The Last Princess

Chapter 42

Aiden was  a restless sleeper.

He kept rolling around. Luckily, he didn't kick his legs. Fortunate, because I was sitting right next to him. The sky was streaked with pink and orange when he bolted upright, his hair a mess, sweaty, and eyes wide open.

"What happened?" I asked.

He shook his head and looked at me, just registering that I was there. "Nothing." Then he noticed that it was almost morning. "You didn't wake me up!"

I shrugged. "You needed the sleep. It's better for us if you're well-rested, right?" He couldn't argue with this logic, so he said, "Well, you sleep now. I'll wake you up later. In the meantime, I'll look for food. But I won't go to far."

I nodded and laid down at the spot where he had been sleeping. I caught him giving me one last glance before my eyes drooped shut and I fell asleep.

I was woken by Aiden shaking my shoulder not too gently.

"You are so hard to wake up." He groaned when I'd sat up. It was very late afternoon. My eyes focused on the two large piles of berries and nuts. "Well, time to eat."

I realized how hungry I was. I mean, I was no stranger to missing a meal or two, but my body needed fuel.

So we scarfed down all of it, mostly satisfied, and sat on opposite sides of a tree, leaning on the trunk, resting after our meal. "So, didn't you have any food in that bag of yours? Aren't you rebels supposed to be so prepared?"

He huffed. I couldn't see his expression, but I doubted he was very amused. "Food spoils in that bag, Princess." "Just asking."

"So, how close are you and Arden?" I asked after a pause. "Princess, we're twins. What do you think?" "It's just that you seem so different, Aiden. I was just asking, anyway." Did he have to take everything I said as an insult or something? "Well, we're pretty close." He sighed. "We haven't been separated before, and I really worry about him. He's too trusting."

"He is sweet." I said, remembering our night on the roof.

Aiden was silent.

"Aiden?"

He jumped up. "Come on, we have to go if we want to make it to the camp soon." I was taken aback by the sudden hardness in his voice.

I got up to follow him. He was walking so fast I had to hike my skirts up to follow him. "Aiden!" I called after him. "Wait!"

He paused without turning around, and let me walk to within two feet of him before he started striding forward again. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Nothing." He said, clipping his words.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Aiden."

"Nothing, I'm just worried about my brother, okay! And my family! I want to get to the camp fast! So come on and let's stop wasting time!"

I stared at him, surprised by the clear irritation in his voice. He was angry about something else, not just worried for his family, but out of respect for him, I left it for another conversation, and another day.