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“I know. It’s alright now.” His voice was like velvet.

My breathing steadied and my body slowly began to relax at the sound of his voice and warmth of his touch. After a moment, my cries turned into small whimpers. Eventually, I fell quiet as the feeling of being safe took over the once paralyzing fear.

He held me there for some time, and before I knew it I was drifting off to sleep in his arms.

CHAPTER EIGHT

When I awoke, the sun had already risen high above the trees. I slowly sat up and rubbed my tired eyes. I noticed I was covered in a blanket that wasn’t mine, but Elias’s. This suddenly jogged my memory of the previous night.

The nightmare felt vastly different from my recurring dream of the wolf. The fear. The pain. It all felt real, like it was happening in real time. So much so that when I awoke screaming, aftermath of the pain still flowed through me.

And my mother. I hadn’t dreamt of my mother in what could have been years.

I tried to ground myself and come back to the here and now. I was in the forest, heading to Zolmara. With Elias.

Elias.

Memories flooded in of Elias comforting me. He was gentle and loving and hadmade me feel safe.

I began to look around, searching for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. My heart skipped a few beats and I quickly got up and continued to scan the thick forest from where I stood. Had he left? Did my reaction to the nightmare scare him off? But then I looked down and saw that his pack was still lying on the ground along with some of his other belongings. A sense of relief hit me, realizing he must still be around.

The sound of ruffling foliage from my left broke the silence of the early morning. I quickly turned, hand on my knife. I began unsheathing it, when a voice came through the trees.

“Relax, Princess. It’s only me,” came Elias’s sensuous voice. My shoulders softened and I replaced my knife in its sheath as I watched Elias appear from the trees. His handmade bow was strung over his shoulder, and he carried two rabbits in his hands. “I thought you might be hungry,” he said to me when he saw me staring at them.

“Starving, actually,” I confessed. Elias laid the dead rabbits onto the ground and began making a fire. “You’re a master hunter, Elias,” I praised, excited to be getting another full meal.

“And you are the chef today,” he responded. “I’m going to show you how to gut them and cook them properly.”

My stomach churned a little. The day prior, I had looked away while he did all the gutting. I supposed I had to learn how to do it sooner or later.

I pulled out my knife, and Elias showed me exactly where to make a nick in the skin so the fur was easiest to peel off. He then showed me the ins and outs of the poor creature, confirming which innards to remove and which were okay to eat. He skinned and gutted his own rabbit while I did mine. At first, I couldn’t stop the squeamish feeling the crept over my skin. But once the rabbits were over the fire and smelling delightful, I felt accomplished.

And I appreciated the meal even more. It wasn’t cooked for me ina kitchen full of chefs. It wasn’t laid out on a table for me with spices and garnishes. I worked for it. And that felt good.

As I sat and watched the fire dance around my next meal, I reminisced about the previous night. I began to remember the stars, and how Elias’s pointless task he gave me led to the most beautiful sight I ever beheld. I remembered the fiery touch of his skin as he held me while I sobbed and trembled.

“If you would like,” his voice broke through my thoughts, “we can stay and rest here for today.” This seemed to be his way of telling me he hadn’t forgotten the night’s event either, but that he wouldn’t pry for information.

I thought about if for a moment, but it only made sense to continue on. “We’re only a few days out from Rimor,” I stated. “The longer we rest, the quicker we may be caught.”

Elias only nodded in agreement.

It was difficult to imagine that underneath Elias’s hard, brooding exterior was a man full of kindness and selflessness. But how else could I explain the stars? How else could I explain the way he held me and calmed my fears? I wondered if things would be different now. If he would speak more kindly, or if he would begin to open up to me.

I was thankful that he hadn’t asked about my night terror. I did not want to talk about it. As someone who doesn’t talk much about himself, it was apparent that he wouldn’t interrogate me, for which I was grateful. Skinning the rabbit also helped to occupy my mind, which very well may have been Elias’s plan all along.

We finished our rabbits along with some berries I had picked the day before and began packing our things. We continued our journey through the endless woods, with little talking. I did notice Elias turned back to look at me more than usual. A few times, it appeared he was going to say something then decided against it. I focusedfull-heartedly on following his steps, trying to prevent my mind from wandering off to the terrible nightmare.

After maybe two hours of walking, I began to hear the distant sound of rushing water. Within minutes, we found ourselves at the edge of a river.

“Is this Rebellia River?” I asked Elias.

“Yes,” he answered as he lowered his pack to the ground.

Rebellia River was a very large, very long river that some way or another flowed into the canals of all of the Four Kingdoms. The rapids moved quickly and aggressively.

“The current is stronger than I thought it would be,” Elias muttered.