She Loved Me Too

Chapter Four: The Wooden Sword

Silva, the capital city of Aiteall, was one of the largest cities in the world. Half of it was protected by a mountain range that made it impossible for invaders to cross. While the other half was protected by a dense forest and an enormous lake. I made Lumin take me to the forest for our usual ride and only stopped for a moment to look back at the snowed city.

I had never considered myself the kind of person to enjoy calmness. Being raised alongside the royal family of Rosa, calmness had been a concept I did not know until after the destruction of my home. Even in the most serene moments of my previous life –at the crack of dawn, while sharing a bed with Emmeline, or when we sneaked out to the royal garden during a ball– calmness wasn't something I got familiar with.

Emmeline was a lively person, full of laughter and joy. Even when she was asleep, she radiated energy equal to all the stars. She was wonderful like that. Falling in love with her felt like gaining immortality. I couldn't remember even a second of getting tired or exhausted or bored with her by my side. She was wonderful like that.

We neared a clearing, nothing to be heard but our breaths and the echoes of the calls of other animals from around us. I waited for Lumin to come to a halt and then unstrapped the bow from my back. There were two cleared-up paths going away from the clearing, but Lumin and I rarely took either of them. We preferred wandering between the trees. I made Lumin go in a canter and drew an arrow from the quiver that was strapped on my back.

I took aim at one of the trees in the far distance and shot. My arrow found its intended target despite Lumin having picked up a quicker pace. I half-closed my eyes and focused on the face that formed in my mind.

Golden-brown hair, thick eyebrows, and dark eyes. I focused on that mocking tone and vomit-inducing arrogance. I focused on that King.

Lumin started running even faster, but I didn't stop missing the trees I was targeting. Faces from that night from hostile soldiers; faces twisted with bloodthirst and depravity. My quiver always held twenty-three arrows. One for each of those goddamn soldiers that were in the throne room as well as the King. One for each.

By the time I ran out of arrows, the anger that had been fueling me died down and I strapped the bow on my back. I slowed Lumin's pace to a walk. We followed our previous path, stopping by each tree I had hit, and picked up the arrows that were embedded in them.

I hated not knowing who had attacked Rosa. Not knowing who had killed my second family. While news of Rosa's destruction had spread around like wildfire, few people knew who the attackers were. And going around asking about such things would make people ask questions. Questions I had no intention of answering. To the people of Silva, I was nothing more than an orphan from one of the eastern villages of Aiteall.

I didn't look like the native people. While my skin tone did not differ that much from most people in Silva, tapered eyes were rare here. I had inherited them from my mother whose family had moved to Rosa seeking refuge when she was still a toddler. The republic she had come from had long ago been eradicated by one of the kingdoms from the north. So people who looked like me were for the most part viewed as out of place.

But despite my uniqueness, people like Lys and Mona, and Rhett had managed to make Silva seem like a friendly and welcoming place. They had made it seem almost as nice as Rosa had been.

I rode back to the stable a couple of hours' worth of riding later. I was starting to get too cold, and hunger was eating away my stomach. It took me a couple of minutes to take all the stuff off Lumin and afterward I spent some time brushing and feeding him fresh carrots.

"So, are you feeling better?" Rhett asked as he came up to Lumin's stall again. He was holding onto a shovel and wore a pair of thick leather gloves that at the moment seemed like what my cold fingers needed.