When Your Dusk Arrives

Chapter 2

"What should we do now, Laynie?" said Keven fearfully.

They were inside Laynie's room, standing on the wooden floor. The prince lay spread-eagled on her bed, asleep, his chest rising and falling slowly. They had to drag him all the way to her room because he was to heavy to lift, finally throwing him on her bed.

She and Keven had dressed his wouunds, which, fortunately were not as bad as Laynie had thought and most of the dried blood on his clothes was not his, but someone else.

"How would I know?" snapped Laynie. She couldn't understand, why had the prince arrived at her doorstep, injured and unconscious at that?

'If any one had seen him...' she shuddered at the thought. Laynie grabbed her hair, thinking hard.

They couldn't just drag him someplace else nor take him to any of the villagers, so their only option was to keep him in her house but what if the King's men came for him? What if they dragged her or even Keven to prison for being discovered, hiding their beloved Crown Prince Victor in a tiny cottage? She had no idea what to do, not a single idea.

She looked at Keven, who stared back, his eyes full of fear. Keven knew what could happen to them, knew the consequences of what they had seen and done, even though they hadn't done anything in the first place but reality was cruel, the aristocracy, the royals were nothing but cruel, to them, to commoners.

"Laynie... " whispered Keven, his face pale with worry.

Laynie grasped his shoulders and shook him slightly, "Don't be a worrywart, Keven. It's all going to be fine, okay?"

She stared fixed in his eyes until he slowly nodded his head, "Good," she smiled lightly, trying to make him feel better, but said seriously, "Here's what we are going to do, we'll keep him here till he's better enough to travel back to whereever he came from. The palace is far in the capital, it would take the King's men months to travel here, so we can keep him for awhile."

"But... isn't it still a... gambl-" began Keven, but she cut him off, "I know it's a gamble, they could travel more quickly by magic but it would still take them some time, enough time for him to get better, so it's going to be alright, Keven."

He nodded again, his face less pale now.

Laynie smiled again, and looked up at the window. The sun had already began its descent, casting a warm golden glow over the landscape, the vibrant colors of the day slowly faded into the dusky hues of twilight, the birds flying back to their cozy nests.

***

Deep in his slumber, Victor groaned in pain.

It was early in the morning, the sun only half-way up the horizon and the slightly cloudy sky still a pinkish violet.

Laynie stared at the ceiling, Keven snoring loudly beside her.