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The branches of the trees were no longer overhead. Now fluffy clouds hovered above us as we journeyed along. They were scattered throughout the sky that was an array of reds, yellows, oranges, and even pinks. It looked like a painting I would find hanging in the halls of the castle.
“Annaliese?” I looked up at Li. “Can you handle if we went a little faster? The sun is setting. I want to get you home tonight.” Home?
My heart sunk into my chest. We were heading back to the kingdom. I had gotten nowhere near Maddox. I hadn’t proven myself to be fierce and able to handle my own. Instead, I had fallen cold, used up all of my powers, and went unconscious. Now I was going back to the kingdom only able to breathe, blink, and smell.
When he learned of my failure and return, King Theo would be livid. Every vein in his neck would bulge. He would spat as he roared his words at me. Objects would fly out in all directions. Any object within arm’s reach of him would become flying objects. Nobody would be safe around him.
Not that I thought I was no match for King Theo. It was my respect for my dead mother that kept me at bay with him all this time. If she was still alive, she would want me to mind myself. She, my mother, was the only reason I had stayed trapped in the castle as long as I had.
“... you’ll like it there,” Li chuckled. I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. My mind had run off on its own and only now returned. In the middle of his sentence. I couldn’t even ask him to repeat himself. “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”
He was looking down at me. One side of his mouth curved up into a smirk, an eyebrow raised, and amusement written all over his face.
“Relax. I am only giving you a hard time,” he smiled. “You must have lots on your mind. When you are better, you can tell me all about it. Okay?”
There was a tenderness in his words. Each word pulled on a string that belonged to my fluttering heart. There was so much more to Li than what I ever imagined there would be. All the times, I snuck peeks of him from afar throughout the years. Making up stories in my mind about him and his life. Stories about his victorious battles. The stories I created in my mind, seemed to be nothing like the Li, who was holding me in his arms.
“Your horse has been very worried about you,” he said pointing at Nightmare. “She doesn’t trust us. I thought she would kill me when I carried you into the house after you passed out. I think she thought I hurt you.” He seemed insulted.
Nightmare and Li’s interaction played out in my mind, crystal clear. Nightmare would have thrown a childlike tantrum. Anywhere Li took me she would have followed. If he denied her seeing me, then she would have snorted in his face, stomped her hooves, and tried to intimidate him. She would have given him hell. Just imagining it had me laughing on the inside. I really wish I would have seen the two. Man versus animal.
“She’s a good horse,” he vouched.
As though she was retorting, Nightmare snorted loudly. Again, I was laughing on the inside. Li was looking at her and rolling his eyes. Seemed like the two of them weren’t going to be best friends anytime soon.
“She will get used to me over time,” Li assured himself. Or maybe he was trying to assure me.
With his words, I couldn’t help looking deeper into them. Over time. Did he mean we would see each other more often in the castle now? Ugh. The castle. My stomach knotted again at the thought of going back to Hearth.
“You look worried.” Li brushed the few loose strands of my hair off to the side. “Everything will be okay once you’re home.”
***
Time seemed to pass by fast or maybe we were traveling faster than I thought because the base of the mountains was in view. We would reach them within a half-hour. There weren’t many mountains near the castle, so it would be easy for me to recognize those at a glance. The mountains we were nearing still weren’t familiar to me. Li seemed confident in the direction we were headed. Somewhere within these massive mountains must be a shortcut to Hearth.
“Your Majesty,” a man called out. Li tensed up behind me. I could feel a rumble in his chest against my back.
A group of men ran over to us varying in age. Our traveling party came to a halt. The men kneeled beside the sled. Li growled deeply. The term Your Majesty had been used before then I hadn’t able to see who they directed the title too. Now I could. They directed the title towards Li.
“Get up!” Li snapped.
“Yes, Your—” they all said in unison. They scrambled to their feet when Li roared. My ears rang out from the volume of his roar.
“Sorry.” He was looking down at me. His eyes returned to the group of men beside us. Li’s eyes were like blazing tarts. “We will discuss matters later this evening.”
“Yes, Your—”
“Let’s go!” Our group moved again. We passed through a humble-sized village. Li sat me up so that I could take in the view. There were small houses and shops on both sides of us, there were small houses and shops. The shops were closed except for a restaurant. The patrons were outside on the deck, sitting cross-legged by short tables, eating their food. Well, they were until we grew closer. When we approached closer in the sled, all the customers came down to the path. They then kneeled and bowed their heads to the ground. Their gesture caused Li’s body to tense up.
“Enough! Back to your day!” Kon roared. The group who were all men hopped to their feet. With a quick bow of their heads, they made their ways back to their food. Kon rode his horse over to us. He was smirking. “Doesn’t feel good to be welcomed home by your people?”
At first, I thought Kon was talking to me, but he wasn’t. His teasing was directed toward Li.
“Have you already explained to her? Or are you still too scared?” Kon whispered dramatically.
“Kon,” Li warned. Kon threw his head back and laughed. He looked at Li, then me. “Annaliese, I apologize for my brother and his lack of... fortitude.” Ah. Brother! That explains Kon’s lack of formalities with Li. The physical resemblance wasn’t really there between them. However, not all family was of blood.
Before Li could retort, Kon bowed his head towards me. I could hear him laughing as he made his way back to where he had ridden in from.
“When you are better, I will explain it all to you, Annaliese.” Li’s voice sounded defeated. “This isn’t the way I intended things to go.”
There was a long pause between the next words he spoke.
“There is a chance that you will want nothing to do with me, once all is said and done. Once you know who I am. Who I really am.” He sighed. “When you know of everything, if you wish to be free of me, I will let you go. Even if it kills me.”
His words were scaring me. What could he say to make me not want to be anywhere near him? They’d have to be catastrophic to the world to get me to walk away from him.
My heart ached from the thought of us parting ways. We hadn’t had time to spend with one another to become friends. All that I had of him was my feelings towards him. I knew nothing about him and already he was warning me that the end may be near.
“Everything I have to say will be honest. Nothing I say will mean you harm,” he whispered against the right side of my head. My heart didn’t settle. It still fluttered and twisted in pain. I was terrified. “I promise.”
I felt like I was going to burst into tears at any moment. I looked around to distract my mind and heart. When I looked around Nightmare and her ass, my heart skipped a beat. There was a gigantic frozen waterfall in front of us.
It was the most majestic thing I had ever seen. The moonlight reflected off the frozen surface creating a shimmering light. The scene was like something from a fantasy book.
“We’re here,” Li mused in my ear. Then he stood up with me in his arms. Two villagers unstrapped the sled from Nightmare. She didn’t protest their closeness to her. He wanted to be unhooked from the sled.
“I will have Malakai give you something to make you sleep.” My eyes flashed to his. “It’s for the best. The path is bumpy. I don’t want you in pain. Malakai!”
If I could have growled, I would have. I wasn’t fond of the idea of him knocking me out whenever he wanted to. However, I knew he had my best interest at heart.
Malakai was standing next to us. He didn’t seem too thrilled about the idea either.
“Your—” Li cut his eyes at Malakai. “My apologies. Wouldn’t it be best to just blindfold her, perhaps?”
“Malakai, which one of us is,” Li took a moment to gather his words.” Which one of us is in charge?”
“You are, Master,” Malakai replied with his head lowered.
“Good. Then help her rest for the journey.” Malakai nodded then rummaged through the bag in his hands. When he found what he was looking for he withdrew his hand from inside the bag. He now held a small flask.
“If anything happens to her, I will kill you,” Li warned Malakai.
“I’ve been making medicine for...a long time. Nothing will happen to her, Master.”
“I’m just reminding you of what I will do.” Malakai nodded. Once the flask top was open, he handed it to Li. Slowly, Li poured the sour liquid into my mouth and tilted my head back. The cold liquid slithered down my throat.
It was like a potion. My body warmed and tingled. My eyes were hazing over. I could barely feel Li’s arms holding me up, or my head against his chest. The liquid Malakai had given me was numbing me to everything. Panic built within me. I didn’t want to slip back inside my body, unable to see the world around me.
“You’re safe. I promise,” Li assured me. “Get some sleep.”