End of a Beginning (Book 4)

Chapter Nine - We All Have Demons

As we move along the Noel and Sica border, Derek congers up a plan to get into Lim safely. "Are you sure?" I ask after his long layout of the plan.

He looks back over his shoulder but keeps walking. "No, but it'll have to do."

I frown. This is definitely not a good plan. I wish there was some other way but I don't know Lim well enough to think of a different plan. In a way, I hate how much I have to rely on Derek but I'm the one putting us in this situation so trust is a sure thing at this point. "We still have about five or six days until we get to the border," he says just as we get to a clearing. "That should be enough time to solidify our plans."

In the next couple hours, Derek and I have to travel more into Sica due to flooding in Noel. After crossing the railroad tracks, I realize that this is my first time in Sica. The farther south we travel, the forests start to thin out. Now, there's smatterings of trees here and there but we're met with more farming fields and plain meadows with thick, lush grass. But with this change, there is now more risk to being seen. But there's nothing we can do about that. We either keep moving or just give up and go home.

Catching up to Derek – who always seems to be ahead of me – I walk side by side with him. "Tell me about Sica," I say as I nudge his shoulder.

He doesn't answer at first, but then, "Sica is beautiful. Even though they touch Bok, they still value their environments. They're big on reusing things." He turns to me. "But there are rumors that Sica wants to add to their lands."

I whip my head towards him. "What?"

Floriea is split up into ten different regions; the borders are split up based on population. Ten different regions, same population throughout. Bok is the smallest because the population is so densely populated. Wallho is the largest in size because its people are so spread out from one another. So hearing what Derek has said is shocking. If one of the provinces is taking land without the strict regulations with population, this could lead to riots, to a war.

"Sica wants to take over Caro's lands so then it has explicit control over transportation over the big three."

"Bok is already at a disadvantage. Why would they allow anything like this?"

Derek shrugs. "Maybe they don't know about it. My guess is that they're allowing it to happen." The more and more that is revealed to me about this nation truly confuses me. There is so much that I've been oblivious to for so long but in a way I'm kind of glad I wasn't a part of it. My head hurts just thinking about it. "Bok has always had a roll in the chaos," Derek says as he eyes a farmhouse in the distance. "They'd deny it of course."

An uneasiness settles over me as we continue along in Sica. As much as I hate how the other provinces treat Wallho, I don't want bloodshed for them either. If Sica were to try to take control over Caro, there is no doubt that shift in power dynamics would cause a rift throughout Floriea and not a good one at that. When we settle down for the night, the thought still hasn't left my mind. There's no way Bok would let this happen. Unless... "Why would Bok want a civil war?" I ask out loud.

As Derek tends to the fire, "There's a reason there hasn't been any border changes in the last sixty years." Population control. They've been using the games, the raids, this upcoming riot as population control. Even a couple of years ago, they also implemented that every citizen is to ask permission for every upcoming child and there are supposed to be limits of how many children you are supposed to have.

"Bok is insane for allowing this to happen." I can't wrap my head around this. Derek only shrugs. He's been accustomed to this news his whole life. Of course he isn't surprised at all. I risk losing Derek's temper but I ask anyways, "Does your father have any say in this?"