The next morning was the start of their long journey. The icy wind blew hard at Maren as she loaded into the carriage. This one was larger, and more spacious than any other she'd been in. Due to the political tension of Maren's birth, the Star Court had never allowed the Princesses to tour the Empire — other than brief visits to the cities they were born to. Carbouran sat directly in the center of each of the Kingdoms, with an accessible route to each.
But now that the twenty-year announcement had been made, the Star Court was forced to allow them this reprieve — to leave the Palace, and venture into a world they did not know.
Maren stepped into the carriage, Leah helping her inside. She'd hardly slept a wink the night before — too worried about what the morning light would bring. But as Maren hoisted herself into the vehicle, she came face to face with none other than a thick sheet, separating the horizontal benches.
"What is this?" Maren asked, shooting a look back at Leah.
Leah shot her a nervous smile. Standing beside her was Cora's personal maid, Hariet. An older woman, around fifty years, she had been the closest to Cora, practically raising her from an infant. Queen Serena Valentyne couldn't leave Garyn, and so in her place, Hariet raised Cora at the Carbouran Palace.
"Ms. Valentyne awoke this morning with irritated eyes." Hariet answered, her tone easy and professional. She explained to me that she must have come into contact with something dirty and rubbed her eyes. She is quite worried about people seeing such an infection. She hopes you understand."
Maren met Lexi's inquisitive eyes. The maid was polite, as always, but her and Lexi both knew how Cora operated. They were aware of the way that Cora would go out of her way to say something passive-aggressive so that Maren couldn't address the insult.
And so, Maren knew that Lexi couldn't help but silently question what her maid meant by that.
"How could I ever take issue with her concern for her health?" Maren responded, a tight-lipped smile spread across her face. She kept her tone level as she spoke just loud enough for Cora to hear. "I just hope she learned her lesson about sticking her fingers where they don't belong."
Maren then squeezed into her side of the carriage, Leah following behind her. Both maids knew something had happened between the Princesses but neither knew what exactly.
Fine. If this is how Cora wants to play, she thought. Then I'll play. But I certainly won't be allowing her any sort of special privileges if she is going to act like a child.
***
Two weeks passed and the Princesses made little to no eye contact, let alone speak to the other. Cora was pleasant enough, and so Maren decided to write off their encounter as nothing more than Cora displaying yet another odd pattern of behavior. She had become used to being on the other end of Coralynn's wrath, but never something so confusing — so indulgent.
Maren was aware of the toxicity within her family — how the lines of love and hate were blurred. But she'd just never walked that line with Cora before. Never even considered truly testing those forbidden waters.
And yet, that night they'd practically danced on it.
But if Cora refused to even look at her, Maren knew there was no way she'd have the confidence to confront her. And so, as the weeks passed, braving the awkward, silent tension in the carriage, Maren decided to put it all behind her. Rather than ruminating on it, spending hours thinking about what happened, Maren passed the time knitting, playing games with her maid.
When they stopped between towns, Maren exited the carriage first, touring the shops, not allowing Cora to weigh on her mind. Not deliberating over what happened, or what Cora was thinking. She certainly wasn't stealing glances at the crowd in hopes of catching a glimpse of her, or wondering if Cora was doing the same.
And at night, when the carriage was idle, and the world was dark, and the nocturnal creatures sang, she surely wasn't reliving their moment in the kitchen. She wasn't reminiscing the way Cora's soft, greedy touch searched her mouth, or ruminating over why it made her feel the way it did.
No, she wasn't doing that at all.
Certainly not.
Then, just as Maren thought she would finally go mad if she saw another mountain ahead in the distance, she noticed something different. The setting sun over the bundles of westside trees cast an orange glow over the spires that emerged over the eastern mountain peak. Maren grinned gleefully, leaning against her corner of the carriage, almost wanting to cry tears of relief.
"Finally…" She whispered.
***
"Why are we stopping when we're so CLOSE?" Maren cried, whining to Lexi.
The Kingdom of Forsyth was close. So close that before the sun had set, she could see its massive walls and twisting spires just beside the mountain. Maren was itching to leave the carriage once and for all. She was tired of the silences that stretched. Suffocated by the hours of unyielding tension.
"The men are exhausted, Princess." Lexi responded in her most professional, Knightly voice. "It would be at least another twelve-hour ride. We've already pushed fourteen hours this last ride because we thought we were closer. I'm sorry but my men need time to rest as well."
Maren looked over at the knights who began to set up camp. She didn't blame them at all. Maren herself was exhausted just sitting in her cozy, warm carriage for hours. She couldn't even begin to understand the exhaustion they felt. She just wanted a break from it all.
"Why don't you go take a bath in the river?" Lexi asked, her eyes narrowing in amusement as she leaned down to Maren's level, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I could escort you there if you'd like. It's just a quarter mile that way."
"No, thank you." Maren grimaced, pushing Lexi's face away. "Things have been confusing enough recently. I don't need six feet of muscle and a cheeky grin making things worse."
Without another word, Maren turned on her heel and made her way toward the river, leaving Lexi behind to her thoughts.
Lexi, who had been caught up in her amusement, watched as Maren gathered her maid, walking together toward the cart that carried their belongings, away from the riverside.
"Confusing, huh?" Lexi echoed, her gaze fixed on Maren.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, a flash of black and white stepped carefully from the carriage. Lexi observed Hariet, Cora's maid, pushing the curtain aside, watching Maren carefully as she wandered away. The maid turned her face back to the carriage, muttering something quietly, but not obvious enough for anyone in the vicinity to notice. As she stepped back, Princess Cora emerged like a skittish cat — watching the direction that Maren went.
She slipped out of the carriage, whispered something to the maid, and hurried alone through the trees, toward the riverbank.
Lexi huffed a sound of amusement, remembering the odd comment made by Coralynn's maid when they first left.
"Interesting."