The King's Cursed Bride

Farewell

"Carissa! Elon!" Lyron yelled.

Carissa moaned and tossed her arm over her eyes. Sunlight glowed brightly against her eyelids, but her body was heavy with exhaustion.

"Please come out. Lila's missing, and I don't know what to do."

It took a moment for his words to register. Once they did, Carissa jerked into a sitting position. The air was chilly, and she wasn't wearing a square inch of cloth. Carissa drew her arms around herself and glanced at Elon.

He wasn't there. The tent was empty save for herself.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?" Lyron asked. The flap of the tent began to rustle.

Carissa gasped. "Yes. Don't come in. I'll be out in a moment."

The tent flap stilled. "Very well, but please hurry. I don't know how long she's been gone."

Carissa scrambled for her undergarments. Where had Elon put them? Could he have tossed them to the ground? And where was he?

A flash of white caught Carissa's eye. Her undergarments were dangling from the corner of the cot, clean and dry. She slipped on her undergarments and clothes before emerging from the tent.

The sun was at least two hands above the horizon. Children darted around the grounds and complained loudly to their mothers about their empty stomachs. A few men were patrolling the walls, nodding as they passed each other.

Lyron was pacing in front of the tent, but he stopped when he saw her. "Carissa. Where's Elon? He told me I should watch Lila, and I've been trying to, but then that man found her yesterday, so I helped her to bed in the stone house, and I slept near her." He gripped fistfuls of his hair. "When I awoke this morning, she was gone. I don't know how I could have missed her."

Carissa squeezed Lyron's shoulder. "Elon will know where she's went."

He brightened. "Great! Then let's ask him."

Carissa shifted from one foot to the other, mud squishing beneath her shoes. "He's not here.

"Then... where is he?"

Carissa shrugged. He wouldn't have left her without a purpose. Perhaps he'd gone after Lila himself. "Where do they keep the horses, Lyron? If some are missing, we'll know Lila and Elon have taken them."

"Of course. They're this way." Lyron turned on his heel and began to weave around the tents and hovels. Pots and bowl had been set out to catch the rainwater and were filled to the brim. The smell of sweat, smoke, cooked meat, and baking bread filled the air.

Lyron slowed by a wooden building, bigger than all the rest of the structures save the stone house. Once he shoved the door open, Carissa was assaulted by the smell of manure and musty hay.

Dim light slipped between the wooden planks overhead, revealing a muddy walkway running between the horses' stalls. The horse's nickered and strained towards them, likely hoping for food. Carissa strode past them, the mud squelching beneath her boots. None of the stalls were empty, and in fact, two horses were crowded into a few of the stalls.

Lyron squinted in the dim of the stables. "Two of our horses from Zonah are missing. It seems you were right about Elon and Lila. Could they have left together?"

Carissa turned and left the stable in favor of the open air, where the smell was less suffocating. "Perhaps they simply wanted to speak in private. Or Lila was practicing her powers, so they had to venture from the camp."

From her peripheral vision, Carissa caught sight of someone approaching them. She turned and found Elon striding towards her.

He stopped two feet from her, and Carissa felt a sharp tugging in her chest, an urge to feel the intimacy she'd felt last night.