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MAYA.
“Yes, I suggest we cut our hair and apply soot or charcoal to make us look like we’ve been travelling a very long distance. Guards fall for it.” She said without a hint of doubt in her voice.
She sounded so sure of herself and that alone told me that it would work. That was the only cue I needed. I had heard about it before but this was just a confirmation to get things set.
“Alright then.” I said, glancing out of the underbrush where we were hiding. There were no scissors I had brought along so I guessed I was going to use my dagger as a makeshift knife.
“When are we going to do that though?” She asked. “Are we leaving already?”
“Yes.” I said, as I rummaged through my bag.
“We don’t have much time. We have to get through that boundary and get things going. We have wasted enough time on this mission already.” I said, wondering if she didn’t want to leave yet. She replied with a passive OK. I handed her my dagger before untying my hair which soon came crashing down on my shoulder.
“You have nice hair. It’s a shame you’ll lose it.” She said, admiring my raven-black hair.
“This is not the time, Tianna. Compliments and niceties can come later.” I said to her, before letting her do her thing.
“Are you ready for this?” She asked with a soft and gentle voice. I nodded, feeling my heart race with excitement. I knew this was surely going to affect my look but I would do anything for this mission I had embarked on. I wasn’t going to the Pack without some sort of answer.
I thought about Venom and what he must be thinking, especially now that he must have seen the little letter I wrote before escaping to go on this crazy journey. I was pulled out of my thoughts when the knife slashed off a good amount of my hair. She held it out and showed it to me.
“Oh, dear.” I exclaimed, feeling my heart skip a beat. She dropped the dagger and began to tie it.
“Will that do?” I asked, wondering if she still needed to cut more of my hair.
“Not her. It’s not enough already.” She replied, before she began to dress it again.
When she was done with mine she picked up the blade and started again. The blade slipped away the strands of hair from my head. She didn’t stop until it started to feel boyish to me. When she was done with it, she dressed it to the side to give it a good look. When she was done with my hair, she did the same to hers.
After that, I took out a small container of dark charcoal and applied it under our eyes, making it look like we had encountered a lot of soot on our way. There was a very long path leading to the Pack which had a lot of soothe around it. It was rumoured to have been a coal mine. We also tore at some parts of our clothes, to make it look like we were poor and struggling. There wasn’t a better way to vet this done. When we finished, I was more than confident that we were undoubtedly going to get to the boundary without any form of disturbance from the guards whatsoever.
Just as we were done, we gathered our bags and were just about to set out when we heard the sound of a carriage in the distance. I glanced nervously as the sound continued to get closer. “What is that?” I asked, as I continued to move towards the sound.
“They must be travellers.” Tianna whispered before we got out of the place and started to walk towards it. We hurried outside, and soon caught up to it.
Thankfully, Tianna was right. We hurried outside with our eyes fixed on the carriage. Two men and a woman sat inside, and the looks on their faces were weary and worn.
“Who are you people?” One of the men asked, pointing his sword at us. We stopped immediately, holding up our hands in surrender.Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.
“We have no evil intentions. Please allow us to join your journey. We have nowhere else to go.” The men exchanged a sceptical look while the woman stopped the carriage and got out.
“What makes you think we can take you in?” One of the men asked gruffly.
“We are trying to get past the border.” Tianna begged, even though I wanted to be tough with them. I didn’t want them to know our main intent. The woman spoke up.
“We can’t just take in anyone. It’s not safe.” I pleaded with my eyes, trying to convey our desperation.
“We just need a chance please.” The men looked at each other again, then back at us. Finally, she nodded.
“You can join us. But you’ll be behind on the carriage. We can’t afford to let you both in. And you’ll work for us when we get to the Pack.” The whole bargaining seemed so easy and I thought it would be dangerous to join them. What if they were evil people looking for people to hand over to the guards.
“Are you sure we can trust them?” I asked Tianna who nodded.
“Trust me, we need to join them. But we are going to watch out in case they try to come up with anything sketchy.” We got up on the carriage and the carriage started again. I still felt very apprehensive and made sure to watch out for any kind of silly trick. After what felt like hours, the woman pointed ahead.
“We are close.” My heart skipped as I stood up from where I was sitting and looked up to see the imposing structure in front of us. There were a lot of guards standing in front of the border. I couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease. Something didn’t feel right, and I couldn’t help but think about what it might be.