The Myrrian Crisis

The Myrrian Crisis - Chapter 06 - The Steaming Leaf

Chapter 6 – The Steaming Leaf

Karana laid down in her bed, contemplating, calculating.

Love. It had been so suppressed for so long. It had been years. She had grown bitter, and had let her heart fill with a deep, festering hatred that grew like a cancer. Until now, there was only one place in her heart that was free from this miserable plague.

Gabriel. Her first real love.

Karana had several crushes in her time, but nothing nearly as serious as Gabriel.

But, Karana knew that she was in love with Mikkel, as well. That was not in question. But was it righteous? How could it be all right to abandon her love for Gabriel, even after four years?

She buried her head in her pillow and wept.

No.

NO!

She could not let this get the best of her. The thought of Mikkel was nothing more than a bright-eyed virus.

She walked over to the rug to meditate, but was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. It was barely audible. It was most likely Mikkel.

-+-

I shuffled my feet nervously, making sure that my back was straightened. I became somewhat frustrated at myself. My palms were sweaty, which made it difficult to hold onto the flowers I had gotten for her.

Time to do this.

I knocked on the door a couple of times, and waited as silently as possible

Karana opened the door very slowly, and said, “Mikkel? What are you doing here?”

“I... I was wanting to kn..know if you’d want to have some tea at the Steaming Leaf... I’ve heard they’ve got some good stuff there.”

Karana’s eyes were opened as wide as dinner plates. It was as if to say, “I can’t believe you actually just asked me that.”

She hesitated for a moment, and said, “Sure. Meet me there at sunset?”

My face lit up like a pond under a full moon, “Sounds great. I’ll meet you there!”

I had arrived at the Steaming Leaf about five minutes early. The sun was still visible, but just barely.

I was a little bit shocked to see Karana across the dining room, already sitting down. And yet, it shouldn’t have surprised me at all.

I made my way over to her with baring a glowing, ear-to-ear grin. I couldn’t believe she said yes!

She was endowed with an elegant dress. Embroidered red and blue flowers coated a white back-cloth. It was made of silk, no doubt.

Her cerulean eyes seemed to smile at me. It was odd. She never gave me that look.

“Hey Karana,” I beamed, “You’re a little early, aren’t you?”

She smirked, “No, you’re just late. To be early is to be on time. To be on time, late. To be late... Well, that should never happen.”

“I suppose you’re right.” I replied, stifling a giggle.

“Are you going to sit?” she asked while maintaining that smirk, “Your knees look a little... shaky.”

I pulled the chair out, taking care not to make a lot of noise, and sat down across from her.

“So,” Karana started, “I really think you have come a long way in your training. I’m pretty impressed.”

I opened my mouth to speak just as a soldier approached us.

“Sergeant Karana. We have a situation on the Northwest River Bank.”

“Raiders.” Karana sighed as she rolled her eyes.

The soldier replied hesitantly and quietly, “That’s not... quite it. They’ve taken two scouting patrols out. Hit and run tactics, we believe.”

Karana had a contemplative look on her face.

“Okay then," she said slowly, "We’ll gear up and head out. Mikkel, this is going to be your first assignment.”