The Courier’s Collection

Chapter 12

12

Rasha enjoyed the quiet, watching the setting sun to the north. It didn’t last long.

“I know who you are, Lady Indari,” Chiza said, shattering Rasha’s internal and external peace.

Her back straightened and she didn’t speak for several moments.

“Don’t call me that, ever. Where did you hear that name?”

“I was educated about all of my competition from an early age,” Chiza said, as if she were speaking of mathematics or some other school subject.

“I’m not your competition.”

Chiza didn’t speak for a moment, then said, “I suspect Lu isn’t aware of it. If he was, I think he would treat you with the respect he gives me.”

“That’s not respect he’s giving you.”

Chiza didn’t respond to that as Rasha hoped she would. She’d rather talk about anything than her own past.

“Why won’t you do your duty? Doesn’t it shame your people to leave them with no eligible princess for the prince to choose from?” Chiza asked.

“Doesn’t it bother you to be handed over to man you’ve never met to serve as the commodity of your nation’s greed for power?”

“I choose to serve my people, I’m not forced or coerced.”

“But they persuaded you to believe it’s what should be done. The idea has been forced on you since birth.” Rasha heard Lu returning and pulled up. “I won’t be lined up like a beast of burden to be chosen by any man. It is not for him alone to do the choosing. Shouldn’t I also be able to choose for myself?”

“No,” Chiza said. Her answer was confident and sure. She added, “For the sake of your people you forsake that choice to better your kingdom. If the royal house was passing to a princess, it would be her duty to choose from the princes. It makes no difference the gender of the royal doing the choosing. We should be proud to be among those given the opportunity. There are so many, due to an accident of birth, who will never get the chance.”

“I’m a courier, with no allegiance to any one kingdom or nation. I deliver, and I do it well. It’s better than being a pawn of the palace,” Rasha replied.

She itched to have the princess as far away from her as possible. The question was coming. One she dared not answer. The one that made the acid in her stomach churn until she thought she might be sick.

“The day may come when you must choose a side. I hope you and I will stand on the same side on that day,” Chiza said.

Rasha’s breathing returned to normal as the silence ate up her last words. It wasn’t the question she’d been expecting—the one that always seemed to tear her from the inside out.

Lu returned, food in hand, and found the two in the middle of the heated debate, neither able to occupy the same space on the back of Rasha’s beast.

“She’s right, we may have to choose a nation someday. I’ve thought about it myself, and I’m with Chiza.”

“Of course you are,” Rasha said, sliding off the beast and leaving Chiza to find her own way down.

“What does that mean?”

“It means only this: be careful which side you stand on. You’ve known her for but for a few days, and you’ve known me for two whole rotations. Which of us is more likely to betray you and slit your throat?” Rasha stormed off into the woods. Lu and Chiza were becoming unbearable.

Rasha wondered why Chiza failed to use her endless supply of self-righteousness to learn a proper skill like combat or defense training. The girl got on her nerves. The princess lacked the most basic of survival skills. Rasha used her short swords to cut through the brush as she marched through branches and weeds.

She couldn’t leave the two of them for long, so she returned to where she left them and found that Lu and Chiza had already made camp. Lu had the meat over the fire and rotated it every few minutes, cooking it evenly.

Lu frowned at Rasha. Maybe he noticed the set of her jaw. She shook her head. Lu couldn’t know. Chiza shouldn’t know. There was nothing to do about it now. She’d deliver her cargo to the palace of Adalu and be on her way as fast as her tuskin beast’s pace allowed.

Lu and Chiza twittered back and forth until Chiza fell asleep on his shoulder. Neither of them spoke to Rasha as they ate and prepared for bed. Rasha rolled her eyes. What did she care if they wanted to be more than friends? Lu was getting into serious trouble. He had the same look on his face as when he found a new beastie. The heartbreak would come, it always did. This girl, promised to the prince, would never choose him over her duty. Rasha wouldn’t get involved. She’d made that mistake before.

Instead, she rested with her hands behind her head on her patch of covered dirt and looked up at the sky. One large and one small moon lit up the night sky making it difficult to see any other constellations. Rasha reached for her amulet and said a brief prayer to the Universal for their safety on their continued journey. They needed all the help they could get.