No Land for Princes(s) (ONC2024 Entry)

Chapter Five: Journey Westward

Jieun's eyes flew open, her heart beating an erratic rhythm in her chest. She listened for the sound of bickering brutes, but only heard her own heavy breathing and the distant chirping of a bird. She expected to see that dark dungeon, surrounded by goblins and at the mercy of a madman, but there was only the darkness of the shrine's private quarters. The night before, she wouldn't have believed the mildewed stink of the wicker mats would be such a welcomed smell.

"Are you alright, sister?" Chaleek asked, his voice groggy with sleep. "Your rest was fitful."

"I had a nightmare... at least I think it was a nightmare."

He hugged her and thoughts of Durumi and mazes fled his mind, washed away by the feel of Chaleek's strong grip and the pleasant earthy smell of his dreadlocks. Her heart continued to thunder, but no longer from fear. Jieun's body reacted to the intimacy of Chaleek's touch and Jieun jumped out of bed. The cold floor helped like a cold dip in a winter-chilled pool.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." She felt him sit up more than she saw him. "You seemed like you needed comforting."

"No. Thank you. I just need to relieve myself," she lied.

"There were chamber pots outside."

"I saw them."

"Okay, you handle your morning toilet and I will see if our clothes are dry." The hardness had crept back into his words.

She hadn't even noticed its absence.

The pots were full of rain water. Selecting the widest one she dumped out the water and went back to the room. He'd lit the candle before leaving. Jieun finished by the time Chaleek knocked on the door with her garments. Thanking him, she closed the door and changed. She would have preferred a bath, the prince had never gone so long without one, but that was a luxury that would have to wait. Sneaking outside, she was able to use water dripping down from a gutter to wash her face. She applied a bit of the bronzing lotion from the small-jar in her pocket, then went to Chaleek.

He stood in front of the effigy in the shrine proper robes replaced by tunic. With his thin shortsword tucked into his belt, he held a ratty drawstring bag over his shoulder. He nodded as she approached, shoulders back and stoic. While she was gone, he'd cleaned off the altar and placed a partially eaten water apple as offering. Without an offering of her own, she whispered a prayer of thanks for safe harbor and traveling mercies.

She glanced down at her fingers. The pinky and index fingers were back to their normal pale color, contrasting greatly with the stone gray of her middle and pointer. She flexed the digits and thought about Prince Kkachi's sorcery instructor, Mistress Coco Nwaliteanwu. The older woman had been a noble whose nation had been toppled by civil unrest. Coco was a powerful sorceress and a strict teacher, but mostly she was a sad woman who lamented her forgotten homeland.

The Winds provide us with a gift to control the elements, but that power comes at a price. Our lifeforce for theirs. We sacrifice a bit of ourselves in exchange for our gift, and each time we use it the elements demand more. The stone curse.

She'd taught the prince of The King on High's throne room and the three hundred stone retainers that line its walls. Three hundred sorcerer's who had sacrificed too much and were turned to stone in the name of The High Throne. Mistress Coco warned against frivolous and excessive use of sorcery, citing the three hundred as a monument to those who refuse to heed sage advice.

Jieun promised herself to be more careful with her sorcery, and to buy gloves the first chance she could. Limbs gone to stone from the use of magic would draw unwanted attention. Sorcery was a rare gift within The Lands of Gale, a gift reserved.