58: Time's Tricks

Cyr blinked and the bewilderment melted away. "Oh excuse me, I thought you were a friend of mine." When I didn't take his hand, he scratched his head and looked away. As if only just realizing where we were his gaze snapped back to me. "Where are we?"

Cyr wasn't himself just as much as Philip was. They were an age before they became the people I knew.

"Uh, um..." Philip laid unconscious beside me looking almost like he was asleep. "He isn't...?"

"He'll be fine. Just knocked out for the night, Miss uh..." He winced. "My apologies, uh, what is your name?"

I hesitated. "December." When he didn't seem to recognize me I asked, "what's your name?"

"Sergeant Rosedove." He saluted. When my indifferent reaction wasn't what he was expecting, he tittered and crouched to meet my eye. "Cyr, my name is Cyr."

"You're a knight?"

He nodded and sat across from me. "Yep."

"Whose army?"

That question caught him off guard. "King Daniel's of course." His brows furrowed. "Do you know where we are and what we're doing here?"

"We're in the forest that borders Kreatier and Ogalsia."

At that his eyes expanded. "You're not..."

Realization didn't hit until a moment later, but when it did I was startled by the reality of a possibility that I might have been a threat. "I'm Kreatian, I'm from Kreatier."

He heaved a sigh. "That's a relief. But, are you not familiar with the royal family? Where are you from?"

"The outskirts of Redmond." And that wasn't a lie.

"That's quite far from the capital. I suppose the outskirts aren't well informed."

"No not well." An idea struck me in that moment. I asked out of sheer curiousity. "You've travelled in your time as a high ranking knight, won't you tell me about the royal family?"

"Well," he hesitated, "you're as much of a subject of his majesty as I, so I don't see why not. King Daniel is married to Queen Celeste. They have two sons, Prince Arthur and Prince Damien. Arthur—oh excuse me, Prince Arthur is next in line for the throne."

I held onto his slip up. "Have you met them, the princes?"

"We get along alright, as knights. They're good men. Arthur will make a fine king." He said this with a big smile and twinkling eyes.

Arthur, a fine king, I didn't think I'd ever hear Cyr utter those words. "What makes you say that?"

"Royals are seen as pompous and proud but Prince Arthur is anything but. He is humble and kind. And, he values all people regardless. His reign alongside his wife will be a blessing to Kreatier."

"He's married?"

"Yes." He winced. "But his marriage wasn't well received by his parents. He married young and to a commoner no less."

No wonder there was so little to be known about the queen. Especially when there was no prominent family to mourn her absence.

"It must have been difficult for them."

He frowned. "Yes, it was. But Arthur loved her and she loved Arthur. And nothing could stop them not even his parents. He even went so far as threatening to forsake the throne. Well, it wasn't much of a threat, the circumstances of their union were forbidden within the royal family."

"You mean, because she was a peasent?"

His gaze snapped to mine, as confusion clouded his countenance for the very first time. "Because," he muttered. He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. "You said we are in the forest between Kreatier and Ogalsia?"

I nodded.

Horror broke out across Cyr's young face. "Time's Playground." He hopped to his feet, and began to pace. When he finally stopped the emotions had drained from his face.

I hadn't moved since Philip attacked me. And I didn't move when the young man that was Cyr asked, "I'm younger aren't I?"

I nodded.

He resumed pacing, biting a nail as he kept his gaze cast on the forest floor. "No, no," he muttered to himself, "it can't be. Arthur would never. Why would he ever?"

His eyes found mine, and a new degree of disbelief seemed to have overcame him. "Who is Arthur's child?" He fell to his knees and crawled towards me. "If not Arthur, then it must be his child. Who is his child and what did I do?" For a moment, another side of him slipped through the cracks and I was staring at a crazed man, filled with fear and anguish.

A pained cry pierced the still air.

A little boy laying not too far off tossed and turned wildly in his sleep. I was by his side immediately, holding his trembling little body, murmuring sweet things that I hoped would calm him. Little by little, he stilled, till he only wept ever so softly.

"NO!" He shouted.

His eyes snapped open and his body jerked forward. He backpaddled away, his gaze swinging from me to Cyr, to Philip and back to me. "Who are you? Where's my sister?"

"Nareem," I cautioned. He had reveted to his 10 or 11 year old self, as far as I could tell.

"Who are you?" He demanded, "how do you know my name?"

"I'm a friend." If there was something to do that made one look friendly I wished I knew. Because my past experiences had proved I was anything but friendly-looking.

"What did you do to my sister," he sneered. He plunged his hands into the earth and the next thing I knew I was sinking into the earth like quick sand pulling me below. The moss clung to my hands and climbed up my arms, wrapping my ankles and anchoring my knees.

"Where is she?!" The boy growled.

"She's safe." But I didn't think he believed me. I could feel his trust slipping through my fingers. "I promise she's somewhere safe."

"Do you need help?" I heard Cyr ask somewhere behind me. The moss had forced my back against the floor and my limbs and half of my torso were submerged in a icky mass of moss.

"No, I think I'm alright."

"You sure?"

"Where have you taken her?!" Nareem bellowed. The moss surged towards my throat.

The moss clawed at the edges of my vision. I pressed my eyes shut. It covered my nose and filled my ears and just when I believed all hope was lost I remembered a friendly giant.

"Tobias," I sputtered, "she's with Tobias. I'm a friend of Tobias."

The moss froze. "Why should I trust you?"

He couldn't, not even if I told the truth, because the truth sounded as real as someone telling a tale of a talking carrot. So I chose a lie that could've been true. "I can help you get your revenge on the general who allowed what happened to your family. If you'll trust me, I am not your enemy."

There was silence for a moment before the moss's hold on me slipped away.

He made no move to disable me as I sat forward. But that's because he dropped the next moment onto the ground, into a slumber once again. Cyr followed suit leaving me to my own company, or so it seemed.

I fixed the unconscious men into a better sleeping position save for Dolce who hadn't woke at all, and seated myself against a tree to take watch.

I let my mind wander as I did. I wondered if the next letter had already been sent. Who would receive it in place of Lance and the other generals? From the 12 military heads we had only managed to capture 8, that left four to escape with injuries and return to the king's service. Whether they returned alive I couldn't confirm. And what would the king do in retaliation?

Philip tossed. He groaned and sat forward, a hand massaging his shoulder as he did.

"Philip?"

A smile stretched across his face as he turned to meet mine. His joy soon transformed into terror.

"Who did this?" He grasped my jaw and turned my injured cheek to his sight. "Who hurt you?"

I gulped, leaning away and avoiding his gaze. "It's nothing. Just a scratch."

"That's a knife wound," he seethed. He bristled. His hand dropped and fell to his hip. He looked ahead to find his knife laying at his feet.

"Philip." I tried desperately to hold his attention, to make him listen. "Listen to me. It isn't your fault. You didn't know what you were doing." But the knife and the wound was all he saw.

"No." He grabbed his knife and stepped back. "I'm dangerous."

"You were your younger self, you didn't know me." My throat tightened and tears stung my eyes. "Don't do this to yourself."

Agony shone through his eyes. "I'm sorry." He lowered to his knees. "I'm sorry, I should never have made you think we could be anything more friends."

A stray tear slipped past. "You don't mean that."

He hung his head. "You deserve better."

"Don't say that."

"Mo," he said my name so delicately I hated it. "Don't come anywhere near me."

A/n: I'm sorry...? Did I break your heart and did I break my own. I feel like I gave Philip a bad reputation for being a player. But if y'all think about it, flirting was as far as he ever could go. Imma just leave that there, don't wanna spoil it for y'all.