Chapter 28: Secret Between the Two
The carriage slowly moved past the place where we first discovered one of the spirited away children and continued moving onwards, through the forest and rare patches of grassland. My brows were narrowed as I observed the trees and bushes that stood in my sight for an uncomfortably long time. I turned to Zanuff, who was busy bobbing his head to some kind of tune in this old head of his, then I glanced at Nila.
"Hey, how long will the trip take?"
She raised her green eyes from her book up at me and tilted her head, "For several hours, maybe 5?"
"6 to be precise." suddenly commented Zanuff and returned to the world of tunes. I huffed in annoyance and protested, "Are you serious right now!? It would be just as fast to go on foot then!"
Nila yawned and Zanuff laughed at my comment, then he said, "But isn't it nice to travel in a carriage in good company?"
"Good company." I crossed my hands and leaned on the wagon wall, "I guess, it is nicer to not actually walk, but we went through all this trouble of defeating a monster and loading cargo to basically arrive much later than if we simply walked to Wiskoschia by foot."
"I would not want to walk for this long, though." commented Nila while turning the pages of her book, Zanuff hummed in contemplation, but then pointed out, "You struck quite an abysmal deal, huh."
"So you will not even pretend that we helped you out for nothing!?" I exclaimed, to which Zanuff giggled and turned back to the road. Nila sighed at our back and forth, but ultimately remained silent. I did not expect her to take my side, but her neutrality still annoyed me.
The silence remained for a while after my outburst, I continued watching over the trees, even noticing some animals with antlers in the distance that were fleeing away from the sound of the carriage. Not surprising, considering the weak wind barely produced any sound with the tree foliage, thus the ruckus of our movement was surely like a beacon to wood dwellers, kindly asking them to stay out of the way.
Once again, Zanuff spoke, however, this time his voice quieter than his usual hoarse tone of an old man, "But you know, I am truly grateful to you two. The Schöltum region, although free of money, is quite tough in the trade department. Deals here are almost always fair, thus I am thankful for having such inexperienced kids around. You were of huge help to us."
"Who are you calling a kid, Zanuff?" raised her brow Nila, and I narrowed my brows, "Who are you calling an inexperienced, old man?"
Our questions did not pose any real threat to him, the man only laughed them off while apologising insincerely. Then, he drank from his bottle to moist up the throat, but somehow his hoarse voice returned, and he turned to me.
"But you know, I already know something about that girl, but I wonder why did you start travelling together, Blake?"
I was caught off guard with his question, I glanced over Nila, but she only shrugged her shoulders and awaited my own words to explain our first meeting. I was not happy about this betrayal, but nevertheless did my best to come up with a thought-provoking story.
"This elf hired me to lead her out of the Schöltum region, you see, she is really bad with directions."
I whispered the last part, but both Zanuff and Nila heard it perfectly. While one was amused to learn something new about the elf, she only stared at me in disapproval. After drilling me with her sight, Nila sighed, crossed her hands and turned away from me.
"Perhaps, that's why you stayed in the region you despise so much, eh?" said Zanuff to Nila, although she did not answer. Then his eyes shifted back to me as he wondered, "Then I get it that you are from around these places, Blake? I suppose from Wülgenville or maybe settlements around it?"
Nila's ear twitched a little, despite her lack of interest present in her eyes that were now skimming again through the book. In the end, I did not tell her anything about myself, or rather, I lied about every single detail that I told her. She knew about my crimes as Dusk, but nothing else besides that, not even the reasons for why those were committed. No wonder she would be interested in the one she had been travelling for several days now. Zanuff really caught me between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, I could easily come up with a story of trying to flee from the boredom of this region, although I would need to be careful with my words. One tough question could have made this old man suspicious. Then, I could reveal being Dusk now, which would rid me of his attention, but I was not sure how he would react. Another option was the refusal to talk, but I was thinking over the final option… to spill the beans here and now. I could tell them about my origin from another world.
I was hesitant about exposing this secret of mine, since no one would believe me anyway. I did not see a point in doing this, but now all is different. Not only will it save me trouble coming up with a believable story, but would also allow me to look like a complete moron, since I should not know anything about this world anyway. Thus, I readied myself, but only one word escaped my mouth.
"I…"
Strange, nothing really stopped me from saying out loud the rest, yet something pressed on my throat, blocking my words from escaping. Both Nila and Zanuff were looking at me, their eyes slowly shifting from interest to concern.
"What is the matter, pal, is your throat sore?"
I shook my head while touching my throat, nothing felt out of place aside from heaviness in my stomach along with a stinging pain, as if I swallowed a needle. But I did not eat anything, nor I was dehydrated, gulping on water just a few minutes prior to our talk. So, what was stopping me from proceeding with my speech? Nothing! It should be nothing, thus I force my lips to form words once more.
"I come… from an-"
"-This will not do, dear friend."
Here was it again, this feeling of dread along with the bizarre sight of the world that was lacking motion. The tree leafs that had been swaying in the wind just a moment ago are now as if attached to an invisible wall. The carriage was no longer wobbling or trembling from the terrain, in fact, it was not moving at all. The clatter of hooves was not present as well, everything froze in place, including my travelling partners. Both Nila and Zanuff were observing me without ever blinking, however, I was perfectly aware that they were not really seeing me at the moment. The only one who could interact with me in such a bizarre circumstance was a young man in nobles' clothes and eyes of different colour. Solitaire was sitting beside Nila and smiling at me, his facial features were in motion without trouble.
"It has been a while since we had a talk, huh? I will allow you to speak for now."
Suddenly, my head was free to move. I blinked a few times, but failed to raise a hand or to do just anything with the rest of my body. All I was capable of was observing and talking.
"A while, indeed, I wholeheartedly believed that you abandoned me until I saw you near the statue of the goddess."
"That's correct! You finally witnessed your very target, dear friend. I am almost proud of you." Solitaire began clapping, to which I only narrowed my brows, "Why did you stop me from telling them about my origin?"
Solitaire froze in place, his eyes were directed at me. Then, he smiled, "Why, to prevent your blunder."
I clicked my tongue and said, "Listen here, I know jack shit about this world, and I am tired of bullshitting my way through it all. What blunder are you talking about if I can make things easier for myself by revealing my cards? And why did you show up if you could play your tricks with my throat or whatever you did?"
"Play tricks?" Solitaire raised his brow, but then the realisation struck his head, and he laughed, "What a fun way to describe your own weakness, dear friend!"
"What? Weakness?"
"Indeed, I did not do anything, you see. Despite bravery in your voice, you were actually afraid of telling them the truth, right? You were afraid of trusting another person, but I commend your bravery, if I did not stop you there, you would succeed in your attempt."
I was not sure what he was talking about, I surely had some trust in these two, moreover, it made logical sense to simply reveal my identity there and now, but was I afraid? What was I afraid of? Of telling the truth? Ridiculous!
As my mind was busy thinking over his observation, Solitaire opened his mouth once more, "As for why I did not let you speak… let's just say that it would place you between a rock and a hard place, since anyone would draw a connection to me. Sooner or later, you will learn more about me, but for the time being, you better refrain from mentioning Solitaire."
"What are you talking about? Then why would you give me a goddamn gemstone of all things? It surely does not look suspicious, huh."
Solitaire nodded at my complaint and explained, "Good observation, dear friend, however, this gemstone is perceived by others as just a rock. No one would see value in it, thus trying to sell it is a futile effort."
So not only was I unable to get rid of it, but even if I could, I would earn much if anything from this piece of junk. How considerate of Solitaire to only bestow me the most useless item in existence upon my arrival to this world, now it made sense why the Crawley family did not try to steal or bargain for it.
"Let's keep this a secret between the two of us, OK? Not much to ask, right? You keep away my or your identity from the public eye, slay the goddess, and then I grant you any wish. All is that simple."
I scoffed at his breakdown of my main objective. Since Solitaire returned to my side, I did not have a choice, but to follow through with it, did not I? And here I was hoping to discover myself, find new reasons to fight, but in the end, I was still tied to the lifeline that connected us. No matter what I did, Solitaire would always observe my back, ready to set me back on track to complete this impossible task.
"And how am I supposed to move forward when I am so weak?..." I whispered, to which Solitaire stared at me for a few moments, then smirked and pointed at Nila, "You were blessed with a good ally, dear friend. Do not miss this opportunity."
Afterwards, Solitaire snapped his fingers, returning the world back in motion. Nila's and Zanuff's expressions were unchanged at first, but they quickly noticed my pale skin and weary eyes.
"Hey, boy, are you fine?" asked Zanuff and Nila added, "If you are feeling sick, I can use a spell to make it easier on the stomach."
But as she buried her hand in the suitcase I motioned with my hand, stopping her. I kept silent for a few more minutes, then finally spoke with them, "I really can't tell you about my origins. I am… sorry."
Both of them nodded, although Zanuff was more at ease about it, Nila exhaled quietly and shifted her gaze away from me. But then, once I lightly bumped her leg with my own, her gaze returned to me.
"Nila, I have a favour to ask." her ear twitched as she tilted her head to the side, even though Zanuff was not looking at us, I noticed his interest in the unusual silence from his side. After building up the courage to say it out loud, I finally asked, "You mentioned I have good magic aptitude, right? Can you teach it to me? Magic that is."
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