This is an elimination, pure and simple.
We are to be eliminated posthaste.
Feeling deeply unsettled, my gaze shifts back to Ryland. We must be thinking the same thing because his eyes cloud over just before he gives me a slight smile meant to be reassuring. It's tight and thin and strained at the edges. As I hold his eyes all I can think about are the dreams that plagued me all through the night. In most of them, Ryland ended up dying in my arms. I try to shake the heaviness of them away but they wrap around me until I’m barely able to breathe. This terrible feeling of inevitability is suffocating me. I can't bear the notion that those dreams are a premonition of what will soon unfold.
There's a bit of commotion as the Queen finally joins us outside the palace walls. Even though I'm trying very hard not to look at her, it's almost impossible. My eyes are drawn to her like a moth to a brightly flickering flame. Her regal presence is so commanding that I have a difficult time not dropping immediately into a deep curtsey at the mere sight of her. I lock my knees refusing to give her the deference she is due even though it has been ingrained within me. Apparently old habits, even those procured in a different lifetime, die hard.
I keep hoping she'll call this whole thing off. That maybe she's simply punishing us, allowing us to stew in our own fear and anxiety for our disobedience and disloyalty to the Faerie Realm. If she wanted, she could call this whole thing off. She is, after all, the one who makes the rules. Hesitantly I meet her sparkling amethyst colored eyes and something within me freezes because I realize in that moment that she has absolutely no intention of stopping this madness. Actually, I've never seen her look quite so delighted. She looks, well... cheerful. My brows furrow.
Can that be right?
How can she possibly relish the notion of killing her own son?
I study her as she surveys the faerie guard. Four huge white stallions have just been brought around and she's inspecting them carefully as if she is about to make a purchase. She doesn't bother to spare even one glance for her son. But I do. I look over at him and my heart rips open anew because even though his face is impassively set, looking as if it has been chiseled from stone, I see deep within his eyes that he is devastated by her lack of affection.
I squeeze his hand tightly to snare his attention. His eyes clear as they finally meet mine. Even though I don't say a word, I hold his gaze and let everything, all the love I feel, pour out through that one intimate look exchanged between us. Even though I have not yet said the words, I do love him. Even though I haven't felt ready to share those three precious words with him, it does not mean that the feelings are not coursing through me.
I know my heart beats solely for him. Just as his does for me.
If there is a way to make it through this ordeal, to find a way to live, we will find it together. Have we not done so already? Has it not been proven that our love is eternal and enduring simply by the fact that we are here together once more?
That has to mean something.
It has to.
This is all I have to cling to. And I'll cling to it desperately because right now, there isn't much else to hold onto. There isn't much to believe in.
So I will believe in us.
His hand tightens around mine and I think he understands everything I am trying to convey because his eyes suddenly become focused, resolved, strengthened. And somehow, when I look at him, I feel more confident too.
Maybe, just maybe, we can find a way to beat them at their own game.
When the Queen finally turns to us, she smiles as if we have all gathered here voluntarily for the wonderful festivities she has planned for the day. And perhaps that is exactly how she sees it. Maybe tonight there will be an opulent dinner held at the Crystal Palace in celebration of our deaths.
"The hunt shall begin in ten minutes."
My stomach drops to my toes as I inhale a shaky breath.
Ten minutes... Ten minutes...
I'll be running for my life in ten minutes.
"You will have one hour and then," her silvery colored lips twist cruelly as her dancing eyes shift between the pair of us, "the faerie guard shall be unleashed."
Neither of us responds to her words or the gleeful tone she uses.
Quite honestly there doesn't seem to be anything more to say. And it is glaringly apparent that groveling or begging for our lives will get us nowhere. Actually, I think she would rather enjoy our pleading but I can’t bring myself to give her the satisfaction. I'm quite sure that today's end result will give her more than enough satisfaction.
So we do the only thing we can- we hold each other's hands tightly and wait.
I wouldn't have thought ten minutes could slip by so very quickly but it does. I lean up on my toes whispering, "The woods. We need to get to the woods."
He nods slightly as if afraid to say anything more.
Holding each other's eyes, we share one last look. One last wordless gaze between us before all hell breaks loose. Whatever happens today, we will face it together.
"Run," she whispers softly. As I take off, my hand is still tightly clasped in Ryland's. I hear her laugh, "For all the good it will do you."
I have to shut out her words. I can't allow her to burrow any deeper inside my head. I have to believe that there is a way for us to triumph. My heart jackhammers so harshly that it feels as if it might explode right out of my chest. My feet pound through the long meadow grass as I sprint towards the trees. Even though we are supposed to have an hour, I keep waiting to feel the tip of a golden arrow rip ruthlessly through my flesh.
It takes only a handful of minutes for us to reach the dense forest line, but it feels like an eternity. Already my breath is huffing as sweat mars my brow. With some cover protecting us, we might have a fighting chance of escaping this insanity with our lives intact. What we can't allow is for them to flush us out into the open. Even if the faerie guard is some distance away, they'll still be able to pierce us with their lethal arrows. Once inside the forest, my feet begin to slow. Ryland instantly tugs on my hand. He hasn't slowed his pace at all.
"We have to keep running, Lili. We can't stop, not even for a moment."
He's right, of course. An hour will slip by much too quickly and then they will be after us. At least the horses will have a difficult time picking their way through the dense foliage.
"I know a place where we can hide."
My hopes are instantly buoyed by the idea. A hiding place is exactly what we need. Somewhere we can think and plan out our next strategy.
With Ryland in the lead, we continue to make our way through the woods, zigzagging around tall trees and thick prickly underbrush. Jumping over rotting logs. I have to move thin spindly branches out of the way as we duck through the brush and around bushes. Prickers tear at my thin tank top and skin. My breath comes fast as I continue jogging. This is better than I anticipated. The faerie guard will have a difficult time moving through this.
Just as that thought passes through my head, I trip over a heavy twisting tree root protruding from the dirt. My hands instinctively shoot out in front of me to break my fall before I hit the ground with a grunt of pain. I feel something sharp slice deep into my palm. For just a moment, I lay there, breathing hard. My shoulder throbs. Already I can feel the sticky warm gush of blood that's trickling down my hand.
Ryland kneels beside me.
"Are you okay?" His expression is tense as his concerned eyes arrow straight to my palm. He isn't even breathing hard. I nod as pain blooms in several different places on my body. Picking up my hand he quickly examines it. The corners of his mouth turn downward. "We have to keep moving, Lili. It's just a bit further, I promise. We can't stop here.” Suddenly his eyes search the trees surrounding us. “It isn't safe."
Through the searing pain, I nod again feeling like a clod for not seeing the large twisting root. Tears sting my eyes because the gash is now throbbing. There’s debris from the forest floor embedded within my hand. Every time I brush
my fingers over it, trying to wipe away some of the dirt, I wince as fresh waves of agony wash over me. I guess there isn't much point in worrying about infection. More than likely, I'll be dead by night fall.
At this point, infection is the least of my concerns.
Even though I want to stop and rest, we keep moving. We have to. There can't be much time left anymore. Just as that thought flashes through my mind, I hear a horn blast in the distance and know the faerie guard has been dispatched. The hunt has truly begun. Fresh waves of nausea roll through my belly. I pick up my pace hoping that Ryland's hiding spot is close by.
Glancing back at me, he must see the fear in my eyes because his gaze softens just a bit before he says, "It'll be okay." I want desperately to believe him but it's difficult because I don't think anything will ever be alright again. "Just a bit further. Then we'll be able to rest for a while before figuring out our next move."
We must be in the center of the woods by now. I follow Ryland as he carefully picks his way through the small plants and evergreens, past tall oaks that spear up into the deep blue morning sky. My hand throbs but at least the bleeding has slowed. I keep my palm pressed against my shorts. There are dark red blood stains smeared across my pink tank top and black shorts. Because I'm inspecting the gouge on my palm, I don't realize Ryland has finally stopped until I slam into him. I stagger back a few steps before his hands reach out to steady me.
We hold each other's eyes for just a heartbeat. We can't afford any more than that. Precious time is slipping away from us.
"Okay?"
I admit, at least privately anyway, that I am not okay.
I'm not okay at all.
In fact, I don't think I've ever been less okay in my life.
We've been on the move through the woods for over an hour now and the faerie guard has just been dispatched to bring our dead carcasses back to the Queen. Honestly, I can't think of anything worse than that except the knowledge that my dead body will probably be riddled with razor sharp golden arrows. Add to that the painful gash on my palm and the emotional turmoil of discovering a past life spent as a faerie and you have the perfect mix of elements to make for a really bad morning. So, no, I am not okay.
In fact, nothing feels like it will ever be okay again.
But I don't say any of that to him.
What would be the point?
I'm about as okay as I can possibly be right now. And then it hits me that we must have stopped here for a reason. Our hiding spot must be close. Confused, I glance around the dense trees and leafy green foliage surrounding us. Nothing obvious jumps out at me. But I suppose that's good, right?
Ryland walks around a massive tree trunk that looks as if it's hundreds of years old. I've never seen anything like it before. I trail slowly after him. Now that I'm not running for my life, my legs shake with sudden fatigue. He stops on the other side of the trunk before grabbing a thick bowing branch and swinging himself up onto the limb. Sitting on the branch, he leans down offering his hand. "Come on, we need to move quickly. It won't take long before they catch up to us."
He's right, of course.
Just as I place my hand in his outstretched one, he hoists me up onto the branch next to him. I'm surprised by his strength. By the fact that he can lift me so easily. His body isn't thick and brawny but he has the strength of someone who is. He holds my eyes for just a moment.
"Ready?"
I give a slight nod and watch as he straightens before grabbing hold of the jutting limb near his head. In the blink of an eye, he pulls himself up again. Not quite comfortable on the branch, I stand carefully, trying to balance my weight. I place my good hand against the base of the tree. Ryland reaches down to pull me up onto the next branch. Again he hoists me like I weigh next to nothing.
When I'm once again next to him, he reaches up, grabbing another limb. Without waiting for help, I stand, grabbing the next branch with both my hands. A bright sunburst of pain explodes through me as the tree branch scrapes against the raw flesh of my palm. Wincing, I pull myself up. Already I can feel the sticky wetness of fresh blood welling up. Tiny splotchy drops fall onto the branches beneath me.
"Lili, wait, let me help you. I don't want you hurting yourself any more than you already have."
Even though pain radiates throughout my entire hand, I shake my head because we don't have time to waste. We need to keep moving. I can’t afford to focus on the sharp intensity slicing through me or the hot prick of tears that sting my eyes. Once I can rest, I'll be picking out tree bark, dirt, and debris for the next several hours.
Ryland waits for me at each new branch. Tiredly I wonder how much farther we're going to climb because I can't even see the top of the tree as it spears up into the sky. This tree reminds me of pictures I've seen of giant sequoias but it's not quite that wide at the base of the trunk. With every moment that ticks by, I feel the faerie guard closing in on us. And up in this tree, we have nowhere to run.
Nowhere to hide.
My belly pinches at the idea of being pierced by hundreds of razor sharp arrows before plummeting to my death at the bottom of the forest floor. My hand feels like it's on fire but still I grab hold of the next branch. Just as I'm about to hoist myself up, Ryland grabs my wrist pulling me up beside him.
Catching my breath I survey the forest from this great height. Thick full branches jut out all around us, shielding us from view. I'm still afraid that if even one of the faerie guards glances up, we'll be spotted. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. I'm starting to wish we hadn't climbed up here because it feels much too late to figure out an alternative plan. I have no idea how quickly it'll take the guard to catch up to us. But it's doubtful they're taking their time.
He must sense what I'm thinking because he leans over before pressing a quick kiss to my lips. "Have a little faith in me."
I'm not exactly sure how to respond to that. I do have faith in him but sitting up here, out in the open, feels like certain death. Before I can open my mouth to deny my true thoughts, he points to the thick base of the tree which spears up into the sky. I glance over my shoulder not understanding what he thinks I'm going to find there. But I look anyway, my eyes traveling upwards.
That's when I see it.
My mouth falls open as I scramble to take a closer look.
From where we both stand on the tree branch, I see a very large hollowed out hole in the middle of the tree.
"How..." I can't imagine what kind of animal, or even more disturbing, bird, has managed to do this. It would have to be something big. I gulp hoping that whatever it is doesn't return anytime soon.
Ryland grins at my expression. "I carved this out when I was a child. I used to play up here."
Hmmm. Who knew that faeries had secret hide outs just like the rest of us?
"Come on, we need to get inside."
I climb my way into the scraped out tree. It's just large enough for both of us to fit comfortably inside. My back leans against one of the rounded walls. I scoot as far from the opening as I can manage. It's doubtful the faerie guard could see us from the ground but I'm not about to take any chances.
For the first time since being escorted to the Crystal Palace, I finally feel somewhat safe. Resting the back of my head against the thick wall of the tree, I close my eyes for just a moment. As I do, I inhale a breath realizing just how exhausted I really am. Ryland lowers himself down beside me. His hand finds its way to mine. I think he's simply going to hold it when he slowly turns it over. Carefully he probes the gash trying to gently pick out the dirt and bark now embedded deeply within it. I wince, my teeth snapping together as he continues to work on my palm. There are a few times when the pain is so sharp, so searing, that I'm unable to stop the hiss of agony from leaving my lips.
Finally he murmurs, "We're going to need to flush this out at the stream so it doesn't become infected." He rips a long strip of material from his shirt before wrapping it tightly around my hand like a bandage.
; It sounds like a good plan but how exactly are we going to do that? Now that we're safely tucked away up in this tree, I can't ever imagine crawling out. If we do, we'll be sitting ducks for the faerie guard. I don't want to think about that right now. After all, we just spent the last hour running for our lives. I can't imagine leaving the safety of this tree for any reason.
Even if it is to stave off infection.
I'm trying to come up with our next strategy when we hear tree branches breaking below us. My eyes widen before my heartbeat hitches. They're so close! I want to squeeze my eyes tightly shut and pray that they're as unaware of this hiding spot as Ryland seems to think they are because if they're not, we'll be dead within the next five minutes. My wide eyes fly to Ryland's. Neither of us dare to move a single muscle. I'm barely breathing. I'm afraid that if I breathe, they'll find us. And if they find us, they'll kill us. It's that simple.
Game over.
I'm sure it's only a few minutes that tick agonizingly by but it feels more like hours. We sit absolutely still not daring to move. Our breathing is slow and controlled. We stay like that even after we hear the guards pass beneath our hiding spot high in the tree. They must be moving through the forest on foot because I didn't hear any horses. Finally I see Ryland's shoulders loosen before he gives me a little nod. There's just a hint of a smile playing around the corners of his lips.
"I think we're safe for the time being." He mouths the words slowly and I nod in response not daring to talk either.
"Try and get some rest. Once darkness falls, we'll head to the stream."
The prospect of leaving our notched out hole in the tree is a scary one because I know exactly what's out there waiting for us. This is the only safe place we have. The problem is that we can't remain here indefinitely. We have no food. No water. No provisions. Nor do we have any medicine or antibiotics for my hand. And thankfully I don't have to go to the bathroom yet but eventually, that's going to be a problem as well.
Forgotten Page 19