The Voices Within

Chapter 6

I sighed in relief, glad we made it back to camp before Alex could ask any more questions.

I looked up, the sky was almost pitch black, if it weren't for the twinkling stars that spotted it.

We took some logs from the pile and started a small fire, my stomach grumbling. Once it was finally lit, we cut some deer meat and put it on sticks to cook it. There was a weird silence for some time until Alex spoke up.

"I never asked you why you ran away." He said, his eyes slightly crinkling up on the edges.

I was a little bit taken away at how his hazel eyes reflected the dancing fire. I've never seen such beautiful brown eyes.

'I bet your eyes are still so sunken in with those ghostly bags under them.'

Suddenly self-conscious, I looked down at my feet.

"I just didn't fit in." I replied in almost a whisper. "I wasn't going to be adopted any time soon, and I don't particularly 'love' our kingdom."

He practically jumped at the word kingdom. And I scanned him, checking to see what was wrong.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Oh, oh nothing. It's nothing." He rushed. "That's awful. I'm sure someone would have wanted to adopt you."

"Someone did. But they had a child of their own so they sent me back." I said, keeping my voice from wavering.

He looked at me with a sad look.

"So it seems we were both meant to end up here." He said sadly. "Maybe we weren't meant to fit in."

I smiled at him.

By now the deer was done and we silently ate, watching the embers of the fire.

A few minutes later, I shoveled some dirt into the fire to put it out, and we both bid each other good night.

I crept into my sleeping bag and used some blankets as a pillow, yet as I lay my head down, the voiced started up.

'Wow you really embarrassed yourself today.'

'Relive that very moment over and over.'

'You can't even get out a decent answer.'

'You actually like this man, only a matter of time before he leaves you.'

'Everyone will leave you.'

They kept me up most of the night, thought it was comforting to know Alex was right across the camp.

I knew when I woke this morning that my hair was knotted and bundled just as my face was smeared with dirt and my eyes red from crying.

Before Alex woke up, I ran down to the lake to clean my face and use some natural herbs to scent my body.

It took a while to get my long hair un knotted, but when I came back Alex was still asleep.

Deciding to help out, I set up a fire and collected some more logs until he finally woke up, just as the sun began to rise.

"You're awake, finally!" I scoffed.

He groggily looked over at me, the fire, and the 2 times bigger pile of logs.

"We're you up all night?" He asked, his voice deeper and softer than normal.

I glanced at him. His hair stuck up a little and you could see some pricks of hair growing on his jawline, yet he was still fairly attractive.

"No! I slept." I said, defending myself.

He looked over at me some more.

"I'm going to find a lake or something." He said, taking one of his bags and some water flasks.

"I already filled those water flasks. There's a lake just that way." I said, pointing. "Just follow the narrow path or come back if you get lost."

"Lost." He scoffed, humorously as he stalked off.

I rolled my eyes at him. Then realizing I was once again alone, I cut , cooked, and cleaned to keep my mind off the voices.

After a while, Alex returned, his face and hair cleaned. It was a weird thing to notice, but the scent of mint and roses followed him wherever he went.

"Wow, you work fast!" He stated, picking up some more deer to eat, sitting down next to me.

"Thanks-" I started when we both heard the thumps of a carriage.

He put out the fire and followed behind me to peer through the trees.

It was a royal carriage.