The weeks that went by after my first kiss has been the best I had. Every time I came into the forest, Ethan would be there-- early, with a smile on his face. I cannot hide my own when I see him. His gentle and soft kisses would always be there when I wanted it to, which is almost always.
Now, Ethan and I are lying on a bed of grass under a tree which branches are full of leaves, giving us much-needed shade from the summer sun. But summer cannot last forever, autumn is already coming by the way that the leaves are falling to the ground.
It reminds me that it has been almost a year since I first met him when I put my spear on his neck. And only now that I realize that he loves me.
Ethan is next to me, looking into my eyes with his head to the side, the tips if our noses just touching. The soft blades of grass under us tickles on my neck. It feels so strange yet amazing that I can feel his breath against my lips and in any moment he or I can capture each other into a kiss. He was a friend, now he is a lover. My lover.
His raven hair, bright green eyes, high cheekbones are the things that I see before I close my eyes to sleep and the first thing I think of when I wake up. So this is what it feels like to be in love.
Ethan smiles while pushing back a stray lock of silver hair from my forehead. "What are you smiling about?"
"Was I smiling? I didn't realize." I catch the hand that is playing with my hair and thread my fingers with his.
"You were. You looked like a madwoman," he chuckles when I give him a scowl.
I jerk back, putting some distance in between us too and I can no longer feel his warm breath. "Oh, I'm the madwoman?"
"More of a lovesick pup, really," he shrugs, stroking my fingers slowly. It's almost always like this in the weeks that I confessed, mindless argues and sweet kisses that never fail to bring joy into me.
I scoff at him, but I let him hold my hand. "Aye, but what about you then, Lord Lovey Ethan? Already tired of all the kisses and hugs? Too maiden-like for you? Can't handle an--" I press my lips together. Outlander. I mean to say Outlander, but I do not want to remind myself or him of our statuses in the world outside of the forest.
Ethan doesn't seem to mind, thankfully as he smiles wider. "I'll never get tired of this." He kisses my fingers, sending tingles throughout my arm.
I scoff, my face blushing. "Aye, of course."
"You don't believe me?"
I look to him and give him a sly smile. "No, I don't."
The hand on my fingers tightens and Ethan pulls me towards him with ferocity. I squeal a little at his sudden movement, but he is smiling. He sits up quickly with me underneath him and puts both of his legs on either side of my torso, but not putting any weight on my body. Ethan's face is alarmingly close to mine and I cannot help to blush at the position we are in.
Ethan smirks. "Do you believe me now?" He takes in my startled face before chuckling softly and stealing a brush of our lips.
"Ethan!" I exclaim, red-faced with a rapidly beating heart. I try to push him away but he catches my wrist easily and pins them down to either side of my head.
He bends down and kisses me again, despite my protest before making a hushing sound. "No one will hear you, my lady."
My heart beats increase. It's true though, no one will know. He is mine in the forest. Ethan plants another kiss, his lips tasting much like peppermint. And I am his. I kiss him back, making him smile against me.
Till when I do not know but now, all that matters is him and me. Laila, the Outlanders, Valarians, our statuses-- I forget all that from the charm of his lips. Ethan is all I care now, in the forest, and I give all of myself to him. He will not make me regret this. I know he won't.
After what seems like forever, we finally broke off, Ethan rolling to the side and me panting to catch my breath. I turn my head to him to find Ethan already looking at me with that smile of his.
I sit up, grunting from the lack of movement. "Do that again and I will blacken your eye," I tell him.
He chuckles, sitting up to kiss my cheek. "You like it, though."
"That doesn't mean you can distract me from my hunt."
He buries his face in my hair, pulling me closer by my waist. "But you distract me every day, Cathellyn. With your silver hair and purple eyes.. what have I done to deserve you?" He mutters against my neck. I cannot see his face.
I sigh, leaning back to the touch. He feels too good to let go. I do not want this moment to go to waste. "I love you, Ethan. Forever and always," I whisper to him.
He gives me a small smile that I can feel on my neck. My body is enveloped with his warmth, away from the winds of coming autumn. "I love you too, Cat." Those words, even though have been said many times in these weeks, never fail to light up something in me.
I do not miss the distant sounds of a horse trotting on the ground and the calls from a familiar man's voice, in somewhat strange distress. "ETHAN! CATHELLYN!"
We jump away from each other, losing whatever was there in the moment, and our heads turn in sync to the intruding noise. "ASHTER! We're here by the lake!" Ethan calls out to his friend.
The calls stop but the sound of a horse cantering never pauses and not too long after, a black steed with Ashter on it jumps from the trees and into the small field of flat grass by the lake.
He looks distressed, his eyebrows creasing together with a frown on his lips when he descends from his horse. His brown short hair is messy from the wind and his gold and red-colored vest has creases from the harsh ride.
I frown at him. "What is it Ashter? What's wrong?"
He regains himself, looking at the confused faces of us both. "It's my father. He's talking at the council."
"Is that it?" Ethan asks, clearly confused.
"No! Listen to me first you arse! He overheard me and Ariella talking about some little girl from the Outlands," Ashter runs a hand through his brown hair, his hazel eyes full of distress. "Ariella said the girl talked to her before she got shot. My father heard that. And he is taking his chance."
My heart stops for a moment before I shake my head to reality. "Did Ariella tell you the girl's name?"
Ashter presses his lips together and shakes his head. "She didn't, but-- I think, she said that the girl had red hair."
My heart leaps into my throat. Nala. Ariella was talking about Nala.
"What is he going to do of that?" Ethan asks after seeing me in the shocking state, his own voice hints of worry.
"Hells if I know. Whatever it is my father is going to do, it's no good. The king seems to be listening to him. I tried to stop him but he's not listening. Even when Ariella tries to talk to him, he sends her away," Ashter frowns at the memory. "He's not doing this for Ariella anymore, he wants to do this to make the Outlanders suffer-- or at least give them a warning."
Ashter and Ethan look to me, but my tongue has turned to sand. He's going to kill more Outlanders. I cast my eyes to the grass. Wasn't Father enough? Wasn't it enough to leave a little girl alone for her to hunt in the forest, fatherless? Fear riles up in me. It cannot happen again. No child should suffer what I have been through.
Ethan walks to me and slowly entwine our fingers. "We'll try to stop him, Cat. Go back to the Outlands first, make sure everything is alright. I and Ashter will go to Valaria."
I pull on his fingers, bringing him closer to me. Ethan's forehead is on mine, warm like his breath and I'm tempted to press my lips against his, to feel the heat again, but now is not the time. "Promise me it will be alright," I whisper against him. Promise me that what happened before will not happen now.
"I can't, you know that."
"Just say it, idiot," I mutter.
He lets out a small chuckle, leaning in to brush our lips slightly. "I promise it will be alright."
I return the small kiss. "Thank you, Ethan."
....................................
I try to think of any possible things that Lord Greyford could do on my run back to the Outlands. Anything, I think, he can do anything.
I grit my teeth. There is no seeing what he will do, all we can do is wait and my heart beats harder with anticipation. War, Lord Greyford can do that. It will not even be a war to the Outlanders. It would a slaughter.
Valarians have better steel, much sharper and their soldiers are better-trained wheres we do not even have soldiers at all. But their men have a weakness, a chink in their golden armor.
They have never go to war, they do not have any experience at an open battle, unlike the brutes of the Outlands-- their proofs of battles are proudly stated by scars on their crunched face and body. They know how to fight and how to survive-- a skill that cannot be bought with their gold.
But even if we have that advantage, their craftsmanship of a sharp sword is unknown to us and their training in Valaria seems sufficient to them.
I sigh quietly, though no one can really hear me. The cracked cobblestone paths of the Outlands are coming into view and I quicken my pace. Just a little look around, to know that everything is alright. Then I'll go back to the forest to hunt and, if possible calm my mind.
I reach the square where the market is and in an instant, I know that everything is not in their place. In the middle of the cobblestone square, a pearl-white carriage is situated and a golden lion proudly sits on it.
I inhale sharply at the sight and notice that no one is in the market only me and the distant sounds of screaming and shouting.
I grip my spear tighter. It's too late. Ashter and Ethan returned too late. They already came here. I spare a glance to the red-stained wooden block and feel fear curl inside of me.
The memory of Father's execution comes to me, the fear in his eyes, how he said he loved me and Laila, and his smile-- his last smile. My whole body burns in agony, but I cannot cry-- not now when the Valarians are here.
The sound of people screaming is louder now, and I turn my head towards the noise, to see who will meet their death. Is he a friend of mine, or a father? Does he have any sons or daughters that he will have to leave today? Maybe I know him, or maybe in these years we only spared several glances to each other. Friend or foe, now I will remember his face forever.
A crowd emerges from the corner where I had just come into. Outlanders, all of them Outlanders. With fears and scowls on their faces. From here I can see the tip of a spear. That's the Valarian.
The carriage rumbles, and out comes a stocky man with white clothes and a black hood on his head, with only two holes for the eyes. The executioner. We meet again.
He catches the sight of me, an Outlander girl standing so close to the pristine carriage. His mud-colored eyes meet mine and I hold my gaze. I wait for him to scram me off or, use the broadsword in his hand to cut me into ribbons. But he doesn't.
I look him in the eye, look him in the soul and he is the first one to break the gaze, not saying anything. Even without words, I can bring fear.
"Are you the same executioner as before?" I ask him as the crowd nears, but they are still too far to hear the words of my mouth.
He grumbles, making an incoherent sound before saying a, "Yes."
So this is the same man that took Father. I hum in acknowledgment at him. How amazing it will be to see the tip of my spear at the back of his skull. My hand twitches to do so. He is the same man, the same murderer.
I try to calm my head. Maybe he is not. Maybe he is just doing what he is told to do, or he will die. Maybe he is like Etha--
"Filthy Outlanders," he mutters under his hood.
I snap my head towards him. "Say that again."
He turns his hood towards me, daring to look me in the eye. "What?"
"Say those words again," I walk closer to him, my spear tight in my hands, itching for something to stab into. "Say them again, and that will be the last words you say."
He guffaws loudly under his hood. "You're going to kill me, girl?"
"I suppose."
The hooded man scoffs and he lifts the broadsword easily in his hand. The broadsword is big, the blade is twice the length of my spear and it's wider than the normal sword. "You see this? This will kill you if you don't shut your mouth."
He looks away, but I keep my gaze on him, my breathing getting heavier. Patience, I tell myself. Just a little bit of patience can stop a war. I cast my eyes to the coming crowd.
The crowd gets nearer and as they do, their faces lightened up at the sight of me and I try to smile but my lips can do nothing but a twitch. The people's scowls return when someone pushes them apart. Valarians. Who dies today?
I am confronted with a big man in golden armor, his eyes somewhat familiar to me. He sneers when he sees me and steps to the side for me to look at the poor man.
But it's not a man. It's a girl, with fire for hair-- red and bright, but her also red eyes and quivering mouth screams nothing but fear. Shock trembles into my body. I know this girl, I will not forget her, how can I?
Her cheeks are stained with tears and there is a purple bruise on her pale cheek. But her face never fails to light up when she sees me. "CATHELLYN!" Nala calls out when she sees me.
"Step out of the way, Outlander," the Valarian soldier says, his tone menacing.
My heartbeat starts to go faster. Nala! A girl! They are going to kill Nala!
The baker and his wife stumble out from the crowd, him holding his weeping wife. They catch the sight of me. The wife cries. "Cathellyn.. please help her... our daughter.."
They are feeling what I felt when Father died. I turn to the golden soldier, my grip tightening on my spear. "Let her go," I try to say as best I could without trembling at the sight of Nala.
"This is the orders of King Badgur! This girl," he yanks Nala by the hair, and she screams. "Is a traitor! She is suspected in a conspiracy of killing Lady Ariella!" He tells both the crowd and me. The people are forming a circle around the carriage where me, the soldier and the executioner are at the center.
"She's just a child! How can she be in any sort of conspiracy?" I shout. The crowd turns dead silent, watching the soldier and the girl. I do not miss the sword on his waist and the sound of metal behind me, reminding me that there's another man behind with a broadsword.
Nala. I must save her. I cannot lose anyone anymore. She is too young, too innocent.
My eyes catch the soldier's gaze and my mind suddenly snaps. "You! You're the soldier who was with Ariella!" The one that lied about me. This bastard. Anger riles up in me. He dares step into the Outlands after what he has done.
The soldier flinches but he regains quickly. The people are starting to whisper to each other. They know how the soldier flustered when Ariella got shot. A coward, that's what the soldier is.
His face turns red with anger. "You bitch! I'll cut you where you stand!"
He unsheaths his sword, and the sound of metal fills the air, the whispers have gone silent.
The executioner behind me chuckles darkly and even without seeing, I know that he is gripping his giant of a sword.
My heart beats faster than ever before. They're going to fight me. Two men fighting a girl with a spear. Are they that scared of me?
I adjust my grip on my spear.
I will not die in their hands, I tell myself as the soldier throws Nala by the hair back to her family. The baker hugs her tightly, his eyes wide of worry. Everyone is watching us, the people of the Outlanders. I will not die today. Tomorrow, maybe. But today, I fight.
Would father be proud? I question myself as I move slowly so that I can see both of them. They move closer to each other, the hooded man with the broadsword and the golden man. I crouch a little, steadying myself, my spear poised to kill.
The soldier charges towards me, shouting out a war cry with his sword raised to cut me into half. I bring my spear up, cringing at the sound of metal hitting metal that rings in my ear.
I push back my spear with all my might and the soldier stumbles backward, and when I look at the fury of their faces, I remind myself again;
Today is not the day I die.
I hope.
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Sorry for not posting last week, I jad major writer's block, but I am okay now. Thank you so much for your votes and comments, they really keep me going!
Sadly, this book have only 5 or 6 chapters left- 8 if it's lucky. Again thank you so much for your support. Every vote makes my heart soar.