If anyone is wondering, the remedy used in this chapter is real!
Chapter Ten: A trap I can't fall in
As my eyes fluttered open, I had no understanding of where I was, what I had to do, or anything else for that matter. But then I suddenly recalled everything and sat up immediately. Shirin was already awake, bright and lively as always, she was trying to pin her sari's scarf to her shoulder, but failed to do this and was jabbing herself several times. I knew, by tonight, I would be reunited with Farah, and the absolute happiness and excitement I felt from this concept surged through me...but so did something else. Icy shivers shot down my spine and darted across my body. I crouched up slowly in a ball and pulled the covers over me as I trembled and quivered with the freezing sensation that came over me. Next, rawness was felt in my throat, like some sort of raven had clawed away at it all through the night. I felt stuffy and blocked up. All of these feelings toppled upon each other. I couldn't face the outside world; I couldn't face anyone.
"Don't go back to sleep! It's ages past sun rise, we should have woken ages ago!" I heard Shirin cry. I saw her appear, with a sandy golden glow in front of me. She knelt to my height, she suddenly saw my face and her smile quickly faded and was replaced with a face of concern. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"No, it's too cold..." I shuddered. Shirin placed her palm on my forehead and then my cheeks; she frowned.
"What do you mean? You're hotter than the desert at noon, and I'm not talking about looks!" Shirin frowned.
"But you could count looks too right?" I managed to smile. If Shirin was going to be the bleak one, then I might as well be the optimistic one.
"I am being serious, you really are ill. I'm going to find someone who knows Ayurvedic and that kinda stuff, you stay here and rest," ordered Shirin, she left the room. I moved so I was lying on my back, uh, of all days for me to be ill, it had to be this one. I obviously wasn't in fate's good books...not that I ever would be...
I must have fallen asleep without me actually realising; it should have been obvious that I was falling asleep with my eyelids becoming heavy and my thoughts becoming less and less focused. But in the state I was in, I was aware of very little. But I was suddenly awoken, feeling very shaken, as Shirin entered the room. I saw her drop some things at the end of the bed, but I was still very tired and couldn't really find the strength to sit up and look, in fact, I was on the verge of falling asleep again as my head rested back on the pillow. I heard Shirin fussing over some things and mixing something together. I then heard her footsteps come right next to me. She wouldn't wake me if I was in slumber. Would she? Well...this is Shirin we are talking about! I suddenly felt her ram a spoon into my mouth and was confronted with a sweet but quite sickly taste. I forced myself to swallow whatever it was that was in my mouth. I saw she had a small bowl of golden honey mixed with something else. The sweetness managed to bring tears to my eyes. Shirin got another scoop on the spoon; there wasn't much left.
"What is that?" I asked, the taste (and a lot of the mixture) still pasted to the roof of my mouth and tongue.
"Honey and curcumin, s'pose to work for colds and coughs – that sort of thing, you have to eat it all and then you will feel better in no time," she said waving the spoon about so some of the mixture splattered on my face. She rammed the second spoon full into my mouth; I swallowed shutting my eyes tightly.
"Uh...Shirin, don't have children..." I groaned. She passed me a glass of water. I drank nearly all of it, gulping it down trying to wash away the taste. I wiped away any of the water that had ran down face. Hm, I found my beard was growing a bit, I would have to clean and groom myself today; I had to look neat. I never thought I would say that, it was only...wow, it was a month ago, since that night in the palace when I thinking about how annoying it was always having to look my best. Shirin brought me out of thought with the clicking of her fingers in front of my face.
"Listen, I am going out to get us some food, there might be another city on the way to these mountains but I am going to get us loads anyway and an extra horse. Plus I'll need to get us another map, Zenda and Sarosh's map didn't have the mountain range on it," said Shirin, she stood, taking some money from a wooden draw at her side of the bed.
"Shirin, what is this mountain range called?" I asked, my head following her. She stopped at the door thinking.
"Um, begins with H...uh, Him-something. I can't remember right now but I will eventually. Anyway, I'll see you later," she said and rushed out of the room. I lay my head back down, I hoped the mountain range wouldn't have too bad a weather, though that should have been the last thing on my mind...
I woke up later, I felt better. I went to the baths and tidied myself up and later met up again with Shirin at the market place. She had another horse with her, a brown old male that had had better days, it moved slowly and in an inebriate fashion.
"He was the last one and the only one I could afford, I'm not much of a haggler...mainly because taking appeals more to me than buying at a fair price," she explained holding onto the worn reins. The horse looked like it would collapse at any second but then again; Shirin had completely loaded it down with new supplies. The horse gave a low, almost painful-sounding brae. "We'll split the load between the two horses. Remember to take them to the north, I think there are some slopes there, wait there for me. I'll be teleporting there with...well you know who. I hope she won't put up a fuss," said Shirin, she peered at the old horse and then at me.
"So...when should I leave? I asked, Shirin had looked quite bright this morning, yet now, she looked slightly...down, maybe she wasn't happy about Farah joining us, but why on Earth would she be feeling like that?
"Go when the sun is just setting, leave from the marketplace, it should be quiet then. I'll go with you and then after the sun has set, I'll go to pick her up," said Shirin, she seemed to have sorted this all out very well and was calm about it. That was the exactly the opposite of how I was feeling. I was tense yet excited; I just somehow felt that the plan wouldn't work even though it seemed pretty perfect. I was worried for Shirin. She was going to go alone in the palace to meet someone who she didn't really know much about. What would she do if some guards came along? Sure, she could punch (and quite hard as I had experienced) but if there was a big group of guards then she would be defenseless. I felt a fool for allowing her to go into this, it should have been me, it was I who loved Farah, this was my mission...but so far Shirin had managed to protect herself, and it would be stupid now to say that I wanted to go and get Farah; for starters, I would have to work out a new way to get in the palace. I looked at Shirin's face, why did she seem so upset? She looked up and saw my face and suddenly smiled, but it wasn't her true smile, the one that I was longing to see. Not just because it was a pretty smile, but also because it was such an uplifting smile. "Hey! Smile! You're going to see her tonight aren't you, if I was going to see someone I loved but rarely got to see then I would be dancing up and down the streets now," she smiled. I managed to pull my face into a smile, she was right, I should have been happy and I knew Shirin would be able to complete the mission without any trip ups, so why was I still not happy?
It was all happening too quickly. It seemed like just one blink of my eyes and it was nearly sunset. I hadn't eaten much; I had lost my appetite completely with anxiety. Shirin was waiting outside, she had got the two horses ready and was just waiting for me, however; there was still the matter of having to get past the innkeeper. I tried to creep silently and undetectably past him, but he quickly leapt up from the old woodworm-infested chair he sat at.
"You wouldn't be leaving would you? Because there is still that matter of your wife's tab," he said almost threateningly, he had jumped in front of me and came up just past my waist. As he spoke he spat saliva and the remains of food at me. I gave my cloak a little flick to get rid of the drool-coated specks of food.
"No, we are not leaving, we expect to leave sometime next week," I lied. I was finding lying easier, I was picking it up from Shirin, and it wasn't that too bad a habit to have!
"Then why all the bags on the horses?" the innkeeper spewing food over me again, it was pointless now cleaning my cloak every time he spoke, I would just wait till he had finished speaking. I had already figured out a lie to tell him.
"We are going to see my family, I believe Teej Mala is approaching so Dipesh is spending some time with my mother, she is taking gifts to please my mother," I lied, I had been doing some research about the different festivals that took place in India. The innkeeper was quiet.
"I see...well, you know that the doors close in four hours time so be quick," he muttered and walked back to his chair. I quickly went outside and joined Shirin. She was sat on the old brown horse; I took my place on the black one.
We rode, so silently through the emptying streets, Shirin's eyes didn't meet mine; I wanted her to look at me. Why wouldn't she look at me? It was almost making me angry. We came to the market place, the place where we would be separating. We both dismounted. I would be leaving to go north of the city while Shirin would stay till after sunset and then go to the palace. We stood looking at each other, we weren't saying goodbye but it did feel quite silent.
"I'll meet you there okay?" she smiled. I managed to smile...but then I found myself doing something else. I was looking in her eyes and then I leaned forward...what was I doing? I was going to kiss her! It didn't seem too obvious but Shirin also seemed ready to kiss me. But then it hit us both. This wasn't something we wanted, or at least, it was something that couldn't happen, not in this reality. I didn't know what had come over me, I didn't understand my actions, but I knew I wasn't going to do such a thing again. She stood back and cleared her throat. We could pretend it wasn't going to happen, it wasn't like I had made it too obvious that I was going to kiss her but we were both secretly aware of it. But, but it could never be. I still loved Farah...yet I was beginning to love Shirin, or at least, I thought I was. She looked at the ground.
"Uh...you really should be going now," she murmured. I didn't want us to part like this...but it had to be like this. I mounted my horse again and pulled harshly at the reins to make the horse gallop away. I knew what was happening, she was stealing something from me. Something that I couldn't yet her take; my heart.