The Battle for Astodia

by Maryam Durrani

  The whole place was abuzz. The smell of fried duck wafted into my nose and my mouth watered. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was for some real food, and now my stomach was begging for some.

  “Adalia.” Lorelle shook my shoulders, her light brown hair loosening around her face. “You have just ruined your life here.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I won’t be staying long enough, anyway.”

  Lorelle stared into my eyes for a second, and then realized the truth.

  “This is it, then? You’re really just here for information?” She shook her head in disbelief. “and I’m helping you. If I ever get found out. . .”

  “Well I didn’t come here to make friends, did I?” I snapped. “And you won’t get caught—I’ll make sure of it. As long as you keep your mouth shut,” I added. “I’ll be in and out

  of here before you even notice.”

  I couldn’t tell Lorelle the real purpose of why I was here. She’d stop me. She was still loyal to the rebels. They were her people. The antidote would just slip further away from my reach, and I would never be able to bring her back with me.

  My thoughts were interrupted by the platter of food that slapped the wooden table right in front of my eyes, and Lorelle’s words drowned away in the laughter and discussions around the whole room.

  ELEVEN

  Lance was waiting for me by the time I returned to my room. “What made you do that?”

  I froze, my hand still rested on the doorknob. His arms were crossed over his chest. He kept me under his steady gaze.

  “What?”

  “I don’t know anything about you,” he narrowed his eyes. “The way you spoke out today makes it look like you might not be just a girl trying to save her sister after all.”

  “Well, we all have our secrets, don’t we?” I said bluntly, still standing there. My heart rate increased.

  “Secrets?” he repeated. Lance stood up, making his way towards me. “And what secrets do you hold?”

  Holding my ground under his gaze, I stared back into his green eyes, unmoving. “Don’t tell me you don’t have any.”

  His eyes searched my face as if they were looking for something, a sign or a hint that I wasn’t who I said I was. He’d suspected me before, and there was no reason for him not to doubt me now.

  “You’re right. We do,” was all he said, trying to get me to speak. “But it depends on the weight of the secret. Big or small? Important or unworthy?”

  “It depends on the person.”

  “True,” he nodded, “but it also depends on the people that

  can be affected by it.”

  I gripped the doorknob with such force my knuckles turned white. I glanced down at my fingers, and my mind started coming up with escape routes.

  Window.

  Door.

  One blow to the head could knock him out.

  Finally, he backed away, and I sagged against the door, letting out a deep breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

  “I know Clarice is wrong about you,” he said with a smile that almost made me fall to my knees in relief. My hand slipped off the doorknob.

  “You do?”

  He nodded. “You acted quite senseless.” I was about to snap at him, but he grinned and I paused, waiting for him to finish. “And very brave for standing up to her like that today. You know,” he added, his shoulders relaxing as he watched me, “We don’t always agree with what she decides. Usually, Lorelle doesn’t like it either, but what can she really say?”

  “Well I’m glad I brought some sense into everyone’s thick heads,” I said with a curt nod, and Lance laughed.

  “I’m glad you did too.” I made my way to my bed and sat down, untying my boots. “You’re wearing a dress today?” he said, surprise in his voice.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Have you not realized my gender or something?”

  Color flooded his cheeks. “You’re very different from the other girls I know.”

  “Well, I’m not like other girls,” I said, kicking off my shoes.

  A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. We were quiet for

  a few seconds before Lance spoke up again. “You seem to be bored here.” Suddenly, a wicked smile spread across his face. I could literally see an idea forming in his head.

  “What?” I felt myself inching back, unaware of the thoughts that had just crossed his mind.

  “Would you like a job?”

  “A what?”

  “A job,” he repeated. “There are so many options. I mean, you could help with the cooking and cleaning—”

  I gave him a dirty look.

  “I’m not done.” He raised his hands up in defense. “You can help the leaders with stuff—”

  “Like what, bringing them breakfast to bed every morning?”

  He paused.

  “Kind of,” he shrugged.

  I groaned, turning away from him.

  “No, no, wait!” he said, reaching out, turning me to face him again. “You could be a guard. We’re low on good fighters.”

  “No, thank you,” I said, making myself clear. “I won’t be doing any of that. Now . . . if you don’t have any more offers, I’m really exhausted, so—”

  “Well there’s one more,” he said before I could lie down. I grabbed a pillow from beside me, burying my face in it. “Would you like to train to become a healer?”

  “A healer? Yeah ri—”

  I paused, the blood in my veins turning cold as I realized what he was saying.

  Healer. Poison.

  Antidote.

  I almost got up and cheered at the opportunity that had just been handed to me. I bit my lip from bursting into a grin.

  “Well, I don’t think I could handle that,” I said, patting my stomach and wrinkling my nose, “I mean, with all the wounds and blood . . .”

  “I suppose you could learn.” He fingered the hem of his tunic. “We need more healers. At the moment we only have two, and one of them is an ancient woman. If something happens to her, she’ll leave behind her apprentice who really isn’t that skilled.”

  “Who’s the apprentice?” I asked, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

  He rolled his eyes as if it were apparent. “Me.”

  “Oh.”

  He grinned. “That’s why I want you to take the job. You do get paid,” he said, counting off his fingers, “and,” he snapped them, pointing at me, “you get so many benefits. Good food and a lot of respect.”

  “I’ll have to think about it,” I sighed tiredly.

  “Consider it. And after you’ve saved a couple lives, maybe Clarice will finally warm up to you.”

  I exhaled. “Alright. I’m considering.”

  I found my way outside that night, breathing in the cold night air.

  Lance was nowhere to be found, probably underground, and I was alone once more. Most of the people had retired to their rooms, and I felt exhaustion creeping in. I was still wearing a dress, and I was beginning to get tired of the limited freedom it offered.

  As I stood there, a sudden shadow darted out and, before I

  could move, a hand clamped over my mouth.

  If it weren’t for this bloody dress, I would’ve gotten out and ripped the kidnappers to shreds, but for now, the dress had woven its way between my legs and was holding me back. I was dragged into a dark area behind the house, and someone hissed, “Don’t scream and we’ll let your mouth free.”

  The hands pulled away.

  I blinked, trying to clear my vision. From the curves of their bodies, I could tell that there were two girls.

  I could still get out of this. As I tried to get to my feet, a fist connected with my stomach, and I doubled over.

  As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw Demetria’s sneering face. I couldn’t recognize the other large girl, who seemed prepared to pummel me into the ground.

  She was here for revenge.

  Demetria grabbed my shoulders, slamming me into the wall.

>   Don’t fight back, I kept telling myself. Don’t do it. You’ll expose yourself.

  “Do you know why I’m here?” Demetria snarled in my face, a cruel glint in her eyes.

  “Because you wanted to take a stroll through the park together?” I smirked. I received a punch against my jaw for that, my head snapping to the side. I spat out blood from where my teeth cut against my cheek.

  “You think you can waltz in here and get everyone to trust you just like that?” she said, snapping her fingers. “You think you can just humiliate me and walk away without any consequences?”

  “I mean, I’ve done it so far.”

  I watched her move away, disappearing into the shadows,

  leaving me with her big, burly sidekick.

  I may have taken the beating for the sake of my identity, but I put up a good, believable fight. By the time we were done, we were both injured. She was bleeding from a broken nose and I, well, it felt as if I didn’t have kidneys anymore. I had yanked at her hair and scratched at her face when I could’ve easily snapped her neck.

  Don’t fight back. Just protect yourself.

  I know Demetria had only wanted to scare me, but my taunts kept bringing the girl back in a fit of rage. It had been my fault, but I enjoyed seeing her angry.

  When the door creaked open, I was glad to find that everyone sleeping. With pain in every step I took, I made my way upstairs to my room, curling up on my bed.

  I ended up sleeping longer than I intended and refused to leave my room, ignoring my stomach’s cries for food. I took a warm bath and changed into pants and a black tunic. As I brushed my hair, I glanced at myself in the mirror.

  I had a bruise on my cheekbone. My forehead was cut right above the temple, and my split lip was swollen. I’d cleaned away the blood, but my face still looked like a mess.

  I rolled up the sleeves of my tunic but seeing the splotches of deep purple made me roll them back down again.

  Suddenly, the door opened.

  “Miss,” a girl said, freezing in her tracks when her eyes fell on me.

  I looked up, and her eyes widened in surprise.

  “What do you want?” I grumbled, turning away from the mirror.

  “Lance says to come downstairs.”

  “Tell him I won’t be attending breakfast.”

  She nodded and exited, and I sighed, putting my fists on my hips.

  Maybe I could nick some makeup from one of the girls and . . . and powder my face, because the bruises were going to attract attention, and that was the last thing I needed right now.

  I don’t know how long I stared at my face in the mirror, tracing the old healing cuts from my first day here, and the new ones, until a knock interrupted my thoughts. I called the person in, and the door opened slowly.

  “Kristina, why don’t you—” he stopped short, his eyes resting on my face. I turned away quickly, but he’d seen enough.

  Damn it.

  “Who did this?” Lance asked, enraged. He walked towards me, and I waved him off.

  “I’m fine, Lance, go eat breakfast.”

  “You’re not fine.” He turned me towards him, his hands gripping my elbows. His thumb pressed into one of the bruises, and I winced automatically.

  Damn it.

  He backed away, dropping my arms.

  “I am, I promise,” I assured him.

  “Tell me who did this,” he demanded, his eyes on fire.

  “I don’t know. I couldn’t see,” I lied smoothly.

  “Demetria.”

  “No.” I showed no emotion.

  “She’s going to be reprimanded. We’re not allowed to hurt each other here.” Lance was seething.

  “I hurt one of them back,” I pointed out. “I’ll get in trouble

  as well.”

  “It was self-defense.” He paused. “Right?”

  “I technically started it on the field,” I crossed my arms over my chest, slowly.

  “A-ha! So it was Demetria.”

  “No, not directly. She actually didn’t lay a finger on me.”

  He turned and walked towards the door.

  “Wait, stop,” I called, groaning internally. He couldn’t make a big deal out of this. I had to blend in and his anguish wasn’t going to help with that. “If you tell, she’ll make sure to come back for me. Just let it go so she can think we’re even.”

  “Are you afraid?” He looked at me over his shoulder, his hand resting on the doorknob.

  “No, but I’ve had enough. Next time, she’ll bring an army of forty and then you’ll have to come looking for me.”

  “She brought people with her?” He turned on his heel to look at my face. “And you didn’t fight back?”

  “I did what I could. You may recognize the girl though. I didn’t go down without a fight.”

  You’re lucky I didn’t take her life.

  “Well I’m glad you did, then,” he said with a sigh, turning towards me again. He looked down at my face, concerned. “Should I take you down to get you looked? Do you need bandages? Medicine?”

  “No.” I ended the conversation, falling on my bed.

  “Your arm is bleeding, by the way.” He crossed his arms over his chest, giving me a smug look.

  “What?” I looked down to find my forearm covered in scarlet streaks of blood. “Oh.” The fresh wound must’ve split.

  “Oh,” he nodded in agreement. “Let’s take you to the infirmary.”

  When my arm was wrapped up, I waited there for some time, Lance talking intently to the elderly woman who had fixed up my wound. She must’ve been Lance’s teacher. She was tall and slim with her gray hair up in a bun, the white streaks adding a colorful look to it, even if it was just gray and white. She was dressed in a long white full-sleeved shirt and brown pants.

  “So,” the woman said, turning to me. “You’re my new apprentice?”

  I glanced at Lance, and he dipped his chin in confirmation.

  “Yes.”

  “My name is Esmeralda.” She grinned, showing surprisingly straight, pearly white teeth. “Welcome to the infirmary.”

  “So, when do we start?” I asked, hopping off the stool.

  “Right now.” Esmeralda showed me around, introducing me to every cabinet, and allowing me to check behind every door.

  Everything, except for the antidotes.

  She reached up on a shelf, grabbing a thick, six-hundred-page book, and dropped it in my arms. The dusty cover read: A Guide to Being an Apothecary’s Apprentice.

  We sat on the floor late at night, our backs resting on the bed’s footboard in my room.

  “So, I’m an apprentice?” I asked, yawning, my shoulder pressed against Lance’s. He nodded, stretching his legs out in front of him. I shifted my weight against his side. I opened the book to the first page, reading out loud: “‘Rule number one: don’t drop anything.’ This is so boring,” I groaned, letting my head roll back and hit the wooden footboard.

  “The whole book is like that,” he added, rubbing his eyes.

  “What?” I looked at him, narrowing my eyes. “Really? Rules?”

  “Really,” he confirmed. “I’ve read the whole thing.”

  “Then why did you show up so late?” I nudged him with my elbow.

  “Because,” he groaned, “I wanted to make sure you weren’t dead. You were wasting precious candles.”

  “That’s not funny,” I scoffed. “By the way, couldn’t you just tell me what’s in the book? I’ll never be able to finish reading this.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “She’ll ask you questions.”

  I snapped the book shut, and smacked it against my forehead. “Questions.”

  He laughed.

  I dropped the book in his lap, groaning.

  TWELVE

  I woke with a crick in my neck. I’d been sleeping in a very uncomfortable position. I sat up, yawning and stretching my arms, and looked down to find I hadn’t changed last night.

  I’d probably fallen aslee
p on the floor, and Lance had carried me to my bed. The thought of being carried suddenly struck me very oddly.

  I imagined him doing so and found myself grinning. What a sight. I was surprised he hadn’t dropped me or smacked my head against the wall.

  I frowned.

  Now that I thought about it, the side of my head was a bit sore. . .

  I swung my legs over the side of the bed and ran a hand through my hair. Then, I made my way to the wardrobe and changed into another outfit, definitely not a dress this time, and washed up. The bruises on my cheeks were visible, so I wore my hair down.

  Everyone was sitting around the tables and I slowly walked in, fingering the end of one of my sleeves nervously. I sat on a table that was partly empty, consisting of only three people. There were two boys who I recognized as Darren and Aland, and the girl with flaming red hair who I usually saw hanging out with them: Charlotte.

  As I sat, they stopped talking immediately, taking in my appearance. Darren was the first to speak.

  “What’s happened to your face?”

  “Darren!” Charlotte scolded. “You shouldn’t ask those kinds of questions.”

  “It’s alright,” I offered a smile. “I got into a small fight.”

  Aland whistled. “A fight? Impressive.”

  Charlotte rolled her eyes. “You’re the new girl who’s with Lance a lot! The brave one that spoke up at the meeting?”

  “Who’s Lancelot?” Darren whispered, and Aland elbowed him.

  “That’s me,” I nodded, slightly annoyed to be known as ‘the girl who’s with Lance a lot.’ A few girls and a boy walked into the room carrying plates and dishes.

  “Well I’m Charlotte, this is Aland, and—”

  “I’m hungry,” Darren said, leaning back in his chair to stretch.

  “Nice to meet you, Hungry,” I cracked a smile. “I’m Kristina.”

  “Pleasure.” He turned to Aland and began talking to him as if forgetting I was there.

  Charlotte scooted closer to me.

  “Ignore them,” she said under her breath as the plates were set in front of us.

  “Where’s Lance?” I asked.

  “He’ll be late today. He has special business to attend,” Aland rolled his eyes, getting hit in the back of the head with a spoon that belonged to Darren. “What? He’s so favored out of everyone,” Aland scowled.