I chuckle and turn around, pausing when I see the Prince’s commanding figure in the middle of the road. He watches me as I hoist back into Millie’s saddle.
“Lady Alexis,” he greets as I ride up next to him.
I give him another small bow and look at the road ahead, “Your Highness.”
“He’ll hold you to it,” Keane says quietly, flicking Ash into a walk beside Millie.
“I intend to hold myself to it,” I nod.
“Is that before or after you and your Knowledge crew head into Woodlands?” Keane asks sarcastically.
I sigh, “most likely after. Will you deny me?”
“Entry to Fumagalli?”
I swear I hear a twinge of astonishment in his voice as I nod.
“No,” he replies hard, “never.”
Keane turns to me from atop Ash, close enough that our legs are just a hands width apart. He leans in and tries to catch my gaze, the call of my name beckoning on his lips.
“Alexis…”
The pull of his voice tugs deep in my heart, proving in that one small word how much I’ve come to care for him. It begs me to talk to him, to engage how we always have, but my guilt is still tearing a hole in my stomach and all I can do is remain quiet.
“Do you fear me?” he asks quietly.
I watch him shift atop Ash after he asks the question.
“Anyone would be naïve not to fear you, Highness,” I admit.
“Do I scare you?” he corrects, hands gripping his reins tight.
“I would be lying if I told you there were no times in which the being of you didn’t instill a level of fear within me,” I reply, “but no, you do not scare me.”
The Prince relaxes significantly at my words, his hands releasing their tight grip, “then you resent me for killing the man?”
“No,” I shake my head, “I don’t.”
Keane takes a deep breath in relief, though his confused gaze is still burning into my side. I spot our group peeking out from the woods down the road just as he continues.
“Then what is this? Why are you-”
“-With your leave, Highness.”
I kick Millie into a trot and join the group without his permission, feeling Keane’s frown on my back.
We take an early lunch deep within the Black Forest, our group stopped on the side of the main road under a large canopy of trees. The air is cool around us, the gloomy and quiet forest matching my own mood.
The four of us from Knowledge sit in a small circle and pass around Margaret’s food in silence, while Alanna and Barnes sit a ways away and the Prince and Desmond stand farther in the woods. Keane has his arms crossed in front of him, a stance reserved for when he’s thinking deeply about something, and I notice that the gash on his hand from the Plains isalready shining a bright white, the new scar a tribute to how fast the Discerni can heal.
We ride swift on the portions of the road that continue straight for some while and only switch to a trot when the curves twist around the forest. Our ride ends up being a drastic change to the slow-moving one we took leading to Fumagalli, with the full of our group finding no leisure this time as we trek through the dark woods.
Stormfall wakes up briefly after the noon apex to do some hunting, our group watching as he maneuvers stealthily through the trees. His dark wings soar through the woods before he disappears for short periods of time, only to show up with a lizard or other small animal in his beak and swallowing it whole. Holis and I are still on the lookout for tracks that’ll lead us to a larger animal, but so far we’ve came up short.
The flap of wings from behind prompts me to hold out my hand for Storm to land on, but the Bird of Ash flies right past me and weaves over the heads of our small group. His talons sink on the Prince’s right shoulder in surprise, causing Keane to startle as he turns his head in question. Stormfall chirps in response and dips his head, reaching out to Keane’s hand as he brings it up to stroke his chest.
“Traitor,” I mumble, watching as the Bird of Ash preens into the Prince. Aside from myself, Keane is the first and only person in which Stormfall has perched onto, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
