Chapter 2 #2
“I appreciate that. I’d love to chat more, but I think if I keep you much longer there might be an outrage,” Rania jokes as she says her farewells to Aza and hands her off to yet another dance partner.
Aza danced for what felt like hours. She was pretty sure she had danced with everyone in the village, but she couldn’t help the longing to dance with Jahar.
Just once. Still, she enjoyed her time. When she could no longer ignore the ache in her feet, she politely excused herself to sit down for a break.
She smiled as she watched the villagers continue to dance. Jahar approached her, hands linked behind his back.
“Are you ready to return to the palace?” he asked.
“I would like to say my goodbyes to everyone, and then yes, I think it is time we let the villagers get back to their day.”
“Very well, Princess.”
Aza gets up from her seat and makes her way back to the crowd that has started to settle down.
“I wanted to thank you all for your incredible hospitality, but I must be taking my leave now. I will be sure to get you all the things you require as quickly as possible.” Aza announces to the crowd.
Voices throughout the crowd thanked Aza for visiting, for addressing their needs, and for enjoying a meal and a dance with them all. As the villagers bow and begin to disperse, Aza quickly grabs the attention of a woman nearby and asks, “Do you know where Rania went off to?”
The woman answered, “She turned in a few moments ago; she was starting to not feel well and wanted to rest.”
Aza was shocked she didn’t see her slip away, but responded, “Oh, okay. Well, would you please tell her that I enjoyed seeing her and that I hope she feels better, and to let the healer look her over if need be.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” The woman bows and heads to her waiting family.
Jahar appears behind her, “The carriage is ready for you, Princess.”
“Thank you very much, Sir Jahar. I am ready now.” Aza makes her way to her carriage and settles into her seat.
The carriage takes off towards the palace.
Aza watched as the village faded from view.
There is a row of trees that begins to block Aza’s view of the village.
There aren’t many trees that grow naturally on her lands, except for those by the river or the ones that were imported.
Aza admires the trees as they pass by, until a shadow flickers between them.
She moves closer to the window and squints to try to find what she had seen.
“Slow down, please,” Aza shouts to the carriage driver, and he obeys.
Slightly hidden behind a tree, a boy appears, probably in his teenage years. He wears farmer’s clothes and a brown straw hat. He looked scared. Aza shouted for the driver to stop, and she didn't hesitate to get out of the carriage and walk towards the boy.
She can hear Jahar curse under his breath as he quickly stumbles off his horse, “Princess!” He calls after her, but she continues forward.
“It’s alright,” she cooed, “I won’t hurt you. I just wanted to see if you need some help.”
“Aza, who are you…” Jahar gets cut off.
“Shh, you’ll scare him.”
“Aza…” Jahar’s voice fades behind her.
“I need help. I don’t know what to do,” the boy said, fear lacing his words.
He steps out from behind the tree, and Aza stifles a scream. Where his arm should have been there was nothing but torn flesh, the sleeve of it torn apart and colored a deep red. Red droplets fell from the stump, and tears fall from the boy’s eyes.
“What… what happened?” Aza stuttered.
“I was working on the farm. I was getting really tired. I laid down for a moment. All I can remember after that is pain and screaming, then black. That’s it, except for running through the trees. Please, I’m scared. It hurts.” The boy begins to sob.
Aza whips her head around to find Jahar, shock filling his eyes.
“Jahar, please. Quickly, we must get him into the carriage.” Panic entered Aza’s voice.
“Aza…” he began softly.
“He’s just a boy. He needs a healer, now. He can’t hurt me in the carriage, and you’ll be right outside.” Aza hastily argues. “I don’t even know where he came from. His family must be so worried. Our next task is to find them, but he needs treatment first, now.”
“Aza!” Jahar raises his voice now and gets Aza’s attention, and then his voice becomes gentle again, “There is no one there.”
“What are you talking about? He’s bleeding. He’s right th…” Aza turns to point to the boy, but when she turns back, he is no longer there. “No… no!” Anguish enters Aza’s voice.
“Aza…” Jahar tries to comfort her.
“No! No!” She screams. “Why? Why do these visions endlessly haunt me? They are so horrible! What did I do to deserve this?” Aza begins sobbing.
“I… I don’t know, Princess. It’s alright.”
“No! No, it is not alright!” She’s screaming now, and her other guards are standing at attention. “It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, where I am, or how I’m feeling; they always find their way into my head! They never relent!”
“Please help me!” Aza heard a call behind her, and she spins around.
“Go away! You’re not here! You’re not real! Get out of my head!” She explodes.
The boy looked shocked as he ran toward her, but disappeared when he reached for her.
Aza screams and falls down, pushing herself back against the ground.
“Princess!” Jahar bent down beside her. “Look at me. Listen to my voice. I know you’re scared, but it will be alright. You are safe. I am sorry I can’t protect you from what haunts you, but I will not let anything hurt you.” He reassures firmly.
It takes Aza some time to finally calm her breathing and lift her face from her hands to look up at Jahar, who is still patiently waiting next to her, silently comforting her. Tears still streak down her cheeks, but her sobs have lessened.
“Hello, Princess. There’s my favorite pair of eyes,” Jahar said quietly with a soft smile.
Aza responded with a roll of her eyes and a soft smile.
“Why don’t we head back to the palace, yeah?” Jahar asks suggestively.
Aza nods her head in agreement and lifts herself off the ground. She pats the dirt and grass off her dress and makes her way to the carriage. She sits away from the windows and lets her head drop to watch her hands in her lap.
Aza remained silent for most of the ride back to the palace.
Jahar chose to ride in the carriage with her, giving the reins of his horse to Bennu.
He suggested that they see the healer just to be safe.
Aza argued that they wouldn’t and couldn’t do anything, but after further discussion, she agreed to see the healer after resting for a little while.
Jahar seemed hesitant but eventually seemed to be satisfied with that answer, and they didn’t speak again as they got back and went into her room to rest.