“I told you to be careful,” the muffled voice said, as they helped lay her back down. Their hands were strong and familiar like she had felt them before.
“God it hurts,” she said while rocking back and forward, trying to make the pain stop.
“Calm down,” the voice said, softly. “Here have some water, the voice said, as they placed something that felt like animal skin on her lips.
The way the water taste as it trickled down her throat, was so refreshing that she found herself reaching up for the container so that she could pour the whole thing down her throat.
“Slowly,” the voice said, it was so smooth and full of concern for her like they had known each other forever and it was his job to look after her, but she still couldn’t distinguish who, it was. Once she had finished with the water, she heard the voice place the container down next to her. “Are you hungry?” They said.
Suddenly the muffledness became apparent, and she could finally make out who was speaking to her. “Ethan?” She asked unsurely.
“Yes?” He replied in a political tone as if he were addressing the kingdom.
She opened her eyes again. The pain had subsided a little, and she had finally noticed that the sun was out. Only she wasn’t sure if it was sunrise or sunset with the sun giving off a little bit of light through what appeared to be entrances to a cave. She then looked to the side of her and saw her friends asleep right beside her and no one else was around.
“Help me up.” She asked her brother, who was barely paying her any attention because he was too busy watching Elizabeth sleep. She had known for a while about her brother’s crush on her friend but decided to ignore it, because Elizabeth wasn’t interested and he was too afraid to tell her how he felt; though he’d never admit it.
“Ethan,” She repeated.
Ethan turned his attention back towards Jasmine, who was looking at him with a very peculiar expression, “Sorry,” he said, as he grabbed Jasmine’s hand and helped her up. “I don’t know where my head was at.” He lied.
She just rolled her eyes, pretending not to know, “Where is everyone?” She asked, looking around the room and noticing that no one else was there but them and the horses. “Why are the horses in here?
Ethan huffed, then handed her an apple which she hungrily accepted, like it was her last supper. Her stomach had been screaming at her, begging for her to feed it something, and at that moment, that sweet apple, tasted like she was biting into an enormous steak. “Is it that good?” He asked as he watched her eat in amazement.
“I’m just hungry, now answer my questions,” she said, taking another bite of the apple.
Again Ethan huffed, “Rico’s idea,” He said, irritated as if the very mention of his name made him break out into a rash. “He thought it would be a good idea to bring the horses in here with us, since we got rid of the carriage.” He informed her.
Jasmine couldn’t help but laugh at how obvious he was, “Why’d you say it like that?” She asked for no other reason but to poke fun at him.
“Like what?” He asked with an attitude.
Jasmine threw her hands in the air as if to surrender, and looked at him baffled, “I’m sorry, I was just asking a question.”
“It’s fine, I’m sorry. It’s just been a long couple of days.” Ethan explained.
“Understood, so what happened last night, and where is everyone?” She asked sympathetically.
“Everyone went to get supplies; the rebels are scouting the place. We’ve been moving almost nonstop for two days now.” Ethan informed her.
Jasmine looked at him confused, “Two days?” She asked trying to make sure that she heard him right.
Ethan shook his head yes. “After the soldiers attacked us, we left the campsite as quickly as possible, and every time we thought we were safe, a soldier would show up, so we had to keep moving. We barely got any sleep this past couple of days, and the children have been cranky.”
“I’ve been asleep for two days?” Jasmine asked in disbelief; the apple was now a stem, and she was holding it in her hands like it was her only source of life.
“Not just you,” he said, pointing to her friends, “you’ve all been like this since your birthday.”
A million questions were swimming through her mind at that time; however, the only word that she could get to come out was; “Why?”
“You were knocked out by the soldiers, and I guess you three were hit a lot harder than we initially thought.” Ethan explained. His eyes were low; like he was trying to hide something from her. She could tell when he was lying; and at that moment, she knew that there was more to the story than, he was letting on. But she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear it, so instead of calling him out on it, she just said “oh.”
Moments later, everyone came back into the cave. The moment Jasmine’s parents saw her awake, they ran to her and wrapped their arms around her. “You’re wake?” Her mother said, through tears of happiness. Jasmine could tell that she had been worried sick about her all this time, not even bothering to sleep.
“Hi mom.” Jasmine said, closing her eyes and enjoying the embrace.
Like clockwork Renee and Elizabeth popped up. “Ouch.” They said, in unison. Everyone looked at them and smiled. Renee was then joined by her family who all embraced her.
“Good morning,” She said, confused. “What’s with you people? And why does my head feel like I’ve been repeatedly hit by a rock.” She asked, as she placed her hand on the back of her head.
“More like a stone,” Elizabeth said, doing the same thing as Renee. She then looked around the room. “Where are we?”
“A cave, right outside of Vete” Jenny replied, her finger was still nicely wrapped with a piece of cloth, and she wasn’t favoring it as much anymore.
“Oh.” The girls said.
“Good you’re awake,” Jasmine heard Rico say from the front of the cave, as he, Sam and Will made their way deeper inside to join them. His face was full of relief, but Jasmine couldn’t tell if it was for all the girls or just one in particular.
“Barely.” Elizabeth admitted, she had closed her eyes and placed her head firmly on her hand because the pain was still too much.
“Are you okay?” He asked as he made his way towards her.
She shook her head yes, though, everyone could tell that she was lying. “Maybe I’ll just lay back down for a second.” She said as she tried to find the floor.
“I think I’ll do the same,” Renee said, mirroring her friend.
“There is no time for that.” Sam said, startling the group.
“Don’t tell me.” Ethan said as he watched Rico sit next to Elizabeth and allowed her to lean on his shoulder.
“Afraid so, but the good news is we are almost there, and if we keep going at this pace, we’ll make it to the camp by tomorrow evening.” Will assured him. He looked just as exhausted as everyone else, but Jasmine could still see the glimmer of hope in his eyes as he talked about this camp that they were on their way to. Suddenly she had to know what it was like and why she and her friends had to wait until they got there before anyone told them anything. Before she could ask, one of the men in robes beat her to it.
“What’s this camp?” He asked. His voice was raspy and deep and he had long toenails that pierced out over his sandals, but he kept his hood up; making it impossible to see his face.
“The refugee camp, it’s the safest place for us right now,” Sam informed them. However, the moment he said “refugee camp,” he knew he had lost at least half of the people.
“You mean rebel base,” Another woman said, in a snarling tone. She was about Jasmine’s mother’s age and built, and a bit of a know it all. She was also very uppity, viewing people who had less money than her as scum. She was also the last person to talk to about politics, because in her eyes, the king could never do anything wrong. Her name was Jackie.
“Yes.” Will admitted, proudly. It was the first time since they met them, that they ha
d actually admitted that they were part of the rebellion. Though most of the group accepted it, Jasmine could tell by the shocked look on Jenny and Jackie’s face, and the way they stood there with their arms firmly across their chest and looking at the rebels as if they were everything that was wrong with the world, that they were about to leave the group. Maybe even—Jasmine thought—betray them.
“I knew it.” Jenny said, bitterly. “And that was probably your men disguised as soldiers that destroyed our village and kidnapped our daughters,” She said, accusingly, while pointing her finger at Sam, Will and Rico.
The three men looked at each other, as if to ask which one of them was going to address Jenny’s accusations. As if he was the chosen one, Sam opened his mouth to speak, “How dare you accuse us of doing something so vial; when you were the one who asked for our help?” He asked outrage. His hands were balled up in a fist ready to hit her, and if Jasmine’s father hadn’t stopped him, Jasmine knew that he would have.
“You can say what you want. We know the truth.” Jackie retorted, her voice was just as harsh as Jenny’s and her eyes were cold.
“Are you even a friend of the family?” Jenny asked accusingly, “Or did you trick poor John into giving him his daughter so you could have the complete collection of young girls.”
“That’s enough you two.” Justin demanded. His voice was loud, and aggravated, but it was of no use. They weren’t listening. They were too delusional to think of the King as anything other than their reason for living, and too tired to keep traveling.
“No, it’s not enough. We’ve been running through this Godforsaken forest for two days now, I’m tired, I’m hungry, and these ingrates are to blame,” Jackie retorted.
Suddenly, Rico let out this loud condescending laugh, which made everyone in the cave turn and look at him as if he had lost his mind. He then turned his attention towards Elizabeth, who was also looking at him with a puzzled expression on her face. “Can you stand?” He asked her.
She shook her head yes, and lifted her head off his shoulder; he then stood up and helped her up. “Okay, so everyone who is coming with me and my men, get on your horses, everyone else, have a pleasant life.” His words seemed more amused than upset, but Jasmine knew better. Rico was holding back his anger. What he really wanted to do was put them both in their place, but there was no point. People believe what they want, and Jasmine knew that from experience.
“You heard the man,” Justin said, forceful. “Kids get on the horses, we’re leaving,” he ordered.
Everyone but Jenny, Jackie and the only three small children that had been clinging to them that whole time got on their horses.
“Are you seriously putting your life in their hands,” Jenny said, applaud as she aimlessly watched the others pack up and mount their horses, while ignoring them as if they weren’t there.
“Have a beautiful life you two.” Martha said, bitterly, will grabbing her horse’s mane.
“Let’s go.” Rico ordered, and they all took off, leaving Jenny and the rest to their faith.
16
The next morning, Caleb and Joshua finally made it to their training destination. The place was deep in the forest and far away from the kingdom, and the war, and neither prince were happy about it. Ramos had even ordered his men to decorate the place to look exactly like their training room back at the castle. He instructed them to decorate it with two dummies practicing their swings, a target for their arrows and some other obstacles lined up to practicing jumping over with their horses, just in case they needed to do it in a real war; however, there was neither shelter nor food, if they wanted any, they had to make it and catch it themselves.
“So I guess this is uncle’s idea of special training,” Caleb said, not impressed.
“Look on the bright side your highness, at least, you get to be in some war stimulation,” Antoine said with a sarcastic smile.
“Very funny,” Caleb said, demounting.
“What are we supposed to do out here anyway?” Joshua asked.
“Train. His highness wants the future king and his future High Constable to be able to defend themselves whenever danger may arise or war broke out.” Antoine explained as he tied his horses to a tree.
Joshua laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Antoine asked.
“The fact that you’d think I’d give him command over anything,” Joshua replied, still bitter over their initial argument.
“Right, and like I would serve under someone as pig-headed and simple minded as you,” Caleb retorted.
“Woah, what did I miss?” Antoine asked mind blown that these two best friends were actually fighting. This was a rare occurrence, and when it did happen, the entire castle got involve involuntarily.
“Simple minded?” Joshua said, getting in Caleb’s face. “You’re the one that is so stuck in his own little world that he can’t see what’s right in front of him.”
“The only thing that’s right in front of me right now is an egotistical, self-centered prince.” Caleb yelled back.
Antoine whistled causing both princes to look at him. “I have no idea what you two are fighting about now, but get over it. This training is designed to help you two work well as a team, and right now you both are failing. Tell you what, for your first challenge fix your relationship, after that we will move on to the next phase. While you two are doing that, I will be fishing.” With that he walked away, leaving the boys stunned.
“See what you’ve done.” Caleb said, pushing his cousin.
Joshua pushed him back, “Don’t blame me for something that you started; you, arrogant prick.”
Caleb punched him, and they started fighting. Each one hitting and grabbing the other, trying to get the other to see things their way.
“Your problem Caleb is that my father has completely corrupted you to the point where, you can’t see how evil that man truly is,” Joshua said, while choking Caleb.
Caleb then reversed the grip, “Your father is a great man, his cousin is the evil one, and you are just as big of a fool as my dad if you believe otherwise.”
Joshua reversed the grip again, this time, pulling back on Caleb’s arm while choking him with his legs, “Your father is not a fool, he is wise, and would have made a greater king than my father. You should be proud to be the son of a man like that.” He said while twisting Caleb’s arm. “But no, your head is too far up my father’s ass to see that.”
Caleb broke the grip then lunged for Joshua, choking him, “Why should I be proud of a man who abandoned me, to raise THEM?”
“What do you even know about them?” Joshua said, trying to break Caleb’s chock hold.
“That their goal in life is to lead people to their doom” Caleb said, his face had turned red with anger, just thinking about it.
Joshua then punched Caleb knocking the latter off of him, and they both laid there staring up at the clouds. “What if, what my father said to you was a lie. What if the reason he wanted you to capture those girls is because he wanted whatever power they possessed, and your father sacrificed himself to prevent that from happening?” Joshua asked calming down.
“Why would your father do that?” Caleb asked breathing in deep.
“I told you, he’s evil, but if you don’t believe me now, give it time. The moment he captures those girls, nothing will be the same.” Joshua said, shaking his head.
“I think you’re crazy.” Caleb said, sitting up.
“Maybe you’re right, maybe I am crazy, but I think you know I’m right. You’ve seen it firsthand when he grabbed Lady Lenilla to threaten your father, and when Hugo did whatever he did in the village that day, you were reunited with your father again.” Joshua explained.
Caleb looked at his cousin and a part of him believed him, but he couldn’t allow himself to think that way, because if he did, that would mean that everything that he believed was a lie and he couldn’t accept that. “No,” Caleb said, standing up and walking away leaving Joshua lying o
n the ground yelling at him.
“YOU’RE A DUMBASS. YOU HEAR CALEB? YOU ARE A SIMPLE MINDED DUMBASS!!!”
Caleb just kept walking. He needed to think and being with Joshua wasn’t helping. His uncle wasn’t anything like what Joshua had described. How could a man who was extremely evil, take in the son of the man who betrayed him? Caleb shook his head no. “Uncle is a good man,” he said to himself. Suddenly, Caleb was attacked by a group of a soldier, all who looked like they were a part of Hugo’s army. He fought them off as best he could, leaving many dead, but just when he was about to run towards his cousin, he was knocked out, then dragged further down the river away from the rest of his group.
A few hours later, Caleb came to and saw Hugo standing in front of him smiling, with a few of his men.
Caleb just laughed, “I should have known it was you.”
“You brought this upon yourself, little prince,” Hugo said, spitefully. There was a group of about ten soldiers who were all supposed to be training for the pending war, but instead, they were gawking at Caleb, each wanting to have the first swing at him.
“Why? Because I’m better than you at everything?” Caleb boast.
Hugo snorted, “You only think you are. But that’s fine, being the son of a traitor you had to try hard.”
Caleb tried to swing at him, but he couldn’t, it was then he noticed that he was tied to a tree.
Hugo chuckled, “Did I strike a nerve?” All of his men laughed, and spat at Caleb like he was nothing more than a piece of trash, they could finally get rid of him.
“What’s funny cousin, is that what you think, you will actually get away with this?” Caleb said, there was no doubt in his mind that Hugo and those men were going to kill him, and even though he was afraid, he didn’t let it show. He couldn’t give them the pleasure of seeing fear.
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