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Tension eased from her body as her feet met stone. She made it through the last bit of water and stared into the darkness. The cave echoed back the sound of trickling water. As her eyes tried to adjust, her ears strained to listen for any sign of life. If Shelby was here he would have said something by now. Right?
Her eyelashes brushed against her cheeks as she blinked several times and took another step into the cave. "Shelby?" she said his name quietly, not daring to call out too loud for fear of whatever sensation she felt of someone lurking behind her.
Her voice bounced off the walls, water splashed every time her boot came down to the cave floor, and her breathing was so loud she couldn’t hear herself think. If someone was here she would be able to hear it, she repeated to herself.
So this was it? Shelby really had given up on her. The slope of stone overhead curved downward and met with a boulder that seemed good enough for sitting. Steam and droplets of water clung to every surface. The humidity collected on her eyelashes and the hair on her arms. Ace was sick of feeling wet. If they'd gone back to her little apartment above the bakery she could be sitting in that empty bedroom, wrapped in her stolen blanket, eating something sweet. Instead, she was alone, and wet, and pissed off.
Ace lowered herself onto the rock, balancing her weight on top of it, and pulled her legs to her chest. Stretching her arms around her knees, she buried her face in her legs and groaned. What was she going to do now?
She asked for a day of silence from the gods—bargained for it really—now she was regretting it. If the gods were in her head they would tell her to do something and though she might argue it at least she’d have a sense of…direction? She’d messed up. She’d messed up royally. And that wasn't just a pun because she was actually dealing with royalty.
So many people had seen her face. She wasn't just some plain Jane, there weren’t hundreds of other girls with orange eyes just strolling the streets of Pasia. She would be easy to recognize. Steps splashed in the shallow puddles that gathered on top of the stone and Ace looked up, pushing the wet strands of hair off of her face so she could see.
A dark figure loomed at the mouth of the cave.
Ace became a statue perched on that rock. Wide eyes glued on that human form, she wondered if she should say something first. Someone had followed her. Someone had finally come to deliver her justice.
"I'm surprised you made it. Maybe I shouldn't be because this seems just my luck." Shelby complained as he sauntered forward. He wiped his hand across his face and then down his body trying to push off what excess water he could.
"Where were you?” Ace demanded as she let go of the notion of a sudden attack that was fueled by her paranoia. His sudden appearance had given her a minor heart attack, and that was just rude.
"What?" The slightest bit of humor laced his tone. "Why? Did you miss me?"
Was he serious? Joking at a time like this? Two could easily play that game.
Ace’s arms tightened around her lower half. "I missed you. More than you'll ever know." She made a point to press a hand to her chest and look up lovingly towards the heavens. "You complete me, Shelby.” She stood. "What would I ever do without you?" She tried not to remind herself that was actually the issue she was trying to solve a second ago but without the implied sarcasm. "Why would you leave me, Shelby? Why would you scare me like that?" she mocked.
What might have been a growing smile disappeared from Shelby's face. He rolled his eyes and planted his hands on his hips. "I've been following you for at least half a mile."
Well, that would explain the feeling of someone watching her. How had he been so quiet though? How had she never seen him? Someone his size couldn't suddenly turn invisible. Shelby walked right past her, the smell of soap on his skin was strong again, somehow more apparent since getting wet.
From what Ace could see, the cave came to a sudden end but Shelby took a sharp right and when she thought he was about to smack right into a wall he disappeared. No explanation. Not a single word. Typical warlock prick.
"What?" she whispered to herself before she hurried after him. She leapt forward, following behind till she saw the small dark crevice he’d slipped through. "Where are you going?"
Shelby grunted in a way that Ace could only assume was some type of laughter. Darkness consumed her and she branched away from what little light she had at the beginning of the cave. She felt along the narrow passage, trying to listen for him. Light flickered to life somewhere nearby. Ace turned around, realizing that she’d entered another large chamber of the cave. Her hands had been pressed to the edge of the cavern, facing her away from where Shelby had actually gone.
She tipped herself back against the wall in another apathetic pose acting as if she knew she was doing that all along. Shelby hadn't even looked in her direction. He couldn’t care less as he began picking through two large glowing chests…Glowing. Chests. Yes, two beautifully crafted wooden chests were somehow preserved in this murky cave and light poured out of their openings to fill the room. There was no way this wasn’t against the law.
"Um, what arethose?" she asked.
"Provisions."
"What is a warlock employed by the queen doing with provisions in a cave outside of the city?"
Shelby pulled a bag out of one of the chests and held it open before him shaking his head. "First of all, I'm not employed by the queen, I've been enslaved by the queen. There is quite the difference. Second, it is not unheard of for someone to have a Plan B."
"And why didn't you enact Plan B sooner? What is Plan B?" She peeled herself away from the wall and came to stand near the chests to peer down into them. "If Plan B was to run away, why wouldn't you run away sooner? It doesn't really sound like you enjoyed working for the queen."
"Plan A was safer." Shelby began shoveling items into the bag. He held up a shirt and looked between it and Ace before he nodded to himself and pushed it into the bag. Was he packing for her? That was both incredibly sweet and ridiculously annoying.
"I don't really understand how Plan A could be safer. Surely if you knew there was a way for you to escape and be as far away from the queen as possible you’d do it. Wait…were you planning on running away to Tarshton? Do you think you'll be safer with the Fae? Being with the queen would be less dangerous than that. Gods, don’t tell me we are heading to Tarshton."
Shelby straightened, finally tying up the bag before he slung it over his shoulders. "Not everything is about me. Just like not everything is about you. I know that might be a hard concept for you to understand."
Forherto understand? Ace openly balked at his statement. She didn’t know how to do hardly anything for herself anymore. Growing up she went along with everyone else's plan and it killed her! Literally! Now she was just a pawn of the gods.
"Oh you think I'm selfish?"
