Silver Rose

Spoiled

This was either the smartest thing she’d ever done or the stupidest. Marina turned her head to the left to look at the man trotting beside her. He insisted on riding Majestic, and when she protested that it was her father’s horse, he wanted to ride him even more. And she gave in because she suddenly realized what a dumb thing it was to give him all the weapons.

Now, she rode Goldenrod while he rode beside her on the king’s Majestic. She wouldn’t have minded quite so much if he didn’t look like a beggar from the streets. His hair was long and stringy, he had a shaggy beard, his clothes were torn, from head to toe he was covered in filth, and the smell… It was fine when they were galloping away, but now that they were a good ways from the city, they slowed down to a trot. And Marina couldn’t help but notice it now that her life was no longer in immediate danger.

She faced ahead again. It was crazy to ask someone who just tried to kill you, to come with you. She knew that. But at the moment… She didn’t know what possessed her. All she knew was that she was kneeling on the icy ground. Zander had lowered the dagger and she touched his hand. Then Galcon’s dagger and the necklace glowed at the same time. And she knew it meant something. Zander had grabbed her and they didn’t glow. When he let her go and left, they stopped shining. To top it off, some force of the dagger turned her around in the direction of Zander’s retreating form. So of course she had no choice but to go to him. Somehow, he was the connecting piece of a puzzle she had yet to completely figure out.

There was the necklace and the eagle. The dagger and the wolf. And somehow the animals were connected to the great King Galcon and Queen Hathora. Both the necklace and the dagger had more power than the eye could see; and so did the eagle and wolf.

And then, somehow, Zander and herself were apart of this. Which meant they each held a piece, they both had a connection in all this, and she was willing risk what she could to find the answers. Because, finally, she was living for something. Even though she didn’t know what it was, the eagle and wolf had given her a task, a purpose. Marina was determined to live up to the standard they had bestowed the short time she’d been with them.

Sighing, she looked down the dark road before her. She only hoped this was the right path.

“Tired?”

Marina drew in a sharp breath. They’d ridden in silence since they left the palace. To hear a human voice seemed strange. She really didn’t want to speak. Maybe he wouldn’t notice she didn’t answer.

“Are you tired?” He asked again.

She debated her answer. Then decided to lie.
“No.” Her voice sounded strange after the long silence.

He said nothing. They kept riding. Her eyelids drooped. Her chin fell toward her chest. Her body leaned left. Then she suddenly jolted herself awake. She didn’t know how often this happened. But her eyes were closing again when she heard Zander say,

“Follow me.”

Without thinking, she turned Goldenrod off the road. She followed him through some trees and then they seemed to be in the open (but was so dark and she was so sleepy she could barely tell). Then she heard him say,

“Stop here.”

She pulled the reins and Goldenrod halted. She felt herself nodding off again.

“Give me your reins and tie your horse,” Zander said.

“To what?” She asked.

“The tree you’re standing in front of,” he answered.

She didn’t see a tree. As far she could tell they were in a cave. But she let reins fall from her hands in the direction of his voice. A few seconds later, Goldenrod was slowly moving forward. And then Zander said something and the horse stopped.

“Can I get down?” She asked.

“Yes,” he answered. Then he muttered. “That is the whole point of stopping.”
She pretended not to have heard him, and dismounted.

When her feet touched the ground, her legs ached and wobbled. The day had been much too long and she couldn’t take much more. All she wanted was to lie down. She moved to find a nice comfortable spot and walked right into a horse’s flank. The horse (she wasn’t sure which one) whinnied and moved away from her. And she found herself on the hard ground rubbing her nose.

“Watch where you’re going,” Zander said, as she heard him pass her. “I saw a stream this way as we were riding. I hear it, but I want to be sure of where it is before I bring the horses.”

Marina picked herself up from the ground. Her nose felt sore, but she was sure it wasn’t bleeding.

“Where are you going?” She asked.

“To the water,” he said, sounding irritated.

She knew that. She wanted to know what direction he was going. Walking into a horse was not something she needed to repeat.

“Zander?” She called.

“Stay there.” His voice was already a ways off.

He was so rude. He didn’t even inquire if she were hurt. She pulled her cloak tighter. It was damp and chilly. The sky was overcast. And she was sore all over. Even her head ached. She shivered. She needed a bed.

“I wish I had—“ She began to mutter.

A bolt of pain shot through her body. She held her spinning head. No more wishes. Strange things happened when she did that. She had wished Mr. Pole hadn’t been cut and this wave of heat washed over her and his neck was completely fine. Later, before they left the stables, Zander wished that his chains would fall off. And they did fall off, but not before giving her a stomachache that left only after the wave of heat did.

It was all very strange and made her very tired. She didn’t know what was going on. Too many odd things were happening at once. She sighed. Her throat was dry. The sound of a bubbling stream reached her ears. She was surprised she hadn’t noticed it before. She supposed her head was too muffled with other thoughts. She took a step in the direction of the sound. A horse snorted. She froze.

“Zander?” She called. What was taking him so long? The stream was obviously not that far away. “Zander?!”

She crossed her arms over her shivering body. What there was a chasm in the ground before one reached the stream? Some huge abyss one couldn’t see in the dark? Maybe he noiselessly fell to his death. And what was she to do? See if he was alive. And fall in herself? Or continue the journey. But where was the road? She could wait until morning. But it was dark… and she was alone… and she could hear noises… Tree branches creaking in the light wind, something buzzed around her head, an animal loudly scampered in the grass, and footsteps—

“It’s to—“ A hand landed on her shoulder.

Marina screamed.

“What is wrong with you?!” He shouted.

She clasped her hands over her pounding heart. It was only Zander.

“You upset the horses,” he said angrily.

“I thought you were Lanquor,” Marina gasped. Tears pierced her eyes as she saw those yellow glowing orbs in her mind.

She heard Zander hushing a horse. What would he have done if Lanquor had come? He’d probably run off and leave her. She bit her bottom lip. He didn’t care about her anyway. She never should have asked him to come along. She’d have been better off with one of the stable hands.

“What took you so long?” She asked.

“I had to get a drink myself,” he said.

He got himself a drink before offering her one?!

“Were you born in a pig’s sty?!” She said. “Don’t you know a gentleman always gives a lady a drink first? Or do they not teach manners in Chasilin?!”

The horses backed up a few paces. Marina almost fell over trying to get out of their way.

“We teach manners all right,” he said. “Only I don’t believe yours would pass in as such in my country.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

The horses were moving away. Marina followed their black shadows and Zander’s voice.

“We define a lady by her character, and yours is lacking.”

“Lacking?” She stopped in her tracks. “I am the princess of Brovan!” She marched in the direction she’d been going. “The Princess! As such my character and manners are impeccable, and unquestionable! If more poor rift-raft like yourself acted like me, this would be a perfect world!”

Two hands grabbed her shoulders.

“You’re right,” he said in her face. “You act exactly like a princess.”

“Thank you.”

“A spoiled, selfish, rude, short tempered, self righteous little pig of a princess,” he spit.

Her body trembled. She didn’t know how to respond.

“And what is sad, is that you don’t have to be that way,” he said.

She jerked away from him. How dare he! Her arms flung up and she pushed him. Moments later she heard a loud splash. Was the stream that close? She heard the bubbling water loud in her ears. The horses on either side of her were slurping. Maybe that was why he grabbed her shoulders when she came toward him. Otherwise she would have marched straight into the water. That would have been a very embarrassing end to her argument. And now she had ungraciously pushed him in. She heard him sputter and cough. Hadn’t he just called her spoiled, rude, and short tempered? Wouldn’t this prove him right? He was walking toward her. But a princess was always right! Right? … Oh dear… Maybe she was a bit self-righteous.

“Zander,” she began, “um—I—“

He seized her waist and hauled her up over his shoulder.

“What are you--?! Put me down!” She protested.

He walked back into the stream. Then, without stopping, he flung her down. The water hit her like a thousand chunks of ice, taking her breath away in shock. Disoriented, she was under water for longer than she should. She finally pushed her head out and tried to gasp for air. Coughing water out, she desperately tried to catch her breath. She couldn’t hold her head up. She went under again. Her lungs ached. She couldn’t swim. She wasn’t going to make it. Her head popped up again.

“Help!” She managed to shout before going under again.

Suddenly, she was grabbed beneath her armpits and pulled up. The water came to her waist. Wordless, Zander made his way to land. Marina stood, coughing, for a long time. At last she was able to force air into her lungs, and she took a step. Her wobbling legs slowly trudged toward the shadow of the shore. She slipped a couple of feet from land and crashed into elbow high waters. As her hands and knees throbbed in pain, a chilling breeze swept about her making her body quiver with cold. Her stomach growled and she realized that she’d had nothing to eat since breakfast. And the reason she’d missed lunch was because she’d spent hours snooping about the queen’s quarters. And then she found that secret room, read from that stupid spell book, and something strange happened, but she didn’t know what. All she knew was that she’d awakened and the queen pushed her into a mirror. And there had been a woman, a shadow, and another being she’d recognized later when he attacked her in the snow—Lanquor. And there were talking animals, the digging of graves, an ice storm, and she was making her way to Talis. Talis! The dark forest where no one ever returned.

She crawled out of the water. Hot tears stung her eyes. And all these terrible things happened because she missed lunch. She collapsed on the hard ground. The sobs flowed out freely. If she had gone to lunch, she wouldn’t have had time to go to Renata’s chambers. And if she hadn’t gone to Renata’s chambers, she’d be at home right now. Her belly would be full with a hot supper, she would be in her soft, warm nightgown, tucked into her soft, warm bed, next to a cozy roaring fire. And everyone around her would be nice and considerate, not like the ill mannered, ugly, cruel man she was with. She never should have asked him to come with her. She knew his beastly kind were naturally uncivilized. She never should have left the palace grounds. No, she should have marched herself in the palace and gone straight to her father. He would have taken care of Renata and Lanquor. And she would have been safe and warm.

The tears flooded her eyes and gushed down her face. Safety and warmth—that was all she wanted. That and food. And a bed. And clothes that didn’t stick to her skin. A long bath would do her good, too. Maybe some sweets to get the taste of mud out of her mouth. If only her nanny were still there, she always knew how to comfort her. But she was dead, just like her mother. And if her mother were still alive, she never would have had to deal with Renata or Lanquor or Zander in the first place. The sobs choked her, but she couldn’t stop them. So she wept into her folded arms until she was too tired to cry.

“Are you hungry?”

Marina lifted her heavy head. The smell of smoke and burning wood drifted in the air.
“What?” She squeaked, shivering.

“You should eat something,” he said.

She sat up. “We have food?”

“I have food.”

He was sitting a few feet away from her in front of a small fire. When did he do that? The thought flew away from her mind as she watched him pop something into his mouth. Despite her aching muscles, Marina scrambled to her feet.

“I’ll do anything for a bite to eat,” she said.

“Would you hop on one foot and bark at the same time?”

“I beg your pardon?!”

He chuckled. “I didn’t think so.” He rummaged in a saddlebag and pulled out part of a loaf of bread and a small chunk of cheese. “Take it.”

Trying to preserve a little dignity, Marina hesitated for a few seconds. Then she slowly, proudly, achingly, walked over to Zander and took the bread and cheese from his hands. She sat close to the fire with the food in her lap. She ate a crumb a minute to prove she didn’t need his food. But her stomach protested to this torture and she tore pebble-sized pieces of the bread after a couple minutes. Zander chuckled again. She forced herself to ignore him. She was sure he laughed at her hurt pride. Royalty being fed by a criminal! Luckily, the horses were the only witnesses to her degradation.