The air close to the river is gentler and more than welcomed in my body. It tastes fresher, livelier, as if I am inhaling life. Unlike the coarse, dense air everywhere else, that attacks my insides and makes me choke.
The sound of running water somehow manages to flow in my head, drowning all the thoughts that cloud my mind until they are muffled into nothing.
The pink flowers gracefully float by on tiny green boats, as if telling the water, 'no mater how lethal you are, you still can't hurt us'.
Luna and I exchange a glance. This is it! Mother's cure. We are finally here! I bend forward, stretching my arm towards the closest flower, forgetting that I am on my tiptoes on the edge of certain death. I topple, almost falling headfirst into my doom, but Luna grabs my waist and pulls me back to safety.
"Careful!" She warns. "Are you okay? Did you touch the water?"
"No, no, no, I am fine."
She sighs with relief. Then tries to reach for the lily herself, but with no luck either. And I thought that we finally made it, that nothing can stop us from here. No stubborn gates. Nothing. I was clearly wrong! There are annoying flowers that like to float a little too out of reach. What are we going to do now?
My eyes scan the area, landing on everything, desperately hoping to find something, some tool that can help us reach. Until they land on our transporter.
"Cal, can you reach the water lilies?"
Metal shifts at his side, extending into an arm. "No."
But he is close. Closer than Luna and me.
"Only this tiny bit!" Luna pinches her fingers. "Can't you extend only this tiny bit?"
"No, sorry."
After squeezing my mind, a candle finally lights on top of my head. I step on Cal's skinny arm and try to find my balance.
"Scarlotte! What are you doing?" Luna rushes to support me.
"What does it look like I am doing? I am going to get this lily to help mother."
"What if you fall?"
But instead, I grab onto her shoulder till I adjust my weight, and then gradually let go. I take a deep breath and place my rear foot in front of the other.
"Scarlotte!" She screams.
"I'll be fine. Just stop screaming. You're distracting me."
"Get down!"
I ignore her, until she eventually stops. Instead, I focus my attention on my steps, and try to maintain my balance. A cool breeze brushes against my feet, making them shiver. Which doesn't make things easier at all. I force them still, as they pace forward.
With my arms still stretched at my sides, I take another step forward, onto Cal's fingers at the tip of his arm. I slowly bend my knees and lean forward with my hand extended towards the lily. My fingers graze its delicate petals, except for my pinkie, that grazes something else, something freezing.
Water.
I scream and pull my hand out, losing my balance in the process. Cal quickly stretches another arm and holds me in place.
"Scarlotte!" Luna cries out. "Are you okay?"
I look down at my pinkie, clench it, unclench it. Its fine.
"I am okay." I reply in disbelief.
I am sure I felt the water brushing against my finger with its freezing temperature. But my finger is totally fine. I shake the thought away. Maybe I just imagined it. Maybe I am just being paranoid. I bend forward again, Cal holding onto my waist with his three-fingered metal hand, and pull the flower out of the water.
"Got it!"
"Okay. Now, come back. Before you fall and hurt yourself."
"Got it." I repeat again, when I jump off Cal's arm and land in front of her.
"Okay good. Are you okay, though?"
"Yeah." I shrug.
"Are you sure?" She obviously doesn't believe it.
"Yes I am fine." I assure her.
We get back into the transporter and ask him to take us to the travel tower of Allure. Along the way, I can't help but feel paranoid, imagine my pinkie as dead as mother's arm. I touch it with my other hand, and sigh with relief when it feels fine. But eventually feel paranoid again, and the cycle keeps going for the entire ride.
The travel tower of Allure looks almost identical to the one in Sardiarre, except that at its tip, there is a green light instead of silver. Green like Luna initially described. Of course, that makes sense. She was describing this one. The one she visited to get to Sardiarre.
Just like last time, we walk up the path that leads to the foot of the tower. When we are close, a door appears and leads us inside.
"May I help you?" A guard asks.
"We need to get to Sardiarre." Luna relies, while I continue to nervously clench and unclench my finger.
"Follow me." He leads us to a similar set of lettered keys.
"Name?"
"Luna."
"Surname?"
"Silvers."
"Date of birth?"
"9 Travis 126."
"Occupation?"
They asked her this question last time in Sardiarre as well, but not me. Probably because I am still a minor.
"The queen's lady-in-waiting."
"Reason of visit?"
Luna gave him an 'isn't it obvious?' look. "To do my job, to serve the queen."
Tiny glowing particles detach from the huge green light and turn red, spelling 'access denied'. My eyes bulge out of my head. What? Why?
"I-I am sorry miss, but you are no-"
But before the guard can finish his sentence, the lights change their mind. They turn back to green and spell 'I am sorry', then 'my mistake', and at last 'access granted'.
Puzzled, the guard stammers. "W-well … Th-this has never happened before. I-I guess y-you can go to Sardiarre then."
Phew.
He then turns to me and asks for my credentials. He gets a little tense when he finds out that I belong to the royal family. But I clarify things, feeling a little humiliated, as usual. Thankfully, the light grants me access right away.
When we arrive at the basement, back at the palace, we find Lady Elanor already waiting for us, nervously pacing back and forth. That is weird. Doesn't she have things to take care of, especially that mother is not well?
As I hop out of the transporter, she rushes to me. "Scarlotte! Thank Callianne! I wasn't sure you would make it."
How flattering.
Her features then shift. "Look, I am sorry, but there was no other way."
Huh? I don't understand. What is she talking about? But before I can ask any questions, she snatches the flower from my hand and starts rushing up the stairs.
"Hey! Come back here!" I start to chase after her but-
A guard steps right in front of me, and she disappears upstairs. I try to step around him, but he steps in my way again.
"Scarlotte Sardiarre." Someone calls from behind. "Luna silvers."
I turn around, and find guards circling us, and closing in.
"You are under arrest for allegedly passing through the border gates without being welcomed into our city."
"What! B-but that is not true." I protest, as one of them grabs my arm with his iron gauntlet, crushing my bones.
"Of coarse you didn't do it." Says one of them, with a bored tone. I can imagine him rolling his eyes under his helmet.
"I am not lying. We-"
"SILENCE!"
"Take them away."
I try to pry myself from his painful grip, but another guard grabs my other arm.
"Let me go! I didn't do such thing! I swear!" I scream in pain, in agony, in frustration. "LET ME GO!"
Instead, they bind my wrists and ankles in shackles that rattle with the slightest movement, adding a melody to my humiliation.
Two transporters barge into the basement. Both painted blue. I stagger backwards, away from them, but that only makes my guards more angry and they tighten their grip, leaving me wincing in pain.
Luna's guards push her into one of the transporters, and I am dragged to the other. As they shove my head into the transporter, I glimpse my reflection on its shiny blue exterior. I glimpse my blue eyes, and remember what they can do. Remember what people think they can do. Remember what Maven helped me realize they can do.
"Let go of me." I demand with confidence. "Or I will freeze you all to death."
"She's bluffing!" Calls out one of them, but I can sense the hesitancy in his grip.
"Oh really?" I challenge. It is one thing to trick a half-asleep kitchen worker, another to trick a couple of wide-awake trained guards. But I am running out of options here. "So you wanna call my bluff, huh?"
"We have been serving here for years, and never witnessed you freezing anyone."
Seriously? My whole life I have been trying to convince you that I can't hurt you, but you've only decided to believe me now?
They shove me into the transporter then slide in, squeezing me in the middle. "Take us the prison district."
Prison? Did he say prison? I am going to prison? But I didn't do anything!
This transporter isn't as fast as the one that I rode to get the lilies, leaving the worst moment of my life pass by in slow motion. I wiggle my shoulders free from between theirs, and try to take a look through the window, but one of them slams me back.
When they pull me out of the transporter, I find myself surrounded by plain long buildings, in an abandoned neighbourhood. Creepy, especially at this time of day. Luna's transporter is nowhere to be found, either. I am not sure how to feel about this. It's good that she isn't going to prison, I feel relieved for her. But still, I don't want to go through this alone.
They drag me into one of these creepy buildings, my shackles rattling with every step. At first, I was worried that the building might be abandoned. Now, I wish it was. Behind the bars are not humans, but savages, monsters, filling the tight isle of cells with overlapping roars and vulgar laughs. They all look sickly skinny, and are wearing insanely huge clothes in creative ways. What's really surprising is that they all look around my age. Some of them cheer as I pass by. Others pass their hungry arms through the bars, making me flinch, but thankfully the guards shove them away.
How am I going to survive in this place? I have no idea.
We finally come by an empty cell. They undo my shackles and throw me inside, making me land on all fours. I quickly collect myself, and crawl away from them, to the far wall. I push myself against it, hoping I can just hide within its titanium and be safe from all these monsters.
A third guard joins them, with blue clothes hanging from one hand.
With one swing, they land on me. "Put these on."
I look down at them. How rude! I pinch them with the tip of my fingers and toss them aside.
"Put these on." he repeated more sternly.
I look up, the three metal armors stand right outside my cell. Probably looking at me. In between them, the girl in the cell across mine is also staring. So are the boys from the cells at either side of hers. How exactly do they expect me to change with an audience?
I gulp. "May I at least have some privacy?"
"Of course." replies one of them with a 'duh' tone. "Why didn't you just ask Cal. Cal, please give her some privacy to change."
Cal? Cal! Cal is here?
"Yes, sir." Replies the same voice of the palace in which I grew up.
Relief rushes over me. I won't have to be alone in this hell. Cal is here!
A forth wall falls from the ceiling, and shielding me from the monsters on the other side. I quickly undo my gown and slide out of it. My eyes fixed on the wall, praying to Callianne that it doesn't slide up, before I am done. I wear the shirt, and pull the pants, up they fall down again. My eyes nervously dart the wall, I am still safe. After several attempts, I wear only one leg like a skirt, and tie the other around my waist like a belt.
"I am done." I sigh with relief. "I am done."
Cal lifts the wall back, an I am greeted by frozen gazes again. One guard snatches me gown and another locks my cell.
"Hey!" I call out, trying to pass my head through the bars, but it won't fit.
"Don't worry, princess, you won't need that dress anymore." Says the girl in the cell across mine with a careless bored tone.
She is simply wearing the shirt like a minidress, and the pants are tied around her waist like a belt.
"Don't look so surprised, no one else can afford a dress made out of solid platinum." She states.
"B-but when I get out." I whisper the wish. "I'll need my gown back. This was my favorite."
"Get out?" She scoffs. "Get out! Hey everybody, the princess, here, thinks she will need her dress when she comes out." And she burst into laughter, slapping her knee.
The boys at either side of her cell join in, and repeat the 'joke' between giggles. Soon, they whole isle is filled with laughs.
I go back, and sit against the far wall, hugging my knees. Why are they taking it like a joke? I am definitely going to get out eventually, right? I am innocent. Surely they will realize this.
"Princess, let me assure you that when you get out of here, you won't need that platinum dress of yours."