Wherever it is, it’ll be far better there than here, Saraya sighed, her heart still exceedingly heavy with lingering guilt. The acrobat knew it would be some time yet before she would feel like herself again. During the ride back to the circus, she had bottled up her every emotion in order to steady her focus upon the road. This was what she had to do to keep from getting needlessly distracted, for it was still among the most dangerous of times for one to be traveling alone. She had therefore talked to no one, entertained no one, and had simply given up on being the jester that she usually longed to be. Though really, how could she do anything else? How could she, when the last person who had shown her kindness, who had trusted her, she had attacked and then betrayed?
“And you tend to dwell on nothing at all unless it makes you angry.” Again Saraya released a sigh, unsure of how to feel. Obviously the regret she harbored for what she’d done was still present and painful, but Veil had done a lot to ease those feelings with what they had discussed last night. That she would be helping both her family and friends by doing as her mistress instructed, this, of course, made sense. But would she be forgiven for acting as she had even if Myria knew the truth?
Too tired to contemplate the thought, and not wanting to besides, Saraya closed her eyes in a small attempt to distance herself from these questions. Sleep last night had not come easy, and so she was still exhausted. In fact, she wouldn’t even be awake if not for her troublesome thoughts, for these were simply plaguing her too much to let her rest.
“Maybe, someday, I can explain,” the acrobat muttered to herself. And maybe she could, if Veil ever gave her leave to do it, and if Saraya ever found Myria again.
“You know, you don’t always have to talk,” Saraya grumbled as she pulled the hood of her cloak down over her eyes. She wanted nothing more now than to fall asleep, to hide away from everything that was on her mind and Alter’s nagging voice. The low rumbling of the wagon wheels offered her its lullaby as an escape, and shutting her eyes, Saraya tried to slip away in the noise of its constant thrum.
However, a shadow passed over her then with a sudden whoosh of wind, and circling back, it came in to land gently atop the ringmaster’s wagon. Saraya felt the caravan shift as the unknown party touched down, and too felt the gush of air that blew over her with the cushioning flap of their enormous wings. Hearing the sound of claws lightly scratching upon the roof, Saraya merely assumed that it was Luminaya that had arrived. The draconess typically rode with her and Veil during the caravan’s transits after all, and it was even more common for the woman to use the ringmaster’s wagon as her perch. But when her hood was unexpectedly pulled back from her eyes by a hand that was not her own, Saraya found that it was not the dracon matron that had come to call at all.
Her face now shadowed by the one looming overhead, when Saraya looked up, she was met with Chloe’s smiling face. The juggler gave a gentle wave before releasing her hold of Saraya’s cloak, and pulling her hood back completely then, the acrobat made quickly to sit up. As soon as she’d done so, the two girls grabbed hold of one another in a tight embrace, both equally overjoyed to see their best friend again. Tief was there as well of course, the draken having brought Chloe along with him on his back, and upon seeing that Saraya was awake he walked over to join the two.
“We assumed you were back when we saw Talon,” he started to explain as he approached, “but Lady Veil wouldn’t let anyone bother you because she said you needed rest.”
“I still need rest,” Saraya confirmed, rubbing tiredly at her face.
“Well, you have been gone for nearly a month, and, from the look of you, it wasn’t an easy trip.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Thanks a lot,” the jester huffed, though she wasn’t actually annoyed. Given how abysmal she still felt, both her fatigue and her grief were no doubt showing on her face. Neither was something she could really discuss with anyone however, or rather, she wasn’t ready to, and so Saraya brushed the comment away with an uncaring flip of her wrist. “I’ll be fine in a day or two, probably.”
But Chloe knew Saraya better than anyone else did except for Veil, and furrowing her brow, she touched the acrobat on the shoulder to get her attention. Once she had it, the juggler signed letters with her fingers asking if Saraya was okay.
“To be honest, I don’t know yet,” Saraya admitted with a sigh. “Some things happened while I was away, and I don’t like how they turned out.”
Her expression growing even more concerned, Chloe pointed at the jester again before drawing two fingers to her own mouth and arcing them away, tilting her head as she did so to imply asking a question.
“Can I tell you?” Saraya quickly deciphered. “Well…I don’t know?” For a few moments she pondered this, wondering if she could. She swore to Veil that she would say nothing about the true purpose of the ringmaster’s plans, and so as long as she kept that intent a secret, then she saw no reason why she couldn’t tell Chloe what was wrong.
“I don’t really want to talk about anything specific right now…” Saraya slowly began, “but, because you are my friend, I want to ask you something. Say I did something to hurt you, badly hurt you even, would you be able to forgive me?”
The question caught Chloe off guard and she went unusually quiet, even for a mute. Then, after several moments of thinking, the juggler dug into her pocket and pulled out a small booklet of paper scraps held together by a metal loop. She also drew out a thin bit of charcoal wrapped in a linen strip, and after loosening the wrapping from around its tip, she scribbled for a while on one of the papers before handing it to Saraya.
If you had done something to hurt me…I would guess that you’d have a reason. Despite how Alter acts sometimes, you don’t hurt the people you care about without a cause. You’re not like that, and I know it. So, yes, I would forgive you as long as you apologized.
As her eyes read over Chloe’s answer Saraya felt a sense of relief. Chloe and Saraya had been friends for several years now, and so it was no surprise to her that the juggler would feel this way. Even so, that Chloe knew this of her, then perhaps there was still some hope yet that Myria would think this way too. It was the only thing Saraya could hope for given how short of a time the Slayer had known her. Nevertheless, it relieved the jester to think that there was indeed a chance.
“Thanks, Chloe,” Saraya said, and the juggler responded with a smile. Now reassured, Saraya slipped Chloe’s note safely into her pocket and then hopped up onto her feet with a tired stretch. “Alright then,” she announced, “since resting is out of the question, I suppose I should go and say hello to everyone.”
“Beware visiting Taegun and Brema,” Tief warned her suddenly, catching Saraya just before she could leap down off the wagon. “Asauna’s been holding onto a grudge because you didn’t say goodbye.”
“Tch, of course she would,” Alter scoffed as she shook their head, “because, obviously, it’s our fault that she was asleep when we left.”
“You should fly me over then,” Saraya suggested to Tief. “I’ll be safe up on their roof, for a while at least.”
Chloe then looked over at Tief as well and waved her hand at him. Then she pointed at herself and at the dracon both, before holding two fingers toward her eyes and pointing at Saraya next.
“We can watch?” Tief translated, grinning when he did. “You know, I bet it would be awfully funny…”
“You two always like having fun at my expense,” Saraya huffed, folding her arms across her chest.
“So do you,” the dracon smartly replied, this causing the jester to smile.
“Correct,” she said, not denying it, for she was easily the worst offender of the three.
“Bah, whatever,” Tief relented, scratching his claws through his blonde hair. Then, shifting his scarf around his neck, he crouched down a bit. “Jump on. Though flying with two on my back is awkward, so I’ll just have to carry one of you.”
Already standing, and being that she was both taller and heavier than Chloe was, Saraya hopped over to Tief’s side first and jumped up onto his back. Once secured, the draken male stood and gave his wings a gentle test, then stepped over and carefully scooped up Chloe into his arms. Crouching low, Tief pulled in his wings before launching the three of them into the air in one single, powerful jump. His wings snapped open, catching the wind beneath their reach, and flapping them twice, he soared off into the sky high above the ground. This skyward route was completely needless, for the blacksmith’s wagon car wasn’t all that far away. No, this was done for Saraya’s sake; she knew that, for she knew Tief, and the dracon knew that a flight for no rhyme or reason always helped to clear the jester’s mind.
Thus, Saraya simply enjoyed the sight of the distant countryside and the cold wind upon her face, both sensations she had sorely missed while being away from her family for so long. Truly, with friends like Chloe and Tief, Saraya couldn’t long stay depressed. After all—and for her especially—there were too many things both within the circus and beyond that she still had to do.