Smoke and Mirrors (28)

Twenty-Eight

Leaving

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“You need to leave–quickly,” Advisor Rin announced the next morning at breakfast. His eyes met almost every one of the people at the table, save for his family. “All of you. The men that broke in will likely try to return and I will not let it be said that I’m a poor host.” He nodded to himself, as if reassuring that this was all he could do.

I gripped the hem of my dress tightly. When breakfast was over, I tried to speak with Advisor Rin, but many of his guests also wanted an audience with him, it seemed.

If people had phones here, things would be so much simpler.

Finally, the crowd seemed to thin, so I took the opportunity to approach him. Without Adrian to do all the talking for me, I felt lost and afraid. I was a complete stranger here without him.

“Advisor Rin?” I asked softly, giving a shallow curtsy.

His eyes widened when he saw me and he bowed deeply. “Yes, your Highness?”

The corner of my lips lifted a little, then dropped again. “We need to talk. It’s important.”

His lips thinned, but he nodded. “Of course, your Highness. Follow me, if you will.”

He turned and I followed him to his office. I left the door open and sat in a chair opposite of his own, across his desk.

“What is the trouble, Highness?” he asked.

I bit my lip and gazed out the window behind his head. There wasn’t much to see–grey, wispy skies and bleak hills laced the scene. “It’s about Sterling. I–well, he’s still not awake, and I’m not sure how I’ll transport him. And with Adrian gone–” I sucked in a breath as my stomach clenched with nerves. “Well, Adrian’s gone. I can’t just leave him–I have to find him! He’s risked so much to follow me out here.” My voice cracked and I cursed my weakness. After all, I was a princess. I should be strong now, not weak.

His eyes softened and he looked away. “I have my own guards out searching for any sign of him.” He met my gaze. “I can’t promise that he’ll receive no harm, but people are searching for him.” He cleared his throat. “As for your betrothed–”

“--Not for long,” I muttered under my breath.

“--I will give you a horse, as well as provisions for your journey. Adrian informed me of your trip, and I must say, it is indeed urgent. Why, just days ago we had an incident with an ice Talent–”

“Yes, Sir. I saw the damage done in the streets. The same is happening in many of the kingdoms at the moment.” I inhaled, bracing myself for my request. “Can you spare a guard? To protect us on our journey?” It was the only plan I could think of that would ensure Sterling did nothing to me if he awoke.

His eyes widened. “A guard?” He seemed to think the idea over. “I. . . I’m not sure, your Highness. I mean–well, none of these guards have watched over someone as important as you. Most of them are new, and well, if anything went wrong. . .” He met my eyes and threaded his fingers together. “Well, your Highness–and I do hope to mend this some day, but as of right now, our kingdoms are not entirely on peaceful terms at the moment.”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t even know we weren’t on peaceful terms.

He continued, “So you see, if anything were to happen to you, the blame would. . . well, the blame would fall back on my kingdom. It’s best for the sake of peace if I. . . well, if I don’t get involved, your Highness.”

I licked my dry lips and ran a hand through my hair. “I understand, Advisor Rin. Thank you.” I wasn’t sure what I was thanking him for, to be honest. Because of staying in his home, I’d lost my cousin, my bodyguard, and my dear friend. I never knew if I’d see him again and that thought scared me.

“Yes, of course, your Highness. I am indeed sorry–I wish it could be more. But you will have a horse and provisions, that I can assure you.”

We parted ways and I returned to my room to pack the newly acquired pajamas and dress the advisor’s maids had given me. I picked up the box Adrian and I had found in the Hall of Shadows and held it closely to my chest, as if that would bring him back.

If only I could peek into reflections like Sterling could. I would search everywhere I could for Adrian.

After I packed, I ventured down the hall to find Sterling. I opened the door to his room and froze.

My eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room. A spark of fire from the fireplace shot out with a pop and floated in the air like a pixie until it disappeared in the darkness. But that was normal.

–What wasn’t normal was that the single strand of dark hair around Sterling’s head was no longer alone. Now it was accompanied by an entire head-full of black hair the color of a raven’s feathers, or a piece of coal.

The color was so foriegn on his pale features, it was almost like he wore a dark wig.

I swallowed and closed the door before moving to his side. Someone dressed him, so he no longer wore just a bandage, although I was sure that still hid under his shirt. He wore his normal silver tunic suit. The threads of the shirt shined in the firelight like it had been freshly washed, which it likely had. The maids here seemed to be incredibly observant and quick.

“I will help you carry him to your house, your Highness,” a voice spoke from behind me.

I held back a yelp and turned to see one of the male servants standing in the doorway. I smiled and nodded. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”

After my belongings were tied down to the horse and Sterling was situated–by ‘situated’ I mean tied down–just in front of me, I awkwardly held the reins and stared at the ground cautiously.

I hated heights. This horse was pretty tall and I’d never ridden a horse before. Well, actually, I was invited to a birthday party of a classmate back on the Outside many years ago. There were ponies there, but I only rode the pony because my classmate’s mom made her invite me and ponies are way smaller than horses.

“Don’t worry about controlling the horse, your Highness,” the servant said, sensing my unease. “They’re smart enough to know where you need to go.”

Well this horse had better be smarter than me, because I didn’t even know where we were going. I just knew I wanted to find Adrian and I needed Sterling to wake up before I could access the next clue–assuming Seraphina hadn’t decided to grow easy on us suddenly and just give me the unicorn horn.

I took off at a slow trot, easing myself into the feeling of riding. Sterling jostled with the horse’s movements, as did I.

The best thing I could do would be to turn back and go home. What else was I supposed to do? I needed Sterling–or at least a powerful reflection Talent like him–to get the clue out of the mirror box, and father needed to be told of Adrian’s disappearance. And the intriguing conversation I overheard between the fire Talent and the Advisor.

I replayed the conversation in my head.

“You promised you would obey us. Your family will pay for your dishonesty.”

What did that mean?

Our journey felt longer without Adrian. The silence of the shadowy woods was growing thicker as we went, ringing in my ears until I could no longer tell if things were truly that quiet, or if I’d gone deaf. Even the horse’s hooves against the ground made no noise, and I realised that must mean we’d been shut out of the shadow towns. Things were like this when we first arrived, but Adrian had been there to break the silence then. Now I was alone–I didn’t count Sterling.

My nose began to tickle and I knew a sneeze was coming. I tried to fight it off, but it just seemed to grow until–

I sneezed. Water sloshed down from me as if I tossed a large bucket of water on ourselves. The horse neighed and I felt it tense beneath me.

“Sorry buddy,” I whispered, reaching around Sterling’s slumped-over form to pat the horse’s head.

Something happened then that I hadn’t planned.

Sterling grabbed my wrist.

I sucked in a breath and froze. The horse stopped walking as well, as if it sensed I was panicked.

Slowly–hesitantly–I pulled my wrist away from Sterling’s hand. He mumbled something and sucked in a sharp breath. I stilled again.

I felt Sterling tense then and he began speaking in another language–one I didn’t understand. When I first came to the Inside, one of the guards explained to me that there were different languages for every kingdom, as well as one main language that was spoken by anyone from the Inside. We spoke the main language, so I rashioned that Sterling must have been speaking in a dialect from his own kingdom.

Then he jerked suddenly and I yelped and fell off the horse.

My grey skirts went tumbling around me as I landed on the ground. There was a faint noise to greet my fall, but outside of that, the sound wouldn’t have been any different if a feather had hit the ground.

I groaned as the damp ground met me, dirtying up my outfit. Why couldn’t I keep an outfit nice? This kingdom should be called ‘The Land Where Nice Clothes Die’, not ‘Rafforun’.

I pushed myself up and walked the horse to a nearby protruding tree root, which I stepped on to get on the horse easier.

After slinging myself back onto the horse, I inhaled a deep sigh of relief and we began moving again. Sterling was still asleep, which really calmed my racing heart. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if he suddenly woke up.

Later that night I had to stop the horse. I was falling asleep in the saddle and that most certainly wasn’t a good thing to do.

I tied the horse to a thin branch and began hunting for a spring to replace what I’d drank, and to water the horse. Unfortunately, there was none. This meant I’d be losing more water that I wasn’t sure I’d be getting back, and father said it was very important for water talents to stay hydrated.

I opened my leather sack and dug out a shallow hole before lining it with the empty draw-string sack, which I filled with water for the horse to drink. I took a small swig before tucking the cantine back into my other sack. The horse drank almost all of the water there, but left some.

I frowned at the horse. “We can't waste anything, buddy.” He didn’t seem to respond to my chiding though. If I had an extra container, I’d pack the leftover water up for the horse to drink later on.

I sat down and opened a parcel of dried fish–a sorry-for-your-troubles gift from the Advisor. It was dry and salty, which made me want more water, but I refrained. I needed to make it last.

What I wouldn’t give to have a bowl of ramen about now. . .

I glanced over at the horse, which was grazing on some kind of dark grey grass at the base of a tree. Sterling was still tied down, which nagged at my conscience. Sure he was still asleep, but the awkward way his head was dangling from the horse’s back made me feel bad.

Huffing, I stood and untied him, then pulled him down slowly and laid him in the dirt.

Adrian said he needed to be kept warm for his fever–which was contrary to normal fevers–so I gathered a pile of sticks nearby him and tried my best to get the fire started. It felt easier now that I had absorbed the fire from the disaster at the Advisor’s house. Right away, a decent-sized fire began.

I grinned at my success and pulled Sterling a tad closer to it.

Then I pulled out a small tin from my satchel and poured the horse’s leftover water into it, then set it inside the fire.

It was incredible to be able to reach into the fire with my bare hands and not feel a thing. I just had to make sure my sleeves were rolled up. When the tin of water had warmed, I withdrew it and sat beside Sterling.

Sure, sure. Maybe it wasn’t the best thing to pour water that a horse drank out of all over a person’s face. But you know what? This wasn’t just a person, it was Sterling. And this would arguably help him, so in the end, I was just doing the best I could to get him better.

–And also grinning like a devil while doing it.

But hey, what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

I shook out the last of the water on his forehead, then laid down beside the opposite side of the fire and fell asleep.

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Author note: Random fact but at the moment (as of writing chapter 43, since I write ahead of what you read) the word 'guard' is mentioned 136 times??? Also, as of chapter 43, Smoke and Mirrors is 93k words long!!! This could end up being my longest book yet! (The Art of Deception was 98k I think) I'm not exactly sure how much is left to the book, but I'm thinking it's currently just over the halfway mark. Guess we'll see....

Also, a book idea is slowly piecing itself together for another book that may take place in the same world as SaM. Not sure if it'll happen or not, but I have a couple books I'm thinking may take place in the same world. I wouldn't hold my breath though, I don't tend to be good with writing book series XD