A King's War

Chapter 11

VER

I looked down at Raven in my arms before looking to Galen and Aila who shared equal looks of concern as they stared down at her.

“Did we just lose our guide?” Galen finally asked.

I scowled at him. “She just collapsed and that’s your concern?”

“We’re in the middle of the Red Forest and don’t know our way out from here and as we’ve all seen, this place is arguably worse than Valveronia,” Galen pointed out. “It’s a valid concern.”

I glared at him before scooping her up in my arms. “One of you grab her staff,” I told them. I could see the sunlight coming from the clearing so I made my way there and after a few moments we were standing in the middle a sun-filled, grassy clearing. I laid her down and checked to make sure she was still breathing.

Aila peeled Raven’s cloak back and lifted the end of her tunic. “Pretty sure that this has something to do with it.” I looked at the long scrape along her side that Aila had uncovered. “She was scratched by that thing.”

Galen looked down at her. “Do you think she’s dying?” He asked hesitantly.

The thought of her dying did not sit well with me but I could not put my finger on why. After all, I had only just met her a few days ago. “No,” I finally responded. “I don’t. She said to wait it out.”

“That doesn’t mean she’s not going to die,” Aila said. “We have no idea what’s happening to her.

“Well it’s not like we can go anywhere without her,” Galen said. “We’re not even sure exactly where to go from here.”

I looked down at her face which was mostly obscured by dirt and mud as it had been the first day I’d met her. Her brow furrowed slightly as if she were in pain, but otherwise, she did not move. I looked around the open clearing. There was sunlight beaming down on us, though the sun was low in the sky. She had been right. We made it to the clearing just as the sun had risen. We were safe from dark hunters here, at least. Of course, as we had all well seen, there were other dangers in this forest to look out for.

“We’ll take turns on watch,” I told them. “We’ll wait here until the sunsets and if she’s not up by then . . .” I looked down at her on the grassy floor. “we’ll continue on to Valveronia.” I turned to Aila and Galen. “We have to get to my brother.”

They both nodded although Aila looked hesitant.

“You’re fine with just leaving her here?” She asked me.

A knot formed in my stomach at the thought. I shook my head. “No, I’m not,” My mind wandered to my brother. “But we need to get to my brother and if we have to leave her . . .” I let out a long sigh and ran a hand through my hair. “so be it.”

Galen looked curiously at Aila. “Since when do you care whether or not we leave her behind? I thought you didn’t even like her.”

Aila crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at Raven, deep in thought. “That was before she jumped in front of that, creature, for me.” She waved her hand down at Raven. “If she hadn’t, I would likely be the one like that.”

We all nodded silently as we looked down at Raven. My concern for her growing the longer she remained unmoving.

“I’ll take first watch,” Aila offered. “The both of you should get some sleep if you can.” She sat cross-legged in the center of the clearing, her sword across her lap, and her shield propped up against her leg.

I laid down with my back up against a large rock and looked at Raven still lying motionless on the ground. I turned away from her, telling myself that she was going to be fine, telling myself that we were going to make it to my brother in time. I breathed in a deep breath and breathed it out again. I looked up at the clear blue sky over my head and allowed myself to relax. Dark hunters were no threat here and Aila was watching for anything else. She would alert us if anything went wrong. As I stared up at the clear blue sky I could almost pretend that I wasn’t in the Red Forest. That all of this wasn’t happening. That I was just in the royal gardens while my brother was at the academy. While my father attended to royal business and my mother fussed around the kitchen about what to serve at the next ball. That they were both still alive. I closed my eyes, imagining that I was still in Ralorn, that it had never fallen, and that there was no Valveronia and no Ruthless King and drifted off to sleep.

I was awakened from my deep sleep quite sometime later by Galen. When I looked at him and saw the worried look on his face, the fog around my mind from being shaken awake cleared immediately.

“What-” I didn’t get the chance to finish asking him what was going on, because he cut me off.

“It’s Raven,” He said.

I pushed myself to my feet and moved over to where Aila had knelt beside Raven, who was breathing heavily, thrashing around, and mumbling in her sleep.

I knelt beside Aila and pressed my hand against Raven’s forehead. “She’s cold as ice,” I said. “What’s wrong with her?”

Aila and Galen both shrugged but looked just as worried as I knew I did.

I placed my hand on Raven’s shoulder and shook her. “Raven,” I called out, trying to get some sort of response. “Raven.” I shook her harder as she began to thrash around even more and her mumbling turned into whimpers of pain. “Raven!” I shouted desperately, trying to wake her up.

I couldn’t even describe what happened next, but all of a sudden, I was on my back on the ground, the blade of her dagger pressed into my neck painfully but not yet drawing blood. I looked up at her with wide, startled eyes and her eyes stared down at me, unfocused. Like she was not quite awake. She had her legs on either side of me, her dagger pressed into my throat, and her other hand pressing down on my chest, pinning me in place. I could have thrown her off of me quite easily, but something told me that wasn’t the best idea. I kept my hands by my sides, not giving her a reason to strike.

Galen and Aila had both drawn their swords though and pressed them into her back, a silent warning to her to drop her blade. A warning she wasn’t taking. Her eyes though locked on mine were still unfocused and she appeared to be looking through me.

She started blinking rapidly and I could see her eyes coming back into focus. She shook her head and looked down at me in surprise like she had been expecting to see someone else. She looked down at the dagger in her hand like she didn’t remember even grabbing it. She dropped it and both Galen and Aila withdrew their swords. She didn’t even seem to notice that they had their swords pressed into her back since she was still looking down at me in confusion as if trying to remember how she got here and who I was. Suddenly she groaned and rolled off me.

“Fools,” She muttered as she picked up her dagger and placed it back in its sheath.

“Excuse me?” Aila questioned as she eyed Raven in disbelief.

“You all heard me,” Raven said simply before taking up a seat on one of the rocks nearby and began sharpening her sword, ignoring all of us. As if this sort of thing happened all the time. Though I suppose for her, it did.

She rubbed at her head for a moment. “My head hurts,” She muttered to herself before going back to sharpening her sword.

Galen looked from her to me and then back again. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t know where to even begin. So, I decided to.

“Are you going to tell us why we’re fools?” I asked her.

She looked up at me from whatever sharpening her sword. “You should have left me alone until the toxin had completely passed through my system. Otherwise, I might have killed you without realizing it.”

“Well I apologize,” I said. “For not know that and for being concerned when you began to cry out in your deathlike sleep.”

Her head snapped up at this and she looked worried as she locked eyes with me. “What did I say?”

Galen, Aila, and I shared a look before I shook my head. “I don’t know, I couldn’t make anything out. It wasn’t anything I understood.”

Raven seemed satisfied with that answer and went back to her sword. She looked up at the sun still in the sky but getting lower.

“We should be heading out soon,” She said simply.

I crossed my arms over her chest and glared at her. “Are you alright?” I asked her.

She looked at me wordlessly for a long moment. “Fine,” She replied.