Cartographically Challenged: A Short Story
SHORT STORY BY KYRA LAWRENCE.
‘Eliza, I never thought you were interested in anyone. I mean, you’ve almost always got your nose in a book. You have to tell me everything.’ Gwyn said, pulling in an embroidered cushion into her lap. She grinned, her eyes glittering.
Gwyn had made herself comfortable on Eliza’s chaise lounge, sprawling happily, exhausted from their visit to the local tavern. They had had perhaps one too many meads, and Gwyn had sung and danced with the travelling bard until Eliza had to physically drag her back home.
‘Claude and I—we’re not like that,’ Eliza stammered unconvincingly. She pushed Gwyn’s feet off her lap.
‘We’re just friends, Gwyn.’
‘Sure you are,’ Gwyn rolled her eyes. ‘Come on, you can tell me.’
Eliza watched her for a moment. ‘You’re not going to let me be, are you?’
‘Nope.’
She sighed deeply. ‘Fine, you win. None of this would have ever happened if you hadn’t gone and got yourself kidnapped—’
‘That’s not my fault and you know it!’ Gwyn interrupted. She folded her arms and looked away, pouting.
‘Anyway,’ Eliza stared pointedly at her. Gwyn gestured for her to go on. Eliza cleared her throat, and began.
‘When I set out to find you, I never expected to meet someone—anyone—along the way. It was a mission, a quest if you will, of great importance, and your fate relied on my success. This goal was the only thing on my mind.
‘I wasn’t looking for help or companionship, both is what I got just barely days into my journey. He’s a most wonderful person, but I really didn’t think of him as such at the time. In fact, I thought he was the most obnoxious, self-obsessed idiot I had ever laid eyes on.
‘I was reluctant to let him come with me, but deep down I knew I needed him—though I’d never admit that to him. He was a member of the rebels that kidnapped you.’
‘Hold on. He was what?’ Gwyn’s mouth hung open.
‘Okay—that sounds bad, but he was a part of another faction. Claude didn’t have any prior knowledge.’
‘How lovely…’ Gwyn said hesitantly.
‘I bumped into him, quite literally, as I was sneaking into what I thought was their camp, fully intending to steal you away before they even knew you were gone. Obviously, I failed…’
~
Eliza watched for movement across the path as she snuck over to a large tent. Somehow, she’d managed to reach the middle of their camp unseen. As she moved, Eliza could see the light of the campfire and hear the rebels chattering. She quickly found refuge behind a lone bush as footsteps approached.
Shadows of men flickered with the flames, and Eliza’s heart almost stopped when one of the men came close to her hiding spot. She froze for several moments before risking a glance out between the leaves. They had far more weapons than she had previously noted.
She was sure that she was getting closer to her sister, and it became even more crucial that she not be caught. There were fewer guards than Eliza anticipated, but they were fully equipped with armour and longswords.
Eliza began moving again, but as she turned her attention back to the tent beside her, she slammed into something. For a moment she was worried she’d walked into a tree, but that fear was swiftly overridden when hands grabbed her upper arms. Eliza instantly began squirming, panic flaring inside her.
‘Calm down,’ the man restraining her hissed. ‘I’m not going to hurt you.’
He dragged her aside, pulling her into an empty tent and quickly glanced around before shutting the flap.
Eliza peered up at the man. He was young, around her age, with short blond hair. If she wasn’t worried about her predicament, she’d think he was attractive.
‘You’re with them! How can I trust you?’
‘Who are you exactly?’ the man looked mildly confused.
‘You lot have my sister. Don’t try to deny it.’ Eliza waved her hands around frantically.
He stared at Eliza blankly. ‘I think you have the wrong camp.’
Eliza gaped at him. ‘You mean—’
‘Yeah. I think you want the one across the river.’ He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. ‘Man, you can’t even find the right place on your own…’
~
‘Claude thought that I was so incompetent—’ Eliza wrinkled her nose ‘—that he just had to help me. He said that he couldn’t stand by and let me be killed.’
Gwyn snorted. ‘You walked into the wrong camp. If I was there, I’d tease you, too.’
‘He was terrible!’
‘He was helping you.’ Gwyn had repositioned herself onto her stomach, her chin resting on her cushion. ‘He doesn’t sound like a self-absorbed idiot. Are you sure you used the right words?’
‘You didn’t know him then, Gwyn. He was insufferably reasonable.’
‘And that makes him an idiot?’
‘It does,’ Eliza said stubbornly.
‘I’m surprised you have any kind of relationship if this is how it began.’
Eliza ignored her, continuing, ‘We were like oil and water; everything he did annoyed me, and the same could be said of me. But then he saved my life, risking his own in the process, too.’
‘That’s sure to make a girl swoon.’ Gwyn mocked...
~
A knife swiped at Eliza’s stomach, and she barely stumbled away in time. She tripped over a tree root and with a small shriek, she fell hard to the ground. Her makeshift weapon slipped from her hand. The hooded figure came closer as Eliza groped at the ground around her blindly, unable to tear her eyes from them. Her fingers knocked against her weapon just as the person in front of her raised their blade.
Unexpectedly, the figure crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap. Eliza blinked.
‘You’re welcome.’ Claude stood above them with a rock in his hand. He looked at what she was holding, and snorted before bursting out in a deep belly laugh. Eliza’s brow twitched.
‘I could have handled it, Claude!’ Eliza huffed. ‘I didn’t need your help.’
‘Yes, I could see you and your bar of soap had the situation under control.’ Claude looked amused, so much so that it infuriated Eliza.
She turned red. ‘He surprised me!’
‘You had your pack with you, and the only weapon you could use was the least deadly thing you own?’ He shook his head, exasperated. ‘Maybe next time you can use a spoon. That should do plenty of damage…’
~
‘You used soap as a weapon?’ Gwyn guffawed. ‘I can’t believe you survived, let along succeeded.’
‘Hey!’ Eliza snapped.
‘What are you two talking about?’ Claude leant against the doorframe of the small sitting room, an embroidered coat folded over his arm. His hair was longer, almost touching his shoulders. Eliza made a mental note to nag him to get his hair trimmed later.
Gwyn glanced slyly at Eliza. ‘Eliza was just telling me about how she fell madly in love with you.’
Claude remained utterly unaffected, as if this sort of talk came up often. He concealed a grin.
‘I was not!’ Eliza’s face warmed.
Claude smiled softly. ‘I know, darling.’
EDITORIAL NOTE: This article has been reuploaded and was originally published in 2020.