Arya could feel tears filling her eyes and trickling down her cheeks so fast that it overwhelmed her, and yet she could feel them starting to evaporate in the scorching afternoon heat before even settling on her chin. With her vision blurred and cheers and cries of happiness almost deafening, she could barely make out the framework of the green wild Island in front of her eyes. Arya wiped her eyes as she stood up, balancing her stance as the boat heeled to the sides with the increased excited motion of everyone on board.
It had been two days since their escape, but she still couldn't believe their luck - all of them had escaped without serious injuries. She let the last tear drop from her eyes, feeling a mix of both gratitude and worry for Oliver, who helped them escape and then stayed behind to lead Shinghaala men off to a false trail in the woods. Her heart couldn't handle thinking about the dangers he might be in, so she wiped her eyes and took a deep breath.
She put both her hands over her squinting eyes to check for any movement among the forest trees that spread out almost up to the shore. She almost jumped for the oars of their small ship to turn it back when she caught sight of an abandoned-looking longboat on the west side but then realized it did not possess any immediate danger and relaxed.
With the shore not more than a mile away, Arya turned to others and asked them to pack up the little supplies they had left and keep their weapons at the ready.
She couldn't decide if she felt more proud or worried looking at Thomas - a boy of fifteen - unsheathing his sword that was too heavy for his shoulders. Emma - a girl of fourteen - straightening her arrows and putting them in the quiver on her back with the elegance of a battle warrior. Grace - a girl of thirteen - with a mind becoming as sharp as a master of wars, with her short sword sheathed at her waist belt and her bow at her shoulder. She did know they were too young to be fighting a war, and it was all her fault that they were here - if she hadn't taken them into the woods to hunt with her, they wouldn't have been captured when Ozul's men sneaked into their village.
Behind the kids, Agnes and Matilda, the shadow twins as known throughout Zokaarkh (the continent in which Kingdom Shinghaala - the Northern kingdom - and Kingdom of Salvator - the Southern kingdom - reside), sat with their spears held at their sides.
"I know there were no other ships at the harbor, but what if Ozul's men followed us?" asked Liza.
It always surprised Arya how synced her sister's mind was with her own, even though the same blood didn't course through their veins. (Arya's mother, Princess Katherine Athena, had adopted Liza at age 7 when they found her after the bloody war, covered in her father's blood still dripping from his throat; Arya was 9 at the time.)
We didn't see anyone follow us as far as the land disappeared, remember?" assured Arya and continued after Liza gave her a weak nod. "But if they did, we have a head start; let's use it to restock our supplies and sail south again."
"Are we all going into the forest? I don't think we should abandon the ship," asked Liza.
"We are not," replied Arya. She paused to contemplate the possibility of what she had heard at Shinghaala before escaping to be true.
"Listen closely," Arya whispered to Liza, positioning herself near her. "Do you recall when that one-eyed man tied me to the tree near the farthest tent, after bringing me back from the woods?"
A shiver ran down Liza's spine as she recalled the monstrous image of him dragging her sister into the woods while gripping her hair. The thought of what unspeakable acts he might have committed haunted her, preventing her from mustering the courage to confront Arya. However, another layer of confusion enveloped her as she remembered the faint glimmer of hope on Arya's face when she was brought back. Reflecting on it now, Liza began to piece together the possibility of a secret truce in the woods, aligning with Arya's cryptic mention of the one-eyed assailant "accidentally" dropping a knife after binding her. Perplexed, Liza questioned why Arya chose to withhold this information from her
Arya spoke again, bringing Liza back to the present.
"I saw chief Kaa'r, pointing at an Island south of Shinghaalan land on a map on the wall. He aggressively took it down when he turned and saw me being tied to the tree in front of the tent. My best guess is that Ozul has his men searching for Oliver and the boys on this Island"
(Ozul- the darkness, was Shinghaala's recent king, so named for he was famous for raiding and massacring villages in and around Shinghaala in the shadow of the night during the bloody war, ten years ago.
Only a handful of people knew or chose to believe that three years ago he was the one who killed king Edward, his own brother, his own flesh and blood, so he can win the throne. He had blamed the crime on one of his prisoners, a prisoner from a different land, a prisoner who after killing the king conveniently dropped dead, without sustaining any injuries.
Ozul had pardoned all the other prisoners and now they all held a place at court with different titles, another sign of his culpability in Arya's eyes.
Not only did Ozul tricked and betrayed his brother, but his pretense of being a better and changed person with a strategic mindset and powerful army behind him had almost everyone fooled and some even worshipped him, which is one of the main reasons king Raoul of the kingdom of Salvator mustn't have yet interfered at matters in Shinghaala, since he might be just as unaware of Ozul's true nature as everyone else and Arya must inform him of Ozul's evil dark side.
And chief Kaa'r was Ozul's right hand and the successor to the throne of Shinghaala after Ozul's death, so decided by Ozul himself after ignoring the long-lived tradition of choosing the successor by a vote by all the tribe leaders of the great kingdom of Shinghaala)
Arya looked away as tears threatened to roll down her eyes as she thought about Oliver again, she took a deep breath and answered liza's unspoken question that she could very clearly see in her horrorstruck eyes.
"Yes, Ozul's men might be present on this very Island," answered Arya. "I believe this might be the same Island, the Island of Darth".
"In that case, I and Grace will go around and leave the boat on the southern shore and then double back on foot towards North until we find you" suggested Liza, looking up at Grace who nodded in agreement.
"Yes, take the rest of the water, and here take this" Arya said, giving her the jute bag that they had found in the boat and had been taking turns to cover their head under the unforgiving sun.
Liza felt a surge of anxiety, not for herself being in the smaller group but for having to separate from her sister. Arya may be older to her but Liza always felt responsible for her. More so after their mother lost her life over a year ago fighting Ozul.
As others around her prepared themselves to land on the beautiful yet likely dangerous Island ahead, Liza remembered the day they first heard about Ozul's return- the day it all began again.
(It had been a fortnight after word had spread like fire of Ozul's return from exile. He claimed to have discovered land across the Northern Ocean. The people there 'more barbaric than he himself had been', he told King Edward or so the rumours said. Ozul had brought three men with him, his prisoners, three to showcase them, with many more tied and left at his ship. These three men with the strangest shade of dark skin the people of Shinghaala had ever seen.
People saw them with awe and fear as Ozul dragged them through the river road. Thick black untied hair fell all the way to their waist, skin covered in a thin white chalky powder on every inch of their visible skin. Liza had always been fascinated by people from a foreign land that she heard about in her grandmother's stories. And now, even after more than a year has passed, she clearly remembered every word of every version of the same event they'd all heard from traders and vendors coming in for business in their beautiful village named Dohshaalin (a village placed a few miles North-East to Shinghaala, isolated from the general travellers as the Salvator road stretched out of Shinghaala from North-West.
Her mind wandered around the many stories they had heard about Ozul and his strange prisoners, focusing on the one her mother told her right out of the letter King Edward- her mother's brother and her uncle- had sent her mother. It was clearly an accurate description of the real event and the prisoners, as it lacked the wild imagination of the common people (which always ended with wild black monsters with claws for hands, teeth like sharks, and hissing tongues of a snake.)
The letter had said, "Dear sister, no matter how little you ask for me to update you on the events of the kingdom, this one may concern you. Our brother is back from exile, as you may have heard. I do not believe a drop of truth had ever come out of his mouth but his witnesses and information of the coming war from across the Northern Ocean seem legitimate and frighteningly truthful. These strange people he has brought as prisoners, with their strange stories and their barbaric habits frighten me. You need to come to Shinghaala sweet sister, I am in need of your sage counsel and your skilled sword. Besides you've always been the only one to see him truly for what he is.
~ With showers of love and respect
Your Eddie"
Arya turned to Liza, bringing her out of her reverie of the past. She put her right hand at the nape of Liza's neck while the other pressed on her own chest over the heart. Simultaneously they put their foreheads together and took a deep breath.
"I hope to see you soon sister, be careful and don't let Grace run ahead of you in the forest, stick together," Arya said, turning her head to look at Grace who smiled and nodded in return. "Fire that flare maester Henry gave you if you run into trouble, let's hope it's visible at daylight"
"With this gracious wind, we will be able to find you before you reach the south shore" said Liza.
"We should split in two; Arya, Thomas, and Emma should search the east side, Agnes and I will take the west" suggested Matilda.
"Nooo..." Arya almost shouted.
Everyone started staring at her. She decided it was not wise to choose 'not to scare the kids' over their right to be aware of a possible danger ahead of them. She briefly explained how and why she suspects presence of Ozul's men on the Island.
They all agreed upon sticking in the middle of the island, moving towards the south shore, increasing the parameter to the sides while being within earshot and reuniting with Liza and Grace at sunset, hoping to have found enough food and water to reach port Angel.
Arya hopped off the boat along with Thomas, Emma, Agnes and Matilda when the shore was a dozen steps from the boat. She looked at her sister propelling the boat towards the west, a tint of pink outshined in her golden hair under the brilliant sun.
Fear creeped its way into her bones as she unwillingly turned towards the wild massive flora waiting ahead of them.