Kiara giggled at the expression on his face and shook her head. “No, I’m just curious. We’ve been through a lot together over the past week and I was just wondering what you liked and disliked about it.”
“My least favorite part would have to have been when we were in Tau. We may have only been there for a few hours, but it was hell. I never want to go back.”
“I agree. I’m going to have nightmares about that place for weeks,” Kiara replied, taking another drink.
“What was your least favorite part of the journey?” Nate asked.
“Well… It’s probably a tie between Tau, that night you left me at the camp before I met the Forgers and the end.”
“That night? What night?” Nate peered at her confoundedly.
“Remember the night I got chased by wolves and you got hurt?”
“… Oh! That night… yeah, I remember it.”
“I thought I was going to die. I was so scared and depressed. It was awful,” Kiara shivered at the very thought of those gnashing wolf jowls.
Nate grimaced and sighed. “I am sorry for leaving you like that. I didn’t think you would get up and start looking for me like you did, otherwise, I wouldn’t have left.”
“Why were you out, anyway? Did you ever tell me?”
“I don’t believe I did in great detail… I went out by the river to think about stuff. At the time I was so mixed up and confused. I needed to be alone to think. I hadn’t had one of those moments in a while and I just felt I needed one.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up to tell me that you’d be gone?”
“I don’t know. I guess from experience I knew I wouldn’t be able to wake you up easily, so I knew there wasn’t any point.” Nate shrugged and went back to eating his sandwich.
Kiara tried to remember an instance when he had tried to wake her up, but was unable to recall it. “When did you try to wake me and it didn’t work?” she asked.
“That night we stayed in Peh. I nudged you and everything. You smacked me in the face,” Nate chuckled as he remembered that morning. “I got so mad at you, I wanted to just crush your skull in… Forgive me, but I really did. After that, I didn’t see any point in trying to wake you up for anything.”
Kiara giggled as well, finding it rather humorous. “My father and brother once tried to wake me after I had gone to bed really late and they couldn’t wake me either. They said if it wasn’t for my breathing, they would have thought me dead.” Her countenance turned grave as she thought of her family missing her and thinking her really dead now.
“What do you think you’ll do first when you get back home?” he asked, already half way through his sandwich.
“I’m not sure… I do know that I’m going to give my father, brother and Eshean a big hug and kiss, because I have missed them… Then, I’ll probably go and visit Heather.” Kiara took a big bite of her sandwich, finding it very tasty.
“Who’s Heather?”
“She’s Miss Mary’s daughter. Mary is the one who took me in as an infant, remember?” Kiara explained with her mouth full of food and Nate nodded, “Well, she had a daughter and I’ve been really good friends with her ever since. She has taken over the duty of caring for the orphans in her mother’s place. She’s one of my best friends.”
Nate nodded and they let each other finish their meals in silence. Before leaving, they drank the last of their water and Nate dropped the few gold coins on the table that Sir Ethan had given him.
“How much longer until we reach Aleph?” Kiara asked as they walked out of the tavern.
“We have to start heading northwest to cross the Nun river, then it shouldn’t be more than a few hours of walking afterwards. We might make it there by dinnertime.” Nate’s voice turned grave again as he thought about their adventure together was almost over. “But, I want to give you something before we continue, if that’s alright.”
Kiara looked up with excitement, hoping it was something like a kiss or a proposal, something to make the conclusion of this trip more glorious and worth the tears that she knew were waiting at the end. Instead, Nate pulled her aside into one of the alleys between two buildings and set down his pack.
He carefully reached into it and pulled out something that shocked Kiara. It was the dress that she wanted to buy from Gwen just the day before! Kiara gasped and placed her hands over her mouth in surprise. He held it out for her to take.
“Nate… How did… Why… Oh, Nate! Thank you!” she exclaimed, ignoring the dress and throwing her arms around Nate’s neck, not caring for the rules of propriety. Nate caught her up into his arms and held her tight, returning the hug and being careful not to drop the delicate dress into the dirt.
“It may not fit you perfectly, but if you’d like, we could get it tailored here or in Aleph so you can wear it before meeting your father,” Nate said softly. “I wouldn’t want you to come home to him in some old rags.” Secretly, he regretted ever forcing her to wear those awful boy clothes at the beginning of their journey and he desperately wanted to make it up to her.
Kiara slowly released her hold on his neck and looked up to him with tears glistening in her eyes. “Thank you so much, Nate. You didn’t have to buy it, you know.”
“I know,” he replied with a smirk, “but I wanted to. You’ve been through enough with me that it wouldn’t be fair for you to walk away without me repaying you for your troubles.”
Kiara laughed and shook her head, her hands still resting on his shoulders. “You have caused me no trouble, Nate. If anything, I’ve been a burden to you. You’ve done so much for me. I just wish there was more I could do for you.”
Nate smiled and thought of a way she could repay him, but he shook the idea out of his mind and turned his attention back to the dress. “So, would you rather have it tailored here or in Aleph?”
She looked to the dress and lightly ran her fingers across the blessed fabric, happy that she could finally call it her own. “I think we should wait until Aleph. If I wear it now, it will get dirty and stained through walking in the dirt.”
Nate nodded and folded the dress back up, gingerly sliding it into his sack. “Very well, then… Are you ready to continue?” he asked.
Kiara nodded and they began their trek into the wilderness once more. Thankfully, this time, they were able to keep to the road.
“So, are you excited for becoming Sir Ethan’s squire?” she asked as they were walking along the trail.
“A little,” Nate replied casually.
“A little? Come on! You’re going to be a knight! You’ll be living your dream. How can you only be a little excited?”
“The other half of my dream was to be a squire under Malcolm. Sir Ethan is an honorable man, and all, but I was just hoping to learn from the best. But, I know beggars can’t be choosers, so I am happy all the same.”
“I’m sure you’ll get to meet my father and learn some things from him…You know something I just thought of?” Kiara said, turning to Nate with a startled expression.
“What?”
“If my father and Deceiver do declare war on each other, you might have to fight in it…” Kiara suddenly realized how tragic it would be if Nate did go to fight and was killed in battle. He was a grown man and could take care of himself well enough to survive most of his life living in the wild country, but a battle was not the same as a fight every now and again. Plus, the gypsy fortune teller was right about his ancestry. Maybe she was right about the way that he would die as well?
Nate seemed to realize that too, but his lips curled into a smile instead of the devastated look that Kiara had. “Yeah… I would…”
“What’s with that happy look?”
Nate shrugged, “I’ve always imagined how it might be like if I were to fight in a war. My father used to tell me stories of valiant men going to battle and being all heroic and brave. I guess that’s one reason I wanted to be a knight was to have that moment of glory in battle.”
“But, some of those
stories could involve the hero sacrificing his life for his kingdom… What if you die?”
Nate turned to her and saw the distressed look in her eyes. He sighed and shook his head. “It won’t be that easy to kill me. I’m a tough one, remember? You saw all those scars. I’ve been through a lot.”
“But, I don’t know what I’d do with myself if you died.” Kiara felt herself ready to burst into tears at the thought of losing the man she loved.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Nate consoled, placing a comforting hand upon her cheek as a small tear rolled down it, “I’ll be alright. Besides, I’ll have men like Sir Ethan and your brother to back me up. And Deceiver’s men can’t fight worth dirt, so it will be an easy victory.”
Kiara took some solace in those words, but she still dreaded the day when she would hear of Nate’s death, whether it be the following week or in several years. Death was such a melancholy topic and she hated to think of it at a time like this. So many sad thoughts threatened to devour her in that moment. She only nodded and brushed the tear away with the edge of her tunic sleeve.
Nate watched her for a while to make sure she was alright, before looking ahead at the upcoming last stretch of path before they would reach the Nun River in the distance.
“Will you promise to write to me once you learn how to?”
He looked down to her with a grin. “Of course. For a while, I’ll have to get Sir Ethan to write some of the letters for me, but I will try my best to keep in contact.”
Kiara beamed up to him as they came upon the riverbank. The current was stronger than she had expected. “Is there a bridge?” she asked.
Nate scanned the shore for any sign of a bridge, but shook his head. “I don’t see any… Wait, there’s some rocks over there. We could probably hop across those.”
The two warily made their way towards the small boulders that stood up from the surface of the water. The width of the river was probably about thirty feet, but the waters looked dark, cold and deep. Kiara, who was afraid of drowning, pursed her lips worriedly as Nate hopped out onto the first rock with great balance and agility
“They look a bit slippery, though,” Kiara stated, still standing on the bank, wondering if crossing this way would be the best choice.
“Not really. You’ll be alright. I’m right here and I’ll dive in to get you if you fall, I promise.” Nate agilely leapt from one rock to the next without difficulty.
Kiara held her breath and reluctantly stepped onto the first rock. She wobbled a bit, trying to balance herself at first. She jumped to the next rock, then the next and soon, her anxiety began to dwindle away. Kiara almost thought it fun once she got to the middle, able to look up and down the river without the trees impeding her view. It was breathtaking.
Nate arrived to the other side and waited on the shore for Kiara to finish crossing. He kept a watchful eye out, ready at any moment if she did happen to fall in.
“You’re doing great, Kiara. Just a few more jumps and you’ll be done.”
“Yeah… This isn’t so bad, actually,” Kiara said with a smile, her arms outstretched to balance herself as if she were walking on a tight rope.
The downstream current began to quicken, splashing water onto one of the rocks, near the western shore. Kiara was doing splendidly until she landed on that rock. All of the sudden, her foot slipped and before Nate had time to reach out and catch her, Kiara disappeared under the surface of the water with a shriek.
“Kiara!” he shouted, running downstream to catch up with her as he saw her head bob up and down along the surface, being carried away swiftly by the current.
“Nate! Help me!” she cried out before her head became completely submerged, only her flailing arm could be seen above the white rapids.
Nate watched with horror, as her head didn’t come back up. “Kiara! Keep your head above the water!” he commanded, as if it would help.
As the river became more and more violent the farther they traveled downstream, Nate realized it was too late to jump in after her. The rapids would surely take him away as quickly as she, and then he would be of no help at all to her. Instead, he gathered up as much energy as he could and ran ahead of Kiara, never taking his eyes of off her. After a while, it appeared as if she had gone limp or stopped trying to save herself. He worried that she had perhaps gone unconscious.
Nate rushed to the tree line, pulling down a long vine. He tied one end around his waist and the other around a tree that was growing close to the riverbank.
His eyes scoured the river for the princess and when he finally saw her just about pass him by, he dove head first into the raging rapids. Nate quickly swam for Kiara’s floating body, his heart throbbing beneath his ribs. Farther down the river, he could see the waters plummet out of sight down a waterfall.
With all his might, Nate swam to Kiara, calling out to her, trying to get her attention. She didn’t reply. The river seemed determined to separate them, its current pushing them apart whenever Nate came close. He couldn’t count the number of times that his knees or elbows banged against rocks along the way, neither did he care.
Finally, just as Kiara was only feet away from plunging down the waterfall, Nate’s hand wrapped around her wrist and refused to let go. And just in time, the vine snapped tight, holding back the two from falling over the edge.
Nate grunted as his strong arms pulled her in to wrap his legs around her torso, holding keep her close while he pulled on the vine. Water splashed viciously in his face as if to distract him, but nature stood no match against his sheer will to reach the shore.
After much pulling and tugging on the line, Nate finally was able to pull Kiara up onto the grassy shore. “Kiara… Kiara, can you hear me?”
She was deathly cold. The river water was freshly melted frost from the mountains. Even Nate shivered from the piercing cold. He brought her onto her side as her lungs convulsed. Kiara began coughing up water, becoming conscious again.
Nate allowed her to cough the rest out and as she slowly opened her eyes, he smiled and sat her up. “Hey, are you ok?”
Kiara, her lips blue and quivering, looked up with dreary eyes and nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m ok… Thank you, Nate,” she stuttered, her words slurring a bit. Nate was elated that she was alive and wrapped his arms tightly around her, both of them soaked through. He helped her up and untied the vine from around his waist.
“Come on, let’s get you dried off.”
But, soon after they began walking, Kiara’s legs seemed to buckle from underneath her. Nate caught the princess before she fell to the ground, but she was unable rise back up. “Kiara, what’s wrong?” he asked, looking to her legs, hoping that they weren’t broken.
“My ankle hurts,” she silently complained, sitting on the ground, shivering uncontrollably. Nate nodded and scooted around towards her feet.
“Which one?”
“My right one,” she muttered.
Nate then tried to take her right boot off, but she shook her head.
“No, my other right.”
Nate smirked, thinking nothing was wrong, and then took her left boot off. He tested the foot’s mobility and felt the bone around her ankle. “Well, it’s not broken. You must have just sprained it. I’ll carry you,” he insisted. Nate took her and hauled her up onto his back.
Kiara wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her legs on either side of his hips and toted her - and her boot - all the way back upstream. There, he picked up his bag that he left on the shore and headed into the woods, still under the impression that all was well.
Nate traveled into the forest and found a small, cozy clearing, where he let Kiara down into the warm sun. Nate noticed that her body seemed limp and unresponsive.
“Kiara, talk to me. Are you alright?”
She only nodded and curled herself up into a ball, trembling and shivering. Nate knew this couldn’t be good. He reached into his pack after stuffing her boot in it and pulled out a blanket, an extra tunic that
Sir Ethan let him have and some bandages to wrap up her foot.
Nate quickly dried off Kiara’s hands, arms, feet and head as much as he could, still being a little damp himself, while she was passively sitting on the ground, either blankly staring ahead or with her eyes closed completely.
“Do you think you could change clothes?” Nate asked. He got no response, as it looked to be that Kiara fell asleep sitting up. He nudged her shaking figure to wake her, but she didn’t react.
He grew even more scared by the second, looking her over, trying to think clearly of what to do. Immediately, he set to making a meager fire. He would have made a bigger one, but he felt like leaving her to go look for more firewood would have put her at more risk. He scooted her as close to the flames as he could and wrapped her up in the blanket before gingerly binding up her twisted ankle in the bandages to keep it stiff. He didn’t care about the fact that he was still wet and cold. His only thoughts were about Kiara.
While she was trying to warm up by the fire, Nate wrapped his arms and legs around her from behind, trying to possibly share some of his body heat.
An hour later, Kiara was still asleep, her skin still pale and lips and fingertips blue. Nate watched her with worry consuming his heart. The sound of her raspy breathing was the only comfort to him that she was still alive. As her head lay on his chest, his own body slightly shivering from the cold and fright, he felt his lips tremble and nose sting with impending tears.
“Kiara? I don’t know what else to do… Please, please wake up?” Nate pleaded, holding her tighter against him. “I don’t know what I’d do without you…”
The invalid didn’t respond, but only breathed and shivered in his strong arms. Nate felt the tears roll like rain droplets down his face. He didn’t believe that he had ever cried this much before. There had to be something else to do. There just had to be. The only things keeping her cold and wet were her clothes. A new set would have helped her, but Nate was unwilling to disgrace her like that.
Another half an hour passed by, but Kiara showed no signs of recovery. When Nate had a brief moment of clarity, he looked to the north and an idea struck him. Her only hope was to get home as quickly as possible. Malcolm was sure to have a physician in the castle. Nate had to get Kiara home.
The Princess and Her Rogue Page 44