Water in the Desert

Chapter 7

Zhe'om waited till the end of the party. By then almost everyone was drunk and/or tired. She went back to the female servant's quarters. "Jo͌za͌n," she called as she entered the room. The only person in the room was Kowat who was laying down on one of the beds, trying to fall asleep. She gave Zhe'om a stern look. "Where is Jo͌za͌n?" Zhe'om asked worriedly. Kowat just narrowed her eyes and covered her pillow over her ear holes. Zhe'om then got an idea. "Please tell me," Zhe'om pleaded, Kowat bared her teeth and flopped to face away from Zhe'om, "Tell me. Tell me. Tell me." Zhe'om continued repeating this, seeming to annoy Kowat. Eventually Kowat gave in.

"Qo͌fo͌n," she said. This word is almost exactly the same as the Desert-Speak translation: "Qofon" or "dungeon." Zhe'om didn't know where the dungeons were but she had another idea. She went back to the dining hall. Some of the guests were asleep after all the drinking as well as Lord Mõ'yĩk. She grabbed a knife next to a plate that was greasy from meat. She then grabbed Lord Mõ'yĩk by the collar of his fine robe and held the knife to his throat. Slowly he woke up, groggy and slightly inebriated.

"Take me to the dungeons," Zhe'om whispered menacingly, "now." That made him less groggy.

"Alright," he shuddered. They then walked out of the dining hall and down some hallways. The whole entire time they were in awkward silence. Zhe'om hoped he thought she would kill him if he tried to escape. He wasn't the best person to begin with but Zhe'om would avoid violence if she could. They soon walked down some stairs to a place that Zhe'om knew could only be the dungeon. They ran into a few guards but Lord Mõ'yĩk signaled for them to stop.

Zhe'om then spotted Jo͌za͌n in a cell and walked to it. "Zhe'om!" Jo͌za͌n exclaimed with utter shock on her face. She must have been crying since her face-paint was all messed up. Lord Mõ'yĩk looked like he was on the verge of saying something mean.

"Don't worry Jo͌za͌n," Zhe'om reassured her, "Lord Mõ'yĩk please get one of the guards to unlock the cell." She would have reached out her hand to Jo͌za͌n if she wasn't too busy keeping a pompous lord from escaping. Lord Mõ'yĩk did as he was told and a guard brought out a key from his pocket and unlocked Jo͌za͌n's cell.

Zhe'om and Jo͌za͌n began walking out of the dungeon; still holding Lord Mõ'yĩk captive. They continued walking until they were a good distance outside the castle walls. Zhe'om then used her foot to dislodge a rock from the ground then used her prehensile tail to grab it, pass it to her hand with the knife in it, then hit Lord Mõ'yĩk on the head with that rock. He yelped before he lost consciousness and Zhe'om let him fall to the ground.

"We should run," Zhe'om said to Jo͌za͌n. Jo͌za͌n gestured in agreement and they ran in the direction of the desert. Zhe'om felt amazing not that she was free, she just needed to keep it that way. Eventually they couldn't see the castle in the distance and Zhe'om stopped to take a breath. Jo͌za͌n did the same.

"I can't believe you did that!" Jo͌za͌n said breathlessly, "You're amazing! Oh, and thank you." Zhe'om's heartbeat sped up.

"You're welcome," Zhe'om responded before sitting down. Now that Zhe'om had escaped the castle and didn't need to watch out for danger, her brain had time to process all her trauma. She began to feel hopeless. Her home was gone. The Desert Coalition wasn't perfect but it was still a really good place to live. She began to remember all the death she had seen. It had been unlike anything she had seen before in her life. It made her feel sick.

"Are you okay?" Jo͌za͌n asked Zhe'om, probably having noticed Zhe'om's trauma.

"No," Zhe'om said without hesitation, "I have been through a lot this past week. I have seen death and I lost everything."

"I'm so sorry," Jo͌za͌n responded sympathetically, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yes," Zhe'om answered. She told Jo͌za͌n about what she went through. From the invasion, to her capture, to the death of the elders. All through it, Jo͌za͌n listened.

"That's awful!" she gasped when Zhe'om finished, "How could they just do that?!"

"It's because they look different and are from different cultures," Zhe'om responded sadly.

"They are fools!" Jo͌za͌n told Zhe'om, "You're the kindest person I've ever met, you didn't deserve to go through any of that!" She reached out her hand and Zhe'om took it. Jo͌za͌n's face paint was a mess and Zhe'om's probably was too, but in the moonlight, Jo͌za͌n looked so beautiful to Zhe'om. Zhe'om was so glad to know Jo͌za͌n. Jo͌za͌n hadn't even questioned helping Zhe'om in the beginning. She was wonderful. Eventually they decided to walk further away from the castle and eventually they found some tall grass to fall asleep in.