It seems to be a busy day, there are so many people around the lake. I count how many voices I hear. Four, five,six… seven, eight, nine. I continue to count until I recognise all the voices. There are 12 of them. All men, and most of them have some sort of armor and weapons. They seem to get rowdy easily. Makes me want to join them but I doubt they would react kindly to a woman wanting to join their sparing. Eventually they are yelled at. It goes quiet. Hours pass and it seems they’ve calmed down for the rest of the day. Eventually the shadow of the cliff covers over the lake and it gets hard to see. It's the full moon tonight isn't it? I wonder if someones going to make a wish. I might need to say yes to it so I can check my throat. I might need to heal it, despite me not wanting to.
The night seems to come quickly, the men are being as quiet as a mouse. I guess they had a real talking to.
I hear fires pop and crack as the night goes on. I listen to their quiet whispers and fits of laughter as the night goes on, but sadly their conversations turn to snores. No one will come if they're guarding it. Is what they want.
“Goddess” a mans voice says
He sounded almost nervous.
He takes a deep breath “goddess please follow me to the capitol to heal my mother, she's sick and i'm not sure how long she has.”
Blood instantly fills the lake, so much, more than that young man spilled a month ago.
The capital, I'm not sure how far that is. Maybe some time away will be good. Plus I already said I would say yes to whoever came so I could check on my throat. I wait till the blood fades away then I start to break free of the cold, dirty sand. Once free I climb my way to the surface sinking in with each step I take. Finally the sand is replaced with small flakes of rocks and I'm able to stand without sinking into the ground. I arrive at the bank and lay on the ground waiting for my energy to come back to me. I attempt to breathe but water forces its way out of my lungs. I'm surprised the men from before are still asleep with how much I coughed up. I continue to lay there breathing, making sure my lungs are clear of water. I then try to speak. Nothing. My voice is gone, and not the airy or raspy gone. I mean its gone, I'm like a mute person. I try to squeak and a small one comes out but it hurts. No talking for me i guess.
I sigh and look around. I see a note the man left for me.
It seems he is in one of the tents that are up, but he says there's also one prepared for me. I follow the directions the note has. This tent belongs to the one who made the wish and the one next to it is mine. I walk in and see there's a bed with sleeping clothes on it. It seems we're leaving in the morning. I sigh and change out my wet clothes for the night clothes. I lay in the bed and I already feel myself falling asleep. I've been awake far too long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They're so loud. Every footstep whispers, and breath rings in my ears once the morning comes. They ask each other stupid questions like “did you take my socks” or "when is breakfast going to be made".
I even hear weird questions like “do you think the goddess is a beauty"
I see no reason why that's relevant.
I shove my ear into my pillow and cover the other with my hand. Everything is muffled now. I might be able to fall asleep if I could keep my hand where it is. Minutes pass and eventually I hear a voice close to me. I move my hand and hear a soldier waking up the man in the tent next to me.
Highness huh… never thought a prince would ask a goddess for help. You'd think they would have the money to get medical care.
"Is the goddess here" he gowns
"I don't know sir I have not checked" the soldier says
I gown myself knowing they're going to come and check.
"Quietly look, if you see someone go prepare food for the both of us. Tell me when it's done" he orders.
I guess i should let my wings out so he’ll know im not some random person.
The soldier accepts the task and I hear him quietly walk out and approach the entrance of my tent. . A small whoosh sounds from my wings, and I watch the entrance carefully waiting.
He opens the flap just enough for his head to poke through, but his head doesn't make it all the way in before he stops. He sees me looking at him. I blink and he flenches.
His eyes move from side to side like he's reading floating words. He starts to back up but stops. His face changes, it's like he’s asking permission to leave.
I nod and pull the blanket to my face, closing my eyes.
He takes a deep breath and leaves. He walks quite far before losing his cool.
I hide my wings and cover my ear again to wait.
I'm drifting asleep again. I want to follow the stream of sleep, but I know someone will come. They will wake me and then I'll feel sleepy for who knows how long.
I sit up and look at my wet nightgown on the floor. Its once white cloth now stained a color between green and brown.
I should give it a good clean in the lake. Yeah that would be a good idea. It will wake me up and give me something to do.
I pick up the gown and walk outside. As I head to the bank of the lake I notice my ears adjusting to the noise around me. Once I'm at the bank I roll up my sleeves and get to work scrubbing. At first tons of gunk comes off, making the water around it look like a muddied puddle. I pick it up out of the water and move a foot down the bank and continue. This process repeats until I can't get anymore muck out of it. Now it's time to beat the rest out. I ring it out and walk to the nearest boulder and beat it with the cloth. Over and over again. Then I scrub it in water and beat it again.
I take a good look at it and the color is a pretty, light tan. This will have to do. I separate all the water from the cloth using water manipulation and let it back into the lake.
“...”
Oh that's right I can't talk. Oh well.
“What do you mean she's gone” a familiar voice says
“Your highness, I swear she was there, she looked at me and nodded.” someone says back
I should go back to that tent, it seems the soldier is back with food. For some reason I have a smile on my face. Is it because I'm outside doing something? It might be because I get a break for a while. The water pressure really did a number on me, I fell fast asleep once I got into that bed.
His highness and the soldier are still talking to each other inside my tent.
“She was here i swear” the soldier stresses
“It was probably a homeless villager, its ok” he says
I waste no time walking in with a questioning look. They both look at me and in a split second the guard falls to his knees.
“Lake goddess” he says bowing
I quickly get him back on his feet.
He looks confused so I place my hand on his head and send my thoughts to him.
“Thank you my lady” he says
The prince looks at him confused and he tells him what I said.
“You are injured?” he says baffled
I nod looking him in the eyes
“Will you be able to eat? It's not the best but its filling” he says, gesturing to the food sitting on the bed.
I nod again and walk up to the food, bread and beef jerky. I'm guessing they don't have any real clean water so i cant soften it. Oh well I can just suck on it.
I take a piece of jerky and stick it in my mouth and try to soften it. I look back at the two men and they just stare in silence.
I suddenly point to the robe I have on and then make a go sign. They get what I was saying so they bow and leave.
Good now I can change my clothes. I think of the world i'm in, a dress would be acceptable right? Yea a simple one. How about the blue and white one? Yea it’s simple.
I stick my hand into my storage space and pull out the dress and a pair of black flats. They should keep my feet from getting cut on the rocks on the way up the trail.
As I take a bite of the now soft jerky, I change my cloths and put the shoes on. Maybe flip flops or sandals would be better. I haven't worn shoes in a little over 2 years. I'm gonna have to get used to them.
I sigh hearing the men outside whispering about me or yelling at each other in a playful manner.
I wonder if they will let me spar with them. It's been so long since I've held a weapon of any kind.
I take another bite of the jerky, finishing it off and starting on the bread.
“My lady are you done getting dressed, if so would you like to meet the other guards” the soldier from earlier asked from outside the tent
I walk to the door flap and poke my head out and nod. A small smile appears on his face as I continue to walk out of the tent. It seems these are the last two tents that need to be taken down.
“This way i'll take you to see them.” he says
He starts to walk but i don't move. He had barely taken 2 steps before he noticed I was not moving.
“Is there something wrong my lady” he asks
I nod
Of Course there's something wrong… how am I supposed to talk to them?
“What's wrong” he says realizing i couldn't answer
I hold out my hand and he looks confused. I then slowly reach for his hand intertwining are fingers.
That's better now you can hear me.
“Um my lady are you sure you wish to communicate like this” he says looking at his hand
Yea i don't want to touch your head like a magic 8 ball just for you to know what i'm saying
“What's a magic 8 ball?” he asks slowly, inching towards the group of guards.
It is a hollow black ball with oil in it, it also has a small dice in it and when you shake it and ask a question it will give you an answer based on what's written on the dice.
“So the dice in the ball is what gives the answers” he asks as we walk
Yes
“How do you know what the dice says when its in the ball” he asks
There is a small clear sheet of crystal on the ball and when you hold the ball with the crystal window facing up the dice will float to the top making the words visabal.
“Oh wow, does it really answer your questions” he asks with a bright smile
Sadly no it's just another toy for kids to play with.
He looks at me as if he's confused “why would you give kids such an expensive item” he asks
What's expensive about it
“Well it has crystals on it. That's very expensive” he says
Oh well it not really crystal its glass which is clear unless you stain it
“Oh i've never heard of glass” he sas as we approach the guards
I hear them whisper about us, it's because we're holding hands.
Glass is made up of sand, limestone and something else, but it has to be melted down at a high temperature.
He smiles “we will learn alot from you so i thank you for all the knowledge my lady” he says
I nod and look at the other guards. There all smiling and making weird faces
“Hey jay is that your girl” one hollers out
“No, this is the lake goddess so please keep your shenanigans to a minimum.” he says
Oh so everyone thinks i'm the goddess of the lake
Jay’s head snaps to me “aren't you the lake goddess” he asks
Well i am a goddess but not of a lake
“Then may i ask what are you the goddess of” he asks
Life and death
He doesn't say a thing. Guess he can't find his words. I gently let go of his hand and pat him on the back.
“I- i’m sorry,could you excuse me for a second my lady” he says sprinting back the way we had come.
I sigh and look at the other guards as they stare at me.
I wave and a few waves back.
“Hey if your really a goddess then show us a trick” one says rudely
My power is low but some alchemy shall do the trick. I look around and find some red sand. I show it to all the guards. Before I close my hands, and when i reopen it to show a dime sized ball of iron. I then throw it with enugh power for it to go thurgh a tree. I look the rude man in the eye and then walk away.
I walk along a path to an old tree. One I used to sleep in when the water was frozen over. I easily climb it and lay in its arms. It's like it has been waiting for me to come visit it. The sun warms me and I can't help but to close my eyes and dream of happier days.