Displaced

Chapter 50

Gabriela Carreno stared out of the spacious carriage as it bounced its way towards Eterium, her gaze ignoring the hundreds of thousands of soldiers all around and instead focusing in on the wilderness she could see off in the distance. Even though raw nature was a common feature in this world, after all these months she still hadn't gotten completely used to it. The city had always been the backdrop of her life, and she'd never really found the urge nor the money to go out and explore the less-urban areas of Mexico; there'd always been something far more important to deal with.

A light dusting of snow covered the land. According to Chitra, that meant winter was in full swing, or at least whatever went for winter in this place. From what the Batranala told her, the climate in this world seemed to be much less extreme than Earth's. The winters were warmer and the summers cooler, something demonstrated rather bluntly by the fact that not a single tree within her sight had shed its leaves even as they entered the coldest part of the year. Instead of a mass of brown empty branches, Gabby's eyes were treated to a beautiful cornucopia of colors from all corners of the rainbow.

The alien foliage, with its radiant hues ranging from deep reds to bright violets, really drove home to Gabby just how different her life had become. She'd been too swept up in emotion at first to really ponder the realities of her situation, and then her life had turned into a nonstop parade of training, training, and more training. It wasn't until Redwater Castle had fallen and the subsequent battle had been won that she'd finally gotten the chance to really take a step back and think. Travel in Scyria meant something different than what she was used to; here, it meant days of inactivity, hours upon hours of uninterrupted time to just... reflect. She hated every minute of it.

Quiet time meant time where she had to confront the screaming anxiety in the back of her mind. It meant that she had little to do other than think about her children, their unknown fates, and how little she could do to help them. It also meant that she had little to do other than think about what she had done to help them. She'd willingly become a butcher of men to achieve her goals, embracing sin with open arms just to achieve her own selfish desires. Now, whenever the noise of life died down for a few days, she found that, should she let her thoughts wander, her mind would start to dredge up memories of those she'd killed, their agonized faces flashing in front of her mind's eye just for a moment when she least expected. It was for these reasons that Gabriela tried to keep herself as busy as possible, even when there was nothing to do but sit in an oversized carriage for days on end.

Chitra proved indispensable for such endeavors, providing a ready source of stories, information, or simple gossip. Gabby couldn't be any more grateful for the glamorous servant's constant presence. While she'd gotten to know quite a few people since her arrival in this world, Chitra was the only person she felt truly close to.

A series of horn blasts sounded from up ahead. "Looks like we're stopping for the night," Chitra observed.

As if to confirm her statement, the carriage quickly slowed to a halt. Chitra stepped outside, and Gabby grabbed her sword and followed close behind. All around, soldiers were making camp, setting up tents and the like. Gabriela and Chitra didn't have to bother with putting up their own tent, as a group of servants did it for them. Gabby felt grateful for that; it seemed like a lot of work to do every morning and night.

They'd stopped on a grassy plain sporadically dotted with small clumps of trees. The trees cast long shadows across the rolling hills as the sun crept beneath the horizon. Gabby couldn't help but inspect the vibrant colors of the nearest copse as the leaves became tinted with red from sun's fading light.

"Oh, a snowfruit tree? How unusual!" Chitra chirped from beside her.

"Wha?" Gabby replied, confused.