A vine snakes its way around my waist and pulls me back. Sorin stands between me and the prince.
“Respectfully,” Sorin starts, “please—”
“Keep your fucking hands off her,” Sam says pushing his way between Sorin and the prince, getting into the prince's face. “You aren’t married yet. You have no rights to her out here. We will play your little games in your palace but right now lay the fuck off.”
My body is tense, but the prince only laughs, his head tilting at Sam. My jaw drops at Sam’s tone and the prince’s reaction, but when I look at Sorin his face is devoid of any surprise. Instead, he only smirks and lets his vine fall from my body. He walks over to Sam and claps him on the back.
“We have a lot to talk about,” Sorin says and they share a meaningful look.
Sam’s gaze darts to mine and the tension leaves his body. When he looks back at Sorin, he raises his eyebrows. An expression Sorin meets with a grin.
The prince has stopped his laughter and studies the two with interest. “I see...” he mutters to himself. Throwing me a smile, he turns his back on us.
“Well, now that we are all reunited. I am exhausted. Let’s head back to the village.”
“Village?” Sorin and I chorus. I take in both the prince’s and Sam’s appearances and realizing their clothes are noticeably less dirty than ours.
“Yes, the village. You both look like you can use a new change of clothes.” The prince looks pointedly at my torn dress.
Sam’s eyes roam over us both. “For once me and prince fuckhead are in agreeance.” His eyes are sparkling when they look back at me. “Come on, they have food.”
My stomach chooses that moment to growl, and I nod my agreement.
“Can we cool it with the insults?” The prince complains.
“Sure, give me your name and I will call you that instead.”
The prince clenches his jaw then turns and walks into the woods.
Sam grabs my hand. “Come on, Lace, we don’t want to miss dinner.” He pulls me with him through the woods and I, of course, follow.
Chapter twenty-five
Dinner and New Friends
Alaceandra
We arrive at a small village. A half-constructed wall surrounds the town. Clusters of cottages line cobblestone streets with roofs made of a soft straw-like material. In each set of cottages, only one holds a door, while the rest seem to be mostly underground.How are those accessed?The exposed walls of each cottage have ornate drawings etched into their surfaces. Some depicting people, others elvisera in mid-flight. Atthe town's center two larger buildings stand above the rest. Their engravings are brightly colored, unlike the other cottages. One has a bright blue sky with soft wispy clouds and the other some kind of storm. I marvel at the engravings. Their details seem to sparkle with some kind of ancient magick.I wonder what other beauties this place holds.No one wandered its streets nor was there any movement that could be seen in the windows of the small cottages with doors. I peer into the woods surrounding the small town and note that that too seemed uninhabited by any person or animal.Where is everyone?Nightfall was almost upon us, the sun almost to its resting place for the night, a slight chill entering the air. The scent of baked goods drifts through the breeze causing my stomach to rumble.Okay so someone must be here…
“Is it safe here?” Sorin asks Sam.
“For now. We have been here a couple days and the people have been friendly. I was transported just outside this town when I arrived. Some creature tried to attack me and one of the children who was playing outside the village.” He smiled. “The adventurous nature of the little one kind of reminded me of Lace, actually. Anyway, I was able to fight the beast off mostly and get to the little girl, but ended up suffering some... minor injuries. That is when I ran into prince tag-along here and he may or may not have helped stitch up the wound.”
“I saved your life,” the prince chimed in. “You would have bled out if it weren’t for me and you still shouldn’t be walking around now. Not that you show any gratitude for it,” the prince mutters.
“Anyway,” Sam continues, ignoring the prince. “The little one led us to this village where we were informed those creatures have been attacking the villagers for months. We have been helping them set up defenses ever since. It has earned us boarding, food and kindness from the villagers.”
“Wait, back up,” I cut in. “You are wounded?”
Sam rolls his eyes. “Minorly. It is not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal my ass, show me.”
“I would disagree....” Sorin mutters.
“What?” I swing my gaze towards him, and he backs up his arms raised in surrender. The prince continues studying us like a puzzle and I glare at him for a second before turning my eyes back on Sam and raising an eyebrow.
Sam purses his lips and lifts his shirt. A huge gash spans his stomach, it is red and irritated, but not at the point where it looks like it might get infected. Stitches line the wound in perfect lines, but the details are lost to the darkness fast approaching. I suck in a breath and Sam pulls his shirt back down.
