Sapphire

by Sarah Olson

“Yes,” everyone in the room answered.

  There were fifteen of us in total. Thirteen to travel around the mountains including Charlotte, Mitchell, Raphael, Sir Alexander—whom I hadn’t seen since he’d rescued me on the mountains—some of his men and a few other soldiers I didn’t recognize. Davorin was to stay behind and run the rebel camp until our return.

  “If you have any questions, come to me or James for clarifications,” Sir Nicholas said.

  I left in a daze as I thought of traveling alone with James. I had no idea what was going to happen since it seemed the only thing that kept him from killing me was that I was the princess. How were we going to survive on the mountains alone for a few days? Training with him had been bad enough and that was only a few hours each day.

  When I returned to the house, Betsy lightened my mood by announcing that she had completed my gown for the Masquerade Ball. She was determined to make it a surprise so she put the dress on me instructing me when to raise my arms, put them down, and turn around all while I kept my eyes closed. I heard Aria giggling as she watched.

  “You can open your eyes now,” Betsy said, positioning me.

  I was unsure of what to expect but the red gown I found myself wearing in the mirror’s reflections was a wonderful surprise. It was sleeveless and off the shoulder with an extremely fitted bodice and a much lower neckline than anything I had ever worn before. The back plunged halfway down my spine where a red ribbon laced its way down the rest of my back. The bodice was embroidered with gold thread creating elegant swirls and designs. The bottom flared out into a ruffled skirt that fell to the ground around my feet. For a dress that was detailed and intricate, it was lighter than the emerald one I had worn to the ball almost two and a half years before.

  “It’s so light,” I said.

  “Yes and the ruffles hide how wide that skirt can get,” Betsy said. “I found it in the shop I’ve been working in. It was in pretty bad condition, but I worked on it and redid the skirt.”

  “So you didn’t make this one?” I asked surprised.

  “No,” Betsy said. “I’ve never made a dress like this—there has never been such an order. I hope you like it.”

  “I do. Thank you,” I said. “And are you sure it isn’t too much? Too attention grabbing?”

  “How else did you expect to catch Richard’s attention in a room full of women, gowns, and masks,” she laughed. “Oh, and I almost forgot.” She pulled out a mask from a drawer and placed it on top of my nose, hiding the straps in my hair.

  It was an elegant red mask that covered the upper part of my face only displaying my eyes. Like the dress, the red satin was embroidered with gold designs to match the bodice. I did not even recognize myself.

  “How is Richard going to know it’s me?” I asked.

  “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful your eyes are?” Betsy asked. “Other than your mother, I have never met anyone with eyes as green as yours. I’m pretty sure Richard will not have easily forgotten them.”

  I blushed. “Well then, let’s do this.”

  Chapter 37

  ON THE DAY we were to leave for Asteria, we woke before dawn and got ready. Even though it was the beginning of spring, I put on my white training outfit for it was still fairly cool and I knew Avalanche Pass would be freezing.

  When we had our stuff together, we loaded up the horses and wagon. The plan was to cross the river and ride as a group to the base of the Northern Mountains. There James and I would begin our climb and the rest of them would go around. I gave Betsy a hug and picked up Aria who had begun to cry, giving her a kiss on her forehead.

  “Mama, no!” she cried.

  “Mommy will be back,” I told her. “I love you, Aria. Will you give mommy a kiss?”

  She leaned forward and planted one on my cheek as she wrapped her arms tightly around my neck.

  “Ready?” James called when he mounted his horse.

  “Aunt Betsy,” I whispered, “help me.”

  Betsy came and pried Aria off me.

  I kissed Aria’s tear-stained cheek once more and stroked her blonde locks. I gave Betsy a hug and then pulled myself away from them. This was going to be the longest I had ever been separated from my daughter and that notion weighed me down. But it did not matter because I had to do this.

  I mounted Dusk and looked back at Aria again. She was clutching a doll to her chest as tears streamed down her face.

  Betsy gave me a reassuring smile.

  “I wish the best of luck to all of you,” Sir Nicholas said, giving us a salute.

  Betsy took Aria’s small hand and moved it to make her wave.

  I took a deep breath and turned Dusk towards the mountains.

  We rode off into the darkness and made our way to the shallow section of the river. Sir Alexander led the horses pulling the wagon slowly through it, making sure the wheels did not get caught. From the river, it took us about six hours to reach the base of the mountains.

  “This is where we get off,” James said.

  I dismounted and handed Dusk’s reigns to Mitchell.

  “Good luck, Layla,” Charlotte said, hugging me tightly.

  I forced a smile. “Stay safe.”

  “We’ll see you on the other side,” Mitchell said, putting his arm around Charlotte.

  “Take care of her,” I said to him with a wink.

  “Same goes to James,” he said, looking over my shoulder.

  I did not hear James respond.

  “We need to get a move on it,” Sir Alexander said.

  “Let’s go,” I said, turning to James.

  He nodded tossing me a bag and slung his own over his back.

  “Duke!” he called.

  Duke came bounding up and began his own climb up the slope. I followed him next and then James started after me. The sound of the wagon and horses’ hooves echoed off the cold hard rock of the mountain as it left us. The sun was already high up in the sky and before long, we were surrounded by silence.

  “It takes about three to four days to cross the mountain pass right?” I asked James as he passed me.

  “We’re trying for two,” he said.

  “How are we supposed to do that?” I gasped as I grabbed a tree to help me keep my balance.

  “By walking,” he said sarcastically. “Why do you think I made sure we got you in shape.”

  Unbelievable.

  For hours we continued in silence.

  We stopped in the late afternoon to eat. We were more than half way up and had already begun to find patches of snow. James handed me bread and some fruit he had in his bag. It was not much but just enough to get us through to the next meal. I barely had five minutes to eat when James was up again, ready to move on. The hours dragged by and we finally reached the top of the pass.

  “Now we just go straight, right?” I asked, looking at the mountain tops that rose up on either side of Avalanche Pass.

  “Yes,” he said without looking back.

  A few rocks slid down the mountainside on our right and James halted, turning quickly to see what had caused it. Duke growled.

  “Just mountain goats,” he said, gesturing to the white goats picking their way precariously across a ledge. It was amazing the way they moved with perfect balance.

  I looked up at them and back to him catching a glimpse of his scar. “James,” I began, as we started moving again, “can I ask you something?”

  “You just did,” he replied.

  I rolled my eyes. “How did you get that scar?”

  “What scar?”

  “The one on your face.”

  He did not answer.

  I was about to repeat my question after an awkward minute of silence when he said, “I was riding through Maplewood Forest with my father and some of the men. We were headed to the old Horizon Seaport north of the castle of Asteria where my father had once been a sailor. A source had told us there was still a ship there, and even though it needed a lot of repairing, it could be sailed. My father
decided it was worth the risk to cross the river and take the ship.” He went silent again.

  “Did you get it?” I asked when it seemed like he would continue.

  “It was a trap. Luther’s men were waiting for us. They attacked us and burned King Hector’s last ship before our eyes. Out of the thirty men that were with us, eight escaped. My father was not one of them. The scar one of Luther’s men gave me was nothing compared to what I lost that day.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

  “You don’t have to be sorry, it wasn’t your fault,” James said, stopping to look up to the sun’s rays as they receded over the mountain. “This time.”

  “And I was just beginning to think you had feelings.”

  “Then I guess you’ll just have to be disappointed,” he said with a mocking laugh.

  Since it seemed James had decided to be honest and answer my questions, I dove into another. “Is it true you were engaged once?” I asked, watching carefully for his reaction.

  “Where did that come from?” he asked surprised.

  “It’s just something I heard,” I replied with a shrug.

  “From who?”

  I heard Charlotte’s voice telling me not to tell anyone.

  “I’m guessing whoever told you also said not to mention it,” James said.

  “Fine then, don’t tell me.”

  He turned around to face me. “Tell me what you know first.”

  I gave a sigh of resignation. “When you were sixteen, you joined Luther’s army and were assigned to the palace as a guard. There you met Richard’s cousin Emily and got secretly engaged to her.”

  James watched me carefully and then nodded. “I’m impressed. Whoever told you has more knowledge about me than I care to share. Anything else.”

  “They found out you were a spy and decided to have you executed. You told Emily to run away with you. She agreed but it was a trap. Did she turn you in?”

  His eyes got hard for a second and I thought I saw pain flash through them. “Yes.”

  “Davorin warned you,” I said.

  “Yes,” James said. “We ran together.”

  “It does not surprise me that she turned you in.”

  “You didn’t know her,” James replied somewhat defensively.

  “Trust me, I wish I didn’t.”

  “Wait,” James said, seeming very interested now. “You knew her?”

  “I met her at the Autumn Ball,” I replied.

  “I haven’t seen or heard from her in years,” James said. “How is she?”

  “She’s married.”

  “Married?”

  I was glad to see there wasn’t a trace of jealousy in James’ face when he asked, and I wasn’t sure why. “Yes,” I replied. “At least she should be married by now. I met her fiancé at the ball.”

  “How did he seem?”

  “Honestly,” I said, “a lot nicer than her. She did not like me. I really mean it when I say I have no idea what you saw in her.”

  “Well, she was always pretty conceited and definitely the jealous type.” James said. “It doesn’t surprise me she wouldn’t have liked you.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  James kept his steady gaze on me for a second. “Never mind.”

  “Tell me. I want to know.”

  “It doesn’t matter, Layla. I—just forget I said anything.”

  I had never seen him at such a loss for words before. I decided not to push it and asked him a different question. “But why did you like her?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, suddenly seeming exasperated. “Sometimes things just happen.”

  “Let’s just make sure she doesn’t recognize you with the mask,” I said. “That could end badly.”

  James rolled his eyes and began to walk again.

  We continued through the pass until it became too dark to see. The temperature had dropped exceedingly fast and I felt the icy breeze slicing through my clothes. I pulled my coat tighter around me to try to cut down the chill.

  James turned around and saw me rubbing my hands together to keep them warm. “We should stop for the night,” he said, making his way to a shallow cave.

  We pushed out what snow had made its way in there and then sat down on the cold stone floor with our backs against the mountain wall.

  “Can we make a fire?” I asked through chattering teeth.

  “No firewood,” James said. “Here,” he unraveled a blanket from my pack and handed it to me, “if you get really cold, you can always sleep next to Duke.”

  I looked at the entrance of the cave and saw Duke’s glowing eyes.

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “He won’t bite,” James said, motioning for Duke to come over to us. “He’s protective of people he cares about. But other than that, he’s a good wolf.”

  “I know,” I said, running my hands through Duke’s thick coat. “How exactly did you find him?”

  “Around the time my father died, I didn’t sleep much,” James said, looking up into the starry sky. “I would roam the woods at night trying to figure out if there was anything I could have done to save him. One night, I heard wolves fighting. Apparently, one of the wolf packs was attacking another. I waited until the sounds died down and then went to have a look. I found three dead wolves and four pups, also dead. As I was leaving, I heard a soft whine and saw one of the pups moving. Most people would have just put it out of its misery, but I decided to help it. And that’s how I got Duke.”

  “You hardly seem the type to nurse a dying animal back to health,” I said surprised he was being so open with me.

  “I think there are a lot of things about me that may surprise you, Layla.”

  I stared up at the sky in silence as a thought occurred to me. “Finding Duke helped you get through your father’s death,” I whispered.

  James looked at me for a moment as if trying to read my thoughts.

  “You couldn’t save him but you saved Duke.”

  He looked away and I suddenly wanted to kick myself for speaking my thoughts.

  “So do you want Duke to sleep by you?” James asked, breaking the silence.

  “Sure,” I said, grateful for the subject change. I lay down, and covered myself with the blanket.

  Duke lay down right next to me and when I shifted my blanket so it was partly over him, I felt his warmth. I heard James lie down on Duke’s other side as I curled up in a ball thinking about the story he had just told me. There was a lot more to him than I thought.

  When dawn came and I woke, I was feeling nice and warm and did not want to get up. James had been right about sleeping next to Duke. I pulled myself closer to his warmth when I heard a faint rustling by the mouth of the cave. I opened my eyes and found Duke sitting at my feet, staring at me.

  Realization hit me and I jolted upright slamming my arm into James’ chest.

  “What the hell?” he gasped, sitting up as he pulled out his knife. “What was that for?” he yelled, rubbing his chest.

  “Sleep next to Duke!” I screamed, jumping up. “Why not just ask me to sleep with you next time!”

  “Says the girl who moved over when Duke got up in the middle of the night. You rolled right into his space so he slept at your feet!”

  “If you knew that, then why didn’t you wake me?” I snapped. “Or did you just like that I was right next to you?”

  “Maybe I felt bad since you looked like you were freezing to death! I didn’t think you’d mind so much since both of us were sleeping and trying to keep warm!”

  “You’re pathetic,” I said, grabbing my bag and stomping out into the snow.

  “Layla!” James called after me.

  I heard the snow crunch as he jogged to catch up with me.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have woken you.”

  Apology not accepted.

  “I’ll sleep far away from you tonight,” James said.

  Keeping my eyes forward and not saying a w
ord, I kept walking. James did not speak again. We trudged our way through the snow all day long only stopping for short breaks to eat. By sundown, we had begun our climb down the mountains. We had crossed the pass in two days.

  James found a good place to spend the night under a cluster of trees on the mountainside. That night, he slept far away and left Duke next to me.

  Chapter 38

  THE LAST DAY of our journey would have been shorter if we did not have to keep stopping to make sure there were not any soldiers around. We went around every clearing in the trees stopping if Duke’s head turned to some sound unheard by our ears. I was glad to have him. It felt strange to be in Maplewood Forest again after almost two and a half years. The closer we got to my old house the more I recognized my surroundings.

  “We’re close,” I said to James.

  He stopped and looked around. “Wait here.”

  “Why?”

  “We have to be careful,” he said. “Let me go check the house first.”

  “Fine,” I said. “Go straight through those trees and you will find it about five hundred yards in.”

  James nodded and disappeared through the trees. Duke stayed by my side, his orange eyes intently watching our surroundings. I made my way to some thick underbrush and crouched behind it.

  The sounds of the forest pressed in around me as the crunch of James’ footfalls faded away. A breeze rustled its way through the new leaves that had begun to sprout on the bare trees. After a few minutes, I began to feel anxious. Suddenly, every rustle I heard was the enemy as my mind played tricks on me. A crow cawed and took off into the sky as I jolted around in surprise.

  “I can’t believe you let us get this close to the house without you knowing,” I heard James say angrily to someone.

  My fear vanished in an instant.

  “Sorry, Sir Alexander took some of the men to town and we were stretched thin.” I heard Mitchell’s voice getting closer. “It won’t happen again, sir.”

  “Layla!” James called as they entered the clearing with the river. “It’s all clear, come on.”

  I stood up from behind the bushes with Duke. “Hey Mitchell,” I said. “It’s good to see you all made it.”

  “Same here,” he said giving me a hug. “Come on, we’ve got some hot food and a nice place to rest.”