AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Noah had known this could happen. Nicole had mentioned when it was time to leave that all of these scenarios would have been the purpose of all the war room meetings. And that this was just one of the many they most likely went over.
Even if it had been discussed and well orchestrated, it didn’t make me feel any better about Noah.
He spoke in hushed whispers with his mother and I stood awkwardly, tying my satchel of items as best I could onto the horse closest to me.
When he finished, after hugging his mother, he mounted his horse quickly. The troops followed suit, and I did as well.
Noah trotted his horse to mine. “Everything will be okay, Cora.”
“I believe you.”
The smile that didn’t reach his eyes told me that he wasn’t quite sure that was the truth. I’d made my opinion clear that I thought this was a really bad idea. Why on earth Gabe wasn’t the one sent out since Noah was already the Prince was beyond me. But there would be traditions, ways of life, things I guess I wouldn’t understand here.
It was a different world. One with different values, and my newness to it didn’t make my judgment necessarily fair.
All I could do was protect Noah with everything I had if it came down to it. Help find the King. And make it home to plan our next move.
Because even after all of this planning and the long journey we may be on to find the King, the Unseelie Kingdom was still at war. This battle was only a small portion of the larger picture.
We were still at the start of this nightmare.
With a silent jerk of his reins, Noah’s horse sped forward, galloping with the troops behind him. Quietly, with no fanfare as we rose hard and fast out of the castle grounds and toward the outer roads.
Aron pulled ahead of Noah slightly as we kept the grueling pace. The sound of galloping swallowed up everything else around us. The thuds of the horses hooves pounded through e as I clenched onto the reins. Riding was part of training, but not the main part. Especially not as of late. As the horse continued to canter, I grew more and more wary that I’d fall right off and be trampled by the troops behind me.
We’d ridden hard for what seemed like hours, though the sun had only set a little bit.
When Aron held up his arm and we all finally slowed to a steady trot, my hands were stiff from clutching the reins in my fists.
The trot slowed once more to a walk and eventually, Aron dismounted from the horse, with Noah following. Immediately, as he got off the horse he looked at me. I gave him a quick nod, silently letting him know I was alright. He had enough to worry about without wondering if I was holding up.
“We can make camp here. We should still have time to see the old camp site and make a plan for tomorrow even after setting up.” Aron was all business as he spoke to Noah.
Noah nodded along with what Aron was saying. “You have the lead, my friend. We’ll go with your suggestions, just lead the way.”
I helped where I could, though building camp wasn’t my forte necessarily. Aron was patient with me, as I stayed close by him and assisted where I could. I wondered if Nicole had told him I knew about the two of them.
He worked silently, and I didn’t interrupt. The chatter of the other men was low, quieter than normal as everyone stuck to their own tasks. Eventually, Aron’s tent, as well as all the others had popped up in the clearing he’d trotted us to.
“We should hurry if we want to make it to the old site and back before nightfall,” Aron leaned down to tell Noah as the Prince grunted, hitting the final stake he needed to secure his tent into the ground.
The diligence of the men, along with just the murmur of sound was awkward. Uncomfortable. Like talking would bring the Seelie to us, even though we were on our own lands, far in the Unseelie territory.
“This way,” Aron urged, and the troops gathered, following along in a line more orderly than the classroom lines I’d walked in school.
We entered the woods near our clearing and hadn’t gone very far before a lingering, putrid-smelling scent it me so hard I doubled over.
The smell. The smell of the camp hit me so hard I could barely stand back up. We weren’t in sight of it yet, and the rancid, thick smell practically gagged me as I choked on it.
Wobbling Ducking under tree branches our small group of perhaps twenty Fae walked through brush and woods until we reached a deserted camp.
Before seeing the remains, I knew what I was smelling. My mind knew instinctively, like a defense mechanism..
My stomach churned and I gagged outwardly. The charred grass and sweeping mounds of ash and fleshy bone were enough to make me sick.
Aron hadn’t exaggerated.
Everyone was dead.
But it wasn’t just that. The Seelie had clearly come back to the camp once Aron left, arranging bones and branches together, in a sickening display of violence.
The words, the smell it was all too much.
A few of the troops held their mouths, but with my sense of smell being heightened as it was, I couldn’t take this. Not at all.
I ran to the edge of the camp and puked.
The haunting words playing over and over in my head as I vomited and shook uncontrollably.
It’s only the beginning …
