The Prophet's Daughter

by Kilayla Pilon

  “You can trust me, Arin. You can trust Olive and the others. I promise.” Felicity looked me square in the eyes, trying hard to hold my gaze.

  “Last person to say that wasn’t so trustworthy,” I grumbled, glaring at the tent flap. Isaac, the bastard – where as he? “What’d you do with him, anyway?”

  “Sweetie, you don’t have much of a choice if you want to live,” Felicity sighed, moving around the tent and beginning to pick up the soiled bandages and other miscellaneous items – tweezers and the like. “He’ll be fine, don’t worry. He won’t be able to find you anyway, we’ve got him on a cart heading far south to the other settlement – they’ll drop him off in a city and leave him there.”

  “Where is this place, anyway? I burst out, realizing I was not aware of where I was. “How far is Cobalt?”

  “Opeongo Lake and you’re a good distance, kiddo,” Felicity sighed. “Why do you want to know how far it is?” She glanced over at me, a worried expression crossing her face.

  “I need to go there, Felicity. I have no choice – if I can’t stop him, then the Raiders will kill everyone to find me…” I swallowed hard, breathing shaky. I was terrified of what would happen when I got to Cobalt, but I had no choice, I had to do what I could to stop him.

  “The Prophet will kill you, Arin.” Felicity’s voice was cold as she stood up and turned to look at me, medical supplies bundled in her arms.

  “Then so be it – if it’ll get him to stop ordering to kill people,” I stated, nodding. “If that’s my only option, then I’ll take it.”

  “You’ve got a death wish, honey, a good heart and a death wish.” Felicity exhaled, shaking her head as she ducked out of the tent, leaving me alone.

  Chapter 10

  Hours slugged by, leaving me in a silence with nowhere to go and nothing to do but think. I had so much to think about, but I thought of nothing. I knew a thousand things that I could have thought of, like how I planned to get to Cobalt, and my wonder of where Neil was, and where Isaac was going and how far away he was – but none of it stuck. I just sat in silence, staring at the tent flap until I fell asleep.

  Sounds of shuffling woke me later, the tent flap splayed open and a few young faces peered in at me. Olivia stood inside the tent, pointing to me, facing the other children.

  “Look at her,” she giggled. “Her name is Arin, she’s the one the

  Raiders want!”

  “She’s awake!” gasped the gaggle of girls, backing away from the tent and scurrying. Their laughter could be heard for an ensuing ten or so seconds as they went wherever. Olivia, however, remained behind.

  “Olivia,” I grumbled, rubbing my eyes and sitting up. “What are you doing?”

  “I,” she paused, her face struck with shock. “I didn’t know you would wake up! I just wanted to show my friends who you are!”

  I sighed, looking at her and asked, “Why?” Her face was distraught with worry and she sat down in front of me, tears lining her green eyes.

  “Don’t tell Mummy, okay? She’ll get really mad! I’m not supposed to bother people when they’re sleeping!” She clasped her hands together, bouncing where she sat. Tears began to leak from her eyes, and I stared at her,

  “It’s fine,” I said, shrugging. “I won’t tell her.”

  “Really?” Her eyes lit up with joy and her tears stopped within seconds. “Oh thank you!”

  “Don’t sweat it,” I replied. “Just don’t do it again, okay?”

  “Okay! I won’t does it again!” She said, nodding. I opened my mouth to correct her, but decided better of it. “Wanna play a game?” “Like what?” I asked.

  “I dunno. What kinda games do you play?” Olivia asked, flashing me a grin.

  “I don’t, uh,” I paused, blinking. “I don’t remember.” “What! Why?” She gasped, looking appalled at my comment. “I play cards?” I said.

  “Do you have any?”

  “In my bag,” I said, lifting myself onto my rear to grab for my bag. As I reached towards my left, I realized that I was reaching for an extra pillow. “I don’t have my bag… I lost it in the crash.”

  “Oh. We found some bags! A really old one that’s all black and gross and a red one that looked kinda cool, I wanted it but Mum said no.” Olivia sighed, frowning. “She said it wasn’t fair because it belonged to you.”

  “Can you get it for me?” I asked.

  “Uh-huh!” She nodded, jumping up and bouncing out of the tent. I waited, fingers tapping against the thigh of my good leg, staring at the tent flap.

  My bow! I thought, jolting upright at the realization that I didn’t have it. It was more important to me than I could word – it as the one item I had left from my mother. I felt a tear trail down my cheek and I wiped it away fast, glad no one was around to see it. You can’t cry, idiot. You have to stop the Prophet, and then you can cry. Then you can mourn.

  Olivia bounced into the tent then, a big grin on her face as she dragged in my bag, grunting with the effort. It was heavy enough for me; I doubted it was a feather to the poor kid.

  “Can you teach me how to shoot a bow?” she asked, dropping the bag beside me and flopping down, lying beside me and panting.

  “What?” I began.

  “You know, shoot one to hunt! Kill some bad guys!” She laughed, thrusting her fists forward as if to mimic a fist fight. “Hyah!”

  “I don’t think so, Olivia.”

  “Please! Come on!” She begged, clasping her hands together and staring up at me with big puppy dog eyes.

  “Olivia I -”

  “I just want to learn how to protect people!” Her voice came in a short whine, crossing her arms. I stared at her, mouth hanging open as I tried to think of what to say to her, but nothing came. She stuck out her lower lip in a type of pout, frustrated.

  “We have to ask your mother, first,” I sighed, shaking my head. “I don’t have a bow to teach you, though.”

  “That’s okay! We have some, I think!” she squealed, the joy and excitement she felt obvious in the twinkle in her eyes, the small grin spreading across her face. I stared down at her, giving her a small smile. I hoped with every part of me that Felicity wouldn’t say no, that I would be able to teach her about how to work a bow for hunting purposes or for protection. It would be useful for her to know.

  My leg, I thought, suppressing a groan, is going to make this a lot harder than it should be.

  Olivia and I sat around for a large chunk of time after our conversation, playing cards or drawing – anything to keep her occupied. Every time I asked why she was with me and not the other kids, she just shrugged.

  “They don’t like me much,” she muttered in response. “I like you though. Do you like me?”

  “Well, that’s a shame. I think you’re pretty cool,” I reassured her, patting her hand. She grinned up at me before returning her coloring.

  Felicity walked in not too long afterwards, murmuring underneath her breath, seeming somewhat unfocused and distant. She set down a large cardboard box filled with supplies – needles, bandages, padding, if it was medical it was there.

  “Mama!” Olivia squealed, jumping to her feet and holding out her drawing. “Look!” she held up the drawing, and I could just make out the lines of what seemed to be a giraffe on the paper.

  “It’s very pretty, darling, but I need to see to Arin’s leg now,” muttered Felicity, digging through the box and taking out a small bottle of pills. I stared at them, eyes narrowed.

  “What are those?”

  “Painkillers,” she responded, shrugging. “The only thing that’s been keeping you from crying and screaming in pain for the past few hours.”

  “Oh,” I said. “Okay.”

  “Mama! Can Arin teach me how to shoot a bow?” Olivia burst in to the conversation, her large toothy grin worn upon her face.

  “Pardon me?” Felicity said eyes wide and looking between the two of us as she set down the box of medical supplies.

  “She asked, I sa
id to ask you,” I defended, blinking up at Felicity and raising my hands in the air as if to claim innocence.

  “Really? Olive, why do you want to learn how to work a weapon?” Her voice came soft, smooth and emotionless as she looked between the two of us, a small frown pulling at her lips.

  “Because I want to protect you,” murmured Olivia in response, blinking up at her mother with sad eyes.

  “I,” began the older woman, exhaling a sigh. She sounded tired, defeated – too tired to fight her daughter. “Fine, Olive. But only when I’m around okay?” Her statement was directed at the both of us, and I nodded. Olive squealed with delight, running up to her mother and wrapping her arms right around her waist.

  “Really? Like, really really?” She squeezed harder, and I watched Felicity cringe

  “Yes, really really. You head back home though, I’ll be there soon – it’s time for bed,” Felicity said as she dug through the supply box.

  “Do I have to?” the girl whined, flailing her arms.

  “Now, Olivia.”

  “Okay…” she pouted, glowering at her mother before glancing at me. “Night Arin,” she murmured, trudging out of the tent in a sour mood.

  “She’s… not always this whiny,” breathed Felicity, bringing a small water bottle and two pale blue pills over to me, setting the bottle beside me and the pills in my hand. “Swallow fast, they taste horrid.”

  “She’s a kid,” I said with a shrug as I tossed back the pills. “I know adults worse than her.”

  “Don’t we all?” laughed Felicity.

  “I’m sorry, by the way, about the whole bow thing,” I apologized, glancing at my leg as she moved to check the bandages.

  “It’s no problem,” she said with a shrug. “She needs to learn, I suppose. I can’t expect her to survive without any skills like that.”

  “So you guys have some arrows and bows, then?”

  “We have a few,” nodded Felicity, “and yours.”

  “What?” I gasped, jolting upwards. Pain seared through my leg and up into my hip at the sudden movement, causing me to lower myself and cringe at the pain, squeezing my eyes tight shut.

  “Calm down,” snapped Felicity. “Your leg is bad enough as it is!”

  “Sorry,” I breathed, inhaling and exhaling in rapid breaths as the pain began to subside to a dull throbbing. “I just… that bow means a lot to me; more than I think I can explain without sounded like an outright fool.”

  “It had to be fixed up a bit, but it works. I’m thinking of getting a nice one made for Olive for her birthday in a few weeks,” Felicity murmured as she removed the bandages around my leg, peeling them off. I cried out, apologizing under my breath and waiting for her to finish.

  “Why do you want to get her one?” I asked as the pain subsided and she finished with the bandaging.

  “If she likes it, I mean.” She stood up, shoving the soiled wrappings in a bag. “She needs to learn and I keep putting it off, but who knows? This community could fall apart at any minute and if it does, she’ll need to protect herself.”

  “That makes sense,” I nodded, “my Mum taught me how to hunt at a young age, too.”

  “Yeah,” she said in agreement. “I just don’t want her getting hurt.”

  “No good parent does.”

  “Thanks, sweetheart,” Felicity sighed, taking a step away from me. “You should be good until morning. I’ll be by after my other rounds to check on you.”

  “Thank you,” I breathed, settling onto my back and staring up at her. “I don’t know why you’re helping me, but thank you.” Felicity nodded and turned to head out of the tent with the supply box and soiled wrappings.

  “Hey, Felicity?” I called out, realizing I had one more question for her.

  “Yeah?”

  “What’s a winter-born?”

  “Children born in the winter after the disaster – it’s easier to organize births that way because we don’t know what day or what month it is. So twice a season we have a big party to celebrate everyone born in that season,” she answered, shrugging. “Why?”

  “Olivia mentioned her being a winter-born earlier.”

  “Yeah, she’s excited,” she gave a light laugh. “She loves celebrating birthdays, even if we can’t get the best food or ingredients to make the food as good as we could.” “Okay, I get it now.” I nodded.

  “Goodnight, Arin.”

  Chapter 11

  “No fair! You cheated!” protested Olivia, throwing her cards down and huffing.

  “Did not,” I said, lifting a finger as I readied myself to point out why her accusations against me were, in fact, false. I popped a piece of candy in my mouth, chewing on my winnings – some kind of chocolate candy the baker had made that Olive had gotten for helping him clean the counters when he’d been too busy to.

  “Yes you did! You cheated or I would have won!” she whined, crossing her arms and glowering at me, pushing her own pile of won candies behind her.

  “If you keep that attitude up, I’m not taking you training tonight,” I stated, raising an eyebrow and staring at her. My words registered fast in her ear, for as she opened her mouth to protest, and instead she just grunted.

  “Fine, cheater.” Her words were mumbled under her breath, her lip quivering a slight pout.

  “Olive,” I said with a stern voice, beginning to pick up the cards.

  “I’m sorry!” She yelled before getting up and storming out of the tent. I watched her go, shaking my head and sighing. I began to pick up the cards, shifting my body in the slightest movement to grab Olive’s cards.

  It had been a little over two weeks since the plane crash, and so far no sign of Isaac or Neil. I could not walk without aid yet, however, and often could only make a few steps before the pain became too much and I collapsed. Felicity was patient, however, and made sure I didn’t overdue my workouts no matter how hard I pushed. I wanted to get better, but I knew that I would never get better if I didn’t let myself. Overexerting my body could only risk more damage, which would mean I had to wait far longer to leave.

  Olive, a few minutes later, came into the tent, the previous sour look on her face wiped and replaced with one of sorrow.

  “I’m sorry, Arin,” she whispered, fingers fidgeting as she shifted where she sat, frowning.

  “It’s alright, but if you do it again, we will stop training.” I hated to threaten her – I hated threatening anyone, really – but it took a lot out of me to train her, and I couldn’t be bothered to waste what little energy I had to teach her if she wasn’t going to be respectful.

  “I know,” she grumbled, crossing her arms. For a few following moments we sat in silence as I picked up the cards, shuffling them and moving them back into the box they belonged in.

  “So your birthday is coming up soon,” I said, setting box down beside me.

  “Yeah,” she responded, shrugging. “Why?” “What do you do on your birthday?” I asked.

  “It’s the same as all the other winter-born like me. We get together and have a really big feast and no one has to do anything all day – we just get to play games and have fun and eat.” She spoke of the day with a smile on her face, a twinkle of excitement in her eyes.

  “It sounds fun,” I said. “Remind me what a winter-born is?”

  “People, like me, born during the winter! We celebrate everybody’s birthdays three times in the season. Once in the beginning when the snow first sticks, once when the snow gets really deep and the trees have no more leaves and then once when it first melts away, when the trees begin to bud for the spring and are in full bloom. Usually, near the last celebration, the days get really hot and long for the summer-born and the leaves begin to change color,” she explained, a small grin playing on her lips.

  “Oh,” I said with a nod. “That sounds pretty fun. Why do winterborn have three birthdays? Are you excited?”

  “Oh yeah! Winter is really long, so we have three birthday celebration days. It’s still a f
ew weeks away until my celebration day, but I’m excited,” Olive laughed. “When’s your birthday, Arin?”

  “My birthday? It’s in fall. I turned sixteen a few months ago,” I answered, laughing at the memory.

  “Whoa really? My Mumma’s birthday is in fall, too. Did you get a present?”

  “We went out hunting, my Mum and dad and I. The leaves had just begun to fall and the weather was still somewhat warm but it was also kind of cold,” I began, trailing off as I smiled at the memory. I stared at my feet as I recollected the only memory I had of my parents where I could remember their faces. It was the first time in a long while that we had managed to talk my mother into leaving the house…

  “I got a really pretty necklace from my Mumma,” Olive stated, interrupting my lost train of thought. “See?” She pulled at a chain around her neck that I hadn’t noticed before, a small heart-shaped emerald stone dangling from the chain.

  “It is very pretty,” I said with a small smile. “Beautiful.” I was somewhat surprised that I hadn’t noticed her necklace before, but I supposed I wasn’t as observant as I had liked to think. After all, I had trusted Seth and Isaac with ease despite previous warnings, and I was trusting Felicity – not like I had much of a choice, though.

  “Do you want it?” Olivia asked, reaching behind her head and fumbling with the necklace’s latch.

  “No, Olive, I don’t.” I shook my head and reached towards her, pressing my hand against her arm. “It’s very beautiful, but it’s yours.” I smiled.

  “Oh, okay,” she said, sounding somewhat disappointed. “Maybe you’ll get one for your birthday.”

  “I don’t know,” I laughed, shrugging. “That’s a while away now, kiddo.”

  “Indeed it is,” interjected Felicity as she came into the tent, looking at the both of us. Tucked beneath her arms were two long, padded objects that were about three quarters of my height – half of them were still sticking out of the tent.

  “Wassat?” Olivia asked as she spotted her mother and the strange objects she carried.