by Day Leitao
“Who was with her?”
“Another girl. Not her sister.”
Surprised, he rose. “That’s it?”
The boy cowered. “Yes, yes, that’s what my sister saw.”
Sian was stunned to realize that the boy was afraid of him. At around twelve or thirteen, the boy was no more than five years younger than Sian himself. But then, standing up, Sian towered him. He sat down and smiled, trying to speak more softly.
“I’m happy you came and told me that. I’m really glad. Thank you.” He winked. “Maybe you could be a good candidate for the military academy.”
The boy looked down. “Maybe.”
That meant no. Anyway, all Sian wanted was the information. “And who’s this other girl?”
“Nobody knows. My sister didn’t see her, but she heard that an unknown girl spent the night in the castle.”
Sian nodded, as if it was the most natural piece of news ever. He thanked and paid the boy. Years of training had taught Sian how to tell when people lied, and the boy had been telling the truth—or at least believing he was.
What Cayla did or didn’t do was the least of Sian’s concerns, except if meant that something was out of order. Cayla walking out alone or almost alone didn’t make sense. For him. Because he was probably missing a vital piece of information. There was something happening, and he had no idea what it was. Not knowing something, that was dangerous and could spoil all his plans.
He commed Jason, one of his trusted officers. “News on my brother?”
“Yes, sir, and there’s something quite interesting. He disappears from the radar from time to time.”
More unexpected news. “And you couldn’t have told me this before?”
“I found that out yesterday and I was waiting for you to contact me. Sir. I fear maybe he could be helping with the insurgence.”
Sian didn’t trust Jason that much. “Keep your fears for yourself then, before my father hears any of that.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine. But report when he shows up again. And don’t get any ideas. My brother knows what he’s doing.”
He closed the channel. Of course Darian knew what he was doing. Nothing good. But it was too early for anyone to know that. To rush and expose him now would be foolish. Everything in its time.
After some three hours of walking, Karina’s feet hurt, but she didn’t want to complain. Eventually they stopped to set camp even though in theory they should be walking at night. Cayla set up the tent in a matter of seconds. Inside it, the girl had a little light, from a clear crystal looking thing. This time Karina didn’t want to sound like a primitive person and assume it was a magic crystal. Of course not. It was just science that she didn’t understand. And probably neither did the girl, though she took it for granted. They ate some of the food they carried, which was like cake and dried fruit. Karina worried about crumbs on the bed, but maybe it was better than going outside. Sitting and relaxing, Cayla looked like a regular girl, someone that could even be her friend.
Karina tried to start a conversation. “Are you excited? For doing this?”
The girl smiled. “Yes.”
They fell silent again. Karina still had a question concerning Nia. “And you are sure, uh, the queen won’t try to stop us?”
Cayla looked thoughtful for a moment, then replied, “As long as she doesn’t know what we are doing, we’re safe.”
That made sense. No, wait, it didn’t. “But she knows what we are doing.”
Cayla seemed troubled. “What? But how could she know? How come you didn’t tell us?”
“I thought… it was obvious, since she wanted to stop me from coming, no?”
“Of course not. Seriously, we could be in danger.”
Karina stared at the girl, wondering if she had been hit in the head. “Fine. Now you are telling me Nia is dangerous.”
“What? No. I was talking about Lylah.”
That clarified things, a little. But then the girl had clearly misunderstood her. “I was talking about the queen.”
“That’s who I was talking about.”
“Isn’t Nia the queen?”
“Of course not.”
Karina was more and more confused. “Who’s the queen then?”
“Lylah. She calls herself the queen. Some of her followers call her that as well. When you said queen, that’s what came to mind.”
“I see. So Nia is—”
“Nia. My stepmother.”
Karina nodded, almost laughing at the misunderstanding. But there was something she wanted to know. “You mention she’s dangerous, Lylah. What has she done?”
“Lots of bad things.”
“Like?”
Cayla lowered her head. “She tried to overthrow my father, and she’ll try again if given the chance.” The girl took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “People died. Like… my mother.”
Karina felt bad for asking. “I’m sorry, I had no idea.”
“You couldn’t know.” She looked at Karina. “Do you understand now, how important this is for me?”
Karina nodded.
Cayla then added, “And yes, perhaps I don’t know much, but Odell does. He says this is what needs to be done and I trust him.”
They remained in silence for a while, until Cayla broke it. “What do you think of all this walking?”
Karina was so surprised at the change of subject that she blurted out the truth. “It’s a little tiring.”
“And we didn’t even walk that much tonight.”
“How many days are we going to go like this?”
Cayla shrugged. “Six, eight. I don’t know. It depends on how far we get each day.”
“But I thought,” Karina was unsure, “I thought you didn’t mind walking for days.”
Cayla squinted. “It’s not about minding or not. Do you think it makes sense?”
Karina shrugged. “Is there another way?”
Cayla had half a smile and a glimmer in her eye that could be seen even in the dim glow. “See, we’re not in enemy’s territory until after we go to the other side of the river. I understand why we must be careful there, I really do. But, you know, our mission is not to walk, what we need to do is get those shoes to her castle, and get rid of them. That’s what we need to do.”
Karina wondered where the girl wanted to lead this conversation. “Sure. But I don’t know what the alternative is.”
“I’m just explaining why I’m considering this… uh, option, so you don’t think I want to disobey Odell for no reason, or, uh…”
“Well,” Karina almost rolled her eyes but refrained in time, “he’s not my teacher. I don’t care.”
Cayla seemed relieved and surprised. “You don’t care?” She looked around and smiled. “So, you don’t mind if we go to the end of the path, like, in a different way?”
Karina stared at the girl and almost answered, “Of course I do. I really, really want to get tired and spend an entire week in a silent, gloomy and eerie forest, doing nothing interesting”, but then she decided against it. She didn’t know the girl that well.
Cayla noticed Karina’s hesitation and became serious. “Do you mind?”
Karina laughed. “Of course I don’t. I just don’t understand what you’re planning, that’s all.”
Cayla smiled, then quickly became serious again. “First thing, I can only consider this option if you promise never to tell anyone about this. I mean, not even Nia, Ayanna, or Odell. Nobody can know about it.”
It wasn’t as if she was best buddies with any of them. “I won’t tell anyone.”
Cayla stared at Karina. “Can you promise?”
“I promise.”
The girl sighed. “I have a friend. He’s just a friend. He pilots a lift. I think he could take us to the end of the path, if he can of course. I’ve thought about it. We don’t need to tell him anything. We say we’re going camping, walking… He doesn’t need to know, and nobody needs to know, and we wo
n’t necessarily be disobeying Odell, you see? And it’s not that I can’t walk or that I need his help, or that I want to see him. It’s just that it makes sense. Right?”
Karina assumed a lift was one of those flying things. She would love to know how they worked. “Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”
Cayla looked at Karina. “I… I don’t know. I thought you wouldn’t agree.”
Karina laughed at how funny it was that the girl seemed almost afraid of her, as if she was going to judge her or something.
Cayla got serious. “Why are you laughing?”
Karina kept laughing. “I’m also afraid to say what I think to you, because I don’t know you well. But, you know, we’re in this together, we should trust each other.”
“Yes,” Cayla answered, seeming thoughtful. Then she laughed. “You’re right.”
They laughed together. Maybe Karina could start considering Cayla her friend.
“I’ll contact him tonight then,” Cayla said. “You understand why I’m doing this, right?”
“Sure.”
Actually, not really. If it was just getting a ride and going faster she wouldn’t need to make all these explanations. Anyways, Karina didn’t really care. She just hoped she would have the chance to get on one of those flying things. Another question was how exactly her new friend would contact anyone, considering they were in the middle of nowhere and didn’t have a phone, but she was ready to be surprised, so she just waited to see what the girl would do.
Cayla looked down and hesitated. “You're sure you’re not going to tell anyone in the castle about any of this?”
That was getting annoying, but then, maybe there was a good reason Cayla was so afraid. Karina tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry.”
Cayla looked down and smiled, her face soft. She pulled a necklace from under her dress. It had a silver chain and an orange clear stone. Karina realized both dresses her companion wore had the same high collar, and that it was perhaps on purpose. It also explained why she brought her hand to her chest. It wasn’t her heart, but the necklace she was touching. Cayla glanced at Karina and a flicker of embarrassment crossed her face. The stone turned a little brighter, as if it had a light of its own. Karina had seen enough weird stuff to accept that it was a communication device. Lovely idea in fact. After some seconds, the girl pulled the pendant close to her mouth and spoke to it. Of course, the thing was indeed a communication device.
“Darian,” Cayla said softly, as if waking someone who is asleep. “Darian?”
No answer came from the stone, assuming, of course, the thing was supposed to answer. She sighed and tried again, this time a little louder.
“Darian? Are you there?”
Cayla kept staring attentively at her stone and repeated the question a few more times, sounding more and more impatient at each time. She looked worried and disappointed. Finally, Cayla took off the necklace and tossed it. “It’s useless.”
So that was the answer on how they would contact anyone in the middle of nowhere: they wouldn’t. But Karina tried to be cheerful. “We can still walk. That was the plan anyways.”
Cayla waved her arms. “I don’t mind walking! That’s not the point. I mean, why wouldn’t he…” She took a deep breath and looked down.
Karina shrugged, having no idea who he was or how that stone was supposed to work. She felt a little disappointed as well, because since Cayla had mentioned the possibility of flying, Karina was eager to try one of those flying things, curious about how they worked, and also eager to speed up their journey. But again she tried to cheer up her friend. “Maybe he’ll still reply. Just wait.”
Cayla looked down. “I hope,” she mumbled.
Karina didn’t know what to say. She wondered whether Cayla’s friend had a stone identical to hers and if, by any chance, it had caller ID. It obviously didn’t have voicemail.
Karina had been so interested in the communication stone that she had momentarily forgotten about the shoes. The shoes! The very reason she was there. They were still in her purse. She had to stop thinking they would just walk away by themselves, or perhaps forget the idea that evil creatures would come and catch them. Oh, no, why did she have to think about evil creatures again, right when she was in the middle of a forest in a “cursed” path? She took the water skin for another sip, but, unlike her purse, the skin was empty. And she was thirsty. There was a stream close by, but she dreaded going out alone.
“Can you come with me?” Karina asked. “For some water?”
Cayla at first looked as if she hadn’t understood the question, but then answered automatically, “Sure.” The girl then picked up her stone necklace and put it around her neck.
Karina was about to pick up her little purse, but then she had an idea. “Do you have any string? Or anything to attach something?”
“What for?” Cayla asked.
“I want to tie the shoes on me.”
Cayla squinted. “What?”
“They’re flexible. I think I can tie them around my waist. I don’t want to keep checking them.”
“Are you sure? Isn’t it dangerous?”
“It’s better than taking chances, no?”
Cayla shrugged. “Maybe.”
She opened her bag and took out something that looked like a narrow silver ribbon, which she cut with a little knife she carried. Karina lifted her dress and tied the shoes around her waist. The ribbon was somewhat sticky, which was quite helpful in keeping the shoes in place. She was about to ask her friend to help with the final knot, when she realized Cayla was turned backward, probably not to see the shoes. Now that was excessive superstition. One day Karina would tell her that her friend had worn them, and… oops, her friend had broken a leg and a handrail. Maybe it was best this way. Still, Karina felt a lot more assured with the shoes close to her body, hidden under her dress. She wouldn’t need to check them again; she could feel them. Cayla still had her back turned, so Karina called out, “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
The stream was some twenty meters from their tent. The water reflected the stars and Karina smiled, thinking she would drink starry water. This could be a lovely place if it weren’t for that dreadful silence. She had never realized how a forest is supposed to be alive with sounds before this strange place. Even the stream could not be heard but very closely. It was as if there was something blocking sound. Karina filled then closed her water skin. When she got up, she saw Cayla with her necklace, no longer hidden under the dress. But of course!
“Cayla,” she pointed at the orange stone, “have you ever used this in this path, or any similar place?”
“I’ve never been here before. Why?”
“Could it be that this path blocks it? Prevents it from working? Like it does with sound?”
Cayla looked at her stone. “I don’t see why.” She looked at Karina. “You think?”
“It makes sense, no?”
“I… don’t know.”
“What if we walk… uh, closer to the edge of the path?” Karina suggested. “Then you try again?”
Cayla nodded. “Maybe. Come.”
They walked in the direction opposite to the mountains, just a few steps, until the ground was no longer flat, but started descending. Karina thought going down a slope in the dark was slightly dangerous, and almost protested that she had suggested going close to the edge of the path, not away from it, but soon Cayla stopped. Karina was not sure if it was her impression, but she heard soft forest sounds coming from below the slope. Cayla’s orange stone had a faint glimmer, and the girl lifted it close to her face. Even before she spoke, the stone started speaking, or transmitting a boy’s voice.
“Cay, where are you? What’s happening? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, I just—”
“Wait. I see where you are. I can’t really talk now.”
The voice disappeared, and the stone’s glimmer slowly faded. Karina’s deduction about unknown technology had been correct. “See? I told
you it would work here.”
Somehow, Cayla was not as happy. “I guess. Let’s go back to the tent.”
“What’s wrong?”
She mumbled, “Nothing.”
Back in the tent, they sat in silence. Cayla then lay down and turned to the other side. Karina decided to do the same, even though it was still early. All she managed was to feel uncomfortable; the discomfort one has when going to bed and not wanting to sleep. Karina stared at the top of the tent, trying to cheer herself with the thought that she was in an adventure, even though that moment didn’t feel like one. Perhaps that was what real adventures were like: they felt ordinary and mundane when one was in the middle of them. Only later, when looking back, people would realize what it had been, which was sad because it meant nobody ever truly lived an adventure, only remembered it as one.
7
One More
Cayla tried to close her eyes and in an attempt to stop herself from thinking. After more than one year away from Darian, should it be any surprise that he would be too busy to talk to her? She’d been holding on to a faint hope against the fear that time had changed everything. That he’d forget her. But it shouldn’t matter. What should matter was getting to Lylah and defeating her. By destroying shoes. There was something silly in the idea, but Odell had to be right. His hope had worked so far, as it had brought a friend willing to help her without asking for anything in return. It felt good to remember that there were still people in the world who would go far to do what was right.
Cayla had to stop thinking about Darian. She shouldn’t even have contacted him. Maybe it was for the best. She looked at her bright necklace stone, casting a glow around it. Beneath it, her heart was dark with fear.
Cayla was snapped out of her sleep by a soft sound of someone—or something—scratching the tent. Karina also shot up in surprise. The sound had come from outside. No point wondering what it was. She pulled the knife from her bag, lit her crystal, and stepped out, ready to fight whatever it was.
“Who’s there?”
