The Naturalistic

CHAPTER 10

"Rick! Oh my darling, are you okay? Of course, you are not okay, I mean look at you, you look so pale." And I just stare at her, my brows raise. Does she know how to stop and breathe? Also, you ask the question and answer it on your own at the same time, what are you doing woman?

"You know, when I heard that you fainted, I fainted too hearing it." She pretends to brush a tear which never exists and I lose it. I try hard but fail and I laugh out.

"You find anything funny here miss?" She asks folding her hands.

I shut my mouth close and shake my head, "No, just remembered a joke."

"Good for you, I guess." Her gaze shifts from me to our joined hand and she flushes with anger but tries to act cool.

"Darling, it seems you are fine, so you are going to accompany me for tomorrow night, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry Laura, I won't because I have already asked someone else."

"Who is that witch?" She snaps.

"It's . . ." He pauses, "It's her." He raises our joined hands.

"What!" I exclaim. "What?" She asks.

Rick glances at me with pleading eyes and I understand. I turn towards her, "Y-Yes, he asked me and I accepted, so you are a bit late."

"Of course I am late, I fainted remember?" She flips her hair saying, "You will regret this." And gives us a weird smile and leaves.

"Okay, now would you care to explain what was all that and who was she?" I ask.

He let's go my hand and stands in front of me. "That was Laura Palidon and she was talking about me accompanying her for the Carnival, but going with her is like walking with a human version of a snake, don't ever trust her, you never know when she would bite you."

"All right, saw the snake, but what carnival? I don't know anything about it."

"Nothing but a day dedicated to seven gods and goddesses. We celebrate their greatness, the reason we have powers and there blessing upon us."

"And how exactly is this celebrated?"

"We light the sky lantern as a piece of good luck for Akonia, in the hope that our lantern would brighten up all the dark places and bring a smile to everyone's face. It happens all over the empire, but now of course because of Ezuka, only a few people who are exiles just like us help in keeping the tradition alive. And then there is dance and food to be followed. The carnival is just a day full of happiness. Most of the people like to celebrate it with someone, so they go in pairs."

I just stare at him, not sure what to reply but after a few seconds I say, "It seems beautiful to me."

"So would you accompany me?" He asks.

"Of course, I would love to see a day full of happiness and smiles and lights."

He smiles. "Seems magical, right?"

"Yes it is, but there's a small problem."

"Which is?" He frowns.

"I am as good as a goose in dancing." I bite my lips and he laughs.

"Don't worry about that, you have got a great teacher." He says spreading his arms wide and then bows.

"Indeed." Now it's my turn to smile.

The attacker is being interrogated in one of the tents. The air inside smells sweat. Gloria, my uncle and Sam are already present there. The attacker is tied to the chair and she is unconscious.

"How much more time?" My uncle asks.

Sam takes the glass of water beside her and splashes it on her face. "Time to wake up sweetie." She says.

Coming back to her senses, she opens her eyes and shakes her head. She first glances at Gloria followed by Sam, Rick and then seeing me she stops.

"Oh no, not the chair, not her again." She says in a rough voice.

I roll my eyes, "Those heavenly books." I mutter.

"If you don't speak or answer any of the questions, you definitely are going to face worst than the chair," Rick warns.

"Says the boy, whom I knocked unconscious." She laughs.

"Enough," Gloria yells. "Tell us who you are and what's your business here."

"My business was clearly stated before, that I have come here to steal the key and we are the ' Free Army '. '"

"Of course, I should have guessed it." Gloria sighs. "Look if I want I could know everything about you and your organization in a minute, but I don't want to use the other path, so it's better if you tell us everything you know by yourself."

"Whom are you trying to threaten?" She smirks. "The key should be in an appropriate hand and with your troop it's never happening."

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I need to know what you guys are talking about, it's all bouncing off my head," I say.

"Seems like someone's a rookie." She says shifting her gaze towards me.

I ignore her and continue, "What is the ' Free Army '? And which key is she talking about?"

Sam opens her mouth to explain but the attacker speaks before letting her say anything.

"Not ' What? ', ' Who? '" She starts. "We, the Free Army demand freedom, an independent nation, equality and after defeating Ezuka we can establish our goal."

"In short words, they hate the Royals," Sam says folding her arms.

"But why?" I ask now more confused.

"You people rest in your luxuries and have you ever once shifted your gaze towards us? You did many campaigns and once the show off is done, you go back and leave us to die again. And why won't you? What do we mean to you? We are the common people, meant to work for you and then die, that's our life. We don't get to live the way we want, because if we do, who is going to feed you all your luxuries? This is the reason we are against royalty, not because we enjoy revolting." Her gaze shifts toward Sam. "Once we defeat Ezuka, we can create a new nation with no inequality, a nation where all of us are treated the same."

All I do is blink, I have no answer for her, all the suffering and anger is reflected in her eyes. I stare at my boots unable to hold her gaze.

"Want to join us? It will be fun." She says.

I smile at the thought. Only if you knew who I am.

Something clicks inside me, I snap up saying, "But for now, both of our goals are the same, why not work together for achieving this one goal? The more the merrier. What do you guys think?"

I expect someone to answer or appreciate me but all I get is weird stares. I again try to explain to them all this but she breaks me off.

"You better be kidding me." She says.

"No, I'm not, I'm serious about this, we both want the same things for now and we also know that we need each other's help for this. We all know that we cannot do this on our own, we have some information that you wouldn't know and you have something that we don't. This sounds crazy but this is the only way we can defeat him sooner than it would take if we do this in our separate ways."

Again I am greeted with silence. I shake my head.

"You interest me." She replies after a few seconds.

"Maybe we can talk with your leader and sort this out?" I request her.

She smirks and says, "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you all, General Kate Raydon here, go on now." And I am left speechless.