She peeled a tangerine with the heat of the fire flushing her freckled cheeks. Normally there was nothing to spoil her favourite fruit, but, as usual, Caudata had managed to make each slice taste more bitter than the last.
"Do you like him?", Lope asked with a disgusted grimace as she put decorum aside and chewed with her mouth open. She was past the urge to eat anyway.
"Hum? Why do you ask?"
As the three of them sat around a small fire in the middle of a forest clearing, Jatty slept resting his head on the prince's lap. He did not do so consciously, for Caudata had waited for him to fall into a deep sleep before moving him to his legs.
Lope looked at the scene; first at the Oltremare's boy, who would probably be terribly angry if he woke up; then at Alcora's heir, whose mouth was about to leak a trickle of drool from how happy he was; and, finally, at her shadow, which was sitting alone.
"Oh, I don't know, why would I have asked such a thing", she put her hand to her mouth in mock surprise, then tossed one of her shoes at the boy. "I'm here to babysit, not to three wheel: contain yourself. "
They had been travelling for two days. The longest two days of the squire's life, for she felt that instead of twenty-four hours the days were thirty-two hours long, at least. The two she was accompanying spent the day arguing because Caudata was incapable of keeping his big mouth shut for more than two seconds without blurting out something stupid.
It was no wonder Caudata had someone in his sights; he was always on the lookout for lovers, and for Jatty to be so curt and direct in showing his displeasure provoked feelings in the prince that they must all suffer. Just by looking at him, Lope knew that he was determined to seduce the squire no matter what the cost was. If she had any doubts, they were cleared up when Lope left Jatty lying in bed shortly after he had regained consciousness.
When she left the room, she closed the door gently and, tired after being awake for two days straight, leaned against it.
"Have I been too hard on him?" asked someone to her right. Caudata was waiting for her, crestfallen.
"You've talked no sense, as usual." That answer agitated him more than he already was and he fiddled with his hands.
"You knew it wasn't Queen Arne when you found him?" he nodded, "Then why pretend?"
"It's a secret."
That airhead didn't know how to keep a secret; Lope once got lice from teaching self-defence at a school and Caudata announced it to the whole palace as soon as he was informed and expressly told not to. He was not good at hiding things, and if he had done it that time it meant it was something he had to be very conscious of in order not to let it out.
Besides, it must have been something extremely important for him not to even tell her, to whom the prince passed a detailed monthly guide to his stools for Lope to judge whether he was healthy or not: she never agreed to be part of it.
"Oh! Did queen Arne ask you?"
Caudata was suprised and scared she could read his inner voice, but there was not need to; Lope had said the first thing that crossed her mind, without a second thought. It was pure luck.
"N-no...", he tried to lie.
"Oh my...Did you speak with h-...?!", he covered her mouth with his hand.
"I can't talk about it."
He crossed his arms with his chin up. He was blushing, which gave him a more childish appearence, even if his scar crossed half of his face.
She sighed. No more questions will be asked, he won't answer them seeing his behavior.
"Whatever you do", she warned him, "do not play with his feelings. The boy has seen his home burnt down in front of his eyes. The last thing he needs is your clown show, got that?
If she had only waited two more days, she would have realized how wrong she was. She wanted to prevent Caudata from hurting him, but now she had to keep an eye on Jatty so he would not hurt the prince.
Back at the campfire in the forest, the prince's hands trembled with the urge to stroke the long black hair that laid in his legs.
"Do you think he likes me?", he asked without taking his eyes off him.
"No, I do not."
He gasped loudly.
"How dare you! Lope. I. Am. Royalty! Treat me like one!"
"Go to sleep."
"I don't want to", he smiled softly, "He needs to rest."
"Sleep, Caudata", her green eyes turned red.
With two simple words, the prince fell into a deep sleep and his body slumped to the ground; Lope was quick to catch his head and gently laid it down. With the jolting fall, the squire awoke shaken to find himself on top of his equestrian partner.
"What is-...?"
"Shut it", Lope's sword was pointing at him, "I would not hesitate to kill you." He nodded, "Good, stand up and walk to the inside of the forest", she said.
The little fire, the horse, and Caudata were left behind. They walked for ten minutes, Jatty in the front and Lope close enough to touch his sweaty back with her weapon.
"Stop right there", he did, "You have two options; first one, you run far away from here."
"And the second one?" He asked with his arms in the air.
"I slit your throat and you choke with your own blood."
Lope did not falter in her words and neither did the crimson in her yes, which seemed to grow more lively the more she looked at him.
"You too?" He chuckled melancholy; it has been ages since the last time he had met another Green one. "I did not know Alcora had anti-monarchists as well."
She smiled to herself; she was right, he was a Green.
"Wherever there is power, there will be those who want to steal it. You already know that, right? You burnt down Oltremare to kill Arne."
The forest can be terrifying at night, especially as you don't know what beast might be waiting for the right moment to leap at your throat. However, at that moment, the two squires were the most terrifying thing in those acres. Jatty had left his submissive pose to grip his weapon and Lope had shifted her balance to prepare an attack.
"The second option it is."
"You would kill me either way."
"Such a smart boy."
"Did you hear? They're going to take them to the gallows."
"And the little one? They should kill him too..." "There are more them... How scary."
"How awful."
"Monsters!"
<
His body instinctively dodged her, Lope was not an easy opponent. She moved fast and her sword felt like a whip rather than forged metal. It was clear that if he let the edge of her blade touch him, he would lose; he had to fight his own destructive thoughts and the most capable squire on the Fourth Continent. Everything against him without stopping to take a breath.
The pressure, the memories, and the night were too much to handle for him. Either he escaped or he died there: Lope was stronger. His shirt was covered in blood due to the wound of his stomach, which was opened by the effort, his breathing was still influenced by the great fire. His whole body was burning, he was sweating, each lunge was clumsier than its predecessor.
Lope was as fresh as a flower, not even sweating. Even if he hated his Green "blessing", it was his last chance to get out of her sight and survive.
"Forget me, Lope", his dark black eyes turned red as well.
She blinked, looked around and then to her hand. It was pointing at the nothing in front of the gloom of the forest. The other squire had hidden in the bushes ten meters away from her.
It has been a long time since he used his blessing. However, his condition and the fact that Lope was a Green one would affect the duration of the trick, he had an hour more or less before she remembered him. That was he thought.
She should have forgotten about him the moment he had told her so. It was the only good part as a (former) member of the Greens; being able to start over whenever he wished because he could make people forget about him. Lope had his live in her hands again. She was in front of the bushes.
"So that is your blessing", she said, "It is not very different from mine". The boy poked his head out. "The only flaw they have is that they are as powerful as fickle...The tiniest of doubts and they stop working."
Jatty was sure he had not hesitated. He really wanted Lope to forget him so he could escape, otherwise she would have sliced his trachea without a second thought and he would have been wolves' dinner. Something had gone wrong, but it wasn't his lack of determination. The only time his blessing had failed before was when he was a child, and it was because...
"A Green one, who is a prince's squire, who has a blessing, and whose name is fake", he said, "You are way more suspicious than me."
A chuckle came out of her mouth followed by a long sight. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them to glare at him.
"Wow, you are really smart, kiddo. But you better stop giving me reasons to kill you."
"If we both are similar, you know I do not plan to hurt the prince", the words came out fast while his body used the bushes as a shield.
"If we are similar, then I must do it."
She did not speak as fierce as before, there was a trace of sadness in that sentence, but as much as he wanted to comfort her, he was in no position to empathise with the person who sought his death. What he was most curious about was how she had discovered he was one of the Greens; there was nothing that distinguish them from the rest of the population.
"How did you find out about me?"
The question may seem like he was trying to bring her back from her thoughts, which worked, but he was actually curious.
"I was not sure", she said with her eyes on the sword. "I thought I was tired and vulnerable to old sensations", she sighed, "When the Greens are together, they thirst for revenge grows deeper. I have worked for Caudta for two years, and I have never before wanted to kill him so bad" she confesed with a sad smile. "Maybe it has everything to do with he being utterly annoying these days and nothing to do with his royal status." Lope sat down, resting her arms on the ground and looking up at the foliage of the trees that masked the sky and only allowed certain points of light to pass through. "I love Caudata like a son, Jatty. Have you ever had explicit thoughts of you murdering your family? It is not nice."
Of course he knew what she meant. Every day he was with Arne, he wondered how many panic attacks he will have to keep to himself due to his intrusive thoghts.
"I am sorry, Lope", he apologized for making her suffer without realizing it. He understood her fears better than the other squire imagined.
"I am blaming you for my past, Jatty", she said with a calmer expression. "Being aware of that does not mean I will let you go, though."
They both laughed, in a few minutes they would have to fight again, and although he would do so with all his might, it was not saying much.
The forest can be terrifying at night, especially since you don't know what beast might be waiting for the right moment to jump at your throat, but, for a few moments, the two squires felt the peace they had missed so much in the last few days.
If he had slept more than an hour and a half and his wound had not opened; if he had the strength to fight and had not known that Lope was like him; perhaps he would not have said what he said next:
"Before you slice me like an apple, grant me two wishes."
"Speak."
"Tell me your real name. I promise I won't use my blessing, it would not work now; you know how it works."
Lope considered it, there was really no reason not to tell him, but she was no longer who she used to. The name her parents had given her was her grandmother's and so she couldn't quite hate it. She had changed and grown over the years and "Lope" was her real name.
"I am sorry. There is somebody I need to tell it first."
Jatty understood from her assertiveness she would not tell him no matter how much he insisted. At least, of the two requests, that was the less important one.
"Right, got it."
"The second one?"
He looked down.
"Find her and protect her."
"I promise I will", she cut her hand and shook his hand. "A blood promise for queen Arne I of Oltremare's safety."
He would have liked to at least say goodbye to his friend, to be with her a little longer and make sure she lived a happy life. He would have loved to be the one to save her for once. He closed his eyes, he could not resist any longer, he was unable to. He felt that all his strength had been spent the last few days in regretting not being a better squire. He didn't want to say he had given up, but there was no other way to say it.
Jatty Lar awaited his death with a heavy heart and, as much as it pained him to admit it, a little relieved to finally be able to rest in peace.
For the sword-wielder, that sight was like the sight of her past self in front of her. She knew Jatty wasn't a bad boy, Caudata had told her about him from Arne's letters, but people like them were unpredictable. The young man might never dare touch Arne's pores; Caudata was another story. They didn't know each other, there was no bond of trust; she couldn't risk it.
She raised her weapon, wanting to give him a clean cut so that it would hurt as little as possible. Lope also closed her eyes.
"Let me go, you beast!"
"Uh?" Both looked to the direction the voices that interrumped their scene came from.
"Shut up!"
"Let!. Me!. Go!"
"No!"
The two squires got silent, and in a few seconds two figures passed them without noticing their presence. One of them tall and square, and the other, dragged under the armpit of the first, small and slender.
"¿Arne?"