Getting ready to leave the inn, I made sure we didn’t look too much like suspicious vagabonds.  Walking towards the stables, the bounty hunters were still lurking about, but we passed them unnoticed. As we trotted out of the gate, I made a mental note to clear up this issue after this water maiden situation was through. 

"Say Jy…"

"What?”

"Wh-what happens to the water maiden after they're given to the water deity?”

"Depends on the deity", I said coldly.

"Such as?"

"The books say some become servants of the deity, others their spouse or concubine, or worse, they're tortured and killed, then have their souls trapped forever"

Sao shivered audibly. 

"Why?”, I asked.

"It's just… we're close now", he mumbled and fell silent. 

Ignoring his worry, we made way to the main city of the Duke’s fief, a beautiful land along the river, just before the Lowland swamps. Passing the checkpoint, we weaved our way through the crowd and presented ourselves to the castle guard to which they directed us to the main entrance. Pacing and looking poorly, the Grand Duke stood before the doors. In the most polite manner I could muster in this situation, I gently introduced myself.

“Grand Duke, I, Jylan, daughter of House Aniceta, greet thee”, I bowed, “This is my younger brother, Saovin. We are here to fulfill the request of transport”

 

“Yes, yes alright” the Duke huffed, “Forgive me, I’m in no mood for pleasantries.”

 

“I deeply understand”, I kindly replied.

 

“But to think not only is this spirit business real, but the Aniceta family is involved”

 

“Forgive the secrecy, my lord, it was by last request of the late king, and I hope you understand to keep it that way for now”

 

“Well yes, I suppose I could understand, given who his successor is…”, he cut off his reproach of the current king.

Uncomfortably, he cleared his throat as he led us inside, where we were placed in a waiting room.

"I will go retrieve my son", he said uneasily. 

Moments later he entered with a man dressed in white ornate robes, a veil, and a hood. 

"This is my son is, Tyril", the Duke held back tears, "please take good care of him on your way"

"Of course your grace", I replied.

Approaching him, I held up the request from Lord Kano to check his mark. It glowed brightly, meaning we had the right person. 

"Young Lord Tyril, I am Jylan Aniceta. I and my brother, Saovin Aniceta, shall be your guides and confidants on this journey. Please bear with us and the discomforts you may have on the way…", I politely said, "As we are now on a time limit, let us depart '', I held up the request paper that now showed the number of days and hours remaining.

Under the opaque veil, I saw that he had a look of disgust on his face. Understandable, but I ignored it as it was not my mission to care. Aniceta impartiality rules running through my head, I loaded the carriage with the supplies provided by the Duke, and his precious son, then set off.

Our progress became slower than desired as our new baggage was a rather demanding princess. We stopped more times than I wanted to count due to his displeasure of the bumpy ride. 

“I feel ill from all this, please stop”, he huffed, “when was this carriage last maintenanced, it feels like we’re riding on wheels made of boulders”

“Sorry, princess, this carriage is made for speed, not comfort”, Sao grumbled.

"Well can I at least get some more space? You!" he pointed to Sao, "get out!"

"There's plenty of space in here for two people!-ow!”, Sao yelped.

Climbing out of the carriage to join me in the driver's seat, Sao complained, "the sacrificial offering kicked me!"

"I'm not a sacrifice!”, he yelled back.

Continuingly complaining and fussing with Sao, I stopped the carriage and hopped down to inspect the plants on the side of the road for one with a stomach relief and relaxing effect. Blinking my eyes a few times, the plant knowledge from the Red King began to appear. I found some and harvested them. Rinsing them off, I offered the leaves to Tyril.

“Here. Eat these, you’ll feel better”

“What!? What are those? Poison?!”, he yelled, “And what is this road?! I’ve been along the river’s paths countless times and I’ve never seen such a place before!”

“It’s medicine for your motion sickness”, I said plainly, “This is the Elven road”

“Elves! You-You’re kidnappers aren’t you! You’re not my transport! You tricked my father to take me for ransom!”

Unbothered by his outbursts, due to my practice with Sao, I just stared at him coldly. He stopped flailing, realizing I wasn’t going to react. 

“I will leave the medicine here. Take it when it gets too much to bear”, I moved to close the door.

“Wa-wait! How can I eat this? It’s just raw leaves!”

I sighed deeply. His lovely, stately face and his atrocious personality didn’t match. Crushing up the leaves, I mixed them with water, then shoved it into his hands, and closed the door. Avoiding the towns and human roads, I stuck to the forests for our needs and the Elven road near the river.

“Why aren’t we staying in a town? This is unsightly. I can’t stand sleeping out here any longer”

“We’ll go when we reach Water’s Edge. It’s faster to not have to veer off the path”, I grumbled.

“I knew it! You are criminals. I bet you’re avoiding town because you have the royal guards after you!”

“You know, you’re right my young lord, we are criminals”, I cleaned my dagger while speaking to him, “But not the ransoming kind. No, we take bratty children halfway across the kingdom by request of their parents and meet their needs, just so they can throw a tantrum and accuse us of kidnapping”, I glared at him.

Staring at my daggers, he shivered.

“Tyril”, I continued, “Do you know what this countdown means?”, I asked him.

“I-I it’s the time you have to take me to the temple?”

I laughed at his naivety, “Tell me, do you love the people of the Lowlands?”

“Ye-yes of course, they’re my family and friends”

“Then it’s best we get to Lord Kano before that place becomes nothing more than a memory. This time is what’s left for your people; if you do not arrive…”

The look of horror washed over him. Without a word, he climbed back into the carriage for the night. 

“Jy! Is that true? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Knowing or not knowing, doesn’t change his fate. One life for many is a small price to pay”, I turned over to rest.

My lecture seemed to quiet him down, as the complaints were less, making this trip far more manageable and quicker. So much so that we made it to Water’s Edge with days to spare. We got out, stretched our legs, and had our first real meal in a good while. Tyril’s face was understandably solemn as he looked at the town, then crawled into the carriage.

“Can I-Can I have some privacy?”, he asked Sao tearfully.

“Yeah, uh sure”, he said, climbing out to sit with me. 

Sao gave me a look of pleading, but I shook my head. There was nothing we could do. We departed and followed the road. As we approached Lord Kano's Temple at the mouth of the river, a group of people stood. A translucent hair, androgynous person standing slightly to the forefront, looked rather grumpy and ill, but still beautiful.

I hopped down and brought Sao next to me for a formal greeting.

I bowed, “Lord Kano, we, the Aniceta have successfully fulfilled your request-"

"Is this some kind of joke?” he interrupted

"My-my lord?” I was confused.

"Where is the maiden?!", he yelled at us.

Wide eyed, I ran to the carriage to find it empty except for the ceremonial robes

"The little shit!", I thought.

"I-I… forgive us my Lord, we will locate him as soon as possible! He couldn't have gotten far as he was with us until Water's Edge", I pleaded. 

Suddenly, a wall of water slammed us to the ground. Unbearable pain ripped through my body.

"It seems the Aniceta have lost their touch"

"My-ack- my Lord, please", I begged through the pain, "give us time to retrieve him"

“You had your time!”, he shouted, lifting us off the ground.

“The-the boy has the mark, so he can't escape. Let us find him!”

“You lost him once without notice already, you really think you can fix this?!”

“Ye-yes!”, I struggled to breathe.

His rage soothed, “Fine”, he dropped us, “you may go”

“Thank you, my Lord! We-”

“But only one of you!”

“Wh-wha-”

“I need a guarantee that you'll come back, so which one of you shall remain?", he sneered, "How about you?", he said, wrapping watery tendrils around me tightly until I screamed, "the Aniceta and their power survives through their women; a worthy exchange for my maiden if he cannot be found"

"J-Jylan", Sao panicked.

"You have two days, boy", he growled as he dropped a glowing compass into his hands, "this should help you find him", he smiled maliciously.

Painfully, I looked at Sao. He's well trained in stealth and tracking, but his occult knowledge is lacking, so he's at a disadvantage. It felt like Lord Kano knew this, making this task hard to complete for him on purpose. He began to retreat back into the temple, dragging me along with him.

"You should get going boy, time won't wait for you"

"Sao! Go! Take Lilith! She's the fastest!", I yelled to him. 

Fear washed over Sao's face as the doors of the temple closed, separating us. I was entrapped in an inescapable bubble surrounded by water. Kano stared at me, displeased. He looked murky and slightly disfigured.

“You-You look unwell...”, I stuttered nervously.

“See how well you look after filthy two-legged ants dump waste into, restrict, and cut up your body!”

“Wi-will this help?”, I shyly pulled out Rem’s healing waters.

“No”, he growled, and stomped away.

❈

Sao

Jylan is gone. I just watched my sister get kidnapped and all I have to show for it is this stupid compass that just glows, but doesn’t show me the way! There has to be a way to make it work without having an arrow hand. I’ve been pacing for hours, but I can’t think of anything! Mom is going to kill me! Mom! That’s right, I have the hawk! She’d know! Wait no, if mom finds out Jy’s missing I’m definitely dead! 

“Relax Saovin, you’ve got this! You’ve been living with spirit-crazed women all of your life, you had to pick up something…”

Thinking, I tried to connect the dots. He’s a water god, so this had to have something to do with water. I grabbed a canister and poured some water over the compass. A glowing arrow appeared, but it spun wildly in all directions, then fizzled out and disappeared. 

“Aw, man! Come on!”, I shouted angrily, about to throw the compass, but then stopped.

The river! Jy refilled this canister from a well, not Kano’s River! In glee, I raced to the water and filled a canister, then poured some of the water on the compass. It lit up with a strong arrow pointing southwest. I nearly cried with joy, but held it in and took off on the back of Lilith to follow where it was pointing. 

It led me to a village west of Water’s Edge. The arrow kept changing rapidly until I ended up in a rather seedy area of town. I spotted him as I turned the corner, but immediately ran into a shake down.

“Hey there boy, you look kinda clean. Gives us all ya got and we’ll let you be on your way”

“Gentlemen, maybe next time”, I grimaced in irritation and tried to get past them.

They laughed in unison as the big guy tried to grab me. Tyril turned and looked at me with a smirk, then ran off. That bastard! I avoided getting hit and took down the first wave of them, but they just kept coming! I was being pushed back until a large group of them just dropped to the ground. The reason was a tall cloaked figure who had just quickly hit them. 

"Lord Argus?"

"Don't just stand there! Catch the maiden!", he yelled, knocking down more of them.

Nodding, I raced through the alley in the direction of where Tyril disappeared, not seeing him, I frantically followed the compass. I finally saw the back of him, on a horse! I sucked my teeth and whistled the tone for Lilith. Yelling for everyone to get out of the way, I raced out of town on his trail. Gaining on him, I reached to grab his shirt to pull him off his horse. I slammed him onto the ground. He jumped up, ready to fight.

“Alright, let’s see what you got then”, I jeered as he swung at me.

His movements were good, but sluggish compared to Jy. Instantly, I knocked him down and punched him in the face a little too hard as his nose began to bleed. Lord Kano said to bring him back, never said uninjured.

“Why did you run away? Aren't you worried about what will happen to your people!?”, I yelled.

He laughed menacingly, “I am my people. As long as I’m alive, the Lowlands can be rebuilt elsewhere”

“You idiot! My sister was taken because of you!”, I punched him again. 

Not having the time to waste on him, I hog tied him and swung him over the back of Lilith, rushing at full speed. The sun was gone and I was exhausted, but didn’t dare to stop. 

Just at dawn, I made it to the temple. Throwing Tyril to the ground, I dragged him to the door and banged on it. It opened on its own and I angrily stomped in, tossing Tyril at Lord Kano's feet. Grabbing Tyril by the chin he maliciously smiled.

“Good”, he said.

Suddenly, a light flashed and Tyril groaned, a strip of his hair grew white as Kano’s murky color cleared away to show his true beauty. 

“Now as long as your father keeps his end of our bargain and fixes his ways, you won’t have to stay here for very long as my medicine”, he smiled, dropping the shaking Tyril.

“What-what was that!? Where’s my sister!?”, I demanded to know.

He smiled at me, “He and his people have stolen my life for their own, I simply took some back”, he grinned at his renewed self, “Your sister is in there. Take her”

Retreating further into the temple, he dragged a begging Tyril with him. Not caring, I rushed to find Jy. Pushing open the heavy doors, I found her!

“Oh, Sao!”, she said cheerfully with a stuffed face, holding a barbecued fish on a stick.

She stood up with a swish as silk robes hit the floor. Waving me over, she stuffed more food into her mouth. 

“You won’t believe how good these river fish are here!”, she beamed.

Filled with shock and worry, I ran over and hugged her, almost breaking down into tears.

“I’m glad you're okay!”, I checked her, “but what’s all this?”

“Oh, I got hungry and they gave me food! Try this!”, she said, pushing food into my mouth, “It’s good, right?”

I nodded, a little worried about her behavior until I looked at the table. Endless empty bottles of alcohol and dishes covered the surface. Ah, she’s a bit drunk. Regardless, I didn’t want to stay there any longer, so I gathered her things and started to push her out of the room.

“But my food!”, she complained. 

“Now, now, you can have as much barbecued fish as you want when we get home”, I pulled her away. 

She pouted and grabbed as much as she could and stuffed it into a stray basket. The temple servants just shook their heads as we exited. Whatever, I retrieved my sister in one piece, that’s all that mattered. Helping a clumsy Jy into the carriage, I reattached the horses and took off, wanting as much distance between us and this place as possible. We raced southeast towards home. Passing a town, I saw that our wanted posters said “cleared of charges”. I shrugged and kept going.