A Betrayal of Faith ✔

EIGHTEEN: Illusions

They spent the night in a dilapidated cabin, long abandoned by whoever used to own it. They'd been unable to start a fire, despite Isiah's many attempts, and it left Rina to freeze during the night. The three of them slept huddled in the corner of the room, the spare coats they'd bought acting as a makeshift blanket. It didn't do much, but it was better than nothing.

She awoke to Nerin's head pressed against her shoulder and Isiah turned away from her. These were the boys she had sacrificed her chance to go home for, snoring into her shoulders. She could only pray to Sol and Lune that it was worth it. There was a large part of her that doubted it, but only time could tell.

She didn't know what it was that convinced her to stay with them. It could have been anything, missing her chance in the village, the look on Isiah's face when he'd been attacked, the fact that they had been right when they said it would be dangerous for her. Her mother had called her reckless when she'd been younger, perhaps the trait had stuck.

The sun was only just beginning to peek over the horizon and orange light spread through the room. Dust particles fluttered about the room like little butterflies, reminding her far too much of the way the light danced off the crystal pillars in Ziya. Too many things in Brenmar reminded her of home.

The rising of the sun meant that it was time for them to go. They couldn't spend too much time in one place just in case there were people after them. She didn't doubt that there were, but she hadn't seen hide nor hair of them. Not even the men from the village had made an appearance.

She had thought once that killing people might bother her, but when the time came, the worst part about it was the feeling of the blade ripping through flesh. The training dummies in Ziya had been soft, easy to rip through, nothing like the real thing. But her teacher would never give her anything like the real thing. They never expected her to actually fight. She was meant to be a queen, not a warrior.

As a child, she had dreamed of getting her hair cut like the Warriors of Ziya. They wore it short, unlike everyone else in Minisia, so that it didn't get in the way while they were fighting. That had been Rina's goal as a child and young teenager, but her parents had always told her that she couldn't. And then her brother had come along and stolen the dream from under her feet.

Nerin stirred against her as she sighed and opened his eyes to glare sleepily at her. "Oh, good, you're awake," she said and gave him a small smile. "We need to get moving."

With an irritated groan, Nerin threw the coat he'd been using as a blanket away and stood. Rina reached over her other side to shake Isiah awake. He stared at her with eyes she could only describe as dead, and let out a quiet grumble. She frowned at him but didn't say a word.

It didn't take them long to get everything they needed. Everything they owned stayed in the bags. Rina and Nerin prayed quickly to Sol and Lune, asking for strength and safety. Even on the run, she didn't want to shirk her duties. Her Gods would help them if she asked nicely enough. They would see their struggles and come to their aid, even Isiah. He may not believe in them, but he was still one of their children, they would understand and help him anyway.

Isiah split their meagre food evenly among them. They hadn't bought enough in Ishmar. How were they to know how much they'd need? All three of them had lived sheltered lives. They knew nothing about the real world and already it was coming back to bite them.

If there was another village nearby, Isiah would have to go and buy more food. She would have to stay behind, lest they have a repeat of the last village. She didn't even know how much gold they had left. Isiah had spent a lot on the chunk of fyrite for Nerin. And while it was useful, it took away from the money they could spend on food, which was far more important.