Chapter 13 Ro
Ro
Anew day, and no summons yet for Highcrest. Tio would be disappointed.
With the camp helping those from Argora Vale prepare for their journey west, Radhak focused his attention on that. I doubted we’d be sent anywhere until after they departed. Maybe not even until Rav and his crew returned.
The sun lit the broad horizon, letting me see for miles across the plains bordering the forest. My thoughts swirled as I crept along the border, pacing in a line several hundred feet long, on patrol duty.
A light breeze ruffled my loose-fitting green top.
It had a square neckline with a tiny v-shaped slit at its center, and sleeves that covered three-quarters of my arms. A smattering of dots decorated my otherwise fair complexion where my arm remained exposed.
I tucked a portion of the front of my shirt into my perfectly fitted brown pants.
My cloak lay near the base of a tree so I could maintain easy access to the bow and quiver strapped to my back.
I barely felt it anymore, like it’d become a part of me.
Braxius had yet again opted to hang out with Mira before she left. That’s okay. I knew he’d miss her once she was gone.
Alone in the quiet peace of nature, I filled my lungs to the brim with fresh air. Nothing but the barren landscape and a single sparrow soaring above to keep me company.
The sight unearthed a tucked away memory from the depths of my mind.
My father’s booming laughter that rivaled the warmth of the biggest hearth.
Whenever he’d tell the origins of mine and my sister’s names, he would chuckle in that way.
My mother would often smack his bulging belly, but she saw the humor in it, too.
My mother had been fond of tulips, and during her pregnancy, she’d seen them everywhere.
The life she created reminded her of the blossoming flower, sturdy and stable, beautiful and delicate.
When my sister was born, my mother said there was no other name suited for her daughter.
My father, embarrassed to address his daughter as a flower, played off the name.
He’d called her Tula so often that it eventually stuck.
As a child, my mother would often tell me the story of how my name came to be.
When she was pregnant, a sparrow followed her around.
She became convinced it was a god in animal form, a guardian angel of sorts, sent to watch over me.
She observed the bird for months, noting how it flew its own path, not falling in line with the patterns of other birds.
She’d told me from the moment I was born, she could sense my wild spirit meant to forge its own path.
It became fitting that I should be named after that bird that did the same.
Just as with my sister, my father held too much embarrassment that I was named after a bird, especially following a sister named after a flower.
So Sparrow became Ro, and stuck. Then sometimes he went a step further, addressing me as ‘Chirp’. The man had some sort of affinity for nicknames, and the memory coiled around me like a comforting embrace.
Because it had meant something to her, I often spotted a lone bird. I cherished the sight now, recalling memories of old, moments of happiness, of family, of love. Memories were all I had now.
Having Mira at the camp felt like my father orchestrated it from beyond.
Sent the last connection he had to let me know he was still around.
Knowing that she was pregnant, growing life inside of her seemed too much a coincidence.
My father always wanted me to believe in something, whatever I chose, but to hold on to it with everything.
To let it drive me, to anchor me. He’d always said he never wanted to rein in my free spirit, but needed to know I never went into the world with nothing.
I’d never confessed how lost I felt. Pretended that I made the world bend to my will, put on a strong front so he wouldn’t worry. I suspected he knew that, though. Hence why he’d insisted I find something to carry with me.
With every mission, every interaction, I searched for what it might be, that nameless, shapeless thing inside whispering in a language I couldn’t understand. It felt like wading through muddy waters, each step cloudy and unsure. Still, I pressed onward, forever searching.
I surveyed the soaring sparrow, watching it fly in irregular patterns, as if it too didn’t quite know what it was looking for. Having grown accustomed to the sounds of the living forest and fields around me, I quickly picked up on the dull, rhythmic beat growing louder. Footsteps.
Running footsteps.
Maybe my patrol relief came early? Except it wasn’t one of our soldiers. Alba raced toward me, hand waving frantically. She was easy to spot in her short-sleeved burgundy shirt and ratty blue pants marked by years of dirt stains.
“Ro!” she called out in a panic.
Immediately on edge, a stampede of shivers erupted along my spine. My arrow was already nocked, aiming at the ground as I ran to meet her. “What’s wrong?”
“Ravinder says there’s movement on the other side of the river, soldiers from Windguard.
He wants you to go to the spot where the rocks nearly choke the river.
Cross it. Find his contact in Hava City.
He says he’ll know what to do, and trusts you to get there quickly.
” Her words came out in uneven spurts from gasping breath.
She wiped the gathered sweat from her brow, though the day’s heat had yet to truly blossom.
This couldn’t be happening. Why now? And why hadn’t she taken a gods damned horse?
I might have had the opportunity to return, to scope out the situation myself if I could ride back within a few minutes.
But on foot? I’d be wasting too much time only to double back again.
Alba had already delayed the message by running here.
And every second would count against an impending attack.
I’d seen his contact in Hava City one time—a mason who owned a shop on one of the merchant strips. Though disbelief rattled my reality, I reaffirmed to myself that I could do this. I would find his contact and get help.
I speedily gathered my cloak and sprinted south toward the river point I’d been ordered to go to.
Guilt nipped at my heels. What were the chances that soldiers just happened to find our camp only days after I’d made a scene at the market?
At least the convoy hadn’t departed, leaving us with the numbers to fight.
At some point, I’d strapped the bow and arrow to my back, giving me more motion to run. After a few minutes drowning in shame over the possible outcome and how I’d caused it, I clued in to the echo of steps behind me. I whirled to see Alba trying to keep up.
“What are you doing?!” I questioned, stopping only momentarily. Maybe she hadn’t relayed her entire message before I’d taken off.
“I’m coming with you,” she wheezed.
“No, it’s dangerous. Go relay to Rav that I’ll do what he says.” My lungs constricted, making it hard to breathe, but I’d bet money it was from my rising guilt and panic more than anything.
“He wanted me to go with you,” she said, nearly doubling over from exertion already.
“What? Why?” Rav would never put an untrained civilian in harm’s way.
“He wants me to cause a distraction if you get caught. Go, we don’t have time!” She picked up her skirts and booked it past me.
I didn’t have time to question or reject that absurd idea.
If it were up to me, I’d send Alba back home, but dammit if Rav hadn’t thought this through.
With my altercation in the market last time, possibly identifying my face, he wouldn’t risk my getting caught before his contact heard the news.
It went against everything in me to let her continue, but I would put my trust in Rav, and in myself, to not let anything happen to her.
It took some time for us to travel farther south to the point where the rock bed encroached on either side of the bank. The current was still strong, but the water seemed calmer today. A small mercy—if we managed to avoid getting swept away.
“Do you think we’ll be able to touch the bottom?” She huffed and puffed beside me, her eyes nearly bulging with hope.
“No. It’s narrow, but still deep enough for a large ship to sail through.” My mind raced, assessing multiple possibilities, trying to figure out the best way to cross. Without a word, I started gathering and braiding dried twigs and long strands of grass sprouting from the bank.
Alba clearly wanted to ask what I was doing, but she opted for catching her breath, letting me continue my task with a questioning glare. I’d made good headway when she finally gathered herself enough to speak. “How will that help?”
“If the current takes us, we’ll be at its mercy, but if I can tether one end of this makeshift rope to both sides, we’ll have something to keep us in place.”
I continued working, not realizing she’d used her herbalist magic to grow roots from the ground until she yanked them free.
My fingers stopped their work. “Well, that’s much better.
” I tossed aside my admittedly pathetic collection of thin branches, opting for Alba’s sturdier construction.
We secured one end to a log half-protruding from the river bank, and the other to my arrow.
I fired it across the river, embedding it into a tree on the other side.
If it failed, I wouldn’t have Alba drowned on my watch. We prepared for next moves if things were to go wrong. Alba was to return and relay what’d happened so Rav could send someone else. Preferably someone with skills to cross the river.
With time still against us, I plunged myself into the cold, steady water.
My hands remained tightly gripped to the roots as I leveraged to pull myself across.
My legs strained to kick against the pulling force, but the roots remained strong.
I hauled myself onto the rock bed on the other side, waving Alba to cross.
The pebbling on my skin was nearly painful, and I choked down air while my body fought to regulate its temperature. Thank the gods it was summer.
Hesitance and fear were written all over her face as she stepped into the flowing river, her knuckles white and lips clamped shut. Summoning courage, she fed herself along the rope quickly, as if a fire were set behind her. Maybe I’d underestimated her.
With heavy, sopping wet clothes, we didn’t take time to rest or revel in our successful attempt. I yanked my arrow free and unwound our line, placing it back in my quiver.
We needed to get to Hava City, fast.