse turns to me, tail flicking in agitation. I've never seen the eyes of a mother who has lost her child, but I would equate it to those of the animal in front of me. The pain in them is so real, so human.

"Fat lot your apologies do now. Your companion slaughtered my baby like a pig, and you didn't do a thing!"

My throat closes. "I—I—" I what? I tried? I couldn't even move. I was so afraid. I did not try. A mother with a dead baby doesn't want to hear that I tried.