Kaija: Queen of Stone

23.5

Dari lashed back, trying to escape back into the woods. I pulled him back, holding him in my arms.

"I have to save her!" he cried out, clawing at the air. "I was dumb, a stupid child, to not go back."

I grasped onto his arm. "No!" I shouted, his body falling to the ground. "It's too late."

"No," he whimpered. "No, no, no."

I stroked his black hair. Even though Dari wasn't a child, I could see the innocence and pain in his pure eyes. He had mentioned he never had someone die. Now he had lost many more in just a few days. He had suffered a lifetime of pain in hours.

"I remember the first time I saw her," he gasped over his sobs. "She was in the village, in the market. Cold and alone. I could have helped her but I didn't. She was obviously hungry and scared and I just watched from a distance."

"It's okay."

"I wanted to apologize for that," he answered, his voice wavering. "For not helping her."

"It's not your fault."

"I don't know what love is," he whispered. "But with her, I think it could have been possible. She made me feel different. My world was radiant and more vibrant. She could have been my reason to live, to fight. And now, I will never know."

He was falling for Rodi. His heart was aching from the loss of her. I had never experienced love for myself, at least so I thought, but from watching the two of them, it was blossoming, blooming into something greater. I ripped it away from him when I allowed Rodi to sacrifice herself.

"I don't want anyone to feel this pain," I whispered. "No one should have to feel this."

"But here I am feeling it," he whispered, curling into a ball. The blisters from his wounds were visible under his torn tunic.

"Dari," I whispered. "I vow to you, I will try and bring Rodi back to you."

"Now?" he questioned. "We would die going back in there."

"No," I retorted. "I will find a spell that will bring her back from the dead or another way to bring her back to us. I promise I will find something."

Dari gasped. "I don't know what to say."

"You stood by me. You believe me to be your queen. I cannot fail you," I answered. "You deserve love. A chance at it. Rodi deserved life." I held him closer, my own blood from my wounds dripping onto his. I gasped. His wounds healed just from the touch of it.

"Did you heal me?"

"I suppose so."

"Thank you," he gasped, his hands shaking like Rodi's were a moment ago. "Thank you, Queen Mara."

"Mara?" Lenox said from behind them.

I swung around and so did Dari. "Lenox?"

Dari darted forward, fists curled by his side. "You coward, how could you leave Queen Mara in such a—"

"Aye, aye," he defended, nodding away. He sank his head back, drowning in a water canister. Something told me it was not water. He moaned delightfully. "I know I am a coward. I ran at the sight of a beast. But if given the chance, would you tell me you would not?"

"No," Dari spat. "Because I have honor."

"Honor gets you killed," Lenox spat back, taking another swig.

"Why didn't you try and help?" he asked. "Why leave us! Rodi died because of you!"

Lenox sighed, clicking his tongue. "From what I heard just now, the lassie sacrificed herself for Queen Mara," he said, pointing drunkenly toward me. "I couldn't do anything even if I was there. So don't point fingers."

"Because she felt there was no other way! If you were there, we could have thought of something else!" he shouted. "She could have lived on. She would be standing right here, next to me," he said, his voice quivering. "But now she's dead."

"With the scream I heard, I would say so," he answered with a sigh. "Shame, shame. She was a pretty, young thing."

"You heartless bastard!" Dari screamed, stomping toward him with fitted fists like a child throwing a temper tantrum. "How can you be so calm when we are being picked off one by one!"

"Ale," he answered with a smile, holding out the canister toward Dari with an arched brow. "Want some?"

I thought back to the moment I had first met Dari. He had come to the celebration of the adjustment in rulers. That Baria was dead. He had approached me, claiming to be a sneak that heard over their plan to seek aid with Kaija. He appeared childish, but he was more a man than any other man that was present in this journey. Including Lenox, who was hiding behind ale.

I thought back to the celebration, Dari had a drop or two of ale that night. I knew he would take it. Something inside of me stirred. There was something uncomfortable about Lenox's proposal and the words he muttered.

Dari reached out and grabbed it, eyeing him in spite. He tucked his head back and downed the ale. "I just want the pain to end," he cried. "Will this let it end?"

"Aye," Lenox agreed. "It will."

Letting out a massive burp, his legs wobbling as his body swayed. "This is...strong," he answered, hiccuping. "I t-think I need...more."

I ran forward, grabbing the canister from his hand. I stared into the empty void, trying to figure out the pungent smell coming from within. It was anything but wheat and barley.

"What is this?" I inquired, holding the leather canister in my hand. I held up the spout to my nose once more, hoping to get a whiff, but there was nothing emanating from the top anymore.

"Special brew," Lenox answered. "Don't look like it is agreeing with the dear fellow."

A thud came from behind. Dari fell on his arse, his head rotating from side to side. He was pointing to the trees, laughing with a smile on his face.

"We cannot venture to Kaija like this," I stated. "There has to be something we can do."

"Sleep it off," Lenox suggested, "or."

"Or?"

"Find the Rentow plant," he said. "It should be here in the forest."

"You want me to find it?"

"I have to stay and watch the lad," he argued. "I don't think you know what to do with a drunken fool, my queen . I am sad to say I know how to care for the likes of a drunk."

"Very well," I answered, feeling something off about Lenox. "What do they look like?"

"Green with spotted blue," he answered. "Can't miss them."

I started walking north, through the trees on the other side. They were not as narrow as the ones behind them.

"I will return," I whispered, the dagger falling from the contents of my dress. I had forgotten we brought weapons and wondered why we did not remember them in the face of danger. I gripped it in my hand. This time if another danger was presented, I would be ready.

Even though something didn't sit right with me, I ventured through the trees. Not even minutes away, was the caress of a creature I had heard of and seen since losing memory of my past self.