by Day Leitao
“I made a deal with her. She won’t go back on her word.”
“Make a deal with me then.” Cayla pleaded. “If you care about what I think.”
“I care more about your safety than your opinion.” That tone again.
“Right. So you can tell me what to do.”
“I’m not telling you what to do,” he said. “I’m deciding what I’m going to do. It’s different, you know?”
“But that’s not what I want. I need to do this alone.”
“Your sister, Nia, and the random girl there can go. What’s the difference?”
Cayla was starting to feel impatient. “I can’t explain it. You have to trust me. Don’t you also have important stuff to do? For the kingdom? Well, me too!”
He stared at her, looked down, then looked away, as if thinking. “I can’t let anything happen to you.”
“You know I can defend myself, right?”
“That depends against how many.”
She sighed. “It’s not like you can take an army all by yourself either.”
He shook his head. “Fighting, no. But I can talk to them.”
Cayla rolled her eyes. “Impressive.”
She looked away, decided to remain silent and distant. Maybe he’d get a clue. And then maybe not.
After some time, he said, “Lots of people are looking for you, rebel and loyal. That’s why I can’t just leave you.”
“They want me as a hostage, Darian. If you’re so good at talking, come and talk to them if I’m caught. You can’t force your company when I don’t want it.”
He had a grimace. “I’m not forcing…”
Cayla stared.
He looked away, then back at her. “You’ll need to promise you’ll hide. And you’ll contact me after you do whatever you want to do. And if it doesn’t work, you’ll hide in the woods.”
“I don’t need to promise anything, Darian. Stop doing that. I don’t like it you when you try to tell me what to do. I trust you and you need to trust me—”
“But last time—”
“Was your fault. You exposed me to these insurgents, and you didn’t tell me anything about them. You trusted someone you knew was conspiring against my father. You trusted her. Think about it. Let me take care of what I have to do, and take care of what you have to do.”
“I should. You have no idea what I’ve…” He closed his eyes as if in pain. “You’re right. There are things I put off for too long. Too long, Cayla. I need to fix this. But please—I’m asking—please contact me if you have any problem. And hide.”
He sounded sweet again, and she felt bad for the way she’d spoken to him. She put her hand on his shoulder. “I know you worry because you care, but you can’t cage me to protect me. Let me live my destiny, whatever it is.”
He held her hand and closed his eyes, then opened them and looked at her. Her heart beat faster.
“I’ll drop you off at the river.” His tone was resigned and unhappy. He kissed her wrist, then let it go, and looked ahead.
Shivers ran down her spine as if his kiss had electricity. But the important thing was her task again. Cayla just smiled. “Thank you.”
He smiled back, then looked ahead and focused, as if thoughtful. Other than glancing at her from time to time, it was as if he was concentrating before doing something difficult.
The lift stopped moving. Darian turned to her. “Please be safe.”
He then opened the middle door and addressed everyone. “We’re floating above the river. You’ll all have to jump. Quickly, before anyone notices where I am.”
Darian opened the hatch.
Jump? Karina hadn’t been prepared for that. She wondered how he had changed his mind. Or how Cayla had changed his mind. Although, now that she thought about it, perhaps she knew how. And indeed this was a lot safer than leaving the lift and walking near it.
Nia went first, then Ayanna. At least Karina wasn’t afraid of falling since she was supposed to jump anyways. She made sure the shoes where well tied, gathered her courage, and jumped. The river was warm, but just warm enough that the water was still refreshing. The moon was now less than a semicircle down in the sky, about to hide behind mountains. Cayla jumped a few seconds afterwards, splashing Karina. The island with the castle was further up, and they started swimming. Hopefully Lylah would have some kind of expressway to take Karina back home, assuming of course that she would help her go home, assuming that they’d be able to get into her castle, that she would be alive and that she would even be helpful. But none of those thoughts made Karina ever question her need to go forward, for the simple reason that she had no other choice.
Even in the dark, they could see that the island had white sand, not the color of sand, but rather white like salt or sugar, even shiny like them, very much like the castle itself. There were indeed no walls around it, and in fact no fortification of any kind. There was something strange about it. Even from such a close distance it didn’t look real. Perhaps it was just a detail that Karina took a while to catch: it had no windows, and from the side they looked, no doors. Cayla swam ahead, and dove from time to time.
“What is she doing?” Nia asked Karina.
Only then she remembered that Nia didn’t know everything about their plan. “There’s an underwater passage,” she explained.
Nia dove and came out. “It’s too dark.”
Beyond the farthest mountain the sky started to become blue, meaning that the sun would soon be up, and they’d soon be able to find what they were meant to find. But no. Karina remembered what Odell told them. “We were supposed to come to the river at night.”
“Night?” Nia asked, thinking. “It must have some kind of light. We’ll have to find the passage before the sun rises.”
Karina looked at that beach and realized they were wasting time. “It’s not here, but over there,” she said, pointing to the other side of the island.
“Why are you saying that?” Cayla asked.
“The river is too shallow here. A passage would need a steeper slope.”
“I’ll look over there,” Cayla said. She then started to swim around the island.
Nia and Ayanna followed her. Karina lagged behind because she was a lousy swimmer. When she reached the other side of the island, the others were diving. This side was indeed better suited for a passage as there were rocks instead of a beach.
“Nia, come here,” Cayla said.
The woman swam in her direction and dove with her. As they came out of the water, Nia said, “She found it.”
Time to face Lylah. Karina felt a knot in her stomach. Or was it hunger?
“Karina!” Cayla yelled, as if to hurry her.
Oh, she’d better hurry, or they’d leave her behind. Actually no, she still had the shoes, so they wouldn’t go in without her. One thing she would certainly miss was the sense of importance.
When Karina reached the others, Cayla turned to Nia and Ayanna. “You wait here. I’ll go in with Karina. She’ll throw the shoes, and we’ll be back.”
Karina feared she would be forced to throw the shoes, and that wasn’t exactly what she had been planning. Not that she had been planning much.
“No,” Nia said. “You don’t know what’s waiting for us. We all go in.” She glanced at Karina. “Then we’ll see what we’ll do.”
“But—” Cayla started to protest.
Nia interrupted her, “If things go wrong, you may need me. Also, if I was supposed to guide you, I’ll do it till the end.”
Nia then dove as if meaning to enter the passage.
“Wait,” Cayla said, then quickly turned to the others. “Follow me.”
She dove fast, followed by her sister, then Karina. In those dark waters, she saw Ayanna entering a circle near the bottom which had a faint glimmer around it. It looked like it went down, not up, and that wasn’t how she expected an underwater tunnel to go. She wondered how long it was and if she would be able to hold her breath for all its length, but she
didn’t have the opportunity to voice any of these concerns, because the girls had disappeared inside it and she didn’t want to be left behind. The tunnel was circular, made out of that same shiny white material she’d seen around the stairs. It went down then curved and started going up, like a sink siphon. Karina almost ran out of air, but not quite, as she came out in a small artificial pond in a circular tall room in that same white stone. The others were already out of the water, and Karina followed. There was a fireplace lit at the back of the room. Now it would be time for the truth, as the girls would know she was siding with Lylah if she did not throw the shoes. The only piece of furniture was a very large square table with places for eight people. There was food at the table; fruit, some kind of bread and even scrambled eggs, or at least something that looked like it. Breakfast. At that moment, Karina thought she really liked Lylah.
Cayla approached Karina and whispered, “We need to find the fire.”
“I know,” she replied, because that was the only thing she could reply.
But that didn’t make any sense. The fire was right in front of them. Could it be that Karina was the only one to see it? She wondered if anyone else would mention it. She turned back to glance at the water and didn’t see anything. No pool, no opening of any kind. Was their exit blocked?
18
Truths and Lies
Would there be a door somewhere? Perhaps the food at the table meant they were prisoners. Not that again. Who would save them this time? But then, perhaps they could just go out the way they’d come, even though it wasn’t visible.
“I’m hungry,” Ayanna said.
Karina agreed, but she wasn’t sure what to do.
Nia smiled. “Let’s eat then.”
Cayla stepped in front of her sister and squinted. “Are you crazy?”
“No. Hungry.”
“It must be poisoned,” Cayla protested.
Nia glanced at the table. “Too much trouble. There are much easier ways to kill someone. Trust me.”
Her “trust me” was rather scary.
“Still, it has to be a trap,” Cayla insisted.
“We’re in her castle, with no way out.”
“No.” Cayla said, then turned around and pointed to the place where the little pool was. “Where is it?”
Nia shook her head. “It is gone. Now, if she wants us dead, there isn’t much we can do. I’m eating with your sister.”
She sat and so did Ayanna, who looked at her sister as if feeling guilty. Karina almost sat as well, but she didn’t want to upset Cayla. The girl walked around as if searching for something before turning to Karina. “We have to do something.”
The smell of food made Karina even hungrier. She looked around, seeing only smooth walls—and a fireplace. But she didn’t want to think about that. “Do you see any door?”
Cayla shook her head, then said, “You might be able to do something. You have the key.”
That didn’t make sense. “No. You have the key.”
“No,” Cayla replied. “It was destroyed when the door opened. And I meant something different.”
The girl glanced at Karina’s waist. Of course. The shoes. But what could she do? Did the girl see the fire? It could not be, as she would have mentioned it. Nia and Ayanna were eating now, and none of them had dropped dead on the floor. All Karina could think was sitting with them and doing the same. Could it be dangerous? But that smell… And Nia seemed to know what she was talking about. Karina sighed. “I’m going to eat.”
Cayla tried to hold her. “You can’t. No. That’s what she wants.”
“I’m sorry.”
Karina sat with Nia and Ayanna and filled a plate with bread and fruit. There was a jug with tea, but it was cold, and Karina filled a cup, because she was thirsty. When she drank it, she spat it out; it was water.
“It’s from the river,” Nia said. “It’s brown but it’s clean. It’s just the plants.”
Karina drank the water. Black River. Right.
Cayla still walked around touching the walls as if to look for a secret passage.
Nia noticed, then said, “Come eat. Forget it, there are no doors.”
“I’m not eating. Who knows what’s in this food? Maybe it’ll make us obey her, turn against our against each other, sleep, or, who knows?”
“You should trust me. If I’m saying this food is safe, it’s because it is.”
Cayla sat at the table. “Why then? Why this? Why would she want us to eat?”
Nia shrugged. “Maybe she wants to be friendly?”
“Exactly,” Cayla replied. “Then she’ll convince us to give her whatever she wants from us. She’s going to try to take… you know.”
“And if we don’t eat, she won’t try to take anything back,” Nia said.
Ayanna pointed at the food. “This is good. You should try it.”
Cayla just looked sullen and glanced at the fruit from time to time. When the others were about finished, the girl plucked a few weird looking grapes and ate them. Karina looked around and realized that the place looked like her previous prison, except that it was white instead of yellow. She then thought that eating hadn’t been the brightest idea, but that was easier said with a full belly.
“What now?” Cayla asked, plucking some pieces of bread without looking at them.
“We wait,” Nia replied.
For what? Was Nia still considering siding with Lylah? Karina wondered if it had been a good idea not to tell the girls anything. Cayla never took a plate, she just plucked pieces of food and put in her mouth as if not looking at them could prevent any poisoning. At least, if there was something wrong with the food, they would be all doomed together. Having company in disgrace, that was a good consolation.
After they all ate, they remained sitting in silence for a short while, when they heard a voice coming from the direction where the little pool had been. “I hope it was to your taste.”
They turned to look. There was Lylah, walking in their direction, as if she’d always been there. She looked as impressive as she had looked in Karina’s room, with very shiny black hair, dressed in white. A shiver ran down Karina’s spine, as she felt certain that the woman would ask for her shoes.
Cayla got up, but Nia held her by her arms. “You cannot fight her.”
Cayla pulled her arm but sat down.
Lylah also sat down and looked at Nia. “Thank you.” Then she addressed everyone. “I understand you had a tough journey here, and I congratulate you on your determination,” she turned to Nia and Karina, “and sacrifices.”
The woman’s behavior was weird, as she seemed happy they were there. Perhaps this was indeed a trap. The question was for what.
The woman looked at them all. “I apologize if some of you had to be…” she paused and looked sideways before continuing. “Deceived. I had no other way to bring you here.”
Cayla squinted. “Bring us here?”
“Listen,” Nia whispered to her.
Karina was also wondering the same thing. Was it for the shoes? But then, why so much trouble? Was there a rule that they needed to be home delivered or something? Again she feared giving up her unique objects.
She hoped nobody else interrupted Lylah again, because she took a long time to continue talking. “You might be wondering then… why Odell sent you. Look at this place. This is not a castle, not a home.”
Karina did look around, and then the woman confirmed her impression. “It’s a prison. And a very strong one.”
Great, so they were in fact all locked up.
Lylah continued, “Only two people can open it. Or their descendants.”
“What do you want from us?” Cayla interrupted.
Lylah sat back in silence.
Cayla was impatient, and added, “You want something from us. I get that. Just tell us what it is.” Then she whispered to Karina, “We can pretend to help her, then find a way to do it.”
By “it” she probably meant destroy the shoes. Lylah
stared at them for a long time. Maybe she wanted to annoy them.
The woman turned to the older princess. “Cayla, what do you know about your mother?”
“Less than you, I suppose.”
Lylah nodded. “Very true. Do you understand that mothers sometimes have to make sacrifices? Look at Nia. You don’t suppose she doesn’t love her son, do you?”
“What do you care about my little brother?”
Cayla was fearless and provoking, and Karina wondered if that was a good way to address a witch in her own castle. Or prison, but still. The others were quiet. Ayanna seemed to pay a lot of attention to what was said.
Lylah sat back and closed her eyes. “I also have a little brother. I saw him grow up. I even took care of him. I love him almost like a son.”
Cayla shrugged. “Why should I care about your brother?”
“Because you care.”
Cayla seemed surprised at first, then thoughtful. “Do you mean… Darian?”
Lylah shook her head. “Not him.”
“Then I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
Lylah glanced at Nia, then said, “Your stepmother knows. “
Nia shook her head. “I’m not her stepmother. At least not anymore.”
Cayla turned to Nia. “Who’s her brother?”
Nia shrugged. “I don’t know. It… it can’t be.”
“It’s exactly who you’re thinking,” Lylah said.
Everyone looked at Nia. She looked unsure. “He’s too old.”
Lylah shook her head. “It’s make-up. He pretends. He was a teenager when he joined the king.”
“As a wise man?” Nia asked, incredulous.
Lylah nodded.
“Who is it?” Cayla asked.
“Odell,” Nia replied.
Karina was stunned. She hadn’t expected that, as much as she sometimes thought the bald man had been pretending.
“How come you never told us?” Cayla asked.
“I had no idea they were siblings,” Nia said. “It occurred to me now. But I always told you he was working with her.”
Cayla had tears in her eyes, and asked Nia, “Why did you come then? Why did you follow his directions?”
