The Union

And then he remembered Lucia. Before he let go of the rocks, he had been holding Lucia tightly. But at one point, he lost his grip.

No. He declared. He can"t lose her. Timothy struggled, but he was drowning himself. Strength left his body as water entered his lungs.

"Mat! Don"t leave me Mat. Open your eyes" It was a woman"s voice. Her voice was so pitched that it sounded like she was crying. Timothy then saw the woman in his dreams looking at him with a worried face.

Is he dead? That was the first question in Timothy"s mind. No, he can"t die just yet. What will happen to Lucia if he dies?

"Tim! Don"t leave me Tim. Open your eyes" It was the same words, but the voice was different. It was Lucia. Timothy slowly opened his eyes and Lucia"s crying figure was revealed to him. She was pressing his chest repeatedly.

Timothy coughed water out of his lungs. He was panting, struggling for air.

After a while, his body slowly recovered its strength.

"What happened?" he asked between breaths.

But Lucia did not answer. She just lunged at him and cried on his chest. Timothy caressed her wet hair.

"I"m so worried. I thought I lost you. You should have told me that you can"t swim!" she sobbed.

Timothy felt slightly embarra.s.sed. He can actually swim, but was not good at it.

"But you didn"t lose me. You even saved me again." Timothy kissed her head. "Thank you Lucia"

They remained that way for a long time. After Tim regained all his strength, he sat and surveyed the surroundings.

They were on the riverbank and the rain had stopped. Nevertheless, the river was still swollen.

"Where are we?" he asked

Lucia looked around. "At least a few kilometers downstream. We floated for a while and it took me a long time to drag you out of the water."

"You dragged me out of the water?" Timothy was surprised. He couldn"t imagine that Lucia, with her small physique, managed to drag him out of the water. Not only that, but she remained conscious throughout their ordeal.

"Well, unlike you Prince Timothy, I grew up near the ocean." She grinned and leaned against him. "So, what do we do now?"

Timothy looked at the sky. It was almost dark. "We need to find a shelter for the night. Also, we need a fire."

"Won"t they find us if we build a fire?"

"We could always run if they find us. But that"s better than freezing to death with our wet clothes." Timothy then held Lucia"s hand. "Let"s go"

The two of them went to the forest nearby. Timothy built a makeshift tent out of leaves and started a fire. It took him a long time to start the fire because of the wet ground. It was already dark when he finished.

"I didn"t expect that the third Prince of Castonia has survival skills. You never cease to surprise me Tim" Lucia laughed.

"Impressed? Do I get extra points in your heart for this?" he smirked. "There is a forest near Nirvana. Erik and I would camp there from time to time whenever we are bored in the palace" he explained.

Timothy then examined Lucia. She was sitting inside the tent and warming herself with the fire. She was wearing a dress. The scene in front of him was the definition of irony, a beautiful princess in a rugged, makeshift tent in the middle of nowhere.

"King Edmund would kill me if he found out that I let her daughter stay in a makeshift tent" he commented.

Lucia laughed "Yes, he will. Do you know what he said three nights before I left? He said that he will take me back from you if you do not treat me nicely"

Timothy sat next to her and shared the warmth of the fire. "Really? Then that means I must give you everything you want from now on. So what do you want Princess Lucia?" he asked mischievously as he turned his head towards her. Their faces were so close.

She looked at him in the eyes and teased him with her words. "You know what I want"

Timothy"s thoughts were lost. The night was cold and their situation was dismal. The Wismarines were also hunting them. But at that moment, Timothy forgot about the bleakness of their situation. All he felt was his desire to be with Lucia.

Like magnets, their faces drew closer with each other. Timothy"s heart was beating fast.

But their beautiful moment was interrupted by the sound of horses. Timothy looked towards the direction of the sound.

"We need to run" he immediately said.

Lucia nodded and they left the tent. They ran as fast as they could.

Timothy cursed them for interrupting their moment. Why? Why of all times. Couldn"t they wait a few minutes?

"How in the world did they cross the river?" Lucia asked behind him. There was a hint of annoyance in her voice. Timothy felt a little happy with that. It seems he was not the only one annoyed by the sudden appearance of the Wismarines.

"The level of water in the river should be lower by now." Timothy answered. He then looked behind. "We can"t outrun them. We must hide."

"There!" Lucia pointed at a large downed tree.

Timothy looked at the tree and judged that it was large enough to conceal both of them. They stopped and hid beneath the downed tree.

He wrapped his body around Lucia. They must evade the Wismarines.

A few moments later, dozens of horses pa.s.sed them. Thankfully, it was dark so they did not see or suspect the fallen tree.

Time pa.s.sed slowly. It was excruciating. Every step of the horses was too slow for Tim. He looked at Lucia and she was closing her eyes. She must be scared- no, of course she was. In fact, Timothy himself was trembling a little.

It was a nerve-wracking moment. The enemies were just in front of them. One wrong move and both of them will die.

After what seemed to be eons, the Wismarines were gone. But Timothy still can"t breathe a sigh of relief. They were still far from safe because the Wismarines could come back anytime. Nevertheless, they are alive, for now.

"We should go" he said.

Lucia held him. "No" she said. "We should stay here. They didn"t see us so this hiding spot is good"

"But you need to rest. Our journey tomorrow will be more tiring."

Timothy was worried about her. She needs rest. They don"t have food so sleeping could at least give some comfort to their bodies. It was better for Tim because he had been eating his rations up until today, but Lucia hadn"t eaten anything since her escape from Nirvana.

"I can sleep here" she said.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

Timothy agreed. She was right though. The tree offered them both protection and concealment. They should stay here for the night.

"Okay. Sleep." He embraced her.

"What about you?"

"I will keep watch for the night. Don"t worry, I"m still a soldier so my body is not that weak" he said proudly.

"No Tim, rest. You need it"

"But I have to.."

"Tim" Lucia said sternly.

Timothy can"t deny her with the way she looked at him. He sighed and agreed. He hadn"t slept for the last few days anyway.

"Okay. Good night Lucia" he put a kiss on her forehead.

It must be because of exhaustion, but Timothy slept like a log that evening. He had no dreams and his slumber was uninterrupted.

It was already late in the morning when Timothy woke up. The first thing he saw was Lucia"s pretty face looking at him.

"Keep sleeping like that and you"ll lose your t.i.tle as Rooster Prince" she grinned.

"If it means seeing you every morning, then I don"t mind losing my nickname"

Timothy then looked around. It was almost noon. Waking up late was a very strange experience for him.

"We should continue our journey. The Wismarines should be far by now."

Timothy and Lucia started their walk. Thankfully, they did not encounter the Wismarines along the way. It was noon when they reached the end of the forest.

They were greeted by a wide plain that was divided by a small stream at the middle. It was refreshing, a complete opposite of what they experienced yesterday.

But then Timothy saw something that confused him.

"Is that a village?" he squinted. There was a small village near the stream.

"I thought you"re the Castonian between the two of us" Lucia said.

"But there shouldn"t be a village here. I"ve looked at the map of the Western Region many times. This part of the region is uninhabited because of its remote location." Tim looked at Lucia.

"Maybe it"s a newly-built village?" she commented.

"Let"s find out. Maybe they will offer us food and shelter for a while."

They descended on the village.