The Darkness Beyond the Stars

Chapter Nine: I fall off a horse in the most undignified way possible

The floor was distinctly hard. Raon sighed a little.

In retrospect, I wished I'd just let the poor guy in the bed. I was selfish.

"I've slept on worse." He muttered, and stretched out on the floor, kicking off his boots.

After a while staring at the ceiling, he heard a muffled sound from the bedroom. Was that...crying? Why was she crying? He sat up. But what could he do? If he went in there she'd probably scream or something.

The muffled sobs continued.

She wouldn't cry for any reason, so he must be the cause, right? His father had told him she had agreed willingly to the arrangement. He had never liked any of the coy, flirting ladies who were always throwing themselves at him back home, and being a younger son, even though he was the Seventh, he had been in the jungle most days. So when his father had told him that the High Elves were offering a princess in exchange for peace, and that he would marry her, Raön hadn't been able to think of a reason to say no.

The sobs quieted some.

Raön laid back down, and stared at the ceiling for a while. Was she afraid of him? He had never caught any fear in her eyes, towards him at least. And she was awful at hiding things. He sighed, and sat up, moving carefully so the floor wouldn't creak, and went to the door to the cottage, opening it slowly. The moon shone above, spreading its silvery rays over the lake. Raön walked out onto the porch, and sat on the steps, rubbing his arm where the princess had bound it.

A slight breeze wound around the trees, rustling leaves and bending thin branches. It washed over him, pulling away all the weariness from the day, and called him to come out. He stood, and strode down to the white shore of the lake, looking over the shining surface at the cliffs and mountains beyond. The stars speckled the sky like jewels, far above the earth and the soaring mountains.

He gazed up, unable to tear his eyes away. They were brilliant, searing things, so cold and far away, but blazingly close at the same time. He smiled.

......

Warmth covered me like a cloud. I pushed my feet deeper into the covers. Hopefully nobody would come and try to wake me up. I'd probably kick them.

I rolled onto my side, and opened my eyes as slowly as possible. Golden sunshine rested on my face. But this wasn't my room. And I could smell something delicious. I sat up, and rubbed my eyes.

"Oh blast." I muttered, and threw off the covers and jumped out of bed. I was still wearing my trousers and shirt, but my vest was beside the bed on the floor, with my boots. I vaguely remembered taking them off sometime in the night. I went over to the little mirror that stood on a chest of drawers.

"Eh." My eyes were a little red, but my hair was an utter mess. I braided it as best I could, and went and opened the door.

The whole middle room was flooded with sunshine. And the prince was making breakfast. His back was to me, and his pale hair was in a long wet braid down his back. And now I looked, the rest of him was wet too. Dripping wet. His white shirt was stuck to his broad back, his trousers were soaked. I stood there, perplexed, then my sleepy brain cleared a little. "How's the lake this morning?"

He jolted, and whirled around, brandishing a kitchen knife.

"Sorry!" I held up my hands defensively.

He looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry." He set the knife down, and turned back to what he was doing on the counter

I went over and stood beside him. "What are you making?"