Chương 13: 13. Nolands

Mauve's head jerked back as they went over a bump. She swore as the force made her bite the inside of her cheek. The carriage was going ridiculously fast, Mauve could guess why.

The sun had already risen but the carriage wasn't stopping, instead, they were going faster than ever. "Something is wrong Vae," Mauve said, her words jumbling at the constant shaking of the carriage. "They are not stopping even though the sun has risen."

Vae looked concerned too, "Maybe they have a destination in mind and we are not there yet."

"Okay," she replied and looked out the window.

She cringed at the sight of it, there was nothing to be seen except dried trees and several rocks lying around. The ground was so dry, the cracks on them were nothing like she had ever seen.

She quickly closed the window and rested her back against the carriage. The journey continued for about a full hour before the carriage came to a full stop.

The carriage door was immediately thrown open, Mauve yelped at the sudden intrusion but there was no reaction from Danag who usually enjoyed jump scaring her.

"Your tent will be ready in five minutes." He said, bending his head as if he was hiding his face from her.

"Okay, thank you." She looked down and immediately noticed how red his hands were. They looked sunburnt but before she could say anything about it, he walked away.

She slowly stepped out of the carriage, taking her time so she would not trip and fall. As soon as stood outside it Mauve could feel her skin shrivel underneath the sun's glare. The brightness of the sun rendered her vision useless for a couple of seconds. She squinted hoping it would help her eyes adjust faster to the sunlight.

She was surprised about how hard the sun was even though they were in the sunny season, this was a little too much. Nothing but intense sun, the nights were remotely better because the sun wasn't directly above but it didn't reduce the hotness.

However, this glare was intense, she wondered if it was because of where they were, the lack of trees around the area, or if it felt hotter because she was tired. Fortunately, the days were often shorter during the sunny season as the nights were longer.

The sun would set in a couple of hours and she was certain Danag would continue the journey almost immediately. Better for her to get all the rest she could, she thought as flashes of the horrible ride here crossed her mind.

She carefully walked away from the carriage entrance so as not to block Vae on her way out who immediately followed behind her. "Where are we?" Was the first thing Vae said as soon as she walked out of the carriage.

"I have no idea. I don't think I have ever been this far out from the castle all my life. What is this place?" She asked spinning around to get a proper view of the area.

The carriage had moved from the path and they were currently on a lawn, well the grasses were too spaced out to call it a lawn rather it was a huge field with very few trees.

Not far from where the carriage stopped stood the only tree in the vicinity. It was a big tree and if it wasn't for the circumstances she was in, Mauve would have climbed it.

"I don't know," Vae started to say looking around just as Mauve had. "But I think this is the boundary between us and the vampires. The Nolands"

"Palers!" Mauve gasped, covering her hand with her mouth. Even though there was absolutely no chance of seeing one now, the thought still brought shivers to her skin.

"We wouldn't have to worry about them now, the sun is high in the sky. They know better than to come out now. Besides, there are only rumors that Palers reside here. No one has actually seen one here."

There was truth in what Vae said but that was only because humans never had a cause to venture towards the Nolands. They knew better. Aside from the fact that there was nothing out here and it was dry as a desert if one got stuck here during nightfall the chances of getting back home were very slim.

However, no one was sure if it was vampires who took them out or if they fell prey to Palers. Palers were a rare occurrence and left nothing but destruction in their wake. They often came alone, never in pairs.

They were completely out of her father's kingdom, it was surprising they got here this fast as they had left the castle only about nine days ago, the estimated time to reach the Nolands was usually about twelve days and fifteen days to get to the vampire region by carriage, according to what she heard. So, it was a bit surprising they made it here this fast.

Mauve was exhausted, she had not gotten a moment of rest since the trip began and even though it's been over a week, her system wasn't used to the idea of sleeping during the day.

She couldn't sleep during the ride either because she was fighting for her life so she wouldn't fly out of the carriage. She wasn't complaining though, scraping off three days off the journey was totally worth it.

The only problem was they were in the Nolands, she knew she was being paranoid but the stories about palers were truly frightening and as a kid, it had kept her up at night.

"Princess, it is time for us to go."

Mauve slowly opened her eyes and rubbed them, her mouth was parched. She was not particularly hungry having already eaten before she slept but she was very tasty. She drank the water beside her in a rush and some of the contents spilled on her.

She got out of the house to see the sun had not completely set yet. She saw the third vampire walking toward her to dismantle her tents. "Why are we leaving in such a hurry?" She blurted out before she could help herself. "Isn't it dangerous for you to be out now?"

He raised his brown head to look at her but did not say anything as he walked past her. Mauve sighed and didn't push, out of all of them he was the only one who would not have a conversation with her.

She got into the carriage and sat down. Everything felt so tense. Was it because of the palers? Even though there wasn't anyone in sight.

"Are you okay, princess?" Vae asked when she sighed again.

"Yes, I am just worried. The vampires seem very edgy."

"I noticed that too."

Suddenly, the whistle rang out and the carriage started to move. Mauve eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "This is a little too fast, it hasn't even been five minutes." Usually, it took almost thirty minutes for them to pack up and she would have to wait in the hot carriage.

Vae only nodded at her comment. Mauve sighed again, asking questions wasn't going to help anybody; all she could do was pray nothing went wrong. She closed her eyes and dozed off.

Mauve woke up with a jerk as the carriage went over a bump. She could not count how many times she had woken up at this point but for some reason, she felt particularly tired and kept going back to sleep through the rough ride.

She pulled back the curtains and the moon stared back at her. The sky was pretty, a lot of stars were spread across the sky and she knew she had no complaints watching the night sky.

Mauve felt it before she heard it, the impact of a strong force hitting her side of the carriage. Her side of the carriage lifted off the ground a little, it wobbled but finally gave in to gravity and fell on its side even as Mauve's and Vae's screams resounded through the night.

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