A World Divided

by Rebekah Clipper

  Jade looked down at the little girl. She was quiet for a few moments “I don’t have the authority to tell you, or show you, such things,” she said. “I don’t know how you were able to decipher what I am. I’ve remained in this form for a very long time. It’s what suits me best, and I don’t intend to change that now.”

  “Don’t people notice your eyes?” asked Elise. The purple shade of the woman’s eyes was incredibly striking against her dark skin.

  “I don’t know.” Jade shrugged. “I don’t discuss my features. If anyone finds them odd, they keep their comments to themselves. Outside of the training facility I keep a low profile.”

  “What’s the training facility?” asked Elise, hoping to get something out of the woman.

  “That’s not information I’m free to give either,” said Jade.

  “Oh, come on,” said Ashley. “If you really didn’t want her to know anything, you wouldn’t have brought it up.” Elise looked back at the other girl. Ashley was doing some sort of skipping motion that reminded Elise of hopscotch.

  “That’s okay,” said Elise. “You don’t have to tell me. Can you at least tell me how you know Ashley?”

  Jade let out a small puff of air. Elise couldn’t tell if she was amused or annoyed. She was thinking Jade wouldn’t respond at all, when the older woman said, “I was on a mission about ten years ago when there was still unease between Clarensdell and the neighboring territory of Homisbid. Since then a peace treaty has been enforced, but there were skirmishes on our borders for years prior.

  “At that time, the family of a well-known aristocrat and philanthropist was kidnapped by Homisbidian rebels. I was a part of an elite group of four sent on delicate missions. We were invisible until we wanted to be seen.” A wistful look passed across Jade’s face. “We were unstoppable. Or at least, we thought we were. Unfortunately, we went in unaware that the man who had hired us was working for the opposite side. He’d sold his wife and children to maintain his life of ease and apparently received a hefty bonus to send us in to save them. It was a blood bath.”

  Jade stopped talking, and Elise knew better than to say anything. They had walked quietly for a long time when Jade sighed and said, “I found a young girl hiding. She was very smart for a child so young. I would never have seen her if she hadn’t grabbed my pant leg as I was escaping. I regret to say a part of me thought about leaving her there. I was in a foreign land fighting for my life. How was I supposed to smuggle a little girl out? But there was something about her. Something in her eyes. I knew I could never live with myself if I left her behind.”

  “And you’ve never regretted your decision since,” said Ashley.

  “Oh, don’t you go thinking that.” Jade smirked at the girl. “But I’m sure if I’d left you there you would have somehow found your way to me just to give me headaches and sleepless nights.”

  “Awww,” said Ashley, “I love you too, Jade.”

  Elise smiled back at the older girl who was now shuffling from side to side on the balls of her feet. “What are you doing?” Elise asked.

  “Training doesn’t stop just because I’m on an awesome adventure.”

  “What are you training for?”

  “Well, since we’re apparently supposed to be all mysterious and secretive, I guess all I can tell you is that I’m training to be even more of a badass than Jade.” Ashley continued to shuffle. “I know it’s a difficult concept to consider, but I think I can manage.”

  Elise caught the end of an eye roll from Jade. “Your bravado and self-congratulations are going to get you killed before you even get an ounce of my badassery,” she said. “Aroon, please take Chase into the trees. There’s a wagon coming up in the distance, and I would prefer not to have to explain you two.”

  Elise gently grabbed the troggle’s arm, pointing to Chase and then the tree line.

  “Arrrr---ooonnnn,” acknowledged Aroon as he grabbed the dog’s collar and led him into the concealment of the forest. Chase whimpered quietly but went with the troggle.

  “If they stop just let me talk,” said Jade.

  “Going to try to convince them we’re your daughters?” Ashley asked.

  “Ha! Adopted older sister maybe,” said Jade. “There’s no way anyone would mistake you for my offspring.”

  “Should I go with the others?” asked Elise not wanting to get in the way.

  “No,” replied Jade, “Just stay quiet and follow my lead.”

  A few minutes later they were face to snout with two elaborately colored horses pulling a fair-sized covered wagon behind them. A man who appeared to be in his mid-fifties sat on a raised seat behind the horses with reins and a whip in his hands. His beard was long. It must have been brown at one point, but now only wisps of the color peeked through the white, curly whiskers. His eyes were shadowed by a large-brimmed hat that effectively fought off the afternoon sun. His body was covered in what looked to be a hodge podge of scraps in slightly different shades of brown. He looked at the girls and flashed a large grin.

  “G’d afternoon, ladies,” said the man, tipping his hat. He pulled back on the horses’ reins, and they came to a stop.

  “Good day to you, sir,” said Jade continuing forward. Elise stayed at her side looking down at the ground in the hope that a lack of eye contact would keep the stranger from noticing her.

  “Whatcha doin’ out here alone? There’s whispers ‘bout some wickedness in the woods,” said the man. “ ‘s not safe ta be wanderin’ about without no escort.”

  Jade gave him a dazzling smile that showed off all of her teeth. “I truly appreciate your concern, sir. We’re passing through and intend on heading to a safe place as quickly as possible.”

  “Closest town‘s Maken,” he responded. “Tha’s still a mighty long walk. Come help me finish my deliveries. I’ll give you a ride. Ain’t nobody, man nor beast, who’ll mess with Hellfire.” The man indicated the brilliantly ruby colored mare on his right.

  “She certainly looks to be a ferocious beast, but we really must be on our way. Thank you for your generous offer,” said Jade. Elise raised her eyebrow at Jade but didn’t say a word.

  “Wait, wait,” said the man, climbing down from his perch.

  Jade brought her right hand up and rested it on the pommel of one of her swords.

  “That’s close enough,” she said, the pleasant tone of voice no longer evident.

  “Peace, m’lady,” said the man. He held his hands out in front of him. “I jus’ saw young miss has a crude eyepatch. Looks ‘bouta rot off her head. Gots some leather goods in the back including a few patches. I figure if ya won’t let me escort ya I could offer a clean one. I wouldn’ be much o’ a man if I didn’ try ta help at all.”

  Elise thought the man was nice. Jade began to draw her sword.

  Ashley stepped in front of her. “That would be great! This thing is glued to my face with gunk and it smells rancid.”

  A smile lit the man’s face as he looked at Ashley. Elise thought he must have missed Jade’s threatening gesture, because he didn’t react with any fear. “Jus’ a moment,” he said as he rummaged in the back of his cart. Jade’s hand remained on her blade until the man returned with a strip of leather. She dropped her arm to her side as he explained the item. “I ‘and crafted it meself.”

  “Do people need a lot of eye patches here?” asked Elise, curiosity overriding caution.

  “Ya’d be s’prised,” the man responded, handing the patch over to Ashley. She snatched it out of his hand greedily and inspected it closely with her good eye.

  Jade put her hand back down at her side, but she didn’t relax. “That’s a kind gesture, but we don’t have anything to pay you with,” she said.

  “T’ain’t no need for payment,” he said. “Seein’ a smile on the youngun’s face is payment enough.”

  “I really don’t think we should…,” began Jade.

  “Oh, come on, Jade,” Ashley interrupted. “It’s not like you’re the one who got h
er eyeball ripped out.” Jade winced at that. “This thing on my face is disgusting. It smells and it hurts. I haven’t even had a chance to wash it properly. Stop acting like everything’s a trap. Sometimes there are just good people wanting to do good things.”

  Elise looked at Jade’s face. The woman’s mouth hung open as if she were going to say something, but no words came out. Elise wondered what she was feeling. She had barely even mentioned Ashley’s eye.

  When several moments passed without Jade saying a word, Ashley turned to the man and said, “We’ll take it. Thanks a ton.”

  “M’ pleasure,” the man said as he climbed back up into his seat. “You ladies stay safe. Shouln’t be ta hard with tha’ one.” He tipped his head toward Jade and winked. Grabbing the reins, he whipped his horses into a steady trot. The girls stood quietly until he turned a corner and vanished from view.

  “What’s your problem?” Ashley whipped around on Jade.

  “We have someone actively searching for Elise, and now you are accepting gifts from strangers. That’s a good way to get yourself killed,” replied Jade with heat.

  “That’s not even what I mean,” said Ashley. “You’ve barely acknowledged what happened to me. What the hell, Jade? Do you even care? Do you know what they did to me? They didn’t give me anything when they pried my eyeball out of my head. I can’t even remember the time following its removal. I kept thinking I was going to die. I was with them for weeks. What took you so long anyway?”

  Jade looked over at Elise and said, “I will talk to you about this later.”

  “Oh, no you won’t,” said Ashley. “Anything you can say to me you can say to Ellie. She’s proven herself to me, even if she can’t attain your ridiculous standards. Answer my questions, dammit!” Ashley stomped her foot and crossed her arms.

  Elise didn’t know what she should do. She felt like she should give them privacy, but she didn’t want Ashley to feel abandoned. She looked away from them and saw Aroon and Chase waiting at the edge of the forest across the road. She walked over to them and sat on the ground, close enough to hear the conversation without feeling like she was intruding.

  Ashley glanced at Elise and then trained her eye back onto her surrogate. “Well?” asked Ashley. “How come you’ve gotten so quiet, huh?”

  Elise had to strain her ears to hear what Jade said. “It’s my fault.” Jade’s whole body seemed to deflate. “They wouldn’t have taken you if weren’t for me.”

  Shock registered on Ashley’s face. “What do you mean?”

  “I was on a mission to track known conspirators involved in a very intricate child trafficking organization. We are aware of some of the lower ranking members, but we haven’t identified who the higher ups are. You know, the men providing the money. You’re the right age and body type for them,” Jade looked to the ground. “I had your instructors put you on that specific training exercise, because I knew that the bastards would be around. I never intended on them taking you. If everything had gone as planned you wouldn’t have even known they were there, but…” She trailed off.

  “You used me?” Ashley’s voice cracked. “You didn’t even think to tell me? If I’d known I could’ve prepared myself. I could’ve fought back harder. I could’ve done… something. How could you do that to me?”

  “You weren’t supposed to know. I had my orders.”

  “Screw your orders, Jade,” Ashley yelled, spitting on the ground. “Screw your orders and screw you!” She reached her hands up to her face and tried to pry the twisted floral patch from her eye. The leaking fluids appeared to have cemented the patch to her face. “Dammit! Come on Ellie. Let’s get out of here, so I can get this damn thing off of my face.”

  “Ashley…” Jade said in a reserved tone.

  “Just don’t! I don’t want to hear it. I don’t know if I can believe anything that comes out of your mouth anyway.” Ashley turned her gaze onto Elise. Red flushed her tan cheeks, and tears streamed from her left eye. “Let’s go, please.”

  Elise stood up and looked over at Jade. The woman stood with her face still lowered to the ground. Elise didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t even completely understand what had happened. Walking to her friend, she put her arm around Ashley’s waist. Ashley turned to her and pulled her into a hug, sobbing into her shoulder. Elise just held her, rubbing her back, until Ashley was able to regain her composure. “Sorry kid,” she said, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

  “It’s okay,” responded Elise. “Can I do anything?”

  “Let’s just get to Maken.” Ashley looked back at Jade but neither said a word to each other. “There should be a healer there who can help me with this.” She held up the new leather patch for Elise to inspect. The young girl took it from her and was surprised at how soft it was.

  Handing back the patch, Elise turned the Aroon and Chase. “Come on you guys.” The four of them started walking. Elise glanced back and saw that Jade trailed behind them at a distance.

  The hours crept by in relative silence. They passed a few more travelers but none of them seemed interested in stopping to chat. Aroon would take Chase into the woods at the first glimpse of people and returned as soon as they were out of sight. Once they turned a blind corner and nearly ran straight into a man carrying a heavy bundle on his back. He was so startled by them he fell heavily back onto his rump. Chase took it upon himself to thoroughly inspect the man who looked as though he would pass out from fright. Elise tried to offer her hand to help him up, but the man scrambled to his feet and shuffled away quickly without a word.

  As streaks of pale orange and pink became more prominent in the sky, Jade spoke for the first time since her argument with Ashley. “We need to stop and eat.”

  Ashley glared at her but dutifully stopped walking. Elise was happy for the reprieve. Her stomach had been growling for quite some time, but she didn’t want to say anything. The trek was certainly easier than the ones they had taken through the brush in the woods, but there had still been quite a bit of up and down. They were surrounded by tall mountains that stood so high their tops were out of view. “How much further?” she asked.

  “We’ve done an excellent job keeping our pace up,” said Jade, portioning out provisions. “If we keep it up, we should be there in a few hours. I’m very impressed with you. When we began, I was sure we would be travelling through tomorrow. I gave you too little credit when I met you. You and your beasts are strong.”

  “I wish you would stop calling them beasts,” said Elise, pride swelled up inside of her from the praise. “They’re my friends, just like you guys.”

  Jade gave her a funny look. “Okay, I apologize. Your friends have proven to be very tough. As have you, Ashley.”

  Ashley ate the food in front of her with gusto, avoiding Jade’s compliment. When the group finished, they stood and continued forward. As the sun retreated and the moons took its place in the sky, Jade produced a small lantern. She opened the door and rubbed her hand along the inside. A pale glow emanated from it. Elise recognized the glow from the moss of the troggle caves.

  Several times Jade tried to start a conversation with Ashley, but the girl pointedly ignored her attempts. Eventually, Jade harrumphed her displeasure and walked ahead of the group to light the way. Elise nearly fell at one point as her foot got caught in a rut in the road. Aroon caught her on her way down but hadn’t been able to stop her from twisting the ankle. Pain shot up her leg. For a while she was able to hide it, but soon enough she was limping. “Arrr---oooonnn?” Aroon asked.

  “I’m okay,” Elise lied. “You think, if you don’t mind, I could lean on your shoulder for a bit?” In response Aroon walked over right beside her. She put her arm around his shoulder, trying to take the weight off of the injured ankle.

  “What happened, Ellie?” Ashley asked, coming up on her other side.

  “I just twisted my ankle. I’ll be all right. I just hope we get there soon. I need to lay down for a long time.” Elise laughed a little.


  “Well, that wish is coming true, at least,” said Ashley. “Do you smell that?”

  Elise sniffed. The scent of cooking meat had been getting more and more prominent for a while. Her brain just hadn’t made that connection. “That smells amazing,” she said dreamily. They walked for several more minutes and turned into the outskirts of a town that had been hidden by geography. Houses cropped up between large fields where trees had been precisely cultivated.

  “Stay close to me,” said Jade. “I know where we can go to rest our heads tonight. Hopefully Jaqueel is on duty.”

  The group continued moving with increased enthusiasm. The houses became closer together as they walked and then transformed into more elaborate buildings and shops. The street was mostly empty with most of the shops clearly closed for the night. However, a few pedestrians did stumble along the street, and the sound of revelry arose in the distance. No one paid the group any attention. Before long they stopped in front of a large building that smelled distinctly of horses. Quiet neighs came from around the back. Jade opened the front door and led the disheveled companions inside.

  “Welcome, welcome,” said an enthusiastic male voice. The man stood behind a polished countertop with a smile on his face that slid into a look of shock. “You can’t be here, Jade. What the hell are you doing here?”

  “We need safe harbor for the night, Jaqueel,” Jade responded. “We’ve had a perilous journey to get here.”

  “If I am caught with you in my establishment, I could be thrown into a cell right next to you,” said Jaqueel. “I have cultivated a very nice life here, and I will not let you and your… brood ruin it for me.”

  “You owe me. You wouldn’t have this nicely cultivated life if it weren’t for me,” said Jade, with a hint of malice. “Do you think Saluth would have ever let you leave Evetin if I hadn’t intervened? And to live wholly as a human? The answer you are looking for is no. You owe me your life, Jaqueel.”