Inside the cave was a massive lumpy form hidden under blankets. He removed the covers and her mouth fell open. The boat was huge. It stood as tall as Baya. It had two distinct halves. The back end was open and wider, with two long benches running along either side. They ended with another shorter bench.
“This is the back of the boat.” Vicaroy pointed to the smallest bench. “We’ll steer the boat from back here.”
Baya managed to nod.
A covered compartment made up the front half of the boat, which tapered to a point at its nose.
“How were you able to make this?” Baya said.
“I’ve been working on it for a while. You’ve been so busy with school and this was a way to pass the time. Actually, I’ve been collecting the wood for about a year, it came together rather quickly, once I started building it. Finding the perfect driftwood was the hard part.”
“Wow.” Baya ran her hand along the side of the boat. It felt sturdy.
“After I built my canoe I wanted to try to build a boat like the ones carved on the palace doors.”
“Like the ones from the time of Ameris,” Baya whispered.
“What do you think?”
“It … It’s amazing. It could hold ten people.”
“Fifteen actually. It will be enough to carry a couple of people and their supplies off this island.”
“This might actually work.” Baya looked at him with wide eyes. “You’ve been planning this all along. You always wanted to leave the island.”
“Not at first. I wanted to see if I could build something this big and see if it would still float. I wanted to take it out at night and learn to sail, yet I never thought about truly leaving the garden or Azod and, of course, I couldn’t leave you.”
He looked away sheepishly. “Sometimes I wondered about what it would be like to leave but I never actually thought I would — until everything changed yesterday.” He frowned. “My old life is gone … for good. And this is the life I want now, to find out what is out there.”
“And yet a part of you must have suspected this day would come and you wanted to be prepared,” Baya said.
Vicaroy shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe. But really, I started making this boat for something to do, nothing more.”
Baya nodded. She believed him. “Can I ask you something?” She didn’t wait for a response. “You knew that getting close to me could cost you dearly and yet you still befriended me?”
“Azod always warned me about the mistresses. He says women are trouble but I couldn’t have stayed away if I’d wanted to. I …” he paused then changed what he was about to say. “I’ve always been … drawn to you. I mean, you’re my best friend.”
“Yeah.” Baya bit her lower lip and looked away. He had lost everything because of her and yet he didn’t regret becoming her friend.
Chapter 32
Shema was carried out of the palace gates on her sedan chair. The four theos who upheld the sedan didn’t appear to strain in the least. They carried her smoothly across the town square and up to the platform that overlooked the immense coliseum. This was where all important town celebrations occurred and where Shema would address her subjects.
The Unawi’s presence in public always sent a ripple through the city. If it was not a major holiday, then it meant she had an important announcement. And today was not a holiday. So the citizens of Una Sitka gathered quickly — always hungry for news.
The ruler sat elegantly atop a high throne that overlooked the coliseum floor far below. She waited patiently for the masses to fill the thousands of seats stretching out in an oval shape around her. When it appeared that most of the city had gathered, she rose to address them in the loudest voice she could muster. “Thank you all for coming. You are here to witness the banishment of one of my very own palace workers.”
On cue, Vicaroy was marched out onto the coliseum floor surrounded by four of Shema’s theos. Gasps and whispers spread through the crowd. He was forced to stand facing the direction of the Unawi, even though she was high above. He kept his chin down.
“I’m sure you are all curious what this boy did to deserve banishment. He made and was using a …” Shema paused to build suspense. “A boat.”
More gasps were heard from those closest to Shema and the noise of the crowd spread as her words were passed across the stadium by her top priestesses. She held up Vicaroy’s oar as evidence of his betrayal.
“Vicaroy!” She boomed. “Do you admit to the people of Una Sitka that you committed this crime?”
Without hesitation Vicaroy nodded that he did. He wanted to get the humiliation over with as soon as possible. He’d been caught with the boat and Shema continued to hold his oar out in front of her as a symbol of his guilt for all to see. No one would believe him over the high priestess who had found him. His punishment would only be worse if he denied it.
More gasps and even shouts from religious zealots could be heard. “How dare you defy the Great Goddess?” one man yelled above the roar of the crowd.
“You will bring Her wrath down upon us,” another shouted.
Shema held her arm out and it took some time before the people quieted down.
“Let me take this moment to remind all of you about the dangers that lie beyond Pathins,” the Unawi began. “The Almighty Goddess gave us this fruitful island and She guides us with Her laws that were clearly laid out for us. She did this because She loves us. She wants to keep us safe. This land and Her sacred scrolls are proof of this.”
Shema slowly lowered her arm. “The creation of boats is forbidden. This is for our own protection. The High Council and I work hard every day to continue to protect the Goddess’s island paradise. We must live by Ameris’s laws if we wish to remain safe. The punishments for breaking Her laws are severe.”
The ruler paused so that her words could be passed through the crowd before continuing, “If people defy Ameris then She will lower the powerful walls of protection that surround this wonderful and peaceful land. Womenkind would become hunted once again. All would perish. We are to remain here where we are free.”
The Unawi smiled as if she were looking down upon children. “There is no need to leave this Divine Island that Ameris so graciously provided for us. Any attempt to do so is a grave violation that brings about consequences.”
Shema dramatically threw her arms out, holding the oar over her head. The crowd roared their approval. Shema had always been able to move the masses with her impassioned speeches, which Aga helped write.
Vicaroy was marched out of the square. Once on the main street a crowd gathered behind Vicaroy as the four theos escorted him far out of town. He tried to ignore the murmuring of the crowd but the occasional shouts were impossible to tune out. The most religiously devout amongst them were furious that he would dare to put Pathins in such danger.
Baya followed, keeping her distance behind the crowd. She had watched the public spectacle from her mother’s side, as Aga had demanded. Otherwise Baya would not have gone. The last thing she wanted was to see the man she loved publicly shamed.
There were no tears to hold back from her mother. Baya only felt a growing anger for a society that would treat Vicaroy like this. He was a loving and caring person — one of the few truly good people that she knew — and yet this community would cast him out like dirt.
Fay should be the one in his place, Baya thought.
Once the crowd reached the outskirts of the city most stopped following the criminal procession. Vicaroy paused to scan the remaining faces for Baya. Their eyes met briefly and she gave him a knowing nod, her face expressionless. He gave a slight tilt of the head in return.
She turned on her heel and headed back into the city.
The theos were to escort him even farther North — far out of the city.
Vicaroy was glad to see Baya had come all this way. She was the only one who had not forsaken him.
Azod had refused to partake in the public spectacle. He had said his goodb
yes just outside the palace walls. Vicaroy had been instructed to return to the palace gates that morning. Azod was allowed to give him any possessions he deemed necessary. The theos took Vicaroy away and Azod returned to his home to weep for the boy he had raised, the son of the woman he had once loved.
The theos stayed with him longer than Vicaroy had expected. It was not until they were at the base of the mountain range that they unceremoniously turned and headed back toward the city. Vicaroy traveled north a bit farther until he was sure that they were gone and that no crazed zealots were still following him.
The mountains that loomed ahead were many times taller than the ones that surrounded their cove. He had always wondered what it was like in the North. It was colder than Una Sitka, so he’d heard. He shivered at the thought of the long trek up and over the huge mountains with only the pack on his back.
Thankfully, he wouldn’t be going that way.
Instead of continuing north he darted off the trail and headed east. Being farther out of town than he had ever been before he didn’t know how long it would take him to reach the cove. He had to stay off the main road, or any road, for that matter. He had to make his own path through the forest back to the cove. He prayed that he could get back before dark or it would be impossible to find his way.
Chapter 33
Once again Vicaroy’s prayers had been answered as he had been able to make his way back to the cove.
The preparations for their journey began at once. Baya joined Vicaroy most afternoons as soon as she could slip away from her interim duties in the palace. There wasn’t much for her to do in the palace since she had officially completed her education. Fay already did most of the grunt work, which she quickly tried to push off onto Baya.
Not on your life, Baya thought, as she conjured the sweetest smile she could muster. “I would never take any of your important duties away from you, Fay.”
It was required that Baya join the priestesses for the morning protection rituals, as she was to learn how to carry on these traditions. Directly afterward, she’d head to the library to scour through the old scrolls.
Baya was familiar with many of them but this time she was looking at them with a different purpose. She looked for clues about the world beyond Pathins, anything she might have passed over as unimportant before — specifically, things that were not covered in her formal education. For example, a map of the world would have been incredibly helpful. Yet the geography section only contained maps of Pathins.
Beyond the common warnings about the “big bad world” that awaited beyond Pathins she didn’t find much of use. Baya re-read the stories of the city where Ameris lived before she brought her people to Pathins.
When Ameris first came to this world She’d made Her home in a city called Merth. All accounts had been adamant that there were no survivors left behind, when Ameris and Her followers set out for the Holy Land of Plenty, Pathins.
A number of years of drought had caused crops to fail. People began to go hungry as well as animals that relied on foliage. When these animals died off, the predators that fed on such prey became more of a threat to the human population. It was a time of great famine and deadly attacks from wild beasts. The mistresses were taught that all who didn’t follow Ameris to the new land had perished.
Buried in the back of a shelf underneath a pile of scrolls, Baya uncovered one that had not been unrolled in a very long time. She thought the parchment might break apart in her hands. Very carefully she unrolled it and quickly became immersed in its material.
Baya hardly moved until she had read it in full. It told of an uprising by a group of people who didn’t believe that Ameris knew of such a perfect land. They thought Her talk of the island of Pathins was a ruse — some sort of trick — a land that never got too hot or too cold, a place where all the predators could be banished forever, a place that would never suffer a drought. According to some this was too good to be true.
These faithless people opted to remain behind. Ameris believed that She and Her followers were better off without these non-believers. Yet this was just one account, which seemed to contradict what Baya had read before. She had been taught that Ameris loved all humans and had come down from the heavens to save them all in their time of great need.
She never would have left anyone behind. Or would She? Baya wondered ...
Whether or not there had been survivors was impossible to discern. Even if there were humans who had stayed in Merth there was no indication that they could have survived the drought and animal attacks. There also was no record of a way to find the ancient society of Merth, no maps, no clues.
After days of searching the scrolls, Baya was losing hope. Any maps of the world must have been lost or — more likely — purposefully destroyed hundreds of years ago.
Her relentless searching led her to the bottom shelf in the back of the vast royal library. Under a couple of decades of dust was a pile of scrolls that caught her eye. She brushed cobwebs aside to read some of the titles. Her heart leapt. Maps! Hopefully they weren’t more maps of Pathins. That was the last thing she needed.
The first one was indeed of Pathins, but it was much older and more rudimentary than the ones in the main areas of the library. Many of the more modern cities were not marked and the shape of the island was not as well defined as on the newer maps. It must’ve been one of the first maps of the island. She quickly unrolled the next one and sighed. “Pathins.” Another — Una Sitka. Another — Pathins, again. She tossed them behind her, no longer caring about damaging these useless texts.
Another and another — smaller cities around the island. She was expecting more of the same and almost tossed it over her shoulder when the word “Merth” caught her eye at the top of the page. She jumped to her feet and let out a victory yelp.
She quickly glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before delving into the map. It contained an outline of a city and not much else — no indication as to where that city might be located. So she quickly snatched another scroll and unrolled it, being more careful this time. Her lips parted as she read the title, The World as We Know It.
Baya glanced at the large map briefly but was curious about the remaining parchments. The next was a text she had never read before followed by a couple more maps of the world. She scooped all pertinent texts up into her arms and headed out.
Baya was filled with excitement as she headed for the alcove. She was even more careful than usual about being followed. She made herself and all she carried blend into the forest long before she reached the hidden trailhead.
These weren’t forbidden texts, per se, she mused as she hiked up the steep hill. They had simply been forgotten. They’d been filed away and, without a need for this information, they’d been cast aside as useless.
The information about the world beyond Pathins hadn’t been relevant for a millennium ... unless someone was crazy enough to leave this paradise island. That’s how confident the leaders of Pathins were. These maps were preserved for history, yet why would anyone be interested in them? Well, Baya, for one, was very interested.
Chapter 34
Baya unrolled a large scroll on the bow of the boat. It was a chart of the night sky. “With my knowledge of the stars, I will be able to guide us. This scroll here,” Baya held up another parchment. “Describes vast lands to the East. Of course, they don’t say how far East.”
“So, we sail East.” Vicaroy rubbed the back of his neck and shifted uncomfortably.
“You okay?”
“Yep. Hey, will you teach me how to read the stars?”
Baya frowned. He was a terrible liar — something was clearly wrong. “Sure. There’ll be plenty of time while we sail for me to show you.”
“I need to know now.”
Baya narrowed her eyes. “Why? We have more pressing things to think about and I imagine it will be quite boring for days on end at sea.”
“Please — teach me now.”
Baya shook her head
. “Okay.” There was still much to do to prepare for their journey and time was running out. Yet it was not worth fighting over, so she began a brief summary.
“You see this star here.” She pointed at the map. “It’s called the immotile star. Unlike most of the other stars, this one is special. It remains in the same place throughout the night. It always hangs in the Eastern sky surrounded by the constellation of Ameris.”
She outlined the shapely figure of a woman in the stars on the map. “It’s the holiest of constellations. That’s why it’s thought to bring good luck to girls who are born when Ameris stands upright in the night’s sky.”
Vicaroy nodded. He had heard people say things like, “Ameris stands tonight, so we have luck on our side.” He had not fully understood what that meant until now. “And we follow this star Eastward?”
Baya smiled. He was a fast learner. “That’s right. And the largest sun will guide us by day.”
Vicaroy studied the map intently. “Perhaps I — I mean we should leave when Ameris’s constellation is upright.”
“You’re not usually so superstitious.” Baya studied the map. “Although, we could use all the luck we can get. Ameris is lying flat now. She will have to rotate two-hundred and seventy degrees before she stands again.”
Baya rotated her fingers along the map indicating the path of Ameris’s constellation. She closed her eyes and did some quick mental calculations. “The constellation won’t stand upright again for over one-hundred days.”
Vicaroy frowned. “We don’t have that long. Someone will find me and the boat will be destroyed. I will be imprisoned for life if Shema finds my weapons. I’m not even supposed to be near the city, remember, let alone making a real boat to leave the island.”
“Right.” Baya’s stomach clenched at the thought of Vicaroy being caught. “We have to leave as soon as possible.”
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