The Shadows

22| Dangerous Territory

We walk for hours, joking and laughing. We stop occasionally to rest or eat; walking until the sun sets.

He stands up and looks down to stare down at the newly lit fire. Content with it, he turns around. "Okay, fire is going and shelter is set." I sit by the fire, warming my hands. "Sounds good to me." He sits down by the fire and drags one of our bags towards us. "You hungry?" He glances over to me. I widen my eyes as my stomach growls. He bursts into laughter as my face  turns to fire. "I think your stomach answered my question for you."

I grab the bag from him and search through. "What did Mikayla pack for us?" He leans back on his hands and watches me search. "It's not in this bag." I shrug. He reaches over and grabs the other bag and opens it up. He stops before a big smile spreads across his face. He looks up to me before reaching up and handing me a slice of pizza. "Your favourite, no?" I stare at the pizza slice as I flashback to the time I almost confessed my love to the man in front of me but instead confessed it to pizza. I'm starting to think he caught my metaphor.

"T-thanks..." I choke out.

"We traveled pretty far today." He changes the subject. "Is this what you and Jace used to do?" I take a monster bite of my pizza. He scowls at me. "I don't want you to ever say that name again." Suddenly very serious making me stop mid chew. "But yes... pretty much." he leans back. "I like travelling like this though. It took me awhile to convince Cain to let me go." I smile at the thought. "That's cute, he was worried about you?" He shrugs. "I am his little brother and the third prince. People know what I look like." I take the last few bites of my pizza. "What changed his mind?" "He wouldn't let me go until I was older. Gain 'maturity and responsibility' he would say." He pauses. "He's the one who raised me. Even before my parents died." I tilt my head in confusion. "What about your mother?" He nods, "She was there, but my father kept her away from us; thought she was too soft on us."

"He is very responsible." I note. "He gave up his childhood for me." He looks into the fire, cold, expressionless. I speak up. "I feel Cain has done the same for me. He didn't question it, he just took care of me." He turns his head to me. "Hey, I did my part too okay?" He grins. "No, no thats not what I meant..." He rolls his eyes. "You should probably stop talking now." He chuckles.

"Are you jealous?" I grin, amused. He glances at me and grins. "Alright princess, let's get some sleep." Not admitting nor denying it.

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I open my eyes to the morning sun beaming down on me. I squint and roll over on my side to see Damien sitting, looking out from our makeshift shelter. He turns his head to me and smiles. "I actually slept surprisingly well last night" I say as I push myself up into a seated position. "I've been doing this for a long time. I know how to do it right!" He nods happily. I giggle, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. "I can see that."

He hands me a breakfast sandwich and some tea and we sit and enjoy the morning sun. "We should probably get going. I want to arrive in the first zone by tomorrow morning." He says as he takes his last bite. "Tomorrow morning!?" I say surprised. "It takes two days to get to the first zone!?" He chuckles at my laziness. "We are still in our territory. It takes awhile to get to the first zone. The rest of the zones are pretty close together." I lean back on my hands. "What? wait..." I come to the sudden realization that I have no idea what our country is or how it's laid out. "W-where are we?" Damien tilts his head. "The forest?" "No, no I mean what country are we in?" He leans back completely surprised by my question. "You don't know what country you're in?" He repeats my question as if he didn't hear me properly. I shake my head slowly. He looks at me dumbfounded for a couple of minutes.

"You're on the island of Exobris." He looks at me like I should be familiar with the name. I shake my head again. "Uh, kay well..." He starts giving me a mini history lesson. "The name means 'Dark, outsider' needless to say my family history isn't a pleasant one. The island has always been known to have a dark aura. Appropriate really. But that story is for another day." I shake my head frowning at the grim name. "The island has been divided into six zones, the sixth zone being the royal quarter and the fifth is now known as rebel territory, where we live. The rest have their own uses. Think of it as a donut. The border you almost crossed on your little adventure in the forest, was the border to zone six, the royal quarter. Where all of Kai's army is. The zones connect in a circle as the capital is in the center." He gets up and stretches in the sunlight. "Enough of the history and geography lesson for now princess. We have to make it to zone one today." I shake my head and push myself up.