Episode 7

~SOFIA~

He pulled back and scanned through my expression as if trying to read my thoughts. My heart started racing again and I quivered when his other hand clasped around my jawbone. Heat prickled my moist skin and I knew my face had turned red with fluster.

“Clara” He groaned. “Say you don’t like me, and i will free you right now”

His words hit me embarrassingly. I’d be lying if i say I don’t, but…

Forget it jerk! This can’t happen between us!

“Get off me... Please… I don’t want this”

He let out a frustrating groan and squeezed his grip around my wrist before he slowly let go. He lingered on me for a few more seconds, searching for something deep into my eyes. “Liar!” I heard him muttered before he swiftly flipped his back away from the sleeping mat and landed onto the naked grounds.

“Ouch!” He cried out sharply

“What? What?” I flung myself up “Turn over let me see it” I said. He sluggishly turned his back to face me and then my eyes fell on my own exposed sins. I had made some pretty cuts and scratches on his skin when I thought I was dragging the body of the useless, old Garius. Lines of purplish, reddish blood had dried on the surface of his skin, making it look like someone who has been whipped and flogged with a dungeon cane.

“Holy Mother!” I gasped.

“Is it a cut?” He asked.

Multiple cuts!

“No.” I lied. “It's just a tiny little scratch and you’re already whining like a Martian fetus”

“A Martian what... Fetus?” He tried to place it “Jeez. I did not hear that”

“I’ll go get some healing leaves to apply on you”

“Wait!” He cupped my hands quickly “It's dark and dangerous out there… I can manage without it”

“It will leave scars on your back if we don’t treat it”

“Scars? I thought you said it's just a tiny little scratch?” He widened his eyes as he curiously looked at me suspiciously

“Uhhh... Yes. No! They are three bruises actually. And maybe a fourth and fifth cut? Hehe?” I flashed my thirty two adult teeth nervously as I waited for his next reaction.

“Get me the leaves woman! I shouldn’t have scars on my back!” He yelled as he pushed my hands down and almost gave me a leg kick.

Rude fool! Your back is obviously more important to you than my safety. I shouldn't have expected anything from you. Rotip will never do something like that to me. I am his top priority and he can sacrifice his life to save me.

~RIKAS~

Clara could not stop glaring at me ever since the night when I made her use her grinding stones to blend and mix the healing leaves together into a smoothly grounded paste before she applied them to my back. I had also requested her to fan them dry throughout the night while I comfortably snored in my sleep. I thought she’d be glad that i got a decent rest but she

pretended like i was the bad villain. She should have thought better before she brutally dragged me on the rocks.

“Just say what’s on your mind and stop giving me the cold shoulders” I said.

She twisted her lips and continued scraping the scales off the dried fish scattered on the leaves. She dug her nails deeper into the fish scale after she heard me talking.

“Clara?” I sweetly called again and waited for her attention “I need some freshly boiled river water with two or three alum rocks soaked in for me to bathe and soothe the cuts and bruises you gave me”

I wanted to laugh at her expression

but I suppressed it. She impatiently glared at me like I had asked to have her ears cooked and served to me.

“Cut it off brute… You may just end up losing your breakfast at this point” She threatened.

I smirked and chuckled faintly, and then I kept mute. I couldn’t risk a chance to have her torturing me with hunger. As much as I could bare through everything else, food was definitely not on the list. I never joked with loosing breakfast.

I was sitting on my sleeping mat parallel to her. The candle lights were put off but the thick firewood kept burning and releasing faint smoke into the air. The cave was fairly decorated with wildlife ornaments and bull horns everywhere. It was comfortable and not as bad as I thought it would be for my first night.

I threw a few more glances around and I caught the view of a woven stick cowboy hat hanging neatly on the nail hanger hooked into the scraped rocky surface.

“Is that yours?”

“No. I made it for someone”

“Who?”

“None of your business”

“Right”

“So what did you do with the old man?”

“Who?” I snapped. “Oh. Garius? I tied him up and left him a loaf of bread and a decent amount of water. I am going to be here for three to four days so he won’t starve to death before then”

“Where?”

“My secrets”

“I thought we were on the same side. I thought we all are the people of the twin caves”

“Pssst! You clearly said you don’t want to come with me yesterday”

“Well i changed my mind. Will you let me know the plan or not?”

“If i tell you the plan, what can you do to help?”

“How about having a nice spell book along with a map of each and every corner of this Kingdom, stuck in the middle of worn pages?”

“That… is… No no… I cant… You will not get involved in this mission”

“There’s something more… The letter I found on you. I wont return it to you until you the tell me the whole plan”