Davina's eyes fluttered open. The previous events were hazy. When her eyes landed on the stone walls around her, her body tensed. Her chest started to hurt.
She had a dream that felt so real. A dream that she escaped the dungeons.
Was she still in the dungeons?
Was she not able to escape?
Was it all just a dream?
Her thoughts were proven wrong when she saw a lantern by her head. It was her only source of light. She let her eyes wander around. She definitely wasn't back in the dungeons. She's memorized the look of it after months of staring at it.
She tried to prop herself up with her elbows, but failed because of the pain that emerged from her right shoulder. Some parts of her body ached, but not as much as she expected. It was then she remembered what happened the other night...and who she met along the way.
She looked at her injured shoulder and saw that it was covered in bandages underneath her clothing. So were her arms and legs. The clothes she was wearing weren't the ones she escaped with. Her old clothing in the dungeons was merely a white dress that didn't do much against the cold. Although you couldn't tell it was white because of all the blood and dirt on it.
Instead of the thin dress, she was wearing a white blouse with a brown vest on top of it and pants. Underneath her fingertips was something soft and smooth. She was lying down on a cloak. It was the cloak that Quinn gave her last night.
Quinn.
She remembered what he did the other night. How he controlled the air and made all the palace guards and horses fly away. No normal person could do that. She knew of people who could do that and those are the ones she's detested for as long as she could remember.
He couldn't be the person Princess Rianne mentioned. The person who could help her find the real murderer of Felix.
Why would they help her?
Why would she want help from them?
That's impossible.
The princess is associated with Inarians? That's treachery.
Believing that this was all a mistake, Davina tried to devise a plan to escape. She looked around and saw that her sword was laying at her feet.
Quinn's too nice or too naive, she thought.
She sat up with a lot of discomfort and tried to reach out for the sword. However, she realized that the arm she uses for fighting was the one injured. She was in no condition to fight. A scowl escaped her lips.
"Is she awake?" A female voice asked.
Davina wondered where that could come from. But then she looked closer at the wall on her right. It was then she noticed it wasn't really a stone wall. She reached out her left hand and saw that it was just cloth. It blended so well that she didn't notice until now.
"It's only been a few hours. Let her rest." She recognized that voice. It was Quinn.
His statement confused her.
Why haven't they killed her? Why did Quinn go through all that trouble to fix her up?
"But your medicines usually work fast." There seemed to be a tone of worry and concern in the girl's tone.
"Her body is tired. You saw how many wounds she had. My medicine is fast, but we still need to let her rest. You don't think I'd let her die do you?"
"You might've given the wrong medicine."
"I might give you the wrong medicine one day."
A smack and combined laughter echoed through the walls.
"Anyways, found this," Kira said. "Are you alright with rabbit for dinner?"
"Didn't Arlo bring something for us when you visited him?"
Another smack.
If they were trying to be quiet for her sake earlier, Davina was certain they forgot about it.
"How's Arlo?" Quinn asked when their laughter died down.
Who's Arlo? Who's the girl? Where am I?
"He's still fixing the ship. He's enjoying himself out there." Kira paused. "But he agrees with me that you should've left things to me last night."
"Listen, I'm fine."
"But-"
"I'm still alive Kira." Quinn said in a tone that wanted her to stop the conversation.
For a moment, you could only hear the sound of stone striking another.
"Alright," the girl, Kira, gave in. "You are still alive."
"You could've sounded happier about it."
Then just like that, they were back to teasing each other.
"Oh right. Arlo's asking about the message. Have you read it yet?"
"Not yet. I'm waiting until she's awake."
Davina remembered that Rianne mentioned something about a message. That once they see it, they would know what to do. Last night's events and the thought of Rianne siding with the Inarians still hasn't sunk into her. She couldn't believe that the girl would side with the people who killed her brother. The cause for all the pain and destruction in the kingdom.
If there was a message sent to her, she couldn't remember what it was. Could there have been a note or a letter slipped into her while she was talking with Rianne? She had no knowledge of this message. What would they do if they knew that?
Davina thought of taking advantage of their hospitality until she gets better then she'll kill them. But the thought of staying with these freaks gave her a terrible feeling. There wasn't anything she could do. Her body wasn't in a good state to fight. Even if she has done it a couple of times, now that she has the option to rest, it would be foolish not to take it.
At the end of the day, she decided to act nice with them. But if they were planning to attack, she wouldn't hold back.
They didn't bother her as the hours rolled by. She could only tell what time of day it was through the light that was peeking through the cloth that served as her wall. As she lied down and tried to rest, she waited for Quinn and the other girl to talk again so she could gain some information. But other than the crackling of a fire and the sound of clinking glass and stone, there was nothing else there.
Davina tried to go back to sleep, but her mind was wandering. The thought of the princess conspiring with Inarians baffled her. Perhaps the princess had no idea that they were Inarians. They are very cunning and their powers could trick anyone.
Davina couldn't let her guard down either. Time and time again, she tried to convince herself they wouldn't kill her. Still, her body couldn't relax. Her eyes would go to her sword and she'd try to see how fast she could take it if she ever had to defend herself. The possible attacks and the way she'd execute them played in her mind. Since her right hand wouldn't be of help, she was planning to use her left.
Then her stomach started to grumble. There was the aroma of something savory filled the air. It made her want to go out and ask for some.
"We should probably give her some food." Kira said as if reading her thoughts.
"She might still be sleeping," Quinn said in a hushed tone.
"I'll just give her something in case she wakes up."
Davina watched as a dark hand lifted the cloth a little and placed meat, with a leaf acting as a plate, through it. She looked closer at the food offered to her. It was a rabbit's foot. All skeptical thoughts and hesitations went away as she took the meat and gobbled it.
It's been a long time since she's had food that's this savory. What they'd give her while she was in the dungeons were bland and cold. This was warm and the spices and flavors danced in her mouth.
When it was all gone, she wanted more. Letting go of all pride, she slowly opened the cloth that separated her from the Inarians. On the other side, there was a fire in the middle of the cave. It was bigger than she expected.
There was Quinn and Kira on opposite sides of the fire. Quinn was surrounded by herbs and flasks. Some of his light brown hair was falling on his face, although he was too invested in his work to fix it. Or to notice Davina coming out.
This was the first time she saw Kira. The girl had dark skin and curly black hair. She noticed Davina right away. Upon seeing her, Kira beamed at Davina as if they were long lost friends reunited at last.
"I told you she's awake," she said to Quinn.
He looked up from his work and turned his head to face Davina. She saw uncertainty as the fire danced in his eyes.
Kiral walked towards Davina. She didn't seem dangerous, but Davina didn't let herself be fooled a second time. She thought the same with Quinn, however she was proven wrong when she saw his magic. As Davina looked at the girl, she wondered what magic she could have. The destruction she could possibly do through her fingertips.
"Hi, I'm Kira," she placed her hand on Davina's uninjured shoulder.
It was the same gesture Quinn did when they first met. It was the way Inarians greet each other. Yet another clue that passed through her head when she met Quinn. She was too occupied with trying to survive to think the person helping her would be her enemy.
"Remember me?"
Davina looked at the girl in confusion.
Have we met before?
Kira saw that Davina didn't remember her. She put her finger up and cleared her throat. Then she sang a melody that brought back memories of a certain annoying bird that gave her away the other night.
"You-"
"Yes!" She smiled, showing her white teeth.
Davina gaped at the girl. Inarians can do that?
"What do they call you?" Kira asked.
Davina was about to open her mouth but closed it again. It was possible that neither one of these two knew who she was. If that was the case, then that's better. She wouldn't want to see their reactions if they knew her identity. Her name was already infamous in her own kingdom. With the many Inarians she killed, her name was also infamous in the Kingdom of Inara.
"Dana," she replied, trying to repress the blush forming through her neck brought by the memory of the name. "They call me Dana."
Kira nodded. Davina noticed she was wearing the same clothes as her as she waited for Kira to say something back.
"Dana," Kira tried out the name. "Did you like the rabbit?"
That wasn't the question Davina was expecting. "Yes. It was really good."
Kira's dark eyes danced.
"I told you it was good," she said to Quinn.
"I never said it wasn't."
Kira turned her head to Davina. "So, you have a message for us?"
Right.
She wondered how she could get out of this situation. Perhaps she could give them a fake message they would hopefully believe. But then she saw that Kira's gaze was at her left wrist. The wrist where the bracelet was.
The memory of Rianne placing the bracelet on her played in her head.
How can a bracelet be a message?
"May I?" Kira asked. She was asking if she could take off the bracelet.
Normally, Davina would protest. She wouldn't want to be separated from this bracelet again. But her curiosity on what was going to happen next got the better of her.
Although for some reason, Kira struggled as she tried to take out the bracelet.
"You can't do that," Quinn said. "The bracelet is enchanted. It will only be taken off if the real owner does it."
Davina didn't believe what Quinn said. This was just a bracelet. The reason why Kira couldn't take it off was because it might've been faulty. Quinn was looking at Davina as if he was expecting something from her. Perhaps he was wondering if she was the real owner of the bracelet.
Thinking it was all nonsense, Davina tried to take off the bracelet. To her surprise, she easily took it off. Kira and Quinn had looks of surprise on their faces. But Davina was still convinced there was no significance to any of it. She placed it back on her wrist.
"No matter, we didn't need to take it off to read the message anyway," Kira said.
Kira raised her hand and a golden light escaped from her fingers. Davina tensed when she saw the light, but Kira only placed her finger on the green gem of her bracelet.
After a few seconds, a bright light started to emerge from the gem. Kira took a step back away from Davina as it started. The three of them watched as symbols and markings escaped and landed on the ground. Davina had no idea what those markings meant, but it looked like Kira and Quinn did.
As she inspected closer, the symbols did seem a bit familiar. Although she couldn't put her finger where she saw them before. But even if they were familiar, they still held no meaning to her.
"What does that mean?" She asked them.
Rianne said that they'd know what to do once they read the message. What were they planning to do next?
Both Quinn and Kira's dark eyes were on her.
"It means that we have a new addition to our group," Quinn said.
With the way they were looking at her, she didn't need to ask who it was.