They decided to spend an extra day in the camp, to make sure Cress
was fully recovered, but set out early the following morning, packing up
their tents and mats beneath a still-dark sky. Jina told Cress that they
should would cover a lot late afternoon, and that by getting such an
early start, they would cover a lot of ground before the scorching heat
claimed the sand. They ate a quick meal of dried meats, gathered some
wild dates from the trees, and left the sanctuary of the oasis.
Though it required a lot of careful repacking of trade goods and
equipment, Cress was given a camel to ride. She was grateful—the mere
thought of walking made her want to break down in sobs—and yet she
soon found that the beast was not the epitome of comfort either. Within
hours, her hands ached from clenching the reins and her calves were red
and irritated. The cloak that the caravaners loaned her kept her better
protected from the sun, but as the day stretched on, there was no respite
from the heat.
They traveled east, parallel with the mountains. Thorne stayed at her
side, a steadying hand on one of the saddlebags and the tip of his new,
lighter cane skimming the sand. Still wearing the blindfold, he walked
with deceptive ease. Cress offered to let him ride the camel numerous times,
but he always declined. She sensed that it was becoming a matter
of pride. He was proving, perhaps to himself, that he could walk without
assistance, that he could be independent, that he could keep a confident
smile on his as he did so.
They spent most of the morning in silence, and Cress couldn't help
losing herself in daydreams that mostly revolved around his fingertips
tracing patterns on the inside of her wrist."
By midday, they were under attack by the relentless heat and windblown
sand that pummeled them, trying its best to seep into the folds of
their clothes. But the sun was no longer on their faces, and gradually the
dunes gave way to a hard, rocky plateau.
In the afternoon, when the sun was at its worst they came across a
dried up riverbed and stopped to rest. They found a shaded spot in the
overhang of a squat cliff, and two of the men wandered off and returned
a while later with alltheir water canteens full to the brim. Jina explained
that there was a water hole hidden in a nearby cope of rocks that was fed
from the same underground spring Kufra was situated on—the trading
city where they were headed.
Climbing back onto the camel after the break was torture, but Cress
reminded herself that anything was better than walking.
The afternoon brought more rocky lowlands, followed bye a few hours
of dunes. They passed a snake and Cress found that she was the only one
who was afraid of it, despite Kwende confirming that it was poisonous.
The snake curled up on itself and watched them pass by the lazy eyes,
not even bothering to hiss or bare its fangs like the snakes on the net dramas
always did. Still, from her vantage point, Cress carefully monitored
where Thorne stepped and her heartbeat didn't slow until the snake
could no longer be seen behind them.
Then, when Cress was sure the insides of her thighs had been rubbed
raw, Thorne reached up and fumbled around until his palm landed on
her knee.
"Do you hear that?"
She listened, but all she heard was the familiar soft clopping of the
camels."What?"
"Civilization."
YOU ARE READING
Cress
Fiksi RemajaTheir best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's being force to work for Queen Levana, and she...
