You can't run forever

Chapter 18 - forgiveness

I woke up with a new conscience. Clarissa was so right, I don't know why I didn't see it before. 

We had some leftover salmon for breakfast. I can't say I enjoyed it, I've always despised the taste of salmon, especially cold. Abe tried to find some more berries and eggs in this part of the forest, but he came back unlucky since there were no western bluebirds in this area. "I can't say that I was expecting you to, I mean they do like their swamps" said Liam still not meeting my eyes. After we all finished packing up the tent and cleaning up the campsite, I made an announcement. "Liam, I need to talk to you in the forest, privately". The look that Abe gave me next was more astonishment then wounded puppy. "After all he's done? you need protection if you're going out of ears reach" he demanded. "Alone means alone, Abe" I said coldly. "OK, but don't get up to anything in the wood" said Toby flashing me a exaggerated wink. "Grow up" Katy signed, her glare matching up to the other's except for Clarissa who gave Liam an exaggerated wink. "Sorry dude, you're not the resident funny guy, I am" said Abe. After me and Liam walked a good distance away from the others, feeling extremely awkward, I stated my matter of business. "Look Liam, I'm sorry for the way I treated you yesterday...."I began looking down at my feet. Liam looked surprisingly at my face. "Cassie.. can I call you that? well just know you don't have to apologize, I mean it was immoral of me to keep it to myself and I'm shocked that no one told the monarchy anyway, not like I'm trying to blame it on someone else...." blabbered Liam. "Shh" I said putting a finger to Liam's lips. He went quiet and stared at me. I could definitely see something in his eyes for me, but I'm not the person he thinks I am. Every second that we stand here in silence, it becomes more and more like a moment, and I'm afraid he will try and kiss me again. I cleared my throat and remove my hand swiftly. " I know you tried you're best to help my family as much as you could, and I really appreciate all that you have done for me... me and my sister, I would like it if we put this all behind us and remained friends and allies for the near future" I said staring into his eyes. Something like confusion passed over him and he took a step back, almost falling into a nearby bush. "Yes, friends.... I would like that as well". The sadness and awkward silence that followed made everything more stranger, I miss the time when he didn't want to marry me and we were nothing more than good friends. I changed my pace to a high speed power walk. Eventually we reached the campsite, where everyone was waiting for us and Abe stared at me to see if anything had changed between me and Liam. He looked away, satisfied. Liam cleared his throat and said in a serious and mature tone "Ok then, we'll start heading walking now".

After around half an hour of walking I realise how my fitness has changed. I remember when just walking to visit the villages tired me out and I used to make excuses not to do everyday - princessy things because I was 'extremely fatigued'. Only now do I realize what tired means. After a while we begin to walk on softer ground, which turns into a thick mud. "Eww, this is so going to ruin my outfit" moaned Clarissa, dusting herself off madly every few seconds. Every couple of kilometres we walked the mud got thicker. Soon we had to pair up, so that when the mud got too thick we had someone to pull us out. I almost lost a shoe when my foot got stuck in deepest part. "Princess, you don't' think I'll leave you there, do you? I haven't failed you yet" said Toby with a grin pulling me out of the muck. I gave him a small smile and turned around to pull Katy out of the squishy mud. "How old are you Katy?" I asked her. "25" she signed back. I was surprised since she seemed so small and fragile and I could tell she expected me to be as well. "Ma and papa like to let people think that Katy is the youngest child, it stops them from asking questions about when she is going to get married" replied Toby. "How old are you then?" asked Clarissa batting her eyelashes at Toby. "24, and I know I don't look it" said Toby laughing at Clarissa's expression. "Too old for me then, I'm 16" said Clarissa pretending to be disappointed. I realised just then how Clarissa was the youngest in the group by a good 4 years, but she certainly didn't act it. Clarissa being Clarissa fits in anywhere. We reached the point where the mud turned into soft new grass and I noticed that we were actually on the gwelao hills. I had seen them before but only from the sides. I had never imagined I would actually have to climb them, ever. Eventually after a while of battling the green long grass and staring in awe at the different species of birds we reached the not so pretty bit. "Be careful everyone, this bottom bit of the hills is extremely slippery" said Liam. Toby, Abe and I decided to go first.I held onto a long piece of vine I found higher up and tied it onto nearby rocks. Then I put one foot after another slowly as I began to abseil swiftly down the hill. "This is actually a lot of fun!" I hooted putting a hand up in the air to wave to the others. Toby began to do the same and he came down after me. "You should probably focus on the rope, Cassandra" said Brayden with a smirk. "Shut up Brayden, she's finally letting loose" said Clarissa with a smile "I don't think many queen's got to do this". This brought me back to reality. Kingdom, responsibilities, parents, subjects.." The vine above me began to sway. "Hey! is someone moving that? stop it!" I whined. "No one is touching your vine" said Liam staring down at me with a confused expression.  Everyone went silent and stared at the rope I had made. The whole thing was beginning to tear down the middle and my end was beginning to fray. "Stay still" commanded Liam. I looked up at the vine one last time... then I fell.