The Game of Time and Crown

Twelve

I looked at Darius who is still mightily sitting in his horse.

"Can I ride with you now? I've already walked so far," I complained.

He looked at me.

"No."

"Are you serious?! I'm gonna die walking!"

He stopped the horse and faced me.

"If you will die, it would be earlier when the sun is still not setting and there are no winds at all."

"Assh*le!" I screamed while stomping my feet.

His forehead creased in confusion.

"Ha! You little punk! Brat! Petty Prince!"

I bet he only understood the 'Prince'!

"I don't understand a word that you're saying. You seem out of this world."

"I'm not. I'm out of this timeline!"

He sighed in both confusion and defeat and unmounted his horse.

"Can you stop complaining?"

"Can you stop treating me like a servant! Because you just lost all your treasures and luxury the moment you decided to--" I stopped myself.

His lips went thin but he didn't said anything.

"The things your pertaining to, they don't have any value to me. What I just lost is a brother, a father and a mother. What I just lost is a home. So shut your mouth for a second because you don't know anything."

I was taken aback by his speech that I couldn't find any words to hit him back.

And I didn't have the strength to even say sorry.

"Those are the only things that I have."

We both went silent and confusion enveloped me even more when he didn't rode his horse.

"What are you waiting?! Caspian won't carry you on his back."

I looked at him in disbelief and bowed in embarrassment as I went near the horse. I mounted it bit he stayed on the ground and walked while holding the horse's leash.

I felt my stomach rumble and sighed like i never before.

Why do I always get dragged where the chaos is?

"I just want to rest," I mumbled.

"I want to go home." I felt a tear slide down my cheeks and I turned away so Darius can't see it.

"I should've eaten more," I whispered.

Darius looked at me.

"I'm hungry. We should go get something to eat."

I looked around. As the sun begins to set, darkness begins to envelope the surroundings but I can still see the vast dessert that seem to stretch for eternity.

There is nothing.

"We're going to find something," Darius said

"We have to. Or we will starve to death," I mumbled.

He looked around him.

"There will be a village here somewhere. I've been here before," he stated as if trying to assure me.

And true to his words, just a few more walks, we saw a torch or a fire nearby and there were small houses in it. We directly head there before I realized something.

"What if they recognize you?"

Darius understood the danger and started to remove his jacket which has golden weaved in them and his scraf and hid it underneatg the seat of the horse.

I unweave my hair which is in a tight braid and let them down before removing a necklace and throwing it.

Weird, I didn't even noticed I had one.

We continue to walk straight to the village and sure it us, there is the torch that we saw earlier. There were still some people, specifically men outside their homes and that all looked at our direction as we approach them. They began to gather and one of them approaches us.

"Who are you and what brings you here?"

I looked at Darius and he nodded at me.

"We are heading to the north to cure this woman's disease and it might be invasive for you but we saw your torch and we thought maybe we could ask you a place to stay, even just for tonight."

"What is your illness, young lady?"

Darius looked at me worriedly.

"That is why we're heading there. To find out," I answered .

"It is not communicable?" One of them asked.

Darius shook his head.

"I can assure you, it's not. It's just that none of the healers there can tell us what's wrong."

There was a long silence but then the man spoke again.

"I have one unoccupied room. My son's belongings are still there but it's neat. Is it okay with you?"

My face lights up.

Darius immediately nodded and the man walked us through his house where there was a woman in mid 40s whose standing in the kitchen.

"Who are they?" she asked calmly.

"They are travelers heading north. They seek for a shelter."

Before the woman could asked a question, I already spoke to condition her.

I hate to do this but this is one of our techniques when interviewing someone and we don't want them to ask confidential questions we cannot answer.

"We are so fortunate to find this abode. I was thinking of the worst for tonight, maybe a big leaf over our heads just so we can't catch a cold. But we are blessed to have found you," I wearily said.

I even wiped up a tear that wasn't even there.

The lady sadly smiled.

She seems so nice. I hate to do this.

"Have you eaten?" she asked.

"Not--"

I gripped Darius' arms and stopped him. He stared at me confusingly.

"That would be too much inconvenience for you. We would leave early and I know we could find some food on our way. Your home is enough blessing for us tonight."

The man shook his head.

"In this neighborhood, we don't sleep angry and hungry. So sit down because my wife cooks amazing foods," he insisted.

We both looked at each other and pretended that we don't even wanted to sit and eat. But the moment a big plate of food was in front of us, I felt Darius' feet from below the table trying to stop me from putting the spoon in my mouth when i haven't even swallowed what's already inside.

The lady seems to be very fond of watching us eat her food.

"I am glad you loved my food. My son moved away to Persia to work there as a laborer so the house is like an empty place and no one really eats many food now," she sadly said.

Darius stopped eating the moment he heard that and I thought he did because he was hurt to hear the country's name but instead he asked the lady on where exactly did her son was working.

"It's on the market of fishes, he loads heavy baskets into himself and transport them to stores. He is the one supporting us for us to be able to buy our food."

Darius nodded and I though he just asked that for the conversation not to stop or he was just curious but I saw him mumbling the place the lady told him.

He's trying to remember it.

After we finished eating, Darius offered to wash the dishes and even if the lady did told him not to, he used the body difference they have to just make his way to the counter where there are loads of container with water and basins with the latter.

He started washing dishes and I could say from the expression of the lady that he was doing great at it.

I seriously thought that he's gonna c***k every single plate.

"How did he know how to do that?" I suspiciously mumbled.

I am pretty sure that in the palace, the only moment that he touches his plate and utensils are when he's eating. So it makes me wonder on why he acts like this. When he finished washing and caught me looking, he raised his eyebrows and acts as if what he just did is normal for his status.

We made our way to the room and we are welcomed by a neatly cleaned but not a huge room. There is a double sized bed, which doesn't have anything on it except for layers of thick fabric and one pillow which is reasonable because there is only one person who stayed here. When the doors were shut, Darius lie down in the bed not minding that it is not even close to the softness of the bed in the maid's chamber at the palace.

I lie down next to him but we were both not facing each other.

As I fell asleep, I heard Darius whimpering. I slowly turned to him and was shocked when i felt that his arms was warm. They was so warm that i feel like it's a wood that had just cooled down from a fire.

He have a fever! How did he manage to act like nothing was happening!

I was about to stand up to get some help when someone grabbed my hand forcing me to return to the bed.

"Don't, " he said

"You're sick."

"They don't have medicines here and it would cost them more if they would try to keep my fever down. They have to harvest their herbal plants that they've been reserving," he explained.

"We can't travel if you're sick!"

"It will be gone tomorrow," he whispered and then turned away before drifting off to sleep.

Though I wanted to make him feel better, I knew that he had a point. These people are not rich and they don't have enough resources. We just came here and they fed us and let us sleep in their home for free. We cannot ask for more.

With Darius sick, I suddenly remembered Dad. I almost cried but I stopped my self. He must be dead sick and it might worsen his condition.

I don't know why I am doing here but if someone did this to me, they should have known that I have a father relying to me. He's the only one I have and I am the only person left to him. It almost makes me crazy just to think about what is happening right now but his idea of still being alive keeps me sane.

As I drift off to sleep, I found myself in one of the most familiar dreams I have before. But this time, those blank faces were now filled.

Darius?

That man is Darius?

I was in the same recurring dream again and I am standing here in this platform with two ladies. And in front of us is a Gallows.

We were about to be hanged.

As I realized that I am no longer watching like before, I began to panic and tried to broke free of the ropes.

"No!" I screamed.

An arrow pierced the rope that hangs my neck and I was break free. As soon as that, I ran off the platform and jumped to escape.

There were screams everywhere and I couldn't find where I was suppose to go.

I was trembling in fear and everyone's eyes are staring at me.

What am I suppose to do? Where am I suppose to go?

As I panic and go back and forth trying to find a safe place that is when I realized something.

There is none.

I woke up and automatically stood up and because of that, I felt extreme dizziness everything was spinning and ultimately lost my balance and fell on the floor.

"F*ck!" I heard Darius cursed.

He gets up and immediately checked on me.

"What happened?"

I shook my head, afraid that if I talk about the dreams, they would come back again.

I just sat back on bed and tried to sleep. Due to a whole day of walking under the sun, I eventually felt myself being sleepy.

With a heavy heart, I drifted off to sleep while also trying to be attentive of my surroundings and to Darius.