The Fugitive Prince

by Daniel Arndt

Cass could not help the deep beat of her heart as she pushed herself fully against the sleeping prince’s bosom. The cold seemed to dull. The rage of wind was minor in any comparison. It was right. Cass snuggled closer into the heat. The blanket of comfort wrapped around her and pulled her mind up into the clouds. She drifted to sleep with a stupid smile covering her face.

  Valente winced at the fire. His head timidly bowed to it hiding his face from the waves of heat. The prince’s eyes curiously ventured up across the pit. Gregor’s smile had not awaken with him. Cradling his bruised and swollen arm, the giant let out a rumbling groan. The frostbite’s touch had spread deep marks of black throughout the knight’s arms rendering it crippled.

  Valente and Cass dared not cross to the other side of the fire. Valente tried to busy himself with the leaping flames. The overt tension grit against his desire. He just wanted to be acknowledged for his heroics. Giving another quick glance over the fire he figured now was not the best time.

  Cass was quietly realigning her hair as she re-braided the end. Crazy tangles and tangents of her golden locks stubbornly resisted her grooming, but her frustration did not arise. She was concerned about the knight. Cass looked from the tree she leaned on toward the fire the two men that had taken sides. Gregor sent a displeased glare towards Valente who attempted to not feel the burning sensation around his neck. The knight got up with a huff. Turning on his massive heels he stormed into the outlying trees. The knight’s heavy march rattled the needles of trees he disappeared into.

  Valente tried to swallow then tension as he nervously adjusted his collar. Picking up a stick he nursed the wood hoping the minor task would alleviate his worries. A few minutes passed over in silence. Cass inspected her braid and with a satisfied tug of the hair she pushed off the tree. Cass yawned and stretched. An audible snap echoed from within the small grove. The tree within rustled as an unseen assault on their bark caused them to sway and crack. Valente and Cass exchanged concerned looks. The bark cried out for help as the rampaging giant let his rage fly upon it. A tree collapsed in the woods falling to the knight’s anger. Valente stopped prodding the flames. The prince traced his wounded tongue over his cheek producing a small prick of pain. Recoiling from the pang he bit down on his teeth. He looked at Cass and mumbled.

  “Should I go and…”

  Cass briskly shook her head.

  “No. He will lose his swinging arm. Those black spots are his arm dying. I don’t think there’s much you can do.”

  A tree collapsed in the distance. Cass interrupted her stretching to regard Valente.

  “He just needs time. He knows what you did, and his arm isn’t your fault.”

  Valente nodded to the huntress. A loud snap pulled his attention away to an evergreen. The tree collapsed and disappeared from the canopy. Cass tightened her braid and locked her silver clasp onto the end. She walked closer to the flames and the prince. This time her head lowered out of timidness.

  “Hey, Val…”

  Valente broke his sight of the trees and turned to Cass.

  “What is it?”

  Cass shyly smiled in appreciation.

  “Thanks for saving our butts.”

  Valente’s cheeks grew patches of roses. He stepped back adorning a bashful grin. He waved his hand before him as to deflect the huntress’s admiration.

  “It’s alright. You or Gregor would’ve done the same for me.”

  Cass brushed back her braid over her shoulder. Cass’s cheek mimicked the blush. She cleared her throat as she forced herself to meet Valente’s eyes.

  “No Val. Seriously. Thank you. You stopped that Captain, and you jumped off a freezing waterfall for us. You deserve the thanks.”

  Valente lowered his hands of deflection resting them over his knees.

  “If it wasn’t for me, you guys wouldn’t be in this mess. I didn’t even…”

  Cass furled her brow mixing it with understanding and anger.

  “Val.”

  Valente stopped himself. Cass placed her hand on the prince’s arm.

  “We knew what we were signing up for. WE can’t blame you for the risks, and YOU can’t blame yourself for the decisions we made.”

  Valente let Cass’s word sink in before resigning his guilt. His cheeks reflexively smirked.

  “Fine. You’re welcome.”

  Cass moved back to the tree. She moved her arms behind her for a large stretch and then swiftly scooped up her bow. She gestured her head to a larger group of trees along the river as she called to Valente.

  “Come on. While Gregor is blowing off steam, you can help me hunt for some food.”

  Cass rubbed her belly.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

  Valente rubbed his hands over the fire trying to grab as much heat as he could before he left its comfort.

  “Alright, but only if you let me try shooting again.”

  Cass slowed and tightened her grip on her bow. Her finger tentatively tapped against the spidersilk.

  “Did you forget how many arrows you lost when I first tried to teach you?”

  Valente smirked with a playful shrug.

  “Hey. I won’t get better if I don’t practice.”

  Cass rolled her eyes. She handed the prince her bow and quiver.

  “Here’s hoping you actually get better with practice.”

  Valente feigned a mortal wound to the heart. He exaggerated his taken offense by teetering from the invisible assault. Cass lifted her hood and skipped through the snow. Her happy whistling stopped Valente’s act. He rushed to follow her as they left the camp.

  The warmth of the sun melted away the stiffness that still lingered in Valente’s bones. The prince breathed and tasted the frost lick his tongue. He pulled back the spidersilk string. The thread moved as though it was liquid. The natural flow of the light string smoothly ran along his fingertips. Valente tilted his head leveling his eye along the shaft of the arrow. He focused his vision further as he closed the other eye. His sight closed in on the rustling leaves of a bush. He took it all in observing every twisted twig and fluttering leaf. He was ready.

  Cass slowly tiptoed around the bush’s flank. Her footing was thoughtfully placed with each silent step. She moved closer preparing to make her move. Cass took out her small hunting knife. She looked over the bush at Valente. She needed him to not miss. Valente threw a quick glance over the bush at the huntress. Exchanging no words, the two honed further in. Valente’s vision once more bared down past the shining tip of the arrow. Cass stepped even closer to the cusp of the bush. The bush’s tremor stopped. Valente tightened his chest and held his breath. The thrill of the hunt stretched a smile along Cass’s face. As the smile reached its peak, she snapped into action and leaped into the shrubbery. The bush quivered and squealed. Cass howled as she hunted the invisible beast. Valente kept his breath unmoving and his hand steady. The leaves rustled and swayed as the high-pitched squeal burst from the bush. Cass’s dagger reached out after it narrowly missing its hide. The large, fluffy winter hare fled from the bush and the dagger. Its black wide eyes were filled with the glint of the arrow tip it saw. It attempted to backtrack mid-leap. The air gave it little license. Valente loosened his fingers and let the spidersilk sing its deadly song. The arrow soared and whistled from the bow and met the hare. The white creature met its final match as they both fell from the air into the snow.

  A bush exploded with leaves and a huntress. Cass emerged with her wild hair pin cushioned with sticks. She brandished her blade ready to attack. The excitement of the chase reflected off her eyes. She turned to Valente.

  “Did you get it?”

  Valente released his breath letting the warm air pool and swirl in front of him. He lowered the bow to watch it subside. Relaxing his eyes, Valente blinked into a proudly cheeky grin.

  “Did you ever doubt me?”

  Cass could not stop her involuntary laugh while she sheathed her dagger. Her body moved as it was often used to and she appro
ached the prize as her eyes gave their attention to her sheath. Valente’s achievement pushed him to step forward. He let his pride glow on his chest and swung the bow onto his back. He looked back to make sure it was exactly the way he had seen Cass do it. Cass instinctively bent down to pick up the hare, and Valente, too, bent down before looking forward from the bow he had awesomely slung. Their cheeks grazed each other just before their heads collided with a hearty clunk. Valente chaotically tossed his arms trying to compensate while he reeled back. Tripping over the snow he collapsed on his back. The air broke free from his hold and emptied his lungs. Cass’s head rattled alongside her footing. Her momentum pushed and continued to take her forward. The huntress’s feet skid along the snowy ground throwing her forward. Cass collapsed.

  The sun dazzled off the crystalline snow. Cass moved her face side to side. Her head was neatly buried in something warm. Reaching up and out of the spotty darkness, she placed her hand on the snow to push herself up. Cass freed herself of the soft form and she opened her eyes. Spots flickered across her vision as she squinted clarity back into her green eyes. The stars and the spin made Cass veer downward as she caught herself with her hands. Valente’s groan came from underneath her. The huntress looked down just as Valente’s rich blue eyes slowly opened and collided with hers. Cass’s heart leapt over a beat. Lines of light sparkled through the thin canopy above illuminating the ground around the fallen prince. Cass’s breath lost its way as her chest seized up trying to find it. Valente’s eyes drowned her with a sea of magnificent blue. The frost where Cass had placed her hands seemed to slip and her arms weakened ever so slightly. She could have pulled away or rolled over, but her mind and instinct seized up and curled behind the thrum of her heart. The blue eyes crashed against Cass’s will in wave after wave; each causing her elbows to bend slightly more. Cass closed her eyes letting her body move closer to Valente’s. As their warmth connected, Cass lips pressed against Valente’s.

  The tender collision caught the prince by surprise. He went to raise his hands in objections but they froze in the snow and became incapable of resistance. Cass pulled up breaking the burning contact between them. Cass hovered over the prince letting his warm breath linger on her lips. Her mind remained groggy from the headbutt and the kiss did it no favors. Pulling a hand up she touched it against her lips as though to check reality. Her eyes sparked up with shock. She slapped a hand over her mouth and scrambled backwards off the prince. Cass tumbled over the snow as she panicked.

  “I’m so sorry! I don’t know what came over me!”

  Valente reached up expecting his hands to go before him however, his arms were cemented in the snow. He tried to form words instead, but his mind and lips were flustered beyond management. Cass’s face erupted into a bright red. Her hand anxiously shook. She steadied it by clenching her braid and backing up over the snow. She shot up and stood to face the prince.

  “I… didn’t mean to. It was stupid. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  Cass’s eyes burned with the building movement of emotion. A tear made its way to her cheek as she spoke in stutters.

  “You and the Duchess and you’re a prince and I am no one and…“

  Cass’s thoughts and emotions rumbled in her mind. It all overwhelmed her as she ran from them and the prince that caused it.

  Valente sat alone in the snow. The sun glowed off the icy white all around him. The prince quietly brought his hand to his mouth. Gently he brushed his fingertips over the lips trying to capture the feeling that had stunned him.

  They were so soft… and sweet.

  The dawdling feeling refused to fade as though it were a ghostly scar. Valente’s mind raced over catching up on all that occurred. His heart doubted its rhythm. Valente dropped himself into the snow letting it engulf him in a frozen coffin. The cold crystals of ice surrounded him pulling heat from his skin, but Valente’s burning thoughts were unaffected.

  How can lips be sweet?

  -21-

  Valente followed the river back up to the camp. The fire he had made continued to burn basking the makeshift campground in welcoming warmth. Beyond the flames, the glow of the falling sun cast a fading heat on this lower ridge of the mountain.

  Gregor sat near the fire tending to the hot flames with a small tree. The Liosian knights turned from his task and directly stared at Valente. The prince stopped in the snow waiting for the giant’s next action. Gregor met the prince’s worries with a solemn smile. Gregor gestured with his head to the ground beside him widening his grin. The tangents in the prince’s mind relaxed for the moment. Valente moved through the snow and sat next to the knight. With a quick heave of his arm, he placed the white rabbit near the edge of the flames. Gregor smacked the prince on the back with a heavy pat. Valente’s lungs voluntarily deflated from the familiar ritual. The knight spoke to the prince through a most heartfelt grin.

  “Hey Val, sorry. I…”

  Gregor rubbed his beard freeing his words from it.

  “I am sorry if I worried you. I was upset, and it might have been partly at you. Most of the wounds I bear I see them happen. In those moments I know why they are a part of me. This one I woke up and saw a massive one with nothing but the memory of falling.”

  Gregor threw his head side to side dismissing his thoughts.

  “I’ve been a knight all my life. Training and living to be chivalrous and noble.”

  The knight gestured to his scarred and crippled arm. The black patches marbled the flesh in a most gruesome fashion. He sighed at the sight.

  “When the Keeper came, I didn’t want to hear the price. No one ever likes the bad news he brings.”

  Gregor turned letting his red beard dangerously swing at the prince.

  “At least Malux did not come for the final tax… because of you. You saved my life, and I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t thank you for such a noble task. My arm is a fair price for a little while longer in this Ohm-given life,”

  Gregor blinked away the depth of thought and followed its departure with a powerful smile at Valente,

  “So thanks.”

  Gregor playfully punched Valente in the shoulder to send the message home. The gentle attack thoroughly bruised the prince’s shoulder. Warmth spread through Valente’s cheeks. They parted displaying his humble grin.

  “That… means a lot, Gregor. I know you agreed to help me, but I am sorry too.”

  Valente placed his hand on his chest.

  “All of this risk was because of me. You of all people didn’t have to. I even promised to pay Cass. You came freely, and you barely even knew me.”

  Valente looked past the beard of red at the large man himself.

  “You are the most honorable knight I’ve ever known.”

  Gregor chuckled.

  “The risks were one reason I signed up. Gets a little boring being a lonely lumberjack.

  Gregor turned himself towards the fire kneading his beard with his functioning hand.

  “Did I tell you why I wanted to help you, Val?”

  Valente softly massaged his battered shoulder. He joined the knight in looking at the flames as he thought.

  “You wanted to honor King Leonin and his wish for peace? It’s what my father wanted too.”

  Gregor juggled his head side to side.

  “That’s true. However important the Two Kings’ ideals are, it was not the main reason.”

  Gregor nodded deeper into the flames.

  “You remind me of my brother.”

  The Liosian smiled into the burning recollection. He threw a sideways glance at the prince.

  “By Shor’s Grace, you almost look like him.”

  Gregor picked his small tree back up and bullied more life into the fire pit once more.

  “It upset me when he said he would join the Lost Men. Bandits? I couldn’t believe it.”

  The remaining moisture of Gregor’s tree burned away as it ignited. Gregor discarded it into the flames.

  “I did everything
I could to dissuade him, but he was as stubborn, no, as determined as you.”

  The knight shook his head in incredulous recollection.

  “You know what he told me before he left? ‘Most gemstones aren’t pretty when you dig them from the dirt, but a jeweler puts time, spit, and polish in and they become the greatest treasures.’ Said he was a damned jewel smith.”

  Gregor chuckled at his memories.

  “He thought he could turn that band of deserters into something more. In his optimistic vision, he could see them becoming a group of vigilantes for peace.”

  The knight leaned himself closer to the heat.

  “He had faith in them even though he had little idea who they were or where they came from. The only thing he knew for sure was most of them were torn from their homes to serve in the militia.”

  Gregor sighed into the flames.

  “I guess he truer a knight than I ever was. It took his death to make me realize that.”

  The large Liosian sat up and tried to clench his crippled hand.

  “I will have to amputate this thing before too long.”

  The discolored hand barely moved, so he rested his hand beside himself. The knight’s face whinged before he continued.

  “The moment you showed up outside of my cabin, covered in blood, panting like you were some mad beast carrying someone you were desperate to save, I saw something in you. I suppose when it’s so blunt it’s hard to miss. It was a determination that would never falter. You had the same eyes I saw my brother have before he left for the Lost Men. It was like looking at an unstoppable force.”

  Gregor looked straight at the prince.

  “Never lose that drive, Valente. People can’t help but follow something like that. It can make a difference. This world needs change, and it needs people like you to change it. I can see no one better than a prince to have that. You’re the future of Tharia, and maybe even all of Farlos.”

  Valente took in the knight’s words letting them tumble in his mind. He looked at Gregor and nodded.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Gregor proudly delivered another encouraging smack to Valente’s spine. Valente smiled trying to hold his lungs in place.