Chapter Three

 

Genevieve

"Yes, just let a young woman walk barefoot into the woods," Evie muttered, though in truth she was too excited to be all that angry with the wizard who'd – reluctantly – helped her.

For how could Evie allow negative feelings to befoul her mood when she was beneath the boughs of an old oak tree for the first time in her life? Even when she'd lived in the palace, or ventured into Willow, she'd never stood under such a gigantic tree.

But soon the soft, spongy grass beneath Evie's feet would turn to pine needles and sharp twigs and stinging weeds. They would make quick work of her soft, unblemished flesh, she knew.

If only she had shoes.

Julian told her to avoid wandering deeply into the woods, so Evie hoped the ground wouldn't get too uncomfortable to walk on. And then, when she reached the town he'd told her about, she could finally buy a pair of shoes that fit.

"With what money?" Evie asked aloud, stopping in her tracks as if floored by the question. But of course she needed money; it was hardly as if she could announce herself as the Princess Genevieve and expect the town to help her out. After all, she was fairly certain Julian did not believe she was the princess, and he had far more reason to believe her than an unknown town would.

He should have given me some money, at least, Evie grumbled, though in truth that wasn't fair. Julian had offered to magic her all the way to Willow – she had brought the problem of money and shoes and shelter upon herself. But she had to live with her decision to recklessly walk herself to the royal city, so with a sigh Evie continued on her journey.

*

"Ouch!" she exclaimed after several hours of walking. It was not the first time she'd made such a proclamation, and it wasn't simply because of her aching, bleeding feet. For Evie's hair kept getting caught on branches and roots and snagging painfully; eventually she was forced to carry her hair in her arms to avoid catching it on anything.

Now that it was past noon Evie had to admit her mood had decidedly taken a turn for the worse. Her stomach grumbled insistently, and she knew little and less about which plants in the forest were edible. Her hands were chafed raw from the number of times she'd had to catch the rough bark of a tree trunk to stop herself from falling when she stumbled.

And the sun. Despite the fact Evie was beneath the trees it still beat down on her through the canopy, pricking her skin with unbearable heat. There was a sheen of sweat all over her which Evie was desperate to wash away. And she was so thirsty, too. Once she acknowledged her thirst it was all she could think about, until her mind was so busy daydreaming about water that Evie tripped over an exposed tree root and fell flat on her face.

"This is ridiculous!" she decried, spitting out a mouthful of dried earth and leaves in the process. She crawled over to the tree whose root had upended her and collapsed with her back against it, then closed her eyes to the dappled sunlight. For a while all Evie did was run her fingers along the tree's roots as her chest heaved with exhaustion.

"I can't do this," she murmured, thinking of her failed attempt to escape from the tower. If Julian hadn't shown up when he had done then Evie would have died.

Her stomach lurched unpleasantly at the mere thought of the tetchy, unkempt wizard. Even when Julian had pushed some of his dark hair out of his eyes Evie had not gained all that much more insight into his appearance. It left her feeling unsatisfied, that he should have seen her lying on the floor like a crazed fool, whilst Evie saw so little of the first human she'd had contact with for twelve years.

Julian was not a nice man, Evie decided. He had called her 'little girl' and refused to give her even the most basic of supplies.

"And he wasn't curious about why I was in his tower at all!" Evie complained, crossing her arms over her chest to emphasise her mood. "If I'd discovered a princess locked in my own tower then I'd want to know why she was there."

In truth Evie just as badly wanted to ask Julian questions about his own life. She'd had nobody but herself to talk to for so long, after all. And he was a wizard, and clearly connected to what happened to her on her eighth birthday.

"Well you'll never see him again, so just forget about him," Evie said, before brushing off her now filthy knees and clambering to her feet. She winced as they took her weight, and wondered how she could possibly keep going. And then she heard it.

Water.

A stream! Evie thought, delighted, and all complaints about her aching, bruised and bloodied feet were forgotten in favour of chasing the beautiful sound of water over pebbles. It took her a while to find it, for within the forest the sounds of the water echoed and reverberated in some places and were absorbed by moss and close–knit trees in others. By the time Evie finally felt moisture beneath her feet the trees overhead had changed from broad–leaved to evergreen, and there was no more sunlight filtering down to the forest floor.

But Evie did not care. Just a few minutes later she stumbled across the stream itself, though it was narrow and insubstantial. Another few minutes of impatient walking later and the stream grew wider and deeper. She stepped into the shallows and sighed contentedly. The bracing water soothed her feet and tickled at her ankles. Bending low she scooped some of it up and brought it to her parched lips, eagerly lapping at the water until she had her fill.

After that Evie was still hungry, but at least her thirst was sated. She decided there was no harm in following the stream for a little while longer, since it was still mid–afternoon. She had plenty of daylight left to find the nearest town, and now that she’d rested for a few moments and drank her feet no longer seemed so sore.

It was therefore to her surprise when, after about an hour of following the silvery path of the stream, Evie found what appeared to be a road. It was reasonably well–maintained considering it carved its way through the middle of a forest, so she began to follow it. Above her the afternoon sun beat down on her back, though soon it would dip beneath the trees as evening crept upon the woods.

"Why didn't Julian tell me about the road?" Evie wondered, once more annoyed at the wizard. "It would have made my journey so much easier." She could only assume he'd told her to walk beneath the trees on the outskirts to make her journey longer and more irritable in response to Evie having refused his offer of going directly to Willow.

"So petty," she grumbled, before making her way along the road in the general direction of east. Evie fashioned conversations that she might have when she reached the town as she walked. She knew they were unrealistic, and probably unhelpful, but they helped to pass the time as the sun lowered in the sky.

"Why yes, kind sir, I do indeed look like I've been locked up for years, but that would be because I have. Thank you for noticing. Would it be at all possible to spend the night in your inn?"

"Unfortunately this is the only piece of clothing I possess, madam. Might I trouble you to spare me even the simplest of clothes?"

"As you can see I am not wearing shoes and have suffered for it. I would appreciate any help you can give me in procuring a pair."

But Evie was distracted from her ramblings when she heard the sound of several people laughing not too far ahead of her on the road. She was reaching a bend that promised to lead to the exit of the forest and the town ahead, which was likely obscuring the source of the voices from her.

What do I do? Evie worried. Do I go ahead and try to catch up with them? Or do I stay back and wait for them to go?

Her meeting with Julian had been disastrous, after all. Though Evie had spent her entire journey excited to talk to other people, now the very thought daunted her. She looked down at her arms, laden with her hair as if it were a babe.

I look weird and suspicious, I suppose. If they don't ignore me they will likely tease me. But it wasn't as if Evie could make herself look more presentable when she reached the town, so what did it matter if some strangers on the road saw her?

Then she realised the voices were getting louder and more boisterous. The group was heading her way and unless Evie hid beneath the trees she would meet them. She took a deep breath, figuring that it was better late than never that she saw people who weren't bad–tempered wizards like Julian. For all she knew the strangers would take pity on her and help her.

So Evie continued purposefully along just as the sun began to set the tips of the trees aglow. She reached the bend in the road at the same time the strangers did – a group of five men who looked to be about as old as Evie remembered her father being, though they looked far less elegant and refined than he had been.

Their cheeks were ruddy; two of them were holding bottles of what Evie was fairly certain was wine, though perhaps it was something stronger. It wasn't as if she had any personal experience with alcohol given that she was locked away at eight years old.

One of the men cocked an eyebrow when they spied her. "And what have we here?" he said, slurring his words slightly.

So they won't ignore me, then, Evie thought. She held her arms as close to her chest as possible even though they were full of her long, tangled hair. She didn't know if she should speak or not. Would the men take offence if she didn't talk to them?

A second man took a step towards her and looked her up and down. "You're injured, my lovely. Would you like some help?"

Though the question was a nice one, the man's tone and expression were not. Evie flinched back; the group of strangers laughed.

"You scared her, Jack! No point in scaring her. She might run off."

"She won't be running anywhere in the state she's in," Jack replied, indicating towards Evie's feet. "What happened, little girl? Were you attacked and robbed?"

This time they waited for Evie to reply. Yet her voice was caught in her throat and wouldn't come out. She had never been scared of people before. But now...

When the man named Jack lurched forwards to grab her Evie yelped and stumbled away. The men only snickered harder.

"So she does have some life left in her," the first man said, a horrible gleam in his eyes as he circled around Evie. "That's good for us, then."

"P–please leave me alone," she stuttered, as all around her the group closed in and blocked off her escape. When someone grabbed her hair and yanked her to the ground she cried out in pain.

Evie struggled to get back to her feet even as Jack pushed her down once more. "Alf, keep hold of her hair!" he ordered the man who'd pulled Evie down in the first place. He grinned at her, showing Evie all of his dirty, yellowing teeth. "It shouldn't be difficult when she has so much. Have you never cut your hair, girlie?"

Evie merely wriggled beneath him. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me –"

"I’d like you better if you stayed silent."

"Ah, same here, but that doesn't mean I'd go to such lengths to shut her up."

Evie froze – as did the group of men. For it was not one of them who had spoken.

It was Julian.

Evie twisted her head until she caught sight of the scraggly wizard. His lips were contorted into a snarl, and his eyes – entirely free of hair for the first time – were glowing with anger.

No, not with anger. They were literally glowing, like burning, red–hot coals.

"Now, if you'd be so kind as to let my idiotic companion go," Julian said, "then I might not be inclined to burn all five of you to ashes."