章節 8: Chapter 8: Backtracking Trips
~Arika's POV~
"That was so delicious! You outdid yourself with this new skill of yours. This day was your first baking, right?" Arika asked as she walked beside Sin-Vira. He held a redwood, wicker basket with a white cloth tucking around the contents inside.
"I swear. We can't order resources to even make this. But I would still like to find a way to if I could." He smiled as he stared down at the basket in his hand.
While she couldn't taste any of his bread, she could taste his hard work and passion. Suni was a very patient teacher, as she was the type who could get along with everyone.
In her chest, she felt unease at the thought of them laughing together and having fun. While she and Sin-Vira only argued like it was second nature.
"Hey, Vira! Come spar with me sometime! After seeing your fight with Beka, I just wanna see how strong you are when you're not tired!" She giggled as she walked ahead of him with her back to the path.
"Sure thing. But walk forward. It's dangerous walking like that. Plus you probably can't see as well as I can in the dark," he warned. Gesturing to his glowing green eyes. "Besides, your father's strict. Doesn't he want you inside for your curfew?"
"I walk this path like every day, it's fine." Arika rolled her eyes as she continued walking backward. "That bastard gets drunk on these days. So he won't know and the guards won't rat me out!~ I'm only walking you halfway home so it won't be too long. Will your mom be fine with you bringing food from my kingdom? She has a scary look in her eyes like she tried to kill me with her gaze!"
Vira laughed. "She would if she could! I plan on sharing as much as I can with the workers. Every day I see them walking with such drained eyes. They're also so exhausted, so I want to help in any way I can. Until we can finally get rid of the guards there."
"You live in the mountains, right? What's it like?" Arika asked.
They walked in silence with Vira's emerald eyes staring down at her. "I think it used to be a beautiful place. But right now, I only see it as a personal hell. It's nothing like your kingdom. There aren't any smiles, fun festivals, and it's suffocating there. It's depressing there, but it can't be helped at the moment."
Arika lost concentration as she tried imagining her kingdom as how Vira described his. To wake up every day to see my kingdom in despair. Her friend not smiling as she did the thing she loved most. She became so distracted by her thoughts, Arika failed to react when she hit a rock. Arika fell over and felt her ankle looser. An axle must've been out.
Vira dropped the basket he was holding so protectively and knelt by Arika's side.
"Are you okay?!" He asked as he propped her upper body up. He tried to examine her body. Every part of her was covered by long socks and gloves. "Can you move your ankles for me?"
Arika stiffened as she stared at her feet. She didn't need any light source to know she couldn't walk properly. It'd be a long walk home on a damaged ankle.
"Haha. I think I sprained my ankle. My bad…" Arika wearily laughed. "I'll walk back and have a healer look at it. You go on without me, okay?" She used her good leg and a boulder to stand herself up.
"I can't let you go home on your own like this. I'll carry you." Vira held his arms out to her.
Arika froze at his offer and shook her head. "Please. I can handle walking back. I can't have you spend more of your energy on me, this morning was enough." She cautiously pressed her damaged leg down and could feel the axle pushing down. If she wasn't careful, her leg would lodge into her foot. "Shit…" she mumbled.
Without missing a beat, Vira knelt with his back to her. "Hop on. I won't leave you to walk in the dark like this."
Arika stared at his silhouette figure and knew she had no other choice. She hesitantly got his back and draped one arm over his shoulder and grabbed the basket in her other. "I'll at least carry this for you." She brought the basket in front of Vira who stood up.
"Thanks. I wasn't sure if leaving it to the animals would be a good idea." He began walking towards the Gardenia kingdom. "Sorry I can't bring you over to my kingdom. My mother would likely kick you out even if you were in dire need!" Vira joked. "Besides, you wouldn't want to see it anyways…" he sighed softly.
She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. "Um… I could ask my father if I'm permitted to visit you as well. I have to gain your kingdom's trust as well and… I do want to see it. I don't require things to be shiny and perfect to fit my standards or something." She felt herself lean against him more. "Oh, and you can say 'you told me so.' I should've listened."
"Saying it won't fix your ankle. It also won't make me feel any better for letting you fall. I should've been faster to catch you. I'm sorry."
Arika opened her eyes to looked ahead in the darkness. "It's not your fault to catch my stubborn ass. So you don't have to apologize, I'm the one to blame. You can tell me anything I can do to make it up to you…"
"Um…" Vira started before going quiet.
"You can say it. So long as it doesn't involve something immoral."
Vira cleared his throat. "Suni mentioned a festival in your kingdom. I-I wanted to know if I could be your plus one? I understand if it can't be done! The last thing I want is to make everyone uncomfortable-"
"You can come," Arika interrupted him. "They're pretty boring, but if you wanna go you can. I'll send you some traditional attire so you don't stand out too much! It's in a week, and it's all day. So you don't have to come running this time."
"Ha! That'd be nice. As pissed as I was for Beka's dirty tactics, there's no way I would've made it by carriage."
Arika groaned when she thought about him again. "He's a desperate loser, but I didn't think he was willing to sink that low. Sending stupid hounds to stall you. If word got out, he'd never live it down! So I'll start the rumor as soon as possible!" She giggled.
"…I'm surprised you'd be the type to do this," Vira spoke in a quiet tone. "Doing something so spiteful just doesn't seem like you."
Arika rolled her eyes. "Everyone changes. Arika always said you were a scaredy-cat who couldn't even speak above a squeak. But you stood up to Beka and even agreed to challenge him."
Vira adjusted his hold. "I was kinda timid as a kid. When I got my favorite toy taken, she hunted down the kids that stole it and gave it back to me. I was crying so much that I couldn't even thank her. It's one of the things I still regret.
"Actually…" Hearing him speak about her like this, made her uneasy. She was right there and he could do just that right now. But she couldn't bring herself to say it. "I-I could take you to her burial during the festival. It's not the same, but you could get some peace if you give it a try."
"You think so? Maybe… I'll have to think about it…"
They made it out of the darkness where the gatekeepers were standing at the gate. Arika managed to fall asleep on his back but still held him tightly.
"Excuse me? Princess Sibylla hurt her ankle while we were walking," Vira explained as the guards rushed towards them. "She's just asleep, I swear."
The men stared at him with suspicious eyes on them, but still attempted to gently pry Arika off of Vira, but she only held onto him tighter.
"Sibylla. You gotta wake up and let go…" Vira tried to shake her but to no avail.
One of the guards groaned. "I think we should call the king."
Arika instinctively screamed and woke up.
"No not him please!" She begged, fully awake.
A guard took her out of Vira's arms and held her. Arika stared at him with frightened eyes before looking away.
"Good night Sibylla! Please sleep well!" Vira called out to her.
Arika shakily raised her arm and waved at him before groaning.
"Does he know, princess?" The guard that carried her asked in a hushed tone.
"He doesn't. The axel in my foot snapped after I fell. He ever asks: tell him the healers fixed it," She ordered.
"Of course, Princess Arika…"
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Scourgie
Scourgie Any support for this story is appreciated! Thank you for reading!
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