| |

|
Elara glanced around and noticed the blanket on her shoulders, as well as Sage and Liz asleep. She lay her head back down, drifting back off.
|
|  |
|
| |

|
Sage lay around for a while longer before the coughing woke him up again, and he had to sit up. He leaned against the headboard of the bed, sort of just lazily sitting there.
|
|  |
|
| |

|
Elara stayed asleep, dreaming of the hurt on Nate's face when she left. "Will you be back? Ever?" "I'll try, but, I might not." Those were her last words to him, no promises, no 'i'll miss you', or anything like that. Just a failed promise which she was sure had left him unhopeful.
|
|  |
|
| |

|
Sage had leaned against the headboard tiredly, only opening his eyes when he felt Liz crawl up beside him. He wrapped his arms around her happily, letting her Nestle in
|
|  |
|
| |

|
Elara finally awoke, eyes snapping open as she sat up and glanced around. She noted Sage, giving him a small nod before standing and grabbing her bow and quivel, slipping it over her shoulder before silently making her way out into the night.
|
|  |
|
| |

|
Sage offered the girl a tired smile when she nodded at him, watching her move to grab her bow. Good ...he felt bad for keeping her cooped up for so long caring for him. It was good for her to get out and hunt. Liz had fallen asleep next to him, so he just shifted to gently lay down, resting there with her for a while
|
|  |
|
| |

|
Elara silently trekked through the forest, finding a few recent tracks and following them. After a while of pushing through the moonlit terrain of bushes and grasses, she eventually found the end of the tracks and ducked behind a fallen oak, it providing complete cover over her. She heard voices, her pulse spiking as she pressed herself against the tree to make sure her figure didn't look like it was there. A moment of silence passed, only the sound of nightime critters filling the air, along with the sound of her heart beating like a drum in her ears. If anybody found her, she was done, she'd be dragged back to the castle, forced to say something bad had happened, she was taken, or something like that, not that she ran away to escape the hell of the crown. It didn't matter if it was a guard or a civilian, for a hefty amount of money had been placed on her name. And, knowing her former home, she was sure anybody would do anything for the amount rewarded. Elara thought about it for a moment, shaking her head lightly as she snapped back to reality. The torchlight got closer, shining off the metal armor of two patrols. "The whole princess thing....big deal.." She heard one of them murmur, the other chuckling. "I doubt she's still alive, probably died the first day.'' Elara was somewhat taken back, they thought she was dead? Wait, that's a good thing, if they thought she was dead they wouldn't look for her anymore. She chuckled under her breath, one of the patrol's heads snapping towards her direction as they stopped. Her face fell, the guard taking a few steps closer. "Who's there? Show yourself, that's an order from the Royal Guard!" The man snapped, Elara freezing in place as she held her breath. She ducked into the log, covering her mouth with her hand as she watched as the man got closer, and closer, and closer, until he was only a step away from discovering her.
|
|  |
|
| |

|
Sage was too far away to notice anything was out of the ordinary down where elara was hunting even if he was awake. Of course, he wasn't asleep for long, since Liz woke up soon enough and wanted to play. "Liz, it's too early for that," he sort of groaned. "Ho back to sleep." The little girl had plenty of energy though, so he sighed and moved to get her doll out of the chest they'd been keeping their things in.
|
|  |
|
| |

|
Elara's heart pounded in her ears as the man turned and left, letting out a breath until she felt hands grab her and yank her out of the log. She yelped, the guard pulling her up. "Well well well, what's a civilian doing so far from home?" He mused, Elara shrugging as she disguised her voice. -I guess he doesn't recognize me,- "Oh I was just trying to go to my mother's, but then I got terribly lost. I was hoping maybe you could help me get back?" She asked, the guard nodding. "Sure, just stay near us and we'll lead you back." The guards started leading her back to the kingdom, Elara following before slipping away into the town, darting back out only moments later and back to the cabin. She burst through the door, shutting it behind her as her cheast heaved with each breath. The woman quieted, glancing out the window and looking around and seeing no motion, her shoulders slumping slightly as she let out a breath.
|
|  |
|
| |

|
Sage was on the floor with Liz when elara burst through the door. He jumped, mind trying to work enough to figure out what had happened, but he was exhausted and a bit slow. "What's wrong," he finally asked after a moment or so, frowning slightly as she glanced out the window nervously.
|
|  |
|