E R I K

I ambled into a makeshift camp with a few dead rabbits over my shoulder. Byron was up early, chopping wood for the fire, while Ranni slept curled up on an old army cot by the fire. I tossed the rabbits onto the ground and prayed that no one asked too many questions about where I had been last night.

Byron acknowledged my arrival with a nod and continued to split logs for the fire. Ranni continued to sleep.

I eyed the few bags of food we had leftover and realised that we would soon be close to starvation.

"How much money do we have left?" I asked Byron.

"We have ten pounds left from the dagger I pawned in Bristol," he replied with a grim edge to his voice.

Since arriving in this strange place, we have had to sell our armour and weapons to get by. In this new world, I was no longer King but a pauper.

"Ten pounds won't see us through the next week," I sighed.

"Which is why we need to introduce the villagers to their brand new King. The village will be overjoyed to be reunited with their long-lost King," Byron said cheerfully. "We will be welcomed with open arms and hot food. Oh, how I long for a real bed and hot food."

"No, we pack up camp as soon as Ranni wakes up. We should head west again and see if we can find a way back home," I replied.

I couldn't stay here. My brother and sister-in-war would slit my throat if they knew who I had rescued last night. If they knew that the fox was alive, they would burn the entire village and dismember my poor little fox.

I had to lead them away from here and, more importantly, from her.

"We have spent four years travelling across countries and continents in order to find a way home. Don't you think we deserve a break? I would like to spend some time amongst our people instead of these homo-sapiens," Byron grumbled.

"No, we need to keep pushing forward," I said.

"Then why bring us back here?" Byron snapped.

There was an irritated sigh from Ranni in the army cot. She pushed back her blanket, sat up and asked, "What are you two squabbling about?"

Bryon threw his hands in the air and said, "He wants to leave."

Ranni's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "Why would you want to leave when we have just arrived?"

It was a valid question and one I didn't know how to answer. I shrugged my shoulders as I struggled for some kind of excuse.

"The dragons in the village are peasants and farmers. I doubt they'll be able to help us get home," I explained.

Ranni's facial features tightened. Her eyes narrowed on me, and panic blossomed inside my chest. She knew something was up.

"It was your idea to return to the village. We have only been here for a day, and already you want to leave?" She probed.

"I don't see the point in wasting time on a dead end," I said, trying to keep an even tone.

"Really," she said, cocking her head. "So this has nothing to do with the long red hair all over your jacket?"

Shit.

I glanced down at my shoulder and saw several strands of Morgan's long red hair clinging to my jacket.

"I don't know what happened between you and the redhead, but we are staying. We have no money and no food. We need these people," Ranni said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Fine," I snapped. "We'll stay here for a few days. Then when you both realise that I'm right, we'll move west."

It was a compromise I deeply resented, but I couldn't risk raising any further suspicion.

I excused myself from the camp and walked northwards towards the river. I needed space to think. I had barely slept in the past twenty-four hours. My head was a maelstrom of thoughts and feelings, I barely understood.

Why had the universe chosen the fox to be my mate? Why did it have to be the one person who had destroyed my family and my people?

My phone suddenly vibrated in my jacket pocket. It was Morgan.

Last night, I watched over her to make sure she was okay. I'd found her phone number on the back of a card and saved it into my phone.

I don't know why I was compelled to take her number. Perhaps it was because I needed some way of making sure that she was okay.

I'd sent her a text shortly after I left her room, asking her to contact me. Opening up my messages, I saw her reply, 'Who is this?'.

The response angered me. She knew who I was. She had spent years fighting my family and me. What right did she have to suddenly act like she didn't know me?

'Your worst enemy.' I replied impatiently.

A few seconds later, she messaged back, 'Were you in my room last night?'.

I stared at the message and felt heat rising up into my cheeks. Last night, I had vowed that I would only take Morgan to the back door of the pub, but when she had passed out in my arms from cold and exhaustion, I couldn't bring myself to abandon her.

I'd picked the lock and carried her upstairs. I'd put her in bed and covered her in blankets, and waited for her body to warm. I'd taken a bandage from the bathroom and carefully wrapped her foot. Finally, I'd pulled up a chair and watched over her.

A million times, I told myself to leave. It was dangerous to linger in her aura. The wisps had decided that we would be mates and placed an invisible bond that tied my heart to hers. The bond was instant, but it would grow stronger the more time we spent together.

However, despite all my reasoning, I stayed by her side. I loathed myself for staying. Ranni and the others would loathe me even more if they ever found out that I had rescued the fox.

Eventually, I replied, 'You were ill.'.

Without missing a beat, she replied, 'So you bandaged my ankle, tucked me in bed, and watched over me? Are you the worst worst enemy ever?'.

She had me there. Enemies didn't care for one another. Enemies didn't betray their friends to save one another. Whatever was happening here, between us, wasn't normal. But I couldn't let her know that. So, I replied back, 'Last night was a one off.'.

Seconds later, she responded, 'I'd like to know a bit more about my worst enemy. Maybe we could meet up?'

Meet up?

My thumb hovers over the reply button. I was torn about what to do. Should I risk meeting up with her, even if it was just to tell her to leave the village for a few days? Or should I just give her a heads-up via a text message?

I ummed and ahhed for a few moments until something disturbed me.

Suddenly, through the trees, I heard a scream. I raised my head and tucked my phone into my jacket pocket. I started to jog through the snow towards the scream.

I recognised that type of scream. I'd heard it a dozen times as a soldier when we would stumble across a village that had been raided. It conjured images of children and babies lying dead and slaughtered in the mud while their mothers wailed over their dead bodies.

I slowed as I heard more voices. A man yelled, "Grab him, lads. Hold onto his arms."

I shifted into a crouching position and edged closer. Ahead of me was the river. There was a group of villagers on the far side of the bank, pulling what appeared to be a man out of the water.

"Jesus wept, he must have been in the river all night," one man commented as he dragged the man onto the muddy embankment.

Behind him, a woman was being held back by two older men, as she cried, "Is he alive? Please tell me he's breathing."

An older man knelt down over the pale body and shook his head grimly, "I'm sorry, Dinah. He's gone."

The woman fell to her knees, screaming while the men with stony-faced expressions around her bowed their heads in respect. The woman crawled through the mud to the body of the drowned man. She tried frantically to wipe the river weed and mud from his blue lips.

"Please, try CPR. Don't just stand there! Do something!" she cried.

The older man placed his hand on the woman's shoulder and muttered, "Dinah, he's been dead several hours. There is nothing we can do."

She clutched at her dead son's clothes and began screaming, "Eli, oh my god. Eli, my poor baby. Who did this to you?"

The name rang a bell, and I suddenly realised that this was the same young man who had tried to assault Morgan last night.

"It must have been an accident, Dinah," the older man said.

The woman shook her head, "My son was murdered! Last night, he ran off after that Morgan girl. I told you she was no good! She did this. She murdered my baby!"