Burning Bridges

by Nadege Richards

  I dropped the food on the table in the kitchen and carried the newspaper into the bedroom. My hastiness suddenly faded when I set my eyes on the Princess and everything I’d been so flustered about ebbed away into the shadows of my mind. She stood with her back to me, but I watched her in the mirror. She raked her fingers through her dark tresses that must’ve been wet from washing them. She hummed and sang like she hadn’t a clue I was there and I took full advantage of it, consuming her with my eyes. She was small, very much like Feven, but in a humble, less aggressive way. I noticed her nails were painted black and smiled. She could’ve gone with pink, red, or even green. Instead, she went with black—a small, yet significant detail about her rebellious character.

  Sometime between the past two days, I stopped caring whether my thoughts turned to her or not. They were inevitable—like trying not to think about war when it is all you know. She’d actually become the sanity I strived for, the piece heaven in the midst of my infinite hell.

  “You’re back,” she said suddenly. She turned to meet me and frowned. “With newspaper?”

  I glanced down and remembered the reason for my anger. Funny what one glance at her could do. “I need you to read it.” I crossed the room and handed it to her.

  “Okay. What is this for, may I ask?” Her hands left her hair and she moved to the bed. I sat beside her, but not close enough that I could smell the scent of her hair—pinewood and peaches as if she’d just come from the market.

  How do you know she smells like peaches?

  Sighing, I said, “Just read it. You may not like what it says.”

  Her blue eyes watched me for a moment before she nodded and began to read. “August 15th: Word from the King has not been final, but it is rumored that she disappeared at midnight. No reasons have been given nor has a letter been left behind. It is safe to assume that she has been kidnapped…” She stopped to clear her throat, and then continued. “The Queen refuses to talk and her betrothal, Prince Noah of Delentia, has sworn to find her himself and bring her back. Till then, guards have been given the right to forbid anyone, Warrior and Hunter, from leaving or entering the border until the missing Princess is found… The King promises the death of her captor.” Her eyes shot to me, emanating a kind of anger I’d never expect to see in her. “What is this?”

  I shook my head. “My death certificate, that’s what it is.”

  She shoved the papers in my hand and began to pace the room. “Missing. Me,” she ranted. “Dammit, Ayden, they think I’m missing! Do you know what this means? Every guard, maid, Keeper, and Warrior probably has that picture of me in their pocket, searching everywhere but where I truly am. Here.”

  I groaned, her words like wounds to my heart. I was dead. That should have concerned me most of all, but it didn’t. Who would take care of my mother, Misty and Milo? I shuddered. No one.

  No, this couldn’t happen.

  “You have to go back.”

  Echo stopped pacing the room long enough to look at me. “Are you mad? I-I can’t. I don’t want to.” She watched me straight in the face, daring me to defy her. Sadly, she was just as stubborn as I was.

  “You have to leave. I can’t have this burden on my family.” I stood and walked to the door, but she blocked the entrance.

  “I can’t go back there, Ayden. It’s not just the wedding, it’s everything. I can’t be there, I can’t live. Call me delusional, but the last eight hours that I’ve spent with you were the freest hours of my life.”

  I stared down at her emotionlessly. The confession should have enlightened me, but it only tempered with my growing ire. “You can’t stay here. Who knows how long it will be before they are kicking down my door? You can’t possibly understand the position this puts me in.”

  “Yeah? Try me. You think you’re the only one, but you’re not. This is hell on earth for me too.” She stood with her back against the door, her eyes full of tears.

  “I’m sorry,” I murmured.

  “Ayden, I don’t have anywhere else to go. I’m—”

  “And how is this my problem!” I yelled. Instead of shying away like I presumed she would, she grew about two years older as she stepped closer to me and looked me dead in the eyes.

  “I need you, okay? I’ll die before I feel comfortable in my own home, my own Haven! I’m abnormal, I don’t fit in,” she sneered.

  “Why have your problems suddenly become mine, Princess?” Without thinking, I gripped her shoulders. “I don’t even know you!”

  “You’re the only one,” she screamed, pushing at my chest. “You listen!”

  “Maybe I don’t want to listen to you now!’

  She pushed me away and moved to sit on the bed. She sat staring blankly ahead, tears dripping down her cheeks. If I felt any guilt at all, it was very small. As much as I couldn’t stop thinking about her, this was my family, my life, we were talking about.

  “Not you,” she whispered. She shook her head and looked up at me through her tears. “Just tell me one thing: what changed between the first time we ran into each other and last night?”

  “Nothing,” I answered. Very vague, and a complete lie.

  “Fine. I’ll go.” She got up from the bed and rushed out the door. I followed behind her instinctively, grabbing a scarf from over the couch, and caught her as she raced through the yard.

  “You can’t just walk through the borders expecting no one to notice you.”

  “I don’t care anymore!” she yelled, pushing me from her. “Neither do you, so just leave me be.”

  I watched her walk away and cursed whatever gods could hear me. I resented them for this, all of this. Most of all, I hated her for whatever spell she’d cast on me.

  “I’m taking you as far as the border. From there I’m sure you can find your way back. You’ll need something to cover your face,” I said, walking through the backyard to meet her.

  “I misjudged you, Ayden Grey,” she said. She snatched the scarf from my hand and began walking out the gates of the house. As we made it down the street, I looked back at the house and noticed Milo sitting by the window watching us, frowning. In that look alone I knew no Princess could take me away from them.

  We strode in silence. Echo wrapped her hair and face in the scarf, pulling it so that it covered up to her nose. Not once did she look at me, not once did I expect her to. The arrangement had been temporary, if you could even call it that.

  When we approached the border, which wasn’t far from the house at all, Echo seemed to tense. I was a bit afraid myself, but a plan had already been prepared in my mind.

  “Ayden Grey, right?” one of the guards said. The others hung around in the back, their swords in tow as if we proposed some kind of a threat.

  I nodded. “Yes, but I’m not going through. She is.”

  “Name,” he barked at Echo. She jumped.

  “Aleksandria,” I said, saying the first name I could think of. It was foreign, but I’d heard it from somewhere.

  Echo’s eyes met mine then, a hidden message behind her own. She shook her head slightly and I could tell there was familiarity in the name.

  “Check her,” the guard called to another. A hefty looking man came from around the guard and immediately started to pat Echo down. I was surprised how impassive she remained.

  “Unfortunately, we aren’t allowing anyone through the border until the Princess is found. You’ll have to come back another time.”

  “No,” Echo whispered.

  I stepped closer to the guard and said, “It’s important that she crosses over. She…has family and they’re sick.”

  He shook his head. “Sorry, I can’t help you.”

  “Please,” I begged. “Does she look harmful to you?” He sized her up for a minute, and then turned to talk to the other guards. They watched Echo and one of them pulled out a picture, holding it up to the sun. I knew it was a picture of her, but without her dress, make up, and hair accessories, the Princess passed as a Hunter. It helped that she
had eyes as blue as sapphires, too. She was odd, the Princess. She looked like she didn’t belong to either side. Her complexion, hair, and her eyes were Hunter, and her accent and demeanor was strictly Warrior.

  Thinking about her made me think about the picture I still had from the Queen’s wardrobe and how strange it had been to find it there of all places. Before I had time to process the similarities again, I remembered the money. I remembered Tyron. Suddenly, I wasn’t in any rush to return home.

  “She can go,” the guard said, tucking the picture away. “She can’t return, though. If we see her anywhere near the border, we’ll turn her in.”

  Echo nodded and quickly made for the drawbridge as they opened it. I didn’t get to look at her or even say goodbye. She just left with the unspoken words to fill the void.

  It was until she was completely gone and the twenty foot wall stood between us that I really began to miss her.

  T W E L V E

  Echo

  I’d never felt so alone.

  In all my seventeen years of life I’d never second guessed myself so much, believed in the impossible to the extent where it became plausible, or jumped head first into something before thinking about the consequences. To say I felt stupid would’ve been an understatement. My father was right. I was imprudent; a hopeless dreamer. I was foolish for believing I could run away, foolish for thinking there was another way out. The cold, harsh truth was that I would always be this way.

  Utterly alone.

  I ran blindly through the trees. The scarf had long blown away and I was too upset—too angry—to turn back. How could he? I didn’t know a thing about him, but I trusted him. It was as if he and I only existed on this earth and I had no other shot at survival without him. In this world where the very thought of an adversary was frowned upon, he was my only hope. Now it was like I’d lost my light and way without him. All I became was a little girl stumbling through life with a glacial void that used to be a heart.

  I brushed away the tears streaming down my face and continued to run. The thought of going back home was heartbreaking, but where else was there to go? I stopped at a crossroad somewhere in the market and ducked into an alley. I didn’t know when I’d broken away from the forest, but I didn’t care. The alley was dark and I took the opportunity to stop and think. I slid down the brick wall and curled into myself, crying silently and shivering in the slight breeze. I was still in the clothes from the night before and I felt naked and exposed. How was I a princess? Princesses didn’t run, they didn’t hide. They…

  I didn’t know. Honestly, I didn’t give a damn what it meant to be a princess or what they did. I just knew I couldn’t—wouldn’t—be one. Only, I had no where left to go but to the palace—my personal hell.

  I stood to my feet and brushed myself off. It did nothing, of course, but it made me feel better about lying on a street floor in a stark alley. I wiped my face free of tears and attempted a smile.

  “This is your life, Echo,” I whispered to myself. “Own it.” I put one foot in front of the other and stepped out of the alley. I was blinded by the sun and immediately raised my hand to shield my face. I took another step and was swarmed by the people in the market. It didn’t take long before someone noticed me—shouts, cries, and stares announced my arrival. I kept walking until I felt a guard grab me. Not roughly, of course, but to ensure that I wasn’t going to run away. Fine, I thought, they can have me.

  They pushed me through the gathering crowd and into a coach. I barely even noticed it there, I barely noticed anything. People gawked at me, clueless to the fact that what they were witnessing was self inflicted. I could’ve only imagined what they were thinking; their precious Princess being held captive against her will. I frowned. In a way, in this city, I was.

  “The King and Queen will be glad to see you alive,” a guard said to me as he helped me into the carriage. I didn’t disregard the help, but I surely did not want to be touched. He climbed into the seat next to me and we left.

  I watched the people outside the window as they pulled out their cameras and began taking pictures of me. I didn’t smile at them; they disgusted me. Worst of all, I had nothing to say or anything to own up to. I thought about what all the people in New Haven had, and then what little Old Haven had. It was ridiculous how half of a country was striving while it watched the other deteriorate. It didn’t make sense to me and it never would. If for any reason I wanted to become Queen, it would be to change this nation. Not in the ways of two, but one.

  The coach pulled up at the palace and the place had never seemed so dead to me. I saw everything in a new light. The decorations, the gardens, the gold, the glitter—it made no sense. Mother wasted no time in getting the wedding together, even with me gone. To have so much and do absolutely nothing with it was an atrocious attribute my parents had, one everyone in the family seemed to inherit but me. I didn’t even believe I belonged to this family anymore.

  “Princess,” someone called.

  I glanced down at the guard and growled, “Do not call me that!” I stared blankly at him. “My name is Echo. Just Echo.” I jumped down onto the walkway without any help and stood there staring at the doors. The guards walked ahead of me and parted way for my entrance. The palace felt colder and void of all feeling. I should have felt at home, I should have rejoiced, but all I could think about was Ayden. I knew he’d be on my mind a lot, willingly or not.

  The maids crowded into the kitchen as I passed them and they all curtsied for me. I shook my head and they looked confused. “You are no lesser than me, stand on your feet,” I said to them. They did as I said, but still hung their heads.

  By the staircase, Noah was talking on what we called a teli—small and simple, and could call anyone within the walls of New Haven. I didn’t know who he was talking to, but when he saw me, he froze. He shoved the teli into his pocket and with a fixated glare, excused me from the guards.

  “Noah,” I whispered.

  “Echo, what the hell? Where’ve you been all this time? Did you know—”

  “It is none of your concern, Noah,” I said sternly. “Look, I understand your anger but I’m okay. I’m just afraid that my parents will not think so lightly of my disappearance.”

  He glanced behind me at the waiting guards. He sighed. “I’m afraid I don’t know what to tell you.”

  I took a step closer to him. “You must vouch for me. Say that I was away or something. They will not believe me, unfortunately. Perhaps they will trust your word.”

  “Is this about that boy?” Noah sneered, his expression becoming hard and ruthless.

  “What boy, Noah?”

  He whispered, “Don’t act stupid. That boy you chased after at the Ball. I saw you with him, Echo.”

  My mouth hung open as I searched for the right words. “Noah, I wasn’t… I swear…” He arched a brow and I sighed. “You misunderstand, I—”

  “Whoever he is, you will stay away from him.”

  “Excuse me?” I was apparently seeing Noah in a whole new light, too. He was no longer the boy in the carriage, the sweet-talker, or the charmer. He was a cold, arrogant tyrant no different from his father. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” But he did. The violet-eyed boy was no longer a secret.

  Noah turned from me and held out his hand. “The King and Queen await.”

  I took his hand, I had to. “Yes, alright.” Fear planted its seed in the pit of my stomach and I felt it blossom into something disastrous. If he only told a soul…

  I watched him and didn’t bother to think about the possibility. We walked with the guards into the throne room and I averted my eyes from everything. My reflection stared back at me in the marble floors and I saw how disheveled I looked. I knew this wasn’t going to be any ordinary family meeting.

  “Echo,” my father said. He sounded close. I looked up at him, my dirty tresses in my eyes, and made an attempt to look happy.

  “Father, I am so—”

  “Your mother a
nd I are glad you are home and safe,” he interrupted. He stood from his throne, and I then noticed the other hundred eyes on me in the room. “We just ask that you tell us where you were so that these people will be taken care of immediately.”

  “No need for an apology, my child,” Mother said from her seat. “It is not your fault, just tell us where you were.”

  I stuttered. “I-I was…”

  “Were you harmed?” Mother asked. She stood and came to me. “Did they threaten you in any way? Please, tell us.”

  “No, Mother!’ I yelled. The room went quiet. “I wasn’t harmed, threatened, beaten, or taken advantage of.”

  “Then where were you?” Father said. I stared at him and shook my head. The gaze in his eyes said it all. One wrong answer and that was it.

  Noah seemed to remember our joined hands and he raised it to my father. “She was with me, my King.”

  Gasps echoed around the room and I undoubtedly felt shameful.

  “What business have you with my daughter before the wedded day!” Mother barked at him.

  “She came to me, my Queen.” Noah looked down at me and I stared helplessly back. “She is a woman in love, she cannot help it.”

  I started to shake my head, but Noah grabbed me and kissed my lips. I stood still with my eyes open and kept my hands from touching him. His lips were cold and wet, not exactly how I imagined my first kiss. I felt an overwhelming sensation, but nothing akin to love or compassion. It was emotionless and empty. He pulled away from me and everyone in the room watched for my mother’s reaction.

  “Well, then,” someone whispered.

  Mother looked from Noah to me. “Echo?”

  I shook my head and stepped away from him. “Mother, I didn’t do anything with him, I swear it.”