Princess Elodi's Arc

Chapter 14 of 55

The pancake browned at the edges. Elodi flipped it with the flat knife, clumsy but proud. Damon watched her work. She had never lit a fire or held a blade before this morning. Now she could do both. The batter set. She slid it onto the plate and grinned. "Not bad," Damon said. He scooped a fingerful of batter from the bowl and smeared it across her nose. Elodi froze. Then she laughed. The sound surprised her. She could not remember the last time she had laughed like that, loud and real, with no one watching to judge her. She grabbed the bowl and pressed batter onto his cheek before he could dodge. "You'll pay for that," he said, wiping his face. "You started it." She licked the batter from her own lip and made a face. "Raw. Terrible." He caught her wrist and they both went still, close by the fire. Her otter chittered from the streambank, dragging a wet stone to her boot. The moment held. Then Damon stepped back and reached for the pack. "We should move," he said. "We've stayed here two nights. If your mother sent riders, a clearing near water is the first place they'll look." The fun drained out of Elodi's chest. He was right. Freedom was not just laughing by a fire. It was staying ahead of the people who wanted her back behind walls. She knelt and helped him pack. She rolled the blankets. She smothered the fire with dirt, the way he had shown her, until no smoke rose. This time she did not wait for him to do it. Damon carried the pack to the griffin. The animal shifted its tan feathers and stamped one clawed foot. He tightened the blue harness and checked each buckle. Elodi lifted her otter and set it in the saddlebag, where it curled small and safe. "Ready?" Damon asked. Elodi looked at the clearing one last time. She had slept there under open sky. She had learned to feed herself there. She would not forget it. But she could not stay. "Ready," she said. He climbed up first, then reached down. She took his hand and swung into the saddle behind him. The griffin spread its wings. With three heavy beats it lifted off the ground, and the clearing shrank below them. They followed the stream south. It cut through the dark forest like a silver thread. Elodi held the saddle and watched the trees roll past. Somewhere ahead the stream would lead to a town, or a road, or people who did not know her name.