An Island for a Cloud

4.3 How to Ward off Unwelcome Guests

Thank you very much for reading this chapter. If you spot any spelling mistakes or awkward sentence structures, please be nice and let me know :)

Leivrat

It was already late afternoon, when Shacha finally woke up. She didn't feel rested.

In her sleep, she had been haunted by the vivid images of her body swelling into a grotesque mass of flesh and everyone shunning away from her in disgust. A cold voice asking her over and over again, "Will he love you then?"

She pushed the dream aside and stepped out of her sleeping cocoon. It folded behind her. Annoyance immediately rose within her when she found an old hunched woman standing in her chamber.

The Old Spider.

The woman looked her naked body over critically, and her gaze never left it while Shacha put on a fresh gown.

"What do you want?" Shacha asked angrily, not in the mood for politeness. The Old Spider was her landlady, who ran the inn for Sanduls and was well-known for sticking her nose into everyone's business. She had never before, however, entered Shacha's room so shamelessly.

"You better accept King of the Dust's offer, girl," said the Old Spider with a low voice. Shacha jumped at the old woman and grabbed her by the shoulders, their eyes locking.

"You old hag! Are you spying on me?" Shacha hissed at her. The old woman remained calm and was not intimidated in the least.

"Nothing happens in this inn without my knowledge. But you are mistaken; I am not your enemy. I am here to help you," she said.

"Help me? Everyone wants to help me lately! What do you want for it? A favour?" Shacha almost spat those words into the woman's face, letting out all her frustration from the day before.

"No. I don't need any favours from you," she said. "I won't lie to you either. By helping you, I have a lot to gain."

"Of course, nothing is for free in this place. And you have been here too long. You are just like the Veilys!" shouted Shacha and released the woman in disgust.

The Old Spider moved away, and sat her plum body into the chair, where the King of the Dust sat just the day before.

"You look at me now and all you see is an old Sandul woman. I have been here long and the humidity deformed my body to the extent that it can never recover its natural shape. But I was once young and beautiful, just like you," the woman told her. "Just like you, the Sandthorn Sisters were all I had."

"You are one of the Sandthorn Sisters?" interrupted Shacha doubtfully.

"Since the beginning of times, Sandthorn Sisters provided shelter to any female orphan. I was one and I was raised by them," she said. "The son of a powerful family fell in love with me. I was very happy and I thought I had it all. A future full of promise of a good life and a man who loved me. Yet we were not meant for each other. Creators matched him with another. The woman he belonged to, knew about me and she was a jealous one. She used her power and wealth to get me banished from the sands. I was only fourteen then. And because of her, I never had a chance to get matched to someone else. Mine has been a very lonely life. The story of my survival is written on this body. That is what you see. Look at it well, girl. This awaits you if you stay here for too long!"

Shacha winced at that. The words from her dream still fresh on her mind and haunting her. She dreaded to lose her beauty more than anything and feared that the woman might be right.

She moved away, unable to look at the deformed body any longer, and looked out the small window. All she saw were ugly branches of an old rotting tree that reminded her of sharp twisted claws attempting to grab her. The feeling of hate rose within Shacha. How she wished to be far away from here. Oh how she wanted her old life back!

"I have seen many like you come here, but only few ever returned," continued the Old Spider, her words falling like seeds into fruitful soil. "The Masters of the Sands are unforgiving and they only care about their gains, not you. They do not deserve your loyalty! You have to do what you need to do to survive and to save your mate."

All the rage at the Old Spider left Shacha.

"Why should I believe you?" she asked.

"Because I am the only ally you have. You have not been here long enough to know that King of the Dust is the real power in this city. Not the Aleutans. Aleuta has no future and will fall. You want to be on his side, when it happens. And if a favour is the price to pay for it, so be it. The King of the Dust has the power to get your mate out. It's him he wants, not you."

"What do you know?"

"I listen to the whispers. I know who your mate is. The King of the Dust is scheming and plotting, what, only he knows. All I know is that he needs your mate. And King of the Dust needs a favour from you, to ensure that your mate plays his part in the plan."

"What is in for you?"

"Revenge," replied the woman simply. "The woman, who banned me here, is still alive. I want her to pay for what she has done."

"Is that all? Petty revenge? And you think King of the Dust will kill her for you once he learns how helpful you have been to me?" asked Shacha, turning to look back at the grotesque creature sitting in the chair.

"Your mate will kill her for me. But first he will kill her sons," said the woman. Shacha could not believe what she was hearing. The old woman continued coldly, "One son is here, locked up in the dungeons. It is him the Masters of the Sands want out and it is him they could have traded for the prince, had you managed to take him with you. Another is a powerful Master that rules Sumi Sandul. It is because of him that you are here and your mate rotting in the dungeons of Sumi Sandul."

Shacha looked incredulously at the Old Spider.

"Layza Duneburned!" she exclaimed. "It's her death you want?"

Every Sandthorn Sister knew and dreaded the woman. Layza hated the Sandthorn Sisters and had done everything in her power to damage their standing and reputation. Being a Sandthorn Sister, when Shacha was growing up, was more a curse than a blessing. In the past, they had many patrons and were welcomed in the best houses of Sumi Sandul as singers and dancers. These days, every door was shut for a Sandthorn Sister and they no longer played any role in the Sandul society. They were shunted and barely survived on the alms that the priests bestowed upon them.

"I see that you have heard of her."

Heard of her? Shacha had known her. The memory of Layza's cold stare still gave her goose bumps. She was there that day, with her son, Daryul Duneburned, the most powerful Master of the Sands, when Shacha and her mate were sentenced.

A dim memory surfaced. She had heard stories about Layza.

"You are Kinda of the Sandthorn Sisters?" she asked still unconvinced.

"I have not been known by this name for a long time. I prefer Old Spider now."

"It can't be!" exclaimed Shacha. Kinda from the stories, was the most beautiful Sandul girl that had ever lived.

"It is true. And the Sandthorn Sisters remember how Layza had done me wrong. So that we never call out her crimes, crimes that would cost her her life, she made sure to silence the Sisters. And she succeeded. We are dancers and singers, powerless against her. But with you and the Kind of the Dust we might have a chance."

"How?"

"All in due course, girl." The Old Spider raised her heavy body and walked toward the door. "In two days from now at the sunset, I will come for you. I want to show you something that will help you make up your mind."

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I have shared a bit of a back story about Shacha.

Next post will be about Cloud and how her adventures continue. Stay tuned! :)

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