The cold of the forest creeped through Kared's light tunic, and he bent closer to the fledgling campfire, his fingers trembling slightly as he fed it small snaps of dry brush.
He sent a glance across the fire at Lara. She sat opposite him wrapped in his heavy traveling coat, the oversized thing easily swallowing her shorter frame. In the dim light of his first hour of freedom, the sight of her was a puzzle.
When she had pulled him from the prison that had held him for a year, she had been completely unclad as she fought her way through the guards meant to be watching him.
The fire hissed as a bead of sap popped, casting dancing sparks across her face. Kared rubbed his bare palms together, still feeling some of that cold.
He knew he owed her his life, "Is the coat helping?" he asked, though his mind was already rehearsing a much more difficult question. He needed to know who she was and why she would be roaming the wilds in the nude.
Lara pulled the collar of the heavy coat tighter around her chin, "I'm thankful for the coat, Prince Kared," she said, "The cold would have been too unbearable, even to a fighter like me."
Kared nodded, "I realized I never properly asked," he went on, trying to ignore a fresh shiver of cold carried by a breeze. "What is your name?"
"Lara," she replied.
"Well, Lara..." He paused, stoking the embers with a charred stick. "I have to ask. Back there at the dungeon, when you saved me... you didn't have a hint of clothing on. You would understand why that would raise many questions, right?"
Frustration crossed Lara's face, though it wasn't directed at him. She looked down at the oversized sleeves of his coat. "I'm told it is a curse," she confessed. "A byproduct of the magic that grants me the strength of a warrior. Anytime I tap into my mana to fight, or to heal myself or others, the curse burns whatever I'm wearing. Started about a month ago and I'm yet to figure it out."
She looked back toward the dark silhouette of the ridge they had descended earlier. "I don't enjoy the predicament, believe me. I've learned to keep caches of supplies hidden throughout the woods. I stashed a fresh set of clothes in a spot further down this hill. If we break camp before first light, we can reach them by sunrise. I'd planned to travel through the night but you gave me the coat."
After having roast rabbit for supper, they went to sleep, with Kared taking the first watch. He said that after months of staying alert for any incoming guards, he was more than capable of handling the task.
The transition from dawn's peace to the frantic beat of pursuit happened in a heartbeat.
Kared's captors, who were armored soldiers out for blood, had found their trail and followed them through the night. They had intended to get closer to the camp, but Lara spotted them and sounded the alarm.
"Run!" Lara told Kared as she went for the hilt of her sword.
They bolted through the undergrowth, but the soldiers were closing the distance. Lara eventually saw the futility in trying to escape and decided to bring the fight to them.
She fought with a desperate hope that her mana would not be required, relying on pure skill and basic reflexes to keep the soldiers at bay. But as more soldiers surged from the treeline, the odds turned lethal.
She had to give up and use mana to enhance her body or else they would die. Well she would die, as Kared would probably just go back to his prisoner status.
"Sorry about the coat, Kared," she laughed, "It will burn off since I don't have the courage to remove it by myself in front of such a big audience."
Lara then went on a bloody killing spree, wiping out the soldiers like flies. The remaining few now hesitated, realizing they had underestimated her.
Kared didn't hesitate when this happened. He sent his hand forward, chanting a string of incomprehensible syllables to cast a blinding spell on the soldiers. Now that he was far away from the magic dampeners, he had no problem using his skills as a mage to help out.
The soldiers stumbled, clawing at their eyes and howling in panic after finding themselves in utter darkness. Lara moved through them like a phantom, and made sure she finished every last one of them.
She then turned to Kared, oblivious to the fact that nearly her whole body was bathed red in blood. "I didn't know that you're a skilled mage. That timing was perfect."
Kared quickly unbuttoned his tunic, shivering as the cold morning air hit his bare chest, then handed it to her.
"Just do me a favor," he sighed. "Try not to burn this one, or we're going to run out of clothes very quickly. I don't have anymore left to share."
Lara managed a sheepish smile as she put the tunic over herself. "I'll do my best. Come, the cache is just ahead. Don't worry too much about me, I've grown used to my situation and to some people this is perfectly normal."
After making sure no one else was following them, they continued moving, now heading to Lara's stash of clothes.
"I haven't seen the sunrise in months," Kared commented as they found the great tree where Lara had left her belongings.
She dressed quickly, and once she was decent, she handed the borrowed tunic back to Kared.
"Finally, I was starting to think I'd get a cold," he said, smoothing out the rumpled cloth. "I suppose I should tell you why those men were so eager to put me back in chains."
Lara adjusted a strap on her bracer, "I'm listening, please do tell."
"My capture was ordered by my uncle," Kared said with a bitter edge. "It's a power move, plain and simple. He wants to ensure I never sit on the throne. But the irony is..." He looked down at his hands, "I couldn't care less about the crown. Let him have the gold and the titles."
He looked up at the towering canopy of the forest. "I only care about the research. People in my kingdom are being turned into monsters and I want to cure them."
He turned his gaze back to Lara, "And now that saving includes you. Once we're clear of this, I'm going to study your condition. I'll find the source of that strange phenomenon and I'll lift your curse, Lara. You shouldn't have to sacrifice your dignity every time you save a life."
Lara was moved by his sheer determination, "That is a noble goal, Kared. But don't mistake me for a selfless altruistic savior figure. I wasn't wandering that forest by accident."
She turned to face him fully. "I was paid by an anonymous benefactor to find you. My contract is simple, rescue the Prince and keep him alive for one month. After that, my debt is settled and we part ways."