The Silent Quest, IziCain [red seas under red skies txt] 📗

and pounded after Ren, he had been standing at the mouth of a dark tunnel in which there was no light and probably no end. Anahita followed nonetheless, the heat in here made the air damp and she almost gagged, there was no sound from anywhere. Where could he be?
Running she found herself deep within the tunnels depths, the space around her was getting rather narrow, and she slid sideways and felt the sizzling rocks scraping against her chest and back. Hissing painfully, Anahita managed to pass the narrowness and found herself in the presence of a wooden door. Without hesitation, she pushed it open and squinted. Sun hit her again and she was in another courtyard, looking around hastily she saw him then- walking amongst the benches.
Anahita ran, he ducked down but she pounded forward and grabbed something furry.
Looking down she saw a black cat who hissed at her, she let go of the tail and smiled apologetically.
“You’ve made a new friend.”
Anahita whirled at the voice, Ren sat back on a bench with his hands locked behind his head, eyes a bright blue. She stood there, allowing the sun to hit her harder than it had ever done. Finally she sighed and began to fidget with the hem of the shirt Ulrika had given to her; the jacket was up in the chamber bedroom given to her last night.
“Na,” she muttered. “Just a silly cat, animals and humans can never be friends.”
She heard the cat purr against her leg and laughed, “Maybe just one animal friend.”
They were silent for some more time; the cat got bored and walked away. It was odd, very odd to not be talking.
“Ren,” she looked down at her shirt and realised that while fiddling she had torn some of the fabric. “I’m sorry about what happened yesterday, it was foolish I know-”
“Anna,” he interrupted and leaned forward, removing her hands from the torn fabric. “Come sit here.”
He helped her over the bench and gave her a seat, she rubbed her hands together. “You don’t need to be sorry,” he laughed. “It is I and my uncle who should be, I did not want to apologise even though uncle told me to before breakfast. But I did not attend, I am deeply sorry for upsetting you yesterday, including today.”
She smiled, “that’s what I call a stubborn gentleman.”
He returned the smile, “You’re what they call the new sword mistress. Well done out there.”
“Thank you,” she began and then looked around. “What is this place?”
This courtyard was smaller than the other; it was a sandy colour with a round battle field, unlike the other one which was square. There was a stage in the centre and an axe-
“The execution site,” he told her. “No one comes here, the tunnel you just chased me through had chains on the walls, and you could not see them of course. Prisoners and other people who were lined up to be beheaded stayed there hungry for approximately twenty-four hours, made your father’s job easier.”
“How?” she asked, confused.
“When one does not eat, the throat settles down and is much easier to cut off.”
She cringed, “that’s disgusting. On the happy side, Ren, I’m satisfied that I know what my father’s real job was. My mother always told me that he was a butcher, I didn’t know he did this kind of butchering.”
He sighed lazily, “parents can be very provocative, they lie and you believe them like angels. Your mother didn’t want you hating your father; she wouldn’t want you doing that now.”
Anahita looked up into the sky, pigeons high enough to touch the heavens. She knew that Ren and his uncle should have kept it a secret still, but she needed to be informed about it sooner or later. Partly happy and partly sad, Anahita struggled to set her emotions on one gap. With everything happening so quickly, Ren helping her escape the horrible Queen Concetta, travelling through the Charm Forest, coming face to face with a Black Spectre... meeting Ulrika-
“Boron and I are heading off tonight,” Ren pulled her back into the present. “We need those golden gravestones, my uncle really hates delays, and he usually starts to break things.”
Anahita angled herself awkwardly on the bench and winced as the sun buzzed her eye, if Ren and Boron were going to go back to Persia, they were going to meet Ulrika on the way. Ren had promised that he’d bring Anahita along the next time he was travelling, looks like that promise was broken. She tried to hide her disappointment, but it was her duty to stay here and teach the girls how to defend themselves. It was also her job to check on the King, she was his guardian now. Her duties were to report to the King about issues around Arabia, fights between families and other personal related issues. She thought of it a hard job, but King Patrick told her she only had to report to him in the evenings, so she had all day to train girlies.
“When will you be back?” she asked curiously.
He shrugged, “I don’t know. Boron is a slow traveller; he doesn’t like teleportation, so I think we will have to walk the whole way. When we teleported, we were quarter way across the lands. We did it twice, right?” she nodded. “It’s not like I can teleport whenever I like, I have to make markings in the air that connect the currents together, like in the centre of a room where everything generates from. Making the markings takes days, Anna; it is not an easy job.”
“Give me an estimated time, then.” She was stubborn to the core.
He rubbed his eyes, “maybe a few months, I am not so sure. The Queen might jail me, kidnapping her head slave. The judging is averages of two months, if I am not back by winter then you know that I am behind heavy iron bars.”
Anahita knew what the prison in Persia looked like, small rooms covered in damp moss, a wooden bed with no personal hygiene. No bed covers and no pillow, there was no toilet and no bath tub! Ren would be given a cold shower if he really needed one, he would be given mouldy bready and beaten every day. Anahita cringed, and then remembered his state when he approached her in the kitchen.
“When you came to the kitchen,” she began with a sore voice. “Why were you in such a hideous state?”
He glanced sideways at her, grinning. “The one that is speaking looked more horrendous than I.”
“Answer me, Ren.”
He raised his hands in surrender, “OK! I was beat by the guards because I was watching over you getting beat, I told you before, remember? I said I saw you getting whipped and kicked around, I knew it would be you who could be a good fighter and a guardian for the King.
“You’re precious to the King now, Anna, and me. So what you suffered through, I had to go with it as well.”
She frowned, “meaning you got yourself beat on purpose?”
He nodded, “I had to, and it was a must. You would not understand, if you had to do things that killed you instead of another, Anna you would be fascinated.”
She looked around the stage, trying to imagine her father standing there with a smile on his face, an axe in his hand... it was impossible to imagine him as such. He was not a man of murder when he was at home, usually during the summer he’d come with meats in his bag- human meat?
“Did you know my father well?” she asked, watching him trace an invisible letter in the air.
“Indeed,” he replied with a nod. “He accompanied me with some of the tasks, brave man. Soul and heart in one, brilliant, one thing let him down. He was a murderer. He told me so he loved blood, but he also loved talking about his little Anahita.”
She smiled, looking away quickly. He caught her staring past the benches and into the wide streets of Arabia; the tears rolling down her cheeks were falling off her chin and tapping gently onto the knuckled of her right hand. She sniffed and went to rub her eyes, but he turned her around and made a funny face with his nose crunched up like a piece of paper, his lips drawn back to show the white rows of teeth, eyes wide open in comparison to the tunnel entrance. She collapsed with laughter; he too joined in, just to make her feel happy.
When she got her bearing back, she spoke more confidently.
“Never mind my parents, I need to go back to the courtyard, everyone must be wondering where I am. We will talk of this some other time.”
He nodded and they both stood, together they climbed over the benches, racing to the bottom. Ren was quicker, so he waited at the base, ordering a race out of the execution ground and tunnel.
Anahita knew she couldn’t beat him, seeing him run like a flash in the past two to three days felt like defeat already. She couldn’t risk it, even thought he knew he would win. Anyhow, anyway, they raced. Funny thing, Ren wasn’t running with crazy legs, in fact he was running at the same pace. It felt odd seeing him like that, all normal Ren Talon.
The tunnel stank, there was that narrow space which they squeezed through and then there was that open sesame. Anahita was in the lead, but then they both came to a halt at the same time. The King stood with his hands on his hips at the mouth, his face a deep frown mixed with question and confusion.
Ren bit his lip and went to speak, but his uncle raised a hand to silence him. They followed Patrick when he walked away, the training ground was almost empty. The students stood to one side, waiting for their teacher.
“You may start teaching however you wish, Anahita.” King Patrick jutted his chin. “Food will come to you; feel free to take as many breaks, you must report back to my chamber this evening.”
Anahita nodded her farewell; Ren stuck close to his uncle and vanished from the lower gates. She inhaled and exhaled, turning as the last breath flew out. The girls were all small, some chubby and some thin to the bone, allot like Anahita. She jogged to them and smiled.
“Good morning girls,” some of them cheered. “I am your new teacher, you may call me Anahita. Now, I want you all to take out a scythe.”
Every girl turned to the wall and removed the biggest blade of them all, green handled and silver bladed, and Anahita fetched one for herself.
She felt the weight and grinned, “First lesson. Defence.”

Lunch came in large plates, the sun was so high up in the sky Anahita and the girls were all sweating head to toe. They washed their hands and went to eat, the rice was spicy and warm, fresh smooth orange juice chilled their insides. It was all very tasty, but sadly they got back to training as soon as possible. The scythe was making Anahita’s arms ache, every time she set it down her shoulders would scream, the crook of her elbow would crack back into shape. She taught them how to spin out of action, left leg back and right leg swinging over the hip to give you mass effect. All the girls learned quickly, asking questions and demonstrating their own ways. Anahita was very proud; she congratulated them with a choice of their own. They all asked if she could tell them her life story so far, this made Anahita hesitate.
What harm could it be upon you? She asked herself.
So she set the girls in a circle just before sunset and began telling the tale of her lifetime.
At first the girls were all calm and cheerful, but when it came to the flood- they all went solemn and sad.
“My parents died,” she explained. “It