I choose Power

SIX

As Dahlia crouches behind a small rock blocked by trees and tries to think of the best way to carry out her nefarious plans, branches c***k to her far left and she glances in the direction in alarm but it is only one of the men from the company, emerging from the darkness of the trees into the camp lit by firelight. The guards let him pass without a blink and he holds a dead rabbit and a squirrel in his hands which he takes to the fireplace and hands over to one of the women. The children squeal on seeing him and run to him and he lifts them one by one and spins them around to their glee. A pang of sadness shoots through her heart to see the love and joy between who she assumes is the father and his daughters.

Around the fireplace, the women and some young men work rapidly on skinning the animals, chatting amiably all the while and she watches as they begin roasting it. Forcing her gaze away from the meat, she strategizes once again. It would be stupid of her to try to steal their horse or anything else of theirs now that everyone is wide awake and alert. She will have to wait till they are all asleep and the guards are hopefully dozing off.

She silently walks over from the farther side closer to the horses and to the second guard, keeping the trees and bushes in front of her to hide her movements. When she finds an adequate spot to wait at, she carefully drops her satchel and crouches to wait them out. In the middle of the camp, the rabbit and squirrel are still being roasted and the smell of tender smoked meat floats to her spot and makes her stomach growl loudly. The closest guard glances sharply in her direction and she freezes, holding her breath until he glances away and relaxes his stance once more.

She winces as her stomach grinds together painfully, like she has not eaten anything all day, like she didn't just eat a fish some hours earlier and presses a hand to it to wade off her hunger pangs. But her eyes keep on wandering to where the rabbit is nearly done and the woman is serving out something in bowls by the firelight. She is forced to shut her eyes before she does something very stupid because even though the company seems friendly enough, she has no idea how they will take intruders and strangers. It is incredulous that food which she has never given a second thought before is all she can think of now when she should be focused and concentrated.

Shutting her eyes against whatever rapture would be on the people's faces when they dig into their food seems to be working just fine, and then the smell of perfectly roasted meat tickles her nostrils once again and her stomach grumbles louder. Her eyes snap open to find the guard walking in her direction with a frown and she jumps up, snatching her satchel and cursing her stomach and in that split second, making the decision to go all out and steal a horse right away. She moves from tree to tree, a mere slip of a shadow and approaches where the horses are kept. They neigh nervously on seeing her and stamp their feet, getting agitated at the stranger and they draw the attention of the other guard who shouts and alerts the first one wo peering between leaves into the trees. They both turn to her and begin running for her and her dagger flashes out as she saws through the rope tethering one of the horses to a tree and jumps on her back in one fluid move.

With a little shout, she snaps the reins and the horse takes off. A long whistle pierces the air behind her followed by two short ones and her getaway horse stops abruptly, nearly throwing her over her head. She hears pounding feet behind her and snaps the reins once again, but the horse just stamps her feet and lowers her head to the ground to look for food. She kicks the horse's side and earns no reaction from her.

Spewing a slew of curses a princess should never be heard uttering, she jumps down from the horse and is about to run when she is tackled from the back by a huge weight. She hits the ground hard, biting on her tongue and tasting blood and shoves the weight of the man off her, scrambling to run. The man's hand latches onto her ankle like manacles, restricting her and she kicks out with her other foot, hearing the c***k of the man's nose beneath her steel-toed boots. He releases her and howls and she scrambles back up to meet the point of a sword and freezes.

The second guard has his sword pulled out and extended towards her and the edge bites into her neck, making it impossible to move without hurting herself. She meets his surprised eyes behind his helmet.

"Drop the dagger." He says, motioning with his other hand to the dagger she still has clutched in one hand.

She slowly does as he says and sets it on the ground, raising her hand back up slowly so that he can see that she is now unarmed. Her eyes deliberately dart to the side to distract him and the trick would not work on someone aware of her skills in weapons but he must underestimate her for being a small woman because his eyes dart slightly to the side to follow hers. She uses that moment to slam the face of her palms on the two sides of the sword, keeping the pressure with her wrist and in a burst of strength, shoves the hilt of the sword back through his hand and into his face, breaking his nose too. He drops the sword and yells and she grabs it before it can fall the ground and swings. Blood running down his nose and his face contorted in pain, he dodges her strike, moving fluidly to the side but she anticipates the move and slips a foot out, tripping him. While he staggers and struggles to find his balance once more, she darts behind him and holds the sword to his neck and it is his turn to freeze.

"Stop! Stop!" One of the women from the camp runs forward, the rest of the company right behind her. "Please, don't hurt him." She yells. It is obvious that she has feelings for the guard.

"What do you want?" The man that had come in with the rabbit and squirrel asks, approaching slowly and deliberately to show her that he means no harm.

"I just want the horse." She says, and her voice is slightly hoarse from not using it for a while except to talk to herself or mumur to her horse.

The man nods like it makes perfect sense. "A horse, of course, you can take one."

Dahlia scowls. "I would, if I didn't know of your little trick to stop the horses from moving."

"You have our word--" the man begins before the woman that has looked like she was in charge shoves past him and comes forward. "Berty! Get back!" The man says in alarm and shoves a hand out to keep his wife away from her but she brushes him off impatiently.

"I know you." She says, looking at me and I pause. I had not considered that there would be people who would know me on sight due to the the publicity of the royal family. "It is you!" She exclaims and there is wonder in her voice. "Your Highness, you are the black sss, the dark-haired princess of Solaria."

Dahlia is out of sorts, not sure how she should be reacting to the recent development.

"What are you doing out here? And stealing a horse!" The woman sounds scandalized. "Drop that knife, will you, and come, come join us." The woman motions to the knife impatiently like she and the guard whose nose she just broke were just playing rough. "My husband here just caught us dinner." She turns to her husband with a grin. "Honey, come on, our fire is to be graced by a princess of Solaria!" And she bustles away, undoubtedly to get things ready for her. The husband does not look as enthusiastic and still looks at her warily but he forces a smile, trusting his wife's judgement about her .

"Your Highness. I am sorry for the misunderstandings, do please join us." He says.

Dahlia begins to feel foolish still keeping the knife at the guard's throat. The rest of the company continue to look at her expectantly, including the first woman that had called out whose eyes are fastened on the guard's.

"I would... bow, your Highness, but I am in a precarious position here." The man whose neck has been in protracted danger says and there is amusement in his voice. With a sigh of disgust, she removes her knife and shoves him away. He staggers and spins around, and she sees a little nick on his neck trickling the tiniest bit of blood and smirks. He removes his helmet to reveal curly blond curls and a rakish smile and bows deeply to her. "I am honored to meet you, Princess."

She scowls. "Just call me Dahlia.",

"Of course, Princess." He says with a grin and she glares at him. "Please do me the honours of letting me escort you to camp." He raises his arm and she ignores him and steps forward to the husband of the woman that has invited her.

"If you would, it would be my pleasure to dine with you." She tells him and he nods.

"The pleasure is ours. Come.", He says and turns back and she follows beside him, the rest of the company joining them.

At the camp, the woman must have told them of her because the men bow and the women and children curtsy gracefully. The woman approaches her with a steaming bowl of soup and meat and it is all she can do not grab it and wolf it down.

She glances around at the children looking at her with stars in their eyes, and at the men and women looking at her with awe and she is forced to fall back on her innate grace and act like a true princess so they do not decide she is not worth the trouble. She wonders if they know or suspect that she is exiled from her kingdom because no sane person would wander the forests at night and try to steal horses from innocent travelers.

"Thank you ma'am. Your hospitality is boundless." She says and the woman beams.

"It is my honour to serve the Tallhorns." She says and bustles back to her huge pot to finish dishing out her food. Dahlia is not so sure there is any honour in helping her but she will not be saying as much before she is done eating her food.

She spends the next few minutes in silence and they all let her be as she eats her meal, employing proper etiquette for the first time since she left the palace. She listens to them talk about anything and everything, ribbing each other and making jokes of each other the way only people that love you and have been with you a long time can. The energy is positive and reminds her of her sisters. Someone plops down beside her with a groan and she looks up to find the earlier guard which she had had at knife-point grin at her and spoon a piece of roasted meat into his mouth. She glares at him and pointedly looks back at her food and resumes eating. When she looks up again, she finds the woman that had run forward looking between the man and her with a worried frown.

"So, a princess." He says and she glares at him, irritated. "I would never have believed any claim that you are one if Aunt Berty's memory isn't the keenest I have ever seen and if you didn't look... too beautiful to be a commoner like the rest of us. But I'm beat. Why should a princess of Solaria with everything at her fingertips resort to raiding the camps of her own people?"

"I am no raider." She says and he nods patronizingly. "I was only going to... borrow the horse for a few days." She says and when she hears a snort, she glares at him to find his lips twitching. She huffs. "Your family would have been handsomely appreciated at the end of my journey." She says dismissively.

"I have no doubt, Princess." He says mockingly. She open her mouth to tell him off when the woman called Berty calls her attention.

"So, Princess..." Berty begins.

"Call me Dahlia." She says and the three kids giggle among themselves and whisper loudly about what a pretty royal name she has.

"Of course, your Highness, Dahlia. I am Berty, this is my husband Antony, and my kids Cain," she says motioning to the man beside me who gives me a salute, Soiree," she motions to a pretty woman sitting a short ways to my left "my three youngest ones, Valeria, Bella and Sandie" she motions to the three giggling kids looking up at her with huge adorable eyes "and my first son over there, Aylan." She finishes up, motioning to the man who stands guard at the far edge of the camp and he gives a wave, seemingly over the fact that I had given him and his brother matching broken noses.

"Here is my future daughter in-law, Ama, soon to be married to Cain over there." She says and motions to the man beside me, "and two of her younger brothers, they will get to see the beauty of Solaria for the first time soon."

"So you are headed to Solaria," she says, "why not spend the night at an inn?" She asks.

"Oh dear, don't you know? There is no inn around here for miles and miles though Queen Thalia has expressed interest in building one. So if you don't mind," she lowers her voice consprirationally, "we are all very curious, what are you doing so far from home?" She asks and everyone at the fire stops what they are doing to look at her expectantly.

She puts done her plate slowly. It is obvious that this group has not heard any of the news yet. She detests that she will have to be the one to break it to them and wonders whether they will believe her when tells them she had nothing to do with her father's poisoning and slow, excruciating death.

She opens her mouth and the words get stuck in her throat. She has to clear her throat and try again, trying to distance herself from her narration.

"My father is dead." She says and they all stare at her dumbfounded probably waiting for her to tell them it is a joke but when she does not, they look among themselves in shock.

"King Consort Silas is dead?" The husband asks and his shock carves her wound open again.

She stands and moves away, facing away from them to hide her grief. Her eyes are squeezed tight against the well of tears but a stubborn one leaks down her shut eye. She will allow herself the luxury of grief later, in privacy, but the moment is a horribly bad time to break down. When she is more in control of herself, she takes a huge breath and turns around, casually strolling to sit down like she hadn't almost lost control.

"I'm sorry." Berty says, her eyes filled with concern. "I did not mean to upset you."

"Of course not. I'm sorry about... that." She waves a hand to encompass the last few minutes. Berty looks like she is going to apologize again so she talks faster, wanting to give the news and be over with it. "I'm in exile."

They all bear identical frowns on their faces as they try to comprehend what she means. "For murdering my father." She says and she hears Ama gasp.

"What?!" Berty screeches, horrified. The husband looks at her inscrutably, like he is waiting for more news and Soiree and two of the three kids have their hands over their mouth in shock. She wonders dimly if this is not good conversation in the presence of the children. Glancing at Cain, she finds him looking at her with a frown.

"You didn't do it." He says it as a statement rather than a question and her irritation with him is suddenly a little less. The rest of the company wait to hear her reply with bated breath.

"No," she whispers. "I didn't."

To their credit, they do not press her for more details and she does not volunteer. The atmosphere at the camp is somber and quiet, and they pay their respects to their dead King Consort individually. After a while, the three children get restless and start whispering, and then they start talking and laughing and the atmosphere relaxes back. She looks at them gratefully. The children get up from their places around the fire, chatting so fast only they understand what got them so worked up and move away to the tents.

"So, where are you going now?" Antony asks.

The familiar fire of vengeance lights up in her and Antony shudders as he watches the darkness pool in her eyes. She welcomes the feeling wholeheartedly.

"To the Midnight King. I believe he is responsible, and I am going to kill him." She says.

Ama gasps again but Antony and Berty nod like she makes sense. It does not matter, the entire world can think she is mad and insane and she would still walk the path she has forged for herself.

"How are you going to get there?" Cain asks from beside her. "You don't have a horse." He says pointedly, considering she just tried to steal one of theirs.

"I was attacked yesterday night by a large pack of wolves. They got my horse." She says.

"You poor thing. You can sleep with us for tonight." Berty says sympathetically. "And what of you? Did you come out unscathed?"

"About that..." She remembers her wound. The burn of the wound had gotten so constant she had gotten used to it and shelved it in the back corner of her mind. As her mind goes back to it now, it lets out an intense twinge of fire as if indignant at being neglected for so long and she clenches her fist, suddenly feeling myhot.

"You are wounded!" Cain exclaims beside her, standing up to crouch in front of her, inspecting her with his pale blue eyes. "Where?"

She glares at him, irritated by his familiarity but raises her arm and pulls back her sleeve. He makes a motion to untie her hand and she pulls it back and does it herself. When the injury comes into view he exclaims and she looks up for find Berty hovering beside him.

"Oh dear, Freya is with you. You are very lucky you found us on time." Berty exclaims as well. "Infection is beginning to set in but we can help you before that happens. Come." Berty says and bustles back to drop her plate. Cain offers his arm to help her up and she ignores it and gets up by herself. The pain of the arm as she exposes it to air sends fire directly to her brain and she breathes shallowly.

Berty strides forward. "You see the tent at the end over there?" She asks, pointing to one of the tents. "That's mine and Antony's. Go in and wait for me there, I'll need a few herbs from the forest."

Antony stands. "I'll go with you." He says and Berty rolls her eyes at him fondly.

She turns back and gives other instructions to the rest of the girls and boys and promptly marches into the nearby trees, her husband behind her. Soiree, Ama and the two boys get busy doing as they have been instructed and after a moment of hovering, she shrugs and strides forward in the direction of the tent as she was instructed.

Inside the tent is neat and spacious, the couple's belongings crammed into a little chest at one end and a thin pallet on the other. She gingerly sits on the pallet and waits, wondering at the turn of the night. If Berty had not recognised her she would have just been cornered after her failed stealing attempt and would have had to do something drastic. But instead, she got warm food, a place to sleep protected and an offer to help with her injury. Her heart feels lighter to know that at least Freya has indeed not deserted her.

The tent flap is shoved to the side and Cain enters and she sits up, hackles slightly raised and eyes trained on him.

"Relax." He says. "I'm here to treat your wound."

"What of Berty?" She asks.

"Busy." He says but does not look her in the eye.

He kneels in front of her and sets down the bowl of water he is holding along with a jar and a small bottle containing some green fluid.

"Your arm?" He asks and she extends it. He looks at it and tsks. "You really are lucky. If the infection had really set in, you could have lost the arm." He says and dunks a piece of cloth in the water and presses it to the wound.

The pain flares out and she inhales sharply and he looks up at her worriedly before gently swiping to get the dirt out.

"Why were you so sure I did not kill him?" She asks, looking for something to distract her from the pain.

"Because," he says and puts the towel down, "killing one's own father takes a lot of innate evil and cruelty and you didn't display any of that." He grabs the green fluid and gently pours it on the wound. There is a sharp burn before it levels out. "You could have stabbed either I or Aylan anytime with that dagger in your hand, but you were only interested in keeping us away. Tells me you are not cruel at all." He continues pouring the green fluid at intervals until he deems it enough and drops it. She digests this information.

"That is for the infection and the pain." He says, motioning to the bottle which he has sealed back. He picks up the jar of ointment and uncovers it to reveal a creamy white jelly-like substance. "And this will help your wound heal faster." He says and dips two fingers in it and lathers the cold gel on her arm.

After the gel, he grabs a clean piece of cloth which he had brought and gently ties it around her arm. When he is done, he sits back on the floor and repackages the bottle, the jar and another clean piece of linen.

"For the change. It should last you a couple days. By then the injury will not be an issue." He says.

"Thank you. " She says, raising her arm to find that the pain is indeed nearly gone. She looks up to find him watching her.

"Take me with you." He says and she frowns.

"What do you mean?" She asks and he rakes a hand through his blond hair and glances away.

"I can't... I'm to marry Ama. The bethrothal was arranged when I was only seven and she was four but..." He glares at the closed flap of the tent. "I don't love her."

She is instantly uncomfortable. She is not close enough to him to warrant for confessions from his deepest hearts and she sees no reason why he should be telling her this.

"Then tell her." She volunteers reluctantly, packing up her new supplies.

"I have." He shakes his head as he dismisses his thoughts. "Dahlia." She pauses, hand on the jar and gives him her attention. "You need a guide, a travelling companion, a... protector though Freya knows you do not actually need one. But I promise, I will not get in your way." He says urgently.

She begins shaking her head.

"They will listen to you. Mama adores you and Papa respects you." He presses.

She grabs the jar and and the other things and stands. "No." She says, striding to the door.

"I love you." He says from behind her and she stops. "I know it's crazy, I've only known you for all of this evening, but I feel like I know all of you. I have never felt this way about any woman in my life. I am as sure of how I feel as my name. You are incredible, Dahlia. Kind and courageous and so damn beautiful. I know you're hurting, allow me to help you." He says.

She does not turn to look back at him. And when the tent flap shudders open and Ama informs them that it is bedtime, also asking if they are still busy, she replies a firm negative and steps out into the night.

__________________________________

True to their word, Berty and Antony had allowed her to sleep with them, spending the night with Ama in a tent while Soiree and the three girls shared another. The night would have been uncomfortable if she did not know what it feels like to sleep on sand and stone but as it was, she did not know how much of Cain's words Ama had overhead but it had been obvious the girl was wary and not particularly fond of her. For her part, she had brushed it right off, ignoring the woman and having a very good night sleep.

The morning is bright as Berty and Antony see her off to the edge of the camp.

"Here." Antony hands her a sheet of parchment. "I made the map yesterday. It might not be well detailed but I have travelled all around many kingdoms and that is the safest and fastest way to Degolan. And you should have this, the woods are no place for someone without proper weapons." He says and hands her the scabbard to a sword. She takes it, unimaginably happy to have a sword back in her hands.

She gives a deep curtsy, grateful beyond measure. "Thank you, Antony."

"And there is the horse you almost took yesterday." Berty says with a smile and she winces.

Cain's older brother, Aylan escorts the horse to her and hands her the reins. She sees that he looks nearly identical to Cain, down to the bruised nose. She had earlier noticed when she had bid the rest of the company good-bye that Cain was conspicuously absent.

"Sorry about that." She says and he brushes it off with a rogue smile. She turns to Berty. "I am beyond grateful for everything you and your family have done for me."

The woman smiles at her fondly. "Don't mention it."

Finally, she is about to go when three squealing girls yell at her to stop. She turns back to find Valeria, Bella and Sandie holding a crown of flowers which they gift her with. For the first time since her father died, the slightest hint of a smile touches her lips as she kneels to receive their gift.

"Thank you." She tells them and they giggle and run off.

When she stands, she looks around for Cain one last time and doesn't find him and after bidding the rest good-bye, she turns and disappears behind the trees with her new horse.

"Perhaps people name horses for luck." She tells her horse as they meander away. "I'll name you so you don't end up like Braveheart. I name you Peggy." Her horse neighs appreciatively and she strokes her neck.

The trees shiver beside her and she yanks out her dagger. Cain steps out from behind the trees on a horse and she sees that he has a little sack packed and attached to the saddle.

"What do you think you are doing?" She asks incredulously.

"Running. Isn't it obvious?" He asks with a grin.

She growls. "Go back, now!"

He stands tall on his horse. "My decision has been made."

When she doesn't budge from glaring at him, he deflates and runs a hand over his face. "Look, about yesterday... Just forget I said anything."

"No. Your parents will be looking for you. They treated me with great hospitality, I am not taking their son away from them." She says firmly.

"I left a note. I told them everything. You didn't allow me to join you but I did anyway. They know it is not your fault." She looks up at the skies for patience. "They have gone by now anyway. It's not good to linger too long in these woods." He says pointedly.

She resumes her pace, completely ignoring him. When he tries to pull up beside her, she increases her pace until he finally gives up and lags behind her.

They cover alot of distance this way before he shouts out behind her.

"What now?" She groans and turns back too late.

Something hits her horse and she rears, throwing her to the ground and she immediately scrambles back up. Men drop from trees above to surround her and she looks beyond to find Cain on his horse in a similar situation.

"We found ourselves a princess." One of them says and they laugh. The men jeer and hoot at their find, and she recognizes them for what they are. Raiders.