Chapter 32 Iann
IANN
I’ve only lost one man in all my days of leading expeditions.
His name was Rein Cordwall and it was on my third voyage to an area just outside Diamondhead.
He was bitten by a snake while hiking a nearby trail and couldn’t get back in time for help.
I was the one who found his cold body keeled over in a pile of autumn leaves. It is the closest I’ve been to death.
Dusk falls upon us and Ariah still hasn’t awakened. I move her body away from the fire the others sit around, afraid the fumes will exacerbate her current state.
Sky struggled to find ingredients needed for her spray. A few couldn’t be found at all and we had to make do with a few substitutions.
Getting the concoction in her system was harder. Without something to spritz in her mouth and with her being unconscious, it was nearly impossible, but Sky managed. Almost magically healing her.
Deean makes a few attempts to approach us, but guilt keeps him away.
He thinks I’m angry with him. I’m not. I’m more worried if the mixture is helping her.
I’ve seen others who share her ailment and never have they become unconscious from it.
It’s as if her body has completely shut down, and I wonder if there is something nefarious at play.
Or perhaps my mind is scrambling for an excuse.
Sky assures me as long as she’s breathing, she’ll be fine, but I won’t be satisfied until her eyes open.
“You can come closer,” I say to a spying Deean.
He brings me cooked fish they caught from a nearby river and berries from a bush Sky said are safe to consume.
“How is she doing?” He eyes her as he takes a seat next to me.
“Her breathing is regulated. I’m not sure why she hasn’t woken up yet.”
“She will. You think this will be Ariah’s end?” he jokes, but I’m not laughing. “She wouldn’t allow herself to go out like this.” The last part makes me smile. It’s true. “I’m sorry,” he admits. “I didn’t see the bottle.”
It’s hard to be mad at him. He went from saving my life, and everyone else’s, to accidentally threatening the one life here with the power to crush me if she doesn’t survive.
“It’s not your fault.” I do my best to comfort him.
He urges me to eat something. With a fire, I sanitize one of Ariah’s needles and use it to better spear my food.
I play with the fish until I finally take a bite.
The meat hits my tongue with disgust. I forcefully chew it until it slides down my throat.
The soggy meat tastes like dirty water that’s been marinating for days.
From the corner of my eye, I catch Deean smuggling a smile. He knows damn well this is one of the most disgusting things ever made.
“I told Benny to find some herbs or something. Season it up, you know. Hell, he could have fried it in that berry sauce to make it taste better, but he claimed he knew what he was doing.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out some stale bread.
“I don’t know how you do it. Days ago, we were eating like the princes we are and now this hard bread is the best thing I’ve had in days. ”
“You get used to it.” I chuckle. “Most of the time we have months to prepare and pack much better food. We also would never let Benny prepare it.”
We laugh together and pick at the food. Eventually his eyes get caught in the sky, drifting away in its beauty. With little light out here the stars are exceptionally clear, thousands of them scattered above.
“She’s going to be okay.” He breaks his contemplation at my words.
“I already told you she would be. Ariah is a fighter.”
“So is our mother, whom I was referring to.” He swallows hard before looking back up. “I don’t believe Morrena,” I conclude.
“I don’t want to, but it makes sense why Father pushed you so hard.
” He sets his food down and moves to the ground to rest his back against a fallen log, holding the back of his head in his hands.
“We’ll find out the truth when we get back.
I’m not worried.” Deean has always been a momma’s boy, and even though she claims not to have favorites, she loves him in a different kind of way.
I suppose she loves each of us differently.
“I’ve been thinking, how would you like to go on another expedition with me? You’ve done well. Benny too. I’m even thinking about asking him to be a permanent member of my crew.”
With eyes still looking up towards the sky, he grins. “Are you asking me to be a permanent member of your crew as well?”
“Potentially. As long as it comes with no more embarrassing stories.”
He gives me a look, one mixed with gratitude and a dash of cockiness. “I suppose that’s fair. And I’d follow you anywhere, brother.”
Come morning, Ariah still isn’t awake. Sky says her body faced an immense amount of stress and anyone would need time to recover.
While I try not to worry, we work on building a tool that will help us carry her. According to Nico’s calculations, he fully expects us to be there within a few hours. It isn’t far but it’s still a long way to carry someone.
With a blanket, sticks, and rope we manage to put together something that will hold Ariah. Deean and Sky lift her as I stick with Nico and lead the group.
There aren’t any more hidden walls or bird surprises. The path stays clear and level, making carrying Ariah easier. There are also no more symbols left on Fraya’s map, with the exception of one more near the tree.
The air shifts and a crispness prickles my skin. The scent of orchids floods my nostrils as we turn a stone corner and find ourselves surrounded by a field of the beautiful flowers. In the distance I pick up on the sound of trickling water.
“We’re nearly there.” Nico angles the map in my direction. “Just beyond the waterfall.”
The sound of rushing water increases and just as we pass a cluster of bushes a waterfall comes into full view. Colorful rays glisten above the three-tier fall that spills over moss-covered stones.
“I can feel it,” Sky says. “The tree is nearby. Whatever enchantment Morrena used is strong.”
“Let’s rest here,” I instruct the group. It’s great we’re close but useless if Ariah isn’t awake. We won’t be able to see the tree or its blossoms without her.
The others take to the water as I sit with Ariah and use the time to document the experience so far, something I haven’t been keeping up with. I get to the birds when a shadow emerges over my journal.
“I’ll sit with her if you’d like to go take a dip,” Chana says, and bobs her head at the water before sitting next to me.
The water has been tempting me since I first heard the rush of the falls. We haven’t bathed in a few days and a musty scent has been clinging to me since yesterday.
“Thank you.” I close up the journal but feel her gaze on me. “Are you okay?”
She turns her head towards the water and taps a foot against the rocks.
“The others and I were wondering what will happen next?” My eyebrows pinch together.
“After we get the flower. I know you are going to convince your father to pardon us, but what if he doesn’t?
We have done terrible things in the name of the Queen. Things against your own kingdom.”
“He doesn’t have to know.” I place the journal back in the bag and wave away a bug that circles Ariah’s face.
“I know my father and he’ll grant the pardon, especially with the flower in hand.
Hell, if you all desire, I could probably convince him to grant you titles.
” That makes her smile and her eyes soften.
I’m reminded of the other night when she felt comfortable enough to share her story.
“I could also help you get back home. If that’s what you wish for. ”
Her smile dissipates and she wrings water out of her short hair.
“I don’t even know if my family is still there.
I used to think they would come looking for me.
That my father would tear down every door until he found the right one.
Foolish though, they don’t even know where I was taken to, let alone have access to the castle. ”
“I’m sorry.” It’s the only thing I can think to say that feels right.
“Don’t be.” A smile returns. “It wasn’t your fault.
Life with the Queen wasn’t all bad. I might have ended up a pathetic, silenced creature back at home.
Certainly, married off by now to some man I would have had no desire for, in hopes my parents could gain some type of payment from the union.
We weren’t as well off as other families. ”
The faintest moan sends our attention in Ariah’s direction. Her eyeballs move behind shut eyelids and there is the slightest twitch at her mouth.
“You should go.” Chana moves to Ariah’s other side.
“She’ll be waking soon and it’s probably best if you don’t smell like an unbathed mule.
” The comment is forward and has me second guessing if I heard her correctly.
“Sorry, Your Highness. Not sure if that was too honest, but I felt someone had to say it.”
“No offense taken.” Stripping off my boots and top, I leave my breeches on and head to the water.
The water feels as perfect as it looks. My thirsty skin absorbs it immediately, and I waste no time using my fingernails to scrub away layers of dirt that have built up over the past few days.
Eventually, I swim beneath the waterfall, letting it douse me as I wash my hair.
Something about the water feels different.
It layers my skin, making it feel like velvet.
I scoop some up in my palm and notice it carries a sheen—almost like crushed up diamonds amalgamating into a crystal blue.
“Iann!” Deean shouts from the bank. He stands beside Chana and Ariah. “She’s waking.”