The Silence After The Kiss

I woke up to the sound of something scraping against stone.

 

The cave was dim. The fire from the night before had been reduced to a small pile of glowing embers. A new small pot sat over the embers. I felt the weight of the blanket on my shoulders and the lingering phantom sensation of her lips on mine.

 

I didn't move for a long moment. My mind was a mess of questions I wasn't ready to ask.

 

Elara was already awake. She was crouched by the fire, her blonde hair tied back messily. She looked up when she heard me shift. I saw a glimpse of her face, her expression was unreadable. Then she reached into a leather pouch and pulled out a piece of dried meat.

 

She tossed the jerky toward me. I caught it with stiff fingers.

 

"Here, food." she said.

 

Her voice was calm. Too calm. She didn't look at me as she went back to stirring the pot of melting snow. I chewed the jerky slowly watching her. My mind kept jumping back to the kiss. The way she had pulled me down. The desperation in her eyes.

 

Does she not remember what happened yesterday?

 

She acted as if nothing had changed. There was no blush on her cheeks. No hesitation in her movements. I swallowed the salty meat and decided to follow her lead. If she wanted to pretend like nothing had happened then I would do the same. For now, survival was more important.

 

She finished boiling the snow and poured the water into a small metal cup. She walked over and handed it to me.

 

"Here. It is hot so be careful," she whispered. She paused and her gaze dropped to the floor. "Also, Julius. Thank you for yesterday."

 

I took the cup. The heat seeped into my palms and felt like the only real thing in this frozen hell.

 

"It was nothing," I said. My voice was raspy. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here today too. So, thank you."

 

She looked up then. Her eyes began to shine with a light I hadn't seen since we were children. She gave me a smile so pure and genuine that it made my chest ache. It wasn't the smile of a villainess. It wasn't the mask of a princess. It was just Elara.

 

I looked away first. I couldn't handle that look.

 

I stood up and walked toward the entrance of the cave. The heavy snow had stopped falling. The wind made a low sound instead of a scream now. I looked up at the grey sky and scanned the cliffs. The frost vultures were nowhere to be seen.

 

"The blizzard is slower now," I said. "And the vultures are gone too. It is the perfect time to move."

 

"Yeah," she replied. I heard her packing the few supplies we had left. "I was going to say the same thing. I was just waiting for you to wake up."

 

We moved quickly. I checked my belt and felt the weight of the sword I had taken from her carriage. It was a fine imperial blade but it felt wrong in my hand. I wasn't used to its weight but it was all I had.

 

"Also Julius. Why did you bring this here?"

 

I turned back. Elara was standing by the remains of the fire. In her hand she held the black steel dagger.

 

My heart skipped a beat. Seeing it in her hand felt like a premonition.

 

"Give it back," I said. My voice was sharper than I intended.

 

She didn't hand it over. She gripped the hilt and looked at me with a steady gaze.

 

"You have my sword but I have nothing to protect myself with," she said. "I need it."

 

I stared at her. Every instinct I had told me to take it away. That dagger was the instrument of my death. It was the weapon she had used to end my life in the future I was trying to prevent. But looking at her now, she was just a girl trapped in a mountain range filled with monsters.

 

"Fine," I muttered. "Keep it for now."

 

We left the cave and began to walk back towards the site of the crashed carriage. We reached the carriage after some time. It was a skeleton of wood and twisted metal now. The vultures had been busy. They had torn the leather seats to shreds and flipped the frame over.

 

"The frost vultures must have turned their attention here after the horses," I said.

 

The ground beside it was stained with dark frozen blood.

 

The blood was spread in wide ugly patterns. It looked like a battlefield. Did the monsters fight among themselves? I wondered.

 

"Elara. Go check the carriage if there is anything useful left."

 

"Sure."

 

She climbed into the wreckage while I scouted the perimeter. My boots sank deep into the fresh powder. I looked up at the path we had fallen from. Climbing back up was not an option. The slope was too steep and the snow looked ready to slide again at the slightest vibration.

 

If the backup hasn’t arrived by now, then that means the rest are in trouble too. The knights and the servants must have been buried or scattered.

 

That left us with one choice.

 

"We have to go north," I told her when she emerged with a small bag of rations. "If these are the Everfrost Mountains then the trade routes lie to the north along the valley. It is the only way out."

 

She nodded. She looked tired but she didn't complain.

 

We moved along the base of the valley. Slopes of snow and rock rose high on either side of us. Some distance forward, we found the first sign of the others. Horse carcasses lay twisted in the snow. Their stomachs had been ripped open.

 

Beside them, the snow was splattered with bright red blood. Human blood.

 

Elara stopped. Her jaw tightened and she gritted her teeth. She recognized the horses’ saddles.

 

"Those were my knights," she whispered.

 

We searched the area. We looked behind every boulder and inside every crevice. We found nothing. No survivors. No wounded. Not even the bodies of the men who had bled out on the snow.

 

"Did the vultures swallow them whole?" I asked myself.

 

The silence of the mountain was starting to feel heavy. It was like the world was erasing the evidence of our existence.

 

"Elara. Let's go. It is not safe to stay here."

 

"Yeah. Let's go."

 

We kept moving.

 

We found the remains of the servants' carriage further ahead.

 

It was a total wreck. The wooden frame had been crushed by falling rocks. Inside, I saw the remains of people I had seen alive only a day ago. They were crushed beyond recognition.

 

There was nothing for us there. Only the smell of blood and the cold.

 

The sun began to dip behind the peaks. The wind began to pick up again. A new blizzard was brewing.

 

We found another shallow cave and ducked inside just as the white wall of snow hit. I started a fire with the magic lighter. The orange light flickered against the walls.

 

I handed Elara some food but she didn't eat. She sat staring into the flames. She wasn't acting like her usual self. The playful princess was gone. Even the vulnerable girl from the ice cave was gone. She was silent and distant.

 

I thought she needed space so I stood near the entrance to watch the dark.

 

The snow was a blur of white static. I squinted into the gloom. Then I saw it. A shape.

 

A figure was staggering through the storm. It moved slowly like it was dragging its feet. My heart leaped.

 

"Here!" I shouted. I waved my hand over my head. "Over here!"

 

I felt a rush of relief. Another survivor.

 

The figure came closer.

 

Suddenly a shadow blurred past me.

 

It was Elara. She moved with a speed that shouldn't have been possible in the deep snow. Before I could even shout her name, she reached the man. The black steel dagger flashed in the firelight.

 

She stabbed him directly in the head.

 

The man dropped like a stone. He didn't even scream.

 

I ran forward and grabbed her shoulder. I spun her around and my heart was pounding with rage.

 

"Do you have any idea what you just did?" I roared. "That was one of your men!"

 

Elara didn't flinch. She didn't even look at me. Her face was a mask of cold stone. She reached down and pulled the dagger from the man's head with a wet crunch. She kicked the body forward into the snow and raised the blade again pointing it into the dark.

 

Her eyes were golden and freezing.

 

"Show yourself," she commanded.

 

I froze. I looked past her into the blizzard.

 

A woman stepped out of the dark. She wore long dark robes that were torn at the end. She didn't look like any of the knights or the servants. A Nameless. She stood there watching us with a faint twisted smile.

 

Elara's hand tightened on the dagger. I heard her whisper to herself.

 

"Tsk. Why her of everyone else."