A bit of a messy chapter - I'll be editing it asap, just needed to get it posted to be eligible for the Wattys this year. Happy reading friends!
By the time the trio reached the foot of the mountains night had passed and it was morning once more, though they could barely tell from the darkness of the woods. Vivienne was exhausted, not accustomed to the lack of sleep. She could tell that Paddoc was also beginning to become weary as every so often she would stumble and clutch at her side. Paddoc had not spoken a word since identifying the man she had killed and she had still not allowed Vivienne to meet her eyes. Even in the moments the companions had stopped for a rest and drink she had avoided the princess, sitting as far away from her as she could.
Paddoc knew Vivienne was becoming irritated by the avoidance but she couldn't bear to face her friend. When the group moved Paddoc could focus herself entirely on the task at hand, however, whenever they paused, her mind would wander to the boy in the dungeons who's life left his eyes by her hand, and then to the knight, Sir Marco, who was only young and had been kind and loyal as a child. More blood had spilt on Paddoc's hands in the last days than she had imagined spilling in her lifetime. She grit her teeth and reminded herself that she was just doing her job, that her first priority was and always would be Vivienne's life and safety, yet she couldn't help but think how many more would have to die in the coming weeks.
Luckily, the pain of her actions was somewhat distracting Paddoc from the physical pain in her side, though occasionally it would burn and make her somewhat lightheaded, then she would stumble, before correcting herself and continuing on. She knew Vivienne at least must have noticed her trip and hoped that she would put it down to exhaustion. If the princess found the wound she would force them all to stop and have a decent rest. Paddoc knew that was time they could not afford to lose and so she soldiered on.
The mountains rose before them like islands in a sea of green, their summits enshrouded with a veil of fog and sprinklings of snow scattered across the visible peaks. Vivienne stared up in awe. The mountains were visible from her tower in the castle and as a child she had imagined herself, a warrior princess exploring them, fighting the trolls and goblins and taking home treasures. She was no longer a child filled with excitement and adventure and now the mountains seemed menacing and dangerous, as though they contained some dark evil.
"About an hours climb from here is a cave I know, it's well sheltered and we can spend the day and move again when night falls." The ugly man said and without another word started his ascent. Vivienne and Paddoc followed him up the steep slope, stepping only where he stood and moving only as he moved for the path they were navigating was narrow and rocky and the higher they got the higher the fall onto the jagged rocks below. The walk was steep and hair raising and Vivienne promised herself she would not look down. Higher they climbed, never stopping for a breath and not a word was spoken. Soon enough the path had taken them around and of sight of the forest to a flat outcrop of rock. From their vantage point Vivienne felt she could see the entire world spread out beneath them. To the east there were the rolling hills of the farmlands and glittering far on the horizon she could see another city, then far off to the west was something else, blue and mesmerising.
"What's that?" Vivienne asked, pointing toward the plane of blue.
"That's the sea. I'm sure we'll find ourselves close enough to it one day we'll even be able to smell it." Paddoc answered and continued to make her way up the rocky path.
As they continued Vivienne stared back over her shoulder in wonder. She had heard about the sea from her mother, a vast body of salted water that surrounded the kingdom. She promised herself that one day when she was free from all of this, she would visit that patch of sea and she would touch it. Until then, she knew she must continue up this rocky, treacherous path into the mountains and beyond, and so she walked.
YOU ARE READING
The Chronicles of the Runaway Queen: Escape to Danger
Fantasy*This version of this book has been abandoned in favor of a re-write - currently in progress*
