by Day Leitao
“What?”
Cayla gestured for silence. Suddenly, she opened her eyes wide. “Someone’s coming. We need to hide.”
She got up and got out of the tent. Karina still hadn’t heard anything, but she thought perhaps her companion was suffering from the same anxiety that had gotten her. Karina started to put the shoes around her waist, but before she finished, Cayla came back and pulled her hand. “Come.”
One of the shoes fell as they walked outside the tent. “My shoe!”
Cayla was strong and had already pulled Karina away from the spot. “We’ll get it back later. Come.” She headed to a tree and started climbing it.
Karina followed with a lot of difficulty, while the princess looked down in desperation, trying to hurry her. When Karina was a few branches below her travel companion, the girl gestured for her to stop and be silent. Cayla lay on top of her thick branch, so that she was partially hidden from whoever was below, and Karina tried to do the same. She looked down, trying to find the fallen shoe, but she couldn’t see it. She felt the remaining shoe on her waist, and wondered whether she could lift the other one using magic, but perhaps she needed to wear the shoes for them to have an effect, or have someone else wear them. Or something. Or perhaps this was some big nonsense. She wished the shoes had come with an instruction manual.
Karina couldn’t hear anything other than leaves, the wind, and small insects. Perhaps their fear had been just paranoia. Grabbing a branch was uncomfortable, not only the physical discomfort, but also that uncomfortable feeling of expecting something not to happen. How long does one wait for nothing? Not long, as she saw a group of five or six people, walking silently and yet fast towards their tent. No wonder she hadn’t heard them. Someone walked to the tent and looked inside.
“Empty,” a young woman said softly but loud enough to be heard from the tree. “They can’t be far. You two stay here. The rest, come, we’ll find them.”
At that moment Karina’s heart started to race, because the woman’s words meant they were looking for someone. She rested her face against the branch, hoping it would hide her. Below them, people were moving around. After a few minutes, everyone seemed to have gone somewhere else. Karina wanted to look down to see what was happening, but her body refused to move. That proved a good thing, because seconds afterward she heard a woman’s voice.
“I don’t know. I still think this is a trap.”
A man replied, “You think our commander’s sister would set us up?”
“Not her. The boy she hangs out with.”
“Wow, now, some respect,” the man replied. “He’s done more for us than anyone.”
“I know, but I won’t forget that he’s General Keen’s son. And has that brother. How do you suppose she knows the sisters are here?”
“He’s certainly well connected,” the man replied.
“Too well connected, that’s what I think,” the woman said. “Now tell, me, what would two princesses be doing down here, all by themselves? Isn’t it, just… too easy?”
There was some silence before the man replied, “Well, it is odd. Still, if they are here, it’s our great chance.”
“And yet, if it’s a trap, it might be our end.”
“Why did you come then?”
“I’m not a coward.”
The man didn’t reply and the woman didn’t say anything anymore. The mention of two princesses meant that they were really looking for them, perhaps thinking Karina was Ayanna. But nobody knew they would go to these hills. On the other hand, two people knew they had been dropped off near the foot of those mountains. A guy and a girl, just like “the traitor” and “the sister” in the conversation. And who were those people anyways?
After a while, the man said, “They’re still searching, no sign of them.”
“Hum,” the woman replied, “whoever walked up the hills and set this tent must still be close, or else they would’ve left tracks. They can’t have disappeared by magic.”
“Well, technically, what if…”
“What, magic?”
“Why not?”
The woman laughed. “Some hypocrisy from our adorable king. But I still doubt it. Trust me, they’re close. I’m going to climb the trees and look.”
At that moment Karina didn’t know if her heart stopped or sped or jumped. She certainly stopped breathing for a few seconds.
The man asked, “Didn’t you think this was a trap?”
“The sooner we find the bait, the sooner we find out. Whistle if you see anyone, even if they’re friends. I’ll whistle as well.”
The woman’s voice sounded farther away from before, as if she had already made her way to another tree, thankfully not theirs. Still, she would eventually find Karina and Cayla, unless she missed their tree, gave up, or someone called her somewhere else. Poor odds there. The feeling of patiently waiting to be caught was anything but pleasant, and yet, it felt unreal, as if Karina had to disconnect herself from the reality awaiting her.
But before she disconnected too much, Cayla brought her back. “Two against one. It’s our chance. Let’s go.”
Go? Seriously?
Cayla had already climbed down from her branch and she pulled Karina. “Down, quickly. We can run.”
Karina started climbing down, unsure if that was really a good idea. Cayla was already further down. Karina then heard the sound of a loud bird. Or was that the man whistling?
“Jump and run!” Cayla yelled before doing what she had suggested.
A jump from that height could result in a broken leg, but Karina didn’t want to wait by herself on the tree, so she jumped, falling on soft ground, without any broken leg or sprained ankle, realizing the jump hadn’t been as high as she’d thought. She saw the back of a man running after something: Cayla. Before Karina weighed her options, someone pushed her to the ground and sat on her, then pulled her arms with one hand and pushed her face down with the other. The coarse ground scraped her cheek. Then the person above her—the woman—grunted and got up.
Cayla yelled, “Get up, fight!”
This time it was really Cayla, not some weird voice. Karina got up and saw Cayla against the woman, who was younger and smaller than she had imagined, and wore clothes similar to Darian’s and Zayra’s. Then another girl came, and she went for Cayla. The princess kept both of them away mainly by moving fast, turning and kicking. Karina looked around, searching for something to throw at them, but soon realized that they were moving too fast and she would miss, or worse, she might hit Cayla. She decided then to kick the girl and see if, together with Cayla, they could defeat both her and the woman. But out of the corner of her eye something glimmered in the sunlight: her shoe. It was far from the tent, farther than their equipment, which had been spread on the floor, and far from the fight. Karina ran to the shoe, grabbed it and started running, but she soon tripped and fell. The shoe flew far ahead of her. She felt some rope around her feet, meaning that she had not fallen from sheer incompetence.
“Get up and come with me,” the man told her.
Karina obeyed, but with a lot of difficulty because her feet were tied, and jumping with feet together in an uneven slope was not the easiest thing to do. The man pushed her forward, back to where, from the grunts and yells, the fight was still going on. The woman now had a little knife in her hand, but Cayla kicked it then picked it up. The other girl mainly circled Cayla, and backed up, afraid.
Strangely, the man clapped. It didn’t sound mocking or sarcastic, but a regular clap. “Great effort girl, now that’s enough.”
Cayla either didn’t hear or pretended not to, as she kept advancing towards the woman.
“Enough, girl!” the man repeated.
The princess still ignored him. The man ran towards Cayla, and as the girl and the woman distracted her, he pushed the princess. As she fell to the ground, the woman quickly sat on her and immobilized her, the same way she had done to Karina. The man tied the princess’s hand and feet. Being ignored, Karina
accomplished a couple jumps, distancing herself from them, but she soon realized she would go nowhere tied like that. She sat and tried to untie herself, but found it difficult because she had strips of a jagged cloth tangled and adhered to each other everywhere, not a rope with a simple knot or opening. She fumbled through the strips, then heard people near her. Cayla was sweaty and red, and had hands and feet tied. The man and woman tied Karina’s hands and tied both girls to a tree. The girl went somewhere else. Cayla whispered to Karina, “Did you see the advantage of two against one? Thank you for your help.”
In a way, Karina understood that she hadn’t helped, but, on the other hand, it had not been her fault. “I don’t know how to fight.”
“Seriously? All I needed was a little help.”
“I tried. It was fast, confusing, and that thing that got my feet.”
“Your feet got caught? I jumped. See? You have to think.”
Karina didn’t like the accusation, and plus, she was not even sure fighting or resisting would have helped. “They have people all around the hill. How far would we have gone?”
“Farther than we did, that’s for sure.”
9
Fingers
The woman approached them and looked attentively at Karina. “What’s your name, girl?”
“Don’t answer anything,” Cayla whispered.
The woman didn’t insist on an answer and instead turned to the man. “That’s not Ayanna.”
“How do you know?” he asked.
“She’s too old to be the younger princess.”
Cayla then said, “You know I’m not a princess either, right? Why would I be here without guards? This is a trap, and you should let me go and save yourselves while you still have time.”
“You fight too well, girl,” the woman replied. “Lots of free time. You’re the real thing.”
Cayla squinted and stared at the woman, then, after a while, said, “Maybe I was sent here because I can fight, so that I can take all of you at the right moment.”
The woman laughed. “Well, for one, if you were an impostor, you wouldn’t say so. And two, if you were here to fight, why would you have a partner who can’t defeat a flower?”
Ouch, that hurt Karina’s feelings.
Cayla laughed. “Sure, trust that. You’ll see. You’re all alone and soon you’ll be caught.”
The woman looked at Cayla. “Is that supposed to be funny or scary?”
“Funny,” Cayla replied. “For me. I’m going to be laughing soon.”
The woman nodded. “Oh, I see.” She turned to the man. “Lionel, I don’t think she’s the princess. I think she’s the fool.”
They both laughed. Cayla spit on the woman’s face. Karina was impressed with the precision, speed, and distance, wondering if spit contest was a royal sport in those parts.
The man became serious but the woman only cleaned her face with the back of her hand and kept laughing. “Great aim. You really have some misused talent, girl.” Then she became serious. “Little advice: don’t do this to Rose.”
“I don’t need advice,” Cayla replied.
The woman turned to Lionel. “See? Any doubt who’s the princess here?”
“Nope.”
Cayla yelled, “I might not be a fool but I can fool you.”
The woman raised her eyebrow. “Of course. You’re an expert impostor and I’m sure a swarm of lifts is coming to catch us.”
“I’m glad you’re aware.” Cayla smiled.
The man and woman stepped away and talked quietly to each other. Even with effort, Karina couldn’t hear what was being said. Cayla wiggled and struggled trying to untie herself. Karina didn’t see the point in it but she moved a little, pretending she was also trying to free herself, just so that her friend didn’t get mad. Karina was anxious to get this situation solved soon, wondering if they would be taken to Lylah’s castle and if throwing only one shoe would do the trick, even though she had no idea what the trick was. Or maybe everything was going wrong, but then she remembered Odell telling them that they would be rescued, that everything would be all right. Those thoughts put her at ease, she only wished Cayla would also remember what she was told. But perhaps Karina had to remind her.
She whispered as close as Cayla’s ear as she could, “Remember what he told us? Before we came?”
Cayla looked as if she had not understood, until she finally seemed to remember. “No, no. This is different…”
The woman approached them. “Different from what?”
That was Karina’s question as well.
Cayla replied, “From the way you are going to be captured.”
The woman sighed. “I know. Unfortunately, not everyone is as nice as we are.”
Cayla looked away. At least she didn’t try to come up with a smart reply, because it would have been awkward at that moment. Karina heard steps approaching the clearing, and soon three people joined the man and woman who had been watching them, but two of them soon went away. The person who remained was a young woman with short hair, and, unlike the others, wearing a dress. Karina made an effort to hear their conversation even though they were not very close.
The short-haired woman who had just come said, “Sonja, Lionel, good job. Did you confirm their identity?”
The woman, Sonja, replied, “The oldest girl is princess Cayla. I have no idea who the other one is.”
“We haven’t questioned them,” Lionel added. “We identified the princess because of her behavior. I suppose one princess is enough.”
The short-haired woman approached the girls. Karina noticed she had thick black lines painted on her cheeks, like some war painting, or perhaps meaning that she was their leader. Strangely, the paint looked good on her, in a menacing way, but still good.
The woman crouched, pulled a short knife then addressed Cayla and Karina. “I’m going to do this once. Who are you and what are you doing here?”
Karina trembled with a dreadful sense of danger, noticing that the woman’s eyes were pure hatred. And to think Karina had been afraid of Nia. The woman held the knife as if she meant to use it, and if this had been a game, it would have stopped being any fun. But since Karina could not quit, she started blurting the truth. “My name’s Karina, I’m not from here—”
“We’re not saying anything! We’re not saying anything!” Cayla continued to shout until Karina stopped trying to tell where she was from and what she was doing.
“Just take us to Lylah,” Karina pleaded.
At this point, all Karina wanted was to find the woman, witch or not, give her the freaking shoes, and go home.
The woman laughed. “Sure, Lylah, our savior, the one we wait and wait and wait. Or else, Lylah, the enemy, the faceless threat hanging upon us.” She faced Karina. “I’m not taking you to where Lylah is, and do you know why? One, it would be bloody. Two, I don’t want to lose a hostage. Lylah is dead, girl, dead.”
Karina swallowed. Somehow, the news distressed her a lot, especially now that she was starting to consider the so-called evil witch a very nice woman. It also made their journey useless. Why were they out facing dangers to defeat a dead woman? Also, if Lylah was dead, who were those people, and why were they after them?
A teenage boy came panting and spoke to the shorthaired woman, “Nothing. They’re alone.”
He turned around, as if to walk away again, when something caught his eye. He knelt in front of Cayla, pointing to her necklace. “What is that?”
Cayla looked elsewhere and remained silent.
The boy got up and addressed the woman with the face paint. “Rose, that’s Darian’s twin, I’m pretty sure. I told your sister his necklace must have had a twin, she never believed me.” He glanced at Cayla. “They must be… you know. Does he know she’s here?”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Of course he knows. How do you think we found her? Now, I need a big favor from you, very important. I need you to check the Black River bank, see if anyone’s coming from that side.”
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br /> “You want me to go alone?”
“I’m sure you can handle it. Go.”
The boy nodded and departed. Rose, Lionel and Sonja exchanged glances. Rose crouched in front of Cayla and looked at her necklace, then got up and whispered to the others, but this time Karina could still hear them. “He’s right, it is a twin necklace, and it’s just like Darian’s.”
Sonja turned to Lionel. “I told you he was too well connected.”
Lionel was serious. “Speaking of which, does Darian know about this?”
Rose stared at him. “You too? Take your guess.”
The man looked down.
Sonja put her hand on his shoulder. “Sometimes we got to do what we got to do.”
Rose glanced again at Cayla then turned to the others. “We’ll figure Darian later. I just want to deal with the girl.” She crouched in front of Cayla, and touched her necklace. “So you are the mysterious girl.”
The woman grabbed the orange stone on her hand and pulled the necklace, but it didn’t come out.
“Don’t,” Cayla pleaded.
Rose kept trying until she succeeded in pulling the necklace. She threw it on the floor and stepped on it, making a crashing sound. Tears ran down Cayla’s eyes. The princess then spat on Rose’s face. The woman wiped it, and some of the paint on her cheek came out, revealing a thick red scar.
She knelt in front of Cayla and put her knife on the girl’s face. “Do you want one like this?” she asked, touching her own scar.
Cayla remained silent, staring at her.
“Do you?” the woman repeated, and her knife was pierced the girl’s face, revealing a little blood. Sonja and Lionel stepped closer, watching Rose.