I stepped over to the librarian, leaning against the table he was sitting at. “So, are you going to talk about this prophecy?” I was curious as he and the oracle seemed to think it had something to do with me and Hemlock… and someone else. Someone I had yet to meet, but had this feeling in my gut that I would soon.
He flicked his eyes up to me, looking at me with the wisdom of five lifetimes as he said, “No.”
I slowly bent forward, my body getting tight as I looked down at him, furious that he wasn't going to tell me. Before I could demand it out of him, he put up his hands in surrender. “I don’t think it's wise to tell you now. I think that once you find the third and complete what you need to do in your kingdom, we can talk about it. I don't want to change the course of events just because I told you something too soon.”
The sincerity in his voice had me hesitate, made me tilt my head at him and think about his words. It was true that I had a lot going on as it was; my birth, removing the king… telling the guys I’m Mika. Out of everything that last one was the one that scared me down to my bones. I don't know how they will take it.
When the book spelled out my father’s name I was surprised, shocked really, but I was deathly afraid that it was going to suddenly spell out Mika and they would all see, they would all finally know. When it didn't, when the librarian said that I hadn't picked a name for myself yet I realized he was right. Somewhere along the line, I started to adopt this Emerald name. I like that Rykon called me Em in familiarity. I liked when Ajax looked at my hair as he breathed out that name. When Zayden calls me his gem, I try my hardest to hide the light that built up in my heart.
When I was Mika I had to disguise my hair color, conceal my assassin demeanor, and be a normal girl. Emerald can look how she wants, be the assassin, the cold logical killer with the green hair, but could I mix the two pieces? Would they like those pieces mixed?
I realized I almost told each of them that I loved them last night. I knew that this facade was going to need to come to an end. I needed to tell them about myself before we got back to the kingdom.
I nodded to the librarian, thinking it was okay for now that he needed to keep his secrets, but I would come for him soon for the answers I wanted.
“Are you ready to head out, greenie meanie?” Hemlock came up to my side, excitement to get going in her voice.
I nodded and turned to go but stopped and looked back at the librarian, “Until we meet again.”
He nodded back to me, respect shining in his eyes, “Until you uproot a king.” I stared at him for a second, wondering if he or the oracle saw what I was doing in the future, saw any of the outcomes and could help me plan better. Then I remembered that he didn't want to tell me the future, afraid that it would go the wrong way if I knew anything, and I shook my head and walked to where the guys were waiting for me.
Before we left, the Librarian gave us a pack, said it was for the road. Zayden of course was the first one to go through it. "Oh, thank the maker god, he packed us bread and fruit. I'm starving." He started to pass it all around as we walked down the beach to the trail along the mountainside.
We made it quickly to the border of the cruel ones and cannibal land. We made sure to tread carefully, watching out for anything that moved. We did not want to run into the cannibals if we didn't have to.
We made our way around the old ruins and past the spot we killed those two bandits. It made me think of that girl and I turned to ask Hemlock about her.
She blew off the question, mentioning that she was being taken to the mountain man and that he and his community would take care of her. I could tell that she was starting to get antsy as her eyes were shifting and she started to bounce on her toes. She kept up with me as she asked, “So what are you going to do when you get back? Do you need help?” Talican nudged her as he shook his head but she scoffed and turned back to me.
“We are going to tell Vance what we learned and work this all out together.” I reasoned, not knowing what else to say.
“So, you're going to be the queen of Onisea?”
I almost winced at her question but I kept a straight face as I mumbled, “Maker God, I hope not.”
She laughed at me as she started to skip backwards in order to face me, “You know, you are probably the only person I know who would take the fact that they are a royal and turn it into a bad thing.”
“It's not all it's cracked up to be” was all I said, knowing first hand by seeing what my father and Vance had to go through. Watching those snakes in court do their dance while they all ate out of Valkon’s ass. Pathetic really. “People like you and I value honesty.”
“And killing.” She supplied, smiling as I nodded.
“I was taught that killing was one of the most honest things you can do.”
She pondered that the rest of the way, asking me the occasional philosophical questions about death and being an assassin. I told her bits and pieces, letting her in on some of the major things we typically believe and some of the rules we follow. Her eyes lit up with every word I said and I knew that she would’ve made a great assassin if she had been trained.
We soon made it back to their compound and were greeted with open arms and hot food ready. The guys and I decided to stay the night and get an early start in the morning. I mentioned that we needed to get ready for the big climb down and they all moaned. I asked Hemlock if they had some wax and rope we could pay for.
She nodded as she laughed in my face. “Pay for it? You gotta be kidding me. You're my bestie, what's mine is yours.” I shook my head and gave the guy that fetched the items some gold coins just because. He bowed his head in appreciation before he scurried off, bragging to his friends about it.
We spent a good portion of the night waxing the rope to make sure to prevent any breakages. Plus, I told them that going down was much easier than going up. Once we went to bed the guys all cuddled up around me, keeping me warm as we laid on the floor in a big dog pile.
We said our goodbyes to Hemlock and her crew. Hemlock was crying as she tried to bargain with me to stay.
“If you stay, I will let you have control of all the weapons and training. You could train all the others to be just as badass as you are.” Her voice whined and pleaded with me but I told her I couldn't. That I needed to get home for a lot of different reasons.
Talican even tried to pull her off me but she turned around and snapped at him, yelling, “Can't you see I am processing the five stages of grief? I am only on stage three and quickly moving to stage four!”
She slumped onto me, making me oomph out some air as she let all her arms and limbs go limp. “Don’t go. I need some green girl stab stab time.
