A/N: Sorry I took so long! This chapter was not as easy as the others to write. I'm going to make this two parts, since it is so long. Enjoy!
She was back on the river, trying to walk as carefully as possible on the rickety log. The river was flowing strongly, and she was horrified. She told herself not to look down, not to see the strong current. But she did anyway, and what she saw was worse than the river, and anything else she'd ever seen before. The two guards, who were supposed to have protected them, were below her in the river, drowned. She screamed, and tumbled off the log, towards death.
"Aliya! Aliya! Wake up!" She sat up, trying to shake off the horrible feeling the dream had left her with. "You were screaming! What happened?"
"I had this horrible dream," she explained shaking. "About what happened at the river." Rashid nodded.
"I know. The incident at the river…was horrible," he replied. "But you can't blame yourself for it. Those guards didn't even listen to us. They were the ones who went upstream, and they fell in the river themselves." Aliya nodded.
"I know it is not my fault, but the sight of the two dead men, floating in the water is horrifying." Rashid quickly hugged her.
"I know it is. We have never seen dead men before, and it is very scary. I'm sorry you had a bad dream." Aliya barely heard a word because she was just enjoying the hug.
"Thanks, Rashid. I'm so glad you could travel with me," she told him. He blushed, suddenly self-conscious of how close they were.
"We-we should probably get going," he told her, noting that the sun had already risen, and trying to cover up his embarrassment. Aliya nodded.
"I-I'll get the map." She quickly retrieved it from her saddlebag, and mounted her horse. Rashid followed her lead, and they started off on the second day of their journey.
For the first leg of their journey, they were silent, both thinking about what had happened at camp.
"My mother's fear is coming true," Rashid thought. "We're traveling alone, and I cannot deny that something happened at our camp this morning…"
"Rashid hugged me! We were so close…but, his mother's fears are coming true. We like each other, or I like him, and…it's all so confusing…" There wasn't a word spoken between them until Rashid got hungry for lunch, and stopped his horse.
"We should probably eat something," he suggested. Aliya agreed, and dismounted her horse, pulling off her haversack. They sat leaning against their horses, eating a meager lunch of bread and cheese.
"I am glad you came, Rashid," Aliya said out of the blue. "I wasn't lying this morning. I could never have made it through the incident at the river without you."
"Aliya, I never thought you were lying," he answered. "I'm glad I could come with you." She nodded shyly and finished her lunch as quickly as possible. She got up too quickly, and tripped on a rock. She fell hard into Rashid's lap, and there was an audible crack.
"Aliya! Are you alright?"
"I don't think so. It sounds like it's broken." Rashid looked concerned.
"Well on the map it says there's a town close by," he observed. "If you can make it, there's sure to be a doctor."
"Alright, I can try," she said shakily. She tried getting up, but as soon as she put weight on her foot, she fell again. She wasn't lucky enough to fall into Rashid's lap a second time, and instead fell on top of the rock she tripped over. Rashid hurried over to her, worried. Aliya was fine, but she was knocked unconscious. He could barely believe the bad luck they were having on this journey. He tried lifting Aliya onto her horse, but as soon as he got her on, she slipped off, almost hitting her head again. He gently took her off and laid her on her blankets. He obviously would have to wait until she was conscious.
An hour or two passed, and Aliya finally woke up.
"What happened?" she asked Rashid confused.
"You tripped on the rock again," he said. "Are you alright?"
"My head and ankle hurt, but I think I will live," she joked.
"We will have to get to the village soon. Your ankle is very swollen. I, uh, am going to have to help you mount Arya." He helped her walk over to the horse, and lifted her onto the saddle.
"Thanks." Aliya tried putting her feet in the stirrups and winced. They started off slowly in the direction of the village.
They reached it as soon as the sun was setting. Rashid stopped a person walking by and asked if he knew a healer Aliya could see.
"Of course," the man answered. "I'm the doctor in this village. What's wrong?"
"I broke my ankle," Aliya said.
"Follow me," he replied, leading them to his home. When they arrived, Rashid helped Aliya off her horse and the doctor led her inside.
"This will be easy to heal," he told the pair. "But she will have to stay off her ankle for a few days, and that means no riding too."
"We're expected in Ell-" Aliya started before she realized what she was about to do. "What I mean is, we're expected somewhere, very soon."
"I'm sorry, but you can't go anywhere until that ankle heals for at least a few days. You're welcome to stay with me and my son, however."
"Thank you," Rashid replied. "We have our own food, so you don't need to give us meals. We really appreciate it."
"Nonsense! As long as you're a guest here you don't need to waste your own food. Karim! Come and show these two to their rooms!" A boy of about the same age as Rashid and Aliya came down the steps, skin tanned from hard work in the fields.
"Welcome, guests. You would like separate rooms, yes?" They both nodded, reddening. The doctor gave Aliya sticks to lean on to help her walk, and they walked carefully upstairs.
"This one on the left is yours," he said, pointing to Rashid.
Pointing to Aliya, he said, "The one next to it is yours, my lady." Aliya blushed, and quickly limped into her room.
"Thank you Karim," Rashid told him. "I must go tie up the horses. My name is Rashid, by the way."
"I am pleased to meet you," he replied. "Do you require help with the horses?" He shook his head, and went down the steps. Aliya came out of her room, saw Karim, and limped over to him.
"I'm so sorry," she said. "Your father has treated my ankle, and we have no way of repaying him."
"Do not worry," he replied. "My father has done much charity. He cannot refuse patients."
"I am relieved to hear that." Rashid came back with their saddlebags, and she grabbed hers.
"Good night, Rashid, Karim. It's been a long day." Aliya went back in her room, and Rashid went into his own.
They woke up the next morning, refreshed. It had been a few days since they slept in a real bed. Aliya carefully slipped out of hers and grabbed her crude crutches. She knocked on Rashid's door with her stick. He didn't answer, and Aliya suspected that he was still sleeping. She snuck in anyway, hoping for another glimpse of his chest. Hobbling over to the bed, she shook him awake.
"What, are the guards gone again?" he asked before realizing where he was.
"Rashid, the guards have been…dead for days," she said, choking up. He sat up and grasped what he had just done.
"Oh, Aliya, I'm so sorry, I forgot! I did not mean to remind you of them!"
"I know, it's not your fault. It's okay." In fact, it was perfect for Aliya, since Rashid never wore a shirt to bed.
"Can you help me down the steps, please Rashid?" He nodded.
"Come on, I'm starving. I smell something cooking downstairs." Aliya limped to the steps and Rashid helped her downstairs.
"Good morning, Doctor," Aliya said.
"Aliya! You are supposed to stay off your ankle! I was about to bring you your breakfast!"
"Well, Rashid helped me downstairs." He sighed, and put Aliya's breakfast on the table.
"Come, eat. But you must stay off your ankle today." The doctor got three more bowls out and called for Karim. Rashid sat down next to Aliya, and Karim sat on the other side of her.
"Thank you so much for treating my ankle and letting us stay here," Aliya told him.
"It is no trouble at all," he replied. "Eat up!"
Rashid finished his breakfast at the same time as Aliya and offered to take her back upstairs, but the doctor shook his head.
"She should rest her foot," he said. "Put her blankets on the floor in here." Rashid ran upstairs to get her blankets and Karim helped her down on the floor when he came back. The doctor put her leg on the chair she had been sitting on seconds before.
"Thanks," she said. "Rashid, can you get the map from my saddlebag please?" He nodded and came back with her map to Ellesmerá. The doctor and Karim went outside to get water, and Rashid and Aliya were left alone. She just noticed that he had never bothered to put his shirt on, and she was very happy. He, however, was unaware of his bare chest and started talking
"Aliya, it's good luck that the doctor was giving us food. When I went through your saddlebag, there was almost none. I must ask Karim if there is a market in town." He went outside to ask Karim and grab some money from his saddlebag. Aliya was left by herself with nothing to do but study the map. It had been three days since they started this journey, and the elves were expecting them in another two weeks. They weren't going to make it in time. She hoped the elves wouldn't be too worried, but the doctor said she had to rest her ankle. She hadn't had much sleep last night because of the pain, and the blankets felt pretty comfortable. She fell asleep with the map still in her hands.
Karim came inside to check on her and when he found her napping, slipped quietly over to her. He was curious about why they were so secretive about their destination. He stole the map out of her hand and opened it on the table. He couldn't tell where they came from; the map didn't even have it marked. He was following their path when the door opened and Rashid came through. He looked up suddenly and smiled.
"Hello, Rashid! Aliya fell asleep, so please be quiet!" He nodded and went upstairs to grab the shirt he had forgotten this morning. Karim put away the map to make sure no one suspected a thing.
Aliya awoke in a few hours, feeling much more refreshed and hungry. There was no one around to help her, so she got up carefully by herself. She hoped the doctor wouldn't mind her taking a snack.
"Wait a minute," she thought. "How did the map get on the table? I thought I was holding it... well, maybe Rashid took it."
She limped outside and grabbed some carrots from their small garden.
"Aliya! Again? You are supposed to be resting," the doctor said as he came up behind her.
"I did not want to trouble anyone, but I was hungry," she replied. "And I leaned on the sticks so that I would not hurt my ankle again." He sighed, and helped her back to the table. He got a knife and started chopping up the carrots for her.
"Doctor, it is my ankle that is broken," she said. "I can help you."
He shook his head, and replied, "You would still have to walk over here." He walked back with the carrots sliced into little pieces.
"Thank you very much."
"Once again, my name is Hakim! You may call me Hakim." She ate the carrots quickly, and drank some water from their well to wash it down.
"Here, let me help you back to your blankets," he told her. "Just lie down and relax. You must stay here for a few more days."
Rashid came downstairs a few seconds later, having just put on his shirt.
"How are you feeling, Aliya?" he asked. "Is your ankle feeling better?" She nodded.
"It is much better since…Hakim took care of it," she replied. "Would you put the map away for me please, Rashid? I cannot exactly get up myself."
It was his turn to nod, replying, "Of course, Aliya? Where is it?" She looked puzzled.
"Didn't you take it from me during my nap?" He shook his head.
"I was at the market buying supplies for our journey. Hakim or Karim must have put it on the table for you."
"Do we have enough supplies now to continue our journey?"
"Yes, but we must wait until your ankle is healed." She shook her head.
"I have crutches. I would not like Hakim or Karim to know where we came from or where we are going. Help me up."
"Aliya, I am sure they did not sneak a look. You must stay here." She sighed, and lay back on the blankets beneath her. Rashid realized that she was in no mood to talk to him then, and went to put the map away in her room. Opening the door, he saw Karim in there. He turned around suddenly and saw Rashid.
"Karim? What are you doing in here?" Rashid asked.
"Oh, I was just, um, well, getting some-"
"You were the one who took the map, weren't you? You could not just have asked and respected our answer?"
"Well, I, um," Karim answered, reddening. "Yes, I took the map, but only to see where you were going. I looked for the place you came from, but it was not even marked on the map. I did not want to trouble Aliya while she was incapacitated." Rashid sighed.
"It is alright, but I am thinking that next time you have guests and patients in your father's house, it would be much simpler and less sneaky to ask them politely." Karim nodded and left, bowing his head. Rashid put the map in her saddlebag carefully and went back downstairs to check on Aliya. She and Karim were talking casually, so he decided to look outside to see if Hakim could use any help.
He found Hakim working in their tiny garden pulling out weeds, and bent over to start helping.
"Do not worry, Rashid. I am doing fine here," he told him, stopping his hand.
"I must be able to help with something," Rashid replied. "You have shown us so much hospitality."
"I said not to worry. Go check on Aliya, she could need help with something." He nodded, and went back inside into the large kitchen.
"Good afternoon, Aliya, Karim," he said. "Do you need any help, Aliya?" She nodded.
"Can you get me something from my saddlebag? It is boring sitting here all day," she said. Rashid headed upstairs and into her room, once more looking for her saddlebag. Searching through it, he found a book from the library at the Varden. He came back downstairs with the book, and she gratefully thanked him, opening it carefully since it was a very old book. Rashid and Karim went up to their own rooms so that they wouldn't bother her.
Back in the kitchen, Aliya started on her book, The Adventures of Jamila. It was a fantasy written in the time of the Dragon Riders, before now-King Galbatorix was even born.
Jamila was a young, hardworking girl who lived on a small farm with her father on the outskirts of a great city. Her father had once been the richest trader in that port city, but that was no longer. He was put out of business by a ruthless band of pirates that no amount of guards could seem to defeat. He had been forced into buying and running the farm to keep food on the table, and Jamila's mother left when she was only two to marry some rich businessman in the city.
It was a hard life for a girl the age of ten, but she loved her father and enjoyed working with the animals in the beautiful countryside. They rarely visited the city, and when they did it was only to sell their crops. The two always left immediately afterward.
Aliya was enchanted. The first two paragraphs were amazing, and she spent the entire day reading the first half of the lengthy book. Soon, Rashid, Karim, and Hakim came into the kitchen for supper, and she looked up, startled.
"Oh, I am so sorry," she said apologetically. "I was so engrossed in this book I have been keeping you all out of the kitchen." Hakim smiled.
"Do not worry," he said kindly. "You have not been keeping us out." She went back to the book while Hakim and Karim started some meat over a fire outside. Rashid tried helping them, but was told to sit and wait in the kitchen with Aliya.
A few hours later, the meal was ready, and everybody was starving with the delicious smell it gave off. Rashid helped Aliya over to the table, and Hakim and Karim brought in the meat. Rashid started right away, and Aliya followed suit. The meat was cooked to perfection, and it showed. In an hour, all the plates were cleared, and Aliya was escorted back to her blankets.
"Will someone help me upstairs later?" she asked.
"I don't know if that is such a great idea-" the doctor started to say, but changed his mind. "Yes, I suppose someone can. But I don't think you should come back downstairs tomorrow." She nodded as she lay back on the blankets for hopefully the last time in the house. She picked up the antique book again and started reading.