“I knew your offer was too good to be true. Outplayed by your talent and wit again. I stand no chance against you.” He readjusted his breastplate and bowed with a wink.
“Oh General,” she laughed. “I outplay you here so no one gets the better of you out there. Think of it as training.”
“By the master,” he said.
“Would you want to be trained by anyone lesser?” She walked along the outer edge of the field. All eyes followed her, curious to see whom she chose. We didn’t have to wait long. She stopped in front of Arrow.
Crap. I knew it. Of all the people here, of course it would be him. I held my breath and waited. She leaned in, whispering in his ear. Arrow tossed his head back and chuckled. Melody brushed her hair off her shoulder and continued walking. I exhaled and fought my growing smile.
“Time to choose my date,” she mused, still walking slowly around the field, twisting the strands of feathers on her vest. Sighs of disappointment came from each person she passed by. Whatever game she played with them, she played it well. They all leaned forward in anticipation.
I glanced over my shoulder to where the ladder to the bridge was tethered. Now was my chance.
“I choose you,” her smooth voice called out.
I looked up to see whom she had chosen, surprised to see her only a few feet away, staring at me.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“What? Me?” I choked out. A lump grew in my chest. “You’re joking, right?”
“I don’t joke,” she said gravely, and then the corners of her mouth lifted. She held out her hand expectantly.
I looked over her shoulder at Arrow, who simply shrugged, and then I skimmed over the rest of the crowd that eagerly awaited my response.
“I don’t… I, uh, sure,” I said, reaching for her hand.
“Don’t be shy. No matter what rumors General Tanner spreads, I don’t bite,” she said with a wink. “Now come on in here,” she insisted, pulling me into the field near the weapon barrels. “We don’t have all day, and I don’t want to go back to work without a little fun first.”
“But, I-I don’t…”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know how to have fun?” She arched an eyebrow and let my hand drop. “I had higher hopes for the Golden Hero.”
“Hey, wait, I didn’t mean that. I know how to have fun. It’s just…” My words lingered as I looked around, watching the crowd disperse. The spots that had been so crammed with people grew empty. It seemed everyone else had somewhere to be. There was nothing I had to do, nowhere that I needed to be. I sighed.
Melody watched me curiously, leaning against the barrel of arrows. “It’s just what?”
“It’s nothing,” I said.
“That’s what I thought.” Melody flipped her dark curls behind her shoulder and pulled out a handful of arrows, filling two quivers.
Arrow approached from the other side of the field. “Treat her nice, Melody,” he said. “We’ll need her later.”
“My prince, I’m offended at your suggestion.” She batted her eyes and curtsied.
“No, you’re not.” He laughed aloud.
“Ah, you know me too well. As you wish. She’ll be returned unharmed and in one piece. Care to join us?” she asked.
Arrow glanced between us and then over his shoulder to the general’s tent. “I can’t. There’s some unfinished business with General Amos I have to take care of.”
“Ah, that old man doesn’t know how to have fun.” She pouted.
“This isn’t all about fun,” he said.
“Well this is.” She waved Arrow off and turned her attention back to me. “Are you ready?”
“I, uh, sure,” I said, wiping my hands on my tights.
Arrow reached for me, his hand sliding down my arm and stopping at my wrist. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“What?” Melody jumped in. “I don’t think so. Your precious hero will be fine. Go, off with you. Do whatever you and your generals do in that tent. It’s my turn with her.” She pushed him away.
He raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll be fine,” I whispered. He shrugged before leaving the field.
I watched him leave and sighed. When I turned back around, Melody arched an eyebrow and handed me a full quiver.
“So what’s the deal with you and our prince? You seem close.”
“I…uh…what?”
The smirk on her face grew as I fumbled for words. “You don’t need to worry.”
“Worry about what?” I asked.
She kept her gaze low as she looked through the weapon barrel. “About him,” she said, pulling out a black arrow.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, too quickly. I bit my inner lip as she smiled.
“I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time.”
Relief flooded through me, and I fought the smile threatening to take over my face. “Oh, we’re not—”
She interrupted me with a hearty laugh. “Trust me. He’s my cousin. I know every expression that passes across his face. He’s interested, and I’d wager the same for you.” She pulled back on her bow, focusing down the field. “You may be our hero, but you’re not a very good liar.” She released a perfect shot.
He’s my cousin.
Three words never sounded so good.
“So what did you have planned for us?”
Melody leaned back against the barrel and ran her fingers over the edge of the feathered shafts. “I thought we’d find out just what you’re made of.”
“That’s not vague.”
She threw her head back in laughter. “I like you, Alex. You’re not afraid to tell it how it is.”
I fought against the grin growing on my face. “What can I say? It’s hard to be anything but blunt here.”
“You speak the truth, and you’re not afraid to fight. No wonder they sent you,” she said.
“Look, not everything you’ve heard about me is true.”
“I’ve heard a lot, we’ve all heard a lot, and I wanted to tell you something. That’s why I chose you.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
She brushed her long hair off her shoulder and looked me straight in the eyes. “Thank you.”
“Thank you?”
“You sound surprised,” she said, throwing me a bow from the pile of weapons. I barely caught it before it hit the ground.
“It wasn’t what I expected you to say,” I admitted, looking over the bow. “Most of my first impressions haven’t gone over too well.”
“I’ve heard that, too,” she said, smirking. “None of us knew what to expect when we heard of you. History and legend didn’t quite give us a clear picture.”
“I can imagine,” I mumbled.
“But you’re here, and some of the men told me what you did. Coming back to save them, and then those girls. That was nothing short of heroic.”
“Who told you that?” I asked.
“Boris told me everything. Even grumpy old Cale had something nice to say about you.”
“That surprises me.”
“Me too,” she said. “But those girls and our men owe you their lives, and we owe you a debt of gratitude.”
“Is that what this is supposed to be?” I lifted the bow awkwardly.
“Something like that. Do you shoot?” she asked.
“A little.” I hedged my bets. When my mom was late picking me up from the gym after climbing, I’d tried archery a few times. I was pretty good for a beginner, but I couldn’t do anything like what she had done.
She gave me a crooked smile. “This will be fun. Head closer to the target, and we’ll practice a bit. You never know when it’ll save your life.”
I followed her lead and mimicked her stance. The smooth shaft slipped in my palm as I adjusted to the heavier weight of the wooden bow. I hadn’t shot in months, and I wasn’t in the mood to be embarrassed.
“Good, good,” she said, looking me over. “Relax your shoulders and loosen your grip on the
arrow. This is supposed to be fun, not torture.”
I listened but didn’t respond. Not everyone had gone back to work, and I felt their eyes on me. My grip slipped on the bow. I readjusted my hands, ignoring the giggles from the side.
“Don’t worry about them. Block them out and focus ahead. On my count. Three, two, one, release.”
My arrow sliced through the air. The fletching wobbled as it skewered the outer ring on the target. It wasn’t a bull’s-eye, but it was good enough for me.
Melody ran to remove the arrow.
“Looks like you can shoot after all. Let’s see how good you are.” She stepped back to where she had shot earlier with the general. “Think you can hit it from here?”
I joined her and took my aim. Her competitive nature was contagious. “Without a problem,” I said.
The awkwardness between us disappeared after that next shot, replaced with something I had missed. She reminded me of Natalie. I bit my lower lip. It was bittersweet, thinking about her. Of course, nothing could be the same as my relationship with Natalie, but having a new friend felt good.
We fell into a routine of alternating our shots. I took her suggestions to improve my form, and my arrows began to land closer to the center.
“How did you become such a great shot?” I asked.
“Do you want the short or long story?”
“Short, I guess.”
“Years of practice. I need to be good enough to kill my father.” She released the arrow and it skewered the target.
I lowered my bow and stared at her. “Okay, back up. I guess I want the long version.”
She sighed and brushed her hair over her shoulders, pulling her leather vest to the side. A jagged scar stretched down a few inches from her collarbone. “My father gave it to me for my fourteenth birthday.”
“Your dad did that? How? I mean, why?” I asked. Sure, my parents had stabbed me in the back before, but not literally. I couldn’t even imagine.
She pushed her sleeve back into position, covering up her collarbone. “I don’t think he wanted to kill me, just send me a message.”
“What message was that?”
“That not even his daughter was more important than the throne.”
“His daugh—” I covered my mouth. “Wait! Your father’s Berkos?”
“Yup.”
“Oh my god, what did you do? I mean, I can’t...”
She shrugged. “Given the choice between running away or being killed, I chose to run. Thankfully, Arrow found me hiding in the woods while he was out hunting with his men. They took me in and taught me everything I know.”
“They did a good job.”
Melody shifted her weight and set her next arrow. “Revenge can be a powerful motivation. Look, I’m not here to reminisce. The past is past. Done. I only focus on the future now.” She fired her arrows off in quick succession. All of them landed in a vertical line, splitting the targets in half.
Whoa. She was one girl I didn’t want to mess with.
“All righty, then...Can you show me how to do that?” I asked.
She appraised me and chuckled. “I don’t think you're ready for that yet.”
I gave her an exaggerated pout and reloaded my bow, taking aim down the field. My arrow missed the target by a foot. I laughed as I ran to get the arrows.
“I guess you’re right. So what else can you teach me? What do you do for fun?”
“Are you saying you’re not having fun?”
“No, no. I am,” I said. “But what else do you do here?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged and released her next arrow. “Probably the same as you. We hunt, weave, draw, explore, train.”
“Yeah, just like me,” I muttered.
“Oh come on, you know what I mean. We have fun, but we don’t dare lose sight of our goal.”
“To save the queen,” I said.
“No, that’s Arrow’s fixation. For the rest of us, it’s not just that. We’re fighting to save ourselves.” Her face softened. She lowered the bow and looked at me. “The Grove is our home now, but before,” she said, “before, we could go anywhere, do anything. We had opportunities, lives, and loves. We fight to get that back. I’m not an idealist like Arrow. I love the queen and want her to be safe. But I really just want my life back.”
I nodded and looked down at my quiver. I knew something about not wanting to let the past go.
“Anyways, you’re not bad at this. With more training, I’m sure you’d be my equal.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said. Then I added more quietly, “I don’t think we have time for that.”
“Speaking of time, as much fun as this has been, it’s getting late. What do you say we call it a night?”
I shrugged, looking up at the dim sky. Part of me wanted to sleep, but I didn’t feel ready. I had a friend again and didn’t want to let that go.
“If you’re up for it, I’d like your help tomorrow,” she said, reloading her quiver with arrows. “There’s a lot to do around here, and we could use you. That is, unless there’s something else you have planned?”
“No, there’s nothing planned, at least not that I know of.”
“Then we’re settled. Tomorrow morning I’ll come find you. And, if you have any questions about anything or anyone, all you have to do is ask.”
“Good night,” I said, watching her glide over the hay bales with ease.
The short walk back to my tent did little to quiet my mind. As I lay on my cot, looking up at the white ceiling of the tent, I wondered if I would ever sleep through the night again.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I stirred at the gentle lap of the tent door whipping against the rigid fabric. The quiet shuffling of footsteps swelled and faded as people walked by on their business. The birds harmonized with the soft trilling insects, and piercing bright light snuck in through the half-open door. I flipped over. Even if the camp woke this early, I didn’t have to.
I sunk back into my dream, replaying the events from yesterday. From the first moment I’d entered the Grove, my feelings about Lockhorn had changed. The endless loop of canopy bridges, the army of people living and working together in harmony, the feeling I got plucking the bow against my fingers, and the thrill as I struck the target. The Grove filled a void I hadn’t realized was there.
The shuffling got louder, alerting me. I tightened my hands into fists and slowed my breath as the sound grew closer. The pounding of the tent flap, the smooth whoosh of fabric, the footsteps on the ground—I wasn’t imaging it. Someone was in my room.
Before I could grab my dagger, a hand tugged on my shoulder.
“No!” I yelled, flailing my arms. I flipped over, striking something hard. When I opened my eyes, I gasped and covered my mouth. “Melody, I’m so sorry!”
Red frothy liquid raced down her leather pants. “Good morning to you too,” she muttered, shaking the excess liquid off her hand.
“Oh no, I am so sorry,” I said, standing to hand her a washcloth. “What are you doing here?”
“You said you’d be up for helping me today. I was just coming by to get you. I didn’t realize you’d still be sleeping.” She threw the washcloth over her shoulder. I watched it arc towards the edge of the wash basin and slide inside. I shook my head; this girl could not fail at anything.
“Here,” she said, holding out a now half-full mug of tea.
Peering over the glass, I caught a familiar acrid scent off the steaming red liquid. “Carrin root tea?” I asked, sticking my tongue out.
“I see you’ve had it before,” she said. “It’s good for you, though, and will heal any residual aches from the other day. Trust me, I wouldn’t steer you wrong.”
I raised an eyebrow and gave her a skeptical look.
“Anyway,” she continued, ignoring my look. “I’ll meet you outside.”
“But I didn’t say—”
“You don’t want to help the rebellion?” she asked.
; “That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Ah, Arrow was right. You are amusing to poke fun at. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” She turned and walked back out of the tent.
My face flushed as I watched the tent flap close. I glanced down at the warm blankets and sighed. No more dreaming for today. I threw on my new green outfit and straightened my hair in the mirror. Melody didn’t seem the patient type, and I didn’t want to miss spending the day with her. I grabbed an extra roll and ran out the door. The bread worked wonders at soaking up the residual bitterness of the tea. Good for me or not, that tea tasted awful.
The harsh sunlight blinded me as I exited the tent and stopped on the dusty pathway. It seemed like I was the only one who’d slept in. People rushed by with their arms loaded with supplies. Through squinted eyes I saw Melody waiting across the street. Leaning casually against a wooden fence, she twisted the feathered fringe along her vest as she leaned forward, whispering into General Tanner’s ears. A dark shade of red flooded his cheeks before he ran off.
I weaved through the busy street and met her with a curious look. “What did you tell him?”
“Who, General Tanner? I was just telling him a little secret,” she said, straightening the fringe on her vest.
“Must have been some secret.”
“Don’t look at me that way. It wasn’t too scandalous.”
I looked down the pathway. Even from a distance, the red in his cheeks stood out.
“Sure…” I said sarcastically.
“Okay, maybe it was. Just a little.” She winked. “Harmless fun.”
“Is that fair? I mean, at the field yesterday, he seemed sort of taken with you.”
“All the more reason for it. With the sacrifices we’ve all made, the least I can do is set his heart aflutter every once in a while. It’s innocent…for the most part,” she said, shifting against the fence.
“Does he know that?” I asked. “It might be fun, but what happens later? It’s not fair to lead him on like that.”
“Don’t get worked up. It’s not all a lie,” she said, looking down the road. “But with his position, any relationship would be more of a burden than a pleasure right now.”
“You can’t honestly feel that way.”
Dreamscape: Saving Alex Page 22