*POV* Cassy Iris Aleera
Things had kind of settled down again but it was different now the others in the village did not seem to like my family much anymore. Evan had told everyone I had attacked him and tried to kill him.
The leaders of the village came over to have a very lengthy conversation with my parents which left my mother practically foaming at the mouth. As soon as she was sure they were out of ear shot she started yelling at my father about how utterly unfair they were being.
And how messed up she had decided the leaders of the village were. And there was no way she was going to apologize to them or to Evan's family. "Who cares!" She yelled.
Aria decided that she wasn't going to leave me alone for a second. She sat with me on the ground beside my favorite place to go. Just up the hill in the trees where a small brook bubbled into the woods.
"Cassy, I have been thinking!" She tilted her head towards me. "I have been thinking… maybe- maybe we should just run away." Her eyes twinkled with excitement.
I raised an eyebrow at her. "You sure?" Though running away would probably solve the problem, I didn't want to leave my family or Aria and I didn't want Evan to get satisfaction from me running.
"Yeah! I qam pretty sure." She turned to look at the water. "We wouldn't go forever, We would just leave long enough for some people to understand how much they would miss us." I frowned at her.
"You can't leave, so many people love you here. And Fred-" Aria cut me off with a wave of a hand. "Fred wouldn't even notice. He probably would be glad I am gone." She began to get really quiet and spoke under her breath. "Then he could have any girl he wanted."
She was looking away from me but I could feel that she was trying not to cry. "Aria?" She stood. "Did you know he invited Miss Della over to dinner a couple weeks ago, then every time I see him out he is with her!?" She started yelling and turned to me. "And when I confronted him, he laughed and said 'Oh don't worry.'"
I got to my feet, sitting just didn't feel right. "Aria, let's calm down." I held out a hand and she took it. "I know Fred is a bit… well Fred… but-" I stopped unable to come up with a reason she should have to stay with him. With the way my parents had tried to get me married I wouldn't be surprised if Aria had gone through a similar situation.
But she had liked Fred even back when Evan was bullying us, but to be fair they hadn't been best friends back then. Aira stared at me, then sighed after a while when I hesitated to finish. "It's Okay Cassy you don't have to comfort me." She sighed again.
"Forget I said anything." She slumped her shoulders. "Let's just not talk ab-.." I stopped her. "No, we can talk about it.! I just wasn't sure running away was the answer. But if you feel that way, I could help you." She shook her head. "No, you just got your parents back, I cannot ask you to leave them again."
I wrapped her in a hug with the way things were going. I was pretty sure my parents wouldn't mind coming with me. "Don't worry, we will figure it out. But right now if he hurts you-" I drew her back to look her in the eyes-. "Come tell me.!" She smiled and hugged me again. "I will."
We started back towards the village and just as we broke out of the tree line Aria point. "I wonder what's happening over there.?" She pointed to a large crowd that had gathered in the street coming from the market, it moved towards us.
"Do you think it is visitors?" I asked and Aria laughed. "I hope so." Visitors were an uncommon sight in our village. Aria grabbed my hand and pulled me along as she ran for the road. Once on the road Aria stops. "Whoa, isn't he handsome." She exclaimed. "Who?" I questioned as I searched the crowd.
To my surprise my eyes landed on Mink. "Mink?" Her eyes met mine and she smiled. I ran forward to hug her. "I can't believe you are here." I closed my eyes and hugged her tight. "Yeah, we have been looking for you everywhere." He said in a deep voice beside my ear as he returned my hug.
I froze but stayed where I was unsure if I should pull back. He had come for me. "Hey Cassy, long time no see." My cheeks heated as I pulled back from Clay to look at Mink. "What are you guys doing here?!" I asked her as I moved to give her a hug.
She hugged me tight before answering. "We have been looking for you everywhere, we heard about what had happened with the king." I stiffened at that, I couldn't be too sure what happened there but the memories weren't something I liked to relive.
"Yeah, what even happened there?" I asked, her face got dark with anger. "Maybe we could go somewhere else to talk." Clay suggested, looking around the crowd that had gathered closer. "Yeah, sure." I led them towards my house as the crowd followed and I knew it wouldn't be long before the elders came to see who had come.
Aria linked arms with me. "You know them?!" I gave a smile. "Yeah, they are the ones that saved everyone from the king." She gave Clay and Mink an appreciative glance. I noticed the cookie thief holding Mink's hand, she gave me a smirk. "Hello again." She didn't even jump as I spoke to her.
When we reached my house I pushed everyone inside and blotted the door. "Cassy is that you?" My mother called from the back room. "Yeah, we have guests." I yelled back as I turned around and caught Clay's steel blue eyes.