“You’re good with them. You’ve had practice with your sister. I could hear her screaming right through the walls last night.”
Aarow punched Jinn gently on the arm. “Her stomach gets upset sometimes. I’ve heard you scream often enough when you’re not feeling your best.”
He didn’t mind rescuing the baby. He liked babies. He just hoped they got there in time to save it. It would break his heart to have to bury a baby in the sand.
“I’ve never screamed in my life,” said Jinn, trying to hook Aarow in a headlock and failing when Aarow deflected in time. It didn’t help that Aarow was at least a foot taller than him.
“Cut it out, you two,” said Toran. “Kara wants me back by sundown.”
“Oh, Kaaaaaaara,” Jinn chided, holding his hand to his lips and making kissing noises. “Kiss me, Toran, kiss me!”
“Jealous,” said Toran, refusing to take the bait.
Aarow adjusted his scarf, agreeing that Jinn was indeed jealous. He was desperate for a girlfriend, but it seemed no girl was desperate for him just yet. As for Aarow, things were more complicated than the love lives of both his friends put together, however, he didn’t have time to think about that right now.
The three men formed a circle and held out their hands. They knocked their fists together and released their fingers to splay their hands dramatically.
“Boom!” they shouted together, laughing at this handshake they’d used since they were children. It never ceased to amuse them, no matter how foolish it was. The handshake bonded them, reminding them of their long-standing history. Important to remember as they headed out into a situation that was no-doubt dangerous. Working as a team was key to a successful rescue, along with strength and endurance.
Toran pulled back the thatched gate at the entrance to the caves and Aarow squinted as bright sun scorched his eyes. He tucked his scarf a little lower over his brow as the seriousness of what they were about to do washed over him. It didn’t matter how many rescues he went out on, saving a life would always be a privilege.
The three friends began their long walk, knowing there were many thousands of steps between here and the Joshua tree. At least there was a river at their destination as a reward. Today they’d all take a bath under the blue sky, just like Spector.
The sun was burning, as always, and the wind blew, as always. Hot grains of red sand flew at them, getting into their eyes no matter how much they squinted.
With only his mind to amuse him as the monotonous scenery passed by, Aarow found himself thinking of the story he’d heard his mother whispering to Bindi during their restless night, trying to lull her to sleep. It was her favorite story and one she’d told him when he was a child.
As Aarow pushed his footsteps forward he told himself the story, practicing how he’d tell it to his own children one day.
Once there was a Prince whose parents wished for him to marry a princess. A trail of women came to the palace, all claiming to be princesses in the hope of becoming his bride. The Prince found fault with each of them, asking his parents how they could possibly be real princesses when they were so far from perfect. He was convinced that when he found a real princess, he’d recognize her with his heart as well as his eyes. Otherwise, what would be the point in marrying her? He didn’t want a marriage without love.
One night, a terrible storm blew up, with thunder and lightning and pelting rain. Aarow pictured the storm now, trying to let the cold of his imagination filter through to his body that was burning up in the sun, but it was no use. Sweat continued to trickle down the curve of his spine and the fabric of his clothes remained plastered to his skin.
However, in the story, it was cold and stormy, and the King was surprised to hear a knock at the palace door. He opened it to find a girl standing there, dripping wet and begging for shelter. Despite her disheveled appearance, the girl claimed to be a princess, who’d traveled far, looking for her prince.
The King ushered the girl inside and led her to the fire, while the Queen had her servants make the girl a bed, piling a dozen soft mattresses on top of each other and placing a single pea underneath them all.
It’s at this point in the story when the Prince sees the girl for the first time. She was by the fire, wrapped in a blanket, eating a bowl of soup as her clothes dried out. He stopped to watch her, aware of his heart beating wildly as it tried to leap out of his chest and he knew his Princess had found him at last.
But before the Prince had a chance to talk to her, the Queen whisked her away to sleep in the bed she’d made up for her, keeping a close watch nearby as the girl tossed and turned all night.
In the morning, the Queen asked the girl how she slept, and the girl complained it was the worst sleep of her life, as there was a giant hard lump in the bed that bruised her all over. The Queen knew this must be a real princess, for who else could be so delicate as to feel a single pea through a dozen mattresses? So, the Queen presented the Princess to her son, who married her immediately and they lived happily ever after.
As Aarow walked on, he pondered this story, wondering why his mother liked it so much. Was she giving him a message? Because the truth was that if the Colony had queens and kings, Aarow would indeed be a prince. His father was their leader, having taken over from his father, and it was intended that Aarow would take over from him one day and be leader of the Colony. A position affectionally known as the Colonel. This was what complicated Aarow’s love life. The woman he chose to stand by his side would need to help lead the Colony. He had to choose carefully and so far, nobody had seemed right, despite the many girls who’d made it clear they were interested. Just like in the story, he was waiting to recognize her with his heart.
But there were no princesses in the desert for him to marry. He didn’t even want to marry a princess. If he ever fell in love, it would be with someone who was filled with courage and strength, not a woman who was so delicate she could feel a tiny pea underneath her bed. Was this why his mother told him this story? To give him hope that one day he’d find the woman he was looking for, no matter how difficult the search seemed?
Pushing this story from his mind for now, Aarow made his way up to the top of a steep dune with his two friends by his side, their footsteps slowing with the effort of the climb. The river wasn’t far now. It was all downhill from here—quite literally.
They paused at the summit and took a long sip from their waterskins.
Aarow squinted at the Joshua tree, unable to make out the clumps of spiky branches he knew were there. It was just a dot on the landscape. A dot that they’d been told had four human lives sheltering beneath it.
“Let’s do this,” he said to his friends.
“Hope we’re not too late,” said Jinn.
They brought their fists together, squinting as a gust of wind sent a sheet of sand in their direction.
“Boom!”
RANI
THE NOW
Rani felt herself slipping. Not her body from the ground, but her mind from her reality. She was letting go. Little by little, despite the fight that was taking place inside her to hold on.
Sharma’s child was cradled in her arms. To think that no so long ago, she’d never seen a baby and now there was a tiny human depending on her for survival. It was a boy, as evidenced by the strange body parts dangling between his fat legs.
She lifted her waterskin to her lips and took in some liquid, then rubbed some on her fingertips for the baby to suckle. He was letting go, too. Sleeping more and crying less. Needing milk from his mother and taking water from Rani’s fingers instead, sucking on them and screwing up his pink face when they didn’t provide the sustenance he was looking for.
Sharma’s depleted body lay to one side of Rani, and Azrael’s on her other. Rani adjusted their veils to cover their faces, the wind determined to keep them exposed.
No matter how desperate Rani’s situation, she couldn’t bring herself to regret her decision to come here. Her only regret was dragging Azrael with her. Friend
s may not leave each other behind, but sometimes taking them with you was worse.
More than fourteen turns had passed now. She’d counted sixteen of them with the rising and setting of the sun, wondering why they needed the Orbs of Time to do a job that the giant ball of fire in the sky seemed to do perfectly well by itself. If she’d stayed behind, she’d have thrown herself from her window by now. So really, running into the desert had extended her life.
The Chairman’s hopes to have violated her would’ve also been dashed by now. It gave her great satisfaction to imagine his face when he discovered she’d disappeared. It seemed he didn’t have quite as much power as he thought he had. Not everything could go his way, no matter how much power he insisted he had.
Rani’s life in the Round felt like something that’d happened to someone else. Everything about it was foreign. This was her life now. Sand. Sun. Hunger. Thirst. Fatigue. Despair. Diminishing hope.
The three of them had run into the desert in the middle of the night thinking they knew what they were doing—what risk they were taking—when in fact they knew nothing. They knew nothing about life in the desert, each other or themselves. Survival out here wasn’t one sunrise at a time, it was one breath at a time.
They’d walked until they ached, they’d talked until they were hoarse, and they’d slept until they never wanted to wake up. The food they’d packed had soon been eaten without sating their hunger and the water gone without quenching their thirst. And the skins they’d packed to use as a shelter were being slowly shredded by the sharp grains of sand that never ceased flying at them.
They’d reached the river and fallen in the water, exhausted and barely alive, but elated to have made it. However, their joy hadn’t lasted long when Sharma stood in the water, bent over and announced her baby was coming. Azrael had gone to the sand and laid out what was left of the torn pieces of the skins and told Sharma to lie down, but Sharma had shaken her head and birthed her son in the river instead. There had been blood and howling and the use of many forbidden words, and when the screaming baby was lifted from the water, Sharma had crawled to the edge of the river and held him to her breast, claiming it to be the happiest moment of her life.
Rani had watched on in horror and fascination with tears pouring down her cheeks as she stood witness to what she was certain was a miracle. Her hands had rested on her own stomach as she felt a tinge of sadness that she’d never experience this miracle for herself.
Even though time seemed to stand still as this child took his first breath, the cruel wind did not, and Azrael soon urged them to seek shelter under the Joshua tree. They pressed themselves against the wide trunk and waited, unsure what exactly they were waiting for. They had water, but no food. They had freedom, but no escape. They had each other, but all hope was lost.
Sharma was the weakest of them all, with her hungry son slowly suckling away what little remained of her strength. She was weary and had fallen into such a deep sleep that she’d slipped back onto the sand and Rani had just managed to scoop up the baby before he rolled from his mother’s arms. The sun set and rose two times and still Sharma slept. In this time, Rani watched Azrael grow weaker, her small frame growing smaller and the spark drifting from her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Rani had told her, over and over.
“I would still have come with you, had I known,” Azrael had insisted. “Staying behind wasn’t possible.”
It hadn’t been long until Azrael had slumped down on Rani’s other side and fallen into a deep sleep of her own.
And now Rani sat here, trying to make peace with a life that had no such thing.
The wind blew the veil from Azrael’s face again and she readjusted it, checking on Sharma and doing the same. They’d had no privacy in their lives and it seemed nothing would be different in death.
Except they weren’t dead.
Yet.
Rani despised that word and the inevitability attached to it.
For one thing remained certain in her mind. They would die here under this tree. None of them had the strength to cross the river and make it to safety in Wintergreen. If safety in that kingdom were even a possibility. Rani had no idea how they lived there and what kind of people they were.
A movement on top of the tallest dune on the horizon caught Rani’s eye and she leaned back on the tree, wondering what strange animal had learned to survive out here. She’d heard there were coyotes in the desert, but they hadn’t seen any yet.
She squinted, trying to bring the shape into focus. Perhaps she was dreaming? Or perhaps she was already dead?
Her eyes closed and she forced them open once again, only for her eyelids to fall, losing the fight.
“I’m sorry, little baby.” She brought the small child closer to her chest and gave in to the temptation of a deathly sleep. Let the coyotes end it all. She no longer had the strength to care.
AAROW
THE NOW
Aarow, Toran, and Jinn undid the ropes from their belts, freeing the animal hides that dragged behind them. They placed them on the ground and sat down, gripping each side tightly.
They smiled at each other, despite their faces being covered by scarves, their dark eyes doing the smiling instead of their mouths. After one quick nod from Aarow, they kicked off from the top of the dune, each determined to reach the bottom first. Toran always won the race, being the heaviest of the three, but this never deterred his two friends from trying.
Aarow felt his stomach drop as the initial burst of speed gripped hold. There was no turning back now. To let go or slip from the hide now would be deadly. The sand would shred the skin from his body and the force would break his bones. The only option was to hold on, feel the intense rush of the wind and… scream!
“Yeeeeeee haaaaaar!” he called at the top of his voice, feeling so alive it almost hurt.
Toran hurtled in front and Aarow hunched the broadness of his shoulders and brought down his head, which sent him cutting through the air, his speed increasing as he edged in front of his friend.
His smile was wide underneath his carefully secured scarf and he hunched a little more as he slid across the sand at even faster speeds. This was what it would feel like to fly, to be a bird soaring across the sky without a worry in the world. Any trouble or concern he’d had for his future or his past vanished, blown from his mind by the movement of air. Nothing and nobody mattered except the rapid descent of his body down the dune.
The slope began to even out as he reached the bottom and he willed himself to keep his momentum going, determined to be victorious this time. Just as his speed slowed, Toran came hurtling past him with one hand dangerously punching the air as he overtook him.
“Hold on, you fool!” cried Aarow, caring more for his friend’s life than his win. The ride itself was prize enough, no matter what place he came.
He watched in horror as Toran slid from his animal hide and tumbled over and over, landing in a heap, stretching out on his back and lying still.
Aarow waited a few heartbeats for his speed to slow just a little more, and he tipped himself from his hide, somehow landing on his knees and bringing himself to his feet as he ran to Toran’s side.
Jinn did the same, right behind him.
“Toran!” they both called, squatting beside their friend and shaking him gently. He was still breathing at least.
Toran’s eyes sprang open and he gave them a wide grin. “I won!”
Jinn cursed and slammed his fist down on Toran’s stomach, not with all his strength, just enough to extract a groan. “You scared us.”
“Don’t tell Kara,” he said, rolling to his side, then sitting up.
Aarow sat down beside Toran and willed his heart to slow down. The fun of the ride, then the scare from his friend was enough to finish him off. Jinn sat beside Aarow and they stared ahead of them, the Joshua tree close enough now to clearly make out three figures beneath it.
“Are they dead?” asked Jinn, still trying to catch his breath.<
br />
“Maybe,” said Aarow.
The cry of a baby echoed across the sand, sending them all to their feet and running. However had a baby ended up out here?
Toran may be the fastest when it came to sand sliding, but Aarow had always been the fastest on his feet, his lean muscular frame an asset for propelling himself with speed. He shifted his scarf from his face as he ran, having discovered long ago that strangers were far less startled when you greeted them with your face instead of just your eyes.
There was a girl sitting slumped against a tree with a baby pressed to her chest. Two people lay beside her, covered by veils. It was more than possible this baby was the only survivor here. Although, the other thing Aarow had learned after countless rescues just like this one, was that sometimes death was a ruthless impersonator. Toran had proven that just now.
He reached the tree and knelt down before the girl, lifting the baby gently from her arms. He wrapped it in the folds of the scarf around his neck, using it as a sling, as he’d done with Bindi many times. Bending back down, he reached for the girl’s wrist, as Toran and Jinn squatted beside him.
“Check the other two,” he said, not hopeful they’d survived.
Cradling the girl’s hand in his own, he pressed down on the inside of her wrist, searching for a sign of life. Her skin was warm, and he noticed the softness of her hands. Normally the people they saved showed signs of having worked hard their whole lives. These weren’t the hands of a worker. Her clothing was different too. It hadn’t torn to shreds in the wind, seeming to be standing up well to the elements. There was a fine floral pattern woven into it that he hadn’t seen before, and it looked like it’d taken an extraordinarily long time to make. He didn’t need a pea under a mattress to tell him there was something very different about this girl, even if she couldn’t possibly be a princess. No princess would run with a baby into the desert.
He felt the faint beating of a pulse in her wrist and his own heart rate quickened in response.
The Kingdoms of Evernow Box Set Page 51