The Princess and the Writer

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Anne fell onto the ground and groaned. She was in the forest, desperately trying to work the trees like she had before, but it was all in vain. She had lost her touch. Sweating and tired, she forced herself back on her feet and sprinted to the tree again. She leaped and stretched out her hand in the hope the a branch would swing to her rescue, but nothing happened. She instead slammed into the tree, its rough bark grazing her skin. She dropped to the ground with a thud. Unable to contain the frustration anymore, Anne roared and broke down into sobs.

"Why won't you let me go home?" She screamed at no one in particular.

Khin watched her from where he stood metres away and couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She was scared and alone, trapped in the world she created, villain in the story of her writing. She was but a child with so much yet to learn about herself, and about life.  Of course she made a mistake; nobody is perfect, much less him. He walked to her and sat with her.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I was angry."

"I deserved it."

"Maybe," Khin said, "or maybe we all just make mistakes every once in a while." He looked at her. "I will help you fix this."

"How?" Anne asked. "I may be the writer, but I am useless now. I could do so many things as of yesterday,  but today..." She sighed. "I am nothing."

"Where did those abilities come from?" Khin asked.

"From me," Anne replied. "I am the writer. The powers...everything is because of me."

Khin stared at her. She was fiddling with her fingers with her brows slightly furrowed as thoughts raced through her head, just like Nena. Her voice, the way she talked, every major and minor detail was exactly like Nena. He began to wonder.

Anne noticed he was staring and her nose twitched, much to her dismay. So that annoying feature had found it's way into the story. Great.

"What?" She asked uncomfortably, covering her nose with her hand as if that would stop the twitching.

Khin shook his head. "You said you fashioned Nena after yourself?"

"Yes . Why?"

Khin chose not to speak more of that subject for now.

"Anyway," he said, "what exactly do you know about the Great Book?"

Anne rolled her eyes. "Not that again. Look, I don't need that book  to be great."

"What do you know?" Khin insisted.

Anne sighed. "Not much. I know that it is an important book. Nena got her powers from it. It probably is a book of spells after all."

Khin shook his head. "There is no magic involved. Nena did derive strength from the book, but it wasn't because of spells. It was because of what was written in it. The words of the book comforted Nena when she was sad, strengthened her when she was weak, encouraged her when she was downcast and afraid, energized her when she was tired. She gained strength from believing in and following the words of the book. She didn't rely on herself to be great. She relied on the author of the book to make her great."

"Me?" Anne asked cluelessly.

Khin nearly slapped his forehead.

"This isn't about you," he said. "If you want to make things right, you need to stop focusing on yourself and start focusing on the One who can actually make a change."

He stood and held out his hand. Anne sighed. Doing things on her own hadn't worked. What harm could trying things his way bring? She accepted his hand and he helped her to her feet.

"Well, well, well," Teral said as he emerged from behind the trees. He was followed by some Baya men whowere armed and not in the mood for games.

He looked from Khin to Anne to Khin again then chuckled.

"I knew it," he said.

"What are you doing here?" Khin asked.

Teral ignored him and turned to Anne.

"Hello princess," he said, "or should I say writer."

"Teral," Anne said through gritted teeth.

He shrugged. "Don't be mad at me. You wrote me this way."

It was hard for Anne to respond to that.

"I told you I wasn't to be followed," Khin said.

"Please," Teral said with a laugh, "we grew up together. I know you. You didn't come here to capture the princess. You came to save her. Nadira is furious, as you can imagine. I don't know how you intend to get out of this one, Khin."

To his men, he said, "Tie them up."

To Anne, he said, "Nadira will be relieved to find out that Nena truly is dead. All she will has to do now is make you produce the book of spells, and that will not be a problem. After all, you are nothing but a coward, right?"

He headed off to the Zuri village with the rest of them following.

"Your little village is already under our control as we speak, and tomorrow, Nadira will be here herself to finish everything at the very place it started."

Hours later, Anne shared a wooden cage with Chelle. She was gloomy and unhopeful about how things would turn out the next day when Nadira arrived.

In a neighbouring cage sat Khin and Lupa. The rest of the villagers were trapped in their houses, prevented from leaving by Baya men stationed outside every door. All seemed lost, especially for poor Anne.

"I was a fool to think that I would ever be more than Anne," she muttered. "I will never be Nena, and I am horrible as the writer, and because of that we are all in danger."

Chelle shook her head.

"That's just it," she said softly. "Redeem doesn't need you to be Nena or the great and powerful writer. It needs you to be you. It needs you to be Anne."

"But Nena was supposed to be the better me; the me that I aspire to be," Anne said.

"Trust me, Anne," Chelle replied. "The best version of yourself is yourself. Own yourself, weaknesses and all. Maximise on your strengths, and work on your weaknesses. You can never succeed by being anybody other than the you that you were created to be."

"She's right," Lupa said. "Nena is in you and you are in Nena. The courage you seek is already inside of you. You just need to believe. Believe in yourself, and believe in what the Great Book says about you."

"What could the Great Book possibly say about me?" Anne asked defeatedly.

"That you are fearfully and wonderfully made," Khin said. "That you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. That those who trust in man will fail, but those who trust in Him will prevail."

Anne blinked. "You got that from the Great Book?"

They nodded. Anne frowned as she recalled all the verses they had dished out to her since she got there. The Bible? Could that be the Great Book everybody was fussing about?

"And tell me," Anne asked slowly, "is this also from the Great Book: do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your prayers known to God-"

"And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus," the others finished with her.

"That was Nena's favourite," Chelle said. "How did you know?"

"It was my favourite too," Anne replied.

"Quiet!" A Baya man barked as he kicked the cage.

It was no matter to Anne, for the others had given her a lot to think about. Silence would not be a problem for her - if any, she welcomed it with open arms.