The Witch of Storn

Chapter 30

All of the preparations had been made. The clothes had been folded up and packed into traveling bags, the packages to be delivered sealed properly, the house locked and the wards around it reset. Now they were standing in the clearing that led to Zaria’s house, just a step from crossing the wards and getting back into safer territory. Zaria gave the wards only she could see one last inspection – that was what it looked like to Rey, at least – and turned to Rey.

“Are you ready?”

She wasn’t. Even though the days and hours leading up to that moment had been filled with excitement, Rey wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over herself. Things would change drastically as soon as they left the familiarity of Zaria’s house. Rey wasn’t ready. What if things went wrong? What if they couldn’t find Tilia? Would Zaria send her away then? How would she survive –?

“You are thinking too much,” a cold voice interrupted her anxious thoughts. Rey looked at Zaria.

“But –”

“But nothing. We will go, and we will see what happens. You cannot end the journey before its beginning.”

“What?”

Zaria sighed. “It means you have to start somewhere first. All that worrying you’re doing is not going to help one bit.”

The worry that tensed her shoulders didn’t ease up even after Zaria’s helpful words. Rey’s face showed her worries clearly.

“But what if –“

A sharp rap on the head prevented her from saying anything further. Rey howled in pain, cradling the affected spot gingerly and glaring at Zaria. She didn’t ask why Zaria had hit her; it was obvious. It didn’t mean Zaria had to be so heavy handed about it though!

The culprit just turned on her heels, walking off.

“Hey! Wait for me!”

Rey left her head alone, picked up the bag that sat next to her feet and hefted it over her shoulders, running after Zaria.

Sunlight filtered through the trees above them as they walked in silence, casting warm glows over the spots it struck. The air was filled with the sounds of the forest; birdsong, chirping insects, the rustle of a leaf here and there as some small creature scurried between trees, the crunching of dead leaves underfoot. It was peaceful and perfect for a calming walk through nature.

“Zaria,” Rey whined for what felt like the umpteenth time, “can we rest now? My feet ache and it feels like my blisters are growing blisters.”

Zaria didn’t reply, just like she had ignored all of Rey’s previous pleas. Rey’s plan had been to annoy Zaria until she gave in after the first time but so far the only one being annoyed was Rey. Even she was getting tired of saying the same words over and over again but getting no response, as if she was speaking to a wall.

She tried one last time.

“Zaria! Can we please stop? I’m being serious – I really need to stop – “

She stopped as soon as Zaria raised her hand. The woman had a serious look on her face, different from the usual bored expression. Rey looked around and then back at Zaria. What had she heard? Rey couldn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. The forest was silent, as usual –

“Run!”

The harsh whisper from Zaria was enough to spur Rey into action. She held tight to the bag slung over her shoulders and ran after Zaria, who was nimble for someone her age. It was even more surprising that she was leaving Rey behind rapidly, and the girl struggled to catch up. After a few minutes of running as hard as they could Zaria stopped, dropping her bag and then stretching her limbs without a care.

Rey skidded to a stop too, looking at Zaria in confusion.

“Are we safe now? Why did you stop running?”

Zaria smiled at her. For some reason it sent a shock of apprehension up her spine. Why was she smiling?

“Oh, we were never in danger. I just felt like a run. Now come on, the village is just ahead.”

Rey stared as Zaria bent to pick up her bag and walked off, uncaring whether her guest was following or not. Unknowingly her fists had clenched; it was the pain of her nails digging into the skin of her palms that alerted her. She loosed her fingers with a sigh, breathing in and out and trying to cool down. I must not scream, I must not scream, I must not scream –

“Aren’t you coming?” Zaria had turned around, staring at Rey with furrowed brows. Her act as a confused person would have been convincing if it wasn’t for the smirk on her lips.

“ZARIA!”

The walk after that little episode was less hurried. Rey was still fuming after learning Zaria had made her run, even with her aching feet, as payback for all the whining she had been doing earlier. Rey knew in the back of her mind that woman was right but it didn’t excuse the torture she had put Rey through under the guise of punishment. She couldn’t wait to be rid of Zaria; hopefully things would get resolved as soon as possible and she would be far away from a certain sadistic old woman. A small voice in the back of her head told her she would definitely miss Zaria; she agreed, but Rey chose to wallow in her anger and self-pity some more. Her feet still ached, her toes were pinched from the small shoes Zaria had given her, and her clothes were glued to her back with sweat. It was not a very comforting sensation and Rey wished she could stop and change clothes. She knew better than to ask this time though, so it remained only a wish.

Suddenly Zaria stopped again. Rey stopped too, watching her suspiciously. Zaria turned to Rey. It seemed like she had been about to say something but Rey had no idea what she was going to say since the moment she caught sight of Rey’s face she had burst into laughter. Rey was so done at this point she couldn’t even muster any emotions; she waited until Zaria was done to ask, “What is it?”

Zaria chuckled. “Oh, nothing. It’s just the way you were watching me like I was going to ask you to run again.”

“I wouldn’t put anything past you,” Rey muttered. If Zaria heard what she said she gave no indication, carrying on with her words.

“We’ve arrived at our destination. See that large rock over there?”

Rey’s gaze followed the direction Zaria pointed in, eyes wandering about the indicated scene until she found the object Zaria was talking about. She nodded when she saw it.

“You see it? Well, the village is just within squinting distance of the rock. Let’s go, we’ll be there in no time.”

Rey grumbled as she walked behind Zaria.

“We’ll be there in no time, that’s what you’ve been saying since the beginning. We still haven’t gotten there, wherever there is. And what is ‘squinting distance’?”

“What do you mean, what is squinting distance?”

Zaria had paused. Rey caught up to her, raising a brow at her.

“I mean, what does the term mean? I’ve never heard it before…”

She trailed off at the look Zaria gave her, wanting to smack herself in the forehead when she realized it sounded strange that Rhaenar would have no idea of a term in her own language, especially as she was highborn. Luckily Zaria didn’t say anything and kept on moving. Rey decided to be gracious and ignore the fact that Zaria hadn’t answered her question, something the woman usually did if she thought a question was stupid. She would just have to find out what ‘squinting distance’ meant herself.

At last they reached the rock Rey looked into the distance. She could see the village, even though she had to squint to see it and she was just going off the trails of smoke that reached into the sky to pinpoint it. Then she realized she was squinting. Oh. That’s what it means.

Zaria hadn’t stopped at all so Rey hurried to catch up to her. As they neared the village she felt the butterflies in her stomach become active again. There was no carriage this time. She would have to walk through a whole village of strangers, all probably speaking the same unfamiliar language and staring at her. A thought occurred to her. She turned her face to her companion.

“Zaria,” she said, “shouldn’t we be in disguise?”

The look Zaria sent her way upon hearing the question told her that this was a stupid question, as defined by Zaria. However Zaria sighed and answered, probably taking Rey’s feelings into consideration.

“It is not we who should be in disguise, but you. Although it would be pointless: the moment you open your mouth to speak it would be obvious you’re foreign.”

“Yes but can’t I wear a cloak with a hood or something to hide my features?”

Zaria sent her a look full of disgust.

“You have been reading too many fantastical stories. Let me paint a scenario for you: you are a shopkeeper who sees many people pass by your shop regularly. One day two strangers come into town. One of them is dressed in the usual fashion, like every other person you know but they have paler skin and instantly you identify them as not from around here. The other is covered in a black cloak with their face obscured by a hood. Who would you suspect of hiding a secret?”

Rey stayed quiet. She got the message but wasn’t there anything that would ensure she didn’t stand out too much? What if Ansian was coincidentally on a visit to this village and happened to see her? She spoke her thoughts out loud, prompting an eye roll from Zaria.

“Didn’t I just explain this? If you cover your face you’ll be definitely suspected. A disguise like that only increases the risk of you being discovered by the person you were trying to avoid in there first place.”

“But isn’t there some spell or something that can change the way I look?”

Zaria smirked. “Of course there is – I know a handy hex to give you warts all over.”

Rey scowled but didn’t reply. As usual, Zaria wasn’t being very helpful, but there was nothing she could do about it. At this time they had arrived at the village. It was not what Rey had been expecting.

“I thought you said this was a village?”

Zaria raised an eyebrow at her. “It is.”

“This –“ Rey gestured towards the scene; people walking about looking busy, horses and donkeys pulling carts here and there, children chasing each other and laughing, all combining to present the picture of a bustling community, “— is a town! A village is supposed to be small and…and…”

“Small?”

Rey heard the smile in Zaria’s voice before she saw it.

“Yes,” she answered defensively.

Zaria only shook her head. “Let’s go, we don’t have the time to stand here and talk about the differences between villages and towns.”

They moved into the village and Rey was all too aware of the stares they got as they passed by. People who were in the midst of a conversation would stop and watch them as they passed, and as soon as they were a little distance away conversation would resume immediately, most likely it was about them. Or her, because Zaria seemed to be familiar with the residents, getting a greeting here and a nod there. The woman didn’t stop to chat though, something Rey was grateful for. They moved quickly through the village, another thing Rey was thankful for since it seemed the whole village was staring at her. She moved closer to Zaria, who gave her a look but said nothing. At last they came to the end of their path, having walked in a straight line from the entry point. Rey noticed the scenery had changed, going from houses and shops to boats and canoes placed upside down along the sides of the road, and in the distance she could see the sea, reflecting the light of the sun and waves forming and crashing. The air had gotten a lot better with a strong breeze blowing in their faces; Rey had to grab her bag tight so it wouldn’t fall off in a gust of wind. Unfortunately the noise level had stayed the same; people called to each other from their boats in the water, hawkers walked around announcing their wares and everything was just a wall of sound slamming into Rey, especially because it was strange.

She followed Zaria to one of the many piers jutting out from the land into the sea; this one had a signpost pointing to it with some word written on it. Rey couldn’t read it, but Zaria could, and this seemed to be the place they were headed for all along. They walked down the pier, arriving at a large sailboat on which plenty of people were already seated. A man stood in front of it, directing the crew and speaking to potential passengers. It was this man Zaria approached, talking to him while Rey looked on. They seemed to be arguing, and the man pointed to another man seated in the boat while he spoke. Zaria replied, and the argument went on for a good while before Zaria took out some money from her purse and gave it to the man. Then she turned to Rey.

“Are you done?” Rey asked before Zaria could speak.

The woman nodded.

“Yes, let us board the boat. The captain says they will soon be setting off.”

They walked up the wooden stairs that had been placed at the edge of the pier and into the boat, Rey following Zaria closely as the woman picked a seat. The seats they occupied were next to the man the captain had pointed to before, and when they sat down his face contorted. He turned to the woman who sat beside him and said something to her. Then they switched seats, the man on the other side of the woman who was now seated next to Zaria. Rey watched all of this with a raised brow, wondering what his problem was. Zaria on her part didn’t seem to have noticed anything happening, taking out a book from her bag and reading it.

Rey got tired of looking about, so she bent over, with her arms on her thighs and her head on her arms. Soon she fell asleep, rocked by the gentle swaying motions of the boat.