Chapter Four

Chapter Four

The Prince’s Escape

In a rush of black with not even the moon to guide the way, Prince Cand his new bride Evette darted around another corner. She stopped to catch her breath though he was still practically dragging her along.

“We mustn’t stop Evette. He’ll send his lions after us. And surely you know about the manticores.”

“I need to check on my baby, Calleo. If she starts crying they’ll be after us for sure,” She whispered back. “Come here Devon,” she cooed to the little baby and carefully took her out of Rachel’s arms.

Rachel was the young girl Calleo had rescued from the harsh villages around Luan Manor. She had dark brown hair, with light blonde highlights running through it from all the hours in the sun. She had green eyes that had a mysterious sparkle about them and the bridge of her nose was dappled in light freckles. When she smiled her teeth were near perfect.

Evette shook her red hair away from her face as she looked down at Devon’s face and smiled. You could see the love painted onto every inch of her face. Evette had a beauty that had a way of making people look at her and smile. Her eyes, surrounded by laugh lines, seemed to dance. The tips of her mouth were always twitching, as if they wanted to smile all the time.

Calleo came up behind her and was about to say again that they needed to move, but then he looked down into his daughter’s face and stopped. He tickled her belly and kissed his Princess’s cheek, and went over to whisper to Rachel.

“We’ll let her hang on to the baby a bit longer. You’ve been wonderful, but a mother gets attached to her child.”

He took the lead once again, moving more quickly this time to ensure they got out safely. When they had slipped around the last corner and the fortress was a silhouette behind them, Calleo allowed everyone a short break to breathe. They still had to work their way through the grounds, and tread carefully through the Wishful Wood before they made it into Modet, and then to the castle.

Rachel took Devon back into her arms, right after giving Princess Evette a slight once over to make sure she had no cuts or scratches that needed to be taken care of.

Then they were off again. Once they entered the Wishful Wood, Calleo turned to be sure they knew to be quiet. While the wood was beautiful, the side nearest the Lion Prince’s land was quite dangerous for young travelers at night. Evette took Devon from Rachel once again, and held her fiercely, so that Rachel could take care of herself. Evette had come to love Rachel as another daughter, and would protect her as much as the beautiful baby in her arms. Devon had clear blue eyes like her father, they were like rivers with millions of secrets swimming in them.

The dirt road led up to a rickety wooden bridge. In many places the wood appeared rotten, and the stench coming off the water was unbearable. This was because of the trolls that lived there. They had hair and beards like dirty moss, and long curved nails with dirt embedded under them.

Calleo stepped forward with his sword out. Slowly, he walked forward, motioning to the others to do the same. With no trouble, they began to cross the bridge.