| Chapter Four | Gaze of Wrath |

  There was a gentle knock that sounded from somewhere far away, so far that Adara almost did not hear it.  She simply rolled over further into the warm room covers and allowed herself to begin to drift back into her heaven-like sleep. Knuckles tap the wooden door once more, forcing Adara to pry her eyes open and peel the covers from her body.

Adara gasps as she tries to sit up, the pain of her torso radiates through her body. Linen bandages cover her chest and feet, her hands encased in pearly white gloves. She slides gently to the edge of the bed, listening to the sound of a lock unlocking. A click echoes off the walls before the door swings open, rays of light floods inside, stinging Adaras' eyes.

"Good morning," the princess enters the room, her dark hair pulled into a ponytail, a blood-red gown clings to her body with golden fabrics flowering up her dress and at the cuffs of her arms.  She walks across the room, opening all of the curtains in the room to reveal a dreary sky, low clouds that threaten to downpour at any time.  By just looking at the clouds, Adara could almost taste the salty droplets and smell the wet dew on the grass.

  "I am glad to see that you are awake, I was wondering if you would ever wake up," the princess smiles, helping Adara stand up.  "I went ahead and wrapped you up, you're bruises on your chest and midsection look awful bad, but I believe if you keep it wrapped nicely it will heal properly."

  Adara says quietly, "what do you mean you wondered if I'd wake up, how long have I been asleep?"

"You have been sleeping for three days," the princess says. She flounces over to her dresser, rummaging through drawers of clothes. "I convinced my parents to allow you to sleep as long as you would like, considering what they themselves have done." She smiles as she picks up an ocean blue gown with long mesh sleeves and a pair of silver shoes.

"Oh," Adara says. She was unsure of what to say.

"My brother and his men have the supplies prepared for your journey, as well as promising horses in the stables ready to be saddled," the princess sets the dress on the bed along with fresh undergarments. "My father is holding breakfast before the group of you get ready to leave."

"I will leave you to change, and I trust that Cassidy -- the guard outside will escort you to the dining hall with no issues," the princess smiles, an almost dreamy look in her eye. "There are not many people you can trust in our world, but I entrust my life with him, I believe you could as well." The princess offers a curt smile before turning on her heels and leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

Adara runs a hand through her frizzy hair, running another down her face. Three days of sleep and she felt as though she hadn't had any. She takes her clothes off slowly to avoid any extra pain, her bare skin cold and frigid. Adara never favored the cold -- she was born in the deserts of Azourn.  She hated this Kingdom with every inch of her being.

  She slips easily into the fresh clothing and fits her feet into the heels.  The dress was large on her; she was more slim than humans since she was an elf.  She was not only smaller, but also more nimble and thin.  She also had few muscles which kept the mesh arms from looking stretched thin.  Pulling her hair into a ponytail, she stares at the door when there is a small knock.

  It opens to reveal the guard from before, Cassidy, who walks into the room with his hands tucked behind his muscular build. 

  "Morning," Cassidy says, preforming a curt bow.  "As much as I hate to do this, I must by the order of the king," the man says -- Adara understood.  She held out her hands and allows him to cuff her.  He cuffs each wrist, her neck, and her waist, allowing her feet to be free for mobile purposes only.  He thought it to be easier to control her.  She was very resourceful and figured it would be better to please her than punish her.

The walk slow down the hall, slowing more to go down the stairs, and then they came to a stop before the dining hall door. Cassidy took her arm gently, receiving a deathly glare, but he disregards it with care. He did his best to ignore the red puffiness of her eyes which was likely from tears.

"I beg you, make no ill remarks in regards to the royal family on this day, they wish only for the day to move smoothly and quickly," Cassidy says. "They will not be as kind as they have been in recent days past."

  She just nods.

  The door opens and Adara is led to the table where the chains are fastened to the table leg.  The view was different this time -- no one was talking, everyone one focused on their food rather than conversing. Adara did mind it. There was something unnerving about their silence. It made her stomach shrivel into a small ball to be kicked around by her insides.

  "How kind of you to join us," the King forces his smile.

  Servants bring inside platefuls of bacon, eggs, toasts, jams and jelly's and other dishes stacked to the top.  Adara's stomach relishes at the though of food — she hadn't eaten since the raid.  Her appetite vanished, but the hollowness of her stomach looms over her. 

  The princess notices.  She takes a piece of bacon from her own plate and wraps it inside of a small napkin.  She then slides it next to Adara.  She felt a connection with Adara, and she knew her brother would force her to eat, she would rather skip the dramatics.

Adara takes it and chews on the food, her eyes skip over the familiar faces at the table until they land on the prince. He looked to be his normal, self-absorbed self, but Adara could see a purple and green bruise forming on his right cheekbone. She stares at the king, whose left knuckles had a thin wrapping around them. She bit her cheek and set the rest of her food down.

They sat quietly the rest of the meal, some soldiers ate at the table, some elsewhere. Regardless of who was there, everyone stayed silent until the prince stood.

"Men, we are finally able to do what my father- your king- has been planning to do since the day he swore in as our king," the prince says, gazing down at his father. "We are finally going to be able to kill the king of the glass kingdom and rule the lands as our own."

Adara stares at him, the cold and hate in his eyes burn right through her.

"To those of you who rode with me, I thank you," the prince says, "to those of you who are riding with me for the next weeks to come, we will finally win, and only then will my thanks be given."  Cheers erupt in the dining hall -- beer is sloshed in large pint tankards.  "Saddle up and say good-bye to your families."

  A few guards, fifteen at most, exit the room to do as the prince says.  Twenty more remain.  Eating.  A silence flutters over the room.  None of them will venture out into the glass territory.  A gold has never stepped foot onto the soil -- not until now.  They were scared. Adara did not blame them.

"Leonidas, we have a horse for you and a horse for your chosen knight," the king says as his son takes Adaras' chains into his hands. "My chef is preparing food for your journey and bagging it, he will bring it to you as it is ready."

"Thank you, father," prince Leonidas says as he pulls Adara to her feet.

Adara walks behind him through the building, walking through a long hallway before entering a kitchen where smells loom over them. At the end of the kitchen is a large door, through it were dreary fields. There were horses scattered about. All of them a bright white, legs muddied and damp.

"You will ride with me, we will lead the rest of them as to where we head," the prince says as he ties a bag to the saddle. "My sister is putting a bag together for you, you will hold onto it."

"Yes, prince Leonidas," Adara murmurs, staring at the horse, its wide unblinking eyes stare back at her.

"Knight Octavian will be accompanying us, he is Taledius' son and I expect you to treat him with what kindness may be in you," the prince continues, lifting Adara by her hips and pushing her onto the horse, she drags her legs over and straddles it. "I also will not tolerate your pig-headedness, so I suggest that you watch yourself."

  Adara takes her hands and runs them gently down the mane of the horse, the hairs coarse on her fingertips. 

  "Son, won't you stay and send Taledius instead," the Queen Namia begs for her son to remain with her, embracing him in a hug while her husband stares on.

"If only, but this is important mother, more important than you and I," the prince hugs pushes his mother away, ignoring her tears. He takes the rucksack from his sister's hands, setting it in Adaras' lap. "Sister, keep an eye on her and father for me while I am gone," he says, climbing onto the horse behind Adara.

"Make me proud," King Oros says, staring at his son; the boy nods and sets his jaw, watching Adara play with the horse.

It was almost as though the men read their princes mind and mounted their horses.

"Men, we will ride until dusk, we will set up camp and ride out at dawn," the prince says to the men as the horses trot forewords. The men all nod and say a few meaningless words before following the princes steed. It wasn't until Adara looked up form the horse did she notice the horse beside them. The man atop almost a mirror image of Baron Taledius.

"Prince Leonidas, we have only fifteen men and rations for ten of them to last three weeks," the man, Octavian, says.  "Were we planning to bring only ten?"

  "We will not need fifteen men, Octavian," the prince says as he nudges the horse, pushing them forewords. 

  He only packed food for some of them, because he did not need them.  The thought made Adara sick to her stomach.  He did not care if his men lived or died.  Adara could only sit there and pretend his words meant nothing to her.

  Adara winces as the horse bounces up and down more and more as it trots.  Her bones ache and her skin sore.  She leans back into the prince, trying to relieve the pressure on her torso.  She froze when he put a hand on her own, hers holding herself in place on the horses side.

  She shifted only when they reached the top of J'anthas, she moved forewords and grasped the horses neck as they went to the side of the rocks.  One mans' horse nearly fell when it transferred from rock to a hard-dirt and grassy area. 

  Adara threw a leg over and slid off of the horse, the prince grabbed her chains and pulled her up to where her feet almost hovered over the ground.

  "And what do you think that you are doing?" He asks, his brows furrowed and his eyes dark.

  "The horses will not make it five minutes in there without twisting legs, not to mention they put targets on our backs," Adara says through gritted teeth, pulling her chains free from his grip.  "I will not be riding should you decide to bring them anyways."

  The prince stares at her, hit own teeth grit and his jaw set tight.  She could see the anger and the words filling in his head.  He just grunted.  "Fine, you walk, but we will ride," he says, jerking his horse forewords.  Adara almost laughs at his ignorance, but she walks with him into the woods.

  She takes a breath of fresh air as she is covered by the canopy of leaves, she felt at home. 

  "There will be a couple of hours before sundown, we must get out as soon as possible," Adara says to the prince who just ignores her.  She does not notice that Octavian took note of her words.  He just frowned at the prince's ignorance.  They do not make it far from the tree line before a horse hooks it hoof on a trunk.

  It's front legs kick up in the air, the man on its back is thrown to the ground despite his attempts at holding on.  They all watch in horror as the horse collapses on top of the man.  Adara runs towards the man, his head and arms sticking out from the horse as it rolled almost off of him.

  "My gods," Adara whispers as she stares down at him, pushing the horse as hard as she could until he was uncovered enough for Octavian to pull him, allowing her to release the horse, falling back onto the ground.  She rolls over and crawls to the man, his body looking unharmed, but the armor that was once large and loose was now crushed and pushing onto the mans' limbs.

  "I told you that this was going to happen and you did not listen to me," Adara shouts, her voice echoes into nothingness.  The prince sits atop his horse, unwavering.  "You are going to be just fine," she says to the man, pulling the thick mask off of his head and removing his chainmail, freeing his face.

  "I can not feel my legs," he says, his eyes searching the sky. 

  He was a young boy.  He was in his teenage years, younger than Adara herself.  She grit her teeth and ran a hand through his hair, wiping the sweat from his forehead.  They very well have just ended this child's life. 

  "We must move on, come on men," the prince says, reining in some of the men. 

  "Please, do not leave me," the boy cries, Adara stares down at him. 

  "Prince Leonidas, we will catch up to you, go on ahead," the man, Octavian, says.  The prince scowls, but nods nonetheless and rides on with a few hesitant men.  Three or four men unmounted and led their horses on foot.

  Adara smiles down at the boy, holding tightly onto his hand.  She gazes around the area, her heart dropping as she notices a small patch of J'anthas Candies -- small, brown mushrooms, deadly poisonous.  She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. 

  He was going to die.  She knew that.  Octavian new that.  The boy, deep down inside, knew that.  Adara felt the stinging in her eyes as she motioned for Octavian to take a mushroom or two, him and the boy had no idea of the danger that the mushroom would bring if ingested.

  "What is your name?" Adara asks quietly as she takes a food pouch from the horse, taking a piece of bacon and wrapping a small chunk of the poison with it. 

  "Jakkob, Jakkob Spoury," the boy says, his face crunches in pain.  "I- I can't feel my legs," he says, tears streak down his face.  Hiccups wrack his small body, his skin trembled to the touch. 

  "Well Jakkob Spoury, my name is Adara Nightsong, it is very nice to meet you," Adara smiles as she props him up on her lap, his face twists in pain before he relaxes.  "Jakkob, do you have a family back at home?"

  He begins to shake his head, but he says, "My mother and father died when I was younger, my sister works in a whore house and my brother is a baker boy."  He laughs.  "I want to see them," he sighs.

  "They will know what happened here, I promise you," Adara bites her lip as she places the food into his mouth, he chews it.  Adaras' eyes well with tears as he lurches forewords, vomiting over himself.  He trembles and shakes for a moment before going limp in her arms, his eyes wide and unblinking -- they were a dark brown.

  He was dead.  Limp.  Still warm.  The pink of his lips fading purple.

  She lays him gently onto the ground, covering his legs and upper body with leaves and underbrush.  Octavian takes his sword and cuts the horse down, silencing it and ending its suffering.  Adara stands numbly, staring at Jakkob. 

  "There was nothing more you could have done, he would have died alone," Octavian says as he pulls his horse forewords.  Adara takes her sack of clothes and an extra bag of food and walks beside him.

  "I would not have had to do anything had it not been for the prince and his stubbornness," Adara says, her eyes low and sore from tears.

They catch up to the others quickly, walking for a while until their feet are sore. The sky above begins to become darker, the area above visible through cracks in the leaves, pinks and purples streak across the sky.  Octavian keeps a steady hand on his horse, ensuring it does not stray too far from them.

"We will rest here, eat, set up camp for the night," the prince dismounts from his horse, his feet crunch on the leaves and earth.

Adara frowns, "No, we have to keep going, we can not sleep in these woods," she says.

  "We can and we will," the prince growls, shoving her onto the ground and wrapping her chain around a low hanging tree limb so she can get up and down.  "Come on men, a fire, food, water, huts," the prince says, sending men off.

  "You do not know what you are asking, there are things in these woods that will kill you with no hesitation," Adara barely gets the words out before the prince smacks her across the face. Adara lifts her hands and wraps his own in the chain, twisting it painfully to the side. "These are not people with souls, these are animals and beasts with minds."

"And from my readings, they are all tell-tale creatures," the prince says, "now release me before I have no choice other than to make you."

Adara stares at him before unwrapping his hands, backing slowly from him.

"You need water, I will find you some," Adara says, allowing for the prince to unchain her from the tree. He takes her chain into his hand, allowing her to lead him. They walk in silence, the only thing audible is the crunch of leaves, the chirping of birds, the beautiful sounds were foreign to Leonidas.

  He was used to the sound of blizzards and glasses clanking together and cleanliness, but the sounds he was hearing were beautiful to him.

  "So, you really believe in the tales of monsters in these forests?" The prince asks, keeping his gaze everywhere except on Adara, who continued to walk, stooping down often to check the earth. 

  "I believe that there are things here that I have never seen," Adara says.  "I believe that those things are things I do not want to meet."

  The prince chuckles, and Adara finds herself almost smiling when she finds a muddier area.  Ahead was a small stream.  They both sighed with relief.

  Adara gets down onto her knees and runs her hand over the water, cupping it into her hands and allowing for it to drip over her face and neck. 

  "I suggest you do the same, it gets hot at night," Adara says as the prince stares hesitantly.  He gets onto his knees and sticks a hand in, wiping the sweat from his face.  "All of your men need water if they will make it through the night here," Adara frowns.

The prince hands her two large flasks, and he takes two. They fill them up to the top, capping them and setting them off to the side before doing close to ten more. Adara almost found what she was doing fun, until she remembers what the prince did to her home. To her. To her mother and father.

"Let us go back, I doubt your men are competent enough to set up camp," Adara says dryly, rising up and walking back, holding flasks in her arms.

As they walk, it gets darker. Prince Leonidas could only see a few feet in front of him, allowing for him to follow her. Adara; however due to her being an elf, could see the world lighter than a human could, so she could see several feet in front of them. Her sight was not as good as an average elves, but it kept her from leading them in the wrong direction.

Adara saw the small fire that the men had built, but just as they reach it, Adara can hear a faint howl of a wolf through her long and pointed ears. The howl was so far off that Leonidas and the men could not hear it. She bit her lip and decided to keep it to herself. Unless they were starving, they should keep away as long as she builds a larger fire.

She went around to all of the men, handing them flasks, watching them gulp it all down rather than save it.  As soon as she handed all of hers out, she picked up more sticks and brush and built the fire up.  Finally after that, she was sat beside the fire, digging her gloves into the cold dirt.

  They had not nearly went as far as Adara had hoped, which meant they would likely have to spend another night in the woods.  After that, they would go to Juula.  Juula.  It made her heart falter to think about returning.  She watches as the men head to their tents with food, but she did not have an appetite. 

  She dug out a small dip in the ground and laid gently beside the fire, keeping a gentle eye on the fire. 

  The prince laid down in his tent, lined with the entrance so that he could see the fire.  So that he could see Adara.  He watched her until her eyes drifted closed and the red and orange lights dance across her eyelids.  Her hair looked as though it were on fire.  The thought of tying her down crossed his mind, but he frowned as he felt he could trust her not to run away.

  He was not sure if he could trust her with him or his men's lives.