The Illyrian Series: The Oracle Of Rosedale

"We're here." Maury's voice coupled with the early sunlight streaming through the window wakes me up. "Down the road is Charlton."

I sit up and stare groggily around. Malin and Violet are outside having a cup of tea with Maury. "You're finally awake." Violet says.

"I was up all day yesterday." I yawn. "What tea is that?"

"Who knows?" Maury shrugs. "Do you want some?"

"I'm alright." I go back inside the room and change into black leather pants, a white flannel shirt and a black leather jacket. When I'm done packing my things, I untie Apple and the other horses from a leash at the back of the boat.

"Thank you for the ride Maury, and the talk." I say as Violet hands him his payment.

"You're welcome, if you're ever in the area. Feel free to pop in."

"We will." Violet promises. Maury lowers his plank and we cross over to dry ground. We wave bye as he maneaovers his old boat away. "We have two options. Ride through the capital, Heston. Or go through the forest."

"How long will each take?" Malin asks.

"Capital, two. Forest three."

I think. "Rainey's holding King Evander and my mother off for a month. We've been travelling for almost three weeks. Are we even halfway there?"

Violet consults the map. "Kind of." She says. "We still have places to travel through."

"We'll never make it back in time."

Malin frowns. "You're going back?”

"Well yes, after the quest."

He scoffs. "You're being serious. I thought we were going back to Illyria as soon as we were done."

My heart threatens to leap out of my chest. "I can't, I have things to do."

"Things like what.?" His tone is sharp. "I believed you, I actually thought you were trying to do better."

"I am."

"Then why are you going back there?"

"My mother is there, important things are there. I can't just leave it all behind."

"But you can leave us, again?" His eyes are red.

"I don't know how this quest is going end. I don't know what's going to happen, I'm still trying to sort things out.'

"Well sort them out faster, because it's not just your fate you're deciding. It's the two million Illyrians still waiting for someone to rescue them." He bashes my shoulder as he walks past.

Violet doesn't look at me. "Forest, it is."

We get on our horses and ride through the thick forest. Violet and Malin ahead, me behind. And just like that, he's back to hating me.

I was always going back to Caledonia after this, to retrieve some personal items, to see if I could sneak mother out, I don't know. I can't just go back to Illyria, that's crazy. There are hundreds of Caledonian guards patrolling everywhere, especially the capital. The castle is under so much protection, it's impenetrable.

We weave past narrow roads and I narrowly miss getting slapped in the face by low branches. Violet speaks after two hours of relative silence.

"This is so uncomfortable, can we please pass through the capital?" She asks.

"What's the point, it's not like we're in a rush." He turns back to me. "You know, I thought you were so interested in finishing this quest because you just couldn't wait to help Illyrians. Turns out, you have a time limit."

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"City it is." Violet decides. She steers her horse in a different direction. "Ah." She slaps her forehead. "Mosquitoes."

"I'm sorry." I say.

"I'm tired of apologies." Malin follows after her.

"What do you want me to do?"

"How about answering that question for yourself?”

What do I want to do? I want to make everything go back to normal. But that's not possible. It hasn't been possible for years.

***

"Isn't this better?" Violet moves through a flood of people on the busy cobblestone street. On either side of us is big buildings, houses, bakeries, pubs, boutiques. "We've been travelling through villages so long, I'd almost forgotten what civilization looks like."

I keep my voice down, I need to be extra careful here. It's not like the royal family spend their days roaming through the streets. I doubt they'll even still recognize me after so long.

We stay at an inn that night. "Four gold coins per room. That's ridiculous." Violet complains.

"Rates are higher in the capitol." Malin says simply.

"Do we have to get two rooms, we're running low on money. With food, and your new dress and shoes."

"That was an emergency." I defend.

"Money’s tight. And I don't think we'll meet any more desperate fishermen on the way."

"Adria has some things we can sell. Or maybe she'll keep it and because of her selfish decisions, everyone else will suffer." Malin folds his arms across his chest.

I walk out of the inn and lean on the side of the building. The smell of piss is heavy in the late evening air.

"Adria." Violet says. "Are you okay?" I shake my head, my eyes are brimming with tears. She surprises me by pulling me into a hug. "It's alright."

I sniff. "You're hugging me, you've never done this before."

"I know." She sighs and surprises me further by saying, "he shouldn't have said that." I sniff again. "That was very wrong of him."

"I'm selfish."

"No, you're not." She insists. "You're scared, you don't want to lose your mother."

I wipe my eyes. "No one wants to lose their mother."

She coughs. "That's not true." Before I can ask what that means, she says. "If you oppose King Evander while she's there, he'll kill her. You don't want to lose another parent."

I lean against the wall. "I thought I could save her. Run in, grab her and leave. That's not possible."

She leans on the wall beside me. "Will you? Sacrifice her for Illyria, I mean."

"Please don't ask me that." I'm scared of what she'll think if I say no.

She shivers and wraps her arms around her body. "It might rain tonight, our bout of good weather is ending soon."

I use my palm to wipe my tears. "Let's go."

We pass the inn's door and go straight upstairs to room 24. The room is better than the ones we previously stayed at. The drapes are a light blue and are pulled back now. The bed is Queen sized and bombarded with pillows.

"Where's Malin?"

"In the room next door." I nod.

It does rain that night. Everywhere is wet the next morning. We get our horses and brave the day's journey out of the capitol. Malin and I don't talk to each other the whole day. I don't want to talk to him, he doesn't want to talk to me.

We reach the borders around evening. We cross it and ride at full speed across the planes. An hour later, we reach a little village.

We ride into a barn filled with hay. We don't even assemble our tents, just find a pile and lay down. Around midnight, the moon is high in the sky and the wind is threatening to bring the barn down. I drag my blanket up to my chin and bury myself in more hay.

There's some rustling in the dark. Someone sttles beside me. "Are you awake?” It's Malin. I pretend to be asleep. "I'm sorry." I don't respond. "I shouldn't have said that." I'm still silent. He eventually sighs, gets up and leaves.

The next morning, Malin and I go back to not talking to each other. The silence stretches out all day.

It starts raining in the afternoon. There's not a house or tree in sight, so we ride through the downpour. Half an hour later, it becomes heavier. Soon, we can't see what's happening in front of us.

"We need to stop." I yell over the storm.

"Where?" Violet yells back. There's a flash of lightening, promptly followed by thunder. "Keep your eyes peeled for shelter."

I blink away the water stinging my eyes. I try to keep them open, but the rain is making this impossible. "I see something." Malin yells. "Down there."

I follow his finger to find a large wooden building off the side of the road. We lead our horses through the wet grass and towards the building. It looks even more rickety up close.

"Are you sure this is stable?" I shout.

"We don't have a choice." Violet goes in first. The inside is empty, there are numerous tiny holes in the ceiling, allowing water to drip from them.

Malin shuts the door behind him. Our clothes and all our belongings are soaked. "We need a fire." I shiver. I wring my wet hair and run my fingers through the locks. I remove my coat, flap it and place it on Apple. He shrugs it off.

"Rude." I mutter and pick it up.

Violet searches the empty room. "We need wood for fire."

"I though we didn't need any."

"That's when we have a pit to contain it." She stamps the wooden ground. "We can't make one."

Malin brings out his sword and scrapes it on the floor. He bends down and uses all his energy to rip it off the ground. It comes out in soft pieces. "Are these any good?"

He gathers them in his hand and throws them on the floor in front of Violet. She tries and fails to light them three times. "It's not working."

I sit on the dryest spot I can find. "Let's just set up our tents, we'll dry our things tomorrow."

"It'll take all day, and that's if the sun comes out." Violet argues.

"Then we'll spend the day here, everything is wet. We're tired, sore, injured. Let's just relax tomorrow."

Violet laughs. "I'm so tired, I'm not even going to argue."

She empties her bags. The bread is all soggy and ruined, the pepper has been rinsed off the meat and the cakes are unpalatable. The eggs, fruit and carefully wrapped cheese are we fine though.

We set up our tents, say goodnight and retire in them. I strip out of my clothes and wear the dryest things I could fine, my white nightgown. I'm munching on an apple when I hear something.

Someone pushes aside my tent flap. "Can I?”

I gesture for him to come in. I push aside my lit candle to create space for him in the tent. It's the first time two people have been in it, mine is unfortunately the smallest. There's just enough room for me to lie down and secure my things. With him here, the place is cramped.

He sits on the thick blanket sprawled on the ground. "I know you were awake last night." I don't confirm or deny it. "I'm sorry for what I said, about you being selfish. You're not."

"You make me feel bad about myself. Like I'm a failure."

"I do." He doesn't deny it. "I know you're doing your best."

I don't know why I say this, it isn’t the right time neither could it have ended our argument. "In Rinus Valley, I wasn't just married to anyone. I was married to you." I can see the candlelight flickering on his face, I can't read his expression though. "We were married, and we were happy. And I was happy, and everything was good.

"Then we came out of the trance and I saw you differently, I saw you as more than just my friend. I wanted to tell you, it was never the right time. Then you mentioned Amelia and I felt like an idiot. I don't know what to feel now. I don't hate you or blame you for not liking me, I don't have any right. I just wish... I don't know. That I made you happy."

I finally stop talking. Malin looks down at me, I still can't read his face. The tent is quiet for a really long time. "I... I, uh." He stops. "I wasn't happy in Rinus Valley." He reveals. "I wasn't happy there, I got everything I wanted. Or at least, I thought I wanted, and I wasn't happy."

"What are you saying?"

"Rinus Valley isn't real. None of it was, I was paired with a girl I haven't thought about in 3 years. My father actually liked me, it was unrealistic." I look away from him. "Hey." He places his hand on my cheek and draws my eyes back to his. "What matters is out here."

"What if I say I like you in real life." I whisper.

He kisses my forehead. "I should go. Goodnight, Addy."

"Stay. Please." I'm not ready to let him go.

"I shouldn't." He removes his hands from my cheeks.

"Please." I ask again.

He sighs. "Alright." I blow out my candle and lie down on the blanket. Malin lays down beside me and bunches up his legs. We can't see each other clearly in the dark. I change my position so I can stare into his eyes.

I reach around for his hand in the dark, find it and intertwine our fingers. I keep my eyes on his face and play with his hand. I lean in closer and closer to him. Soon, my lips are only a hairsbreadth from his.

I close the distance and press my lips against his, he doesn't move for a few seconds. He soon kisses me back and places his hand on my back for support. I open my mouth and he slides his tongue in, I let out a tiny gasp and place my hands on his muscled chest.

His hands grip my waist and draw me closer to him. A minute later, he pulls away and let's go of my waist. "You should go to sleep." He places my head on his chest and stares at the roof of my tent.

"Goodnight." I say. He doesn't reply. I relax my head on his chest and focus on his heartbeat as I drift off to sleep.