The Exiled King's Guard

Chapter 7: New Friends?

It felt like I was approaching the ground in slow motion. But instead I was caught by someone and hit my jaw against a very bony shoulder.

“Are you alright, miss?” I heard someone ask. Rubbing my jaw I looked up to see a young and frail looking boy staring at me apprehensively.

“Oh Jeff, good, you saved this nice lady, I was so scared when I saw her stumbling. Hi miss, I am Tina, this is Jeff. Are you alright? Are you feeling well?” A girl slightly younger looking, appeared at his shoulder, talking a mile a minute.

“Why aren’t you saying anything. Oh my God, you cant speak can you? Don’t worry, we will help you. Here let me take this” she started grabbing the clothes I was carrying. The smile that was beginning to form on my face instantly disappeared.

“No!” I said, maybe a tad too forcefully. s**t. Backtracking I said, “I mean, I am sorry, its just, these are my husband’s clothes that I had been looking to wash someplace. He wont like it if I inconvenience you.” I lied smoothly.

“Oh why didn’t you say so before?” I would, if you let me speak I said in my head.

“Christina! Don’t overwhelm the lady! She almost had a fall! Miss are you okay? There is a doctor in this village, do you want to maybe go there?” the boy chastised her.

Oh, this was a good opportunity to get my leg checked out. “Actually, I had hurt my leg previously, which is why I lost balance. If you could tell me where it is, I can pay him a visit”

“Don’t worry, we can take you there”

What! No! “ But I must go to my husband first” I lied, trying to get away from this, whatever this duo was.

“Okay that’s fine. The festival doesn’t get any fun till sunset anyway.” She linked her arm in mine and started walking. Sighing, I fell in step beside her. I guess I was stuck.

“ You know we ran away from home to come to this festival, it is supposed to be so good. Jeff here was so scared, you would think he is younger than me, but he is my older brother. I come of age in a few months, so as you can imagine, this is my last chance. My parents have already decided to get me married. Why cant I come when I am married, one would think. Well, my fiancé is sooo smart, but he is really boring, he definitely wont bring me here…”

She kept on talking and I lost track at some point, my attention shifting to my surroundings, I had a distinct feeling I was being watched. I snapped up my head looking around, forgetting to be discreet. I thought I saw someone near a set of trees, but it was difficult to tell now the sun was starting to set.

“Ashley, you are back. Who are your friends?” I was distracted by Zach’s voice. I looked at him, he was giving me a what the hell look.

“Oh this is Tina and Jeff. They helped me out when I almost injured myself again and offered to take me to the doctor. You know how clumsy I am, love.” I replied plastering on a fake smile.

His eyes went even wider, if that was possible, eyebrows disappearing into his hairline.

“Come on, honey. Don’t give me that look, I try.” I walked over to him, giving him his clothes and a meaningful look, indicating that he better not blow this cover.

He sighed, clearly displeased but didn’t say anything. Soon we made our way into the village, heading towards the doctor. Tina talking my ear off the whole way. I caught Jeff's eyes and he gave me an apologetic look, I smiled back and shrugged indicating it was no trouble. Zach seemed to be in a bad mood, silently brooding all the way through. Fortunately, neither Jeff nor Tina were interested in poking the bear. I was wondering what had gotten into him but it had to wait till later, we couldn’t risk being exposed. Acting like a docile wife and grumpy husband were our best bets.

We reached the doctor, fortunately, I did not have a broken bone, it was a sprain. He bandaged my leg properly and suggested rest. I was still internally laughing at the irony as we stepped out to meet Zach and Jeff, since they had not been allowed inside during the examination.

They both suddenly stopped whatever they were talking about, to my surprise. Zach turned to look at me, a weird expression on his face, and he looked at me from head to toe, as if looking at me for the first time. He then rose abruptly from his seat and offered me his arm.

“All done sweetheart? What did the doctor say?”

“Its is just a sprain, so nothing to worry about. The doctor said she should rest, I told him we would make sure of that.” Tina piped up immediately. “ We should head to the festival now, the bonfire is starting” she added excitement gleaming in her eyes.

Nodding mutely, I allowed myself to be led into the mayhem of the festival. My arm still linked in Zach’s. I was confused and uncomfortable the entire time. And it didn’t help that Zach kept stealing glances at me when he thought I wasn’t looking. What was happening? Was it just for the sake of our cover? There seemed to be more to it, we were believable even when he was grumpy.

We reached the bonfire and joined the festivities, there was drinking and dancing already happening. Zach brought us all beers and was again very courteous towards me. It was so uncomfortable that I even forgot to wonder where he found the money.

We were pulled into the dancing crowd and I watched as the other three let loose, not able to dance with my sprained leg. Not that I wanted to anyway. Tina and Zach were being very goofy, making me laugh.

Suddenly, I felt that prickly feeling again, like I was being watched.