"I never knew Sir Len had a friend!" Amara exclaimed, her eyes shining. The other girls also looked at me with bright curiosity, with Trix's gaze the most intense.
Just a minute, 'never knew Len had a friend'?
"Doesn't he have a lot of friends...? Like you all."
"No!" Trix shouted almost immediately.
Girl, no what?
"I mean, no... his- he- um, he- haa..."
???
Calm down, your eyes are having an earthquake.
Trix's pupils shook violently, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
Anna leaned over and whispered, "She's saying that Len and her aren't friends. When she begins to stutter like that, it's automatic that she's talking about Sir Len."
Okay, but why does she look like her world is crumbling?
Amara comforted Trix with a pat on the shoulder and gave me a sheepish smile, "Sir Len likes to keep to himself so... I was really surprised when he spoke to you so much!"
"Exactly!" Anna chimed in.
"You noticed it too, Anna?" Upon Anna's nod of agreement, Amara smirked. "So... Are you and Sir Len... friends?" She asked, her eyebrows going up and down, clearly hinting at something.
"Yeah, friends."
The mention of Len made my gaze drift to him. He was going faster than our wagon.
Jaya's steps were unhurried but
nevertheless had speed in them. I wonder how his hood can stay on...
Seriously... what was that silence about?!
Did he not find it funny? Or did he not understand that it was a joke?
He probably didn't understand it... Wait, but it's not like Len is the type of person to not get a joke. He's not that aloof. He even knows how to tease people.
Ha, never mind, I'll just ask him later.
I shook off the thoughts in my head and returned to the conversation.
Huh?
While talking to Amara, I caught Trix staring at me with a meaningful look. It's almost like... pity?
But what's there to pity?
"Is something on my face...?"
"N-No." She shook her head and dropped her head, avoiding any eye contact now.
This is making me dizzy.
First, Len, then, Trix. What did I do?!
I decided to ignore everything and continued on before we all got fatigued 2 hours into the journey and decided to take a nap.
***
"Mhm." I rubbed my eyes, the carriage's repeated shake from going through a rocky road jolting me awake. Trix, Amara, and Anna were still asleep though, as if the shaking did not bother them a single bit.
Damn, they must travel a lot to be so unaffected.
Ugh, wait... Fuck, I'm getting dizzy. Raina, you are too fragile!
I reached out to my briefcase and hurriedly opened it to take out a pouch of bitter candy that miraculously solved all my pain. I munched a piece of it.
I could never figure out what Blondie put in this. Is it a mixture of different herbs...? But I can only identify 3 plants in the candy and all of them are not medicinal herbs.
Blondie... with Kia taking care of him should be fine. I hope.
I put the pouch back when my dizziness had dissipated and decided to admire the view instead of going back to take a nap.
The path had barely any sunlight coming through because of the large mountains that had the color of clay and lush forest.
Listening closely, you can hear the distant bird song and flowing water.
I closed my eyes and took a breath, the smell of salt lingering on the tip of my nose, and just like that, with a blink, I was greeted by a bustling town and a vast ocean. The sky was plastered a soft golden color, and the sun beginning to dip into the horizon.
The salty breeze brought me back old memories I had long forgotten, and I felt my heart being squeezed.
No wonder I despised the idea of going to beaches no matter how much my cousins pestered me. It was because of Xavier. We loved the sea. He loved it because of the atmosphere, and I loved being surrounded by the color of his eyes.
The girls soon woke up and began tidying themselves up.
By the time we arrived at the inn, the sun had successfully gone down, leaving the sky dark.
With the innkeeper already putting our luggage in the respective rooms, we all gathered up for dinner. The table was crowded with different kinds of foods from fish soup, seafood salad, and brown grains to milk jelly and Wusari fruit cake.
"Bellona, arishka aes hor." (Bellona, thank you for providing life.)
After praying, we all dug in.
I served myself some seafood salad with grains. We chatted as we ate, and Len's travel buddies or perhaps co-workers, kind as they are, made sure I wasn't left out of the conversation.
They complained of soreness, shared stories of their previous travels, and gave thanks to the emperor, Azriel.
From our interactions, I figured out their dynamics with each other.
Cameron and Anna are a couple. Asher and Rence acted closely with Len. Amara likes to only eat.
And...
Trix is jumpy around Len.
Anytime Len would ask her a question, she would have beads of sweat forming on her forehead and refuse to look at him, pretending that she was focused on eating. The weird thing is, that her actions are full of fear, yet her eyes are only filled with admiration.
Suddenly, someone placed a plate of milk jelly in front of me. It was Amara, looking at me with her usual bright smile. "This is my favorite, try it! One of Miyerko's delicacy!"
Amara, you're nice and all, but I don't like sweets. I stared at the milk jelly which, to everyone's eyes, is appetizing. To me, however, it just looks like nausea just waiting to happen.
I was about to refuse when Len spoke up, "Sienna doesn't like sugary things."
"Oh, really? Sorry..." Amara apologized and took the plate back, devouring it in two bites.
...Does that mean... He isn't mad?
Maybe he really just didn't understand that I was joking.
I wish he would just remove his hood so I could figure out what expression he holds.
I just want to get a glimpse of what he thinks at times.
To be continued.