Royal Pain ~ Slave to the High Royals

Chapter Fifteen

''Well no, but-''

''Exactly. It's you that shouldn't be happy, there's no problem with me.'' She spoke, her tone harsh.

I let go of her, allowing her to stomp ahead of me whilst I hung back processing her words. I grasped my hands together nervously. She was right that what we were doing didn't benefit us at all. We were basically helping the enemy come closer to completely overhauling the human race. But, there was nothing we could do to stop that.

The Queen's threat echoed in my thoughts.

I hoped that Rose wouldn't think badly of me now that I seemed to be siding with the vampires. I couldn't help it; it was the only way to survive this.

The air had become colder by this point, darkness beginning to close in around us as night fell. The forest lost its enchanting and peaceful beauty only to be replaced by an overwhelming sense of danger. The trees towering above us looked sinister, their pointed branches stretching out around us as if they would grab a hold of me at any second, blocking out the light of the stars and moon high in the sky. The chirping song of birds had completely faded, replaced by an eerie silence.

I hoped it wasn't a bad omen.

I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering slightly at the drop in temperature. Aiden had packed well for this type of weather but I was too afraid that stopping to retrieve some warm clothing from my bag would result in the others leaving me. I couldn't bear the thought of being in this darkness alone.

I suddenly noticed that the others had come to a halt ahead of me. I hurried to catch up, the weight of my bag slowing me. As I reached them, I found myself in an open clearing, the moon flooded the area with its comforting light and I breathed a sigh of relief.

''This looks like a good spot for camp.'' Aiden spoke up, dumping the bags he had carried at his feet, ''Josh and I will set up the tent, leaving you two to collect some wood for a fire.''

We all nodded, following Aiden's orders without question. It was a good thing that I wasn't asked to pitch the tent, there was no way I would know what to do with all of those different pieces. Knowing me it would fall embarrassingly on top of us during the night.

Rose and I dumped our bags alongside Aiden's and I followed Rose as she chose a direction for us to search. The tense atmosphere that had surrounded us earlier had lessened, leaving me feeling more comfortable that she wouldn't lash out at me. The distraction of something to do helped guide our thoughts to other things.

''Have you done this before?'' I wondered, my breath showing as mist in the cold when I spoke. I regretted not retrieving a jumper before we had left our bags. My hair stood on end along my arms, goose bumps covering my flesh.

''Not really, but I've seen it on TV. My dad used to watch survival shows.'' She bent down and picked up a small log and I followed suit, hoping mine was acceptable.

''Really? Mine did too.'' I laughed at the stupidity of the conversation. It was true, my father had always been into survivalist shows before he had died. I'd always asked why he had such an interest but he would shrug me off, telling me it was a simple form of entertainment to pass the time.

''What happened to your dad?'' She asked bluntly, and a wave of sadness ran through me.

My gaze fell to the dirt beneath our feet, ''He's gone.'' My voice was quiet.

''Where?'' She asked, seemingly undeterred by the hurt I knew was obvious on my face.

''He was murdered, I think.'' I retrieved another log, ''Haven't seen him in a while anyway, and that's what my mum thought.''