“You said you knew a shortcut, show us,” Justin demanded of AJ. “Try anything, I kill you.”“What do I get for this?” AJ asked.
Justin smiled at him. It wasn’t a really a smile, more of a barring of his teeth. “You get to live.”
AJ nodded his head. “Fair deal.”
“I’m glad you think so.” Justin mounted his horse and watched as AJ mounted his. “I’m going to follow right behind you, so don’t try anything stupid.”
“I place a great value on my life, so I won’t.” He shrugged. “Besides, it’ll be nice to bring Kevin down.”
“I don’t care about your reasons. Just get us to Serpienta before Kevin does.” Justin glanced around the camp. “Everyone ready?” In the faint light of the early morning, he saw heads nod. “Let’s go, then.”
***
“They’ll follow us, you know, and kill you,” Sam warned Kevin.“By the time they find us, you’ll be in the hands of Serpienta, and I’ll have my reward and they won’t be bale to do anything to me.”
“What’s your reward for bringing me to Serpienta?”
“Augumentia. And everlasting life.”
Sam looked up at Kevin. “And you really expect her to keep her word?”
“Yes.”
“She wants me to get the Sword of Mists and the Stones of Light. You’re from here, you’ve heard all of the legends, you know what they can do. Do you really think Serpienta will let you have Augumentia?”
“Even if I don’t have Augumentia, I’ll have everlasting life. And that will be just as good.”
“Serpienta can’t grant you everlasting life,” Sam told him.
“What do you mean?”
“She can’t give you immortality. She’s five hundred years old, and that’s only because she uses a secret potion to keep herself alive. And she is evil, one of the vilest things in the world. But she does not know how to give other immortality.”
“How do you know this?” Kevin demanded.
“My grandmother taught me all of this. She told me all about Serpienta and the Sword and the Stones.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because I have no reason to lie to you. You can take me to Serpienta, but she can’t hurt me. And think about it. Once you deliver me to her, she has no use for you. She’ll just kill you.”
“How do you know she has no use for me after delivering you to her?”
“She wouldn’t want you to tell anyone anything. If she needs someone to do her dirty work, she’ll just find another fool and seduce him with the thought of power and immortality and all of those things and get him to do something for her, and then kill him.” Sam shrugged. “It’s her way.”
“I don’t believe you. I have no reason to believe you. All you want is to trick me so I’ll let you go.”
Sam shrugged again. “Your choice.”
***
“How much further do we have to go?” Kaylyn asked, as Joey helped her dismount her horse. “I’m so tired I don’t think I can keep my eyes open for another minute.”
“A few more days,” AJ said when everyone looked at him. “Four at the most.”
“That’s if we stop during the day and at sundown?” Justin asked.
“Yeah.”
“Then we’re not stopping anymore during the day. And we’ll keep on going until we can’t travel at night any longer.”
Groans were heard from just about everyone and Justin looked around at them. “Actually, to make it easier, we should split up.” He looked at Josh. “You, Joey, and Lance could stay here with Willow, Kaylyn, and Kamryn. Chris and I will continue with AJ.”
“I’m going, too,” Josh and Willow said at the same time.
“It would be-” Justin began.
“I don’t care if it would be easier for you to travel alone,” Willow interrupted. “I’m going, no questions asked. You need me.”
“And she is my sister. I think I need to be there,” Josh said.
“Fine,” Justin sighed. He looked at Lance and Joey. “Is staying here okay with you?”
“We’ll go back to the village were Katta lives,” Lance began, “and stay there. When you’ve found Sam and have done whatever you two need to do, come find us.”
“We’ll split up tomorrow morning, then,” Justin agreed. “Everyone sleep well. We’ll all need a lot of rest for the next few weeks.”
***
“Sleep well, Princess,” Kevin sneered. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“If I’m lucky, you won’t,” Sam responded.
Kevin ran a hand down her cheek. “You’re a fiery little thing, you know. I think you’d be good to warm a man’s bed on cold nights.”
“Don’t touch me. I don’t think Serpienta would appreciate me being ruined.”
“Oh, but Princess, you’re already ruined. That was a nice little tryst in the woods with your handsome young prince, was it not?”
Sam’s eyes widened then narrowed as Kevin told her she and Justin had been spied on during the time they were together. “How do you know about that?”
“It is always good to have someone who knows the language of the animals. They tell all kinds of wonderful little secrets.”
“If the animals told you about Justin and I, then they should have also told you we were visited by unicorns the next morning.”
Kevin’s eyes narrowed. “Fuck Brian, not telling me that. Are you serious?”
“Yes. We saw them by the river. One of them even let me touch it.”
“By the Goddess. Brian can rot in the hells of Enotio. This is terrible.” Kevin quickly let go of Sam and moved away from her. “You have no need to fear for your virtue now, Princess. I won’t touch.”
“Why not? Believe in the legends of the unicorns?” Sam mocked.
“That they’re sent to those protected by the gods? Yes, Princess, I do.”
“Then how are you going to hand me over to Serpienta?”
“I won’t be harming you, so I’ll have nothing to fear.”
“You’ll be handing me into harm. You should fear that.”
“Go to sleep, Princess. We have a long day tomorrow.” Kevin rolled over so he wasn’t facing her and closed his eyes. He didn’t fear her trying to escape, because she was tied to him by a long rope.
Sam stared at the vivid stars in the beautiful black night sky. If she closed her eyes, she could see Justin, with his golden-brown curls that created a halo around his head when the light hit them, and she could see the way his blue eyes glowed.
She fell asleep with a smile on her lips.