The Last Princess

Chapter 71

"So. What were you hiding?" I asked quietly.

It was night, and the sky was black. The boys were lying down a bit away from us. They were asleep, but I still spoke quietly. "What do you mean?" Maple asked. "You know. Today, when Aiden was asking about Pecan, you were hiding something. What?" I said.

She sighed, and then was quiet for a long time. "I've known Pecan since we were kids. Our parents were friends." I waited. She didn't say anything more, so I pressed her further. "And that's how you recognized his voice immediately, from where we were?"

She let out a puff of breath. "El, you're relentless." I grinned, though she couldn't see me. "That I am." She grunted. "Well, if you must know..." She was silent. "Yes, I must know." I prompted. She slapped my arm.

"Ow!" I squealed. "What was that for?" "For prying. You are so stubborn." She said. I rolled my eyes. "Mape, hurry up and tell me." "Well, Elvina, since you are not giving up...Pecan and I...we were together. Only for two or three weeks. We realized it wasn't working out, and we weren't meant to be together. We're just friends now. Really, there's nothing"

I tried very hard not to make some sort of surprised noise. As it turned out, I didn't need too. "What?" One of the twins said, while the other one started coughing very loudly. We sat upright. "Boys!" I said. "Were you eavesdropping?" Maple asked.

"No?" This time I recognized Aiden's voice. It came out sounding like a question. "Really?" I asked. "No, I just had to cough. Arden was eavesdropping." He said quickly. "Aid!" Arden cried. "Goodnight!" Aiden said hurriedly.

From the rustling, I guessed he had laid back down. "I never thought you guys would eavesdrop." Maple said, sounding hurt. Arden coughed nervously. "I'm sorry, we didn't mean to. At least, I didn't mean too."

All of us were silent. I was a bit surprised by what Maple had told me, but not as much as I was by the boys listening in. Or, rather, Arden. I had expected eavesdropping from Aiden, just not now. "Whatever, let's just sleep." Maple said.

And finally, I drifted off to sleep.

"Wake up, Elvina." I blinked hard, the sunlight in my eyes, before focusing on Maple. "Yeah. I'm up." I said, sitting upright. "We need to move." She said. I stood up straight, and saw Arden trying to wake up Aiden. Hopeless.

"Wake up already!" Arden said, sounding frustrated. "May I?" I asked, stepping forward. Arden gestured to him. "He's all yours." I grinned and closed my eyes. I had sensed a lake nearby. I concentrated on pulling the water here.

And then I splashed it on Aiden's face. He bolted upright, spluttering and coughing. "Is it wrong that that felt very satisfying?" I murmured to Maple. She shook her head, grinning. "Not at all." Arden stretched out his hand and helped Aiden up. "Here.'

Aiden stood up and glared at me. I shrugged innocently. "You weren't waking up." "Let's move." Arden interrupted, before Aiden had a chance to retaliate. We walked for some time, before Aiden stopped in his tracks. "What happened?" Maple asked.

He turned back slowly to face me. "We have to go through the village." "What?" Arden and Maple asked in unison, but I understood. He meant the village we had had to cross to get to the old camp. The village where I'd let Acer die for us, because I had jeopardized all our chances of getting out of there alive.

We were going back there. "The tunnel?" I asked. Aiden nodded solemnly. "The entrance is close." I sighed, already feeling guilty.

"Let's go."