The Forgotten Field Novel - Chapter 37, 38
Chapter 37
Talia could not find words to defend herself; her lips only moved without making any sound.
She wanted to adopt her usual brazen posture, but both her body and her mind had reached their limit, and her head simply was not working.
She pulled down her hood with a jerk to quickly hide her face, which was trembling from agitation. Then she tried to brush past her brother, who was blocking the entrance, but Gareth swiftly caught her wrist.
—I asked you what you were doing rummaging around in Varkas’s tent.
—Let go of me!
She pulled her arm violently, but Gareth’s grip clung to her as if it were glue.
He shook her toward him roughly, roaring like an enraged beast.
—Tell me what kind of dirty trick you were planning!
His hand squeezed her with so much force that she felt as if he were crushing her bones. Talia bit her lip.
What brutal strength, she thought with disgust.
Without hesitating, she delivered a clean kick to her brother’s shin. He must not have been wearing armor yet, because Gareth jumped and swore out loud.
Talia seized that brief instant, freed her arm with a tug before darting out of Varkas’s tent, and ran as fast as she could.
Behind her, the sound of things breaking could be heard; Gareth must have started smashing everything he found nearby, blinded by rage. But Talia did not look back; she sprinted through the spaces left between the tents.
In a short time, her carriage came into view. She ran inside, bolted the lock firmly, and curled up in a corner.
A wave of fear washed over her: what if Gareth, in his fury, tried to tear down the carriage?
However, even after a good while, no noise was heard. It seemed he had stopped chasing her, probably due to the people watching them around them.
Talia sighed in relief, burying her face between her knees. Then, as revulsion took hold of her, her expression twisted.
She felt disgusted with herself for having behaved in such a stupid manner.
Why had she lost her composure worrying about that man’s safety?
And why had she let Gareth see her so agitated?
Would that man have noticed something?
Biting her lip hard, Talia peered cautiously out the window.
The knights were dismantling the tents. It did not seem they had noticed the commotion she had caused.
Pressing her face against the glass, she looked around before quickly drawing the curtain again.
As the daylight intensified, the knights mounted their horses and began to form lines. Among them was Varkas.
Watching him inspect the formation as usual through the slit of the curtain, Talia froze when he began to walk toward her carriage.
Was he coming to interrogate her after having heard something from Gareth’s mouth?
She frantically searched for excuses in her head, but Varkas only stopped near her carriage, gave orders to a few knights, and returned to the front.
Talia let her shoulders drop in relief. At that moment, the powerful voice of one of the guards resonated.
—We will depart shortly!
She did not answer. The knight did not seem to expect an answer anyway, as he rode away without adding another word. Soon, her carriage began to move.
Talia leaned back in her seat, contemplating the pale morning sky through the opening of the curtain.
In the end, nothing had happened; another tedious day was about to begin.
The march, which had begun at dawn, stopped before the sun had hidden.
Gareth, having lost his patience, abruptly declared that today they would advance no further.
Strictly speaking, the command of this journey fell entirely on Varkas as commander of the expedition.
However, few dared to oppose the orders of the Crown Prince.
And so, with the silent approval of Varkas, they were forced to camp on the open plain, just before their second sacred place: the hill of Ulgrom.
For the soldiers, anxious to leave the plains as soon as possible, the situation was unpleasant. But for Talia, it was welcome.
She had not eaten or slept properly, and spending the whole day cooped up in the carriage that did not stop shaking had completely exhausted her strength.
Lying along the seat, she blinked with tiredness.
Then, from the outside, arrived that irritating voice again.
—Your Highness, I have brought you some fruit.
Talia frowned.
After having been rebuked so harshly yesterday, it was disconcerting that the knight dared to importune her again.
What stratagem could he have to keep hovering around her in this manner?
She snapped with irritation:
—Go away.
—You said you could not eat because you did not trust what had been prepared. Fresh, unprocessed fruit should be fine, shouldn’t it?
Too annoyed even to answer, Talia kept her mouth shut.
Then the knight, in an act of audacity, opened the carriage door and extended a tray of fruit to her.
—I am worried that you will faint at this rate and turn this whole trip into a funeral procession. Please, Your Highness… eat just a little.
She looked at him with incredulity and then lowered her gaze toward the silver tray.
Red apples, plums, and green grapes were arranged with care.
Looking at them fixedly for a moment, Talia murmured with a dull tone, too tired even to be angry:
—How do I know you haven’t poisoned the skin?
Anyone else would have given up by now, but the knight did not yield.
With a heavy sigh, he took an apple and took a big bite out of it. Then, holding the bitten fruit toward her, he said:
—Are you satisfied now?
—Do you expect me to eat what you have bitten? How disgusting, get that out of my sight!
The knight looked at her as if he felt like strangling her.
But Talia turned away, indifferent.
To tell the truth, she was dying of hunger, but she did not dare to eat something handled by another person. Even if she forced herself to do it, she would probably end up vomiting it all.
—I said that’s enough. Stop bothering me and get out.
—Is “get out” the only phrase Your Highness knows how to say?
His increasingly insolent tone caused her temper to flare.
Talia stood up with a jump. A wave of dizziness hit her, but determined not to show weakness, she planted her legs firmly and endured it.
Once her vision cleared, she ignored the knight’s worried look and left the carriage.
The sky was changing from a deep blue to a soft orange tone.
Talia contemplated it for a moment before walking away from the camp, dodging the glances directed toward her.
She only wanted to be alone in some quiet place.
But if she wandered too far, the knights would surely follow her under the guise of providing her protection.
After thinking about it for a moment, she headed toward a small group of trees slightly set apart from the wagons.
It was close enough that her position remained visible; surely they would not bother her if they could still see her.
Talia leaned her back against the wide trunk of a tree and breathed deeply of the fresh evening air.
She had no idea how long she had been sitting like that before a light laugh reached her ears from nearby.
She opened her eyes suddenly.
Apparently, she was not the only one seeking solitude; among the scattered fir trees, she spotted Ayla strolling peacefully.
Talia’s face contracted with displeasure.
Her mind and her body were worn to the bone; she could barely stand the sight of that blissful, radiant face.
She rose with a jump, ready to leave, when she caught sight of another silhouette partially hidden behind the trees.
The man whom she had begged to simply stay alive that very morning.
Talia stared at him fixedly, her mind blank.
Holding Tork’s reins, Varkas silently followed Ayla from behind, looking more peaceful than she had ever seen him.
She had grown used to his cold expressions, to his frown; seeing him calm felt almost strange to her.
Did he always look like that in front of Ayla?
As Talia watched them with an absent air, Ayla pulled Varkas’s arm and stood slightly on the tips of her toes, raising her chin.
Talia understood instantly what she wanted and held her breath.
She did not want to see this.
She did not want to witness something she would never be able to erase from her mind, a memory she would relive over and over again for the rest of her life.
However, even as her heart screamed, Talia could not look away.
Maybe, deep down, she wanted to see Varkas reject her with coldness and firmness.
But Varkas, like a loyal hound, indulged Ayla’s desire.
The moment she saw him lower his head toward her sister, Talia turned around and started to run.
But she had not gone very far before someone caught her by the arm.
She looked up shocked.
Gareth was there, his cheeks flushed as if he had been drinking, holding her arm tightly while looking down at her.
The way he looked at her, as if he were analyzing her, made Talia lower her head quickly.
But he had already seen the tears glittering in her eyes.
—You… don’t tell me that…
Gareth let out a hollow laugh.
Talia twisted her arm, struggling to free herself, but the Crown Prince did not move.
Looking down at her face, which was still trembling with emotion, Gareth suddenly burst into laughter.
—So that’s what this is about, huh?
—
Chapter 38
—Let go of me!
Talia gave him a kick in the shin. But her brother was not so stupid as to fall for the same trick twice. Gareth swiftly dodged her attack and twisted her arm with a cruel grip, laughing shamelessly in her own face.
—I can’t believe it… The royal family’s little troublemaker turns out to have feelings for that noble from the east!
Talia looked at him, her eyes wide with terror. She felt as if all the blood in her body had frozen. She tried to recompose her expression quickly.
—Don’t talk nonsense. Who is going to…
—You’re right, it is nonsense. For a bastard like you to dare to covet the heir of Grand Duke Sheorcan!
Delighted to have finally caught the weakness of his despised sister, Gareth laughed so much that his whole body shook. He grabbed her chin roughly, and his breath, heavy with the stench of alcohol, flooded her face.
—Blood doesn’t lie, does it? I guess that vulgar whore’s instincts for stealing other women’s men didn’t skip a generation.
Talia pinned him with a glare of burning eyes. Gareth smiled maliciously at her from above and then pushed her away with a snort of contempt.
—You better wake up from that stupid dream. Varkas is far beyond your reach…
—You seem to be forgetting something, brother. The blood that runs through my veins is not just that of a vulgar whore… it is also the blood of a man who cheated on his pregnant wife with a young girl.
The smile vanished from the Crown Prince’s face in an instant.
Staring fixedly at his features, now distorted, Talia spoke slowly, with a biting tone.
—Now that I think about it, the blood of that scoundrel also runs through your veins, doesn’t it?
His muscular body tensed rigidly. She knew she should stop —she knew that continuing to speak could be dangerous—, but she refused to let him walk away holding all the power over her. Imitating the mockery he had made before, she leaned forward.
—Since you have discovered my secret, perhaps I should discover one of yours.
A slight flash of uneasiness crossed Gareth’s eyes. Seeing it, Talia’s lips curved coldly as she drew closer to whisper in his ear.
—There is a quiet rumor among the maids… that says His Highness the Crown Prince only seeks out women with dark honey-colored hair and navy blue eyes at night.
The color drained from Gareth’s tanned face. Talia smiled wickedly at his ashen expression.
—I think I know who the woman of your first night as a man was. Do you want me to guess?
His whole body convulsed as if it had been struck by lightning. She knew that if she did not stop now, he might truly kill her; but, as always, she listened to the demon whispering in her ear.
—There is no need to tremble so much. After all, I am a good little sister. I will keep your secret safe… although it seems His Highness inherited His Majesty’s blood quite strongly.
Before she could finish the last word, a heavy blow deflected her head to one side.
Talia collapsed to the ground, holding her burning cheek. Her vision spun and her head throbbed as if it had been split by lightning. As she tried to get up, Gareth lunged at her and wrapped his hands around her neck. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets as she struggled to breathe.
She defended herself desperately —scratching his arms with her nails, kicking his body with all her might—, but her weakened body was too fragile. Like a fish floundering helplessly on land, her limbs soon ran out of strength.
Then, suddenly, the crushing pressure around her throat disappeared.
Talia gasped violently, writhing as she drew in air. Through eyes clouded by tears, she saw Varkas holding Gareth’s arm.
Expressionless, like a man wearing a mask, Varkas looked at her briefly before directing his gaze toward Gareth.
Gareth was still throwing murderous glares at his half-sister, his face disfigured by fury and humiliation. His pathetic attempt to play the victim almost made her laugh; in fact, she could not help letting out a weak chuckle between coughs.
Gareth’s face turned crimson with rage.
—Damned bitch…!
But his fist never reached her.
Varkas held Gareth’s thick, muscular arm as if it were a child’s wrist and looked fixedly at Talia. His expression suggested he was disgusted that she could still provoke her brother even after having been on the verge of being strangled.
—Accompany Her Highness the Princess to her quarters —he ordered the members of the Royal Guard who had come running, their faces pale.
The knight stepped forward immediately to support her, but Talia pushed him away and stood up staggeringly. She brushed the dust off her skirt with deliberate calmness, as if nothing had happened.
Looking at her with burning eyes, Gareth shouted at Varkas:
—Let go of me this instant!
—That’s enough!
Ayla, who had been standing a short distance away, raised her voice firmly. It seemed to be the first time she saw her younger brother act with such violence; her face had turned completely white.
—What on earth are you doing? You are the Crown Prince of this Empire! How dare you behave in such a shameful manner…?
—Don’t get into this! —roared Gareth, sounding more like a beast than a man.
Ayla recoiled from the fright. The brother who had always behaved like a docile puppy with her was now showing his fangs.
Talia, seeing it, scoffed.
—She’s right, sister. Don’t get into our business.
Ayla’s emerald eyes flashed coldly as she looked at Talia, but when her sight fell upon Talia’s bruised and swollen face, she froze. Talia touched her injured cheek lightly and sketched a twisted smile.
—It’s nothing… just a small dispute between siblings. Isn’t that right, brother?
The sound of Gareth grinding his teeth filled the air.
Talia took one more step toward him despite the knight’s attempt to block her path. Looking into his dark green eyes, she whispered mockingly to him:
—After all, we are close enough to share secrets, right?
His face turned scarlet, as if it were about to explode. It seemed he wanted to tear her apart with his own hands, but unwilling to risk his secret being exposed, he finally muttered between his teeth:
—…Take your hands off me.
Varkas, who had been watching in silence, loosened his grip. Deep red marks stood out clearly on Gareth’s tanned skin. Gareth rubbed his arm, looking with pure hatred at both Varkas and Talia before turning abruptly and walking away furiously toward the camp.
Talia could not help laughing quietly at his retreating back, until she felt that cold and sharp gaze. She straightened instantly, erasing the grimace from her lips.
Varkas was observing her, with an expression as indecipherable as ever. But in those frigid eyes, Talia could clearly see disgust and fury.
He grabbed her arm firmly and gestured to the knight.
—Accompany the First Princess to her tent.
Then, giving a brief nod of his head to the still-petrified Ayla, he took Talia away through the trees like a prisoner being dragged to her cell.
Her face contracted with rage.
Whatever people said, she was a Princess of the Empire. A mere servant of the Crown had no right to drag the Emperor’s daughter like a dog.
Talia pulled her arm violently.
—Insolent! Let go of me right now…!
And then, suddenly, her feet stopped touching the ground. She let out a scream when Varkas carried her over his shoulder like a sack of grain and advanced with long strides between the rows of tents, ignoring the astonished looks of those around them.
Her face burned red as she thrashed and kicked like a furious animal, hitting his back and shoulders with her fists, but no matter how much she struggled, Varkas did not even flinch.
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