Freya remembered what Ruth had said sometimes. And each time she blinked her eyes, she was reminded in turn of Archer, who was cleaning his sword while drinking, and Lotty, who asked for a hug when she was afraid. And Ruth, who’d stood smiling sweetly underneath the sunshine.
How long had it been since they’d locked her in the tent? Freya was about to give up the struggle as she closed her eyes when there was a sound outside.
“Excuse me, general.” The soldier came into the tent and said something to him, and the knight had a surprised look on his face. “Untie him immediately.”
The knight seemed bewildered. Freya seemed to realize that the knight finally realized this was all a misunderstanding. She wanted to swear at him, but she didn’t have any strength to open her mouth. Freya was so nervous that her legs trembled, to the point that Freya couldn’t stand up from the chair. She wiped the cold sweat off of her and then let out a long sigh.
The knight wavered for a moment and didn’t even look at Freya while he spoke, “There seems to be a misunderstanding.” The man’s apology was simple, but he didn’t seem genuinely sorry.
“You think that one apology is going to solve this.” Freya was going to yell but swallowed the rest of her words. Even though she was angry, the person in front of her was a noble.
“We will compensate you for this later,” the knight mumbled as he untied her.
Although her legs felt like jelly, Freya stood up and snapped at him, “I’ll be off.” The corners of her lips quivered in anger, and she wiped her numb hand across her lips.
She didn’t want to blame the person who was hurt, but she felt feelings of irritation, toward the Crown Prince, Lucius. This entire unpleasant situation had been caused by him alone.
A soldier assisted Freya back to the tent she shared with Archer. When she entered, and he saw the state Freya was in, Archer got worked up, “My goodness! What happened to you?” Freya’s wrists and ankles were bloody from the cuffs, and her clothing had been torn in some places by someone. Looking perplexed, Archer lifted her and put her on the puffy blanket and then tenderly cleaned the wounds on her body. “Where did you get hurt? your face is completely bloody.”
Freya answered in a hoarse voice, “It’s not all my blood.”
Archer breathed a sigh of relief, “Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?” Archer’s heart had sunk when Freya went outside to empty the ashes from the fire-pit and hadn’t returned. He’d thought something might have happened before he’d had time to find her a good match.
It felt unfamiliar to have someone worry about her, and Freya whispered as she saw Archer’s concerned-looking face, “Sorry for making you worry, Archer.”
“It’s okay. As long as you’re safe.”
Freya didn’t have any strength to explain everything, and she said, “Archer, I’m going to sleep for a while.” She hadn’t eaten all day and had been nervous for the entire day, so she collapsed onto the cot feeling drained.
Archer then put a blanket over her while clicking his tongue. He wondered what she’d gone through to look so exhausted. Without hassling her for more details about what had transpired, Archer added more wood to the fire as his forehead wrinkled into a deep frown.
The next day, Archer scratched his head as he watched Freya sleeping curled up like a caterpillar. “Looks like the sun’s going to rise from the opposite side.” She wasn’t a lazy girl and never overslept, but it didn’t look like she’d wake up any time soon. So Archer left the tent quietly as he tried not to wake her up.
When he returned shortly after, he woke Freya up with his loud voice, “Freya, it’s time to wake up.”
“What?” Freya poked her head out of the blanket on the rumpled bed and stretched slowly. As she yawned, she said, “Archer, I want to rest a little more today.”
“You’ll feel better if you get up.” Archer held two sparrow skewers in front of Freya as he told her to get up. She lazily opened her heavy eyes and sat up as Archer handed her the skewers. “Eat.”
“Archer, I just opened my eyes.” Freya rubbed her eyes with her other hand as she observed the thing that had a rich aroma and asked, “Archer, what is this?”
“It’s a sparrow skewer I made myself.”
“Is today a special day?” Freya mumbled after taking a bite. It was amusing that Archer woke up so early, and to have him bring food was something unexpected. As she started to chew on the meat, the appetite she thought was gone returned, and she felt ravenous. The rich flavor of the meat’s juice filled her mouth, and her stomach growled.
Archer chuckled. “Freya, are you going to eat the wood too?”
Freya had a habit of eating fast. At Archer’s remark, she sneakily removed some of the meat before it went down her throat. Freya knew that it would be easier to focus on a full stomach. She saw that Archer had ash on his cheeks, and Freya giggled as she imagined his big body roasting something so small. “Archer, thank you.”
“I just caught them because I saw them. It wasn’t especially for you.”
“I see.”
Neither Freya nor Archer had been in a caring relationship. And she felt something unfamiliar when she noticed that the big Archer looked uneasy. It was a feeling Freya hadn’t felt before, and she likened it to what someone would feel, for an uncle or a big brother. It felt like he was family. But she knew that Archer would scoff at her for thinking such thoughts, so she busied herself with making the bed and smiled inside instead. It seemed like her fatigue went away once her hunger was satisfied.
“Anyway, tell me what happened yesterday,” Archer asked what he had been curious about since yesterday.
“So, I went to throw out the ashes,” Freya remembered yesterday as she wiped the grease off her mouth with the back of her hand, and her expression darkened.
Seeing her expression change so quickly, Archer cut her off in frustration, “His Majesty, Lucius, is looking for you. Is it something related to yesterday?”
“I have no idea, Archer.” Freya looked confused, and her mood plummeted after he spoke. Suddenly, she smelt the scent of His Majesty, whom she’d hugged yesterday by accident. And then, she vividly remembered the tickling sensation of his soft blonde hair against her neck. Freya’s eyes opened wide in surprise at the sudden memory.