A Girl Named Calamity by Danielle Lori

CHAPTER SIX

UNCERTAIN REALIZATIONS

As the sun set, I believed I would go down with it. The thirst was unbearable. My lips were dry, and I kept licking them, but it only made it worse. I was so dizzy that I almost fell off Gallant, and we stopped to give the horses a respite shortly after.

I had concluded I would never make it out of the mountains, so why not drink the rest of the water right now?

Weston walked off for a moment, and I went to grab my canteen out of his bag, but suddenly a masculine hand reached it first. I groaned. I would fight for it, I needed it so bad. I tried to pull it out of his grasp, but it was pointless. So I had to use different tactics. I looked up at him coyly, not sure how to do it, considering I had never wanted to flirt with anyone in Alger.

“Just a small drink,” I said sweetly.

His lips tipped up in the corners, and I thought he was going to give in, but all he said was, “No.” He then walked away, and I wanted to scream. I was so frustrated and so thirsty. “You’ve almost drunk your entire canteen. You need to save it, considering we are staying here tonight.”

My stomach dropped.

“I’m going to die,” I declared, and I wholeheartedly believed it.

“You won’t die. But you’ll feel so bad you’ll want to.”

“How reassuring.”

I had no idea why he still looked so virile. As if he wasn’t affected at all. He only wore a sleeveless jerkin and his skin was still healthy and tan. I knew my lips were chapped, and my cheeks were red from the icy air. I was wrapped up in his cloak as if it were my lifeline, while he looked like this was the perfect temperature for him. I wanted to ask him why he looked as invincible as he seemed to in Cameron, but I was sure I would get an evasive answer, and I didn’t want to waste my breath. It was important in these mountains.

As we ate supper around the campfire, my mind fogged over, and I wondered where I was for a moment. The fire spun and faded in and out. I couldn’t hear the crackling of wood and flames. “Can I have some water now?” I asked, my voice sounding as though it were underwater.

He handed me the canteen. “A small drink.”

I didn’t care about saving water or anything else. All I cared about was sating my thirst. I took a big gulp and began to chug the water as if I had just run here from Alger. The canteen was ripped out of my hands.

“I swear, I should leave you in these mountains,” Weston snapped. His cold voice had me bristling, and I jumped to my feet. My head spun before everything went black.

* * *

I woke up on a pallet. The fur-lined cloak was around me, but still, I shivered. The sky was dark, and my first thought was sating my thirst. My body felt like it was shutting down, as if all my cells were shrinking, and a little bit of water would put them back right. The pain was unbearable as I crawled over to the canteen.

My vision was blurry, but I made it out lying next to Weston, while he lay on his back, his forearm over his eyes. A huge part of me knew this would be unfruitful, but the thirst pushed me, and I couldn’t stop myself if I wanted to.

Thirst isn’t very stealthy. Leaves crunched, and sticks snapped as I crawled over to the water my body desperately needed.

When I was inches from grabbing it, my head spun as arms wrapped around me, and I was picked up and set down on my pallet. I groaned and rolled around in agony.

“Sleep,” said a deep voice, and then it was black.

I was in a semi-conscious state when something shook my shoulder.

“Go away, Benji,” I mumbled.

Another shake.

“Benji, I said go away.” I pushed at the dog.

Something cool touched my lips, and I imagined Benji licking me. I grimaced and turned my head. The coolness was back; water poured into my mouth, and clarity returned. I grabbed the canteen and got a few gulps out of it before I hit the bottom.

The small amount of water helped, and I opened my eyes to look around. The sun was rising, and the fire had been put out. Weston was packing some things into his saddlebags, and I got to my feet to help him, but I swayed where I stood. I tried to bend down to get my pallet, but dizziness took over and confusion surrounded me.

In the back of my mind, I knew why I was here, but a superficial part of my brain was playing tricks on me. I couldn’t get over the fact that if I were in the mountains alone, I would have never made it out. The thought sent a chill down my spine, and I felt overwhelmingly sorry for the Mage who had died like this.

“Come on. A few hours and we’ll be out,” Weston said while rolling up my pallet. “There’s a surprise on the other side.”

I stumbled over to my horse. When did I get this horse?

He was beautiful.

I smiled while I rubbed his nose. I was lifted off the ground, and my head spun while Weston set me on the back of his horse.

“This isn’t my horse,” I said while I watched Weston tie my horse to his with a heavy-lidded gaze, barely able to keep my eyes open.

“You think you’re in any condition to ride your horse?” he asked rhetorically. After he had mounted behind me, the feeling of safety surrounded me like a blanket. The blanket was so warm, it lulled me to sleep.

* * *

I was in and out of sleep for the duration of the ride through the mountains. I believed that I had been traveling through them for weeks.

Every time I awoke, I imagined it was another day past. This time when I awakened, the pain lessened with each clop of the horses’ hooves. Strength returned to my muscles, and I could lift my head.

Warm air hit me in the face as we stepped out of the mountain range and into a green valley. My ears perked when I heard the noise of running water. Although the intense thirst that I had felt in the mountains was gone, I still felt its residual effects.

My eyes landed on a waterfall that flowed down the side of the mountain and filled a crystal clear blue pool. A pool big enough to swim my heart out in. Happiness bloomed in my stomach. This was even better than seeing the sun in the Red Forest.

I shrugged off the cloak that was now too warm, swung my leg over, and hopped off the horse in one motion. I ran through the knee-high grass while shedding my leather belt and boots. The sun shined off the water, and nothing had ever looked as inviting.

It was a dream of mine to see Alyria outside Alger, and I smiled as I waded into the water. Even under these circumstances, I was still going to try and enjoy myself. The pool was warm, and I felt as though it was more than water, as it moved around me on its own.

It tasted like water.

And that was all I needed to know. I drank and drank until my belly was full of it.

When I couldn’t have possibly drunk anymore, I swam under the water. As soon as my head emerged, anxiety swirled around me as I had the thought that Weston could leave me here. He could have taken my coin, my horse, and all my possessions. I shot my head out of the water, and my heart calmed when I saw he was only filling the canteens by the side of the pool.

He must have read the panic in my eyes as his gaze met mine, because his expression hardened. “If I wanted your pathetic belongings, I could’ve taken them without leaving Cameron,” he bit out before he turned around and walked away.

I swallowed as guilt settled in my stomach. He had treated me relatively well in the mountains. He might not have been very nice, but he still got me out alive. But then the fact that he had brought me into the mountains surfaced in my head. We could have gone around. I shook off my thoughts; I had a right to be guarded. I barely knew him. And he was an assassin . . .

I waded in the pool until my skin was wrinkly and the sun began to set. I dragged myself out of the water, my wet clothes weighing me down. My stomach growled while I walked over to Weston starting a fire.

“We’ll stay here tonight,” he said without even glancing at me. I sat down by the fire and unbraided my hair to let it dry out. The heat emanating from the flames warmed my wet skin, and I lay down.

I looked at the stars, the fire crackling. A gold streak flew across the dark blue sky, and I smiled. It was said that every time someone in Alyria fell in love, a gold star would fly. I never knew whether it was true, but I liked to believe it was. Fatigue absorbed any energy I had left, and I fell asleep moments later, my hunger forgotten.

The next morning we headed out early, and I ate some dried fruit Grandmother had packed. It was great to feel normal again, and I was high on life. I thought this must be what it felt like to be on Midnight Oil. All you had to do was take a trip through the cursed mountains, and you would feel so alive when you happened to get out. If you ever did, anyway.

“Please teach me to keep the Saccar away,” I said again.

Third time’s the charm, right?

“No.”

I rolled my eyes. This trip was looking bleaker every time he opened his mouth.

“Why not?”

“It’s a long process. It takes meditation and quiet. You can’t learn it on the back of a horse.”

“Well, you can teach me before bed each night then,” I supplied, glad to have found a solution.

“Tempting, but I’d rather not,” he said dryly.

“Well, aren’t you a ray of sunshine,” I scoffed.

His annoyed gaze settled on me. “Listen, I told you I would get you to Undaley City. I didn’t say I would chat with you the whole way.”

Okay . . . I thought slowly. I guessed assassins were murderers and not jesters for a reason. I looked around at the scenery and let his comment roll off me. The soft breeze had the long grass swaying, and it blew my unbound hair around my face.

Only a couple of days ago, I had been a different person in a different world. But I still looked like the farm girl from Alger. The small time I had been away, showed me how much I didn’t know about this land, and I wanted to take it on as a different person.

There was really only one thing I could change now. I stopped my horse and hopped down. I grabbed my knife out of my sheath while Weston looked at me indifferently as if it were a common thing for a woman to stop abruptly and pull out a knife. Probably was for him.

I thought about this and without a mirror, I would probably mess it up.

“I need you to cut my hair,” I said.

He only looked at me for a minute, before hopping off his horse with a slight shake of his head, and grabbing the knife out of my hand. “How short?” he asked while he spun my hair into one thick strand. His hand brushed my neck, and goose bumps went down my arms.

“Wait,” I said, nervousness starting to grow a pit in my stomach.

“How short?” he repeated.

The apprehension I felt was just too hard to ignore. I could cut it later, right? I didn’t need to do it right that second.

“I’ve changed my—”

Before I could finish the sentence, I felt sawing on my hair.

“No!” I tried to grab my strands and pull them away, but it was too late. I spun around, my eyes widening on the two feet of hair Weston held in his fist.

I grabbed the hair left on my head, and it ended a little below my shoulders. I moved my head around, and it felt so much lighter and actually . . . great. But that wasn’t the point because he cut it when I asked him not to, anyway. I glared daggers at him. “I said I changed my mind!”

“You were wasting my time. Besides, now you might pass as a boy from a distance.” He paused, then took a step back and looked down at me. “Okay, probably not. But you were still wasting my time.”

“I’m paying you for your time, so basically it’s mine to use as I wish,” I snapped. The look he gave me wasn’t nice at all and could’ve probably killed someone. But I wasn’t just anyone. I liked to think so, anyway.

He handed me my hair. “Keep this. Someone could track you with it.” He got on his horse while I was still tense with annoyance as my hair was unwillingly two feet shorter. I dropped the strands in my saddlebag and mounted Gallant to follow Weston before he went too far. Didn’t he know you were supposed to wait for a lady? I huffed, ironic, considering I was wearing men’s clothes and now had hair as short as a boy.

We rode all day while Weston ignored most of my questions and I spent too much time with my thoughts. I wondered how he wasn’t affected by the curse in the mountains. I was sincerely grateful that he wasn’t, or I would have died in there. I wondered if he had magic and what it would mean if he did. He knew how to resist a Saccar, so he must have known something of magic.

Now and then I would search the land with my new ability, and I waited for something to change. The normal part was that it hummed softly, and I noticed wildlife here and there.

My heart drummed when I noticed the oddity.

I couldn’t feel Weston’s presence at all.

He didn’t have a hum.