THE violent storm lost its steam past midnight and cheerful chirping slipped through the slatted shutters around dawn.
Unen’s group left the inn after breakfast as planned, and continued their way to Yezero on the rain soaked roads.
A perfectly bright, clear blue sky spanned over the broad fields on both sides of the road. Not a single cloud was in the sky as far as the eye could see, and the puddles and water droplets decorating the blades of grass sparkled and glimmered under the sunlight.
Today’s going to be yet another hot day. Unen wearily sighed.
King Klinack had lent the group a single horse for their journey back to Yezero. Their travels would have been much harsher on them if the sleek, fawn-colored horse hadn’t been carrying their bags. Unen internally piled words of gratitude on the horse peacefully following Ori’s lead as she stared at its swishing tail.
✦ ✦ ✦
THEY waited until the sun blazed down on them from directly overhead to take a break in the shade of the trees at the side of the road. Each chose a stump or large stone to sit on and ate the salted sardines they had bought in the capital along with the hard-baked bread that had been supplied by their lodging in Qena for lunch.
As Irena had pointed out, Mouru was undeniably speaking far less than usual. Aside from exchanging an opinion or two with Ori about the roads and towns they would be coming up on, he ate his bread in silence without chattering pointlessly like he normally would.
On the other hand, Ori’s talkativeness hadn’t changed much. If a change had to be pointed out, it would be…that he was looking at Unen a lot more than he used to… At least, it felt that way to her.
I’m imagining it, she told herself. But whenever she caught his face out of the corner of her eye, it was pointed toward her. Looking back on their travels together thus far, she couldn’t deny that there was a dramatic increase in the number of times her eyes were now meeting his.
She took the plunge and turned her face toward his. Her gaze met Ori’s head-on.
His unreadable countenance remained unchanged. But he didn’t seem to be glaring at her either. If she had to name what he was doing, “observing” would be the closest description.
Undaunted, she boldly observed him back. He continued staring without flinching. Did he think whoever looked away first would lose, like in a cat fight? Feeling stubborn, she held his gaze for as long as he kept hers, until he finally gave in and sluggishly opened his mouth.
“What’s wrong?”
I’m the one who wants to ask what’s wrong with you! Unen thought, though she didn’t put it into words. “Nothing.” She shook her head.
Ori studied his hands for a bit as though he were contemplating something before finally bringing his gaze back up to Unen’s. Quietly, he asked, “Do you want to ride a horse?”
“Huh? Where did that come from?” This time, Unen’s baffled thoughts flew out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
Am I wrong? His dubious expression seemed to say.
“You were staring at the horse the entire time we were walking.”
“That’s not because I wanted to ride him… I can’t even ride a horse in the first place.”
“Want me to teach you how?” Ori offered out of nowhere.
Unen couldn’t help but take a hard, long look at his face to see if he was toying with her. His face was dead serious.
What in the world was he thinking to bring up horseback riding with her? Entirely unsure of where the conversation was going, she settled for nodding several times.
“Oh, um, sure. Thanks. Some day when we have the time I’d like to learn…”
Ori continued staring at her like he had more to say, but he eventually let out a heavy sigh and returned to his food.
Perplexed by the whole thing, Unen quietly exhaled.
✦ ✦ ✦
THE party finished their lunch and hit the road until they came to a tributary of Cerná River.
Neither Unen, Irena, nor Sissel had known the name of the small river, about 10 meters wide, when they came across it on their way to Kujh. However, due to the rains last night, the volume of water had increased so much that it couldn’t even compare to when they’d crossed it the first time. Brown muddy torrents were churning just under the bridge.
The bridge stood unaffected by the raging river. The bridge’s girder had been built with many logs and was fixed firmly to both banks. On their way to the royal capital, they thought that the bridge had been built too extravagantly for the size of the river, but now they were convinced that it was warranted.
However, while the bridge’s architect had incredible technique, he apparently lacked the passion to keep his masterpiece maintained. Countless wheel tracks were carved into the bridge planks covering the girders, while foot traffic and horse hooves had worn away at the wood, and the handrails had also been repeatedly damaged.
No one would be bothered by the state of the bridge planks and handrails when all that was below was a perfectly clear water current no higher than an adult’s waist, far below them. Presently, however, the whitecaps of the muddy water were pressing hard against the bridge’s girders.
“Unen, you should walk closer to the center of the bridge,” Irena advised.
“Oh, okay.” Unen stepped out on the left from behind the horse and walked over to Irena.
“Don’t step on the moss. You’ll slip,” Ori warned, briefly glancing over his shoulder.
With almost the exact same timing, Unen’s right foot landed on moss.
The sole of her boot completely slipped right across the top, and her world spun rapidly backward.
Ori rushed to pacify the neighing horse that was startled by the sound of her toppling over. Across from him, Mouru stepped to the side away from the horse, careful not to get kicked.
“Are you okay?” Irena asked in a small voice, carefully approaching Unen.
Wanting to cry over the shame of having fallen rather than the aching pain radiating from where she had hit her left shoulder and back, Unen muttered, “I’m okay,” and used the handrail beside her as a crutch to pull herself off the ground.
Within seconds, the crutch crumbled beneath her hands.
Instantly, gravity disappeared below her.
Just as she was wondering why the sound of Irena’s scream had come to her delayed, Unen’s entire body was engulfed by the rushing ice-cold water.