“Yes. There are whispers going around that you are a traitor.”
“I see,” She replied blandly.
“Are you?”
“Am I?”
Tsiri shifted from one foot to another, obviously uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking.
“Why does the Heir have you watched? What have you done? You know you can tell me anything. We can help you, Nyka.”
We? Again, that only reminded her of what Tsiri was here as.
They wanted to know what was really going on so they could speak of it between them and laugh at her behind her back.
She knew all of this.
“I see you are their mouthpiece.” She slapped her herbs to her arm. She could go back with the news of that and describe to them the claw marks in detail; that way, she wasn’t sending her back empty-handed.
“Go back, Tsiri. Go to your friends.”
“You are my friend.”
Ny'ka frowned. “May I remind you, I killed your lover, Tsiri. We are no longer friends.”
“It was his life against that or the whole Cave. There was no better decision.”
For a moment, Ny'ka stood still. That was what she had been begging them to understand for months that it wasn't an easy decision for her either, but it was necessary; that she never hated Ijak and never loved him in the way that she was accused of.
No one had listened but now, here she was saying, repeating those words as if she had come up with it on her own.
Ny'ka should be happy that they were finally understanding her but she was not. She knew she was no victim, after all, she wasn't the one that had been killed or the lover of the victim, so even with her pain at the ostracization that followed, she still felt that their actions were justified.
It was a hard place to be in. To be so torn that she would rather be alone.
“Go back and be angry at me. At least I know what to do with that.”
“It is in the past now.” Tsiri waved her free hand in the hair dismissively. “We don't even know if we shall breathe tomorrow’s air. Why must we fight forever, we were really good friends.”
The strong urge to look away from her rushed over Ny'ka but that would be stupid. When she and Tsiri were still good friends, she had left her back unguarded many times, but this was different. It would be stupid to do so now.
“I never fought you.”
“Eat.” Tsiri set the small calabash of food on the ground beside Ny'ka. Then a small piece of green wrapped leaves by its side. The fire was too far away for her to completely make out what this was, but her eyesight was good, so she wasn't completely left at a loss. “This too for your arm.”
Without any other word, Tsiri turned away.
Ny'ka eyed the calabash, knowing in her heart that she wouldn't touch the content of it with a pole. They were probably poisoned.
Tsiri returned, taking a morsel from the food and slapping some of the medicinal paste that was wrapped in the leaves, on a cut she had along her ankle.
Her gaze met Nyka’s own as she smiled. “They are not poisoned.”
Ny'ka smiled. “I guess you know me so well.”
Tsiri’s smile broadened, and with a mumble of “goodnight,” she finally departed from her.
Ny'ka picked up the calabash and the paste of food, then she walked over to the guards sitting by the fire.
“I’m going to sleep, you should too.” She said as she tossed the calabash of food and wrapped medicinal paste inside the fire.
They tried to pretend that they didn't know what she was talking about, like they hadn't been assigned to keep an eye on her.
She said nothing else but went into her cave and retired for the night. She didn't care that Tsiri might have seen her dumping her offering into the fire. She was no fool to bother about things like that.
It was very suspicious of Tsiri to come to her now after all these months. To come when she knew she was alone and hated. It was suspicious of all of them to extend a hand to her now. They certainly wanted to make use of her vulnerability to attain whatever aim of vengeance they had.
Whatever it was, she would be the one moving things to fulfill her end game, she wouldn't be part of the game pieces to be played.
This war must be won, their petty revenge would be a waste of her attention.
___
___
It was a long night for Alaris, and perhaps the longest day since they had returned to the Cave.
He had learnt as much as he could avoid the Gems from the Priest. There was nothing so fundamentally groundbreaking yet but he had a feeling that soon enough, they would get there.
Since the people had realized that he and Belladonna weren't lovers, they had made space for an extra cave section, so that he and Belladonna no longer shared the same Cave section.
So Alaris was most puzzled when he came into his Cave section and found a blonde-haired woman on his bed.
“Who are you?
“Tsiri, at your pleasure, My Lord.”