Olivia walked down the garrison hallway. The soldiers who crossed her path quickly moved aside. She quickened her pace, clenching her fists. Her goal was to head to the study, where Callen had gone after the escape.
Upon arriving, she didn't knock on the door or bother to announce her presence. She simply threw it open.
Callen was standing beside the door, leaning against the wall. On the table was a piece of paper with something written on it. On top of it sat Zara's crown.
"It's hers. She wrote it," the prince said.
For a moment, Olivia forgot why she had come there, though she quickly remembered.
She approached Callen and grabbed him by his tunic, frowning.
"Why did you let her escape?"
He didn't respond—just looked away.
"Why did you do it!?" she said, accompanied by a slap.
Callen turned his face at the impact of his sister's blow, but he made no sound or grimace of pain. He simply took it.
"I didn't think she deserved to be stopped," he said, almost whispering.
Olivia took a few steps back, still frowning.
"After everything I said to her, I couldn't do it. I simply couldn't," he said, lowering his head.
Olivia knew it. Callen had changed a lot over the past three days. He was the most concerned about his sister's well-being, and this had made him much harder on himself.
The princess sighed, leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the door. For a few minutes, they both just stood there in silence.
"Did you read it?" Olivia was the first to break it.
"No, not yet," her brother replied.
"And what are you waiting for?"
Callen hesitated. Deep down, he still didn't believe he could read that. But at the same time, he felt he should read it—at least to know what his sister expected of him.
Callen sighed, gathering courage to approach. He moved the crown aside. The handwriting was unmistakable. He still doubted, but he pushed those thoughts aside.
"Callen, when you read this, I'll probably have escaped again. Or at least I hope so—if I haven't, I'd be quite embarrassed. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for worrying you, for worrying Olivia, for worrying Father. I truly am sorry."
"I'm also sorry I can't tell you this in person. If I did, you surely wouldn't let me go. I was selfish—you're absolutely right. But I'm afraid I can't stop now. I've tasted freedom, and I think I've become addicted."
"I ask for forgiveness, for I will be selfish once more. Please, don't look for me. I think I can take care of myself quite well on my own. Besides, Shadow and Derek are with me."
The piece of paper was signed by Zara. Her signature was something Callen would never mistake either.
He thought this would hurt him, but to his surprise, the letter brought a small smile to his face. It had been days since he'd smiled—even Olivia looked surprised, still by the door.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, it's just that..." Callen looked at the piece of paper again, folded it, and put it in one of his pockets. "I remembered that our sister is quite bold. Look at her, talking about her kidnappers as if they were companions."
Olivia didn't seem to understand what he meant, but one thing was certain—his mood seemed to have improved greatly. Something that made her happy. She thought that with everything going on, she wouldn't see him like this again for a good while.
"Though we still have a problem on our hands," Olivia added with a sigh. "Father will kill us when he hears about this."
"I'm afraid that won't happen—at least not to me," said Callen, standing up.
"What are you talking about?"
"Tell me where they're heading with that monocle of yours."
Olivia shook her head. "Remember when you wounded the woman in the arm? It seems you destroyed the tracker."
Callen sighed. "Still, they were heading north."
The prince brought his hand to his chin. What's to the north? he thought.
He remembered something and offered a small smile. "They're probably heading to Fisherman's Rest."
"That fishing village? What do you think they're looking for there?" Olivia moved closer to him, but she didn't let him answer her question. "A ship."
"Exactly. They won't be able to cross our land borders easily because of the fighting. The fastest way is to cross to Tarzovia by boat."
Callen stood up and walked toward the door, closely followed by Olivia.
"What do you have in mind?"
"I'll follow them on my own."
Olivia almost stopped upon hearing that.
"Father won't approve of that."
"Do you want me to act as a substitute or something?"
Callen smiled. "Of course not. But until our brother returns from abroad, at least one of us must remain in Luneria."
They both stopped at the garrison's gate. The flames had already been put out. The wounded were few, and none were in real danger.
"I'll take some supplies and head directly to the port. Who knows—maybe I'll catch up to them. With that wound on her arm, the woman won't get far."
Olivia sighed before lifting her gaze to the clear sky.
"It's only been three days, but it really seems like we've changed quite a bit."
"Living seventeen years with Zara has rubbed off on us, after all."
Callen ordered some guards to prepare supplies for a long journey—but for only one person. The soldiers looked at each other in confusion but withdrew to carry out the order.
Olivia approached him, giving him a tap on the shoulder. When she had her brother's attention, she hugged him, taking him by surprise.
"You'd better bring Zara back," she said as she hugged him tighter.
"Don't worry. I will," Callen replied, returning the embrace.
"You also need to apologize for whatever you said to her before."
"I was going to do that even if you hadn't told me."
They both broke the embrace as they saw the soldiers approaching, carrying a large backpack. Callen checked it as soon as it was handed to him—just as he'd asked, it was full of supplies, more than he thought he'd need.
"Tell Father not to worry about me. I'll make sure to return with Zara."
Callen turned and began walking toward the horses, waving his hand in farewell.
Olivia, for her part, felt uncomfortable—uncomfortable for letting her brother go alone while she stayed behind. But there was something else.
"Callen, I want to tell you something else," she said, stopping her brother, who turned his face to look at her.
"Yes?"
"If you get the chance, I want you to do something." Olivia sighed, frowning. "I want you to kill the woman."
Callen froze. Looking into his sister's eyes, he realized it was no joke. Though he couldn't imagine why she would suddenly want that.
"Alright. I'll keep that in mind," he said before mounting one of the horses and riding toward the path the Tarzovians seemed to have taken.
Meanwhile, after having put enough distance between themselves and the garrison, Shadow made the horse slow its gallop to a gentle trot.
All three were sweating quite a bit, a result of the heat from the afternoon sun.
"We're alive," said Derek, accompanied by a nervous laugh. "Right?"
"Yes, I think so," Zara replied.
"Idiots. I told you to keep going, and you still came back," Shadow added with difficulty. "What would you have done if they'd caught you?"
"Buy a house on the beach," Derek said with a touch of sarcasm.
"Go home, I suppose," said Zara.
Their comments provoked a bit of laughter from the group. After all, it was a relief that they were fine—at least at first glance.
Derek coughed a little after laughing, drawing a worried look from Zara.
"Don't worry. It's spiritual strain. I'll be fine if I rest a little," he said, trying to ignore his discomfort. "How did it go with your brother, Zara?"
Zara didn't respond at first. Though she was a little better, she hadn't fully recovered.
"I'd rather not talk about that," she said finally, sighing as she lowered her gaze.
Derek noticed that deep down, these words were laden with great sadness, so he decided not to ask any more about it.
Zara tried to get more comfortable between the two Tarzovians, since they were quite cramped. In the process, she noticed the wound on Shadow's arm.
"What happened to you?" she said, bringing her face closer with concern. "It doesn't look good at all."
"You shouldn't worry. I've survived worse wounds than that."
Though she tried to sound decisive, Zara noticed that her tone betrayed her—trembling a little between words. In addition, she seemed to breathe with some difficulty, though she hid it as best she could.
The princess frowned. It was obvious that wound was worse than she wanted to admit. But why? the princess thought.
"Shadow, how did you get that wound?"
"You remember that tracker your sister had, right?" she said, with much more noticeable pauses. "I used one of your brother's attacks to destroy it."
Zara frowned.
"I won't be able to use my arm at full capacity, but it should improve by the time we reach Fisherman's Rest."
"Shadow, it's obvious you need a doctor—or at least an extended rest," the princess said, making her concern clear. New chapters come out on g.com first.
"Who do you think you're worried about, child? I told you, I've been through worse."
"'Worse things' have almost killed you, sister," Derek added, poking his head over Zara's shoulder. "It won't hurt to rest a little."
"Since when are you the one worrying about me?" the woman said, smiling slightly.
Though she seemed fine, Zara couldn't help but think the wound was more serious than it appeared.
"Still, I vote we detour and take a rest. I still think you need it."
"We're not taking any rest." As she finished the sentence, Shadow noticed she suddenly lost her balance.
It was fast, momentary—her entire world came crashing down. She managed to grip the reins to stay upright, though it didn't seem to have relieved her discomfort.
"Ugh. What was that?" She recovered without anything happening, but both Zara and Derek noticed something was wrong.
"Sister, are you okay?"
Shadow brought her hand to her head. She felt dizzy—the sensation didn't completely go away.
"Shadow, tell me again how you got that wound?" This time it was Zara who spoke, her voice full of concern.
"I already told you." She turned, her eyes seeming unable to focus well. "I made your brother hit me with one of his attacks..."
"What kind of attack?" She seemed much more worried than before.
Shadow stopped the horse. She could no longer hide her discomfort. She breathed with difficulty, was sweating too much, and looked pale.
"How to explain it," said Derek, now much more nervous about the situation. "A red cut—very powerful, I should add."
Zara opened her eyes in horror. She turned to the wound. The bleeding had been stopped by the improvised bandage, but that wasn't what worried her.
"Shadow, listen to me!"
The woman was getting dizzier with each passing second; she could barely hear the princess's words.
"Shadow, you mustn't lose consciousness! Strengthen your spirit!"
She vaguely managed to hear Zara's order. Strengthen my spirit? What does she mean? She thought as she felt herself fading.
"Sister? What's happening to her, Zara!?"
"You idiot! You let yourself get hit by a spiritual cut!"
"What the hell is that?" Those were the last words Shadow managed to say before falling unconscious to one side, collapsing against the ground.
"Sister!" Derek jumped off the horse, followed by Zara.
Quickly, they took her pulse. It was weakening, as was her breathing.
"It's serious, isn't it?" said Derek, on the verge of tears. For a moment, Zara had forgotten they were family.
She had to think of something fast. Derek didn't seem to fully understand, but Shadow needed to be treated quickly.
She searched her memory. She had studied ways to treat such a wound. She cursed under her breath for not remembering the necessary processes clearly, though she suspected they wouldn't help much in their situation.
"Zara." Derek tugged at her dress to snap her out of her trance. "Is there something we can do, right?"
No, don't look at me like that, Zara thought. She knew something like this could happen. It was an extremely dangerous mission.
But still, she couldn't deny something. It was thanks to them that she was here. For the first time in her life, she had seen things she could only have dreamed of before. And for that, she was immensely grateful.
"Damn it. I'm supposed to be the princess," she said as she crouched down, lifting Shadow to lean on her shoulder. "Help me get her up—she's heavy!"
Together, they lifted the unconscious woman onto the horse, then climbed on themselves.
"And now what?" said Derek, taking the reins.
"Ride! As fast as you can!"
"We wouldn't make it to the village in time—it's two days away!"
"Not to the port! There's a chance!"
A chance, as slim as it seemed. Of all her studies, the only one Zara had paid real attention to was geography. She knew the continent's maps from top to bottom.
"Keep going! There's a fork—we'll take the left path!"
Following her orders without a second thought, Derek made the horse begin galloping at full speed once more.
"There's a village—not far. We should be able to make it in time," she said, holding Shadow tightly to keep her from falling off the horse. "They must have a healer."
That was it—she clung to a possibility. She knew that if she was wrong, Shadow would die. But from her perspective, she owed the woman too much. Even if it cost her all her strength, she wouldn't let her die.