Ascension (9 page)

I watched the
animals stretch their long necks down, entranced by their beauty.
As one lifted its head and cocked its ears, I felt Croxley crouch
down beside me and whisper in my ear,
“
Dear-
”

My face flamed at
the unexpected comment.
“
Dear
what?
”

“
No,”
I heard him
sigh under his breath,
“
That is what they
are called. Deer.
”

“
Oh.”
I turned
back around to face the deer, but to my dismay, we had scared them
away. No longer bothering to whisper, I glared at him.
“
Now look what you
’
ve done!”

“
Me? What on
earth did I do?
”

“
You and your
obnoxious, nasally voice scared them away!
”

“
Nasally
…
what?
”
He exclaimed,
“
My voice is not
nasally!
”

“
Oh please, it
sounds like someone
’
s shoved a clod of dirt up your giant nose!
”
His hand darted up to his face to cover his
nose, and I celebrated my small victory. Mimicking his tone, I
pranced around with my skirt full of berries, announcing,
“I
’
m the
King
’
s royal
messenger, sent to perform his errands throughout Ahrenia,
showering my grace on everyone I meet. I think that every woman is
dying to give herself to me because of my dashing good looks. Oh,
and even though I
’
m beyond charming, I can
’
t seem to get myself to share my
supplies with my traveling companion, despite the fact that she is
nearly freezing to death in the cold wind!
”
I looked back at him, ready to unleash another torrent of
insults, but stopped short at his crestfallen
expression.

“
I…didn
’
t know you were cold. You should
have said something,
”
he said in a quiet
voice. Turning around, he headed back to the horses, which were
where we had left them, grazing on the grass.

Despite all that
he had done to me, I still felt a pang of guilt that he felt bad.
This was quickly followed by anger at myself for feeling guilty.
Why should I feel bad? He needed to get his ego checked. I wrapped
my berries in a wad of cloth and put them in my pocket.When I made
my way back to Sam, I noticed that there was a cloak laid out on
his back. I turned to look for Croxley, but he was already on Sir
Thunder, riding deeper into the forest. I grabbed the cloak in my
hands, holding it for a few moments, watching him move further
away. Wrapping it around my shoulders, I climbed onto
Sam
’
s back with
more ease than before, and kicked him into a steady
trot.

As we continued down the path, my
hips swaying in time with Sam while we meandered down the path, I
pondered the man in front of me as I ate my berries.

Ξ

“
Is my nose
really that big?
”

“
What?
”
Croxley
’
s question
pulled me out of my daydream. I was wondering whether or not Conor
had told my parents of my plan. I hoped that they understood my
choice. Although I had no idea what fate lie before me in the city,
I knew that it would be more meaningful and rewarding than the one
I had lived before. And if I am lucky, I will be able to save my
people from their fate, although I still had yet to develop a plan.
Again, I cursed myself for not finding out more about the
Council
’
s plan
before leaving.

“
Fara?”

“
What? Sorry. Um,
your nose?
”

“
Forget about it.
We are going to stop up ahead at the river.
”
Gazing past Sir Thunder, I saw a slice of blue breaking up
the thick blanket of green. The river lazily flowed through the
clearing, with a few red and yellow leaves spinning in its current.
As we got closer, I heard the pattering of the water over the
rocks, a familiar sound that had very often lulled me to sleep back
in Cethin.

When we reached
the river, Croxley jumped off Sir Thunder and walked toward the
water. Following his lead, I slid off Sam
’
s back and made my way to the
edge of the river. Grabbing my water skin, I bent down to refill
it, but it was still more than half full, and I wondered why we had
stopped at another river so soon. Standing up and closing my water
skin, I lookup around and was stupefied by the sight of Croxley in
his undergarments.

“
Um, excuse me!
What are you doing?
”
I quickly averted my
gaze and concentrated on repositioning my water skin at my side.
When I looked up again, Croxley was in the water, his hair undone,
fanned around his head as he bobbed on the
surface.

“
I
’
m bathing. You cave dwellers
ever bathe? No? That explains why you stink so bad!
”
He grinned and dunked his head before I could
respond. When he popped back up, I threw a rock at him, but he
dodged, and the resulting splash wasn
’
t as rewarding as a hit would
have been.

“
I bathe!
Honestly! Just because we live underground doesn
’
t mean we can
’
t have hygiene!
”
I huffed and walked towards the water. Still, I
realized that our arguments now stemmed from good-natured teasing
rather than from hostility. I wonder when that happened, I thought
to myself.

Taking off my shoes, I dipped my toe
into the water, and immediately pulled it right back
out.

“
Are you insane?
This is freezing!
”
In Cethin, we use hot
springs for bathing. The heat helps sooth the muscles and wash the
grime away. This water, on the other hand, was barely warmer than
ice.

“
What do you
expect? We are descending a mountain! This water comes from the
melting snow of the mountaintop that collects into streams and
rivers as it falls down the slopes.
”
He
splashed some of the freezing water towards me, which I
ineffectively tried to block with my hands.
“
I find it refreshing!
”

So it is freshly melted
ice.

“
He finds it
refreshing,
”
I mumbled to myself as I
walked along the bank towards where the river curved around and out
of sight.

“
Where are you
going?
”

“
Unlike you, I
prefer privacy.
”
Considering my company,
I added,
“
And if I catch you peeking
around the corner, I will kill you.
”

Croxley
reassembled his face into an attempt at a frown.
“
But who will protect you from the scary owls
and other creatures of the night? No matter, I
wouldn
’
t want
to see your netherbody anyways. One time was enough for me. And who
knows what you look like in the actual light of the day. You might
have a second bellybutton that I couldn
’
t see in the dim cave
lighting.
”
He winked and slunk under the
water.

I rolled my eyes
and walked around the bend. Once I made sure I was out of sight, I
stripped down and braced myself for the cold. Standing at the
waters edge, I dipped my toe in and quickly pulled it out.
“
Come on, you can do this,
”
I told myself. But as much as I tried, I
couldn
’
t force
myself in. Deciding I would have to take a more drastic approach, I
backed away from the river
’
s edge. Closing my eyes, I ran
full speed into the water, releasing a shriek when the cold water
slapped my face.

Pulling my head under the water, I
quickly scrubbed my fingers through my hair, rubbed my hands over
my body, and retreated out of the water. Shivering, I jumped up and
down until most of the water dripped off, and threw on my
frock.

Walking back around the bend, I saw
that Croxley had gotten dressed as well. When he saw me, he gave me
a queer look.

“
What?
”
I asked self-consciously. Hoping that I put my
frock on correctly, I patted down any loose folds of
fabric.

“
How was your
battle with the water? Did you win?
”

Realizing that he
was speaking about my shriek, I put on a stern face and said
seriously,
“
Yes. I proved victorious, and
now all of its watery subjects must bow to me. So next time you
enter the water, beware.
”
And with as
much dignity as I could muster, I climbed back onto Sam, my hair
still dripping cold water down my back. I tried my best to hide my
shiver and demand nobly,
“
Shall we
go?
”

Croxley
mock-bowed and hopped onto Sir Thunder. Once again, he made it look
infuriatingly effortless.
“
Yes, oh mighty
mistress of the sea.
”

Chapter
10

“
Here we are! The
royal city of Stonewall.
”

Croxley and I had reached the end of
the forest. We were greeted by a small, grassy field leading up to
the city. Seeing the massive stone wall made with bricks of many
different shapes and colors surrounding the city, I could see why
it was called Stonewall.

In total, our
journey had taken around 5 days. The rest of the trip was
uneventful, stopping only to get more water, relieve ourselves, and
sleep. I kept myself busy searching for animals, bugs, flowers,
and, of course, berries, which I ate more slowly than I did my
first batch. I wouldn
’
t admit it to Croxley, but the berries destroyed my
stomach. Croxley
’
s method of passing the time, on the other hand, was by
inventing different, more effective ways to get on my nerves. At
first, it took little effort on his part to infuriate me, but as
time grew on and my comebacks became sharper, his game grew less
entertaining and he finally gave up. Occasionally my mind would
wander back to Cethin, and with a pang of homesickness, I would
imagine my family going on with their lives without me. Other
times, I would wonder what future lie ahead of me in the city,
often forgetting that I had submitted myself to be a
slave.

At the base of the wall, it suddenly
occurred to me that I never thought about what would happen if the
King evaluated me to be unfit for the surface. Never in our history
had someone come back down to Cethin from the surface, not
including the guards.

“
Croxley?”

“
What do you
want, Fara?
”

“
What would
happen if the King doesn
’
t see me fit for the
surface?
”

“
Well, you would
probably be executed,
”
Croxley stated
matter-of-factly. When he turned around, he saw the worry on my
face, and quickly added,
”
nothing big,
though. Just a quick beheading in the dungeon, so
don
’
t
worry.
”

“
Oh. Okay. Thanks.”
Not knowing what else to say, I absentmindedly braided
Sam
’
s mane,
weaving his strands of hair in and out in an effort to distract
myself. There
’
s
no use worrying about the future, I told myself, whatever happens,
there is nothing you can do but go on.

Ξ

Entering
Stonewall was no easy task. There was a crowd of people at the
entrance, each one being checked by a guard for papers and weapons.
I had hoped that Croxley, being the King
’
s messenger, would be able to
bypass the crowd, but one glance at his concerned expression told
me otherwise. We dismounted and waited in line, moving at an
agonizingly slow pace. Although the day was cool enough, I was
quickly sweating amongst the crowd of people. Croxley
didn
’
t fare
much better. I could see his blond hair plastered down on his
forehead, and he growled at a passerby who stepped on his foot.
Looking around, I was surprised at how many stunning faces I saw.
Croxley was right. Here, I was no longer extraordinary. I was just
another pretty face.

I
didn
’
t know how
I felt about that. On one hand, I have always wanted to be like
everyone else, no longer singled out for my looks, no longer
imprisoned by my appearance. On the other, I had little more to
offer other than my fair face. What else would I bargain
with?

When we finally
made it up to the guards, they began to search our bags and our
persons. Croxley showed them his papers from the King, and
explained to them that I was up for evaluation. Once the guards had
heard I was from Cethin, I noticed that they handled me much more
roughly and with much less respect. When one guard let a hand
linger too close to my chest while searching my person, Croxley
grabbed his hand and stood in front of me, blocking me from the
guard
’
s
reach.