The Outcast

Chapter 25

Abel's POV

As soon as the sun rose over the horizon the royals wasted no time and within a couple minutes we were quickly back on the road.

I sighed heavily as I plopped onto the seat of the carriage. My limbs were weak and my eyes burned from the lack of sleep, exhaustion was slowly taking over.

"Are you okay?" I glanced lazily over at Elizabeth. She smiled softly with a slightly worried look on her face. I opened my mouth to answer but I was cut off.

"You must be exhausted." My eyes made their way over to Helga. I forced a smile and nodded. I watched as she rummaged through her luggage, taking out a small paper bag. She smiled widely at me before handing me the babag. "Eat this, it'll replenish your energy." She said.

I stared down at the contents of the bag. They were biscuits, sugary ones to be exact, not something I'd typically think to eat at the crack of dawn. I shrugged and took one out anyway and bit into the firm, almost brittle cookie, which was like this most likely from being over baked. That didn't weaken the taste however. I moaned loudly in delight when the sweet tang of lemons and honey filled my tastebuds. It had been forever since I've had sugar cookies, and never ones this delectable. The last memory I have of eating sugar cookies was when I stole one from the kitchen at the orphanage.

I distinctly remember leaving the dorm room late one night and sneaking through the dark hallways of the orphanage. I didn't eat breakfast or lunch that day, because I didn't want to sit among the rest of the children and get picked at. I was elated when I saw that the madam had left the cookies out that night, in plain sight on the table. I wasted no time to snatch up a few of them. My little hands were so full. I remember munching away at the cookies under my covers and staying up the entire night because of the sheer amount of sugar that was in my system. I sure did get a beating the next morning though.

"Is it good?" My thoughts faded out and I glanced up from my lap and at Helga. I smiled widely at her and nodded.

"They're delicious, did you bake them yourself?" I asked, biting into another cookie. Helga nodded vigorously and began a rant about how she mixed up the ingredients and had to start over multiple times.

I nodded along with her but soon I felt my eyes drift over to Elizabeth who was staring out the window, both hands in her lap playing aimlessly with her fingers.

"Want one?" I asked loud enough so she knew I wasn't speaking to Helga. Her gaze quickly shifted to mine and she looked at my outstretched hands.

"Oh I don't think this is good enough for the princ-"

"I'll take it." Elizabeth interrupted Helga mid sentence and took the cookie from my hand. She smiled softly before biting into the biscuit. She chewed for some time, her face contorting into a bunch of different expressions.

"It might not suit your taste because I know you don't really like lemons." I chuckled lightly. She placed a hand over her mouth and nodded.

"It's good, but you're right. I don't think it's something I'd particularly choose to eat." She said and she finished chewing. I looked back over to Helga who had gone completely quiet, only to find her staring back at me. I gave her a small smile but her features remained stoic. My smile faded and I looked back down to my lap.

She was excited just a minute ago, why did she look upset all of a sudden now?

I sighed and folded up the rest of the biscuits.

"I'm going to take a small nap." I said loudly enough so both women could hear me. Helga didn't as much as bat an eye at me while Elizabeth gave me a small nod.