The Horse in the Prince's Stables

Chp. 17

          Wait. Little red eyes?

          Nervously, I glanced down and found two pairs of little glowing red eyes glaring up at me. They were thin slits, just barely visible. A quiet hiss threatened me from below. I could barely make out two intertwined slender, white bodies. Moving even slower than before, I continued towards my destination, trying to remain calm and not alarm the snakes at my feet. 

          Now I remembered who the little snake hole that I discovered several days ago belonged to.

          The White adder. Also known as the Ghost snake. Some thought they were mythical, because they could be really hard to find, and nobody has ever caught one before. The only evidence of their existence has come from traveler's tales. Alex claimed to have seen a few once, having briefly exploring the borders of the forest, which is why he knew a little bit about them. His knowledge combined with stories from others told me this:

          Ghost snakes were commonly found in pairs, and they could kill a human with a single bite. Their venom didn't work very fast on large beings such as humans, but unless an antidote was applied as soon as possible, the person would die. 

          Shuddering at the thought, praying that my luck wouldn't stay bad and that I could safely get away from the two snakes without any trouble. I didn't realize I had been holding my breath until I found myself safely beside my campfire. I guess I had been moving quicker than I thought. 

          Easing myself down to my knees, I stoked the fire to provide some more light. The pain had lessened slightly, making it a little easier to move more than before. I peeled off my shirt, and tried to examine my injury as much as possible. Luckily, from what I could tell, it didn't seem deep. Feeling relieved that I would survive the night, I began to rip my shirt into bandages. Then making my way over to the river, I soaked a few strips and cleaned up the wound, then tied on the bandages tightly. 

          It hurt like hell.

          Once I settled down for the rest of the night, I let my mind wander again. My body remained tense. The discovery of the Ghost snakes was unsettling, and fear creeped around the edges of my consciousness. Fear not only for myself, but Aurora as well.

          Aurora...

          What was troubling her? Why did she run off like that? Maybe I had been coming off too strong. Maybe she wasn't ready for this. If that was the case, would she really have reacted the way she did? In no way, shape, or form was I an expert on girl emotions or feelings, but I couldn't shake off the feeling Aurora harbored some sort of dark secret. The feeling had been hovering around for days now, I just didn't want to think that of her. She didn't seem like one to lie. 

          I wondered if the scar around her eye had anything to do with whatever she could be hiding. Once I brought it up, curious as to how she had gotten it. She had gone very quiet for a moment, then she brushed it off as an farming accident. Thinking it brought up some unpleasant memories, I let it go. I did remember feeling a little suspicious though. I felt like I've seen that scar before, somewhere...

          Now I realized I couldn't remember when I finally accepted her words as truth. 

          Her scar, her limited time with me, her lack of clothing... That was another strange thing. I did notice that she seemed to have only one set of clothes on her. Could all of those things be clues as to what she could be withholding from me? Was I that untrustworthy? 

          What did I do wrong...?

          Mentally and physically pained, I fell into a restless sleep.