It had been a long and often frightening flight from the castle. It had been one of the most difficult things Lily had ever done to keep herself from looking back at the castle, though whether in fear of capture or in homesickness, she did not know. Once she had convinced herself that there was no possible way that anyone knew that she was gone yet, the walk through the village had been simple. No one in the village had recognized her, so she was free to walk amongst them unmolested and invisible. She had walked through close to three-fourths of the village before a suitable moment had presented itself. Noticing that the crowd had thinned and that no one was glancing in her direction – they were all looking the other way, focused on a traveling minstrel and his songs of fair maidens and brash knights – she slipped through the space between the blacksmith's and the blacksmith's small cottage. Off the main road, she walked freely through the small, winding back passages until she reached the edge of the village.
And into the forest she walked, knowing that she was passing the castle again in the distance. Until she knew that she had left the castle behind, she kept up her limping, hunched visage. Finally knowing that she was alone, though, she straightened up, hoisted her pack higher, let the sword swing free, and walked quickly, enjoying the day despite her apprehension. Pulling the shawl off her head, her brown hair fell free.
For it really was a lovely afternoon. Though it was late summer, the flowers were still in full bloom. Dust motes danced lazily on a light breeze, and the trees were thick and full. For not the first time, Lily thought that it looked like an enchanted forest. How did the leaves stay so green when the trees in the castle's gardens were already turning yellow and twirling to the ground? How did she not crush any flowers, striding directly through them, when the castle's flowers were fragile, and their stems snapping at the merest grasp? It had to be an enchantment.
As she walked, she stooped over to pick a light blue flower as she had so many times before... and for the first time ever, hesitated. Should she really pick it? After all, didn't it look plenty pretty where it was, surrounded by other light blue flowers? She straightened back up and looked all around her. There had been a time when she could have picked as many flowers as she wished, and made herself a soft crown with them. These days, though, it just didn't seem right.
Lily sighed. Trying to be an adult and to be responsible really wasn't very easy. To take her mind off it, though, she just kept walking. Soon she began to recognize her surroundings. She swallowed uneasily, remembering that though she hadn't yet been caught, she still might be. After all, this was the part of the forest where she and Jack had met so often. If he happened to be in this area –
Her thoughts were cut short at the sound of noise in the trees overhead. Without stopping to think, Lily threw herself flat to the ground, tugging the grey shawl back over her head as she fell. She hit the ground with a very unladylike oof, just as mere feet away, feet hit the ground. Very familiar feet. Knowing now that it would have been wiser to skirt this area, Lily unhappily kept her face buried in the dirt. He was going to kill her, he was going to insist on going with her, and then he would probably kill her again.
"Miss?" a polite voice asked. "Are you all right?" She knew that voice, knew it with every inch of her body. It was quiet and not especially deep, but she loved it anyway.
Grasping at every second she could stay prone, though she was surprised that he hadn't recognized her immediately, she muttered in a high, reedy voice, "Just fell, sonny. Quite all right... It was my bad hip."
"Well then, Ma'am," he said, thinking he really was talking to an old lady, "let me help you up?"
She had no choice, so Lily allowed him to gently pull her to her feet. Though she kept a twisted expression on her face, the shawl tightly on her head, and her hands out of sight, tears still rose to her eyes when she came face to face with Jack.
He looked exactly the same as he had the last time she'd seen him. The same raggy clothes that looked as if they were sewn together from grass and leaves, the same wild brown hair, the same feral face, and the same soft brown eyes.
Oh, how I missed you, she wanted to whisper. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I need your help. Lily knew that part of her was waiting, wanting him to recognize her, knowing that Jack, of all people, would see through the mask she had put on. But things had changed. She had slept with another man, though she didn't allow herself to think of Connor and his likely fate, she was being hunted by a demon, and she could not involve him. Swallowing, she forced the tears back from her eyes, and opened her mouth to reveal her "missing" teeth in a hideous smile.
"You're all right now, Ma'am?"
He really didn't recognize her. For a minute, Lily couldn't breathe. She quickly recovered herself and said in the same cracked voice, "Oh, yes, sonny. Quite all right. Thank you for your help." In the same breath, she pulled her arms away from his grasp, suddenly seething with rage inside. She turned to walk away, but his tentative voice stopped her.
"Ma'am... not many people come through this way. You came from the direction of the castle... Is there any chance you know the Princess Lily?"
Bastard, she cried inside, but outside all she said was, "Know of her, lad."
"Tell me," he said breathlessly, "is she well? What has she been doing?" Catching the "old lady's" gaze like a hawk on him, he added, "She and I, we've met once or twice."
Lily grinned toothlessly, itching to smack his stupid face. "Quite well, lad. She's well. Engaged to be married. Never seen her happier."
The second the words were out of her mouth, the most desolate expression she had ever seen came over his face. Married? he mouthed, and she nodded, now sorry for telling him that, for mocking him. He did love her, he really did, she knew that.
"Married," he said dully. "I... I see. Thank you, Ma'am, for telling me." Turning away, he plodded slowly towards the trees on the other side of the meadow. Jack didn't say another word as he walked away.
Once he was out of sight, Lily sighed deeply. She had been mean, horribly mean, and she knew it. But... he didn't even recognize me! she wailed inwardly. Shouldn't he have seen through the charcoal on my face? Shouldn't he have just known? My disguise isn't that good, right? He didn't know me...
Lily sniffled loudly. A twig cracked nearby. She spun around, her heart suddenly pounding, remembering the sensations, the fear, of being kidnapped by the goblins and carted off to meet their master. After she satisfied herself that no one was in sight, she straightened her shoulders.
Right. The goblin's master. In the whole adventure and the planning, she had managed to push aside the whole reason why she was doing this. She was going to defeat Darkness, somehow, some way. And when she came back, Jack would surely forgive her. He would have to, wouldn't he?
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It felt like she had been walking for an eternity by the time she stopped that night. In reality, she knew that she'd probably gone no more than a few miles, if that, but her aching legs wanted her to think otherwise. Somehow, though, she'd managed to keep herself walking, even when her body begged her to stop. I have a long way to go, she had told herself sternly. I have no time for weakness.
Finally, though, exhausted and sore, she could go no further. It had not been night for more than an hour or so, but Lily was slightly frightened of walking through the woods all alone at night.
Somehow, she found the perfect place to spend the night. She had long been out of familiar territory, so she was truly thankful when she happened upon a small clearing with a little stream running through the corner of it.
Lily didn't have energy to do much, though. She stumbled over to the stream, washed her face, swished water in her mouth to clean away the gritty charcoal, then spat the dirty water to the side, and took a long, cooling drink that involved dunking her weary head all the way underwater.
When she came up for air, though, she knew that she just wanted to sleep, even if it meant that she didn't eat tonight. She staggered back over to her pack and unhooked her cloak, which, for the last hour or so, had felt like a millstone around her shoulders. The cool air felt nice against her lightened frame as she bundled the cloak into a pillow.
Her bed this night was very different than her bed this morning had been. With that thought, as she lay down, Lily removed the sheathed sword from its belt and fell asleep with it cradled tightly in her arms.
For once there were no dreams, nor did she even stir when a shadowy figure crept into the meadow to take a refreshing drink from the stream, much as she had, then, wiping his mouth and sighing, wondering what he (and she, for that matter) had gotten himself into, melted back into the woods.
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The sun was already high overhead when Lily moaned and opened her eyes a crack. For a minute, all she could think of was food. Not noticing the small figure crouching but a few feet away, she grabbed her pack, dropping the sword. Her eager fingers felt for a piece of meat, which she eagerly wolfed down. She was reaching for another when she noticed that she was not alone, and shrieked, scrambling for her sword.
"Now, then, Princess," said the boy, his voice not quite human, "I don't think you want to hurt me, do you?"
He was familiar. She stopped scrambling and looked at him, then burst forth with a sigh of relief. "Gump!" Lily snapped, trying to make her heart start beating again. "How dare you scare me like that?"
Dressed in naught but a small fur covering his mid-body, the slender boy with the pointed ears and fiddle strapped to his back shrugged as Oona, the ever-present fairy disguised as a small flash of light zoomed around the clearing, making incoherent noises. "You shouldn't scorn help."
"Help? Help? Help, as in, scaring the life out of me when I'm already tense?"
"It is a dangerous mission you embark on, Princess, and eviler creatures than I roam these woods. Your wits need sharpening, and I think you'd rather 'twas I that sharpened them." He grinned mischievously. "But if you'd prefer to wake up looking at them, I will be happy to leave you to their tender mercies."
"No!" Lily exclaimed. "No, no, Gump, you're right, I'm sorry. I wasn't—"
"—thinking?" he suggested. "If you're determined to go through with this, you'd better learn to start. You're capable of getting us all into a lot of trouble when you don't think."
She glared at him. "That's not fair, Gump. When I touched that unicorn, I didn't know."
"So you'll be happy to declare complete innocence when you've somehow again cursed this world?" He lifted an insolent eyebrow.
Lily hung her head. "Very well, Gump. You win. I was wrong, you were right. Again. So what are you doing here?"
"To give you that advice. This may well be more dangerous than you know."
"You know?" she asked. "You know what I'm doing?"
He nodded, suddenly looking wizened. "I know. The forest knows. You go to find the Lord of Darkness?"
"Y—yes," she said. "I do." She looked around, the enormity of her task again striking her. Lily looked back at Gump, allowing her desperation to show in her eyes. "Gump, do you know where he is? Can you tell me? How can I find him? I don't know where to start."
He pointed the direction to her left. "He's that way. Over the Frozen Mountains at the edge of the forest, and behind the Shivering Forest on the other side of them."
Lily stared at them, her heart sinking. "But... but that's so far. How can I ever make it that far?"
Gump looked at her sympathetically. "Because that is the task you have set yourself, Princess."
She grabbed desperately for Gump's hand. "Am I doing the right thing? Did I do the right thing?"
"You are trying to protect those you love," Gump replied, "so that is the right thing. As for whether you have done the right thing, there are many different paths that lead to the same road. You picked your path, and it will take you to the road, but perhaps in a different way than others."
"Riddles, always riddles," Lily said, almost angrily. "Why do you not just talk clearly?"
"Why should I tell you humans everything you want to know when it's better for you to figure it out on your own?" Gump grinned impishly.
A thought occurred to her. "You—you won't tell Jack what I'm doing, will you?" He didn't even recognize me. Gump said nothing. "I mean, Gump, you know Jack. He'd insist on going with me, and he'd get himself killed. He's too... too innocent for this."
"And this is not a trip for those who are innocent," Gump said. "I know what you are saying, Princess. But do you really think that you can face him alone?"
Lily hung her head. "I do not know. But I have to try, don't I? It's not a unicorn he wants this time, it's me. Why should I put others at risk? If all else fails, I can... I can always..."
"...give into the demon and give him the rest of your life, along with your body and your soul?"
"My father is a king," Lily said with sudden conviction. "When a king goes to war," as my father is now, "he is supposed to ride at the head of his troops, and be willing to sacrifice his life for his men, as they must for him. I may not be a boy, and I will never be a king, but I have my father's blood. Should I do any less for my people? And," she added, "should I do any less for any creatures that lie between Darkness and myself?"
Gump looked at her, his face impassive, but the expression in his dark eyes was somber and almost admiring. "So you have actually thought this through." He sighed. "Know, then, Princess, what I know. Darkness survived, clearly. He was rescued, though by whom I know not. He was only a breath from death – or however close a creature like he can come to dying. Since then, he has been in a cave beyond the Shivering Forest, restoring his strength and powers. Yet he has made no move to return here, to the Great Tree. This puzzles me." Gump paused, looking at Lily. When she nodded, motioning him to go on, he did. "He has been influencing things on this side of the mountains, however. It was he who whispered to that princess that she wanted the prince meant for you, thus it is he who has set the course towards war. Clearly, he has been showing himself to you, if only in dreams. And within the forest..." He trailed off, sadly.
"What? Within the forest what?" Lily demanded.
Gump rubbed an arm across his eyes. "Within the forest, there are places – small spots here and there – where the sun has ceased to shine. I do not know how he has done it, but in these places, all the plants have died from lack of sunlight. And each day, these places grow larger. If he is not stopped..."
He didn't need to finish. Lily saw what would happen as clearly as he did. "He must be destroyed," she whispered. "Or, if he cannot be," she swallowed, "he must be pacified."
"It will not be an easy journey, Princess," Gump said, choosing not to discuss what she meant. "I will attempt to help you – I might be able to speed your journey to the foot of the Frozen Mountains – but beyond that, I can do nothing."
"How can you help me?" she asked almost bitterly. "It is not as if I could ride upon a unicorn's back, and the mountains are still far away."
"Yes, perhaps two or three days of quick walking, and that is if you don't stop to sleep," he replied. "However, did you not notice that this" he waved his arms around them majestically "was the perfect place for you to sleep?"
"Yes," Lily said slowly. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"It is difficult to explain," Gump answered, "but I can sometimes shift places in the forest around." At her confused look, he tapped his fingers on the grassy ground. "I can take one spot in the forest – say, this meadow – and place it elsewhere in the forest, along with whatever or whomever happens to be in it."
"Are you saying," Lily said, growing excited, "that you put this meadow here just so I could find it? That you could move this whole meadow to the edge of the mountains in seconds?"
He shook his head. "No, that measure of power is not given to me. And with Darkness doing... whatever it is he's doing to the forest, it drains me. But time by time, every time I regain strength, I can move you a bit further even as you walk."
She was frustrated. It would still take her a long time to reach Darkness. But she accepted that it was the best he could do. "I thank you," she said quietly, "for whatever help you give me." Lily paused. "Why do you help me, Gump?" She stared into his eyes. "The end result would be the same, whether I get there sooner or later. So why do you help me?"
"Because," he said equally quietly, "you have saved my life on more than one occasion, and I believe in paying back debts."
"Saved your life?" She laughed disbelievingly. "Gump, I have only seen you once in my life, and that was after Jack broke the spell and the danger was gone. How could I possibly have—"
"Humans," Gump snorted. "They think there is only one kind of life-threatening danger. Princess, you have twice saved the forest: once when you left Jack to return to the castle, and once yesterday when you purposefully walked away from the forest to lead your father's guards in the wrong direction. They still believe that you moved away from the forest. Thus, you have saved me twice. And if you succeed on your quest, you will have saved the forest a third time. Thus, you will have saved me a third time."
"Yes, the forest is your home," Lily said, feeling as though she were still missing something. "It is home to a great many creatures."
"Princess, you are not listening. I live because you saved me. Specifically. Personally. You saved those within me as well, but indirectly. You saved me."
An idea took shape in Lily's head, but it was far too ridiculous. "Are you saying," she asked, almost sheepishly, "that you are the forest?"
She was expecting Gump to laugh, but instead he just nodded. "Aye. That I am. Or the spirit of the forest, rather. The places in the forest that are dying have died within me... and they start to kill me, Princess. When I am gone, the forest will be gone too." Lily couldn't think of anything to say, so she just nodded. He had said it so matter-of-factly, and yet, so very sadly, that she had the sudden urge to hug him. "It is as if," he whispered, "someone is taking small pieces of my body and cutting them away from me." Suddenly, he looked so much like a little lost boy that it was hard to believe the wild, exotic, laughing heart of the forest lay within him. Or did he lie in the heart of the forest? Or were they just one and the same? It really didn't matter, but her mind dwelled on it, wishing that it were just another of his riddles. Lily wasn't especially good at solving riddles, but they were more harmless than this.
"I will... do what I can to save you," she said, feeling stupid, and knowing that what she had said was just so very insignificant, that something better, more important ought to have been said.
He didn't seem to mind though. "I know you will."
"Does it, er, hurt?"
Gump nodded. "More than I hope you will ever know, Princess." Suddenly he seemed to banish his sadness and become again the slender, mischievous elf she had known. "But you have a long journey again, and you will not get there by commiserating with me."
Lily nodded. "My legs hurt, and I don't mind the time talking to you, but I suppose you're right. I should be going."
As she struggled to her feet and leaned down to gather her things, twisting up her face as her legs seemed to creak, Gump tilted his head to the side, thinking, then coming to a sudden decision.
"Princess," he said quietly, "you are not alone."
She smiled gratefully. "I understand, Gump. Thank you for your support."
"No, Princess," he replied, seeming to hide a snigger. "I did not mean it metaphorically. I mean that you were followed last night, and this person has heard every word we have said. You may have been determined to go it alone, but the choice was not yours." He shook his head in mocking pity. Lily just stared at him, astonished. She had been followed?
As she stared around the clearing, wondering who had followed her, she didn't notice Gump spring to his feet and run off into the woods.
Jack? Could it be Jack? If she had to travel with someone, she wanted to apologize to Jack.
"Who's out there?" Lily called, trying to sound strong and stern, but her voice came out sounding little and scared. "Come out here where I can see you!"
If she had been expecting Jack's lithe form to slink sheepishly into the clearing, she was very surprised when a fair-haired, well-muscled guard stormed loudly out of the trees, halting right in front of her, glaring.
"C—Connor!" she gasped, her slender hand to her throat. "What—Why—"
His eyes didn't soften this time as he crossed his arms belligerently. "Princess Lily, seeing as how if I go back to the castle I'll be executed, as how I slept on a bunch of roots last night, and as how I swore to protect you with my life, I think you damned well better have some good explanations for me. Right now."