We both win in the end

Rosé clasped her hands over her mouth the moment the words fell out of it. Her eyes widened at Eva. Eva stared back blankly, not uttering a word. She turned away from Rosé and sat down on the bank of the river with her hands supporting her from behind, her left one was holding the map. The odd silence was more deafening than the roaring current. Rosé dropped her hands and also looked away, instead, she faced the river. The river mocked her because she hadn't been chosen. She wanted so much to prove herself but like they had told her before, she would be nothing else but a benign witch. Rosé could not even glance at Eva, afraid of what her aura would say if she looked into her.

The reality of things had started to dawn on Eva. Grief made you do stupid things, she thought. It was not Rosé's fault. It was her own. It was because she couldn't get over Thomas' death even after a year, the way they accused her of being a murderous witch and the way she had lost those she once knew as her only family. Every time Cecilia and Lisa reminded her about the cloak, they tore a piece of her being and now there was barely anything left. No one to share her worries with. She had been afraid that other people would smell it on her skin and hate her. She kept to herself until she met a witch in the woods. Finally, this one wouldn't judge her since they were of the same kind. She had trusted her completely like a fool. She even tried to follow her back to Xenia. They talked about how they would get there and the dangers like two idiotic children talking about running away from home.

What would have happened if they had crossed the witches' abyss. Would the other witches really let in a human girl? Like Thomas had done twenty years ago? Eva had been so scarred by the reality that she was willing to look for a fairy tale. She had been so unbelievably happy because of just one stupid dream. The truth was very much the opposite; there were no fairy tales, no knights in shining armour and no happily ever after. Yet there was truth to the dream, there was indeed a dragon that was vaporizing everything in her life but there was no sight of a saviour.

"Eva?"

Eva turned to her but didn't give a reply.

"Why did you trust me so much?" She asked.

"I don't know." She answered lamely. She felt numb.

Rosé laughed but it was a bitter one and exposed the hopelessness that had been eating her up. She covered her face with her hands and continued. "Even you don't know." She lamented and looked up. "I know you are confused and I wish I could tell you why we are here like this."

"Why did you lead me on and give me hope?" Eva took the words out of her mouth. "But you can't." Eva deadpanned but there was no anger or sadness in her voice, only a maturity that hadn't been there before.

Rosé looked down to the ground beneath her just as she looked down on herself and her abilities.

"I understand," Eva said.

Rosé turned to see a painful smile on Eva's face.

"We are too different and there are boundaries that cannot be crossed."

Rosé nodded timidly, feeling relieved that not only was Eva not asking the questions she had expected but seemed to be so calm about it. There were no tears, no apologies, just words of maturity and things that should have been said before.

"You ask why I trust you but I believe I should be the one asking that question." Eva continued. She had been tortured by humans but still trusted one.

"I was scared and alone." Rosé responded truthfully. "You helped me."

"And you did the same for me," Eva said. "I could have died." The vibration of her own breaking ribs resounded in her memory.

"I could have died as well." Rosé laughed, remembering how weak and cold she had been in the rain until a human with a bag filled with food had saved her. They had saved each other and maybe that was why they had formed a strange bond, a forbidden one. "We are even then, it seems."

"Not quite," Eva was quick to say. "There were other things that were killing me," She elaborated. "But slowly."

"You are neither a witch nor a murderer." Rosé insisted.

"And the cloak?"

"That one is a mystery." She admitted. "But I meant what I said."

"I know and I believe you." I have to, Eva thought but didn't say that part out loud.

"So what will you know?"

"Go home and hope that they are still scared of me?"

"That sounds like a plan." Rosé chuckled in agreement.

"And you?"Eva asked.

"Try to get home without getting captured again." And finally gave up, she concluded in her head.

"I hope you make it home,"

"Yes," If she could still call it home, that is.

"I still owe you one, right?"

Rosé chuckled and nodded. "Yes, you do."

They sat on the ground, neither of them saying a word and watched the river take its course under the sun.

****

Seraphine left some of her men in Cerdon and was now approaching the town of Azarus in Thandon with the rest of her men. She put out her hand with her thumb folded inwards. The men understood the gesture. The men who were to search Kadon, separated from the rest of the group. They would travel through the path of the Fortis river.

****

"If we continue to walk the path of the river, what happens?" Eva asked after they had not talked for a while.

"You didn't ask that before," Rosé said. "Let me guess you thought I knew what I was doing."

"Yes, and I know you will still figure things out."

"Hopefully," Rosé sighed. "Bring the map over and let me show you."

Eva got up and came to Rosé with the map. Rosé took it from her and spread it out on her lap. "Here," She zoomed in on a spot on the wall. It revealed a little space I had not seen before. There were men in uniforms there. The same uniform that the recruit had been wearing that last night. "They guard the border."

Eva could have guessed that they would be stationed there but she did not think that they would be that many. And in comparison to the one they had seen last night these ones looked intimidating. The man last night was about her age but these ones had stubbles, and beards and some even had scars on their faces. It would be impossible to sneak away. I understood why she wanted them to try to cross, instead of facing older men.

"The wall is located in the forest over there," She pointed at the other side of the river. "It is not that high and scaling it would not be hard but crossing the river is." She explained.

She hadn't given me all the details before and now I was starting to wonder why.

"I couldn't reveal to you my entire plan because it didn't want to give too much of a chance to betray me."

"And I also did not ask enough questions."

"No, don't blame yourself, I knew you trusted me but I didn't want to trust you the way you trusted me."

"It is not surprising." Eva shrugged. "You have gone through a lot in the hands of humans."

"Yes, I have but I am still. I am glad I met you." Rosé smiled at Eva. She adored her kindness and understanding. Two things that even her kind never showed her.

"Me too," Eva said, clasping Rosé's hand. If Rosé finally escaped Merynia, this would probably be the last they would see of each other.

Rosé's smile dropped suddenly. "Do you hear that?" She abruptly turned to the right. The sounds of approaching galloping horses could be heard.

"We will be in the first town by sundown," A deep voice could be heard.

Rosé's heart got caught in her throat. Eva pulled her and pushed her into a bush. She hid in another bush as well. The men reached the shore where they had been sitting and stopped to let their horses drink.

"Not too close, buster." One of the men warns his horse against moving too close to the river. He was a burly man with a beard and seemed to be the leader. The rest of the men looked a lot younger. About the ages of Eva and Rosé.

They continued to watch in apprehension in the bushes they hid in.

"Sir," One of the men called on the burly man. "I found this on the ground." In his hand was the map they had left there by mistake.

Rosé gulped as her eyes widened. If they found out it was a magical one...

The leader took it from him and spread it out. "It is a map,"

They were lucky that the map resets itself once it rolls back up. He couldn't tell that it was not a normal map.

"Who could have left it here?" He looked around briefly. Pushing Eva and Rosé further to the edge of their seats.

"When we were approaching, I heard some voices." Another one said. "But it seems like they are gone." He scratched his red head in confusion.

"They can not have gone too far," The leader said. "Let us find them to be safe."

"Yes sir." The others agreed. As if they couldn't be any more unlucky, the men were for whatever reason searching the area where Rosé hid. Eva knew that if they found Rosé, it would be over. Rosé would never go back home and would be tortured until she died. She didn't need to see her face to know how scared she would be. She had to think fast, she still had one last debt to pay to Rosé. Her eyes fell on the river and even though it would be the most reckless thing she would do, she made up her mind. She jumped out of the bush and ran towards the raging river. For a second, it was as though it was calling her to not only distract the men from Rosé but to finally end her own suffering. It would be a win for both of them. The instant her leg touched the water, she felt it drag the rest of her too. She closed her eyes and let the cool water embrace her as it took her under.