The Book of Trials || ONC 2019

Chapter Five

"Don't put water on the fire!" I was running again, now toward the stopped wagons and panicked yells. "Don't water the flames!"

I skidded to a stop before I reached the fight and saw the villagers holding whatever weapons they had with them—swords, pitchforks, whips—out at the bandits, who had formed a small circle after the villagers corralled them.

My breath caught. It had worked.

The fire made a loud snap and I remembered the urgency of the situation.

I swiveled around to search for sand, but before I could do anything, the guard returned with several others, each holding a sack full of sand. I motioned to the fire, my heart thudding heavily in my chest as I attempted to calm down.

The sand kept coming, though. I didn't know where or why they kept a dozen sacks of sand handy, but I was thankful for it.

Before the fire had even a chance to leave the road, it had been drowned and extinguished, leaving only a pile of pale sand in its place. The men who had carried the sacks celebrated as they attempted to regain their breath and the watchmen arrived from the post at the front of town to take the bandits. I didn't allow myself to breathe until I had convinced everyone to get away from the remnants of the fire, though, and back into town.

And by then, everything was a complicated mess. A crowd had formed near the gate to see the commotion, but the watchmen somehow managed to disperse them. They had a time with it, too, since the flames had been so bright and loud and had caught quite a bit of attention from people passing by.

At some point, Tremie had come by and was fussing over how terrible I looked. I had to agree with her as she brought me back to the shop and in front of a mirror. My curly black hair had taken on a haze of gray dust between the mats of mud and tangle, and dried soil and smudged makeup caked my skin and made it itchy. The multiple layers of my sopping wet clothing clung to my skin with cold desperation and Tremie wasted no time in declaring my dress irretrievable. She insisted on replacing everything I was wearing without charge on top of drawing me a bath to wash up in. She would simply have it no other way, so it's not exactly like I had much of a choice in the matter. I didn't argue and let her pick what type of perfume she wanted the bath to smell like.

Not quite three hours later, everything had been cleaned up. The road had been cleaned, the smoke from the fire dispersed, Tremie had recycled my dress for rags and aprons, and the town went back to its normal ways with the stories over the dinner table as the only reminder of the day's events. So without further disturbance, Tremie let me retrieve my knapsack from the field and promised me a "big surprise" for when I got back. I was simply brimming with excitement at the thought of it. Note the sarcasm.

When I approached the shop, Tremie was waiting at the front of it with a girl standing beside her. Both of them rocked on their heels eagerly. When they noticed me, Tremie was the first to react with a jump and a giggle.

"Veia! Surprise! Allow me to introduce you to Lefeli, my lovely assistant and wonderful friend."

The girl, maybe a few years younger than I was, leapt forward into a handshake and had the most excited smile on her face. "Veia! I've heard so much about you! I'm so glad we've finally had the chance to meet after all this time!"

"After all this time?" I looked at Tremie.

"I take care of keeping the shop tidy and deal with customer service when Tremie's away," the girl continued. "Tremie put me in charge of getting you comfy here and I've been just dying to meet you!"

They were exactly alike. Lefeli was Tremie but twenty years younger, and by some dark magic she wasn't Tremie's daughter. They had different face shapes, Tremie's round and Lefeli's petite, Lefeli with wide eyes and pale brown hair, Tremie's powdered features soft but joyfully crisp, a single beauty mark under her left eye.

Lefeli took my hand and dragged me inside the shop and through to the upstairs apartment, where a small table sat in the middle of the room. A decorative tablecloth covered the wood and supported a delicate but incredibly elegant tea set. Small problem, though. I did not like tea.

Just as Lefeli sat me down in one of the three chairs and took hold of the ceramic teapot, there was a loud knock on the door to the shop downstairs. Tremie jumped up with an "I'll get it!" and hiked her skirts as she rushed down the stairs. Lefeli and I paused to listen to the bell on the door as it opened, then a very quiet interaction ensued. I had no way of knowing what was going on. A second later, Tremie audibly squealed. "Veia, dear, someone's here to see you!"

My stomach dropped. Who would want to see me? Was it because of the book? It couldn't be. No one could have traced that back to me in that crowd. Judging by Tremie's squeal, though, it could be a boy, but there's no reason why anyone would know I'm here, male or female.

My chest tightened as I pushed through the curtains to the main shop and wound through the dresses to the doorway as Tremie brushed past me with an indiscreet giggle.

There in the entrance stood a figure clad in worn, dusty clothes with a light gray scarf covering his face and a hood over his head. He stood rigidly and nodded toward me.

I had seen that nod before from this man, if I remembered correctly, this morning when he was on his horse after pulling me from the mud. This man was the one who had closed the town gate. This man had saved me. But why was he here now? How did he even know who I was? I took a wary step backward and folded my hands in front of me.

"Hello, chickadee," he said, his voice low but surprisingly youthful, an underlying sound I didn't recognize under his breath. "I have a few questions I think you could answer."

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