Page 66 of Dark Elf's Good Girl
“Grab whatever you’d like from the stash and I’ll cook it for you.”
I select tins of food at random and sit idly by as Aiken makes a bahru of sorts. I look around us, listening to the sounds of the night time forest. Unknowingly, I’m bouncing my leg up and down as I glance upon the road we were traveling on.
“Are you okay?” asks Aiken.
“Are you sure no one will follow us? Maybe I’m just being paranoid.”
“I don’t blame you, nor can I guarantee no one is on our tail, but here’s the thing. An incident like the one at the cabin is sure to stew up some bad rumors about my family should that news become public. My guess is that it’s going to be covered up. Mother and Father have too much pride to go after me.”
“That’s reassuring,” I sigh. “I just ought to relax. If not for you then I’d likely be dead by now.”
“Don’t say such things.”
“I mean it. Who knows what Calix had planned for me. You and I may be on the run right now but there’s no other place I’d rather be than with you. I don’t care if there’s no home to go to because… Well, you’re my home, Aiken.”
“As are you, Isla,” he says with a smile as he extends a bowl out to me.
Together, we dine side by side, enjoying a moment of serenity in a time of instability. The food isn’t exactly gourmet given the quality of the ingredients but it somehow tastes better than anything I had inside the manor. I admire Aiken as he eats, putting it down to the company I have with me.
“I still can’t believe I’m free,” I say after finishing my food.
“Calix still legally owns the rights to you, but only on Orthani soil. We’re headed in the direction of another continent by the name of Vhoig, which means a whole other jurisdiction. You’ll be a free woman there.”
“Would they not uphold another city’s laws?”
“At one time, Vhoig would have done so. Recently though, there’s been tension between the two continents, so all mutual upholding of the law has disintegrated. For us, that’s a good thing.”
“Either way, I’m never going back to Calix. It’s a shame about Lorien though.”
“I agree,” nods Aiken. “She has been more of a mother to me than my real one. That says something.”
“So you won’t mind if I call your mother a bitch?” I chuckle.
“Say it louder for the both of us,” quips Aiken, sparking an outburst of laughter between us. We move closer when the laughter calms down.
“I’ll miss Lorien. She helped me a lot with my feelings about you.”
“She did?” asks Aiken. “It seems like she gave you some damn good advice.”
He takes me into his arms again as we recline our heads against the side of the carriage, gazing up at the star kissed sky. For some time, we sit there in silence, the fire keeping us warm. After a while, we move into the carriage where we spend the rest of the night sleeping inside.
We wake in each other’s arms. Our bodies are stiff from the small space inside the carriage, but it beats being strapped down and tortured for hours. It’s not long before we get going on the road again after erasing all traces of a fire.
The journey stretches on for some time, bringing with it a change of scenery. There comes the sound of flowing water in the distance. I keep an eye out, excited for what it may be.
After pulling a sharp turn around a giant boulder, the carriage powers up another incline. Upon reaching the top, the hill drops and reveals a magnificent water nearby.
“Would you look at that?” I marvel.
“It’s breathtaking,” gasps Aiken. “Like you.”
“Aiken, I know we must keep moving but let’s come back here one day, when things have settled down.”
He smiles and nods in agreement, then gestures up ahead.
“We won’t have to be moving for much longer.”
I look straight, seeing the edge of the forest. Beyond is the precipice of a hill, my heart rate escalating with exhilaration as we draw nearer to it. Upon reaching it, Aiken brings the carriage to a stop where we hop off and rush to the hilltop.