I don’t need to know. The next few days will be full of tension between the countries. There will be blame. Isaac will be pulled and pushed all over.
As you’d expect. Are you with Blair?
I put the phone face down so the screen won’t light up if he messages again. Blair is sleeping now, her breathing level and steady. When she wakes in the morning, she’ll realise that this isn’t a nightmare; instead it’s reality’s cruel joke.
I lie on my back and manoeuvre Blair onto my chest, feeling her weight against me, her hair across my skin. My own heart begins to slow and my eyelids drop.
I don’t want her to be in pain. I don’t want her to hurt.
I never did.
Sixteen Years Ago
“It’s a tree survey. I need to account for the elms and assess their health.”
“But Dad… this isn’t why I’ve come here.” It sounds like a moan and I hate it, but I wanted to spend time helping him, a chance to talk to him. A chance to ask if I could stay here rather than going back to my aunt’s.
“It’ll take you a couple of hours. And it means I save a couple of hours so we can go to the Drovers for dinner tonight.” He smiles, that big smile I crave.
“Aye. I’ll do it.”
“There’s a good lad. You know what you’re looking for?”
I nod. I know what an elm looks like.
“And you can work the maze out?”
Again, I nod. I’ve helped Dad out with the maze a lot already.
“Good. I need you to do a rough map of where they are and notes on how they look.” He describes what I’m looking for.
I should be pissed off that I can’t roam about and enjoy my summer, but there isn’t anywhere for me to enjoy it. Here I have space, no one interfering. A chance to tell Dad what’s happening back in Lewis.
I walk over to the maze, the lap of the waters in the loch loud and clear. An osprey hovers in the air for its dinner and I stop to watch.
It’s then that I notice her.
She’s small and blonde and doesn’t look Scottish. Her shoulders are narrow and she’s tiny, reminds me of a pixie. A boy a little bit younger than me comes after her, says something to her that I can’t hear. I see her little shoulders square up to him and he runs away, laughing.
It’s the King’s children. The blonde girl is the princess. She doesn’t look like a princess.
I stop and sit down, watch her as she walks about the garden, picking flowers. She looks lonely.
And pretty.
It starts to rain. It’s not something that bothers me; I live on the islands right in the north and rain is a constant, but I’d expect a princess to hide from it.
She doesn’t. Instead she starts to twirl and tries to catch the raindrops. I hear her laughter and see her becoming wetter and wetter.
I’m curious. And even though she’s far more important than I’ll ever be, she doesn’t feel that different. A little bit wild. Dancing in the rain.
I stand up. The trees need to be mapped. Treated. I head to the maze.
I don’t think I ever came out of there.
Chapter Two
Morning brings with it a grey light that barely creeps in between the curtains. Blair lies awake in my arms, her skin warm against mine.
