The Lost Girl

Chapter Fifteen

    "It won't be so bad, princess." He said.

    I shook my head. Though I reluctantly followed behind him. My feet dragged as if I were an unruly child who didn't want to listen. He put a comforting hand on my arm and walked me in. I told myself it was only because he was a good prince and he had been my friend my whole life. Not because of anything else. I felt safer as he led me along. He pulled me inside the building. I exhaled the breath I didn't realize I had been holding. We had walked into the grungy building. I looked around. Men were laughing and clinking glass bottles together. Surely Luna couldn't be here. I scanned the room dully.
Mozale strode up to the bar counter. The burly bartender nodded to her and grabbed up a glass.

    "Drinks on me." She shouted back at us. "Three glasses of whiskey."

The bartender smiled and set three glasses on the counter and got to pouring. Mozale sprouted coins from her hands. Gold hit the countertop with loud clangs. I stared at her along with everyone else. Everyone else began to cheer. I was upset. I didn't like when people spawned anything for themselves, just because they knew how to do magic. It felt like she was cheating the system. Those items must've come from somewhere, I thought to myself. James chugged down his glass. I declined mine. I watched Mozale and James go shot for shot as others toasted along. James was getting super drunk with the villagers. Everyone else was having a merry time, except for me. I didn't drink, besides for wine at special occasions like the tradition said.

    "Bean and I are going for a walk." Mozale announced with slurred words.

I rolled my eyes. Mozale snickered as she walked away. I knew something was up. I decided to sneak after them. I waited a few minutes and then trailed them. Even though it was improper for a princess to eavesdrop on others. They stopped in a small clearing and Mozale turned to Bean. I jumped behind a bush so they wouldn't spot me.

   "Shall we tell them of their mistake?" Bean rumbled in a voice so low that I could only catch a few words. "They're bound to find out."

   "No, don't you dare ruin my fun." Mozale's irritated voice replied.

   "Well...you know who did...kill a knight." Bean's worried voice grumbled.

   I peeked out from behind the bush and saw Mozal kick dust around.  What? Who? Poor knight?  Thoughts raced through my mind. I crawled backwards through the bush and then raced through the woods until I found James sitting outside of the bar.

    "You ditched me." James complained.

    "I wanted to keep an eye on our guide. I thought she was leaving us." I lied.

    "Thank you." James replied.

    Mozale and Bean came back from their 'walk'. Mozale stared at us and sighed.

   "As you can tell the warriors aren't here. I know of another one of their locations. So we will go there." Mozal said.

   "Are you really taking us to Luna?" I questioned.

   "Oh alright." Mozale laughed to herself. "You really don't trust me. Yes I'm taking you to Luna. I have business to do with her."

   She smiled at me, as if she knew something I didn't. Maybe she saw me eavesdropping, or maybe she hoped that we ran into the knight killer. What if we did? She wouldn't help us. Even though James was a good fighter, he couldn't defend us against a murderer.

   "Why are you staring at me? Princess!" Mozale snapped.

   I looked away. I think she saw the fright in my eyes.

   "Anyway, we'll need to get going soon." Mozale snarled.

    With that she stomped off into the woods. We returned to the old campsite. Promptly Bean curled up in front of the fire and promptly fell asleep. The frightening monster dragon looked almost harmless when he was the size of a dog. I brushed his chest with my hand. I wished I had my saddle, I was sore from riding bareback. I wished I had Stella. I wished I had William to brush Stella. I wished I had all of my dresses. I really missed Lily. I thought to myself, This is all for Luna.  I wouldn't be surprised if when I found her she was curled up in a ball, crying for her old life. I couldn't wait to rescue her and get back home.

   Mozale came back in the middle of the night. I was up waiting for her return. I stared at her as I saw her do a magic spell. She whispered words softly. I didn't understand any of them. She closed her eyes and Bean started growing. Bean rumbled when he was the right height again. Mozal opened her eyes and he stopped growing. Some of the trees that had surrounded us, had crashed onto their sides. Mozale climbed up onto Bean.

    "Wake up James and let's get going!" She announced.

    I went to James' side. I shook him a few times and he started to wake up. He yawned and stretched at first. I couldn't believe he slept with the trees falling around us.

    "What did I miss?" He asked.

     "Nothing much, it's time to fly." I said with a soft smile.