Chapter 3| Kashmir

I saw blood before, but not that much. Julian was covered with it from top to bottom, his left hand holding his bloodied sword.

He looked at me and at that moment; I felt concerned.

I was not afraid, no. I was worried about him. Is that his blood? Or was it from someone else? These thoughts swarmed in my head. He walked past me and went inside the tent, leaving me in the frosty winter air.

"What happened?" I asked him when I got inside the tent. He did not answer. I grabbed a basin of water and a cloth to get rid of the blood, but when I motioned to take his shirt off, he gripped my wrist tightly. I winced.

"Get out Aurora,"

"No,"

He sighed and let go of my wrist. He ripped his shirt off, revealing his toned muscles. Goodness Gracious. I did not realize that I was gaping until he turned to me.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked gruffly.

I snapped out of my trance and hurriedly wiped his body of the blood. We sat in silence, him staring at me, and me concentrating on what I was doing.

Finally, I finished and disposed of the used cloth. When I came back to the tent, it was just in time for his back to be turned towards me as he slipped on his dress shirt.

I stood frozen. Scars littered his back that looked like it was from him being whipped.

"Wait!"

He stopped what he was doing and stayed in his spot. I walked towards him and lifted his dress shirt. He stiffened.

I drew my palms on his scarred back as I wondered where this came from.

"How did you get these?" He did not answer for a while. He turned to me, his eyes void of any emotions.

"When I was a kid I got caught by our rival kingdom. They whipped me until I was on the brink of death,"

I took a deep breath. What monster would do that to a child?

"Oh my god," I looked at him with pity. But then, the pity turned into confusion when a sinister smile made its way into his face.

"Don't worry, that kingdom got rewarded,"

I knew that he was not the type to forgive and forget, but I was curious about what happened.

"How?"

What he said next gave chills in my spine.

"I burned it to the ground with the royal family inside."

I pieced it together. When I was no older than 10 summers, news came to the kingdom informing us that the kingdom of Vertco was burned to the ground, with the royal family inside. At the time, Vertco was the 3rd largest and most powerful kingdom, and no one really knew who the assailant was. Yet, here I am, married to the very man that burned a kingdom.

I did not judge him. I was not the judgmental type of person. I did not know what to reply. Should I say sorry? Or should I comfort him? I did not know. All I could reply was "Oh,"

"Get dressed, we are leaving before the sun rises," he walked out of the tent, leaving me to my thoughts.

The cold wind swept inside the tent, due to the slashed open side of it. I changed into warmer clothes which consist of my fur coat and a thick layer of clothes.

When I got out of the tent, Julian and his men were already mounted on their horses, and it looked like they were just waiting for me.

"Are you ready?" Julian asked.

I nodded as I looked around. The ground was covered with snow, and most of the animals had gone to their burrow to keep themselves warm. I could smell the icy winter air, and I was also pretty sure that my cheeks were flushed.

Julian helped me mount the horse. I wrapped my arms around his torso. We then continued our journey towards our kingdom, Kashmir.

We already got out of the jungle and was now riding across the mountains when suddenly, a group of bandits stopped us. I tightened my arms around Julian, feeling my heart race.

Bandits were people that were exiled from a kingdom, due to committing a crime.

There were 20 of them, and 13 of us. We were outnumbered, but Julian was relaxed. A tall, skinny man came forward, with a knife in his hand. He smirked. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Julian did not answer, he only kept staring at the man. The skinny man's faced morphed into a frown before showing his yellowed teeth. "I'm talking to you pal!"

Still, Julian did not answer. The man came closer as he drew his knife. "Are you mute?"

Finally, Julian spoke up. "Do not come nearer, or else you will regret it,"

Instead of being scared, the skinny man laughed, and his group did soon after.

"Let me see, you have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 13 men, and I have 20. Sad to say, you are outnumbered pal,"

Julian's men were in a fighting position and were about to dismount their horses, but he raised his hand, ordering the men to stay put. "We do not waste our time to low lives like you, so if you please get out of the road, we will be on our way,"

The skinny man seemed to take this seriously as he growled at Julian. The bandits drew their weapons as they prepared to take charge. Julian's head turned to me. "Aurora, I need you to hide. I will find you. "

The bandits charged and Julian dismounted the horse and helped me go down too. I ran behind a tree to peek at them, only to see that Julian and his men were fighting the bandits.

He was too preoccupied with the one he was fighting to know that one of the bandits was slowly creeping behind him, a sharp-looking dagger in his hands. I looked around and saw a bow and an arrow attached to one of the horses, so I ran and retrieved it.

I took lessons about it wielding a bow and an arrow since I was a child, so it was no problem for me. I went back to my hiding spot and shot the man that was about to dagger Julian.

When Julian turned around, he was surprised to see his attacker dead, an arrow buried in the head. He looked around, confused as to where the arrow came from when his men were using swords as weapons. His eyes met mine, and I did not know what came over to me when I winked at him.

His eyes widened, surprised. He kept looking at me as I shot the bandits, straight in the head. One attempted to run, but before he could take 1 more stride, I shot him.

The fight died down and I went out of my hiding spot. Julian kept looking at me, amusement in his features, but he did not comment.

Julian made sure that no one got hurt, and fortunately, everyone was fine. He decided that we rest for a couple of minutes before going back on the road.

"Are you okay, Aurora?" He asked me.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I smiled at him, but he did not return it as he turned around and went to his horse. I was confused. Did I do something wrong? Last night he was laughing at me and now, he is being cold. I just shrugged my shoulders and let him be.

"We need to get back on the road. Come now," Julian ordered in a deep, commanding voice. He walked to my direction with a void face.

"Aurora, we need to leave," I followed him to the horse, and after making sure that everyone is ready, we continue our journey to Kashmir.

We passed mountains and frozen streams, but as we went further, the cold seemed to worsen. I was shivering, and Julian seemed to notice this. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, just a little feeling a little cold from the winter,"

"Do not worry, we are almost there,"

I hummed in response as he averted his attention back to the snow-covered road.

He was right, we were almost there. I could see civilization, not far away, with a magnificent palace at the center. We slowed down to a trot as we passed the market.

The kingdom was beautiful. Magical even. Trees who bear small, pink flowers were planted at the sides, different stores owned by merchants placed next to it. Petals were scattered on the road, which I suppose were from the wild winter flowers that strived. Children were running around, playing with each other. I sighed. If only I had a simple life like theirs.

"Does it always snow in your kingdom?" I asked Julian.

"Yes,"

When the folks recognized him, they immediately bowed low to the ground. They trembled in fear. I was confused, his men did not look like they feared Julian, but these folks, they shook just by the mere presence of him.

"Why do they fear you?"

Julian sighed. "Didn't you hear? I am the sinner of Kashmir,"

I stiffened. The sinner of Kashmir? What types of sin did he commit? Did he manipulate people? Kill them? Do unforgivable things?

"How?"

"You need to see for yourself. That is if you survive,"

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