Chapter 17

“NOW remember, Nyla, this is a great responsibility and burden to bear,” Nyla’s father informed, “There’s no shame in declining. No one expects you to do this.”

“I can do it.” Young Nyla said determinately, “I promise.”

“Okay, filla,” Oriel replied with a proud smile.

“What are you thinking about?” an all too recognizable voice behind Nyla asked.

“How I’m going to get rid of you,” She replied, turning to look over at Rowan who was leaning against the doorframe that led to the balcony.

“Well, I’d advise you to throw in the towel, because that is one impossible task.” He moved to stand next to her and leaned his arms against the balcony rail. Nyla laughed softly, making him smile.

“How are you feeling?” she looked over at Rowan.

“Oh great.” he replied, “What happened back there was nothing more than just a scratch.”

“Do you always have to act so tough?”

“Well, what can I say? I can’t look weak in front of the strongest lady I know.”

Nyla scoffed. “Trust me, this lady won’t think anything less of you.”

“Oh yeah?” Rowan turned to look at Nyla.

She smiled shyly before looking back out at the village before her, “When I began training after I had told my father that I wanted to be a member of the Gaurde, he put me through tough and rigorous training in hopes that I’d give up and be the Lady I was supposed to be,” she sighed, “but I knew what I wanted to be, I wanted to be the best in my clan. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there were days when I wanted to give up, but I knew that if I gave in, and succumbed to weakness, I would never forgive myself for letting the opinion of the world beat me. I had something to prove.”

“And what was that?” Rowan asked softly.

“I make my own destiny,”

Rowan smiled, looking down, then reached into his belt and pulled out a dark blue ribbon which Nyla recognized as the one she admired back in Willow village.

“You gave yours up when I tried to fix your ankle,” Rowan said, handing Nyla the ribbon. She smiled and took the ribbon from him.

“What happened? Back at the mountain?” She asked.

“Oh, you know. I just told him everything he didn’t want to hear.”

“You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

“I know, I just—I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.” Rowan looked into Nyla’s rich brown eyes.

She chuckled. “Well, I guess you’d just—"

Rowan dipped his head and pulled her in for a kiss. She froze. Then subconsciously closed her eyes and kissed Rowan back. Her hands made their way to his waist as he held her face in his hands. Their kiss was soft and tender. Fireworks were going off in Nyla’s head.

Rowan pulled away, slightly out of breath, and leaned his forehead against hers. “Don’t stay up too late,” He took a step back, “we have a long journey tomorrow.” he then turned and walked back to his room, leaving a frozen Nyla alone.

She slowly lifted her hand and touched her lips. She looked down at the ribbon in her hand and smiled. After a quick glance at the doorway, she turned and leaned her forearms against the railing again and let the warm night air consume her once more, a small smile playing on her lips.

***

The Sybils began their journey to leave the Sage. If anything, Nyla wanted to put as much distance between her and this herb-like region. Their entire trip in the Sage region had been filled with nothing but terrifying situations and circumstances. She thought Ezra felt this way too as her shoulders sagged more and more the closer they got to the border. Poor girl, it wasn’t her fault her region had a band of rebels hiding in the mountains. If anything, it was Preator Silas’ fault. He should have done something about them ages ago. Nyla knew her father wouldn’t stand for rebels in their region.

She looked to the side, half in thought, and saw Rowan looking at her before he quickly diverted his gaze. She had noticed that Rowan had been acting weird all morning and that he tried his best to avoid her at all costs. Was he second-guessing the kiss they shared? If Nyla was being completely honest, she too felt weird about the kiss. It was so sudden that she hadn’t been able to react properly. All she could think about was his soft lips upon hers. The way they caressed hers, ever so softly and yet full of passion. She shook her head.

The group crossed over the border safely and continued through Kesmet on their way to their last destination of their journey: Lily Cove.

Once within the Kesmet region and after trekking for hours, they reached an outlying village. The entrance to the village was a large open arch, the word ‘Myr’ carved into the hardwood at the highest point of the arch, informing them of the village name. The Sybils slowly entered the village and noticed that it was abandoned, and not just abandoned, but in ruins too.

Doors hung from hinges, roofs were caved in, and the walls had holes in them, as though someone or something had smashed through them. The whistling wind blew the sand into the air which scratched the Sybils’ eyes.

“What happened here?” Ezra asked.

Nyla looked to see carts overturned alongside the stench of rotting fruit covered in flies. Baskets were ripped to shreds and barrels in splinters. Whatever happened here, it was anything but good.

“There’s no notice at the gate,” Enid said.

Whenever a village was abandoned or deserted, it was law for the investigating Guarde to place a notice at the village entrance to inform travellers of the official vacated village. The fact that there was no notice could only mean that the Kesmet Magistrate had not yet been informed of this village and its abandonment.

“Let’s look around and see what we can find. I doubt we’ll reach another village by nightfall.” Enid said. He looked over at Kai who nodded at him, and the two walked in one direction.

Ezra decided to go off on her own, leaving Nyla and Rowan alone. Rowan blew up his cheeks and looked over to Nyla, who became suddenly very interested in her hands.

“Shall we start over there?” Rowan asked, pointing to the house to their left.

“Yeah, sure,” Nyla said and began walking towards the house with no door. The structure barely looked as though it could support itself properly. Maybe the building would collapse and bury Nyla beneath to save her from confronting Rowan about the kiss the other night.

Nyla shuffled through the little interior. She had currently reached what, she assumed, had once been a kitchen. There was wood in what looked like the remains of a stove and the cabinets laid on the floor at angles with nothing inside them except cobwebs.

She looked over at Rowan who was absentmindedly paging through a book he found on the floor. Say something, Nyla. She encouraged herself. “Um.” She cleared her throat. “There seems to be nothing here.”

“Yeah, no. I was just gonna say the same thing.” Rowan said, dropping the book and dusting his hands off. “Um.”

“Should we—”

“Check out another house? Great idea.” And he was gone. Nyla sighed. At least she wasn’t the only one who felt awkward.

After their short exploration, the five Sybils got back together in the centre of the abandoned village. In Enid’s hands, he held two chickens, who cackled from being held upside down. Ezra had a not-so-shredded basket and found several herbs in one of the houses while Nyla and Rowan held jars of water that they had found upon searching their third house.

“We found a suitable place to spend the night,” Kai said.

“Yeah, one of the decent-looking ones with the least number of holes,” Enid added.

“Okay. Cool. Let’s head over there.” Rowan said and began walking.

“Um, Rowan.” Enid said, “It’s over there.” he nudged in the opposite direction.

“Yeah, of course.” he switched directions.

“Did something happen?” Enid asked Nyla.

“Why would you think that?” She followed Rowan. The jar in her hands getting heavy.

For dinner, Enid made them a chicken stew with the herbs that Ezra had found. After all the Sybils had their fill, Ezra offered to make some tea for everyone. Kai and Enid spoke silently by the fire as Nyla walked out.

She sat outside on a log, deep in thought. The closer they got to Lily Cove, the closer they got to the end of the quest for the Althea Sphere. However, Nyla kept having this nagging thought in the back of her head. Why hasn’t the thief done anything up until now? How is it that they haven’t stumbled upon whoever it was that was stealing the pieces? Were they satisfied with just two pieces? Why even bother if they weren’t even going to try to get their hands on the rest of the pieces before they’ve been destroyed? What was the next step in their plan?

“What you doing?”

“Ahh.” Nyla jumped and held her heart from the sudden disturbance of her thoughts. It wasn’t like her to zone out completely. She was always aware of her surroundings. That was, until she met her fellow companions, who made her feel safe. Like they had her back. “You scared me”

“Well, I’m naturally terrifying,” Rowan said as he sat beside her, handing her a cup of tea Ezra had just brewed.

“Thanks,” Nyla said, as she took the cup.

“What are you thinking about?” Rowan blew the steam from the rim of his cup.

“Something doesn’t add up.”

“What you mean?”

Nyla sighed through her nose. “The thief stole two of the sphere pieces, then just gave up? What are they really planning? It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Whether it makes sense or not, I’m sure they’ll reveal themselves soon. Until then, we have to get rid of the last piece.”

“I know.”

“Let’s just hope it’s tucked away safely for now.” Rowan sipped his tea.

“It is. Trust me.” Nyla replied, taking a sip of her tea.

Rowan was staring deep into his cup when Nyla looked over at him. His forehead creased.

“Rowan?” he looked up at her, “About that kiss.”

“Oh, yeah, um.” he laughed nervously.

“Do you regret it?”

“What? No. Why would I regret it?”

“Well, I guess I thought that maybe you made a mistake or something.”

“Why would you think that?” Nyla couldn’t help but notice the compassion in his eyes, and she was suddenly lost for words. “Nyla, there are many things I regret doing, but that kiss was not one of them.” Nyla nodded with a blush as she looked away. “If anything, I was afraid you regretted it.”

“No.” She burst out. Her ears turned a shade of red at her outburst, “I mean, it was nice.”

Rowan chuckled. “Nice?”

“Stop before I really start to regret it,” Nyla mumbled.

Rowan smiled and reached for her chin, turning her face towards him. She stared into his chocolate brown eyes and soon found her gaze lower to his lips. She unconsciously licked her lips making Rowan smile before he brought his face closer to hers.

“Hey, guys.” Rowan and Nyla quickly pulled away. Nyla turned slightly to see a stunned Enid looking at them, realizing he spoiled something, “Uhh, I was just gonna say that we’re all going to head in and get some rest now, if, uh, if you guys wanna come in or, um, just stay out here. That’s cool too. Um.”

“Oh Jude, just be gone, Enid,” Rowan said, annoyed.

Enid clicked his fingers and turned on his heels to leave. Nyla laughed into her knees, utterly embarrassed to have been caught by Enid.

“Anyway,” Rowan said, making Nyla look up at him.

“I’m going to head in,” she said. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to face Enid the next day. Knowing Rowan, he would just shake it off.

“Okay,” Rowan said, allowing her to stand to leave. He got to his feet

and reached for her hand. She looked back. “Goodnight, Nyla.”

“Goodnight, Rowan.”