Her only solution was to wait for the sun to rise and hope that Seth slept way past that. Was it wrong to wish for some luck? Just imagining the humiliation if her plan flopped almost gave her a stomachache. And then imagining Seth going to the castle, leaving her and everyone else behind, thinking he was better than them. Better than her. Thinking Zora would be happy to be someone’s memory. His memory. Ooooh, what an honor. Thinking she couldn’t do anything because she was a girl and all.
All his fake words and fake promises came back to her mind, all her thoughts that they had a future together. And she wasn’t crazy; he had promised. Empty promises. Better to forget all that. Forget that she’d even accepted to give her body as a gift. She was nobody’s gift.
Maybe she shouldn’t forget. Anger would give her the strength to follow through with her plan. If only anger could make the sun rise earlier. Her eyelids were heavy. Imagine if she fell asleep there?
Perhaps she shouldn’t count on luck but on goodwill. She took a look at the letter. It said that the champion should leave in the morning. But then she decided to bet on ignorance.
Zora knocked on the gates. “Guards! Guards! I’m the Valley’s champion. I need to leave now. It’s past midnight.”
No answer. She kept knocking on the metal. So thick. Yet one shadow ball could finish this. That was why there were two gates. And guards outside.
“It’s in the letter,” she shouted. “Midnight.” She shook the letter. “I’m here and ready to go.”
Somebody opened the outer gate. A guard approached. “You were supposed to wait till morning.”
Zora shook the letter. “I’m just doing what it says.”
He looked at her up and down. “You’re the champion?”
She wanted to punch him and his derisive tone. “I happened to kill four shadow wolves at once. They’re fast and strong like real wolves. Still think I’m weak?”
He shrugged. “Not saying anything.” He was thoughtful. “I’ll go and check.”
After a few very long minutes, the guard came back with another man, who said, “Let me check the letter.”
Oopsies. But then, maybe he didn’t know how to read either.
The old man squinted. “It says early morning. Come back later.”
Zora took back the letter and feigned sadness and surprise. “Really? I’m so sorry. Our teacher read it, and you know, we don’t have time to study, I thought… But I’m here, I said goodbye to everyone. Can you please let me leave now? Just open the gate. There are no creatures close by. You aren’t afraid, are you? Please?”
She tried to look at them the way some of her students asked for extra playtime. Zora always said no, but it was for their own good.
The guards looked at each other, then the old men raised the gate just a bit above the ground. “Crawl under it. Quick.”
So she had to leave crawling. This wasn’t time for pride. Zora was glad to cross the gate, which was shut right after she passed it. Funny how those grown, armed men were terrified of even stepping in the place where she’d always lived.
When they reached the second gate, they opened it enough to allow them to walk through without even crouching.
There were three guards in total. The older guard said, “We don’t have anyone to escort you and it’s dangerous for a girl to travel alone.”
Some exaggeration. “I doubt there will be anything worse than shadow creatures on the road.”
He shrugged. “I guess.” He then pulled a horse towards her. Zora wanted to run. She’d never been near an animal like that before. But then, it wasn’t a shadow creature. He continued, “You need to go to Valerianville. There will be a royal delegation to escort you to the castle. They’re lodged at the Oak Tavern and Inn.”
“Thanks.”
Zora was about to turn and go on her way, when the man said, “Wait. This horse is for you.”
Horse. As in riding a horse. She’d probably fall backwards on her first try. But then, she tried to imagine what Seth would do. Would he whine, saying he didn’t know how to ride a horse? Oh, no. He’d probably claim he was the best horse rider that had ever ridden. He’d gracefully climb on it and then gallop away. Well, Zora could do that, too. Or maybe she could be rational and prevent a fall and broken limbs.
She smiled. “I’d rather walk. Keep my legs strong.”
“Follow the road then, until the crossroad, then turn left and keep going until Valerianville. It’s the first town. The Oak Tavern is at the end of the road.”
“Thank you.” Zora smiled.
These men had given her such a great head start. There was still kindness in this world, and she had to remember that. And this early departure would give her a lot of time. Even if Seth woke up and complained to the guards, they wouldn’t reach her. But then, if he complained, what were the odds they would believe him? Without the letter and the rod? By the time the people from the Dark Valley convinced the guards, if they managed to do that, Zora would be long gone. Once anyone realized the switch, she would already be in the competition. At that point, revealing her farce would only reflect poorly on the Dark Valley.
The most logical thing would be to keep quiet and let her compete. If anything, the person who would need to complain was her father, who acted as the valley representative when dealing with the rest of the kingdom. She had to trust that he wouldn’t want to see her fail. She had to trust that he wouldn’t want to see her humiliated.
Too late to go back now, and whatever happened, she would manage as best as she could. She knew that part of her was being petty and revengeful like a villain. But villains got away with a lot of stuff. She was counting on that. And loving every moment of giving Seth what he deserved, even if he still wasn’t aware of it. No, especially because he wasn’t aware of anything yet.
It was so strange to walk at night. In the valley, every place would have torches or lamps, and now she was walking on a road surrounded by darkness, only lit by the full moon. Strange how her eyes adjusted and now saw a landscape in shades of grey. A world without color, a world without light, a world she had never before seen. And it took all her strength to keep walking without looking around, Butterfly in hand, ready to take down a shadow creature. There were no shadow creatures outside the Dark Valley, and yet she couldn’t erase them from her mind and memory. It was almost strange that people could live like this, walking at night, having their eyes adjust to the dark, without fear.
Zora had the fear, but also the resilience and courage not to let it stop her from going. She wasn’t worth less than Seth and she was going to cling to this opportunity to prove it, no matter the cost, no matter how many fears she had to quench and silence. The moment she had put sleep grass in that wine, her decision had been made. It might have been a spur-of-the-moment thing. It might have been fueled by anger and bitterness, but it was done.
After walking through the entire night, Zora’s legs were getting wobbly and weak. Perhaps she should have taken the time to learn how to ride a horse. Next time. The worst was that she’d forgotten to bring a snack and her stomach was threatening her with angry growls. Soon it would be morning, and still no sign of any town. Imagine if she took too long to get there, if Seth woke up, and if they sent people after her. Better not imagine that and focus on walking faster. Faster, faster.