Alone

AloneIt did indeed take Scout the whole week to replace her shed. Thankfully, most of the contents had been salvageable.Better still, finally holding more or less still for a week allowed Lily’s feet to almost entirely heal, and what little damage was left would clear up in another week at most. Soon, soon she would be able to get back where she belonged.Though that was easier said than done. She was one person, up against a backstabbing tyrant who had mercenaries and literal, actual wolves at his command. Being the rightful queen didn’t matter much when she had no way of asserting that authority.One problem at a time.The first goal was to reach the meeting point. To do that, though, she would need supplies. What supplies, she had no idea. She’d never traversed the forest this way, actual hiking like certain surly woodcutters did on a frequent basis.She’d just grabbed a bucket to carry in water for washing up when Scout came out of the backroom with a bundle of furs, wearing leather armor and a sword at her hip. "You have a sword?"Scout laughed. "I’d be foolish not to, living out here. We need to talk."Lily set the bucket down and folded her arms across her chest. "So talk.""I have to go into town. It’ll be strange if I don’t make my monthly visit to restock supplies, and I want to get the lay of the land myself rather than second hand from others. While I’m gone, you are not to leave this cabin. Not for any reason.""I’m going with you.""Absolutely not," Scout said.Lily narrowed her eyes and planted her hands on her hips. "I’m not some child—""It would be so much easier if you were," Scout cut in."What is that supposed to mean?""It means that you’re stubborn to a fault, and reckless to boot," Scout snapped. "You are staying here. You are not to leave the cabin. I’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully by midday but I might show up as late as evening. If anyone approaches, and I mean anyone, you are to go here—" She strode over to the table in the kitchen area and crouched down. She pushed on a knot in the wood, and Lily jumped when the section of floor lifted at one end."A trap door?""Yes, to a hideaway for worse case scenarios. I can replace anything robbers might take or destroy, and when numbers are against me its better to hide than to fight. You will do precisely that if so much as a tottering grandmother shows up. Understand me?""I’m going with you," Lily said, resisting the urge to stamp her foot. "I am Queen, I need to see for myself—""You’re not going!" Scout bellowed, slamming her hands on the table as she stood. "You are the most infuriating, irritating, stubborn, hard-headed—" She stopped and dragged her hands down her face, then braced them on the table again. "You are Queen, which is why you need to stay here. We cannot risk the wrong person recognizing you. I won’t be gone long, and in the meantime you should be safe so long as you don’t leave the cabin. Everything you need is in here, I’ve made sure of it. Even water," she added before Lily could say anything.Lily scowled."Stop pouting.""I’m not pouting. You have a lot of nerve calling me stubborn and hard-headed, Miss Lives Alone Brooding in the Forest.""Scout works fine," she said dryly."I really want to hit you," Lily said with a huff. "I’m not going to just hide away like some delicate miss or pathetic coward.""No, you’re going to stay where it’s safe so that once we have more information we can better plan what to do."That stopped Lily short. "We? Since when do you care? I would have thought you’d be counting down the days until you could be rid of me.""Why do you think I hate you?" Scout threw her hands up. "I have never said I hate you!""You mock me! You belittle me! You call me ’princess’ like there’s some secret joke behind it. You scowl all day long! I’ve been here nearly two weeks and all I know about you is that you’re solitary, grouchy, and apparently killed your father!""Why would a queen who is going back to her palace soon give two damns about my life? We’ll probably never see each other again after this, what difference does my past make to you?"Lily wanted to scream in frustration. "Oh, traipse off to the damn city then, and I’ll just sit here like a fragile little child who can’t even be trusted to keep a low profile while buying flour and selling firewood."Muttering to herself, Scout gathered up her things and stormed off, slamming the door behind her. Lily threw the bar across the door so that it could not be easily opened, even by force, and then did the same with the back door.Then she threw herself in the chair by the fire, folded her arms across her chest, and scowled at the place where Scout had been just moments ago. How could a woman so beautiful and compelling also be so fucking annoying.She couldn’t believe Scout just thought she’d go back to the palace and never have anything to do with her again. Scout had saved her life, of course Lily would want to keep in touch. Remain friends, if they could be called that.Maybe she was presuming, though. Maybe Scout was hoping that she’d cut all ties. That made sense, going back to a peaceful life where she didn’t have to worry about a queen popping in to make a mess yet again.Heaving a sigh, she rose to her feet again, walking around the cabin tidying up things that didn’t really need tidying, and fetching her basket of sewing since it was all she’d have to do for the next day or so. Setting the basket by the chair, she went into the back room to see what she could do about dinner. Nothing anywhere near what Scout could make, but she’d learned a few things. She was surprised Scout trusted her to cook all alone, especially since—Lily stopped.Scout trusted her. She’d left Lily all alone here to fend for herself, trusting she’d stay inside and not do something stupid. Or go snooping around.Maybe she was being optimistic; it wasn’t like there’d been much choice in the matter.Sighing, Lily swept her gaze over the storeroom—and stopped as she noticed something that definitely hadn’t been in here before. A trunk, and a beautiful one at that. It was made from some dark wood she didn’t recognize, carved all over to resemble a snowy mountain scape, and when she looked closely there was a pack of wolves running amidst them.Her stomach knotted. Wolves. She never wanted to see so much as a single wolf ever again.She knelt in front of the truck, tracing the beautiful carvings, before pushing at the lid, which lifted up easily, thumping against the wall behind it. Inside the trunk was…nothing much. Chainmail. What looked like a tunic, neatly folded. A wooden box, the kind that likely held jewelry, and beneath all of that…Velvet and taffeta. A gown, a luxurious gown. The kind a person might wear to a ball, or an important banquet…or their wedding. The gown was a deep, wine red, a costly dye, and trimmed in gold-toned lace, even more costly. Not the kind of gown a ’mere’ woodcutter would buy, or possess, unless it was an heirloom or something.Scout had been nobility once, or something very near.Heart racing, Lily slammed the trunk closed and pushed to her feet. Scout had trusted her to be here alone, and she was already letting curiosity get the better of her. Whatever Scout may have been, it was none of her business, and neither was the contents of the trunk. She must have pulled it out to get something out of it and for whatever reason not stowed it again.Abandoning the trunk, she focused on her original mission, pulling out some smoked meat to cook up and some vegetables she could cut and roast with the meat. Once all of that was cooking, she did a bit of sewing while watching over it.Come dinner time, though, all she felt was a sudden wash of loneliness. More than two weeks she’d been here, now, healing and learning, arguing and storming off in frustration… but the meals she enjoyed with Scout were…soft, easy. No political machinations to keep track of, no would-be suitors to tactfully rebuff, no multiple conversations to keep going at once. No being princess, or queen. Just Lily. Talking about their day, lapsing into easy silences, harmlessly bickering over little things that didn’t matter and ended with them both laughing.Damn it, why couldn’t Scout just be easy to hate? Lily liked her, even when she wanted to punch her in the damned nose.Finishing her desultory dinner, she cleaned up and returned to her sewing until her eyes grew too sore and heavy to continue working. Putting the sewing away, she then added a couple more logs to the fire so it would burn through the night, made certain the spark-shield was in front of it, and washed up before crawling into bed.She really would miss this quilt when she was home again. How soft it was, how pretty, how warm and comforting, how it still smelled like Scout, wild and sweet, even though Lily had been using the bed since Scout had brought her here.Safe and warm, Lily drifted easily to sleep—but woke with a start, a scream in her throat, memories of her father’s brutal murder in her mind. And that one memory brought all the others, all the fears. Her dead friends. What had become of the bodies? Had they been treated properly? Were they tossed away and left to rot? What of their families? Not that all her friends had family.Tears streamed down her face, sobs catching in her throat and causing her to hiccup. Throwing back the blankets, Lily went to make tea, because it was clear she would not be going back to sleep tonight. She’d thought the nightmares had faded off, though very little time at all had passed, but clearly they’d just been waiting to catch her off guard.Returning to the bed, Lily dragged the quilt off it and wrapped it around her before making up her mug of tea and curling up by the fire. Beyond the cabin, she could faintly hear owls, other nocturnal creatures. The wind was high, and she bet if she went outside it would smell like rain. Hopefully that wouldn’t impede Scout and she’d still be back soon.She considered resuming her sewing, but immediately dismissed the idea. Right then, she could use Clarissa’s soothing voice reading to her, or Leigh singing a song. Alice tended to be quiet, rarely offering up more than commentary on what others contributed, ever the silent, deadly one ready for anything. Penelope always had the gossip, and Josiah when he joined them on the occasional night always had the most fascinating stories to tell. Sometime it seemed they were real stories he’d lived, he told them so vividly, even though they were clearly made up.Being completely alone was not something she wanted to experience ever again. This was miserable. She’d rather have Scout making fun of her for not knowing how to…do whatever chore she still couldn’t manage. Scrub the floor, maybe.Sighing at her empty cup, Lily got up to refill it then burrowed into the quilt again, letting her thoughts drift from one nothing to another, desperately avoiding the shadows of her nightmares and the memories of friends who were probably dead.Eventually, she fell asleep again, and this time thankfully the nightmares left her in peace.