Aluna turned over on the seat and felt a sharp pain in her neck. She rubbed it slowly before half-opening her eyes with difficulty. Twilight had darkened her surroundings, but the moonlight partially illuminated the carriage. She had trouble remembering what had happened before she lost consciousness. She sat up and looked around, dazed. Her last memory was of the three-tailed dragon attempting to kill her. However, the beast was nowhere to be seen—and neither was Siruth.
She was trying to seat up when the door opened, revealing a smiling Siruth.
“You’re finally awake?” he said, joining her inside.
“Yes,” she answered. “What happened? The monster, I should have. . .”
“I defeated the monster,” he reassured her. “It won’t be coming back for a very long time.”
“Coming back? Didn’t you just say you defeated it?”
“Yes, but chimeras can’t be killed—just temporarily defeated. And because this type of chimera can’t be controlled by a masex, you can’t imprison it, either. They operate in the same way as the spirits of the forest. But don’t worry—the dragon won’t be reincarnated for a long, long time. You’re safe for now.”
Aluna let out a sigh of relief.
“I’m lucky you were there! Now I understand why the queen entrusted her convoy to you.”
“You flatter me. How do you feel?”
She was about to answer when the door opened again. A man appeared, but it was so dark that she did not recognize him at first. It was not until he sat down next to her that she saw his face in the moonlight. . . Willan?
“What is he doing here?” she asked Siruth, flustered.
“I think he can explain that better than I can,” Siruth answered, shrugging.
Even though he was hurt that Aluna was ignoring him, Willan forced himself to stay calm. “I followed you,” he declared.
“I don’t understand. Why?” Aluna asked, finally turning to look at him.
“Why do you think? Because I was worried!”
Aluna shuddered. Willan had left his comfortable palace and followed the convoy, despite all the risks involved—for her. For a moment, she regretted her cold attitude towards him, but when she met his eyes, anger rose in her, reminding her how he had played her. He was always acting on his own impulses.
“We set up a little camp outside, do you want to see it?” Siruth asked, taking Aluna’s hand.
His mischievous smile showed that the situation amused him.
“With pleasure,” she said.
Ignoring their companion, they climbed out of the carriage. Aluna toured the camp they had established while she was sleeping. There were three tents, food had been set out here and there on rocks, and six men were seated in a circle around two fires. A third campfire was burning further down.
They passed the first fire, where the drivers were sitting. Aluna had barely seen them since the voyage started; they never mixed with the rest of the convoy. The other travelers did not pay her much attention. In reality, Siruth was the only one who seemed concerned about her well-being. Him and Willan . . . she corrected herself, noticing that the prince of Goran was following them.
As they came to the messenger and his guards, Aluna lowered her eyes to avoid their accusatory looks. Being with Siruth had the somewhat unfortunate effect of making her forget she was a prisoner, certainly because he treated her like a lady. The prince greeted the Ælves politely and continued to the last campfire, where he invited Aluna to sit down. She obeyed, soon followed by her two companions, and stretched her hands out towards the flames.
“It feels good, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely,” Siruth agreed. “It feels really good.”
She frowned. “But I thought fire attracted the spirits of the forest?”
Without warning, Willan got up and went back to their carriage. Surprised, Siruth waited a moment before he answered. “We’re not in the Sacred Forest anymore.”
Aluna looked up at the trees surrounding them, puzzled. “We’re not? I don’t understand. I thought it would be another day before we left it. And if we’re not in the Sacred Forest anymore, where are we? In another forest?”
“That’s a lot of questions at once! Actually, you were unconscious for so long that we made it all the way through the Sacred Forest while you were out.”
“How long was I unconscious?”
“More than a day and a half,” he answered, amused.
Aluna’s eyes widened.
“That long? I must have been really weak after that. . . But tell me, where are we?”
“I’ll show you, look.”
Siruth pulled a map of Iriah from his pocket and unfolded it, with Aluna watching curiously. He pressed it to the ground with one hand and with the other, indicated the green outline representing the Sacred Forest.
“That’s where we were before you fainted,” he explained.
He moved his finger towards a smaller shape. Beside it was the much-vaunted tunnel, represented by a crude rectangle. “While you were resting, we covered all that distance and now we’re in these woods.”
“So the tunnel is only a few hours from here,” Aluna deduced.
“Exactly. We should reach it by tomorrow. And traveling through the tunnel should be easier than the forest.”
“What do you mean?”
“The tunnel runs under the Sacred River,” he said, folding the map. “As long as we’re in there, nothing unexpected can happen to us, trust me.”
“I see.”
Out of nowhere, Willan’s silhouette appeared again before her. Without saying a word, he handed her a blanket, set a basket on the ground and sat down across from her. Surprised yet touched by his attention, Aluna wrapped the cloth around her shoulders and murmured an inaudible thanks. Reading her lips, he smiled in return.
Nothing had changed though. She knew he was bethrothed and she had no claim on him, but every time she looked in his eyes, she was reminded of the kiss they had shared. That made her realize that she had been deluding herself, a fact that made her angry. She wanted to forget Willan, but how could she when he insisted on interfering in her life? She had never met anyone so selfish! He must have suspected her feelings for him, yet he continued to press the situation. What did he expect from her? Did he take pleasure in teasing her or did he simply enjoy knowing that she wanted him? These thoughts caused an intense heat to rise in her veins. Her power was trying to take over. Remembering her meditation exercises, Aluna closed her eyes and breathed slowly in and out, releasing her tension. She knew that if Willan was going to stay at her side for the rest of their journey, she needed to get rid of these feelings. Once and for all.
Once she had calmed down, she spoke to him.
“I truly appreciate your kindness, Your Highness, but I still don’t understand what you’re doing here. You must have obligations back at the palace, right?”
“Nothing important. Father steers the ship just fine without me.”
“So you’re here because you have nothing better to do?” she retorted.
“No. I came after you because I thought you might need a shoulder to lean on as you go through this ordeal. It’s the least I can do, seeing as this is my fault.”
Willan’s immediate response surprised her. He was about to take a long journey just to support her, even though he had not known her much longer than a month? Would he do that for someone he did not care about? Probably not.
So she asked him. “Do you care that much about me?”
The question hung in the air. Willan, who had been taking bowls and a jug out of the basket he had brought, stopped suddenly. Siruth felt the tension and tried to break it.
“That’s a good friend you have there. He saved your life, so I think you can try to let go of your old grudges . . . whatever they are.”
“Saved my life?” Aluna repeated.
“Without him, you would not be here,” Siruth explained, feeling magnanimous. “He pulled you away just in time to keep you from getting killed.”
“Wasn’t that you? I thought. . .”
“No, it was me,” Willan said, finally speaking up. “But Siruth is the one who defeated the dragon.”
Looking at Willan, Aluna suddenly wondered why she had been so angry with him. He may have made one mistake, but he had just risked his life to save hers. It meant a lot to her, even if she was still condemned to die. She should treat him as a friend and try to forget the intimate moment they had shared, as well as the feelings she had for him. She could do that much, at least for the little time she had left.
“I . . . thank you,” she finally said. “Thank you for caring about me, Willan.”
“Of course, that’s what friends do.” He smiled.
The simple fact of Aluna calling him “Willan” instead of “Your Highness” reassured him. He was now convinced their relationship could only improve. He had deeply analyzed the situation back home, trying to accept it, but after hours of going around in circles, he realized he could not just return to his old life. He wanted to see her again more than anything. He knew that his following the convoy would not stop her condemnation, yet he wanted to be with her until the end. So the day after her departure, he had mounted his horse and followed the convoy, which already had a good lead on him. Fortunately, he had always been great at coming up with excuses; otherwise he would never have been able to convince his father that his journey to Crystallia could prove useful. After a long audience with the king, he had been ordered to deliver an important message to the queen. The task worried him, but he would think about that when the time came. For now, he had to focus on his friend.
He filled the cups at his feet and handed them to his new travel companions. Aluna drank first, and he saw her make a face.
“What’s wrong?”
“The water is cold. The weather has gotten colder, so I would have preferred to drink it warm.”
“Well, you could warm it up,” he answered, sounding almost too casual.
“I . . . I don’t understand,” she stammered.
“I’m talking about your power.”
Aluna frowned. She did not understand why Willan would mention her power in front of Siruth. She gave him a questioning look, forcing him to explain.
“Siruth saw you use your magic against the dragon, so I told him everything.”
“Yes,” the prince of Thundez said, taking a sip of his drink. “And I’m very impressed.”
“Well, don’t overestimate what I can do,” retorted Aluna, holding her cup in both hands.
“I don’t think I am,” he said. “I saw you fight a dragon, so I don’t think it will be too hard to deal with a cup of water.”
“But I think I used too much of my magic—or I used it incorrectly. I passed out right afterwards,” Aluna said. “That proves I’m not able to control it like I want to.”
“Those were unique circumstances; you were scared,” Willan reassured her. “I think now that you’re calm, it should be easier to concentrate. Try, you’ll see.”
“I agree,” Siruth encouraged her.
Aluna looked at both her companions. They were watching her, waiting for her to perform a miracle. It was as if they expected her to turn water into wine.
Without further ado, she looked down at the water in her cup and tried to focus. Until now, she had only learned to harness the boundless energy of the monster inside her into flames, which were hard to control. Heating a small cup of water proved to be more difficult, as the task required an even greater amount of discipline. She would have to conduct no more than a tiny amount of magic through the object, something she had never done before. Each time her power had manifested, it had been explosive, sometimes against her own will.
Psyching herself up, Aluna held her cup tighter. Bit by bit, she felt the heat rising in her, spreading from her stomach to her hands. The flow of it accelerated suddenly and she had to focus intensely to control the amount and the velocity. It was difficult, but eventually her hands flooded with a soothing warmth that transferred to the water inside. Almost instantly, she felt the cup heat up between her fingers.
Delighted, she turned to her companions, smiling brightly. When they saw the steam rising from her cup, they knew she had succeeded. Proud, Aluna eagerly took a sip of her water. It was so hot she burned her tongue. “It’s hot!” she cried out. The two men burst out laughing. Their merriment proved contagious and Aluna could not help laughing along with them. Even the prospect of what she would face when they reach Crystallia did not affect her mood. All she could think about was enjoying her time with her two friends. In a way, she felt blessed, because now she knew the memories of this journey would be forever engraved in their hearts.