Chapter 16 A trip to a new understanding

Breakfast the next morning was really strange. Abidale and Queen Lutecia didn´t talk the whole time they were in the dining room. Zan and Ava weren´t openly flirting like usual and Vilandra seemed to had lost her good mood. King Salem and Mael were the only ones who behaved like they did normally. Rath and Marianna wondered what brought this change. Actually they hoped that everybody would congratulate them for their promotion. But they acted like someone had died. Therefore Marianna and Rath tried to eat as fast as possible so that they could escape the weird vibe they were getting. Thank god that they both didn´t have much appetite that morning, because they were too nervous. Just as they finished their meal and wanted to excuse themself from the table, Mael stopped them.

" We´re meeting at the gate. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes".

Rath and Marianna were a bit confused about the information, but nontheless they nodded and made their way to their bedrooms. Both deep in thoughts what they should expect from Mael and why was the feeling in the dining room so odd this morning. After they put on their work out clothes and comfortable shoes they walked the long way to the gate. People on their way bowed and greeted them friendly. Nothing unusual so far. Then they came to the gate. To their surprise the whole family stood there. Vilandra, Ava, Queen Lutecia, Abidale, Mael, Zan and King Salem.

" Ok. What´s up here", now Rath knew that this was not a normal exercise session. Something was fishy here.

Mael took a few steps forward till he stood before his son and Marianna. There he dropped two backpacks at their feets. " You´re both making a trip into the forest".

" What? Is this some kind of punishment?", Marianna was slightly shocked, which showed on her face. No No. That had to be a cruel joke.

Mael smiled despite the serious situation. " No that´s not a punishment", then a thought occured to him." Did you do something that needs punishment?".

" No. Of course not. I was only asking", Marianna was quick to respond. She didn´t do something. At least not at the moment. What happened in the future she didn´t know.

" Then why the backpacks and the trip in the forest?", Rath was curious and wary. He thought that this things were not here without a purpose.

" That´s your first lesson", Mael paced between Rath and Marianna. He had to do it or else they wouldn´t learn something." You´re both the best soldiers, there´s no doubt about it. But being a leader is not only about strength and powers. It means you have to trust the people you work with", Mael tried to find the right words to describe the situation so that Marianna and Rath would understand it." And I don´t see that with you two. You´re constantly bitching at each other. You have to learn to rely on your partner or else it could get really ugly real fast".

Rath tried to decipher what his father told them. " I still don´t understand the meaning of the backpacks?".

" I have a assigment for you both", Mael grabbed in his right pocket of his cape. After a few minutes of searching he pulled out a piece of paper. " Here is a map. We have hidden a treasure. You and Marianna have to find it. Together without help from others".

" That´s a joke", Marianna didn´t know if she was still dreaming or not. Did they lost their minds or what?

" No. In order to be a good leader you both have to learn to work with not against each other. I give you three days to find the treasure and bring it back home", Mael was sure that they could do it. And maybe they would get closer during this little adventure.

" And how will you know that we didn´t part on the way? I mean we could go our separate ways and this lesson would be fruitless", not that Rath would do something like that. Althrough three days alone with Marianna it was not so a bad idea.

" Don´t worry. We have our ways", Mael smiled knowingly. They had put sensors in their backpacks. If they would move more then a hundred feet from each other they would trigger a really loud alarm." So you should be on your way. You have only three days".

Marianna didn´t want to go. But she didn´t have a choice. With a heavy sight she took her backpack and put it on her back. Then she said goodbye to the others. Surprisingly all the females embraced her and wished her luck for the little journey. Rath did the same. Only a little more uncomfortable. After that they walked together in the direction of the forest. The whole family stood still at their places and looked after the two.

" Do you think we did the right thing", althrough Abidale was quiet the whole time, she did have her doubts.

" I´m completely sure", Mael wrapped his arms around his wife and pressed her to his body. " And if not, we have one child less to worry about".

" Mael!", Abidale slapped her husband pretty hard on his shoulder. How could he make jokes at a time like this. She was Raths mother and therefore was always worried about him. He was still her little boy.

Mael shook his head. He was worried, too. But he had complete trust in his son and Marianna to make it back save and sound. No matter what happened they would make it, there was no doubt. He only had to convince his wife about that. But like he knew her she would only stop worrying when Marianna and Rath were back at home. With that thought he made his way back in the palace. The others stopped looking after Rath and Marianna and followed him.

Meanwhile near the forest

Rath and Marianna, loaded with their backpacks and a treasure map, were quickly walking on the path which lead to the forest. Thank god it was morning and the suns didn´t shine that bright. Rath tried to read in the map which way they had to go. But he couldn´t regnorize a thing on this damn piece of paper. He should have be more careful in this class. His father told him that he had to learn it. But no he thought he would never need to read a map. F. He glanced at Marianna out of the corner of his eyes. Maybe she could read the piece of crap. No. What was he thinking. She would only laugh in his face and make fun of him the rest of his life. Ok. That option was out of the question. What should he do now?

" Are we on the right way?", Marianna faced Rath without breaking her step. He was looking at the map for a few minutes now. Hopefully he was better at reading it than her. That´s the only thing she didn´t understand. She couldn´t read a map and if her life depended on it.

Rath made a grunt that sounded like a yes. He didn´t want to lie to Marianna and he didn´t want to admit that he had no clue where they were going. For all he knew they could be on their way to another planet. Maybe he held the map wrong. Rath turned it around. Dammit. He still couldn´t read it.

" You have absolutely no clue where we going?", Marianna noticed it the moment he turned the map. He was as clueless as her when it came to maps. Great. They were probably going to die in these god forsaken forest.

Rath wanted to smack himself. Now he had to lie. " Yes I do", he held the map a little closer to his face and moved his forefinger along the drawn path, who would hopefully lead in the right direction. " I think we have to move north", he pointed with his hand ahead of him" and then walk until we come to a building".

" Are you sure about that?", Marianna wanted to laugh. First of all he held the map wrong, she knew that much, and secondly north was not in front of them but behind them and thirdly the building was the castle.

" If you don´t believe me then look for yourself", Rath pressed the map in Mariannas hand. See if she could do it better.

Marianna took the map and turned it the right way around. Then she tried to identify something. How hard could reading a map be? But everytime she thought she had found a way, she discovered that every path lead to a blind end. Dammit!

" Ha, you can´t read it either!", Rath pointed his finger at her. She was no better than him. If he wouldn´t be so mature he would start dancing and teasing her about it.

Marianna was glad that she was mature enough to admit her failures in contrast to Rath." Alright. I´ll admit that I can´t read it. But at least I know where North is. That´s in this direction", Marianna pointed behind her with her thumb." And the building you mentioned is the castle".

" Alright, Miss I-know-everything", if the situation wouldn´t be so serious Rath would be laughing. They weren´t even in the forest and they both were in the process of fighting again. " Then tell me what we should do now?".

" I think we have to move south", Marianna pointed ahead of them and then turned to Rath. She wanted to know what he would say about that.

Rath didn´t say anything. Instead he simply started walking in the direction Marianna was pointing at. They didn´t have much time to waste. Marianna stared suprised after him. That was strange. But then she remembered why she was here in the first place and followed Rath.

3 hours later

The suns were shining brighter now . It was really starting to get hot. Not even the trees could give them shelter from the heat. Marianna had pulled her shirt off and rolled up the legs of her pants. Her white tanktop was tied under her breasts and the sweat was tripping down everywhere on her body. Her hair was plastered against her face and from time to time a curse would fly from her mouth. Rath was no better. He was only clad in his pants and his shoes. His shirt was tied around his head to keep off the heat. The sweat glistened on his really great body. Marianna tried to not look. But she couldn´t help herself. She watched how a single bead of sweat fell down from his forhead to his chest and further down his abs until it dissapeared in his pants. How she wished she could be the bead of sweat. No stop it. Oh God the suns were getting to her. She had a sunstroke already.

" I think we should take a break", Rath was wasted and really hungry. He needed a little breather, before they went further. Besides it was too hot to walk.

Marianna, who was still arguing with herself because of her nasty thoughts earlier, didn´t hear what he was saying. " What".

" I said we should take a break. It´s really hot and I´m hungry".

" Yeah I agree", hopefully she could bring her thoughts under control while they were eating.

Rath held a hand over his heart mockingly. " Did I hear you right? You´re agreeing with me?".

" Yeah. Don´t get accustomed to it", Marianna smiled at him and then made her way under the biggest tree she could find. Maybe if she would come out of the sun she would remember that Rath was only a friend and not her sex object.

Rath watched how she went to a huge tree. Her butt moved nicely with her steps. Rath bend his head slightly to the side to see it more clearly. But to his dissapointment in that moment she turned around. Damn! With a quick curse he followed her.

Marianna breathed easier after she threw the backpack on the ground. Her shoulders felt really sore and uptight. She rolled her head from side to side to relieve some tension on her back. When she´ll come home the first thing she´ll do is to fall in her bed and sleep for a week or two. And nobody should dare to wake her.

" Finally I can take this damn thing off of my shoulders", Rath did the same like Marianna and threw the backpack on the ground. Then he took a seat beneath her. His feet were killing him. If he would be alone he would take his shoes off. A moan escaped him as he leaned his back against the tree behind him. Yeah that was perfect.

Marianna watched Rath how he relaxed at the trunk of the tree. He looked so peaceful with the smile on his face and his eyes closed. Like a little boy. She didn´t know that a man could look so beautiful. But now she knew better. A little smile broke out on her face.

" Why are you smiling?", Rath had his eyes only half closed. He was observing Marianna. She was different when she thought nobody was near. Then she was not so guarded. He liked it.

" I was just thinking about you", just as these words left Mariannas mouth, her eyes grew big and she clasped her hand over her mouth. Oh God. She did not just say that out loud. But the smug smile of Rath told her something different. Immediately she tried to cover up her slip." Hey, why don´t we check up what we have to eat? I´m really hungry now".

Rath noticed how Marianna tried to avoid his eyes. She pulled the backpack to her and opened it quickly. Then she rummaged in it, searching for food. Rath bend slightly forward and laid a hand on her arm. " Don´t be afraid".

" What? What are you talking about?", Marianna knew exactly what he meant, but she wanted to avoid this conversation.

Rath took Mariannas face in his hand and turned it in his direction. When he had this conversation he wanted to have eye contact at least. " Don´t be afraid of your feelings".

" I´m not afraid of my feelings", Marianna wanted to run in that moment. Rath said exactly what she felt. But she would never admit it to him. It was not easy to confess your fears, especially when you thought you couldn´t trust anybody.

" Oh yeah. Then explain to me why you never talk about them. I know you have feelings. Why are you hiding them?", Rath wouldn´t give up until he had his answers this time. Now they could finally talk about things without getting disturbed from other people. He knew that he could come behind her wall or at least knock a few stones out of it.

Marianna pushed Rath´s hand off of her face and arose from her position. Why couldn´t Rath simply let everything like it was? Why did he ask so much question she didn´t want to answer? She had to get away. Fast." I´m not having this conversation with you". With that she stormed deeper in the forest.

Rath couldn´t let her get away without his answers. Immediately he jumped to his feet and followed her quickly. " We´re not finished here. You can´t just run away from me"

" Watch me".

Rath knew that he wouldn´t get far with his tactic. She was more stubborn than him. And he didn´t think that was possible. He was now almost running to keep up with her. After a while he grasped her right arm and stopped her in the process. Marianna tried to release her arm and struggled against his hold.

" Stop that. You´re only hurting yourself", Rath pressed his hand tighter around her arm. It didn´t matter if she would get bruisings, she wouldn´t get away from him now. And if he ripped her arm off in the process.

" Please let me go. You´re hurting me", Marianna tried to hide her tears. She didn´t want Rath to see how vulnerable she really was. How broken she was inside. Everybody thought she was this tough girl but in reality she was only a scared little girl.

Rath heared how her voice broke while she spoke. He knew she was crying. But why didn´t she want him to see it? " I will let you go when you´re answering my questions".

" Why can´t you let it go? Why do you care?", Marianna didn´t have the strength to fight any longer. She was so sick of hiding and pretending.

Rath turned her around and pulled her close to his body. Then he lifted her chin with his forefinger and saw in her beautiful eyes, who were filled with tears. " Because I love you".

Marianna was speechless for a moment. Nobody ever said that to her. Ok Lykus had said it once, but that was during sex, so it doesn´t count. But Rath said it like he would really mean it. " No. You can´t love me".

" And why not?".

" Because it´s too dangerous", why couldn´t Rath understand it. Everything she loved was ripped from her. And she couldn´t bear it again. It would surely be her death this time. Her heart wouldn´t survive it.

" I don´t care about that", Rath wouldn´t let go because she thought it was too dangerous for him. He would fight everybody who wanted to break them apart. And if it would be the last he did. He never backed down from a challenge and he wouldn´t start now.

Marianna laid a hand on Rath´s cheek and caressed it with her thumb. " But I do. I couldn´t take it if something happened to you because of me".

Rath didn´t know what to say. He partially understood what she was saying. She was really scared. Scared of opening her heart for somebody who could be ripped from her again. But did she want to live her whole life without love? She was pretty young and a life could be really long. Did she want to die as a lonesomely old woman who didn´t live her life to the fullest? Love is strange and it hits you when you at least expect it. Life was not a straight way. Sometimes you will be thrown off way or you had to take a turn. But that was what made a life livable.

" We should go back. I´m starving", Marianna didn´t wait for a reply and walked back to the tree, where their backpacks were still lying.

Rath looked after her for a moment. A small smile playing on his face. She didn´t say it out loud, but in her own ways she told him that she loved him too. Now he only had to convince her to act on her feelings. Maybe tonight, when they were lying side to side at a nice campfire, the sky above them and the wonderful nature around them. With that thought he made his way to Marianna.

TBC