Incendia stifles a gasp as they step out from the trees and examine the town below them. Surrounded by rolling green fields, greener than anything Incendia has ever come across is the rebel hide out. The hide out seems so open with the stone buildings standing out, gray and dark in contrast to the deep emerald green fields sprinkled with the purple flowers. And yet, despite the seemingly open environment, above the rolling hills, surrounded on all ends are thick dense woods, identical to the ones Incendia and Teo had just emerged from; it was the ideal spot to have a hideaway.
Incendia and Teo begin their walk down the hill towards, the grand stone buildings which only seem to grow the closer they get to them. The closer they get to the hide out, the steeper the hill becomes, after catching herself a third time, Incendia can't help but glance at Teo with envy. He is maneurvering the steep hill which is slick with mud with no problem, Incendia however, is praying to the winter gods that she won't fall on her face. As if sensing her prayers, Teo turns to Incendia just in time to hold out a steadying arm as she trips over a rock.with a huff Incendia impatiently brushes back her flaming curls as the wind whips them across her pale face.
Once she is able to see she immediately straightens herself, causing Teo's strong arm to remove itself from her waist. She is not prepared for the rush of disappointment which fills her as soon as his arm is removes. However, what suprises her more than the disappointment is Teo's hand which moments ago had been wraped around her waist, securly fastens itsself around her arm.
Incendia stares at him with an open mouth unsure of how to respond, Teo lets out a light laugh in return but only replies with, "I can't win this war with you in broken bits scattered throughout these hills can I?"
Again disappointment fills her, why should she care if holding her wrist and waist is just a job to him. The way his touch is firm yet soft means nothing to her, nor the way it causes her body to burn in the areas he touches while her pulse races. Her face is flushed due to the winds causing her hair to whip her in the face, nothing to do with some prince with an easy smile.
She could care less how soflty or gently he touches her. Afterall this is a job to her.
As soon as they reach the bottom of the hill and Incendia can trust her footing, she wrenches her wrist from his warm grasp. She avoids looking at Teo, pretending to be interested in her surroundings. After a few moments of pretending she actually does become interested in her surroundings. This makeshift rebel "camp" is actually more like a town. Judging by the faces that are peaking in the windows surrounding her, she guesses a pretty populated town.
Incendia turns to Teo, grateful that her cheeks have cooled down, "How many people are in this town? I was under the impression that not many knew about it?" She poses her question as cooly and aloofly as possible. Teo opens his mouth to answer, but a high, clear voice answers instead.
"There are approximately 4000 of us in the town at the moment, but we expect another thousand more by the fortnight. And that is the plan, we gather forces but as quietly as possible, we have a few more towns like this one spread throughout the kingdom." Incendia turns towards the source of the voice and sees light colored hair similar to Teo's but more the color of the oats Incendia had for breakfast at the palace. Her large, clear blue eyes give her a youthful look but her voice rang with wisdom and authority.
"You shouldn't be out here right now! You know the rules, when people are seen coming down the hills we wait till the bell is rung to announce it is safe!" Teo scolds the women with an annoyed expression.
Incendia looks at Teo in shock, either he knows this girl or he is just rude and has never been taught proper manners. The woman however doesn't pay any heed to Teo's scowl and instead offers Incendia a smile, "I see you've met my delightful brother already. My name is Saffron, and you must be Incendia."
A sister. Incendia attempts to wrack her brains to see if Teo ever mentioned a sister to her, she can't be sure but Incendia can't remember him doing so. Saffron appears a few years younger than herself, Incendia would place her around the seventeen or eighteen. Teo shakes his head with a slight smile forming on his face and opens his mouth to respond when a harried looking man with a scrawny figure comes from the nearest bulding and whispers in Teo's ears. Teo's scowl returns, and Incendia can't help but wish his scowl would fade away and be replaced by his bright smile.
"Unfortunately I must go. Saffy, I trust that you can help out Dia here and please try to behave yourself." He takes a step in the direction the man came from before stopping and turning to both of them again. "Both of you behave." He clarifies looking directly at Incendia before continuing up the stairs and out of site.
"Come, let me show you to your room! I can only imagine how you must feel surrounded by men day in and day out while travelling for two weeks straight! I know if I spent fourteen days in a row with my brother, I'd go mad too!" Saffron scrunches up her small, upturned nose at the thought. Yet the tone she uses when adressing Teo is filled with admiration and love; it's a tone Incendia knows only too well. It's the tone she often catches herself using when she refers to her brothers especially Matteo, no matter how irranting one's brother can be you can't help but love them. The thought of Matteo causes Incendia's stomach to sink, it's been days since she's let herself think about what Matteo is going through right now, or if there is still a Matteo left in the world. Incendia bites her lip at the thought of Matteo's death while tears begin to sting her eyes.
Saffron who has been watching this internal debate go on inside Incendia's head doesn't say anything, just offers her hand and turns her head fully to give Incendia a soft understanding smile. As soon as Saffron turns her head, Incendia has to stifle a gasp at what she sees. The left side of Saffron's face is marred by a scar that reaches from her below her clear eye, past her high cheekbones to her jawline.
Despite Incendia's attempt to stifle her gasp appears unsucessful as Saffron gives her a snowing look before explaining softly, "Even if Teo tries my nerves constantly he is still the better of the brothers I have. But hey, no matter what I can always say I am the pretty sister and daughter since I am the only one!" Saffron lets out a light laugh at her joke as she takes Incendia's hand and begins leading her to a building on their right.
Despite just meeting her, Incendia can't help but shyly smile back, it's been so long since Incendia has been able to be friends with a girl, being locked in a palace doesn't do much for one's social life.
"Welcome to your temporary home Incendia I hope you like it! We had some gowns prepared for you! We've been waiting for you for quite a while!" Saffron adds the last part a little shyly.
The room which Saffron leads Incendia into is nicely furnished, much to Incendia's suprise, for being a secret rebel hideout, they are doing pretty well for themselves. Incendia gingerly sits on her silky, lavender bed while Saffron begins going through items in a door to the left of the canopy bed, Incendia assumes its a closet. As she sits, she takes in account her surroundings, The walls are painted a light yellow, while the furniture is mainly all white, giving the environment a bright, cheerful feel.
"Here! This could work lovely for you! We had to guess your size, they thought you'd be taller, but I insisted the tailors make gowns in a smaller height just in case!" Saffron says as she triumphantly holds out a beautiful gold gown, which shimmers when it catches the sunlight streaming in from the window in the opposite side of the room.
"I shall send up one of the younger girls to assist you, I will have them draw a bath for you as well...I can't imagine you've had time to er..bathe with all those men around."Saffron adds in a whisper to which Incendia can't help but laugh at.
Saffron's face brightens at the sound of Incendia's loud laughter. "I shall be up in an hour to retrieve you, I think that will give you enough time!" With another smile, Saffron sofly shuts the white colored door behind her. Still smiling over Saffron's sunny disposition, Incendia gets up from the bed and walks over to the vanity. She cringes at the sight peering back at her within the mirror, her red curls have frizzed up and half have escaped from her braid. Her face is covered in bruises varying in colors from a dark purple to a yellowing green, Greer must've hit her more times than she thought. On her right cheek is a large gash that is impossible to miss, Incendia reaches up to tenderly touch her cheek but winces at the touch. With a sigh, Incendia reaches up to brush back her impossible red curls, if she can't fix her facial appearance she might as well attempt to make her hair look nice. As she pushes them back into the original braid, she hears the door open, assuming it is one of the girls to help her with a bath, she turns to greet them.
Standing by the door in her newly acquired bedroom is devastatingly handsome man with honey colored eyes and chesnut colored hair, complete with a vary of freckles scattered over the bridge of his nose. He gives her a wide smile, one that breaks many a girls hearts. She would know because this is the very smile that broke her heart. Staring wide eyed at her first love she whispers, "Tobias?"
***********************************************************************
HEY GUYS SO THE GODD NEWS IS I AM NOT DEAD! I feel like I am though! I've been packing to go back to school because I leave on Sunday and let me tell you guys I have a shit ton of stuff! Like you don't realize how much until you are trying to squeeze it into a small volkswagen bug! But yeah that's not even my excuse for not writing! I go to school on Sunday (Yeah I know I already said that now shut up and wait) and of course my laptop thinks it's a good idea to get a virus now! Yeah great idea. Anyways enough of my rant! So tell me what you guys think of these new characters! Ask any questions, any comments or critic is always welcome! I love you all and try and take a look at my other YA novelit's called, "Truth Dare and the Sea Air" Okay I love you all!!! Happy reading!*******************************