make me stay.

thirty

♜

the next morning seemed to be hesitant to begin.
i had dreaded going to bed, found a comfortable spot in the window frame and suddenly, the sun could be seen between the leaves of the trees.
however, i could've counted every minute i had ever lived through before the sun finally emerged above the tree crowns, and smoke lines from the surrounding villages began to draw lines in the sky.
the night had held on for dear life, and i had a heavy knot in my stomach that made it impossible to fall asleep and stay that way.

i couldn't believe that i was back here. and harvey was here, too. he was supposed to have been stuck back at the festival, or even have gone home about now. i was supposed to go after them, but i hadn't. i had gone back to the place i had spend all my focus leaving in all the time i had spent here. 

i led my forehead rest on the cooled frame. something kept pulling me back here, and i needed to figure out what it was. 

somehow, i still felt watched, like had those distance pair of eyes been stuck to the back of the carriage and followed us up the mountain. but to my luck, i could keep an eye on most of the surrounding forrest, and i had a clear view of the gates from the window.

they had been opened a few times during the nighttime but mostly for the delivery of goods and returning runners in the forest to change shifts. nothing even close to alarming. the towers on every corner of the castle had soldiers patrolling, keeping watch just as i was. my anxiety was trivial, but overwhelming.

i had, however, drifted off, leaning my head on the wooden frame when a knock on the door sounded. i pushed myself off, with both hands on either side of my hips before nearing the door.
i had wrapped a thick blanket around my body to keep warm during the night. my room didn't have a fireplace and i hadn't even given it a second thought up until now. back home, we had had a fireplace in the living room, but no other room. the size of our house was larger than most of the other houses in our town, but one fireplace had been plenty of heat for most of the rooms. but the single room i had been provided with was larger than the area of half of our house, and it was freezing in every corner.

"lady maire," harvey albelle stood on the other side of the wooden door, dressed just as he had been the day before.

i blew out air through my nose, nodding my head to the side. he took the hint, moving past me to enter my room.

i spun around on my heels as the door closed with a heavy click behind me, pushing my back up against the cold wooden surface.

"what the hell are you doing here, belle?" i finally urge the question i had been burning to scream at him since seeing him yesterday.

"we needed to know that you were safe," the first words out of his mouth were soft, but pleading. he seemed truly concerned. "lily saw wolves chase you into the forrest."

that seemed like forever ago; being chased up here, towards the castle. a heavy realisation dawned upon me as he spoke. there were no towns in the directions of where i had run. i had run off fully believing that i was heading towards a safe place but if i had taken that short moment to think, i would've realized that every town higher than where i had been where placed in different directions.

yet, something had told me to head that way. something truly was pulling me towards me this castle. 

"most of the kings guards disappeared along with the wolves. they were all marked with the royal symbol, and heading towards the castle." harvey continued, not moving from his spot on the floor. "wesley accepted his letter from the king to join the army to find you, and keep you safe if you were here. but we hadn't known that he was here."