Tangled By Fate

Chapter 60 - SPENDING DESERT NIGHT WITH ARTHUR

"Even though I didn't tell you, you still came and found me." Suddenly, a thought came to her mind and she asked, "Wait, don't tell me you are here because of me. How did you find that I was here?"

Arthur looked at her and mysteriously replied, "I'm here for another reason. I never thought I would meet you here, caught up with all these."

His answer made Veronica even more curious about his true purpose.? "But, you are not a soldier. Why do you have to come here?"

"I can't tell you." Arthur downright rejected.

Veronica turned to look at him with anger in her eyes and accused, "And you said you saw me as your friend. Is this how you treat your friend?"

Arthur also gazed at her. "If I didn't see you as my friend, would I have saved you just now?"

Veronica's mouth opened in surprise. Their close proximity didn't make her nervous this time. "So, you are saying you wouldn't save people unless you were their friend? I never thought you-"

Arthur was taken aback and cut her off by quickly saying, "Hey now, I didn't mean it that way."

Veronica argued, "How did you mean it then? I just asked you why you are here and you couldn't tell me that reason. Since you treat me like this, I will treat you that way too. Hmph!" She looked away in anger.

Arthur was helpless. He didn't know how to react when she acted this way. No woman ever treated him like that. They always drooled over him and did their best to get closer to him physically by embracing him and whatnot, whenever he was in front of them. This was the first time a woman got mad at him and he found his skill in handling such a situation severely lacking.

In the end, he sighed and confessed, "I'm a blacksmith who forges weapons. I have a small company and my men are working with Synetians to keep them supplied with adequate weaponry. That's why I'm with them."

It caught her by surprise. "You are a blacksmith?! What about the library then?"

Arthur realized that there was no reason for him to hide it from her anymore. He replied, "The company is my side job. Designing weapons is my hobby."

"So, that's what it is." Veronica easily believed him. "Why did you try to hide it?"

Arthur explained, "I didn't tell anyone except you about my side job. I trust you. Don't tell others."

"No problem." Veronica didn't have a reason to tell others about someone else's personal life and so she readily agreed.

The sound of clashing swords and soldiers' screams broke the silence of the quiet desert. They could hear all the commotion from where they were.

Veronica nervously asked, "They won't attack us here, will they?" She had the kindest heart but it didn't mean that she wanted to die just because someone wanted to kill her.

Arthur inquired, "Are you scared?"

"No…", she replied. However, there was uncertainty in her voice. Whether she was scared or not, she wanted to put on a brave face in front of him. She wouldn't tell him that she was feeling quite queasy inside about this whole thing.

Her uneasiness did not escape Arthur's keen eyes even if she had told him otherwise. He found it rather interesting. The women he knew, would throw their bodies at him saying they were scared to death and try to appear as damsels in distress as much as they could and here was a girl sitting with him alone, having kind of a romantic time together and, she was trying her best to appear heroic.

He assured her, "It's okay. Most of the time, a single tent means a traveler. They have no reason to attack a traveler. However, if it's an animal, that's a different thing."

Veronica's expression didn't look any better hearing this news. "I don't want to become a meal."

Arthur chuckled. "Relax, I'm a good hunter. If there is an animal, we can have a good dinner, don't you think?"

Remembering the meat curry he cooked for her once, Veronica's mouth started to water.

The night was long. Time wouldn't pass quickly when someone was waiting. Every passing moment seemed like an eternity.

Veronica couldn't hear any chaos anymore. The quietness of the desert seemed to drag the night. It was tiring. Due to her excitement, she couldn't fall asleep. She felt like if she slept, they would be attacked.

She recalled that the enemy wanted to take the healers. She mumbled, "They wanted to take us."

Arthur was deeply thinking of something else. Upon hearing her words, his train of thoughts broke. "Did the soldiers of Riverhill try to kidnap you?"

Veronica remarked, "They didn't exactly say that they wanted to kidnap us. I heard them saying, 'gather the healers'. I'm sure it's related to the white light that made the healers disappear."

Arthur smirked. She never ceased to amaze him. "You were sent here as a punishment to you. And now you want to investigate it? You might even fall into more danger."

Veronica couldn't tell him everything even if she wanted to. She responded, "I don't mind falling in danger. I told you I want to help everyone. If there is a chance for me to get the missing healers back, I want to try it."

Arthur looked at her. His eyes became strange. He began to see her in a new light. After a few moments of pause, he said, "Guess what. I will help you."

"Will you?" Veronica was astonished. She didn't expect that he would want to help her with this. It was better to work alongside a person than doing it alone. It would be less scary.

"I will but there is something we have to do first." Arthur pondered deeply while speaking, "I'm not sure if it will work on you though."

"Work on me? What?" Veronica asked curiously.