The Chronicles of the Runaway Queen: Escape to Danger

Chapter Twenty Four : The Changing Tides

Since leaving the farm the weary travellers had not stopped once, nor had they dared to look back. They simply kept walking, all but Paddoc who had taken a place on the back of their stolen horse as her condition worsened. They walked through the night and well into the next morning, finally stopping to set up camp in a small patch of forest.

Vivienne had always loved the trees, spending as much of her youth as the could in the gardens surrounding the castle, though their last encounters with such places had been less than favourable. That being said, the forest provided shelter and cover from passersby and for a few moments the girls were allowed to feel safe.

With the food they had stolen, the four ate well and after a fulfilling meal Davis ordered them to rest. He knew they were all tired, he himself felt the exhaustion of the last week also, and so he let them sleep in the morning sun as he and Morenna took watch.

There was no doubt the kingdom through which they travelled was beautiful. Morenna appreciated it especially, having spent centuries in the bleak mountain landscape. She stared out over the green planes, admired the gentle roll of the hills and paddocks. The air here was different, she noticed, in the mountains it had smelt of dust and age while the farmlands were fresh, the air was crisp and young and the stench of livestock was a welcome change to her senses.

She sat next to Davis as he fiddled with a dagger most often kept tucked in his boot. She watched him intently for a few minutes.

"You don't know why you're protecting them, do you?" She finally asked

He laughed, "You don't need to make small talk, I know you could just read my mind if you really wanted to know."

"Mind reading is dangerous, sometimes its best to not know everything."

"Well, honestly, no, I don't have a clue why I'm still here."

"That is where you and I differ, for I know exactly why I am here. Perhaps you will need to work your reasons out."

"My life would have been a lot easier if I had never saved them in the city."

"Would it?" There was a hint of something in Morenna's voice that sounded almost like a challenge.

"It would." Davis paused, "Wouldn't it?"

"I cannot tell, but if either of these girls were to die, all of our lives would end."

"I believe," said Davis after a long pause, "That my life may have ended years ago. Though it has taken me this long to realise it."

Morenna did not reply for some time, and when she did her tone was calm and comforting, "The world is a complicated place. Time stops and starts and lands change, people die and all that is constant is the struggle between what is good and what is easy. We are lucky enough that fate has given us a place in this world and we must not waste it."

Though her words were mysterious, to Davis they felt comforting. Morenna left him sitting alone, though long after she had wandered away he found his mind drifting to the depths of her grey eyes and the subtle line of her lips. He shook it off every time the thought of the witch's beauty came upon him, for he knew the face he saw was little more than a mask. Morenna was centuries older than he and so he let his mind wander elsewhere, thinking of what had come of the family on the farm.

Vivienne slept well, far better than she had in days for here the air was warm and the grass soft and cushioned. She did not dream and her rest was undisturbed. When she awoke she felt refreshed in a way she had forgotten existed, and as she laid in the shade, staring into the branches overhead, she felt grateful for the sense of peace that sleep had brought her. Since the night her mother died, she realised her life had been a whirlwind of danger and fear and thinking back, she realised she had never truly had a chance to mourn her mother, not properly. A tear rolled down the Princess' cheek which she quickly wiped away. There would be a time to mourn but that time was not today.