The Promised Heir

Chapter two

I woke up the next morning with a smile on my face, the events of yesterday still fresh in my mind. Humming a song Nonna taught me when I was little, I decided to make breakfast. “Somebody is cheerful today” Nonna said behind me startling me that the eggs in my hand fell to the ground. We looked at each other and burst into laughter. “I’ve missed times like this,” she said, trying to clear her throat. I smiled at that and gave her a doughy hug. After breakfast,I tried to keep myself busy, mending nets, oiling the kettle, rearranging my books. I tried crocheting too.After trying to make a blanket which ended up looking like an unfinished cap with a tail and two abnormally shaped feet, I gave up. I was restless, the captain’s voice kept echoing in my head, through everything and I couldn’t get rid of it. “I’m gonna go take a dip” I yelled to nobody in particular hoping Nonna heard me. Taking the rest of the cookie I made , I headed to the same spot the events of yesterday occured. Fastening my robe around me I walked the woods with hope that I would see him. Something unexplainable kept tugging me towards the wood and I headed .I told myself I would not look for him. I told myself I would be sensible. I was not sensible.

I went to the spot where the Rogues circled me. I sat on the moss and watched the grass, listening for hoof or foot, telling myself I simply enjoyed the way the light fell there and I wasn’t waiting for anyone. Dusk came and nothing came. I rose to my feet about to leave, when my foot caught a tree root. “Foolish tree” I yelled in frustration. I unhooked my foot.

What came next I would have missed if my leg hadn’t caught the root, lying tangled in the grass is a necklace, an old looking necklace with writings in the pendant. I picked up and dropped it my pocket. “ It must have fallen from his neck” I thought to myself. At least I got something out of this. I skipped happily to the waterfall where I drowned myself in water and left for the cottage. The second day I returned at dawn. Nothing.The third day, The fourth day, Nobody came, it was like nothing ever happened and the forest was back to it’s usual dull.

By the fifth morning, I’d grown tired and irritable. I had almost stopped expecting anything walking towards the same spot i sat these past three days, the necklace fastened around my neck whenI saw him sitting cross-legged on a low branch as if it was the most comfortable sit he in the world . An apple sat in one palm,the other rested on his knee. He looked up and smiled with at me, lile he was expecting me to show up.

“Care for an apple,” he said, and the words were a small miracle.

I couldn’t believe my eyes, I blinked to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. He it’s really there

“I don’t mind.” My voice came out breathy. He jumped from the three and landed three feet in front of me. “An apple for the lady” he said. I took it from him with hands i forced to remain steady. “Sit with me Oriana”.

We sat on the carpet grass beneath him tree, my knees pulled to my chest. Up close he smelled of iron and smoke. His scent enough to make my cheeks heat up He brushed a scrap of bark from his trousers as we ate the apples in silence.

“I looked for you in the village,” he admitted, dropping the remainder of apple into his lap. “No one in the market knew who you were. The baker shook his head. Even the girls your age said they’ve never seen you. I even asked at the inn, they thought I was joking. It’s strange.”

“Strange indeed. His admission unspooled something inside of me. “You looked for me” I asked again. He looked at me in mystery “Yes I did, Oriana”

My name in his mouth felt like melted butter on dough, I had to pull my cloak to prevent him from seeing the redness of my ears.

“I’m Damian,” he said, as if dropping a coin into an open palm. “Captain of the guard.” He looked at me in expectation “you never got my name”

“Damian.” I repeated the name and felt its weight. I said it again, soft and curious, as if repeating it might reveal more about him to me. The syllables rolled in me like stones in a quiet stream. It was such a simple name and yet it began to sit in my chest the way a seed settles into dirt. He smiled at me then.

We talked until dusk, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. He told me small things, what the role of a captain meant and how he had come to be. Told me his favorite things to do, made me laugh till I was embarrassed of the sound of my laughter. “ Enough of me, tell me about you,” he said. I told him a little. He didn’t bother to ask me for more, maybe he didn’t care but I was grateful for the escape. Carefully, he looked me in the eyes, his dominance barely managing to be concealed “about the other night, with the wolves” I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. “Rogues” I whispered and he nodded. “ We’ve been trying to come to an agreement with them, the king is trying to get a treaty in place and soon we’d stop to fear tgem and maybe we”ll learn of how they come with the ability of shifting at will.” His face has a sort of longing as he said the last part like he missed a part of him that should never have had to be restricted. “That would be wonderful, wouldn’t it Oriana” he said. I gave him a little smile, an ache forming inside me. I couldn’t tell him that I don’t share in the same excitement as he did. “Why were the rogues here if you were trying to make a deal with them?” I asked out of the blue. He looked at me, held my hands and said “That's what we’re trying to figure out.”. We talked some more, he listened with the kind of attention that made me feel like a child and I didn’t want him to leave.

“Come, I’ll walk you home” he had his hands stretched towards me pulling me from the ground. His hands were firm, they held mine with such strength that I began to turn red again. “There’s a bit of color on your face” he whispered into my ears, my heart raced, he was so close to my face. For a moment I was expecting him to kiss me. “Lead the way” he whispered into my ears again and brought me out of my thoughts.

He no longer was close to me. “I can manage on my own” I said. With curiosity brimming in his face “You said that the last time, what are you hiding Oriana?”

I only looked at him, smiled and disappeared into the woods, I kept turning back to make sure he wasn’t following me. When I was sure I wasn’t being tailed. I jumped in the air and did a little twirl. I hummed all the way back to the cot with a giant smile on my face.

Nonna was already at the table with dinner already prepared waiting for me. “You’re late today” I did not tell her of the morning nor of the man that had learned my name and sat with me under the tree or of the necklace fastened around my neck.I only smiled and told her I was out by the river. She had no idea.