Desperate Forest Page 11

  Abrax found me. After all this, he’s won.

  I couldn’t fight it though. My body was too weak. Within hours, I would be dead, if not from the poison that filled my veins, then from my uncle’s command.

  At least I will be with you again, Father.

  Too weak to fight, I gave in to the darkness.

  ✽✽✽

  Darkness. For days, that was all I knew.

  It had taken ahold of me, and I could not find a way out. Every so often, I heard voices, but I could not comprehend the words or respond.

  My body felt like it was chained. No matter how hard I tried, I could not move any part of it. I was paralyzed.

  My uncle did this to me. He found a way to keep me a prisoner in my own body. I’ll never escape.

  Suddenly, I was roaming through the castle halls, searching for my father.

  He must be here. I anxiously peered around corners, afraid my uncle had found a way to make him a prisoner of the darkness too.

  I threw open doors, searching, but I could not find him. Loud echoes of thunder boomed overhead, and lightning flashed from the castle windows. I felt terrified, like I had when I was a child during a thunderstorm.

  Don’t be afraid, Roselie, I heard my father say. Remember, the birds sing after every storm. Although things seem frightening now, soon there will be music and laughter again.

  Where are you, Father?

  After what seemed like hours, I came across a room at the end of a long hall.

  I opened the door and saw my father’s dead body lying upon the bed.

  No.

  Frantically, I ran to his side and shook his arm, begging him to wake up. I screamed and cried, but he could not hear me.

  A loud crash startled me, and I turned to find the door shut. With a click, it locked. I banged on the door with my fists and wrenched the handle, but it was no use. I was a prisoner.

  When I turned back to the bed, my father’s body had been replaced with my own. I was faced with my own corpse, pale and cold, all the life drained from my face.

  I screamed and the blackness enclosed me once more.

  ✽✽✽

  I blinked and found myself in the forest. I looked around.

  I was back at Gavin’s camp, but something felt different. Everyone was gathered around the fire, but as I approached, not one of them looked up.

  I called out but no one seemed to hear me.

  “Gianna!” I ran to her side. Instead of answering me, she turned to Gavin and passed him a steaming cup of stew.

  “Why can’t you see me?” I grabbed her shoulders.

  Gavin took the cup from her and said, “Once we deliver Roselynn to her uncle and he pays us the reward, we’ll want for nothing. We’ll all be free to start new lives.”

  “What a fool she was, betraying us like she did.” Jay laughed and threw a stick in the fire.

  Gianna nodded. “We’re lucky we found her again. She’ll be quite profitable.”

  I tried to shake Gianna’s shoulders. “What are you talking about? You can’t take me to my uncle. He’ll kill me!” She ignored me.

  Jay shook his head. “It really is a shame about her fate.”

  Laurel laughed. “One less princess in the world won’t be any loss. What good did she ever do us? She deserves it after her betrayal.”

  “You’re wrong!” I shouted in vain because no one could hear me. “Don’t you understand? I thought I was keeping you safe. I never meant to betray you!”

  Jay stood up and headed for his tent. “Time to deliver her. In a few hours, we’ll all be rich and free.” Cheers broke out through the camp. Horrified, I left the others and followed Jay.

  When I got inside, there was gloom all around. Chains appeared, tugging on my wrists and ankles. I was no longer in the tent but a dungeon, now a prisoner.

  ✽✽✽

  Voices broke through my haze of obscurity. I tried to call out but couldn’t. They seemed to be coming from far away.

  “How many more days will we continue to put ourselves in danger while we wait for her to die?”

  “As many as it takes. We can’t give up yet.” I recognized that voice as Jay’s.

  “Every moment we stay here, the greater the risk we’ll be discovered.” The disdainful reply belonged to Laurel. “You know how important it is we keep moving.”

  “We can’t travel with her in this state. She needs rest, and the medicine needs time to work.”

  “So you’ll risk all our lives for the sake of a traitor who poisoned you and stole one of our horses?” Laurel laughed but there was no mirth behind it. “I’m beginning to doubt your judgement and Gavin’s ability to lead this group.”

  “It’s been decided.” Jay’s reply was quiet but firm.

  “If I didn’t know better,” Laurel said, “I’d say you were in love with her.”

  Silence.

  “Don’t tell me I’m right.” She let out a cruel laugh. “The disgraced knight in love with the betrothed princess! Really, Jay, I thought you were smarter than that.”

  Again, there was no response, but I heard angry footsteps fade away.

  I couldn’t speak or move, but I felt pressure on my hand as it was held by another.

  ✽✽✽

  Silence hung all around me. My eyes felt heavy and my head pounded.

  For the first time in ages, I could feel sensation in my limbs. My right arm throbbed in pain.

  My eyelids fluttered open, revealing the soft glow of morning. I felt dizzy as I strained to take in my surroundings.

  For a moment, I had no recollection of where I was. Light streamed in from the opening of a tent. The tent was bare, except for a jug of water and a few damp towels. To my right, a man sat with his head in his hands, his dark hair sticking out in all directions.

  “Wh-what happened to me?” I asked, my voice a hoarse whisper, hardly recognizable as my own.

  The man looked up, confused, remarkably alert for how tired and strained his eyes appeared.

  “You’re awake!” He reached into the jug of water and produced a small cup. He knelt beside where I lay and brought it to my lips. “Here, drink this. You’ll feel better.”

  I obeyed, my mouth dry as cotton, although I could barely lift my head. “I don’t understand. Where am I? How did I get here?”

  “You were bitten by a Garmonia snake in the forest,” he said, placing a gentle hand behind my head to help me drink. “Incredibly deadly. You’re lucky to be alive.”

  All at once, memories rushed back, starting with my escape from the castle until I was bitten by the snake.

  “Jay,” I said, making sense of the things I remembered. “How long have I been back here?”

  “When Thaddeus and I found you, you were already unconscious. We brought you back, and Laurel was able to make an antidote to the poison. You were unconscious for three days. You had a terrible fever, and we didn’t know if you would make it. The fever broke last night.”

  I lay back and closed my eyes, my head spinning. It felt like I had been trapped in unconsciousness for years. I looked at my arm, which was wrapped in a linen bandage and throbbed dully with pain.

  “I’m sorry.” I looked into the kind brown eyes I was starting to know so well. “I shouldn’t have left, and I never meant—"

  “Sh, it’s all right.” Jay laid a soft hand on my shoulder and set the cup down. “You need to regain your strength. I’ll get you some food.”

  As he walked toward the entrance, I called out weakly, “Jay . . . thank you.”

  “It’s good to have you back.” Jay smiled, then disappeared. I laid my head down and fell into an exhausted sleep.

  ✽✽✽

  The next few days, I spent resting and regaining my strength. The group was not used to spending so much time in one place, so it was important I recover as soon as possible.

  I was overjoyed to see Gianna again. She spent as much time as she could spare with me. She brought me food and brightened my day wit
h conversation when I wasn’t resting.

  But Jay was the person I saw most during my days of recovery. He spent much of his time in the tent, looking over the maps and planning our next travel route. He began to include me in his findings and was surprised how much I knew about the maps I’d brought with me.

  “When my father was alive, we loved to explore together,” I explained. “He taught me how to read maps, and I used to pore over them when he was away, planning our next excursion.”

  “No wonder you were able to make it so far on your own,” Jay said, glancing up from the map we were studying together.

  “How did you get so familiar with the land?”

  “It was the main part of my job when I was a knight. King Charles put me in charge of knowing everything possible about his kingdom and the outlying areas. Being a master of your surroundings is a very important part of keeping a kingdom safe.”

  “How exciting!” I sighed with longing. “My father and I never got to take half the journeys we planned.”

  “That’s a shame. Perhaps someday you will still be able to.”

  “Perhaps.” I rested a hand on my chin. “You must have seen everything as a knight.”

  “I did see quite a bit.” Jay nodded, then frowned. “Far too much, at times.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I traveled to your land,” he said, “after your father died. King Charles sent me there when he heard rumors of the army your uncle was creating. Tover was a shadow of its former self. Your uncle had taken so many men, there were none left to farm. People were starving.”

  I shook my head sadly. “I can’t believe I couldn’t help them . . .”

  “When I returned, I told King Charles we needed to make plans to help, but—”

  Gavin burst into the tent. “Jay, Laurel’s gone! We can’t find her anywhere.”

  Jay stepped away from me. “What? Are you sure?”

  Gavin ran a worried hand through his hair. I’d never seen him look so distraught. “Yes, all her things are gone, along with her horse.”

  Jay groaned and began packing his bag. “Saddle the horses. We need to find her.”

  “Where do you think she’s gone?” I asked Jay as Gavin left the tent. “Is she in danger?”

  “She was angry with me and Gavin for making camp here so long. She said it wasn’t safe. She must have gone ahead on her own. And yes, she could be in danger. She doesn’t know this land like I do. If your uncle’s guards find her, she’ll be captured.”

  Suddenly, I remembered the conversation I’d overheard between Jay and Laurel while I’d been unconscious. Until now, I had dismissed it as one of the many crazy dreams I’d had in my feverish state. But I clearly recalled Laurel’s angry words as she complained that Jay was not acting in the group’s best interest. How it was dangerous for them to be sitting still so long, waiting for me to recover.

  All at once, I remembered how she had accused Jay of being in love with me, and his silence in response.

  That’s crazy. I must have imagined that part.

  I turned to Jay just in time to see him exit the tent. I shook my head to clear it. That memory must have been one of my delirious illusions.

  Gianna came in. “Jay said I should stay with you.” Upon seeing the troubled expression on my face, she immediately tried to soothe my anxiety. “Don’t worry. If anyone can find her, it’s Jay.”

  I nodded, hoping she was right and wondering about what I had or hadn’t heard.

  Chapter 19

  Jay and Gavin returned two days later, without Laurel.

  “She must have gotten too much of a head start,” Jay said, shaking his head as he dismounted.

  “Or King Abrax’s knights already found her!” Gavin stormed off toward his tent.

  “We’ll continue to Galesmore and search for her there,” Jay announced to the group.

  And so, we packed everything up. I had made significant progress on my recovery over the last few days, feeling only slightly weak and short of breath now.

  “What will happen to Laurel if she has been captured by my uncle?” I asked Jay as I settled onto Amon’s saddle with him.

  Jay was silent for a minute. “I don’t know the whole story . . . but I know she fled Tover because it wasn’t safe for her there. That’s why she’s heading to Galesmore.”

  “It’s my fault,” I said, feeling guilty. “If I hadn’t run away, you all would have been able to keep moving like you planned, and Laurel wouldn’t have left.”

  Jay shook his head. “She knows our code. When one of us is sick or in trouble, we stick together and help them until we can travel in a group. It was the same thing when Gavin was hurt.”

  I said nothing. But she didn’t accept me as part of the group. To her, I was nothing but the spoiled princess who caused problems.

  Of course she didn’t want to risk her own safety for mine. Although Laurel and I had never been friends, I prayed she had reached Galesmore unharmed and not fallen into my uncle’s evil clutches.

  ✽✽✽

  We rode for days, only stopping to rest at night and beginning at dawn each day. My body ached from being in the saddle for so many hours.

  Several evenings later, Jay and I sat around the campfire. Everyone else had retired to their tents for the night, and we talked in hushed tones.

  Jay and I went over everything he could remember from the night King Charles had been killed, and I tried to piece together his story, searching for clues to help prove his innocence.

  It was difficult because his memories were hazy, and some of what he told me he wasn’t even sure had really happened.

  “King Charles was apologizing to me for something.” He gazed gloomily into the fire. “But I don’t know what it was about.”

  “Do you remember how you felt?” I asked, hoping to trigger something in his memory that could help us.

  “Angry . . . and maybe surprised?” Jay ran an anxious hand down his face. “I just don’t know anymore!”

  “It’s all right,” I said, gently squeezing his arm. “Just give it time. You might remember more.”

  A throat cleared behind us, and we both jumped.

  Turning, I saw Thaddeus, his gray eyes severe in the firelight.

  “Jay,” he said, “Gavin wants to see you. Something about the route we’ll be taking tomorrow.”

  “Sure.” Jay stood up and headed toward Gavin’s tent.

  When he was gone, Thaddeus sat down next to me in Jay’s vacant spot.

  “What do you hope to accomplish with all this?” he asked.

  “All what?”

  “Trying to get him to remember.”

  Jay had told me that Thaddeus, Gavin, Laurel, and I were the only ones who knew the truth about his history, so I wasn’t surprised Thaddeus was talking to me about it. I was, however, surprised by his words.

  “I want to help him prove his innocence, of course!” I broke a twig and tossed it in the fire. “If he could just remember what really happened . . .”

  “Some things are better left in the past,” Thaddeus said grimly.

  “What do you mean? Don’t you think he’s innocent?” Jay claimed Thaddeus and he were close, so I didn’t understand why Thaddeus would doubt him.

  “I don’t know what I think,” he said, then stood up and walked away, leaving me staring after him.

  ✽✽✽

  Finally, we made camp one evening with only a day’s ride between us and Galesmore.

  “Great job, everyone,” Jay called as we dismounted wearily from our horses.

  As Gianna and I set up tents and Macie prepared supper, I saw Gavin take out his bow and arrows to hunt. I walked over to him. Gavin had kept mostly to himself ever since Laurel’s disappearance, and it had been several days since we really talked.

  “Gavin,” I said, “I’m sorry about Laurel. I feel like I’m to blame for her leaving.”

  “It’s not your fault.” His expression softened. “It’s Laurel . .
. she’s much too reckless. It’s just—she’s been on her own for too long and has trouble trusting people.” I heard the pain in his voice, and I realized why he had been so upset by her disappearance. It was clear he cared deeply for her.

  “She doesn’t know this, but . . .” He went on cautiously as if he wasn’t sure he should be telling me. “Laurel and I, we have a history. Not a good one.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Before I left Abrax’s army, he sent some of his knights on a mission. Told us there were two dangerous witches living in Tover. That they practiced black magic and had committed terrible crimes around the village. We were ordered to kill them both and burn their cottage.”

  “Laurel and her sister?”

  Gavin nodded. “Abrax had his head knight, Kartoff, lead the group, but I was chosen to go along. I knew something wasn’t right about the story, but I was too scared to defy Abrax. When we got there, Kartoff killed Laurel’s sister almost immediately. Then he ordered the rest of us to burn the cottage and search for Laurel.”

  Gavin clenched his fist. “I was out back when I saw Laurel rushing toward her burning home, thinking nothing of her own safety. Her only thought was for her sister. I caught her and pulled her into the forest. I had been ordered to kill her . . . but I couldn’t.” He swallowed painfully. “I told her that her sister was dead, and she needed to flee and never show her face in Tover again.”

  “And she doesn’t know it was you?” Suddenly, Gavin’s conversation with Jay that I’d overheard outside his tent made much more sense.

  “No, I was wearing my armor. My face was covered. She has no idea, and I never want her to find out. She’d hate me if she knew I was involved in her sister’s death.”

  “Gavin,” I said gently, “you weren’t responsible.”

  “But I should have tried to stop it!”

  “Then you would have been killed. And another knight would have killed Laurel. You saved her life.”

  He shook his head sorrowfully. “But I couldn’t save her sister . . . After Laurel fled, I told Kartoff I killed her and buried her body in the forest.” He sighed. “Five days later, Abrax sent us on another ‘mission’—to round up more men and force them to serve in his army and kill any who refused. In the commotion, I took the opportunity to escape to the forest myself. I had nothing but my sword, my horse, and the armor on my back . . .”