The Book of Trials || ONC 2019

Chapter Seven

The look on Tremie's face when I'd told her about my trip to Azareba led me to believe she thought this was a honeymoon. She'd hesitated at the thought of giving me vacation only a day after hiring me, but agreed to make it a business trip by bringing Lefeli along to buy materials from out of town. Despite her chattiness, I was glad to have Lefeli along, even if only for the sole purpose of not having to travel alone with Atlas.

When the rain lightened that afternoon, I found myself with a large satchel strung from my shoulder and the hood of my traveling cloak pulled over my unruly hair. Lefeli joined me in front of the shop with a dainty bag of her own, and together we started for the forest skirting the flower field from the day before. More than once during our walk, one of us had to pull the other's boot from the deep, thick mud on the road.

Finally, we came upon the edge of the forest where a cart waited. When we approached, I recognized Atlas as he jogged up to us.

"So glad you came!" His formality disgusted me. "Let me introduce you to my traveling partners."

A head of pin-straight black hair popped up from behind the cart and made me jump. A girl around my age walked around the obstacle between us and gave me a scrutinizing eye, then gave Atlas a look that portrayed a message I couldn't understand. Atlas met the girl's gaze and raised his eyebrows, shrugging, then motioned to Lefeli and said, "This is Lefeli, who works at that dress shop you were eyeing yesterday, and"—his hand moved over to me—"this is Veia. She knows chemistry."

The girl's dark eyes narrowed at each of us, then she cast Atlas a suspicious look and finally thrust her hand out toward me, leaning on one hip with her eyes still narrowed. "I'm Evyne Jeims, unfortunately related to a certain no-good blight patch named Atlas. I run this sideshow circus we've got here, so don't get any ideas about you knowing the better way."

Aside from her slightly awkward accent, her voice was callous in a feminine way and her hand felt much the same when I took it. She knew the road, it looked like, but she was also several inches shorter than I was with perfect skin and a perfect eye for clothing colors, though she fashioned a pair of dark green traveler's pants and seemed to like her clothes with a fair amount of mud on them.

She shook hands with Lefeli, who sprung off into a long explanation of how she came here but got cut short by the kick and snort of the horse by the cart.

"This"—Atlas pressed forward and brushed the horse's neck—"is the fair Lady Alberta, but we just call her Birdy. She likes it better that way, too."

Evyne came up beside the animal and grinned, leaning against it and scruffing its hair, then she looked back at us with darkened eyes, the smile still on her face suddenly a deadly dare. "No funny business on or anywhere near my cart, you hear? Just try it and see what happens."

We understood entirely what she meant—she'd be perfectly comfortable with a straight-up brawl—but Atlas shook off the tense silence with a chuckle and motioned for us to climb onto the cart.

The bench creaked beneath us, the sturdy wood worn where the seats were, and I peered into the back. A large beige tarp was roped down over its contents, which I had only to assume were none of my business, and I smacked my lips, sitting down and putting my bag on my lap.

It was a tight squeeze with Lefeli, Atlas, and Evyne after me on a single bench, but no one offered to sit in the back, so with that, Evyne yipped to Birdy and we were off into the woods with a splash on the muddy road.

+++

I figured out about fifteen minutes into the trip that I didn't like bumping hips with Lefeli on every hitch in the road, and it wasn't very long after that that it became apparent Atlas felt the same. Evyne showed no crack in her shell, though. She shot us beady eyes every time we made a move to shift positions.