Celesta slipped her hand from Meena’s and pointed to the gate which led to the outer forests behind the castle.
Meena nodded affirmatively.
Celesta put her hand back into Meena’s and pulled them toward the gate. Following the well-worn path quickly brought them to the same grassy area they had flung acorns at Erich and Aizel.
Recognizing the location, Celesta pulled her hands free and ran around looking for any signs of a treasure. Leaning down into the grass, she stood back up with an acorn between her fingers. She turned to Meena, a question in her eyes.
Meena smiled, but shook her head slightly. “That’s not the treasure.” She’d left a clue in the map—which she still held—and she wasn’t going to give it away quite so easily.
As if reading her mind, Celesta returned to the center of the glade and took the map from Meena’s hand. Sitting on the grass, she studiously bent her head over the parchment.
Meena felt a giggle in her chest. She suppressed it with effort, but couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face. She loved that Celesta was taking this so seriously. For such a young girl, she clearly was not one to give up easily. Glancing up, Meena shared her smile with Sol.
His face was still difficult to read. He was an outsider at the palace, and an outsider to this game that she and Celesta had taken to playing together. Meena wanted to draw him in, to see him participate, to see him smile.
The image of herself, walking up to him and grabbing his elbow possessively as a friend might do, came back to her mind. She pushed the ridiculous thought away, but not before her imagination had seen his face smile kindly down at her the way he had done to Celesta. Only when he looked at her, it was different. It wasn’t the affectionate smile one gave to a small child, it was a smile filled with ...
Meena blinked. She needed to say something before her imagination made her say something foolish. “Have you ever flicked acorns at someone?” She snapped her mouth closed. She’d been too late to stop the foolishness from coming out.
Sol looked even more confused.
“Generally, when two people are standing next to each other, pursuing the same goal, they discuss things with one another.” Meena spoke confidently, hoping her words made enough sense to push the conversation forward instead of discussing acorns.
“Generally?” Sol repeated.
“I don’t know how you do things on the Isle—” She paused to correct herself. “In Istroya. But here in Iseldis we consider it an honor to get to know someone.” She wanted to roll her eyes at herself. The words coming out of her mouth sounded so much better in her head.
“In Istroya,” Sol responded, “we consider it an honor to receive the trust of a friend and it is not something taken lightly. With a stranger.”
Celesta stood then, saving Meena from attempting a response. Lifting the map so everyone could see it, Celesta pointed to a small arrow.
Meena smiled encouragingly.
Celesta looked around the glade, noticing a trail that led further into the forest. She pointed toward it and looked back at Meena for confirmation.
Meena nodded excitedly. The clues were a perfect mix of difficult and findable.
Still clutching the map, Celesta ran to the trail, reaching out to touch the bushy leaves on either side of it.
The morning sun filtered through the canopy of trees overhead, softening the light. Meena breathed in the fresh scents of the forest, happy with her decision not to return to the stale tunnel.
She let Celesta lead the way down the well-worn path. Knowing every footfall herself, Meena delighted in watching Celesta discover it for the first time.
Reaching back to Meena’s hand for stability, the younger girl gazed in fascination at the plants around her and the occasional wildlife scampering along the branches. “Is this very different from Istroya?” Meena asked Sol.
“Less sand.”
His short answer annoyed Meena, so she decided to focus on the girl in front of her. Celesta responded to everything with such delight, but Meena was sure that she herself was having the most fun. She also couldn’t wait to share another secret location with her new friend.
Fortunately, getting to the secret spot was easy and fast as it was all downhill. Climbing back up to the castle would be less fun, but they didn’t have to worry about that quite yet. As they were nearing the edge of the forest and the trees began to thin around them, letting the sunlight dance through onto the path below their feet, Meena squeezed Celesta’s hand and excitedly pointed ahead.
An ancient tree twisted its way out of the edge of the forest. Its trunk was so round that if Meena attempted to stretch her arms around the tree, she would not even be able to reach across a single broad side.
Letting go of Meena’s hand, Celesta dashed forward. The old tree had long since died, and much of its inner substance had rotted away, leaving behind a large structure of twisted bark. Celesta, curious and brave, immediately poked her head inside the opening, her face smiling in wonder as she twisted her neck to look up into the empty space. The young girl stepped back, looking toward Meena. She moved her hands, gesturing toward the tree with her brows slightly furrowed.
Meena could see enough of her expression to know what the girl was asking. “My brothers and I discovered this when we were children,” Meena naturally explained her answer out loud, though Sol was the only one who could hear her words. Meena pointed to herself, indicating a shorter height with her hand. “We used to hide here and escape to play games away from the castle.”
Stepping forward, Meena poked her own head inside the opening of the tree. It was a little bit smaller than she remembered, but still quite large enough to fit both of them comfortably.
