"Yes, she loved her like a daughter but the king didn't share the feeling and wanted Yilver to become king because of how incredible patient that boy is" Joyra says and I don't trust myself to ask any more questions afraid of the answers Joyra might tell me.
We all stay quiet until we finish eating and go to the wagon Tolx staying on guard the first shift.
We continue our journey and Rivy teaches me how to draw which I am terrible at.
"You're thinking too much, the coal and the paper aren't just objects when you're drawing. They are a part of you. Close out everything around you, close your eyes see what you want on paper and when you open them let your hand slide of its own will" he lectures me and I do as he says because apparently if I can't draw I can't make the ground into towns and those things.
When I open my eyes I realize that my hand is already moving forming shapes on the paper.
I look at it in amazement it's like my hand has a mind of its own.
I suddenly am drawn in canceling out the sound of Tolx sharpening his axe, Joyras humming while she sows the fur into a cloak and Foxinirs false singing that was getting on my nerve.
I take in the sound of the wheels on the dry sandy ground, the clicking of Angus's hooves stomping down playfully.
The memory of my sisters smiling face appears in my mind as I copy it down on the paper.
I had started with a blank paper followed by lines and shapes of nothing in particular to my sisters not accurately smiling face but close enough to know it's her.
"Who possessed you?" Tolx asks when he sees the sketch because he knows I'm a horrible sketcher and even my writing is bad.
"Don't know" I say just as surprised
"See it's not so hard" Rivy says but I've seen his sketches and they make my personal masterpiece look worse than a child's sketch.
"Still my hand feels weird" I say shaking it
"You held the coal to hard" Rivy says
"Not my fault I suck at sketching"
"Practice and patience and you'll be better not needing to think about it"
"Easy for you to say your sketches are so accurate"
"Because I've been sketching almost all my life"
"Well talking is over" Tolx says as the wagon stops.
"A day and night to Lerckdor and two days till the summer sun will set till next summer" Joyra says and pats a small wooden box with patterns carved into it.
"The dust in the necklace, you want to know what it is?"
"Do you mean this?" I ask taking out the necklace with the white iridescent dust and Joyra nods.
"Yes I want to know what this dust is" I say
"Then look inside" she says pushing the box forward.
I look inside the box but it's empty.
"There's nothing here" I say but she just smiles and keeps sowing.
I take a closer look at the box getting frustrated because I can't find anything.
"The closer you look the less you see" she mutters and I look at it further away but still nothing.
I open the jar the dust is in and put some on my finger.
Joyra doesn't seem to mind what I'm doing so that must mean I'm onto something.
I stroke my finger against the wood inside and see a small pattern but it's too dark to see clearly so I go outside and realize that it's writing.
I go over the whole inside, the bottom has a pattern going from the middle to the edges, the walls on the box have writing but not writing from the five kingdoms but something new, it's not from the Lagoon kingdom, neither is it from the Kingdom of the South or North.
It's letters look to be from nowhere I know but Tolx must know.
"It's the letters of the stars" Tolx says over my shoulder.
"They don't make sense" I say
"Because it's daytime" he says but it just makes me more confused.
"Letters of the stars don't make sense in daylight only at night when the moons are all up, the Zapz kingdoms use it because the sun just so rises before setting again" he explains and I know my head still confused,
"Does the patterns mean something?" I ask
"The patter are the letters that why it doesn't make sense, what we're you asking about?"
"The letters on the walls of the box."
"I don't see anything"
"It's obvious. here, it says, to hold once heart isn't good nor is it bad it is a blessing and a curse from the gods of life as well as the reapers of death. Beware for when once heart is truly open the truth will not stay longer hidden than till the next no moons and the night is at its blackest. The..." I say reading the letters that are now of the five kingdoms.
"I guess we'll have to wait until dark to continue this sentence" he says with a smile, he knew.
"You knew I'd be able to read it" I say accusingly
"I had my suspicions" he says and we go back to the wagon to continue our journey.
Tolx switches with Foxinir who keeps complaining how his butt hurt.
"For the gods sake just stop talking about your butt" Rivy pleads
"Fine, but Miss Navieta you need to read the books I took with us to learn more about yourself" Foxinir says
"Why is everyone so focused on me?" I ask
"Because you'll end the war" Joyra says back to normal as she sows.
"How can you be so sure? All I want is for that pig Arox to die and for my family to be safe" I say
"your family cannot be safe unless you end the war and find the remaining of the hairs to the kingdoms thrones" Rivy says speaking like a wise old man.
"Rivy?" Foxinir says confused by his intelligence,
"Lady Eltyr daughter of Yelsirix and heir to the Rising Sun kingdom" Rivy says freaking me out
"What in the name of Therlans" I say my personal favorite god, she is the god of the spirit. Leading the sinful to their next life in the palace of the gods and lovingly care for them as her own children, because when you part to the palace every sin you've committed on the ground with the living will be punished but Therlans will speak for you in court to make the punishment not as extreme as Relkant wants them to be and every good deed you've done amongst the living will be rewarded, those who do not believe in our gods will still be welcomed to the palace but you can also choose to haunt a person but only if you have not done your share on the grounds, that means you will not be able to speak or touch a person but you can be blessed by Krelf then you can speak on occasion and possess someone to help them survive.
"Rivy is comatose but this is a message to Niztal Navieta directly" Rivy/Eltyr says
"I'm listening" I say spooked
"When the summer sun sets and the first moon rises run into the forest find her and undo her curse only the light of once heart can be shown what truly lies inside a mans soul for this is no woman's world this is a world of monsters" they say their voices combining and echoing through my head showing me memories that are not my own the memories of someone who saw, fought and died in the war.
"Niztal are you okay?" Rivy asks himself again as more memories from more people come up, Forest, Cloud, Sun, Crimson and Ivy. Every memory more horrifying than the last, all to end on a quick close up on a tree. A screaming tree with a face carved into it, eyes wide open in horror, mouth gaping in a scream, hands stretched out to escape, frozen. The face of a girl frozen still in wood. Two seconds in front of the tree then it's gone.
I shoot up my eyes wide as I breath rapidly my heart pumping faster in fear.
I'm alone in the woods, leaves dancing in the wind, firebells singing as a gust of wind blows by peacefully.
I steady my breath and heart before I stand up looking around.
The woods go completely silent. No wind. No lakes. No bird songs. Nothing except a faint sobbing further in.
I start walking towards the sobs and as I go I quicken my step until I'm running.
I get to a cave where a old tree stands alone and sad.
I slow down walking carefully towards the tree. I come across a river in the middle of a cave the stones to pass slippery but I pass over jumping lightning from one stone to another.
I get across and the sobs seem to be coming from inside the tree so I peal a bit at the bark and something behind me scratches me but I ignore it and keep pealing at the bark while I keep getting scratched.
Finally I'm left with the frightened girl carved into the three.
She grips my wrists bruising them and I tug back still getting scratched but I pull backwards until the eyes of the girl fix on me and she screams.
I sit up suddenly putting my hands over my ears to try and suppress the screaming but it goes on getting louder and louder.
"HURRY!" I realize the screams were yelling.
"Niztal?" Rivy says putting his hand on my shoulder.
"I have to go" I say and realize the sun is set and the first moon is rising so I open the wagon door and jump out without a second thought as I see the trail in the woods clearly Firebells lighting my path as the scream keeps growing.
And then here I am in front of the cave.
I hesitate before I enter and just like my dream the tree is there but the bark is already pealed so I run in ignoring the stones in the river and crossing it.
I get to the tree and everything goes quiet.
A soft rustle in some bushes send Rivys coal sharpener flying hitting something in the bushes behind me.
"Let me out" a child's voice pleads and I reach for the girls hands in the tree.
She takes my hands gripping tightly afraid of being left alone and I pull but nothing happens.
"Open your heart to me Ilverna" the child's voice says growing old fast
"How?" I ask but that's all I have to do speak and my heart is opened.