Moonlight Saga: Lost Throne ~ Chapter 2.5 (Final) - Look Who Crashed the Party.

After tossing and turning for an hour, Re'ana stood up with a huff. Opening the door, she was greeted by the comforting warmth of the fire. Fang sat on a stone by the small fire pit facing the door, the orange glow basking his face in its hue. “Guard,” Re’ana said getting Fang’s attention. “Draw up some water for a bath. I want to clean up before turning in.”

Fang shook his head with a sigh. “I don’t know if you noticed, Princess; but, there isn’t a tub for you to bathe in or soaps for you to wash with. If you really want to wash, then go for a dip.” Fang jutted his thumb over his shoulder to point at the lake.

“You expect me to wash in that filthy water?”

“You’re asking the only capable guard to ignore his duty to protect you so that he can boil water clean for you when there are things like wolves and goblins lurking in these woods. All due respect, Princess; but, my suggestion doesn’t sound like the unreasonable one.” He poked at the fire with a long stick, attempting to coax more fire from the charred logs. Re’ana let out a frustrated sigh and crossed her arms over her chest.

When she came to the conclusion that Fang wasn’t going to get the water for her, she shook her head and stormed off toward the edge of the lake. Stepping behind a row of tall bushes that provided a barrier between her and Fang, she watched his figure, still sitting at the fire. She undressed and dipped her foot into the calm water, breaking the series of ripples coming toward the shore. She bit her lip trying to hold in the yelp that threatened to announce itself when her skin touched the freezing cold water. She slowly began to wade into the pool, causing ripples to spread out toward the far shore.

Despite her steady caution to wade in slowly, her foot slipped in the muck that coated the bottom of the lake and plunged her whole body into the frigid water. A scream of shock tore itself from her throat as she was chilled to the bone. Fang chuckled a little, just loud enough for Re’ana to hear, and threw another log onto the fire.

With shaking hands, Re’ana rubbed the frigid water over her goose-bump covered skin. The thought, This must be how commoners bathe, flittered through her mind. Having rinsed every inch of her trembling body, she stood up from the water and was greeted by the midnight air. Wrapping her thin arms around her body, she cursed under her breath at the realization that she didn’t bring a towel or blanket with her to dry off. She sat nude, yet dignified on a large boulder that sat between the lake and wall of bushes. She refused to ask Fang for anymore help. In fact, she didn’t plan on talking to him for the remainder of their stay at the safe house. Suddenly, a soft blanket collided with the back of her head. She turned, ready to chastise Fang for coming close enough to see a lady naked; but, as she peered through the leaves of the bushes, she saw that Fang had only taken one or two steps from the fire so that the blanket would reach. Wrapping the thin blanket around her trembling form and wiped away the droplets that still clung to her skin. Pulling on her under gown she sighed at her current situation. Stuck in the forest with a guard she detested and no servants to fetch whatever she may need.

Lost in thought about how terrible things were for her, Re’ana failed to notice the lumbering creature that approached her. She grasped, blindly, for her dress and pressed her hand against the creature’s oily skin. Drawing her hand back quickly, she spun around and came face-to-face with a creature that stood eight feet high. Wart covered skin gave off a greasy sheen in the firelight, and stringy hair hung from its nearly bare head. Re’ana’s month opened as if to scream, but only a soft squeak came from her throat. Completely paralyzed with fear, she stood as ridged as a statue. Even as the creature came in close to sniff her several times, like a dog inspecting a new toy, she didn’t budge an inch. It reached out to grab Re’ana with a hand big enough to crush her torso. Re’ana’s mind screamed at her to run but her body refused to obey.

Re’ana could vaguely perceive Fang leaping onto the creature’s back, driving a dagger into the top of its shoulder. The beast bellowed in pain and began to thrash about. Fang holding on tight as he was whipped about like a ragdoll attached to a bucking bronco. “Get a log from the fire!” Fang cried over the beast’s roars. Re’ana suddenly found her legs again and ran to the small fire Fang had been sitting at. She picked up one of the logs, the end still burning with a small flame, and ran back to where Fang was holding on desperately to the creature’s back as it grabbed at him with its grubby hands. She waved it back and forth in front of the creature.

The beast gave out a fearful roar and waved his arms about to ward the flames away from it. Re'ana struck its arm by accident when combined with the creature's panicked movements. The fire that licked off the log spread quickly over the creature’s oil covered arm making Fang jump off of the creature’s back and charge at Re’ana, tackling her into the water. The fire spread across the creature’s flesh, completely engulfing the beast in flame as it roared in a panic.

Re’ana fought to break free of the water that was so cold that it hurt. Fang continued to keep her below the surface until they felt the shock of an explosion ripple through the water and fire stretching out over the lake’s surface before it dissipated into nothing.

Fang and Re’ana breached the water’s surface, gasping for air. The small cottage had been burned to the ground from the violent explosion that had left a crater at the edge of the lake and still crackling from the fires that covered it. “What in all things holy was that?” Re’ana asked.

“A troll,” Fang replied as they dragged their shivering bodies from the water. “They’re incredibly hard to kill in normal combat. That oil they secrete is like a fast healing salve to them, but it’s extremely flammable. Just a spark can set it off. After that they’re a time bomb that will incinerate anything nearby.”

“Aria!” Re’ana cried in alarm.

“She’s fine. She ran off as soon as she smelled that brute. She’ll return once she knows it’s safe.” Fang dropped down next to the fire, which was ironically still burning, and rubbed his arms to get warm.

“Well, n…now what am I s…supposed to wear?” Re’ana said through her chattering teeth, her voice shaking from the cold. “That d…dumb troll b…burned my dress.”

“What you’re wearing now is fine, Princess. Besides that explosion burned up any clothes that might have been in the cottage.” Aria quietly came trotting back from the forest, sensing that the troll was no longer there. “There you go, Princess. Your mare has returned.” Re’ana ran to the chestnut mare, more relieved that she wouldn’t be alone with Fang than for Aria’s safety.

For a long while neither of them spoke just sitting there in the warmth of the fire to ease their shivering limbs. “I guess I should thank you.”

“Only doing my duty, Princess.” Fang stretched out on the ground close to the fire to keep warm.

“What are you doing?”

“Sleeping.”

“You’re the guard! You’re supposed to stay away and protect me!”

“The explosion from the troll would have driven any nearby dangers far away from here.”

“Where am I supposed to sleep?”

“There’s lots of ground. Pick a spot.”

“I don’t think so. I am royalty. I will not lie on the ground like the common rabble. I demand you find me a suitable sleeping arrangement.”

Fang turned his gaze toward Re’ana with a steady glare. “And just where do you propose I look? This forest goes on for miles and the open country is too dangerous to travel at night.”

“Well I expect you to do something. I will not sleep on the ground.”

Fang sighed as he stood up and inspected the destroyed cottage for anything that might satisfy Re’ana. Dragging the mostly charred mattresses back to the fire and stacked them up so that they might give enough comfort to satisfy the Princess. “There you go, your highness.” Fang returned to his place by the fire and covered his eyes with his arm.

A soft snore signaled Fang’s descent into slumber. Re’ana lay down on the small stack of mattresses with an irritated sigh. Even the stack of mattresses was uncomfortable, but at least it wasn’t the ground. Sleep came in brief spats that lingered only for a moment before fluttering away.