Thank you reviewers! you help me keep this story going :) im very excited for the coming chapters. if things werent dramatic enough, itll get so much better in the next few chapters he he! i hope you continue to read and review. im still holding to me one chapter for every review promise. dont let me down readers! love you!

That morning when I woke up, Ari was sitting on her cot, already ready to go. There were two plates of steaming food next to her, and she reached out and handed one of the plates to me. Our breakfast that morning was a piece of bacon and runny fried eggs, which was much better than anything I could've expected . Ari tried to talk to me, but I held up my hand so I could eat everything first.

"We're going to set out today," Ari said. Why was it that every time she spoke, it sounded like she was whispering? "The queen to be was attacked near a ridge, the carriage is still there. We're going to-"

"Find her, I know," I snapped. I was still upset from all of my thinking from the night before. I didn't want to be out there. "And thank you, for the food."

"You're welcome."

"I don't want to be here, I was an idiot to think that I would want to be a soldier."

Ari shrugged, but didn't say anything. I wondered if I'd hurt her feelings. We didn't talk again during that morning, so I stood by James instead. He didn't have much to say either, but it made me feel better to know that I hadn't hurt his feelings or made him mad.

We stood in our lines for what seemed like forever. I wasn't even sure what we were waiting for. It was a little cold and I was starting to get annoyed. I wanted to apologize to Ari for snapping at her, but I also didn't want to admit that I was wrong.

I was just about to go and apologize to her when the flap to the king's tent opened and Roden walked out flanked by another man. I swore his name was Mott. He'd helped Roden patrol parts of Drylliad.

Mott and Roden addressed us, and informed us that we'd need to treat the king with respect. The young man on the other side of me snorted, and I shot him a glare.

"King Jaron deserves our respect," I hissed.

"Be quiet over there!" Roden snapped, and he looked directly at me. My face burned. Oh I hated him so much.

"Trust me, he doesn't," said the man next to me, but I didn't yell at him back. I didn't want to get in trouble again.

Unfortunately for me, we were on the march before I could catch a glimpse of my old friend turned king. I was wedged in between James and the man beside me who'd gotten me in trouble. I was mad at him too, so I didn't ask his name. He didn't ask for mine either, and we didn't speak to each other.

I busied myself looking at the scenery as we marched to the place where the queen to be had been attacked. The trees were all trying their best to start to bloom, but it was a little too cold here, and most of the new leaves had all died, which made the forest a little eerie. We were walking through an area where tall rocks lined the sides of the road, perfect for attackers to hide. The rocks soon disappeared to a cliff face, and we all had to squish together to be able to walk on the road.

"You've got smelly breath," said the young man to my left. I would've punched him in the arm if I had the room.

"And I'm getting fleas from being this close to you," I shot back.

"I think they want us to be quiet," James said softly. I almost didn't hear him.

"No, the attackers from before would be all gone," said the young man.

James rolled his eyes, "How would you know that?"

"You will just have to trust me."

"I'm not sure how much I'd like to trust somebody I just met," I snapped, but I looked up at the cliff face to make sure there wasn't anybody waiting to drop a boulder on my head.

"You've done it before," said the young man with a slight smirk.

"What are you-?" I began, but the young man held a finger up to his lips, telling me to be quiet. I glared at him, and refused to talk again until we were done walking up the cliff face.

We were soon at the site of the attack, and I pressed my hand to my mouth at the sight.

Everywhere were spots and puddles of blood. There were indentations left in the ground from where corpses had fallen and mounds of dirt where the bodies had been buried. Some of the trees had been burnt and chopped down. The queen to be's carriage had been turned over on its side. It looked more like a dragon had attacked the carriage than bandits or thieves. But now I understood why everyone was so convinced that the queen to be and her entire party hadn't survived.

I caught a glimpse of Ari and tried to wave, but if she saw me, she didn't make any effort to acknowledge me.

"Walk through the site, try to find anything," Roden ordered from his horse. "We will remain here until sundown."

Great. I rolled my eyes, and got to worked examining a part of the attack site. James soon joined me, as did the young man from before. We worked in silence, and I wished that Ari was there with me.

"We're not going to find anything here," said the young man. "They've already checked."

"Maybe they missed something," said a new voice. Ari!

And then I remembered that I'd been rude to her this morning, and I wiped my excited smile off my face. I nodded in agreement, and said nothing.

"I think we should go to the east," said the young man. "To the west is the cliffside and only fools would go over there."

"That's exactly right," Ari said, but her voice went small again. "D-d-d-do you think they're still here?"

I arched an eyebrow, "Are you scared?"

"And you're not?" The young man scoffed. "Just like I thought. Well, scared girl, you don't have to come with us."

Ari held her arms, and looked at the snow. She sniffed and didn't argue against him, but she did follow us as we took a few steps forwards.

"Wait, I'm not going to follow somebody who won't even tell me their name," said James. This made the young man snicker.

"You'll get it in due time, now, follow me," he said after winking at me. I only rolled my eyes, and wished even more that I'd stayed a thief back at Mrs. Hamilton's.