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“Is that the only threat?” I asked him.

He glanced away, seemingly lost in thought for a moment. I waited patiently, eager to know the answer.

“Predatory animals can be vicious foes as well,” he said finally. “Bears, wolves, cougars. They roam the forests freely and often hungry.”

Wolves. Surely not horse-sized wolves, but wolves nonetheless. I nodded, imagining what it would be like to run into a hungry predator. I shuddered as familiar images of running from a wolf began to dance in my head, but I forced the thought away. I began to wonder how many times I might have the dream during this month-long voyage.

“One of our biggest worries,” he started again, “is some of the mountainous terrain we’ll have to climb. The Forest of Tormentlies behind an entire mountain range. Our only option will be going over, and it’s not going to be easy.”

I knew about the Shadow Peak Mountains, but I guess I hadn’t realized we had to go over them to get to the Forest of Torment. The only other alternative would be to travel close to Sprath, and that I certainly did not want to do. And it seemed neither did Elias.

“Luckily I’m a decent climber,” I said to him. He gave a half nod, and we continued eating our food in silence.

Elias agreed to take the first watch and I was relieved, eyes feeling heavy. The long day’s hike made it a little too easy to for me to fall asleep.

When I awoke the next morning, Elias was repacking his blanket and counting his remaining rations. I shot up, realizing the sun was rising. “Did you stay up the whole night?” I pointed out.

Without turning to look at me, Elias answered with a simple, “Yes.”

“Why would you do that?” I sputtered. “I was supposed to take watch so you could sleep.”

“You can have first watch tonight,” he said, still not facing me.

I rolled my eyes. He was maddening. And yet, I also felt grateful. I wasn’t used to expending so much energy in one day, and my body needed the rest. Maybe he sensed that.

He tossed an apple over his shoulder that would have hit me right over the head if I hadn’t caught it. I glared in his direction.

“Eat up, Princess,” he said, finally turning towards me. “We have a long journey ahead of us.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

The second day went by as quickly as the first. The day consisted of a lot of hiking, this time stopping here and there to eat and fill our canteens with water from a stream. I consistently kept thinking about my father and how he might be reacting to my disappearance. I wondered how many guards he had set after to find me and how likely we were to run into one of them, or if he’d come looking himself.

Regardless, Elias and I were trekking along, being sure to cover our tracks as best we could. We hadn’t been caught yet, which was promising. We had not heard any search parties in our area. In fact, we hadn’t passed a single person. The forest was calm and peaceful, and I was enjoying the quiet tranquility.

On the second night, Elias kept his promise to let me take first watch. As I sat there, snacking on a piece of bread as he slept, my mind began to wander. It’s scary how easy it was for me to trust him.I didn’t know a single thing about him, other than he was not from Rimor and that he had somehow made it to the Forest of Torment and back.

I decided that night, I would try to get to know him better. We were stuck with each other for one long month. Maybe in that time we could learn to become friends.

Elias turned over in his sleep, and I glanced down at him. He looked very serene as he was finally getting the rest he deserved. I wondered if he had watched me as closely while I slept the night before.

When my eyes began to get too heavy, I leaned down to gently nudge him awake. He stood up and stretched his muscular arms, then told me to get some rest. I felt a little guilty not letting him sleep through the night like he did for me. But after the long day’s journey, I was struggling to stay awake any longer. I don’t know how he did it.

Morning came, and we began our journey once again. After hiking for nearly an hour in mostly silence, I finally started a conversation.

“So Elias,” I began, following his steps through the unpathed forest. “You’re not from Rimor?”

He briefly glanced back, but kept moving forward. “Correct,” he said matter-of-factly.

I waited a moment, but he said nothing more. “This is the part where you tell me where you’re from,” I exhorted.

He continued forward, and let out a small breath of air. “Nowhere. I’m from nowhere,” he answered.

I stopped walking. He did the same when he noticed, and turned to face me. “You have to be from somewhere,” I told him. “Where were you born? Where does your family live?”

“I have no family,” Elias responded. My brow raised in confusion. “They died a long time ago.” My expression changed to horror. He turned back around and continued walking.

That’s horrible, I thought. How? When? I did not ask these questionsout loud. I felt like I shouldn’t pry. Maybe he would open up to me at some point, but I didn’t feel it was necessary to reopen such terrible old wounds of someone I barely knew.