by Day Leitao
“No,” Cayla answered, the voice just loud enough to be barely heard from such a close distance.
The woman pulled back her knife, but not before cutting Cayla’s face some more, but just a superficial cut, with a little blood, hopefully nothing that would scar the girl forever.
Rose turned to her companions. “I say we cut a hand from each and send to the king. That way he knows we have the girls and mean to harm them. If he doesn’t back of his army in one day, we send him the other hands.”
This time Karina really got scared. All she wanted was to disappear, teleport, or for an earthquake or some other natural disaster to save her. This adventure had definitely stopped being fun. Lionel and Sonja stared at Rose as if in shock.
“I thought we would only keep them as hostages,” the man said.
Rose shook her head. “Then we won’t pressure the king. We can’t fight brutality with mercy.”
Sonja and Lionel still stared at her, both wide-eyed.
“Oh, please!” Rose added. “We can make this fast and painless. I’m not evil, I know they’re just girls.” She turned to Lionel. “If you were in the army you’d have to obey.”
He shook his head. “I deserted. I can desert again.”
Rose shrugged. “Nobody’s tying you.”
“Wait,” Sonja intervened. “You can’t do that without consulting the rest of the group. I for one agree with Lionel. I’m here to fight violence, not support it.”
Rose sighed. “What about cutting the girls’ nails? Would we need to consult the rest then?”
Lionel scratched his head. “I’m not sure the king would be able to identify the nails. I mean, perhaps, but…”
“I was joking,” Rose said. “Now, really, I know what we stand for, but I also know what we’re up against, and who we’re up against. We have a unique opportunity. We can’t show weakness.”
“Fingers then,” Sonja said. “Starting with the little ones.”
Lionel stared at her.
Sonja raised her shoulders. “I don’t like it either, but Rose does have a point.”
“Little fingers then it is,” Rose said. She turned to Lionel. “Do you still want to desert?”
He looked away. “Not yet.”
Sonja took a deep breath. “I’ll prepare the equipment.”
Now where was the promised rescue mission if it all went wrong? Karina felt betrayed. Her mouth was dry, and she felt a knot closing down her throat. She looked sideways, and her eyes met Cayla’s. The girl had been strangely quiet, and her eyes showed fear as well.
Karina then remembered Zoe. Zoe, falling from the stairs. Now, why was that image coming into her mind then? Of course! The shoes. If the shoes could break a handrail, they could certainly cut some rope, even weird, sticky, tangled rope. But had it really been the shoes? Still, even if it had been, Karina didn’t have both shoes now. But the shoes were not with her when Zoe had fallen either. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate, trying to think, trying to make something happen, even though she had no idea what. She opened her eyes and saw another young woman coming to their direction. She had something in her hand, and walked towards Rose, who was standing far from the girls.
“What is this?” the young woman asked. She had the missing shoe in her hand. “Is this some kind of magical—”
The girl didn’t finish. She tripped on something on the floor, and the shoe flew away from her. Karina got up and grabbed it, without noticing she had ripped the ropes that tied her as if they had been made of paper. Rose and Lionel saw Karina and ran towards her. Rose had the knife on her hand and the menacing look of someone who decided not to mind losing a hostage. Karina froze for a split second, before realizing she’d better run. After that, she could not understand what happened and in which order. There was black smoke around her, but no smell of anything burned. The floor trembled. Rose fell. Karina found herself beside Cayla, but away from the tree, not sure how they had gotten there with all that smoke and earthquake. Was it an earthquake? She held Cayla’s hand, also not knowing how the girl got untied. More black smoke, nothingness, a feeling of falling, then a thud on hard floor. Somehow, the strongest image in Karina’s mind was Rose falling. Who said she couldn’t defeat a flower?
Karina coughed. She had difficulty breathing, and no idea where she was. People approached her and she feared that she would be captured again, until she realized she was in the place where she had arrived at the castle: the circular tall blue room. She had teleported, or been teleported. She was safe. Tears of joy and relief came out of her eyes. This time she would just find Nia and go back home. She didn’t want to go on any more journeys, and she couldn't care less who took the shoes and controlled the world.
Some four or five people encircled her. Because of her tears, she had trouble recognizing them. Why were they surrounding her? They seemed to carry something in their hands, pointing at Karina, but that could not be. She wiped her tears and took a better look. Indeed, they seemed to be some kind of guards and had something pointy, like spears. Perhaps it was just precaution until they checked her identity. Now, where was Cayla? The men had menacing looks. Why were they doing that?
“Take her. Before she escapes,” a man said.
Two men grabbed Karina by the arms while someone put a hood on her. She was gagged before her scream came out.
10
The Meaning of Yellow
Darian stared at the panel and the position of the lifts in the surrounding areas. There was no army and no rebels around the meeting of the rivers. And yet he felt uneasy. He touched his necklace. Should he contact Cayla? Or suffocate her. Right. Let her breathe. But at what price? No price. There was nobody in the area, no danger, and nobody knew she was there. He’d repeated these words some twenty times by now. And yet… he was the one suffocating with worry. Worry. For a girl who wouldn’t even take his hand. Over one year waiting, and she treated him like an acquaintance. Maybe the fault had been his. Perhaps he’d been mistaken about whatever they had. It was not her fault. The alternative would be to be angry. Next thing he’d be smirking and saying stupid things like “love is poison” and become like his brother. His brother. Wonderful reverse role model. He was probably in Siphoria, partying and enjoying his sense of importance, oblivious to what was going on in the kingdom.
Zayra walked in. “We should be going, shouldn’t we?”
He wasn’t in a mood to talk. “No.”
She looked down. “I mean… there’re lots of things we need to do. You especially. You can’t remain here all day.”
“Can’t I?”
“You can. Sure. When we’re so close, you’re going to ignore everything we fought for so long. You’re going to forget all the people who need us, who support us, who support you, and stay here moping for a girl who’s not worth it.”
He leaned back. “Opinion taken.”
Zayra slammed her hand on one of the seats. “That’s it? You don’t have anything to say for yourself?”
“I outrank you, Zayra. I don’t need to explain anything.” He hated the stupid army ranking system, but it could be convenient sometimes.
“Fine. Why don’t you go and run after her? Maybe if you beg she’ll look at you. Meanwhile, ignore everyone who loves you and cares about the cause you were supposed to fight for. Ignore everything.”
She slammed the door and left him alone. Her accusations were pointless and her anger was puzzling, but he didn’t want to bother trying to understand his pilot. He didn’t feel guilty. A few hours wouldn’t make a difference for anyone. And he felt responsible for Cayla. His necklace still shone. He’d always thought that the light was proof that she loved him. He’d likely misunderstood the type of love.
A light blinked in his personal communicator. Odd channel. He picked it up.
“Is this Darian?”
“Yes.”
“This is Zee, I’m in Rose’s group.”
The name was familiar, but not much. Some new recruit, not
from the army. He kept his eyes on the panel, hoping whatever Zee had to say was short.
Zee continued. “I didn’t mean to disturb you, I just wanted to make sure that you ordered the princess to be captured.”
He felt as if the seat below him had disappeared. “What?”
Karina woke on a strange bed with a splitting headache. Daylight, or whatever, came from a ceiling far above her. The room was circular, with yellow walls made of some kind of stone, but without any division between the blocks. Besides the bed, the room had two chairs, a small table, and a curtain. She got up and saw what the curtain had been hiding; a hole in the ground, a sink, and a small tub. Karina looked at the walls around her and saw no door. She felt something on her waist and noticed she still had one shoe tied around her. The other one was on the ground, near her bed, as if it were one of her slippers. The room looked a lot like the blue room from where she had come, but without doors.
Was she a prisoner? Indeed, the last time she recalled being conscious someone seemed to have captured her. But still, she had the clear impression she had arrived at the castle, the very place she had come to help. Could it be that she had gone to an identical castle? Perhaps Lylah’s? Maybe. Could it be that the castle had been taken while she was away? Maybe. She realized with despair that she didn’t understand anything about that place. Who were those crazy finger cutting people who had tied them? They were not with Lylah and not with the king, and that just mushed everything, because Karina had signed up to help on a battle of good against evil, and for that to work two parts were needed: good and evil.
She was feeling lonely and anxious, not knowing what was happening, and why she was being held on that place. She decided to yell to see if anyone would come. “Hello! Someone! Help! Helloooo! Helloooo!”
Even though the room was empty, with smooth walls and a high ceiling, there was no echo, which was odd. Karina sat at the table. Nice touch to give her a table, but it was missing the most important thing: food. Oh, how she wanted some real food. Actually, at that point, even fake food or weird bars would be welcome. She felt thirsty as well, and at least the sink was a real sink, with water, so she drank with her hands. Then she decided to yell some more: “Helooo! Food! I’m hungry! Hungry!”
Was there anyone near her room? She tried to touch the walls, seeing if she could find a door, a handle, something. Perhaps she was not a prisoner and was just being silly. But all she felt was a smooth, circular wall. She lay down again, trying to prevent herself from wondering whether she had been left there to die. Oops, too late.
She sat on the bed, then saw the shoe on the floor and picked it up, meaning to tie it around her waist with the other, but then decided to hold them both and look at them. She could hardly believe those were the same shoes she’d found at that yard sale. That past reality seemed so distant now. As for the shoes, they revealed to be so much more, and, at the same time, in comparison to the reality they brought her, almost ordinary. Unless… Karina tried to recall what had happened at the hill. She had meant to use the shoes to escape, and she did escape, but she wasn’t sure if it had been the shoes, or if someone had captured or rescued them. Floor trembling and black smoke, all of that was quite weird for shoes to do, even magical ones. But what if they had done it? What if the shoes had saved Karina, regardless of the hostile reception where she arrived? There was one way to find out, and she almost laughed at her stupidity for not having tried them earlier. She felt like a prisoner in a cell who has a key and yet never tries it on the lock. Now, what could she try to do with the shoes? Blow up the walls? Reckless, and dangerous. Try to teleport, find Cayla? Now, wait, teleport: that was the magic word. If she had teleported away from the hill, perhaps she could teleport to the place she most wanted to be: her room, away from all those people and all this mess she didn’t understand. And if any creature came looking for the shoes, this time, she would gladly give them away.
But… how was she supposed to teleport? Hold the shoes and close her eyes? Say a magic word? When they had come none of the girls had said anything, so she probably didn’t need any magic word. But there had been a portal, whatever that was. Perhaps it would be easier just to forgo any logic, because magical shoes were not logical anyways, and give it a try. Karina put on the shoes, closed her eyes and imagined walking into her bedroom. Nothing happened, but she took a few steps, as if walking could make a difference. Or should she touch a wall? Before she tried anything different, she felt as if she were falling.
When the feeling subsided, she opened her eyes. She caught her breath. Home. She was in her room, and felt a little scared and even skeptical that it was really her room, shocked at how easy it had been. Even though it was dark, she could see well, as if her eyes had adjusted in the seconds they had been closed. The lump under the covers was there, and so were the books on the floor, which she had removed from her backpack. Her pajamas were also on the floor. Now that was really stupid if she wanted to fool anyone that she was sleeping. On the clock by the bed she saw 12:16. She had no idea at what time she had left, but it couldn’t have been much more than three hours earlier than that. The time difference was indeed real. She could get in bed, and nobody would even notice she had been gone. Even better, she could go to the kitchen and make herself a sandwich and a hot chocolate.
But something didn’t feel right, and perhaps it was just that “too good to be true” feeling. Or not? Was she guilty that she had left? No, it could not be, because she had been given no choice. Karina decided she needed to forget what had happened in the last hours of her life, just be glad that she was back home and appreciate it. She crouched to pick up her pajamas, but, again, something was not right. She could not see her knees or feet or shoes. She could not see her hands or arms either, or any part of her body for that matter. A few hours before, she would have loved being invisible, and finally accomplishing one of her childhood dreams. But no, this was something else. That explained why coming there had felt too easy, maybe too light. She had not really come; it was if she had been dreaming. She then felt something pulling her as if she had been tied to the tip of an elastic ribbon whose force was now pulling her back. She saw blackness around her and felt as if she was floating mid-air. What could have been awesome in different circumstances was terrifying at that moment.
“Close your eyes and let go. Let go,” a man with a familiar voice said.
She closed her eyes, even though it made no difference, as everything was black, but she had no idea what she had to let go, because she was not holding anything. Unless it was her thought. The thought of home, her room, escape, safety. But how could she give up those things?
“Let go. Come back.”
The voice, she recognized now, was Odell’s. His voice meant she was about to be rescued, and that thought encouraged her to return to the reality of the yellow room with no doors. Karina opened her eyes and realized she was lying on the floor. She looked up and saw Odell standing beside her. Never before had she been so glad to see an acquaintance she had known for two days. But something was wrong. His face was grave and stern. Was he a prisoner as well? Karina sat and looked around. She saw an open window some two meters above the ground. In fact, that was not a window, but a door, and probably the reason Karina had only found smooth walls when looking for an opening near the floor. Cayla stood at the high door, and Karina felt relieved to know that she was alive and well. But then again, no. Something was wrong; she looked distressed. Was she a prisoner as well? Karina felt disappointed that they were not there to help her, but still a little relieved that at least she would have company in her adversity.
“What’s going on?” Karina asked.
“It’s useless,” Odell answered, sounding cold and menacing.
“What?”
He seemed angry. “Trying to escape. Your shoes don’t work here. The most you’ll accomplish is to hang between two worlds, never settling anywhere. Never living, never dying.”
She rubbed her eyes. Fine, perhaps tr
ying to teleport home had been dangerous, but what was she supposed to do? “I was hungry, I… I yelled, nobody came, I, I was trying to go home.”
He laughed, not a nice laugh, but, for some weird reason, a mocking laugh, then stared at her. “Home? Nice try. We know what you want.”
Why was he being so weird? Could he have figured something even Karina could not? “Really? You need to tell me cause I’m curious. Unless you mean food.”
Odell pointed to the table. “Come, you can eat now.”
Karina saw that the table was no longer empty, and didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation, ignoring his weirdness. She glanced at Cayla, who still stood at the door, looking distressed. Or was she hungry as well? She should come down if that was the case. Karina filled a plate with weird rice and vegetables. At least she was finally getting real food and for that she could forget and forgive the strange behavior around her.
After she took a couple bites, Odell said, “So, you were planning to keep the shoes all along.”
Karina almost choked. She forgot her good manners and answered before swallowing, “I cou ‘ave tay ‘ome.”
Not very intelligible. Odell only stared.
She swallowed quickly and tried again, “I could have stayed home. I didn’t need to come here and I wouldn’t have come if I wanted to keep the shoes. I had them.” She noticed her feet with some surprise. “In fact, I still have them. I’m wearing them.”
He nodded. “Exactly. You just proved that you knew how to use the shoes and meant to use them.”
“What?”
Karina took off the shoes and kicked them away, then she took another bite of her food, because she was really hungry. She was starting to think that he didn’t look or act like a prisoner, so she hoped he would come up with a long explanation that would clear up everything—and give her time to chew and swallow.
“You came here to seize the power,” he said. “Or worse, to help Lylah seize the power.”
