The Princess and Her Rogue

by Sheritta Bitikofer

  “Yes, I’m sure. And unfortunately, the long way is the only way that leads straight out.”

  “But, the ground is getting less stable and more muddy. I’ve got some swamp water seeping through my boots. Isn’t there some path where the ground is harder?”

  “Not really. If you take one of those roads, it leads straight to quicksand or some bottomless pit.”

  Kiara sighed and got quiet for a while, staring at the path ahead. She didn’t know exactly whether to believe him or not. All she knew was that she was loosing her footing and it was becoming more difficult to walk with confidence as he did.

  Another fifteen minutes passed on and they came to a place where their own path separated off into five others. Nate stopped and looked down each road, tapping his stick over them to find the right one. Kiara watched with nervousness, waiting for him to choose.

  After testing the grounds on all of the paths, Nate stopped and stared around dumbly at the subtle differences in each trail. Nate’s back rose and fell steadily as he sighed and bowed his head to rub his eyes and face.

  Kiara waited, but the longer that he had his head down, the more impatient she became. “What’s wrong?” she asked, stepping up alongside him to examine his expressions.

  “Nothing,” he mumbled.

  “Well, which way do we need to go?”

  “Just give me a minute.”

  “…You don’t know which way it is, do you?”

  Nate took a deep, aggravated breath and wrinkled his nose under his palm. “Yes, I do know the way.”

  “Then why have we stopped?”

  “Because I need to take a breather, ok?” His tone was steadily rising.

  “You didn’t have trouble making the choice up until now, so what’s wrong?”

  “I haven’t slept in a week, ok!” Nate shouted angrily, turning to Kiara with a scowl, holding up his hand as if he was about to strike her. She jumped backwards a little in surprise at his outburst. They stared at each other, both hot-headed, stubborn young people. Kiara crossed her arms over her chest and looked down the paths they had to choose from.

  No sleep, in a week? How could he even be walking? Kiara sometimes needed eight to ten hours of sleep a night just to function. Kiara knew that he didn’t sleep one or two nights so far, but a whole week? That was ridiculous. She also knew that scolding him wasn’t going to help the situation. He was tired and grumpy and there was no point in making him more upset. He was liable to push her into the mire if she spoke her mind too much.

  “So, you haven’t slept in a week?” she confirmed, probably just as upset as he was. She didn’t like to be yelled at. It was one of the worst feelings in the world for her and when she did get yelled at. She would become defensive.

  “Yes… I haven’t slept in a week and I’m a little tired, so I need a moment to try and think clearly,” Nate replied, once again, scanning over the paths before them as she did.

  “Well, I am not going to trust your judgments any longer. You’re too tired and your mind isn’t sharp enough to make decisions like this…” Kiara stepped forward and tapped her toes against the paths as Nate had done with his stick.

  “I am perfectly able to make the decisions. It’ll just take me a while. I’m used to not sleeping for a week. I’ve gone a whole month of only sleeping a few hours and I’m still alive, so I’m just fine.”

  “I still don’t trust you… I’m taking this road. If I don’t see you at the end, then I’ll know what became of you. Good day!” Kiara said angrily as she set off down the path that led north and was the hardest out of all five.

  “That’s not the way! You’re going to get lost! Get back here!” Nate demanded, stomping his stick into the mud as Kiara just stuck her nose up in the air and kept walking without any regard for his pleas.

  “And how would you know? You’re too tired to think straight!” Kiara retorted spitefully.

  “Fine! Get stuck in quicksand for all I care! You stubborn, hard-headed woman!” Nate shouted as he was still standing back at the junction of the five unknown paths.

  Kiara turned around to face him, a good thirty feet between them and she scrunched up her face angrily, let out a frustrated cry, not really knowing what to say. She was so angry at him. First, he raised his voice at her, then he openly insulted her for the umpteenth billionth time since they started this stupid journey. She had had enough. She knew which direction north was and from memorizing the map Nate had shown her, she thought herself capable of finding Mem’s Pass. And if she did happen to get lost, she would just ask someone on the way - if there were anyone. She didn’t need Nate in the least.

  She turned around and took one more step forward on the path. That step proved to be a mistake. Her foot and leg sank down all the way up to her thighs. Kiara stumbled over onto herself and cried out as her whole body sank past her hips in quicksand. Now she felt like a fool. A dead fool. She should have listened to Nate and stayed with him. Why, oh why did she have to be so strong-willed? Kiara was even more frightened and she felt she would suffer the same fate as that poor squirrel from earlier. While she looked around at the mess she was in, she couldn’t help but begin to whimper and cry. But, this was no time to lose her head.

  Kiara struggled and reached for the solid path she had once been on, but it had dissolved into muddy sand as well. She was trapped and as she wiggled more and tried to reach for something to hold onto, she sank deeper and there seemed to be no end.

  She didn’t expect it, but Nate ran up to the edge of the quicksand pit. “Stop moving or you’ll sink faster!” he instructed.

  “If I don’t move and not try to save myself, I’m dead anyway!” she shouted back to him, looking over her shoulder to watch him wrap a sturdy vine around his forearm, the other end tied securely to a tree, and lean over as far as he could. Nate stretched out his walking stick to her for her to grab.

  Kiara tried to twist her arm around so that she could take it, but she couldn’t reach. Then, she attempted to turn herself around in the sand, but she sank even deeper, up to her chest.

  “Quit moving! Keep your arms outstretched! Don’t let them sink!” Nate put down the stick, knowing that wouldn’t work now that she was falling faster into the pit. He tugged hard on the vine he had his arm wrapped around, making it slacken and snap somewhere up in the canopy to fall down to the path. Nate tied one end of the vine into a lasso loop, and estimated how much rope it would take for it to reach her.

  Kiara watched with anticipation as he tossed the lasso around her upper body and pulled. It hurt her chest, but she wasn’t about to complain. She just held on tight to the rope and waited as Nate masterfully reeled her in, back onto solid ground.

  Nate was panting heavily from the amount of energy he had to use, but Kiara was even more exhausted from all the struggling she’d been doing against the sand and earth. Both collapsed on the ground and panted heavily. Kiara was still leaning her head on her arms when Nate crawled over to her on his hands and knees, just about having enough of her nonsense.

  He gently grasped Kiara’s face between his hands and lifted her head to look him straight in the eyes. His gaze was like a piercing sword through her soul that made he heart skip a beat. His eyes were so bright. They seemed to glow in the dim light of the bog. His stare was so focused as hot breath engulfed Kiara’s face. His hands were rough, but at the same time, had a tender touch that made her melt.

  “Are you ok?” he asked breathlessly. Kiara was almost too stupefied by his gaze and what had just happened to respond coherently. He repeated his question more urgently as he caught his breath.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” she whispered.

  “Good,” he said with a faint smile, and then he pulled her in closer, forcing her to push herself up onto her hands and knees. “You have to trust me… Do you understand?”

  That must have been the weirdest thing that anyone had ever said to Kiara. There was something about the seriousness and concern in his tone that confused her
. It was as if trust was a foreign thing to the both of them and to even say the word was taboo. But, none the less, Kiara knew its meaning and still she had trouble grasping the concept of trusting Nate.

  “Do you hear me?” He shook her head a bit in an attempt to snap her out of this trance of puzzlement and wonder.

  “Yes, yes…” Kiara was thrown reluctantly out of her day dreaming in Nate’s eyes and she shoved his arms away, releasing her from his loose hold and focused stare.

  Kiara stood up and looked down at her ruined clothes. For the first time, she actually cared about the old rags that Nate had bought for her. Sand, mud and dirt covered the fabric from her chest down to her ankles. Kiara shivered in disgust at the sight and tried to brush the debris off, but it was no use. The water and mud from the bog soaked too deep into the cloth and it would be a forever stain. Luckily, the mud and water was not too cold, so she was in no relative discomfort, besides that it made her clothes hang and clung to her shivering frame.

  Nate stood up as well, taking the vine and coiling it up to stuff it into his bag, watching Kiara squirm and wiggle in disgust.

  “This is so nasty!” She gave in a loud outcry. Nate only threw his pack over his shoulder and began walking off back to the hub where the five paths met. Kiara hobbled after him, feeling the mud weighing her down with every step.

  “Come on. I remember the way,” Nate said, turning down a certain random path.

  “Are you sure this time?”

  “What did I just say?”

  Nate walked on with Kiara following at a faster pace.

  “I know, I know, I need to trust you. But, you know what? I’ll trust you if you start getting a good night’s sleep every night. Agreed?”

  Nate glanced behind to her with an annoyed expression, and then he sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll sleep, ok? But, don’t blame me if we get attacked in the middle of the night. I’m a heavy sleeper.”

  “As you should be…” Kiara had made eye contact with him when he looked back and she could tell that he was not happy with her. Was it the fact that she had wandered into danger in the first place? Or that he had to go out of the way to save her? Or was it her being wimpy about the dirtiness of her clothes? Either way, Kiara felt obligated to make amends somehow.

  “Thank you for saving my life,” she said softly. Nate seemed to get caught off guard and he stumbled. Kiara wondered if he’d twisted his ankle, but he quickly regained his balance and acted as if he was not embarrassed about it.

  “Uh… You’re welcome…”

  The way Nate said those words, it was like he had never spoken them in his life. Any hint of manners or politeness seemed to be out of his league, but here, he displayed a flicker of some civilized behavior. Kiara was both uplifted and disturbed by it. She was glad to hear him respond so warmly, but at the same time, she felt that maybe he had never heard the words “thank you” spoken to him. Or, if he had, it had been a very long time since those words had graced his ears.

  Kiara respected his space until his stability - both physically and emotionally - were restored. In no time, Nate was back to being the strict, stiff, stick-in-the-mud that he was before, refusing to look back at her or talk about anything irrelevant to their journey.

  Despite his odd reaction, Kiara really was thankful for his courageous efforts to pull her from the quicksand pit. By now, she would have been nothing more than one more victim of the bog. Deep down, he must have cared about her in some way as more than a quick way to get a lot of money. He had to have seen her as something more than just a prize or a key to success. She saw the way he looked at her occasionally and he looked at her as more than just a prize. Kiara had a feeling that maybe they really had known each other from somewhere else, but she couldn’t possibly think from where. However, he was too sensitive to the subject, so she wouldn’t bring it up.

  After what seemed like hours of walking Kiara peeked around Nate’s body to see a welcome sight. Light. Sunlight! Kiara grinned from ear to ear and forgot all about her weariness and fatigue. She looked ahead at the path and saw there were no alternate routes to take and nothing was blocking her way. It was a straight shot to the wide-open sky and Kiara wasn’t about to miss it.

  She burst forward into an excited run, bolting past Nate, almost causing him to fall right into a bubbling tar pit next to him. Kiara didn’t pay any mind. She knew he was fine as she pushed her way past the low-lying branches and moss that were brushing against her sides.

  Kiara jumped out of the bog and onto solid, rich green grass, immersing herself in the warm sunlight, bathing in the fresh air. Ahead, were rolling hills and trees that looked very much alive, as well as a sparkling blue river that slithered off to the east. If Kiara didn’t know any better, she would have thought she was back in her father’s country. The landscape was so beautiful and luscious, she felt like she was in one of the scenes from a storybook. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, feeling refreshed.

  Nate joined her a moment later and walked right past her, tossing his walking stick back into the thick woods.

  “We have to keep moving,” he called out to her, following an invisible path up towards the shelter of the trees on the hill.

  Kiara opened her eyes and grimaced at how well Nate could ruin a perfectly good moment. Her energy sank once again, realizing that those beautiful rolling hills in front of her would have to be conquered and she didn’t feel up to the task of more walking ahead. She began to trudge on ahead, gazing at the blue sky and fluffy scattered clouds above, remaining quiet despite her rising spirits.

  After they made it over one of the hills, Kiara realized that they were drawing closer to the river - more like it was curving towards them. Nate, still being in front of her, didn’t even look like he had the urge to refill his canteen. However, Kiara was too thirsty to wait for him to take such an initiative.

  While Nate was busy surveying the land on top of a large rock, she slipped off to the shores of the creek to take a drink. Kiara crouched down by the water’s edge. The river looked so clean and clear that she could see the pebbles that made up its bed. What she found peculiar was that there seemed to be no fish. Not even a minnow. Around the shores, no grass or plant life grew. Kiara did not ponder for more than a minute. Her parched throat refused to let her think more of whether or not to test the water for safety.

  Just before she reached down to scoop up two handfuls of water to raise to her lips, Nate shouted and dragged her away from the shore.

  “What?” Kiara hollered as Nate pulled her up onto her feet by her arms.

  “Are you nuts!?”

  “No, why? What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t touch that water!” Nate scolded, pointing an angry finger at the slowly moving river.

  “Why not? It looks fine to me!” Kiara placed her hands on her hips defiantly.

  “That river is pure acid! It runs straight from the Field of Fire and it’s polluted with sulfur and all sorts of harmful stuff… Look.” Nate picked up a handful of ripe grass and tossed it in the air, letting the leaves flutter down to the surface of the water, where they immediately shrivel into an ash-like powder and floated to the bottom.

  “Oh…” Kiara said with understanding. She glanced between the river, the bog to which it flowed and back to Nate, “So, is that why the bog has tar pits and sink-holes?”

  “Pretty much. The river is going to be our one guide to the Shin Mountains. The snow caps of the mountains melt, making this river and it ends at the bog,” Nate explained as he began to walk back towards another hill that they had to climb.

  “So, if it starts at the mountains and ends at the bog, then when does it cross the Field of Fire to make it toxic?” Kiara asked, following close behind and putting as much distance from her and the shore as she could.

  “I’m not sure. It may take a sharp turn west somewhere between here and the mountains. I don’t think we’ll have to cross a part of the field if we just keep going north, followin
g the mountains.”

  Kiara looked up ahead and saw the Shin Mountains to the north, with their snowy tops and stony bases. She had never been that close to the mountains herself - consciously anyway - but she could always see them from afar off from Aleph. Kiara kept her mouth shut as they traveled, despite her feet hurting and burning once more from the blisters and the difficult climb they had to make to get over the hills.

  There was much on her mind, but what remained prevalent in her thoughts was how beautiful the countryside was. It was as if she had stepped into a whole new world. It reminded her of the warmth and gentleness of home.

  It reminded her so much of home, that she remembered a simple song that her father used to sing to her as a lullaby. He sang of hills and a river just like the one they were following - minus the toxicity. What was most astounding was that Kiara could remember every word. To avoid looking or sounding like an imbecile, she decided not to sing the song that was in her heart at the moment. Instead, she began to hum the tune.

  It wasn’t long before her humming came to the attention of Nate. He stopped and turned around to face her. He looked so irritated and frustrated and Kiara stopped dead in her tracks and stared up at him, both surprised and confused.

  “What was that?” he asked with all seriousness.

  “I was humming. My father used to sing a song to me about mountains and the blue sky and this whole landscape reminded me so much of the song that I felt like singing it, but I knew you wouldn’t tolerate that, so I began to hum and…”

  “I won’t tolerate humming, either.”

  Kiara gazed hurtfully at Nate, who then turned back north and continued walking as if nothing was wrong. No humming? No singing? No talking? Was there anything this man would tolerate?

  So, she took a deep, solemn breath and kept walking behind him like a wounded kitten. It was then that she realized she really had to put off all idea of having fun on this trip as long as her safety depended on it. That fact, made her unutterably miserable and her head hung low upon her chest.

  Nate and Kiara came upon a berry grove not far from the river’s west bank just a little into the afternoon. Kiara, in her melancholy mood, had no appetite for berries or fruits, but her stomach was growling incessantly.