Breathe

Chapter 28 - Cliffs of Katrine

 Thursday and Friday flew by ridiculously fast and before I knew it, it was already Saturday. In the early morning, we suited up, grabbed our gear, and went off to the Cliffs of Katrine.

While we were walking, Esmae asked us, "Have you ever wondered why they call it the Cliffs of Katrine?"

"No," I responded, "never."

"Well, there's a reason why it's called that. In my opinion, it's a really interesting story. I remember hearing it a lot when I was little—it was one of Miss Helena's favorite stories. It's pretty much about a woman who ends up jumping off a cliff, but there's a lot more to it than just that. The story of Katrine and the cliff, that is."

Daringly and likely against our unsaid wishes, Dani asked, "What is it?"

Immediately, something sparked inside of Mae. Her hazel eyes instantly lit up and before we knew it, she was rambling on and on about the cliffs.

"Long ago, maybe a few years after the establishment of Libentina, there were still prefectures; before all of them were divided according to their location. Anyway, there was a princess who lived in the prefecture of Fairfax, and her name was Katrine of Fairfax. Katrine was this gorgeous lady with dark hair like the night that felt like silk and it fell past her feet—maybe even double her size! Everywhere she went, she had a maid or butler carry it around, and so she became close to her little crew that helped carry it.

"Anyway, she ended up falling in love with one of the people who carried her hair. It was one of her lowly butlers, someone who they found off the streets and took in. She was the one who saw him and begged her parents to let him stay in their house. Hesitantly, they agreed. They didn't know it then, but the reason why Katrine wanted him was because he looked like someone who she used to know—another butler or something that used to help her that she always regretted never thanking. But that's another story for another time.

"Once the butler learned about her feelings for him, he immediately proposed. However, her parents were extremely against it. But after months and months of begging for her hand, they finally agreed and they were married."

Sighing, Luckas asked, "Where is this going?"

"Shh!" she hushed, tossing in his direction. "I'm getting there—I just finished the backstory. Now, this is where the good part starts.

"Anyway, it turned out that her marriage to the butler only led to hardships. Immediately after they were married, she suddenly fell sick and became bedridden with the sleeping beauty virus. To make matters worse, her family was recently kicked from the royal family roster for some unknown reason, so their maids and butlers and money were taken from them.

"They were struggling to live. Soon, they had to give up their mansion in Fairfax and move to Urtyl, a prefecture in present-day Middle Libentina. Then...that's when it happened!"

"What happened?" Phil asked.

Dramatically, she whispered, "Her husband...cheated on her!"

Oh, so scary. So sinister.

"He cheated on her with one of her relatives—some other beauty with golden locks named Beryl or Cassiterite or Galena or Phos or some weird ore name. Anyway, Katrine was devastated, especially after he decided to leave her for whatever-her-name-was. So now, she was without a home, a husband, and soon, without parents. She had nothing left. Nothing...except for her long, beautiful hair.

"But then one day, the tax collectors arrived at her house. They demanded for her to pay off her dad's medical bills. The problem was, Katrine had no money to spare. She was living off the scraps that she found on the streets and by this time, she was living in a hut made from broken trees in the nearby forest. Still, they demanded her to pay them in some way. So, they demanded her to cut off all of her hair and sell it to them. By giving her hair to them, she'd be able to pay off all her debt plus more, meaning she could finally get back on her feet."

Knowing where this story was going, I more so stated than asked, "She didn't, did she."

She shook her head. In a low voice, she tearfully said, "No. Of course she didn't. Her hair was the only thing left from her previous life as a princess. She couldn't lose it. She'd rather die than give it up! So, making her choice, she decided to jump off the cliff near her hut. She did later that day. She did with her beautiful, long hair—just like she wanted. Then, her past, current, and future life ended. Then and there. Right under the cliffs. Now, when a woman wants to escape the mistakes of her life, she jumps off the Cliffs of Katrine and joins her."

Perking up, she concluded, "And that's the story of the Cliffs of Katrine!"

"How joyful," I murmured, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Speaking of the cliffs." We stopped. Then, Luckas pointed at the clearing in front of us. "There's the Cliffs of Katrine."

We walked into the clearing. Looking around, we saw nothing but the seagulls flying above and heard nothing except for crashing waves below. Suddenly, in the corner of my eye, I caught sight of something bright. A red light flickered.

"GET DOWN!"

Everyone dashed to the ground. Something flew past us. An arrow. I looked into the bush. Someone was there. Then, someone came from behind him. Then, another. And another.

It was just like we feared. We were getting ambushed. Kirk had tempted us, and we fell right into his trap. Now, we were surrounded with only one way to escape: jumping off the Cliffs of Katrine. Just like Katrine, we were trapped—trapped in something we didn't fathom would happen. But it did happen. This view on this clearing made that as clear as today.

Now, we had to decide whether we were going to be Katrine.