Far from the Sea

The Visitor

A chill shot through her veins. "Kai?" she ventured again. "Kai!" She sped toward the tree and scaled the ladder as fast as her feet could manage. Her eyes desperately scanned the tree boughs, but found nothing of him. She ran from platform to platform, searching. Still no Kai. "Don't panic," she said, dropping down on the bed with her arms wound tightly around her midsection. "He's bound to come back. He always comes back. Just wait here for him."

When the first rays of sunlight pierced the endless night, Kai had still not returned. Liesel packed a bag with provisions, laced up her boots, wrapped her cloak tight around her, and went after him, shouting his name into the trees. She went as far as she could go until hunger pangs and her throbbing feet forced her to turn back. She cried only a moment. There was work to be done. With her stomach full and her feet bandaged, she fell asleep to her mind's chorus of, "He'll come back."

The next morning, she rose and set off in a different direction, determined to scour every inch of the forest. Once again, her search yielded nothing. She trudged back home and went to bed without dinner. The worry gnawing at her gut made sleep impossible. Something terrible had happened to him, she was sure of it. That's why he couldn't come back. Because nothing could stop Kai from coming back to her. He loved her. He'd sworn it. Tears swelled in her eyes, spilling down her cheeks and shaking her voice as ran to the edge of the platform and shouted into the sky. "Kai! Where are you? Answer me! Please answer me!" The only response was the flap of birds' wings as a nearby flock rose into the air.

Doggedly she continued her searches, pushing farther into the terrain. Standing in the tall golden grasses of a meadow, she glimpsed mountains in the distance. They were beyond a day's trek, but then everything she'd not yet explored fell into that category. Pushing farther would have been a mistake with the quickly approaching darkness. She'd need time and supplies to prepare to camp overnight in the forest. On her way back, she spotted a patch of the delicate white flowers that had once bloomed red at Kai's touch. She made sure to crush them under her boot as she walked past.

She'd made it almost to the clearing when a cramp twinged in her gut. Overexertion, she thought as she rubbed the spot. A little rest, she was sure, was all that she needed. Between her legs felt wet. She passed a hand beneath her skirts, expecting to find sweat, but gasped in shock when her fingers were covered in thick, red blood. The memory came back violently. She'd seen this before. In a dream. The one she couldn't remember in whole. The pain was the same, as was the intense red.

A frightening realization took hold. Wracked with fear, she stumbled up the ladder and into her bed. The pain grew, coming in waves and spreading until everything below her waist was afire. "It's too soon, too soon," she murmured, coiling her body into a clenched ball. She thought if she could just relax, the hurt would ease. Yet, it refused to relent. She stuffed all the cloth she could find between her legs to staunch the blood, but it flowed out freely.

In her village, it was no rare thing to lose a baby. Her own mum had lost five and lived to tell of it. But the pain was greater than Liesel had imagined. Perhaps too great. Was she dying? And if she did die - it would be no great tragedy. Kai was gone. The baby was lost. If she lived, she'd be alone in Arcadia, save for the stranger who possessed no desire to make friends.

After a day, the bleeding slowed and the pain reduced to a dull ache. Fever came in its place. She drifted in and out of consciousness, calling Kai's name in her most desperate times. In lucid moments, she remembered how her mother had nursed her back to health as a child. She had none of the herbal remedies or teas, but she did have water. It had healed her scrapes and cuts. Perhaps drinking it could cure her insides.

The nightmares came frequently, but only as fragments. At her worst moments, she prayed to die, asking God to let her go with her baby to the safety of the heavens. Her prayers were never answered, and her suffering continued. For how long, she could not tell. There was no difference between days. Only the sickness that gripped her and the dreams.

When the fever at last broke, she felt empty and alone, too weak to set out into the forest after Kai. Perhaps he was gone forever. No, she wouldn't give into that thought. He was out there. As soon as she felt better, she'd look for him and she'd find him, no matter how long it took.

One hazy and cold morning, she woke without pain. The sky foretold of rain, but she paid it no mind, so relieved was she that the pain was gone. Her limbs, at first, were weak, but after a few stretches and laps around the floor, they felt much like they used to. Slowly, but resolutely, she stripped the sheet from her bed, wrapping the tiny, bloody discharge from her womb inside of it. She'd bury it later, beneath the grandest tree she could find. She dressed in clean clothes and went down the ladder. Goldfruit grew not far from the treehouse and would make a decent breakfast.

She rejoiced when she saw that the cold had not prevented the bush from bearing fruit and devoured two upon sight. Eating drastically improved her spirits. With her arms full of the fruit bounty, she made her way back. As she approached, she spotted a corner of Kai's last project peeking out from behind the tree trunk. All the breath went out of her. Her arms fell slack at her side, and the goldfruit tumbled to the ground.

The intense grief she felt at the sight of the cradle soon spawned a sister emotion: rage. She rushed toward it, grasping the half-finished bed for a baby that never truly lived. Lifting it above her head, she slammed it down with all of the force she could muster. It made a satisfying crack as several spindles flew off. She continued smashing it against the ground until all no trace that it was a cradle remained. She slumped down amongst the splintered wood and sobbed. So much had been taken from her. It didn't seem fair. It was punishment, she decided. For defying her father and running away. She'd been too willful. She vowed to be better behaved. "I'll go back to Cornwall," she whispered to the heavens. "Just, please, give him back. Give me Kai and we'll go back and atone for our sins."

But once again, God did not hear her. Or if he did, he did not answer.

When the tears dried, all that was left was a fierce determination to find Kai, no matter what it might take.

~***~

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