Cottage in the Woods

"Welcome to Leslie's whorehouse, gentlemen! We have all the best ladies—"

The commander slammed his fist on a table, making Leslie shrink back behind her counter. He scanned his eyes around and scowled at whoever dared to look. "We have been told two wanted subjects are taking shelter in this house. We're here to bring them back to Isolde."

"We don't take orders from Isolde." Leslie scoffed, squinting her tiny eyes. "Besides, how are we supposed to know these people? What do they look like?"

"It's the prin--"

The commander raised a fist to stop his subordinate so he could continue, "we're going to search every single room in this house. If you want to keep your head on your neck, do not get in our way."

As no one dared to object, the commander turned back to his men, "I will search upstairs, one man downstairs, the others stay here and make sure nobody leaves."

A guard rushed forward and whispered to him, "should we send more people in, commander?"

"We're not sending ten men to catch a street rat and a girl," the commander grumbled. "Stop questioning what I asked you to do and follow my order."

"Yes, commander."

"If you see the prisoner, kill him," he said loudly to the guards but made sure everyone else heard it too. "Attack the important subject if you must, but keep this one alive. Prince Egon's order."

"Yes, commander!"

Everyone made way for the commander as he headed to the wooden staircase. On the first floor, he met a long corridor with numerous doors on each side. He started from the closest one, banging his fist on it until someone answered, but it was always the prostitutes and their clients who cowered or huddled in the corner as soon as they saw him.

In every room he passed echoed the moaning and laughing and the sound of bedframe slamming against the wall, but one room caught his attention as it was suspiciously quiet. He stopped and banged on the door. "Open the door! Prince Egon's order!"

As he got nothing but silence, he raised his fist, about to try again before he had to use the last resort and kick the door down.

Click! The door was pulled open.

He saw Rowan waving at him as Reyna jumped out and shattered a vase over his head. He stumbled back, losing his balance on the broken pieces and one jolt of her knee to his crotch made him drop to the floor. The princess drew out her sword before the man could get up, but as she raised it above her head, she stopped abruptly.

He took the opportunity to kick her in the knees and stood up when her body hit the ground. He raised his blade to strike, but Rowan charged straight at him and cut his throat with Stefan's hunting knife. Blood splashed all over Reyna's clothes and face as the guard collapsed right in front of her.

Rowan immediately dropped his weapon. He stepped around the dead body and wrapped his arms around her, her body had gone stiff and her face was pallid.

She knew that man. He had been her mother's guard for the longest time before he was her brother's. He used to carry Reyna on his shoulders when she was small, but today he was going to hurt her and she had to watch Rowan kill him.

"Peach! Are you okay, love?" Rowan frantically asked as he used his sleeves to wipe the blood off her face.

She kept gawking at the body lying in its pool of blood. "He—He was going to hurt me."

"But you're okay now." Rowan held her face, turning her eyes back on him. "I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise."

"Guys! Terrible news—Holy shit!" Stefan covered his mouth, grasping the door so he wouldn't faint. "That—That's a dead body! A bloody dead body in the middle of our room!"

He looked at Reyna first as she was the one covered in blood, but Rowan didn't give him a chance to assume it was her.

"I did it," he said and continued to clean Reyna's face. "I had to. He was going to hurt Peach."

"Well, what are you still doing here then?! You have to go!" Stefan hopped over the dead body to pick up the swords and Reyna's satchel. "I was downstairs when they arrived! They said they'd kill you and I'm sure the 'important subject' they mentioned was Rain. They would take her back to the castle for that bastard Egon!"

"Over my dead body."

"I'm pretty sure that was what they meant, Rowan." Stefan rolled his eyes as he shut the door and locked it.

"We have to jump out of the window," Reyna spoke, causing the men to freeze. Stefan opened his mouth but she shushed him and darted across the room to lean out of the ugly squared window.

"I think if we fall into the giant haystack down there, we'll be fine."

"Oh, she's serious then," Stefan mumbled, taking a shaky deep breath.

Rowan exhaled through his mouth as Stefan gave him a nudge. "Fine. I'll go first and I'll catch yo—PEACH!"

Both men fled to the window, poking their heads out and sighing in relief when they saw that Reyna was fine. She pushed herself out of the haystack and stood up, fixing her clothes like it was no big deal.

"Wow, that was sexy," Stefan said, and Rowan shoved him out of the window.

Screaming, he slumped into the haystack and Reyna pulled him out of there so Rowan could jump. Rowan landed with a sharp cry, making Reyna push Stefan aside and drop down on her knees beside him. She carefully rolled up his sleeve to find blood soaking through the cloth around his wound.

"Rowan, you're--"

"Don't worry," he told her, pushing himself up. "Come on. We have to go."

"This way!" Stefan told them and Rowan quickly followed, but Reyna didn't move. A young girl was looking straight at her. Before she could react, the girl picked up her dress and ran away. It took Reyna only two seconds to recognise her.

It was the same girl she had kicked out of her brother's chamber when she needed to speak to him about Jo. That girl remembered her. That girl knew she was the Princess. That girl must be one of Leslie's prostitutes and the one who had ratted them out.

Shit.

"Peach!"

"Coming!" she shouted back and raced after Rowan and Stefan.

.

.

.

Five men were guarding the stable door as they looked for Thunder and Lightning. Reyna joined Rowan and Stefan behind a wall, leaning her back against it as her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths.

"They're going to take our horses," she said, squeezing her eyes shut.

"They can't," Stefan turned to her, "I already hid Thunder and Lightning where they couldn't find. But we have to cross the stable to get there."

"Shit," Reyna muttered, looking at Rowan. "Maybe each of us can take down two guards? I'm sure Stefan can handle one."

Stefan flinched. "I'm not sure about that..."

"Bad idea," Rowan said, making his friend sigh in relief. "We cannot make a scene. Willem's men are everywhere in this area. They could shoot us if we show our faces."

"So what are we--"

"They went this way!" the female voice made them all jump.

"That sneaky little bitch!" Reyna muttered.

"Who?" Stefan asked but she didn't care to answer. She looked around and spotted a hay wagon nearby.

"There! Hide in there!"

"We're diving into hay again?"

"You don't get to be opinionated now, Zuko!" she scolded him and forced him onto the wagon. They lay down together for Stefan to cover them with hay. Nobody had seen Stefan run away with them so those guards didn't bother to take a second look at him when they passed by.

He held his breath until they were gone and turned back to the wagon to tell his friends, "I'll get the horses for you and we'll get out of here."

"Stefan, wait!" Reyna said as she heard his hurried footsteps fading. Rowan pulled her to his chest and started rubbing her back to put her at ease.

"He'll be back, just trust him," he said, and she gave a nod, nuzzling his neck and closing her eyes.

Suddenly, they heard a voice. "They killed the commander."

"Fuck that little bitch," spoke another guard. "The Prince won't be happy. He wants her back before his coronation."

Coronation?! Reyna covered her mouth with her hand, her heart almost stopped. If her brother was having a coronation, it meant...it meant -- She couldn't even finish that thought. She couldn't accept it. Her mind went blank for a second and she heard Rowan asking if she was okay, but she couldn't tell him. If she removed her hand, she would start sobbing so loud she wouldn't be able to stop. So she buried her face into his chest and forced herself not to cry.

They lay there for a long moment until the wagon began to move. Reyna knew it wasn't Stefan because whoever was riding the wagon was too quiet. As she and Rowan were trying to figure out what to do next, this person spoke to them, "your friend will catch up with us. I already told him where to find you."

It was a woman.

Rowan muttered into Reyna's hand something sounded like "what the fuck?" but she only glowered at him and asked the lady, "who are you?"

"Someone who wants to help," she said. "Now be quiet. And trust me."

They didn't have any other choice. Their fate was in this woman's hand, so this could either be the luckiest day of their life, or the very last.

.

.

.

As the room faded into view, the first thing Rowan saw was two beautiful women staring down at him. He thought one of them was Rain, but when the blinding light started fading, he realised he had never met either of them. His eyelids fluttered as he kept on blinking. He thought he was dead for this was what heaven looked like in his imagination, he'd be surrounded by beautiful women, but if he was in heaven, where was Peach?

"Where's Peach?!" He sat up straight, causing the girls to jump away from the bed.

"Who?" the taller one asked before giving a smile. "Oh, you mean the girl?"

"I thought her name was Rain," said the other.

"I thought so, too."

"Who are you?!" Rowan's face twisted as he shifted his eyes back and forth between the girls. They exchanged some funny looks while giggling, which made him more confused.

"I'm Mary, and this is my older sister, May," said the tall one, "I was the one who saved you in the village. Don't worry, you're safe here in our home. You passed out on the way here so we brought you inside. Rain just went out a moment ago for some fresh air."

"Where are we?" Rowan asked, still breathing hard.

"I wish I could give you a specific answer. But all we can say is that you're in the middle of the woods with two beautiful ladies," Mary said, making May scoff as she swatted her on the arm.

"We don't have friends or even neighbours so we're so happy to have you here." With a beam, May handed him a cup of tea, but he shook his head and waited for his brain to catch up with what they were saying.

"So the two of you live alone in the woods?"

"Yes, but we've been living here for a very long time. We have another sister who's away at the moment. Her name is Maggie, you'd like her. But by the time she gets back, you might not be here anymore."

Rowan rubbed his forehead, his eyebrows knitted. "Isn't it dangerous for the three of you to live here on your own? Aren't you afraid?"

"Oh, we're not afraid," said May.

"In fact, danger should be afraid of us." Mary laughed along with her sister, but then she noticed the blood soaking through his sleeve and she gasped. "Oh sweet thing, you're hurt!"

"It's okay." He pulled his arm away before she could take it. "I got this wound a few nights ago. It must be bleeding again because I jumped out of a window."

He expected them to question why he'd done such a crazy thing, but those ladies didn't even seem surprised, as if people jumping out of windows was a normal thing that they saw every day.

"Come with me," Mary said as she grabbed his hand, pulling him up. "Lucky for you, I know a lot about medicinal herbs."

As he hesitated to stand, she chuckled. "Are you still worried about your lady?"

"Is she all right?"

"Yes. But you're not, so worry about yourself," Mary said as she led him to a different room.

This one was smaller, with two narrow rectangular windows for sunlight to enter, but not enough to brighten the whole room. There were dry flowers hanging on the ceiling and crooked shelves on the walls that kept jars in various shapes and sizes and clay pots of exotic plants.

Mary told him to wait at the dusty table in the middle of the room while she prepared the herbs. He took some time to look around before she returned and pulled up a chair. She sat in front of him, their knees touching.

"This is what I'd like to call my medical room," she said and gave him a reassuring smile. "Pull up your shirt."

"What?"

"Pull up your shirt."

"But I'm not--"

Mary pulled up his shirt before he could stop her and his eyes stretched as he saw the large bruises on his torso. Mary released a breathy laugh and began to apply the herbs topically. Her fingertips felt cold against his skin, making him shiver and she would stop to make sure he was okay before she continued.

When they both looked up and made eye contact, he shyly looked away. He heard her giggle as his heart started beating like a drum, but when he saw the bloodstain on his other sleeve, he thought about Rain.

Mary let down his shirt and went for the wound on his arm. He hissed when she applied the herbs to it and breathed out steadily once he had gotten used to the burn.

"So the girl, Peach," she said, smirking at the nickname. "Is she your lover?"

"No."

"Really?" She arched an eyebrow. He said nothing, so she went on, "well, if I were your lover, I'd be very jealous of how much you care about her."

"She's my friend, so there's nothing wrong with me caring about her," he said, sounding more like he was explaining to himself than to the girl. "Besides, I'm not in love with anyone."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Mary said and pressed her red lips into a smile.

Rowan was no stranger to having women flirt with him so he knew exactly what Mary was doing. The tingling feeling in his stomach made him shift on his chair, but he soon realised it was only because this woman looked like Rain, not exactly the same, but enough to make him feel something he shouldn't.

He decided to change the subject, "this must be the herbs Stefan mentioned. He told me he'd get them for my wound."

"Impossible." Mary scoffed. "These are very rare. My oldest sister had to bring them back from the highest mountain in the East. So unless your friend often travels there, I assume he was talking about the ordinary kind, you know, the useless one."

Rowan laughed along at the joke. He had a few questions about this mysterious sister but didn't think it was necessary to ask, so he went on, "you said that Stefan knew we were here, right?"

"Yeah, I saw him hide you two in my hay wagon, so I offered to help and told him to bring the horses here tonight. It's too risky to go during the day as those Northerners are everywhere in the village now." Mary rolled her eyes, pursing her lips as she started dressing his wound. "Why are they after you anyway?"

Rowan stayed silent, his eyes shifted to his lap.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Mary chuckled as she finally finished and cleaned her hands with a cloth.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

As she gave him another smile, he had to ask, "do you always help strangers like us?"

"Only the ones who deserve our help."

"And how do you know who deserves it?"

"We just know." Mary gave a shrug and kissed his arm before standing up. "We're done, love. You're good to go."

.

.

.

Reyna had never seen the sky so blue. She was used to the washed-out grey so characteristic of wintry afternoons that when she stepped outside, she thought she was lost in a daydream. She sat on the grass, hugging her knees to her chest, just watching the clouds float across the pretty blue sky and forgetting how much time had passed since she got there.

The weather felt like a kiss of summer without the fiery heat, and the grass was a soft green with a hint of yellow. Seeing all these vibrant colours instead of the usual dull grey and white, she knew she was close to her destination. But the invisible weight resting against her chest didn't allow her to feel any sense of joy.

Her father was dead. She'd watched the person she cared about kill someone she'd known her whole life. She'd even dragged poor Stefan into this mess and made him risk his life for her.

And Rowan, her Rowan...

Had they been caught at the brothel, he would have been killed. They only wanted to keep her alive because she was the princess. Rowan didn't matter to them. They didn't care about the life he used to have, his dreams, his family, all of which mattered so much to Reyna that she wouldn't forgive herself if he never got to have them again.

"Hey."

She flinched and turned around, smiling as she saw him approach. The sun was slowly sinking into the woods and painting the sky shades of red and pink. Rowan sat down by her side, resting his elbows on his knees, one hand holding the other wrist.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah." She tucked a strand behind her ear and took his arm to check the wound. "Wow, the girls did a pretty good job."

"They really did." He chuckled. "I think they're witches."

"They saved us, didn't they?" She lifted her shoulders in a half shrug. "If they're witches then they're good ones, and we should be thankful."

As he said nothing and kept gazing at her, she bashfully wiped her cheeks, thinking there was something on her face and was perplexed as he let out a soft laugh and held her hands to stop her.

"I just think you're very...pretty," he said, making her blush.

"You think I'm pretty?"

Rowan gave a shy nod, and her heart felt like it could explode. That feeling of ecstatic elation was so out of this world, yet it disappeared as she woke up from her short-lived daydream. Despite knowing this would not last, a part of her was still holding onto that fantasy, in which they met as different people at a different time and maybe then they would have fallen in love.

But the reality was this, them sitting side by side, silently wishing they could live in this moment forever until their shadow started shrinking towards their feet and they knew 'forever' had come to an end.

Reyna wrapped her arms around herself, her skin cooled by the breeze. Rowan noticed so he asked, "do you want to go inside?"

She shook her head. "Can we just enjoy this beautiful sunset for a bit more?"

"Okay." His mouth twitched as he watched her watching the sky. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. What's wrong with you?" She chuckled, turning to look at him but his serious expression remained.

"Are you really fine?" He paused to let her answer. To his disappointment, she gave him nothing.

She wished she could tell him everything, from her true identity to all the demons that were chasing after her, to the childhood memories she refused to let go, to that summer day at the Vidarr River with the boy who had saved her life, to how she was falling in love with that boy and had not realised it until this very moment, to how much it scared her that she would ruin him before he could love her in return.

Everything.

How sad it was that their entire relationship had been built upon a lie. Would he still treat her this way if he knew who she was? Or would he look at her in disgust and assume she was just like every other Callistos? Or worse, he could hate her for lying to him.

Before this day, she had feared that he would hurt her. But now, she just wanted to protect him from everything bad in the world, including herself.

"Peach..."

She jerked away when he reached out his hand to touch her shoulder. The look on his face almost broke her heart. He was shocked, but he'd seen it coming. His hand fell back to his lap as he broke eye contact, his mouth opening and closing as if he had run out of words to say. She wanted to tell him it wasn't something he'd done but she didn't know how to even begin so she let him get up and walk back to the cottage.

Watching him go, she wondered if she should stop him and tell him the truth, but a voice in the distance knocked her out of her own head, "Rain!"

"Stefan!" Reyna got up quickly and ran to Stefan as he got off Thunder's back and gave her a big hug.

She held his face, laughing with her mouth wide open. "You're here! I was so worried!"

"You were?"

"Yeah, I thought they got you." She pulled him in for another hug, closing her eyes. "God, I'm so relieved."

Stefan was hesitant to return the hug but once his arms had locked around her, he didn't let go. She was the one who pulled away and turned to Thunder, giving her horse a warm hug as well.

"Where's Lightning?" she asked Stefan as the smile slipped from her face. "Did they take her?"

"No, I would come back for her tomorrow. Leaving the village with both of them would've been too suspicious."

"You're right. Thank you so much for helping us." She smiled, patting him on the back. "Come with me. Rowan will be so happy to see you."

"Wait, Rain," he stopped her in her tracks.

She turned around, raising her eyebrows at him. "Yes, Stefan?"

Stefan took a deep breath, stepping closer and running his fingers through his short brown curls. His cheeks were flushed from the cold as night fell which made her wonder why he was reluctant to go inside.

"I have to tell you something."

"Oh, okay..." Her lips parted as she tensed her shoulders while hugging herself. She hoped he wasn't going to break some terrible news. Even though she couldn't guess what it was, she didn't think her heart could handle it.

And she was right.

Stefan took her hand as he got down on one knee and she recoiled in shock, her eyes bulging. "What are you do--"

"Marry me."

"What?! This isn't funny, Stefan. Get up."

"No, this is not a joke. I love you, Rain." He reached for her other hand but she withdrew both and took two steps backwards, shaking her head.

"No, you can't. You can't!" She kneaded her forehead, her breaths quickened. "Look, you are a nice man and--and I-I'm very flattered. But you don't want to be with me--"

"But I do. I want to be with you so much and I want to be the one who takes care of you--"

"No, stop!" She covered her ears and he hurriedly followed as she walked away.

"You'll be happier with me. You can finally have a family and a home. You don't have to keep on running!"

"I have a family and a home!" She turned around, raising her voice, "I'm going back to Theros. That's my home, and my uncle is the only family I need."

"How do you know your uncle is still alive, Rain?"

"I just know, all right? And you--God, Stefan, please don't make this harder. I can't...I can't marry you."

Stefan shoved his hands into his pockets and let out a sharp breath, his head hung. She sucked in her lips while picking at her nails. She kept shifting from one foot to the other, unable to stand still as her heart was beating so loud in her ears. She thought she knew what he was going to say. She was praying he wouldn't say it.

"You're in love with Rowan."

"No," she blurted, shaking her head.

"But you are, Rain."

"I'm not in love with Rowan. I'm not in love with anyone. Not even myself." She held her head, holding back her tears as her voice trembled. "I'm not what you think I am. I'm...I'm trouble--"

"I can handle it, like today--"

"Today could have been worse. We could've been killed. And we might not be lucky like today if they find us again, Stefan. I--"

I broke my father's heart and killed him. I denied my responsibility and betrayed my kingdom. I put innocent people like you and Rowan in danger. I don't deserve to be loved.

"Hey, it's all right," Stefan spoke as Reyna couldn't finish what she was saying. He put his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close as she unclenched her fists and let her arms dangle at her sides.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "I don't know about your past, and I don't care how awful you think it was, because I know you have a good heart and you deserve to be happy. I lost my family too, so I understand what it's like to feel like you don't deserve what your loved ones couldn't have. But we can change that. Marry me and let's be happy together. We'll have a normal life just like you've always wanted."

Reyna took a deep breath and slowly lifted her hands to rest them on his back. Though she knew her heart would break if she chose not to break Stefan's heart, it could be the only way this could end without anyone getting hurt.