Princess of Illea

Chapter 9: Scars

            I walked around for almost half an hour before I found some footprints left by Emmalyn. They lead me to multiple berry bushes, the remnants of a honeybee hive, and a clear lake. I stood and stared at the lake water, watching the large fish swim around happily. My stomach growled and I realized I hadn't eaten in days.

"You have eaten..." I jumped and whipped around to see Emmalyn emerging from the woods with an arm full of kindling.

"Cerridwen fed you whatever that old hag handed her." Emmalyn rolled her eyes and threw her collection of branches on the ground.

"Oh..." was the only thing I could think to say. I came to apologize and now that I found her, I couldn't form words to say, so, I watched her as she skillfully picked out a few branches and examined them thoroughly. She sharpened the end of a few of the sticks with her knife with great precision and care. She then proceeded to use the rest of the twigs and branches to build a fire. I stood there and watched, useless... as usual.

"I know Ciaran told you what happened." She glanced down at her bruises then kept working.

"There's no need to apologize." She walked over to the edge of the water with her sharpened sticks and studied the lake. Her trained eyes followed the fish as they swam merrily.

"Fine. I won't apologize for hurting you, but I will apologize for how I acted." I said confidently, watching the fish next to her. She didn't say anything, so I proceeded.

"I acted ungrateful and selfish. You both took care of me and I pushed you away. I assumed that this mission was my load to carry, as if I was someone of importance..." I studied the dragon on my hand. A moment passed before she replied.

"You are someone important, otherwise I... we wouldn't have taken care of you."

I studied her face, searching for answers. What about me did she think was remotely important? She surprised me when she suddenly lifted her sharpened stick and threw it into the water. She lifted the wood out to find a large catfish pierced on the end.

"I knew from the beginning that you would have some key role in this mission. I don't know what it is yet, but I'll let you know when I find out." Emmalyn took the fish off of the spear and tossed it away from the water. As the fish gave its last fight on the dirt, she prepared her next makeshift spear for another throw.

"Why do you think I have a key role?" I inquired hesitantly as she threw her spear. My question must have caught her off guard because missed her target. Frustrated, she turned to me, grabbed my dragon wrist and lifted it in front of my face.

"You're the one with the dragon tattoo. Why don't you try telling me why you don't have a key role?" We kept our gaze locked for a few moments before she dropped my hand.

"Chidi chose you, he obviously knows that you are important." Emmalyn turned back to the water and stood poised to take another stab at the fish.

"Is that why you stayed with me all night? Because Chidi chose me?" She threw her spear and got another kill. She spoke softly, as if my question hit a wound.

"I wasn't going to be the reason another person on my team died." She looked solemnly at the water then turned to walk towards her small pile of kindling. She grabbed twigs and began rubbing them together to start a flame. I sat and watched her wield her knife as she skinned and cooked the fish. I didn't know how to respond. Should I ask her about her past or just talk about the weather? Should I just head back to camp? I wanted to know her story, but it clearly pained her to talk about it... I didn't want to be the cause of any more of her pain.

"Someone in my squadron got injured... badly. Back when I served in the Roman army." I jumped at her voice. She was studying the flames as they licked the fish.

"He was running a fever. I was to stay up and watch him that night." She looked like she was in physical pain telling me this. I hated to see her digging up this hurt, so I opened my mouth to say she didn't have to tell me anymore, but she continued.

"I had ONE job. To watch my teammate. And I left my post..." She took a shaky breath. I could see the glimmer of tears forming in her eyes. She brushed her hair out of her face.

"His fever got so bad he had a minor seizure. He choked on his own tongue because I wasn't there." A single tear rolled down her face as she studied the flames. I watched her as she processed her own story. I sat down next to her; my movements slow as to not startle her.

"So what happened?" It was a stupid question, but my stupid mouth spoke before my brain could stop myself.

"When I found him I... I didn't know what to do so... So, I ran. I ran and I ran and I hid. I found a cave and waited to either die of starvation or be found and killed by my own country. It was what I deserved." She tucked her knees under her chin and bit her lip as she held back more tears from falling. I sat there and thought about the pain and fear she must have felt.

"Why didn't you just stay? Your team probably wouldn't have known any better if you were there or not..." I watched the fire light dance on the lake water.

"My teammate could have survived. I deserved to die for what I did... and I wish I would have died..." Emmaline rolled her eyes.

"That cave is where I found Ciaran and got welded to him." I studied her face, no longer broken and sad but hard and enraged. She wasn't lying, she truly wished she had died.

"Now I'm the only one from my entire empire who is alive when I should have been the first to die for my actions." She laid her forehead on her knees and sniffled softly.

"Well good thing you didn't die because if you weren't here, I bet Cerridwen would have fed me poison ivy." I chuckled awkwardly and I could see her hide a small smile.

"I appreciate you telling me, and I'm thankful that you stayed with me. I thought I was alone, but you were there. Thank you." She looked up at me and gave a half smile.

We proceeded to enjoy our fish in silence, but I could tell there was no longer a cloud of anger looming over us anymore. It felt nice. I felt like we were finally friends. She had shared something personal with me and that made me feel less like I was alone. We were a team. And I kinda liked it.