Six Fates

Chapter Six

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr", was the subtle sound of annoyance coming deep down from Asher's growly throat. None of the girls bothered to speak as they kept walking further away from their hut. Aife and Mirai took a few glances back, a bit hurt at not giving it a proper goodbye.

"We'll come back", Mirai whispered under her breath. She did it very quietly and dishearteningly. But, she shook the emotion off her mind. It was time that they went out from home.

Aife didn't understand why Rainey would want to leave, without even asking her opinion on it. It really surprised her when Mirai agreed to do the same thing. Mirai's actions was just her being irresponsible, but Rainey should have known better. She should have thought it through. The number of questions lingering in Aife's mind grew bigger every second, urging her to open her mouth.

In front of them, the tall girl trudged along the path, following the troll mindlessly.

"I don't like this. How could you trust them?", the harsh voice beside her asked.

"You came out of nowhere, Aife", the tall girl replied, struggling to hold the weight of her bag. The span of her breath was short and her legs were weakening. In her moment of desperation, Rainey forgot that she had a breathing problem. She didn't remember having this much of stuff to call as her belongings. The old man, who packed her bag was definitely a miracle worker, as he knew which item belonged to each one of them. It must have been his magic skills, she thought.

"What's on your mind? Why did you jump at the first opportunity to go with them? Did you even consider how I felt, when you didn't support me?", Aife persisted. Each word pressured her older sister to speak up.

Although she barely could breath properly, Rainey managed to answer her sister:

"After that story, I thought that he was telling the truth. But, people like us aren't really part of any story. He was mostly lying about our involvement, but I believed him about the missing Prince. My first intuition was to save the Prince, receive a large sum and jet away with both of you as far as possible. However, I needed some sort of plan to initiate the rescue and when both the remaining princes looked like they needed help, I stepped in to be their saviour", she paused and glanced over to Aife, whose face looked far from being calm.

Rainey's voice turned to a shallow tone, as she spoke:
"I don't want to steal, work under ungrateful people or be looked down upon others. Sometimes, I wish that we didn't have this life, despite the small moments of bliss we experience. I'm talking about this in a neutral perspective. We need the money and I'll do anything to get it."

Those words didn't come out in the nicest way. They were real,  very real and nothing could sweeten it. The eyes on Rainey's face turned dark pink. She was serious about her decision.

"Okay. But, how are you so sure that we will receive anything?", Aife questioned.

"We will.  Otherwise, why would their guardian leave this?", Rainey confidently said and handed Aife a small piece of parchment.

"I request that you go with the Princes,
even if they don't want your help.  If you do,
I promise that all your  effort will be compensated."

Upon seeing it at first glance, the words were written in a rich colour of ink, close to a velvet shade. The parchment  was as white as snow and thicker  than a scroll, despite being very small. It had the most perfect handwriting. It was definitely written by him. Aife lifted her head and turned to face her sister. Her face mustered up to a look of disbelief.

"What?How? But, why?", a series of short questions slowly came out of Aife's open mouth.

Rainey simply shrugged her shoulders, giving the most odd response. Unable to keep bearing the wait of her bag, she threw her bag to the ground. It created a large "thump" sound, once it reached the dry soil. She wheezed more heavily, causing the rest of the group to stop. Aife rubbed her back to help ease the growing pain, that Rainey had to endure.