Glass Rose

Chapter 6C

A clearing had been torn through the leaves, damaging them enough to allow Laera to crawl through and finish hacking off the rest from the other side. Remnants of the mutt's blood clutched onto the last bundle of thorns as her dagger finished cutting it down.

Getting the horses through was relatively simple, given that Laera's mare followed the Captain's horse after the two had lured it out, but mounting became a challenge. The silver creature was tense, protesting her movements as it pulled away.

Soft whines escaped the animal's throat as its head bounced between the Captain's much calmer mount and Laera frightfully. Laera's chest tightened as the mare ripped back, pulling the reins out of her hands. The dark grey tail swished quickly back and forth while it backed away, only stopping after bumping into a tree.

"It's okay," She mumbled, slowly stepping forward and raising her hand. For a moment, the horse settled onto Laera's gaze, relaxing. Both were still and silent, careful not to glance away. "We're all okay."

Her hand slowly rested upon the animal's neck, fingers twisted around the long hairs as the mare's pulse echoed the rapid beating of its heart. "Just a little farther and then you'll go home."

She let the horse trot beside her while the Captain slowly led them into a larger clearing. Once her mare had calmed down, she climbed back on, and they picked up the pace.

A soft mist rolled through the trees in rose hues. The sun was barely visible through the forest, slowly setting until it disappeared beneath the horizon, and the world began to shift to shades of black and blue.

The trees of the forest turned to long corn stalks, and her eyes attempted to adjust to her surroundings. The open fields rippled against the night sky, small white dots peeking out from the low hanging clouds.

"Stop here," The Captain began to cautiously dismount before he began digging through the bags.

"Why here?"

"The next village is not officially part of Traison, but it's run by them. I'm sure they'd be delighted if the heir of the kingdom they're at war with just popped in and asked for a place to spend the night," The bitter sharpness of his voice shot a pang of guilt through her. "Plus, we're far enough from the forest to be safe from whatever's still living there."

Laera stayed quiet. The Captain thrust a bundle of wadded up clothes at her, not bothering to meet her eyes. "Here. Roll up some of these as a pillow and use the jacket as a blanket. We didn't exactly pack for camping, so this will have to do."

She mumbled a small 'thanks' before grabbing the clothes and doing as he said, letting her head hit the makeshift cushion with a victorious thump and adjusting her eyes to the glowing stars when she finished.

The grey clouds slipped in and out of her sight. They rolled over the burning lights one at a time before merging into the next mass of air and floating across the horizon.

Laera attempted to match her breathing to the sight, never quite getting the timing right until a thick blob of red shot in front of her face. "We have a long day tomorrow. You should eat something."

She reached up to push the apple away, "I really don't feel like eating right now, Alec."

"Just eat," The Captain dropped the apple, her fingers barely catching it. "Please. There's going to be a lot going on tomorrow. I don't want to have to worry about you."

He took her silence as confirmation and stalked off. She twisted the apple between her fingers, eventually taking a bittersweet bite out of it.

There wasn't anything bad about the apple. There wasn't really anything that good about it either, so as the Captain turned his back she tossed it to her mare and watched as the horse slowly ate away any evidence.