The Blue Desert

Chapter Twenty-Three

Silius had spoken rightly. They were out of the forest by their second day of riding. As they left the trees' shadows, Anan kept looking back, trying to keep the images of the trees in her mind. She did not want to forget the beautiful forest or the feeling of coolness she had when she was in it.

When the forest finally began to fade from view, Anan started to examine the land around them. It was flat and very, very green. When they left the road that evening to camp, Anan found that the ground beneath the grass was spongy, sinking beneath her whenever she sat or walked on it.

It rained that night. It had done so once before while they were camping in the forest, but Anan had never felt rain before. While Silius tried to hide from it, Anan stood with her palms upturned, welcoming the moisture.

The rain stopped shortly after the sun set, but Anan's dress was already soaked through. Silius berated her as he built the fire higher than normal. "Rain is wet," he reminded her as if he were talking to a little child. "When rain touches something, it makes that something wet as well."

Anan glared at him from across the fire. She was hugging herself and still shivering. "I know."

He put one last piece of wood into the fire and then looked at her for a long moment before he sighed. "Fine. It wouldn't do for you to present yourself to the emperor by sneezing on him. You have to take the wet dress off or else you will never warm up."

"Excuse me?"

"I have another tunic that you can wear; it will be like a dress for you, anyway." Silius went to his packs and pulled something out.

When he handed it to her, Anan saw that it was indeed a black tunic just like the one he wore. After holding it for a moment, she stood uncertainly. Silius turned away from her, facing the fire. Anan went to stand behind Bayen even though she knew it would be difficult for anyone to see her in the growing darkness.

It was a struggle to pull the wet fabric away from her skin, but once it was off, and she dried herself as best she could with her already damp cloak, she pulled the tunic on. It fell nearly to her ankles, and Anan felt ridiculous wearing it, but it did make her feel a little warmer.

When she came back to the fire, Silius took the dress from her and laid it across several rocks that had been dried beside the fire. "Better?" he asked her once the work was done.

Anan nodded and sat down next to him, close to the fire where the ground had dried. She undid her braid and squeezed any extra droplets of water out of it, letting it hang over her shoulder to be dried by the heat of the fire as well.

They sat in silence for some time, with only the fire crackling occasionally to make any noise. It was only after one of the horses shifted in their sleep that Silius spoke, though quietly.

"What do you plan to do once you reach Tara?"

Anan was caught off guard by the question. "I'll convince my uncle that he really is my uncle," she answered slowly.

"But after that, when he accepts you?"

"I don't know if he will," Anan said, staring at the flames.

"You have the proof, and you don't look that much like a Vasdan; I'm certain those are your mother's eyes."

Anan turned to see his dark eyes studying her face and gave a small smile. "But I have my father's ways."

"You aren't anything like the king." Silius's face was shocked. "I haven't seen you do one thing that paralleled his ways."

She laughed, surprised by the strength behind his argument. "No one in Tria knows that, and they might not believe it."