Chapter Nine: Mariana
Mariana stared at Jax, taking note of his mop of blond hair, tan skin, and blue grey eyes that were staring vividly at her.
“When I was replacing your shirt I saw a saw a mark like a sword piercing the clouds-”
“Yeah... It’s a birthmark I have had for a while, why are you talking about my birthmark?” She stared back at him questionly. “It isn’t important nor does it matter. We should be trying to escape your brother.”
Jax looked at her then looked away. “Do you know the stories of the kingdom that was lost eighteen or so years ago? Silvia I believe it was called.”
“I’ve heard mentions of it in town, I’ve never actually heard the whole thing though. Can we please move on, I don’t need to hear about some lost kingdom. Doesn’t matter to me.”
Jax continued to look at her, and she got the feeling he wasn’t going to stop telling her about Silvia. So she stood up instead and looked down the passageway.
“Sit down.” He hissed at her and Mariana looked at him surprised. He was a prince, used to getting his way and he had cared for her. He wasn’t going to be ignored. So she sat down again, her head facing her lap.
“The story is more important than you think. How old are you?”
Mariana gazed at him curiously for a moment before dropping her head again. “I’m not sure, eighteen or nineteen.”
He nodded, sure of himself, “Eighteen years since Silvia was lost, along with the queen and her daughter. The king was found slaughtered in his tower.”
“I yet understand why we are having this conversation over my birthmark.”
“I’ll cut to the chase so your tiny mind can understand.” Jax growled at her and she blushed angrily.
“WE ARE DONE WITH THIS CONVERSATION!” Mariana roared and jumped to her feet, stomping off down the passageway.
It was a little while later that her feet hit grass and she heard Jax stalking up the tunnel behind her. Not wishing to confront him, she continued on, till her feet fell into a rhythmic pace, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, and the sun reached its lowest point and the sky began to darken. At that point Jax’s footsteps hurried and his hand reached for her shoulder. She spun around about to yell at him again, but he just dropped his eyes.
“It’s time we made camp, we can’t keep walking all night, especially with no idea where we are headed. You aren’t at full strength- don’t debate me- I have never been out of the castle grounds without a carriage full of food and twenty guards, and like I said we have no plan.”
Mariana nodded. “I saw a suitable spot a couple yards back. It should work.” She averted her eyes as well and walked past him, to where the roots of a large tree were bent to form a natural tent. “No fire, we are still too close to the castle.” She sat down and scooted over when Jax sat down beside her.
“How do you know so much about surviving in the woods?” He asked softly.
She took a moment to respond before saying, “when you have been... alone in the woods for as long as you can remember, with only a few flashbacks of what came before, and have no meanings of surviving, you learn to work with the earth, spot what you need to live the next night. I have to steal what is on my back and the little to keep myself fed, it might be seen as hurting other people but you learn that no one else is going to support you, so why should you support others?” She started up towards the stars, hidden through the branches then turned to look Jax in the eyes. “I have to survive, even if it means breaking the law. Why am I any less important than others? Why do I have to be looked at as a slave or someone who should be kept locked away? I just don’t have anyone to keep polite and clean like the little girls on the lane with their hair pulled up in ribbons, or a nanny to keep me out of trouble, not even a sister to share my troubles with. That’s why Jax, that is why I know so much about surviving, because I have no one.” At that point she broke into tears and buried her head in her arms, Jax put an arm around her and pulled her close.
“You’re not any less important... if anything you are more important.” He moved his arm slightly as her eyes appeared out of the gloom. “That is what I was trying to tell you in the tunnel. You could very well be the heir to a kingdom that was once the most powerful of all.”