Behind The Wooden Door Read Free

soldiers weren’t like the ones in the stories. These soldiers were real. Too real. It had been hours since my meeting with Tristan in the war chamber, and I was lucky he hadn’t bruised my wrists.
    Deep voices drifted through the air. I turned a smooth, black stone over in my hand before I made it skip across the flowing river. The beautiful, clear blue water suddenly turned red. I jumped to my feet in horror. Crimson waves crashed before my eyes waiting to devour me and take me away with the current.
    The voices grew closer.
    Tristan and Hawk marched my way more than walked, their steps in perfect sync. Their faces wore emotionless masks. A smaller guy with messy brown hair walked a few paces behind them. His steps were slower than his comrades. He scanned the woods as if my kingdom was a mysterious jungle to him.
    “Well, hello, Princess,” Tristan said as he approached.
    His voice was cold and mocking, as was the bow he greeted me with.
    “Hello, Aissur,” I replied. I tried, and failed, to match the iciness of his voice. “Where are you going?”
    The smaller guy smiled at me from behind his friends. His eyes held an innocence behind them that the others’ didn’t. It must be his first war, I thought to myself.
    “To the crossing, down the river. We’re going have a look at the field on the other side. That’s where I believe your cousin will start the battle,” Tristan said.
    I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes for only a brief moment. The field and the river were the only things that separated Artair’s kingdom from mine. It would be much too easy for them to slip away and join my cousin if he offered them more gold than my father had. I had to keep that from happening.
    “I think it would be best if I accompanied you,” I said. “I would like to know your plans on defending my kingdom.”
    Tristan raised an eyebrow and looked down on me. “Do you not trust me, Princess?”
    “No, Aissur, I do not trust you, and if these two are anything at all like you,” I said. I gestured to the others. “I don’t see any reason to trust them either.”
    “Well, I’d advise you to start trusting us. If it weren’t for us, your kingdom wouldn’t stand a chance in this war,” Hawk said.
    He was right. The men of Rattonim were farmers, not warriors. The only thing that would fear our men were the crops that grew in the fields. If we were truly at war, we would not have a fighting chance to win without Tristan and his men.
    Tristan smiled and shook his head. “No, Hawk, I think we should let her come.”
    “What?” he asked. He looked at Tristan, puzzled.
    Tristan gave Hawk a smirky grin but didn’t respond.
    “Tommy, keep the princess out of my and Hawk’s way.”
    Tristan walked past me with Hawk close behind, but the brown-haired guy stayed in front of me. His face was much kinder than the other two, more welcoming. His smile never faded when he followed after the other guys and motioned for me to follow.
    “Is this the first time your kingdom’s gone to war?” Tommy asked.
    He pushed his hands deep into his pockets and scuffed the ground with the toe of his boots as he walked. I watched his feet to avoid his eyes. I feared that in a few days, the light that shone in them now would be lost forever.
    “The first I have been alive for,” I replied.
    “I guess we’ll be going through our first wars together then,” he said.
    “And all lead by the wondrous Tristan Aissur,” I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster.
    Tommy’s sudden burst of laughter made me jump. He shook his head and rocked back on his heels momentarily.
    “He’s not as bad as you think, Princess,” he said.
    He ducked under a tree branch, stopped, and held it up for me to cross under. Obviously he didn’t know the same Tristan Aissur I had talked to this morning.
    “He’s been fighting since I can remember. Not in wars, but with other kids, our father –”
    “Wait. What?” Had I heard him correctly? “Your