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As soon as the idea hit my mind, I dismissed it. He would not take me back without severe punishment, not after letting Zen go.
But where would I go after returning Zen to the castle? He wouldn’t let me stay.
Would he lock me up?
I no longer had anywhere to go where I’d be safe.
I shivered again at the thought. It was a bridge we would have to cross once we got to it. In the meantime, we’d just have to get through the night together and see what happened.
* * *
Twilight was fullyupon us by the time we found the area that Zen had spoken about, these caves without a waterfall. Every small sound and chirp made me jump as the daylight faded away. I’d never been so afraid of the dark.
Or was I a little afraid of Zen, too?
“Stay here,” Zen instructed me, leaving me at the mouth of the cavern. “Or don’t. I don’t care.”
“Where are you going?” I asked nervously, wondering if maybe we were closer to the castle than he had let on. Would he go back and get reinforcements to take me in?
“Weren’t you just whining about water?” he demanded impatiently. “There’s a stream just up there.”
“I can come with you.”
“The less time I spend with you, the better,” he said bluntly, spinning away.
The words stung me deeply, but I didn’t argue as he disappeared into the brambles, leaving me to sit on a boulder and wait.
A swarm of mosquitoes appeared by my face, and I swatted them away as they approached me, evening falling with a coolness in the air.
What if he left me there? Alone?
Dread and helplessness settled into me, forcing me back into the cave where I paced nervously, the chittering of night creatures growing louder. Every rustle in the trees made me jump and peek, but Zen still did not return, and eventually, I resigned to the fact that he had given up on me.
Slumping against the cold, granite wall, I let my buttocks sink to the dirt floor, my face buried in my hands.
I deserved this. I brought this on myself, even if I never really had a choice.
I couldn’t be mad at anyone but Agnan for putting me in this situation, but for Zen to leave me all alone in the woods…
Would I survive? Should I keep going and risk the creatures that trolled through the trees?
“Are you still here?”
Excitement gripped my heart, and I sprang to my feet, rushing toward the mouth of the cave at the sound of Zen’s voice. Relief washed over me to see him, his face drawn and annoyed, his controlled scruff heavier than usual.
In his hand, he held a makeshift canteen of wood, which he thrust toward me, water sloshing everywhere. “Be careful with that,” he ordered me. “The creek is farther than I remember it being. This will have to last us until morning.”
Nodding eagerly, I accepted it, taking a small but full sip before thanking him.
“Don’t thank me yet,” he sneered. “I heard coyotes rustling through the trees. I bet they would love to eat a little mouse like you.”
I balked, but he turned away again, rummaging through the bushes as I stared at him. It wasn’t the coyotes I was worried about. It was the unknown entities that wandered through the Bellewoods, ones that my magic couldn’t protect me from.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to make a fire to keep them away,” he replied coldly. “I don’t want to stay up all night to cast them off with magic or fight them. You could help.”
He gathered pine needles and kindling into a pile, and I smiled to myself, glad that I could be of use in this respect at least.
