A FEW HEARTBEATS LATER

It was his fault. He was the idiot, the only one to blame, yet he knew that constantly proclaiming his foolery out loud was a worthless feat. So to compensate his desire to express himself, Judah wordlessly resorted to shooting poisoned daggers at the confused Shade perched by his side.

Naomi, the one who had succeeded in confusing him more than Kora ever did, continued to stare at the map in her hands as if she couldn't believe that she'd missed such delicate detail. Which Judah could just not understand.

How was it possible that Shadowclaw Island had escaped her notice?

"Naomi," Judah called out when he couldn't take her prolonged silence anymore, "we can't go through with this anymore."

"No," she replied firmly, not taking her eyes off the parchment.

Judah closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and tried again. His patience was wearing thin. "Naomi," he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, "I know that this obviously means a lot to you, but it does not mean-"

"Yes!" she suddenly interrupted, finally looking up from her lap to lock an excited gaze with Judah's surprised one.

"Yes!" repeated Naomi once more. She searched his face then, as if looking for something in particular. But when she only found a clueless expression, she huffed in annoyance.

"Your Highness," she stretched the title, her elation promptly giving way to impatience, "the opportunity for you to ask what has me so excited is now, if you'd be so kind."

Judah was tempted to roll his eyes. Trust the exasperating Shade to leave no room for vagueness.

"I don't know why I encourage you," he said, though he could gradually feel the slight fear that had struck him ebb away. "Besides, if we're being honest, you're excited more than half the time. But since you have managed to doom us both to the infamous and inescapable island, I suppose I do want to know what has warranted such excitement." He waited before arching an eyebrow. "Perhaps a way out?"

"Correction." Naomi grinned and lifted the map, pulling out the envelope that had been layered between her skirts and the parchment. "As it appears," she drew out a neatly folded piece of paper and waved it in front of Judah's face, "I have not doomed us all."

When she didn't say anything else for a while, Judah let out a frustrated sigh. "Would you care to share what you have in your hand?"

"Why, I thought you'd never ask." Still grinning, Naomi dutifully unfolded the note and swung it across his face again. "You see, Your Highness, though I didn't entirely read the map, I did notice that this treasure hunt's final destination was indeed Shadowclaw Island. So naturally, I had to find an alternative."

Judah took the note from her hand. "And I assume you did."

"Not precisely," she replied. "Turns out, that particular chore has already been done for us."

Judah roamed his eyes over the handwritten text after he'd righted it in his hands. "Wait," he recognised the words immediately, "this is-"

"Our way out!" He looked up to find Naomi beaming at him. Seeing her face shine the way it did in the firelight, Judah couldn't help but notice how pretty she was.

Her brown eyes shone brightly the way they always did when she had something up her sleeve, and her lips stretched so wide that Judah wondered how she hadn't developed fractures in her cheeks from smiling so much.

When she opened her mouth, however, the spell she'd temporarily had on him dissolved into nothing.

"As you can see, I was never at fault to begin with."

"Oh?"

"My sentiment exactly." She smoothed a wayward curl away from her forehead. "What you have in your hands, Your Highness, is the letter the King of Drakonwell wrote to your father. The same one I showed you the first time we met in the library. I had forgotten about it quite frankly, but apparently, there is a riddle at the bottom that speaks of a buried journal containing all the information on how to survive the journey to Shadowclaw Island."

"Indeed?" He broke eye contact to briefly study the letter's contents. And true enough, at the bottom of the page, there was a short coded message in an almost inconspicuous scrawl.

In a den of magic,

Just outside your door,

For a bound journal look no further,

Than a sign of a baby's bawl.

"A baby's bawl," Judah read the last line out loud, eyes shifting further down to note the absence of the Drakonwell seal. Of course, he hadn't really expected to see one, but it would've somewhat proven the letter's authenticity. "How do you even know the journal is the answer?"

"Because the rest of the letter implies it. You can read it all for yourself," she said. "Granted, it took me some time to fully decipher the entire message as it is all riddled with certain peculiar references. But I managed to anyway."

Judah continued to study the letter, quickly coming to a realisation that Naomi was right. It all added up to the journal, which would somehow lead safely and directly to the treasure. That little piece of important information did a lot to clear his doubts, and for once, he didn't feel as if Naomi was leading him to slaughter.

"I have to say I'm quite impressed." Judah let the small praise slip from his lips as he handed the letter over to her. He did not miss the prideful twinkle in her eyes as she took it and folded it back into the envelope.

"Have a little faith in me, Your Highness. I admit I have my fair share of errors, but I always find my way around." She suddenly yawned, barely managing to stifle the action with her hands. "Well, looks like we will have to solve it after we've gotten some rest. I'm not accustomed to staying up late, and I dare say it's probably past midnight. Perhaps that's why I had forgotten about the clue to surviving..." she yawned again, "surviving Shadowclaw Island."

He watched her silently. "You are clearly exhausted. I suppose you want me to bring out the bedrolls then?"

Naomi's lazy smile answered him before she opened her mouth and said, "I do."

Shaking his head, Judah got to his feet and entered the coach. He blindly found two bedrolls tucked in a wooden chest at one corner and took them out one after the other. Hands full, he exited the coach the best way he could and resumed his seat beside the other Shade.

"I wonder," Judah started as he handed one of the thin mattresses to Naomi, who wasted no time in spreading it on the ground and getting comfortable, "if you would ever start to carry your own weight around here."

"I told you, Your Highness," she squeaked as she stretched her body on the soft, furry material, "tonight's my grace period. Come morning, you would be surprised at how wondrously efficient I actually am."

"That should comfort me," Judah muttered dryly. "But for some reason, I'm dreading it."

Naomi chuckled softly, sighing afterwards when she tucked her hands beneath her head. "I suppose you'll keep first watch." She didn't wait for a reply before closing her eyes and slowly drifting off.

"Goodnight, Prince Judah."

Judah didn't say a word in response. He could only stare at the snoozing female who'd managed to confuse him, annoy him, scare him, annoy him all over again, and then stun him all within the span of a few minutes.

She was an unusual creature, there was no dispute about that, but for some reason, he wondered if there was more to her than just her overwhelming thirst for riches. Something veiled behind the usual excited gleam in her eyes.

Something...more.

Judah sighed and covered his face with both palms, Kora's strange and desperate warning ringing vehemently in his ears. An emotion he couldn't describe tightened his chest when he remembered the out-worldly glint in his sister's eyes as she'd gripped his arm and forced the promise out of him. He didn't think he could ever forget the manner in which she'd pleaded, nor the last look she'd cast his way before exiting his bedchamber and leaving him dumbfounded.

It wasn't a secret that his and Kora's relationship wasn't the affectionate brother-sister type, yet in earnest, Judah did care for the annoying, bothersome little witch. And he knew, in her own twisted and not-nearly obvious way, that she too cared for him. Her warning that evening had been more than a little proof of that.

So all in all, as he sat with his drooping gaze dazedly focused on the fire burning before him, Judah vowed to keep to his promise and not get too involved with the Shade softly snoring beside him.

He vowed that no matter what would happen, no matter what Naomi would throw his way, Judah would strive never to forget his little sister's desperate plea.

Whatever happens, please, don't fall in love with her.

•~~•

A/N:

I've decided to end the story here for now. Maybe I'll add a part two instead of just updating another chapter to signify the start of their adventure together and to separate it from the rest of the story.

~Comment below what you think would happen to this wayward couple~

This is a packed highfantasy story that would take time to build, which I don't have inspiration nor enough detail for now. But will in the future, definitely.

So until then, my fellow knights.
TBK✌🏾