"Coraaaa," Maren whined. "My feet really hurt! Can't we take a break?"
Cora stopped a few feet in front of her, and turned around, her hands on her hips. "Another break? We stopped just an hour ago."
Maren shot Cora a look of disbelief, brushing her sweaty blonde bangs from her forehead. "Yes. An hour ago. It's not like we're going at a slow pace. I can barely keep up with you as is!"
"Just a little further," Cora replied gently, turning back around. "We're almost there."
Maren pouted, following behind her sluggishly. "You said that an hour ago…"
***
More time passed and just before the clock struck midnight, Cora finally spotted a break in the trees.
"Maren, look!" She pointed excitedly, after hours of hardly breaking a sweat.
At this point, Maren had tied her hair back in a tight bun, held together with the strongest twig she could find. She swore she could feel every swollen muscle in her legs and every time she took a step forward, pain shot through her feet. Maren was grateful that just before the Darkspirit attack, that they'd changed into their training outfits and she wasn't forced to make this descent with a dress on. But this day proved to Maren that she really, REALLY disliked physical exercise.
With the last puff of energy that she had, Maren pushed her body forward with an internal sob. Cora pushed on ahead, rushing toward the opening in the trees, but came to an abrupt halt. Maren's eyes went wide and her attention was on the alert. She didn't sense the Darkspirits anymore — she was sure they'd eradicated the damn thing.
So what had Cora so on edge?
Then, as Maren approached, she heard a voice.
"And so, I told Daphne,"A man's voice said loudly, "if she keeps stringin' you along, you're just going to start datin' the girl from the other troop."
From between the trees, she spotted them — two palace guards wearing the green and white uniform of Forsyth. They stood at the back of the palace, talking casually.
Too casually.
Maren frowned and shared a disturbed look with Cora. She understood the need for normalcy after a disaster, but to be talking about something so petty felt…wrong?
"Now Mark, why would you say that? You know I'm not interested in 'er!" The other guard replied.
"Aye but at least now she thinks she's got competition," the first guard answered, rather pleased with himself.
"They're clearly not infected," Cora said, her eyes narrowing on them through the bushes.
"I don't feel the Darkspirits' presence anymore," Maren added. "We must have eradicated it entirely."
"Yes, we must have," Cora echoed, but that distant look in her eye told Maren she still felt as though something was wrong. "Perhaps they were infected and are now healed. But they seem too…strong? I imagined the people we healed would be more…lethargic if anything."
"I imagined the same, but we've never seen what the infected are like after they're healed," Maren said.
"You're right," Cora sighed, standing. "Let's approach."
Hesitantly, Maren stood and followed closely behind Cora, who emerged from the trees with confidence. The guards were enthralled in their conversation, so much so that they barely even noticed the princess's approach. The whole thing unnerved Maren. It was like nothing ever happened. Were her abilities so expansive that they truly completely had forgotten the whole night? And if that was the case, why would the palace officials send the previously infected back out to their posts? Surely that would be a ridiculous decision, or a cruel one — they would have neither been checked by a nurse, nor put under observation before sending these men out to the wild.
Then, Maren had another thought. But what if they were never infected at all? She shook her head. That couldn't be true. Regular civilians, palace guards and knights do not experience such horrifying magical phenomena on such a daily occurrence that they would be desensitized to this. There was no way these men hadn't been infected to be acting in such a way.
Then, as they were only a few feet away, one of the guards finally turned his head, noticing the princesses. His eyes grew wide, and his mouth dropped open. He paused for a moment upon seeing them. For a moment, Maren thought she saw recognition in his eyes or surprise. She was sure that he would speak and say something of the night before. That the next words that came spilling from his mouth would praise them for saving the palace.
"Princesses!" He exclaimed casually, his expression turning quickly from surprise into joy. "You surprised me! Glad to see you both back. I'm sure you're both craving a bath." He turned to the second guard. "Brian, alert Lady Thirteen that the princesses are back from their hike in the mountains. I will bring them back to their rooms."
Maren and Cora both stopped dead in their tracks.
Our…hike? They thought in unison.
"You can follow me, Miladies," the guard said. Maren and Cora watched in shock as the second guard scurried away to alert the Star Court of their arrival. Cora shot Maren a confused glance behind her and Maren shook her head. She moved to Cora's side, watching as the guard walked ahead of them, a nonchalant smile playing around his mouth.
"There's no way the whole castle was infected," Cora whispered to Maren, staring the guard down. "My memories are a bit fuzzy, but I remember there being a lot of uninfected people in the palace."
Maren knew what Cora meant. In the haze of feeding, they had intended to heal the entire castle, and in turn, those people would fall asleep and forget. But that was in the heat of the moment, when they were drunk on magic. Afterward, they'd found that much of the palace had never been infected. That meant those people — including the guard — should remember everything.
So, if the plan was destined to fail from the beginning, why had this soldier forgotten?