Dark Prince & the Doe

Chapter Thirty-four: Caught

Chapter Thirty-four: Caught

Calden (Six Years Ago)

Curse the Blue Flame.

Calden turned and ran for the trees, ignoring the sting of thorns against his legs and the swears of his brothers. They called his name, demanding he come back. But Calden wouldn't come easy. Oh no, he wouldn't.

"Aria of Night, harken,

this be my desperate call.

Let me be of shadow

through this frightful night.

Hide me from sight

with a darkened shawl

I beg to borrow,

and in return,

my blood bestow!"

"No!" Kiren shouted furiously into the darkness. The enchant wouldn't disguise him from the tinderhorses' sense of smell, but a cloak of living darkness would hide him from sight and make it harder for his brothers to catch him. He stumbled, growing lightheaded. The cost of this enchant was blood. He wasn't sure how much it took, but it was enough to make him dizzy.

His brothers screamed his name over the clang of hooves catching the air, but so long as he stayed off the paths, it would be hard for them to catch him.

Tripping over a root, Calden fell. As he slid down an incline, he snatched at a sapling. It bent, and its branches broke. The little tree's roots held, and it kept him from rolling all the way down into the darkness below. Pine needles pierced into his legs like quills but he didn't stop to pluck them out. Blood trailed darkly down from his knee. His brothers' voices echoed through the trees, calling out his name and begging him to come back.

Their calls faded further and further into the distance. There were so many deer out tonight, it would be hard for the tinderhorses to follow a specific trail.

"Calden?" a voice called faintly in the distance. He dropped to a crouch. It wasn't any of his brothers' voices. It was the voice of a woman. It was hard to make out, but he was quite sure it belonged to Lyrina.

She had come. She was hunting for him. His brothers were wrong. She wasn't in some tavern, drinking with her friends and laughing at the foolish prince she'd tricked. She'd come. He ran in the direction of the voice.

"Calden? Calden, where are you?" Lyrina called. It was her; he was certain of it now. No one else had a voice so gentle and so resonate. So sweet and powerful. He struggled down another hill. This was almost over. Lyrina would take him home. He'd caught her notice, earned her consideration, and over the next year, he'd win her heart.

He slowed at a footpath, hiding behind a large tree. "Calden?" Lyrina called out again and that's when he spotted her. Her tinderhorse's hooves were agleam as she slowly came out from behind a curve in the path. Lyrina was dressed in her black leather armor, but tonight her hair was unbound. Her curls shimmered darkly under the moonlight and her face was as radiant as starlight. Her angled cheekbones caught the blue light cast from her tinderhorse's mane. A gentle smile at her lips, she lifted her hand to her mouth, cupping her voice. "Calden," she sang, "where are you?"

His blood ran hot at the sound of her voice caressing his name. Every ache, every cut and bruise – forgotten. He strode out onto the path, dropping Night's shawl of darkness. It faded away into the shadows at his feet.