Their chosen route – that is, Pollan and Alice’s chosen route – took them directly into the forest away from town, heading towards the mountain trails. They would not walk back to the cottage along this route, and it would take them a good two weeks to make it all the way to Mount Aster. The springtime weather was still obnoxiously gorgeous, with birds chirping and the sun shining. It set Aurum’s teeth on edge to know that not far away the world was frozen. Or maybe the thing that set her teeth on edge was the pair of chatterboxes she was walking with.
Aurum found herself more and more annoyed by Alice’s behavior. She seemed entirely taken in by Pollan, the two talking and talking about the most boring minutiae of local history and flora and fauna. Aurum really didn’t know what Alice saw in him. Sure, he was gorgeous and an annoyingly smooth talker, but so were plenty of people. And he was so cheesy. Alice was smart. Why would she be so taken by someone who said things like ‘might I be so bold’ and ‘fair lady’? Even courtiers in the palace didn’t speak in such a stilted way. It was as though he had read a few books on how to charm a woman, all written eighty years ago, and decided to steal a few lines verbatim. And here Alice was, eating it all up, despite the fact that Aurum had made it clear that she did not trust him.
The betrayal Aurum felt at Alice ignoring her qualms about this stranger was sharper than Aurum would have expected. Having her choose Pollan’s route over Aurum’s stung. As much as Aurum still doubted that Alice’s explanation was real, she found that she trusted Alice was on her side. Having her take Pollan’s side, no matter on what topic, hurt.
Suppressing a flash of bitterness as she saw Alice smile at Pollan, Aurum tried to consider things rationally. A lot had changed in the last two days, starting with the first revelations and admissions she and Alice had made to each other. That had been followed almost immediately with meeting Pollan and starting on a journey with him. Aurum was still confident that Pollan was somehow affiliated with the witch. His overeager interest in them, and the stilted way he had interacted with his family, all seemed to support that conclusion: that he had been planted there as a spy to find them. So it made sense to Aurum that he would want to go on a journey with them – he was probably leading them into a trap. And when he did, Aurum would be ready for it. She had to be.
For her part, it was obvious that Alice was somehow motivated by her supposed knowledge of the story in choosing not just to have Pollan join them but also to follow his lead. At least, Aurum hoped that was the case and not some sort of ridiculous infatuation with Pollan. Aurum was sorely tempted to ask exactly what in the story made Alice choose this, but she was still too angry to open that door. What good would it do to know Alice’s reasoning when it was certainly based on either delusions – or worse, on lies?
Over the past days, Aurum had found herself starting to want to speak to Alice about it all anyway if only to understand her ally better. Because she did believe Alice was her ally, somehow. Aurum did not want to believe Alice was wrong, she could admit that to herself now, but there was simply no way she could be right. And while for the moment, Aurum was willing if reluctant to go along with the plan Alice wanted because of her suspicions about Pollan, it was unlikely that Aurum’s practical plans and Alice’s fantastical ones would align for too long. Before they diverged, Aurum wanted to reopen the conversation they’d ended back at the cottage. Whether Alice was crazy or not, Aurum could be completely honest with her now. And she desperately wanted to be honest with someone, to share her feelings and reasoning as she struggled to make her way forward in her fight against the witch.
But there was no immediate relief to be had from her doubts and fears, because of that twice-cursed Pollan. As long as he was here, Aurum couldn’t talk to Alice about anything important at all. Not about Alice’s so-called previous world, not about the witch’s curse on her, and not about her fear for her family. Instead, she had to listen to Alice and the prattling probably-spy as she trudged along. And then suddenly she was not trudging but instead was lying flat on her stomach on the trail.
“Oof.” The air left Aurum in a hushed sort of grunt. Alice whipped around, followed quickly by Pollan, to see Aurum prone on the ground, the wind knocked out of her. She had managed to trip on a small tree root in her distraction and fall spectacularly on almost even terrain. As the air and her sense of pride returned to her, a sort of angry embarrassment flushed Aurum’s face a beet red.
“Are you ok? Shoot, you fell hard,” Alice said in a rush, hurrying over to Aurum’s side and waving her hands about in a flustered way. Pollan stood back, looking unsure of how to help, but thankfully keeping his mouth shut.
“M’ fine,” Aurum got out, still burning with humiliation. “Just give me a minute.”
Alice sat back on her heels, hands still fluttering a bit. “Yeah, give it a few moments. You need to let your body catch up to be sure you aren’t hurt badly or anything.”
Aurum, defensive, lashed out a bit. “You would know, miss firewood.”
It was Alice’s turn to blush. “Right. Well, that’s true.”
Pollan watched their exchange with a slightly mystified expression. “You both get along very well, don’t you?” Aurum was too annoyed at herself and the world to notice his slightly envious tone.
“Sure we do. Just peachy.” She hauled herself up, clearly more quickly than Alice would have liked based on her noise of distress, but still moving carefully. Nothing seemed to be damaged, apart from a few bruises. Aurum was infuriated but trying to hide it until she registered that the fall had served to end Pollan and Alice’s conversation. A bit mollified despite herself, she started walking, making sure to keep herself between Pollan and Alice. The trail was just wide enough still for them to walk next to each other, so they made their way forward in an uncomfortable silence that Aurum savored. Finally, some peace.
At least, it was peaceful for a little while, until Aurum noticed something odd about how Alice was walking. She seemed to be hesitating every other step, looking shiftily at the space between Pollan and Aurum, as though struggling to come up with some way to rearrange them. Now that made Aurum angry. Was she so determined to walk next to Pollan? Aurum squared her shoulders a bit, set on keeping them apart. But instead of trying to wedge herself by Pollan, Alice did something odder.
“I almost broke my back chopping firewood.”
The statement hung in the air, abruptly made and strange in content.
“I mean – that’s what Mura was talking about before. I was stupid and I thought I could do it. But – but Mura is good at it. Right, Mura?”
Aurum shot her a stubborn look.
“Oh, is that so? You are very competent then, Mura?” Pollan jumped at the chance to engage Aurum in conversation. Aurum was not blind – she could tell that Pollan was acting smitten with her. But that only made sense to do for a spy trying to trick the princess into giving herself away.
“Yes, I am. Incredibly competent,” she deadpanned, ignoring the twinge in her chest at how untrue that was.
“Chopping firewood is hardly easy. Where did you learn such a task? That takes great strength and control.”
“Never learned. Guess I’m a natural.” Maybe if Aurum was obnoxious he would leave her alone.
But it was not to be. “Wow! Marvelous. Perhaps you have an earth affinity to have such strength and control. Have you ever practiced magic?”
“No,” she answered sharply. Her tone did nothing to deter Pollan.
“Perhaps you should try! I can give only a few pointers in accessing your power as I have never learned properly. But I did get an hours instruction from this kind man years ago…”
He kept on, ignoring Aurum’s one-word answers and obvious reluctance to talk. Aurum caught a glimpse of Alice’s face and saw only satisfaction on it. Is she… No. No. No no no. Alice was trying to push her and Pollan together. And the only reason she would do that was if she thought they ought to be together because of the book. The book, that horrible, ridiculous book that could not possibly even be real.
Aurum saw red, angrier at Alice than she had been at any point up to now, but kept walking, stewing in her rage as she tried to fend off Pollan’s continual attempts at conversation and even occasional flirtation. This was the last straw.
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