"YOU DIDN'T SLEEP?"
Rissa's voice cracked the morning silence like a dropped plate. It woke everyone, the birds in the hoods, the trees outside, and likely the sun itself, which seemed to flinch behind a cloud.
Aeryn, who had been staring out the roof hole with the stillness of a statue, didn't jump. She just slowly lowered her gaze to the girl standing over her with hands on her hips.
"I did sleep…" Aeryn replied, her voice a dry rasp. The lie was so thin it was practically transparent; the dark circles under her eyes looked like bruises against her pale skin.
"This is no good… no good at all!" Rissa tutted, shaking her head aggressively. "Here, show me!"
And then, without waiting for queen's permission, without even a hesitate breath, she slapped her hand onto Aeryn's forehead.
Aeryn froze. The hand was warm, calloused, and smelled faintly of roasted hen. It was an invasion of personal space that would have earned anyone else a broken wrist. But Rissa just frowned, concentrating.
"No fever… so why didn't you sleep? Were the stars too loud?"
"Who said I didn't sleep…" Aeryn tried again, weaker this time.
"Meh! You think I cannot see my Queen?!" Rissa leaned in, her nose inches from Aeryn's. "I am many things, a genius strategist, a master of knots, a squirrel enthusiast, I might not be sane but I am definitely not an idiot."
Aeryn stared at her, the defiance dying in her throat. A genuine, smile broke across her face. It was the first time someone was treating her not as a weapon, or a someone high-up, or a burden, but just… a person. And she found that she was actually enjoying it.
Aeryn sat up, the furs pooling around her waist. "We should set out today. We've lost enough time."
Rissa crossed her arms, blocking the sunlight. "In this state of yours? I don't allow it."
Aeryn blinked, her eyebrows shooting up. "I am your Queen."
"And I am your…" Rissa trailed off, leaning forward with a mischievous, dimpled grin.
"You are my WHAT?" Aeryn challenged, swinging her legs off the cot. "My…???"
"I am your GUARDian, of course!" Rissa emphasized the first syllable with a dramatic pose. "Hehe, what else?"
"Huh? Guardian? WHAT ELSE?!" Aeryn sputtered, a sudden, playful spark igniting in her chest. "Come here! I said, come HERE!"
Rissa yelped, a sound like a stepped-on squeaky toy, and bolted out of the hut.
"You can't catch me! I have very fact!" Rissa screamed over her shoulder.
Aeryn ran after her. She ran out of the hut, the cold air hitting her face, chasing the flash of orange leathers around the dilapidated structure. For a moment, there was no Discipline, no heavy crown, no missing memories. There was just the thud of boots on grass and the sound of maniacal giggling of two sweet girls.
Aeryn caught up to her on the second lap, grabbing Rissa by the waist and spinning her around. She held her strongly in her arms to stop her momentum, pressing Rissa close to keep them both from tumbling into the dirt.
Suddenly, the laughter died in Aeryn's throat.
She felt the warmth of Rissa's body against hers, the rapid beat of the girl's heart echoing her own. It was a level of intimacy Aeryn had never experienced, not a embrace of fear, or service, but of shared joy. She felt a sudden, hot flush rise to her cheeks. She was flustered, her skin prickling with a shy, foreign awkwardness.
She let Rissa go abruptly.
Rissa, oblivious to the Queen's internal crisis, stumbled back but kept laughing heartily, clutching her side. "Okay! Okay, My Queen! You win! You are definitely superior!"
Aeryn stood there, chest heaving, watching the girl laugh. The shyness faded into something warm. She started laughing too, a real, unburdened sound that mingled with the wind.
"Okay, My Queen," Rissa wheezed, wiping a tear. "Business time."
She dropped to the floor, squatting in the dirt. She swept away the pine needles and loose stones until she had a clear patch of soil. Then, finding a sharp twig, she started drawing with intense focus.
"What are you doing?" Aeryn squatted next to her, her knees cracking slightly.
Rissa tossed a proud smile over her shoulder. "Cartography."
She worked for another minute, humming a tuneless song, before dusting off her hands. "Done! Come see."
Aeryn leaned over the doodle. It looked like a series of squiggles, a few triangles, and a very big circle. "What… is this?" Then, realization dawned. "Is this… a map?"
"Yeah!" Rissa's eyes twinkled.
"You don't have a map?" Aeryn asked, her voice flat and shocked.
"Map? What map?" Rissa zoned out, looking at a passing beetle.
"You don't have a map?" Aeryn repeated, louder. She didn't want to believe they had been traversing the wilderness on vibes alone.
"What map? I know the directions, why do I need a map?" Rissa snapped back, offended. "I am the map!"
She saw Aeryn's horrified expression and pouted. "Wait… wait, wait. You mean we have been traveling without any proper parchment any map and just… hunches?" Aeryn asked, shocked.
"What hunches?! I am saying I know the directions! And where was I supposed to get a map in the wilderness, My Lady? The trees don't sell them!"
"Give me a second… humph…" Aeryn let out a long, suffering sigh.
"Okay!!! Tell me, Rissa. Explain this dirt."
Rissa pouted, picked up her branch, and pointed to a small dot in the dirt. "This is our hut."
"This hut?"
"Yes, this very hut. Our hut." Rissa tapped it twice. Then she dragged the stick backwards. "Earlier, we were here. The Royal Campsite."
She drew a line curving downward. "If we followed the main path south, we would have hit the Cinder Hegemony. It's here. Volcanic islands, arid, sun-scorched plains, highly industrialized city-states. Most of the Imperial City's income comes from there. Seeing it was too close, I had a hunch General Sakina would start the search there. Any sane person would. But because I am not sane, I…"
"Rissa, focus," Aeryn murmured, actually impressed by the geographical knowledge pouring out of the chaotic girl.
"Yes, yes. So I changed our path. Instead of South, or North, by te way for your royal HIghNeSS's information, North leads to the Vesper Plateaus. High, windy mesas, secluded monasteries. Highest elevation in the world. Honestly? Best place to hide. You can't find anyone there. But to get there, we'd have to pass through the Imperial City or go around the entire continent. So …"
Rissa drew a jagged line to the East. "So I chose the Central Plains of the East. The coastal region. Archipelagos, vast river deltas. They control maritime trade. But we'd need a ship."
"What about here?" Aeryn pointed to the angry triangles Rissa had drawn near their hut.
"The Obsidian Peaks," Rissa said, her voice dropping. "Infamous for being dry. Deserts, deep mines, stone fortresses. They control mineral wealth. It's tough to find anyone hiding in those caves, but the problem is the Imperial City has direct access to it."
Aeryn looked at the crude drawing. It was surprisingly accurate. But something didn't add up.
"So… where were we until now? Still inside Sahirra's borders?"
Rissa paused. She looked at the map, then at Aeryn. "No. We were not inside Sahirra. We were in the outskirts."
Aeryn frowned. "The outskirts? But we've been traveling for months. Sakina was leading us."
"Yeah…" Rissa scratched her nose with the stick.
"Sakina was lying to me?" Aeryn asked, the question hanging heavy in the air. "Was she?"
Rissa shrugged her shoulders, trying to look casual but failing. "I won't presume anything… no, I won't. But if I be direct? I think she was circling us. I was one of the earliest to join the camp, and with my little knowledge of geography, I can say she didn't want to leave the premises of the Royal City's influence. We were just… going in loops. Maybe… Again I won't presume!"
"What do you mean?" Aeryn's voice was cold. "Why would she stall us?"
"What do I mean?" Rissa looked up, frustration bubbling over. "Don't you know it better than me?! She was scared because of you!!"
The silence that followed was instant and absolute.
Rissa immediately slapped both hands over her mouth, her eyes widening in horror.
"I… I didn't mean to say that!" she mumbled through her fingers, her voice muffled and terrified.
Aeryn looked at her. The joy of the chase, the warmth of the morning, the pride in Rissa's map, it all evaporated. The crushing reality of her condition, the reason Sakina had kept her close, settled back onto her shoulders like a lead cloak.
Without saying a word, Aeryn turned and walked back inside the hut.
Rissa stood alone in the dirt, staring at her map, and hit herself in the head with the stick.
.
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