Silay's eyes felt glued shut. She went to rub them, but her hands wouldn't move. What was going on? Slowly, she forced her eyes open. Light from the sun filtered through the trees around her. She tried to move again, but still couldn't. She shook her head, trying to clear it. A tree pressed against her back, and Silay realized she was tied to it. But why? There was a tree, she had drunk something, and something else. There had been a map, and a person. "Talis!" The sound of her voice startled her. Hadn't she been gagged earlier? But no, Talis had taken it off before leaving. But she was still tied to the tree. Her dagger was in its sheath, and she remembered Talis had mentioned he was leaving it so she could escape. But after a few attempts to get it loose, she gave up. There was no way she was going to be able to use it.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Her voice sounded foreign. And much too quiet. "Help!" There was no answer. Silay's head dropped and she leaned back against the tree. She was so thirsty. How long had she been here? Her stomach growled, but the thought of food made her feel nauseous. She pushed the feeling away only to have it replaced with one of pure terror. "Hello! Help! Somebody?" She struggled against the ropes as she shouted, not caring that they cut into her wrists. Then, as suddenly as it had come, the feeling of terror was gone. Silay collapsed against the tree, too exhausted to even cry.
She had no idea how long she stayed that way before she heard footsteps. She raised her eyes and found herself staring at a pair of black leather boots. The boots were replaced with Riya's face. "You," the woman said, "Are very hard to track. None of my usual spells worked. I had to track those wards you carry with you. Good thing whoever did this left your pack." As she spoke, Riya cut the ropes holding Silay to the tree. Helping her slowly stand, she then cut the ropes holding her wrists behind her back. "There." Riya took a step back, as if surveying her work. "Much better, don't you think?"
Silay raised her head, but didn't answer. Riya's eyebrows narrowed in concern. "Come on, let's get you out of here." When Silay didn't move, Riya took her hands and, after grabbing Silay’s pack, gently led her out of the woods to her wagon by the side of the road. "Sit." She guided Silay to the edge of the wagon and wrapped her hands around a water-skin. "Drink. Slowly."
While Silay sipped the water, Riya pulled a small jar out of one of her packs in the wagon. When Silay finished drinking, Riya took the water-skin from her. "Let me see your hands". She opened the jar, revealing the pale pink cream it held. Dipping her fingers into it, she gently spread it on the raw skin of Silay's wrists. Silay winced, but didn't pull away. When she was done with her wrists, Riya rolled up Silay's sleeves. Her frown deepened when she saw the bruises Talis had left on her arms. Riya put more of the cream on those, and on the bruises higher up on both arms where the rope holding Silay against the tree had pressed into them. Finished, she closed the jar and returned it to her pack.
Riya crouched a little so her face was on level with Silay's. She took her hands in her own. "Silay, I know you've been hurt, but you need to talk to me. Who did this to you?"
Silay didn't answer, but Riya continued. "I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, but if you talk to me, maybe I can help you. What happened?" She paused. "Was it Talis?"
At the sound of his name, Silay started. Her eyes jerked up to meet Riya's. "How... how did you know that?"
Riya sighed, and dropped her hands. She drew a Farstone from her jacket pocket. "I spoke to your Seer."
Silay stared at the Stone in Riya's hand. "You have one too?"
Slowly, Riya shook her head. She hesitated for a moment, then replied. "It's yours." She dropped the Farstone into Silay's hand.
Silay wrapped her hands around the Farstone. "You took it?" She pushed herself off the edge of the wagon, moving away from Riya. "You stole from me! I thought I could trust you!"
"Silay..." Riya took a step towards her.
"No! Stay away from me!" Silay stepped backwards, pulling her dagger out and holding it front of her body. "Don't come near me!"
Riya stayed put. "Or you'll what? The way you're holding that weapon, you"ll hurt yourself more than me." She rubbed her eyes, wearily. "I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do, Silay. You want to go off on your own again, that’s fine. I could use the money I would have made at the festival. But I did come here to help you."
"After you robbed me!"
"Yes, I took the Farstone. I just wanted to know why you had one. I'd meant to return it before you noticed, but you left before I could. You want proof? I gave it back to you just now. I didn't have to come here, you know."
"I don't trust you." Silay paused. "Why did you come looking for me? Was it just to return the Farstone?"
Riya shook her head, making her braids swing. "I told you, I spoke to the Seer. She said to warn you about Talis. That if he wasn't stopped, he could make things worse." She sighed. "That's all I know. She was worried about you, so I came looking. You have the Stone. Ask her yourself."
Silay hesitated for a moment. Could she trust Riya? She'd stolen from her, but it was true she'd come to find her. And she had saved her. She looked up from the Stone in her fist. "I can't."
Riya tilted her head. "Can't what?"
"I can't use the Farstone. It doesn't work for me."
"Hmm." Riya raised her eyebrows. "After the difficulty I had tracking you, that doesn't entirely surprise me." She moved a couple of steps towards Silay, then stopped. "You haven't exactly been honest with me either, Silay the Bored. But I'm inclined to trust you all the same. In my experience, good guys don't tie people to trees. It's usually the other way around." She unknowingly echoed Silay’s earlier thoughts.
Riya took a few more steps forwards. Silay flinched, but stayed put. Riya kept talking. "You've been hurt. You're not in a hurry to trust anyone. I get that. But it's not safe to travel alone, and I'm willing to help you. Your choice. You don't want help, just say the word and I'll turn around and head back to the festival."
Silay's arms dropped to her sides. She took several deep breaths as she tried to get her thoughts in order and make a decision. After a moment, she slid the Farstone back into its pouch, and the dagger back in its sheath. She glanced up at Riya. "This doesn't mean I trust you. It just means I trust you more than Talis."
"That's fine, for now." Riya checked the donkey's straps and glanced over her shoulder at Silay. "But maybe you can tell me what this is all about? I did save you after all."
Silay nodded. "I might as well tell you. Talis knows too."
"Good." She gave the donkey a pat, then picked up his lead. "You can fill me in as we walk".
***
Silay could almost feel the silence pressing down on her. She and Riya had only traveled for half an hour before it had become clear Silay needed to rest. They had set up camp for the night early, Riya setting her own wards on top of the ones Silay had brought. As an extra precaution, they had taken turns keeping watch. Now, they were up and traveling again.
Since Silay's rescue, Riya had tried to give her space. Silay had filled her in on what little was known about the coming plague, and Riya had only interrupted her narrative when she needed more information about something. But now they had been walking in silence for over an hour, and it was clear to Silay that Riya was waiting for her to initiate any conversation. She still had mixed feelings about Riya, but didn't think she could stand traveling with someone without speaking to them. She sighed inwardly, and broke the silence.
"The weather has been nice."
Riya swung her head around to face Silay. "Huh?"
"The weather. Ever since I've left, it's been nice."
"As it should be, this time of year.' Riya raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to make small talk?"
"I suppose." Silay gave a small shrug. "If we're going to travel together, we might as well talk to each other."
"Fair enough. So, the weather's been nice?"
"Yeah. It's almost disappointing. I mean, things are bad. A plague is coming, people are going to die, and the sun is shining cheerfully with barely a cloud in the sky."
Riya turned her head to look at Silay. "And you'd rather it be bad? I, for one, am perfectly content not wading through mud."
Silay forced a small smile. "It just seems... inappropriate".
"Ha!" Riya gave a short laugh. "Inappropriate weather? I think you read too much."
"Maybe." Silay shrugged. "There wasn't much else to do back home. People there blamed me for the Seer refusing to tell fortunes anymore."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
"It's fine. I'm used to it."
"That doesn't make it right."
"Thanks." Silay gave Riya a smile, and this time it was genuine. It was nice to have someone around who didn’t blame her for being whatever she was.
They lapsed back into silence, but this time it was a comfortable one.
A few miles after they stopped for lunch, the road branched off. Silay pulled out her map, and Riya peered over her shoulder at it.
"We want to take the branch that goes through Griffin." Riya pointed. "It's a shorter route to Dilest, and Giffin will be a good place to stop for the night and get supplies."
Silay nodded. "All right, then." She rolled up the map, putting it away, and led the way down the path toward Griffin. It was one of several big, walled cities in the area, and they were about half a mile away when they came to a barricade stretching across the road. Silay halted and Riya drew up beside her.
"What's going on?"
Riya shrugged. "No idea. Let's find out." She raised her voice. "Hello? Anyone there?"
Three men, in uniforms that marked them as members of the Griffin City Guard, appeared on top of the barrier. "Turn back. This route is closed."
"Why?"
"You haven't heard?" The same Guardsman looked at each of the women.
"I hear lots of things." Riya shrugged. "Nothing about Griffin closing the road, though."
"I think I know." Silay spoke softly, so only Riya could hear her.
The Guardsman continued. "We had a messenger late afternoon. Told us there's a plague coming. The whole city is on lock-down."
Now Silay spoke up. "This messenger, was his name Talis?"
The Guardsman nodded. "Came from Dagrosa. Had information from their Seer."
"And there's no chance of us being allowed through?" Riya pointed to Silay. "She's from Dagrosa too. The Seer sent her after Talis." It was close enough to the truth, but the Guardsman didn't believe it.
He shook his head. "No passage. That's final."
Silay and Riya stood in front of the barrier for a moment. Finally, Riya spun around. "Fine." She turned the donkey and the cart around, and she and Silay headed back to where the road had split.
"This is bad." Silay patted the donkey on the nose. They had stopped at the branch of the road to regroup. "The Seer wanted to keep the plague secret to avoid panic. Who knows what could happen now." She paused, her hand moving to the pouch that contained the Farstone. "Maybe we should call her."
Riya shook her head. "Not on the road. You don't want to tempt thieves."
"Like you?" Silay met Riya's eyes, then looked down. "Sorry".
Riya shrugged. "It's true. Not nice, but true." She sighed, then stood and walked over to the wagon, pulling hers and Silay's bags down. "Let's check our supplies and the map, and figure out what we want to do next."
___________________________________
So, what do you think? Is Riya trustworthy? Let me know in the comments!
Thank you for reading. Remeber, if you like a chapter, please click the star on the next page to vote for it. I apprciate it! As always, I love any feedback you have to give, including typos and criticism. This is only a second draft, and the story is still being written.