As they walked to the next stops on Pollan’s potato delivery route, Pollan continued to strive to engage Aurum in conversation, to limited success. At a certain point, after receiving enough one-word answers to fill a college essay word count requirement, he seemed to realize it was time to change tactics. His new tactic, unfortunately for Alice, was to try and engage both Alice and Aurum in conversation. While this was more polite than ignoring Alice, it was awkward. And as someone who feared most social interactions, Alice found the awkwardness excruciating. He asked polite but somewhat probing questions, questions which made Aurum more and more tense and which were difficult to answer without lying outright. And lying in general was something Alice was no good at, but she did her best.
“Are you siblings then?”
Aurum choked a bit, and Alice stared at Pollan for a second before answering. “No, we aren’t. We are…” Wait, what are we? Friends? Allies? Does Aurum think we are enemies? Or are we… “Friends.” Alice eventually said, chest a bit tight. She hoped it wasn’t a lie, but it didn’t feel quite like the truth either.
“Friends! I see. You must be very close to travel together like this.”
“Y-yes,” Alice felt like she was under a microscope, even though Pollan’s questions and tone were mild. An awkward pause stretched on, Pollan waiting for either Alice or Aurum to elaborate but neither of them obliging – Alice because she had no idea what to say, and Aurum looking stubborn and annoyed.
“So, where are you both from?”
“Umm, we are both from fairly far away.” Understatement of the year as far as I am concerned.
“Oh! From Tria, maybe? Or from the farmland to the west?”
“N-no, not from there. A bit… further. But we wanted a – a fresh start.” Aurum was practically vibrating with tension as she walked, the questioning probably sounding far too much like what a spy for the witch might ask.
Luckily, Pollan seemed to know when to back off a line of questioning.
“Understandable, I also dream of starting a new adventure someday. Do you hope to stay here, or keep traveling?”
“Traveling,” Alice squeaked, very conscious of Aurum’s piercing glare. She didn’t dare say anything else, but Pollan cheerfully kept on asking questions.
“Wonderful! Any idea of where?”
“No- no, not really. Just wandering for now. For a while.” Alice floundered a bit. She very much wanted to invite this man, the hero of the story and a key ally for the princess in her upcoming battle, to join them. But doing so without asking Aurum first would amount to a betrayal. Alice wasn’t savvy enough to maneuver the conversation such that she could sidebar with Aurum casually, and even if she were, she had no idea of how to persuade Aurum to bring him along.
“You have to be careful! It isn’t safe for two women to travel alone -” Pollan started.
“We aren’t alone,” snapped Aurum. “Look at us, one, two.”
“I meant no offense! It’s just a dangerous time. For anyone, of course.” Pollan hesitated, maybe about to offer his company, but seemed to chicken out. Instead, he moved on.
“The blizzard is terrible. Who knows how it might spread or what flooding and other disasters might follow it? It is not an easy time to travel.”
Alice nodded, nervous with this topic. The what, why, and where of her and Aurum’s travel plans weren’t just secret, they were undecided. Alice had no faith in her own ability to improvise answers. But Pollan kept on going.
“If only someone could find the fire crystal. There hasn’t been a legendary fire mage in so long. There is no one who has the power to oppose the cold magic directly right now,” Pollan said.
Alice almost stumbled. The line was almost stilted, like an NPC offering a quest in a video game, but it was exactly what she had been struggling to find a way to bring up. It was as though the novel was working overtime to right itself.
Oblivious to Alice’s turmoil, Pollan continued, He sounded eager, like a boy talking about his favorite mythical hero. “I thought for a while – that maybe I could search… I know most would think it a pipe dream and a long shot, but help is clearly needed and I want to be of use, you know?”
Alice was thrilled and alarmed in equal measure. Here was her chance – she just needed to get Aurum on the same page. She had the perfect opening her to ally herself and Aurum with Pollan. She looked pointedly at Aurum, invigorated and bold enough to cut Pollan off, not noticing that she sounded almost assertive as she said, “Aurum! I need to talk to you.” She glanced at Pollan, shrugging apologetically. “It’s – I’m not feeling well. Just give us a moment, please?”
“Of course! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.” Alice waved him off, and grabbed Aurum’s arm to pull her aside out of Pollan’s earshot.
Aurum glared at her. “What in the magic-forsaken world is going on, Alice? Why are we talking to this guy?” Now that they were talking, she was flushed red with anger. “He could be a spy! At the very least, he’s a random man who has nothing to do with us. We should leave and find a safe place to camp until we pick a direction.”
Alice felt slightly happy to hear that Aurum intended to keep discussing their next step. It was like they were a team. But she was filled with anxiety at how Aurum would react to what she had to say next.
“He’s in the book. I’m sorry, but it’s true. He’s meant to help you.” Aurum looked even more furious.
“I told you, I don’t want to hear this! You don’t have proof. You could be imaging things that aren’t there. Even if I did believe you, it’s not a good enough reason to suddenly start traveling with a stranger.”
“No, you don’t understand. It’s like you said – I’m no good against magic. But he’s a fire mage!”
“He didn’t say he was a fire mage, he said he wanted the fire crystal!”
“No, no, he is a fire mage too. But you do need to look for the crystal! With him!”
Aurum shook her head, stepped back, and seemed ready to leave when Alice stepped forward.
“Please, I know you don’t trust me. But this is so important. I am not omniscient, and I’m not powerful. I told you, I’m just Alice. All I can do to help you is to tell you what I know.”
Gold eyes looked at her, steady and still angry.
“I wouldn’t say all this if I wasn’t sure. Maybe you’re right – maybe there is another way for you to beat the witch. But all I know is that I ruined the one way that was guaranteed to work. And somehow, against all the odds, you ran headfirst into the man who is meant to help you even though it’s the wrong day and time and I’m here with you. It’s like fate. Can you really ignore the possibility that I’m right?”
“Yes, I can,” Aurum said stubbornly. “Why should I trust the weird potato man just because you think you’re some kind of future-seer.”
Alice felt the world tilting. How on earth was she supposed to fix things now? She was so tired and scared and honestly, she wasn’t sure if she was still ruining things by being here.
“Please. Just – let’s just spend a bit more time with him before you decide. The crystal is the only lead we have, right?”
Narrowing her eyes, Aurum shook her head. “What about your other book-knowledge? What else is there you think wew need t do? Do we find the crystal if we look for it? Is there any other weapon we should find? Where is the witch?” Her voice grew shaky. “What about my family? Do they – are they –“ She cut herself off, looking pained and angry.
Alice could only shake her head too. “I – I don’t know if I should tell you. And I honestly don’t know about your family. The book – it doesn’t have a lot of details about them.”
Aurum scoffed. “Useless.” She turned on her heel and marched back to Pollan, leaving Alice standing in a daze, queasy and far more hurt than she should be by that word. Useless. Of course she was. Alice knew it was true, and she shouldn’t be upset to be reminded. How often had she been called that before? Her family had called her that more than by her name in her previous life. And here she was, not just useless, but an actual menace, ruining the plot and unable to help anyone.
“Let’s go,” Aurum called her, and Alice started. The three of them kept walking.
“Feeling better?” Pollan asked kindly, if a bit solicitously.
Unable to speak, Alice just nodded. Aurum walked in silence beside them and Pollan started chattering again. It seemed that despite their fight, Aurum was at least going to give talking to Pollan a bit more time. Alice tried to be happy with this small victory, the small chance that everything might return to the way it needed to be. Even if there wasn’t a place for Alice once it did.
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