Chp. 26

Maria's POV

"Ready Princess?" Ryder called from about six feet away, "Aye, but are you?" I smirked and lunged forward, sword in hand. Ryder chuckled and with a windmill turn, he completely dodged my blow.

"Remember Maria," Ryder said as we sparred, "Never believe you know more than your opponent," He brought the sword up and around and the metal crashed against the wood of my sword, "You never know who you'll be up against, and you must always stay as alert as possible."

I swung the sword using both hands up and towards him to which he blocked and pushed me back a bit. I tripped over my feet and landed back-first on the ground. This was my chance. With a wince I yelled out, "Ow! Ryder!" He scrambled down to my side and watched me in fear, "Are you alright?" He asked frantically, as I turned to my side, facing him. His sword lay on the ground next to him. I continued to wince, but peeked one I open and quickly reached for his sword as I knocked him over with my feet.

He fell to his back and I held the sword over him, triumphantly. "Never underestimate your opponent, got it." I smirked. His eyes were wide and he let out a sigh of defeat but had a grin on his face, "Nicely done, princess."

"Would ya look at that?" A voice called from the forest. We both looked over to see Robin, Zane and the twins approaching with dinner. "Oh, I will cherish this memory forever," Zane said as they approached us and looked down at Ryder sprawled across the floor, "Oh shut it," Ryder said as I pulled back the sword and held out a hand to help him up.

He reluctantly took it and brushed himself off. "The student becomes the teacher," Robin said with a smirk as he gently took the sword from me and held it towards Ryder. "Hardly, she merely held a rouse and faked being hurt." Ryder said, and crossed his arms. Robin scoffed, "And you fell for it! But that's okay, Brun, it wouldn't be the first time she made a fool of one of us." I tilted my head at him and suddenly remembered the occasion he spoke of, when I trapped him in one of his own traps.

I giggled, "Trapping the great trapper of Moonacre valley will forever be a victory of mine." Robin rolled his eyes but kept a sweet, genuine smile, "Yeah, yeah, Maria whatever you say."

"Enough talking my friends," Zane said walking a bit past us towards the horses, "Let's get a fire going, I'm famished." The pack of us began to walk towards where we decided to make a fire earlier, until Robin stopped me from walking and called out, "Get it started, Zane, we'll be there in just a minute." I turned my head to look at Robin, curious as to what it was that he seemingly needed to tell me. Zane called back, "You got it, we'll call you when the food's ready if you're not already back."

Robin gave me a small smile, but I still hadn't a clue as to what he wanted to talk about. "Robin, what is it?" I asked him softly, to which he meekly looked away. It seemed as if he had something to say but didn't know just when or how to say it, so I tried to help him get there.

"Okay then…how was the hunt?" I asked and he perked up a bit and looked at me, "Oh, the hunt was good! Well, truth be told, I ended up not doing much work at all, the twins caught the rabbits together, while Zane and I followed."

I tilted my head, still trying to get more information out of him, "Oh? And what did you and Zane talk about?" I studied his face to hopefully, catch a glimpse of understanding from it. I noticed the way he looked around my eyes, but never really made contact with them, as if he was nervous to tell me what was on his mind. He eventually swallowed and sighed, "Oh…well, I asked him about last night…when he volunteered to help you get the blankets off the horses, rather quickly."

I squinted my eyes, my gaze on his face studying every movement now even harder, desperately trying to piece together the point the curly-haired boy was attempting to make. "What about it?" I asked, and he sighed once more and planted himself on the ground finally making real eye-contact, "Well, I asked him what his intentions were– out of genuine curiosity not…"

It hit me…"Jealousy?" I finished his sentence, with both surprise and confusion floating over my words. With a huff I asked, "Robin? You thought Zane fancied me?" To which he took a step towards me and held my hands gently, "No…not really, I just didn't know what to make of it, that's all, I promise," He watched my eyes for a response but continued, "And then he went on about your conversation, and he mentioned how you said you didn't really feel like one of us."

I lowered my eyes a bit from his gaze. I knew Zane couldn't keep anything from Robin, I just didn't know how I'd react to the inevitable. With his thumb, he gently picked up my face and we once again locked eyes, "Maria, I just want you to hear it from me; you aren't one of us."

My eyebrows furrowed, trying to understand if he just said what I thought he just said. He quickly moved his hand to hold my face softly, "Maria, you're better than all of us."

My face softened as he spoke and I felt as if my eyes melted into his as he continued, "Maria, you're braver than all of us, and you're kinder than all of us, you are everything we could ever wish to be and more."

My cheeks flushed, "Robin…" He hugged me tightly and continued, "I am so sorry if I ever made you feel like less than that, after we started this journey and before. I know I was only following orders from my father, but I was a right ass to you, and I never got to apologize for it." I pulled away from the hug and kissed his cheek.

"Who knew the bird boy had such a way with words," I said with a laugh. He laughed as well and hugged me again, "From now on, Maria, we don't make a single decision without your input, but Maria I do ask you, as someone who cares for you so much," He pulled away from the hug to look me in the eye, "Place your heroism second hand, and your safety first, at least in a few of the decisions."

I nodded, "I'll try, but I fear that my heroism, as much as I'm learning through training, will be all for nothing." He tilted his head, "What makes you say that?" I sighed in frustration, "This man from my nightmares, that voice that still rings in my ears, something in me just feels like we can't beat him."

And for the first time I had actually heard myself say it. This man, who held my uncle captive in a dungeon, could very well be unbeatable. Robin seemed troubled by this comment. "Maria, I wasn't sure if I was going to tell you this today, but on the way back from the hunt, the twins told Zane and I of an old tale they knew of as kids, something called Cauchemar Roi, the Nightmare King, they said their father used it to scare them as boys. Supposedly this Nightmare King, would sneak into the dreams of children and turn them into nightmares of the things that feared them to most."

I swallowed hard, "Well, that's unsettling, to say the least." Robin stifled a laugh, "Right? Anyway, truth be told, I have no way of knowing what's true or what's just myth, but I do know that someone is targeting you and making themselves seem like this supposed nightmare beast, but worst of all they are targeting you, Maria."

I stood there for a moment, taking all of this information in. I thought about everything I'd experienced that led me to this point. I thought about my father's passing, which led me to Moonacre in the first place, I thought about Uncle Benjamin and Loveday and the De Noir's. I thought about the magic that flows through this valley, and then something occurred to me.

"Robin, I am the Moon Princess, right?" I asked, to which he looked at me and nodded, wondering where I was going with this already stated fact. "And, Marmaduke Scarlet said that when I had arrived, a bit of magic had come back to the valley…but what if that wasn't really true?" Robin's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to follow along, "I don't understand, it's not like magic was rampant before you got here, I should know I've lived in Moonacre my whole life."

I held his hands, "Robin, you said so yourself, no one has traveled this far in the valley in years, at least that we know of. What if magic didn't necessarily leave Moonacre, but instead moved further into the valley…and what if that magic is no longer good? What if there's some truth to this Nightmare King after all?"

Robin's looks of confusion turned into looks of concern, "Unfortunately, that sounds like a possibility…But there's something I still don't quite understand, why would he seek to hurt you? What gain does he possibly have, and why now?"

I then remembered the letter we received after Uncle Benjamin's kidnapping, I closed my eyes and inhaled a calming breath. "What about the letter?" I suggested, "Unfortunately I have it memorized…well, more like embedded in my brain." Robin ran his thumb against my hand as I continued, "In the letter, he said something about how he was the 'rightful owner of Moonacre Valley' and that 'NO Merryweather' could rightfully claim it. If the person that wrote that letter, my uncle's kidnapper, was the rightful heir to Moonacre Valley, how could he ever be this supposed Cauchemar Roi? Who is he, really? 'Cauchermar Roi' sounds more like a beast, or being, rather than a person."

Robin softly shook his head and removed his hat to ruffle his hair, "I don't know, none of it really makes sense all together. But, if he was once someone who lived in Moonacre Valley, I do have a suspicion of what clan he could've belonged to." His voice hardened towards the end and he looked away from me.

"But what I don't understand is, when I returned the pearls to the sea, the curse was broken…right?" I said desperately.

"The curse was set on the set on the valley, that's why the land, Merryweather Manor, and the De Noir Castle, were all falling apart. But it was you that discovered that there was another curse set on the people of Moonacre Valley, the curse of pride. Maria, not to say that your bravery in jumping off that cliff didn't save the valley, because it definitely did, but maybe the curse of pride wasn't necessarily rooted in just your uncle and my father. For a few people, it was enough, like Benjamin and my father, but maybe for others it wasn't. Maybe, whoever this is, their heart was so rotten that it didn't work on them?"

I sighed, for that was the first thing in days that had actually made sense to me. I grabbed his jacket and brought him closer to me, to lay my head on his chest. He hugged me gently, "We will find this thing, Maria, and we will get your uncle back. I promise." I stayed silent, listening to his heartbeat. I knew Robin really did mean this promise, but I also knew we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

"Aye, lovebirds, food is ready!" Zane called from a bit away. Robin reached for my hand and softly tugged me along, "Come, Maria, let's eat."