by Day Leitao
Darian glanced at Cayla then looked down. For so long he had dreamed of seeing her again. Never would he have imagined it would be like this. And she was different. Cayla had always been fierce and stubborn, but now it was almost as if she was stubborn against him. He had almost died of worry wondering what was happening with her, and she didn’t even care about him. He glanced again at her. She was prettier than he remembered, as if that could be possible. With princes coming from other kingdoms just to see her, Darian wondered for the first time if she thought he wasn’t good enough for her. The thought stung.
Cayla glanced at Darian. He had changed. His bright eyes had turned deeper and more thoughtful, serious, with an intensity that she hadn’t seen before. In a way it was scary, but it was also… She had to get used to the idea he was no longer the cute boy she liked to spend time with. He was still cute all right, but not a boy anymore. But he shouldn’t have brought them to Zayra, he shouldn’t. Cayla wasn’t sure what bothered her most: the fact that an unknown girl knew at least part of a plan that should be secret, the fact that Darian could be killed if that girl told anyone they were anything more than friends, even if Cayla wasn’t sure anymore what they were, or the fact that she had just learned that Darian spent his time with a girl that was at least five times prettier than herself.
No. What really bothered her was that the girl could endanger her plan to go to Lylah. There was something odd about her and she didn’t trust her. Maybe contacting Darian had been a mistake, but then, how could she know he would be with someone she couldn’t trust? Fair enough, Darian didn’t know that this was an important and secret journey nobody could know about. Well, of course she couldn’t tell him. Still, he could have asked her if it bothered her that someone else would see them. He could have asked. He could… so many things. Among them, stop talking to her as if he had the right to tell her what to do.
Two large beds were pulled from beneath the side seats. Each of them was as big as a king sized mattress. The three girls lay on one bed, and Darian on the other. Karina had to sleep between Cayla and Zayra, because she assumed the princess would not want to spend the night near the other girl. Thankfully each had their own cover, but the middle position was not the most comfortable, as Karina couldn’t move much to either side or she would bump onto one of the girls. Still, this was nicer than the silent tent in the middle of nowhere, and if she remembered that she was skipping a lot of walking, she could ignore the bad mood that still hung around the place.
Karina’s eyes were open even after the lights had faded and everyone’s breath had become smooth and steady. Cayla was now deep asleep and spreading her arms, squeezing Karina against Zayra. Was it that even asleep she felt entitled to a princess space? Not really because in truth Darian was the one with the biggest space, just because he was the only guy there. Karina sat up and looked at him. How old would he be? Sixteen, seventeen, not much more. Zayra also seemed to be the same age. Karina felt a sick feeling in her stomach when she realized she’d been flying in the hands of teenagers. Well, maybe people there aged differently, maybe lifts were really easy to fly or maybe she should just stop being paranoid and remember the tougher challenges ahead of her. Actually, perhaps it was better not think about future challenges and just try to sleep and enjoy the comfortable bed. Cayla had gotten what she wanted; they would fly a big chunk of their way, but somehow, she was really upset about being there. If she was jealous, why wasn’t she simply nicer to the guy who had brought her here? Oh, mysteries of the Universe.
Karina woke up alarmed, fearing someone was stealing her shoes. She sat up but then realized she could still feel them around her waist. She then turned around, because she heard someone. Zayra was near their bags, and for a second seemed to be looking into them. But the girl smiled when she saw Karina, without any sign of alarm, surprise, or fear.
“It’s good you woke up, we’re almost there,” Zayra said, as she folded a blanket.
Karina felt confused. She was still debating whether she saw or not the girl looking into their things.
“You’d better get ready,” Zayra added, then looked at Cayla’s direction. “Both of you.”
The girl put the blanket in a compartment near the side seat then walked back to the controlling room. Karina decided she had confused the girl’s blanket with their bags. Regardless, they didn’t have anything important in their bags, not even a map or anything that could identify them, so it was no big deal. Karina got up and tried to see where they were, but quickly realized that was pointless, first, because there were no windows, and second, because she would not know where she was anyways, although it would be nice to admire such a different view. Cayla was still asleep. Karina knelt and shook her friend’s shoulder. The girl jumped up scared, until she looked around, probably realizing they were not in the middle of any emergency, and sat down.
After a couple minutes, Darian walked in, addressing Cayla. “Are you sure you want to do this? There are dangers… you are not aware of.”
Cayla shook her head. “I’m well aware of the dangers.”
Darian looked down and bit his lip. “I could come down with you, stay close, just as a precaution.”
“Don’t you need to be patrolling?”
“I could leave Zayra by herself.”
“Oh, now you can leave her. How interesting.”
Darian looked at Cayla attentively, as if trying to understand something, before asking, “Why does she bother you?”
“Because nobody was supposed to know about us.”
“I see. You’re ashamed.”
Cayla squinted. “No. It’s just, it had to be secret.”
“Well, you don’t want me come with you I won’t. I’ll pick you up in the afternoon.”
Cayla shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine. We’re going to take a boat home. From the Last Town.”
Darian raised his eyebrows. “It’s dangerous.”
“Everything for you is dangerous, I suppose you consider breathing dangerous.”
He nodded. “In these days, out there on your own, yes.”
“You want me to suffocate then.”
“No. I could protect you.”
“Ah, you want to suffocate me personally. No, thanks.”
He stared at her for a long while, then to the floor, then to her again. Cayla had a defiant look.
He stepped back, fists clenched, arms trembling. His voice came out soft and smooth, “That’s it then? Don’t you worry, Princess Cayla,” he spoke slowly, emphasizing every word, “you will never run the slightest risk of me suffocating you.”
He then turned around and got into the other compartment. The lift shook as he slammed the door. Cayla stared at the door with a confused expression, and then sat and looked down. Karina didn’t know whether she should say something or not, and either way she didn’t even know what to say.
Because the lift had no windows, she had no idea whether it was moving or not, until it slowed down and descended. Zayra came out and opened a back door. Had the door not been opened, Karina would never have realized it was there. She felt relieved that this time they were on the ground, in a clearing, so she would not have to jump, or worse, descend a loose dangling rope ladder. Better than jumping, actually.
Zayra stood by the door. “Bye, good luck.”
“Thanks,” Karina replied softly, because someone had to say something.
Cayla didn’t look back or say anything. Karina watched as the flying machine went up and then far away.
Only then did Cayla look, and shook her head. “This could ruin our mission.”
“We just skipped a five-day walk.”
Cayla sighed. “I’m not sure it was worth it.”
Karina was about to point out that it had been Cayla’s idea, but then decided to stay quiet and just be glad they didn’t have to walk all the way.
8
The Imaginary Pursuers
The mountains were low at this part, lowering to what was probably t
he place where the two rivers met. That much Karina remembered from the map. Cayla looked at that direction, then to the other side, as if trying to decide something. Karina didn’t understand what the girl was thinking, because even she knew to which direction they were supposed to go.
Karina pointed. “Isn’t the mouth of the river that way?”
“That’s what worries me,” Cayla replied.
“Why?”
“That girl knows where we are going.”
Oh, no, Karina was hoping any annoyance against Zayra would have stopped once they stepped out of the lift. “So?” she asked, refraining from rolling her eyes.
Cayla frowned. “I don’t like it.”
That much Karina was aware, but she still tried to calm her friend. “Well, she doesn’t really know where we are going and what we are planning to do. And if she’s your friend’s friend, maybe you should trust her.”
“I’m not even sure I trust him.” She said this as if acknowledging a painful truth.
Perhaps… it was too late to think that? But Karina asked something else, “Is there anything we can do about it?”
“Well, they think we’re going to the mouth of the river, there, or perhaps that we’ll stay in the woods near or between the two rivers. What we can do instead is walk to the other direction, and cross to the Black river through the mountains.”
That mention reminded Karina of the bit of Odell’s explanation she liked the least. “Don’t jaguars live there?”
“Not there, they live further up, protected by real mountains. This part here,” she pointed to the low mountains beside them, “they are not even mountains, just hills. Very little difference from walking close to the river. It just takes a little longer, but we’re ahead anyways.”
Karina looked up. Indeed the hills didn’t have rocks that seemed difficult to climb, just trees wide apart. It would not be much harder than when they went up the plateau to the path. But that was not her problem with the plan. “What’s the point in changing our itinerary?”
“If anyone follows us, they won’t find us.”
As much as Karina hated to argue, she had to point out something. “Right, but they have fast flying uh, things—lifts. If anyone wanted to find us, I don’t think we’d be able to walk far enough from the last spot they saw us.”
Cayla looked seriously at Karina. “You’re right. But the mountains will be the last place they’ll look. Let’s hurry then.” She turned around and walked fast towards the mountain
Karina regretted having said anything. She calculated that they would walk at most five kilometers in an hour, probably even less, considering they were going up. That meant that even if they walked eight hours straight they would only make forty kilometers. Karina had no idea how fast those things went, but she was sure that whoever was inside would have enough time to look for them in a forty kilometer range, regardless of the direction they went. She debated whether or not to mention those numbers to Cayla, but then decided against it, afraid that the girl would come up with an even crazier idea. Indeed, her pace started to get hard to follow. Karina then considered that at least the hills had some trees, meaning they would not be easily spotted by air, but then she told herself to stop calculating the odds that they would be found, because nobody was following them.
The pace was so tough that soon Karina stopped wondering about the reason they were going up and concentrated on her walking, breathing fast. The walk was rather smooth; few spots were steep or had rocks. After some two or three hours, when Karina’s legs had already started to hurt, Cayla stopped. “Maybe we should rest now.”
For a split second Karina almost reminded her friend that if they wanted to run from imaginary pursuers they should keep going, but then realized that if the pursuers were imaginary there was no need to hurry. What a brilliant conclusion. In fact, she should be glad that they would get a well-deserved break. For the first time since they’d started going up the hill, Karina had time to turn around and really look down where she’d come from. Through the trees she caught a glimpse of the valley below, the river, and low hills on the other side. There were many constructions here and there, especially near the river, in bright colors: green, yellow, red, blue, purple and others. She wondered what material they were made of, whether they were houses and if the colors meant anything.
When Karina turned around, she noticed the tent had been set up. That was fast—and silent. She was surprised, because she had assumed “resting” meant only stopping and perhaps sitting a little.
Cayla seemed to notice her surprised look. “We sleep during the day, walk at night, remember?”
Karina nodded. Of course she remembered the instructions, but what was the point in keeping to the rules if they were off course anyways? Still, a tent meant they could relax much better than sitting on rocks or branches. Cayla sat on the entrance of the tent, and started drinking water. Karina did the same and also ate one of her bars. Even though they could not see the buildings from where they were, Karina tried to start a conversation. “What are those buildings down there?”
“That’s the Last Town.”
Karina had heard this name mentioned as the city from where they would supposedly return by boat. That made sense and explained why Cayla thought they would not look for them in the mountains, or hills. “Last because it’s the last by the river?”
“Ah, no, not really. The rivers continues. With a different name. ‘Last’ has to do with a war or revolt, it was the last city standing or something.”
“I see.”
Before getting frustrated that her friend knew so little, Karina reminded herself that she too was awful in history, so at least they had something in common. Unfortunately, common lack of knowledge didn’t make a good conversation topic. Cayla sat down. Her black hair shone so much in the sun that it almost looked silver, in a way that was shampoo-commercial unnatural. But her eyes were sad, lost in the distance, as she touched the orange stone in her necklace that was no longer hidden under her dress. Karina debated whether to respect her friend’s silence, or ask a question she was itching to ask. To favor the decision of asking, she weighted that since they were in such a difficult journey they should trust each other. “What’s with you and Darian?”
Cayla let go of the stone quickly and widened her eyes. “What do you mean?”
Oh, did that need explaining? Karina tried to rephrase it. “How long have you known each other?”
“Ah, a couple years. He’s, uh, almost like a brother.” Cayla lowered her head. “Or was. I really trusted him.”
Brother? Karina felt her lunch spinning in her stomach. Still, she thought Cayla shouldn’t be so gloomy.
“But he came, he brought us here, exactly like you wanted.”
Cayla shook her head. “No. I didn’t want a random girl knowing about us. Who knows what she’ll do with that information? This is just… wrong.”
“But she’s far away now, she doesn’t know where we are, and has no idea what we’re doing.”
Cayla nodded slowly. “That’s what I’m hoping. But still, she knows about me and Darian.”
That wasn’t making much sense. “But… aren’t you, uh, like siblings? Surely everyone knows you are friends.”
“They know we were friends, not that we still are.”
“Why so much secret?”
Cayla sighed, bit her lip and looked down. “Well, he used to live in the castle, until my father, uh, he thought…Well, my father has forbidden me to ever see Darian again. But, it’s not that I am really disobeying my father, because he imagined something that was not true. I thought my father would come around when he understood that me and Darian, we’re just friends. That’s what I thought, but I’m not sure about anything anymore.”
Karina could well understand why her father would “imagine” something more than friendship. People are really creative. Then she remembered her friend was a princess and understood the problem. “I suppose you’ll have to marry a prin
ce or something.”
Cayla squinted. “What?”
“I mean in the future.” Karina was not sure if she was talking nonsense but she remembered something she had heard somewhere. “For an alliance with another kingdom or something.”
Cayla shook her head. “No. I don’t think he wants me to marry anyone. And I’m too young to even think about that.”
“That’s true. Is that the problem? That you’re too young?”
Cayla agitated her hands. “I don’t know. I don’t know why my father won’t let me… And this is not about Darian. I’m just answering the question you asked. You brought it up.” She went inside the tent. “I’ll try to lie down a little and rest. Close the tent if you come inside.”
Cayla was a textbook example on how love made people illogical. Anyways, she didn’t want to sit by herself. “I’ll lie down as well.”
With that, they entered and Cayla closed the tent. Karina was surprised that the tent felt cool inside, and was darker than she had imagined. It was a good place to rest during the day, even when it was hot outside, perhaps especially then. She lay down and put her legs up, over her backpack, so as to rest them. Cayla had her eyes closed even though she didn’t sound like she was asleep. Karina’s waist hurt a little from the sweat caused by the shoes, so she removed them quietly and put them beneath her legs, so that she could still feel them. But instead of relaxed, she felt worried. She heard a voice somewhat like Cayla’s saying, “Karina, get up and run. Run, quickly.” She looked at the girl, thinking that the princess’ earlier paranoia had gotten contagious.
Cayla opened her eyes. “What?”
The question surprised Karina. “Oh, nothing.”
Cayla closed her eyes again. Now, if she was calm, why was Karina feeling so edgy, as if they were on the brink of some disaster? Was it that they had deviated from the plan? Maybe Odell’s words had impressed her more than she admitted. Maybe it was just that she needed to rest the mind more than the body, but that was nonsense, because it had gotten plenty of rest during that tough walk. Karina tried to think about something different, but fear and worry started to bother her so much that she made up her mind to convince Cayla to get up and keep moving. But before Karina said anything, Cayla opened her eyes and sat up. “Did you hear that?”
