"Simply put, we are humbling ourselves and temporarily crushing our own status and dignity. Mom's just putting it nicely." – whispered the girl next to me.
"No whispering, Elis," – John, her father, said firmly. "Since you're young adults, we expected mistakes like this. Maybe not in such an important place or in this manner, but youth is rarely about predictability."
He took a bite of his food.
"This kind of humiliation is nothing compared to what could have happened if no one let you in and you ended up paralyzed outside." – Clara added.
"By the way, why Oli?" – John asked his daughter somewhat distractedly. Well, yes, they are quite similar in personality.
To this, the girl gave a half-smile, which expressed confusion, as Clara returned to a more serious tone.
"I have no intention of limiting your future or will, Avarka. We have supported you in everything, and we still do. No one asked you to go earn money or do anything that serves our benefit. Our benefit is that you live your life well," – I thought I could hear the maternal love in her voice, which made me feel doubly grateful for everything.
"Unfortunately, even using our good relationships, we couldn't arrange things without consequences. Since there was no other way, we acted according to the possibilities," – John looked at us firmly.
When they take turns speaking like this, I know they're tense, no matter how much they try to hide it.
"However, we told you, Avarka, that we had planned you to be our personal guard, which is why we educated you for years. But in the end, we changed our minds because we didn't want to expose you to danger. As a result, you still wanted to try, so you attempted to sneak away." – Of course, it wasn't like that, they never meant it, I always wanted to be that, but we can't ignore the fact that they're watching us.
"When I realized you were paralyzed, I let you in." – Clara spoke up firmly.
I knew that the fallen ones have the same instincts and power as they did in their full form, but I didn't know they had such great perception.
"Thank you," – that was all that could leave my throat in a quiet voice due to the shame I felt.
"Unfortunately, despite all this, the lunch is just our atonement," – John added.
"You must return on the first day of recruitment next month and serve three full months. During that time, you will work as a dark-clad servant." – I heard his voice drop in tone.
I thought I sensed disappointment in it. Elis's face was cold, and I felt how she was tearing herself apart in her own silence. A spark awakened in me that at least I could endure the consequences and get a taste of the life I had been waiting for.
"But until then, we all go home," – Clara spoke loudly.
"Honestly, I hope that these three months are not just to serve as a means for you to come back home without further consequences, but also to make you realize that you're lucky you don't have to expose your life to constant danger," – she tried to speak in a teaching manner, but I heard that somewhere deep inside, she was scared.
"Just like you, my daughter," – she looked at Elis sternly.
"You will also suffer a bit from the consequences of your actions, knowing that Avar will undergo life-threatening training. But we will try to minimize the external risks of your tasks. Now, let's go home."
Although we had only been here for an hour, I had lost my sense of time. We didn't really know how to speak to each other. We just silently walked like two little schoolchildren. The intense feelings came after we reached the gate, escorted by the dark-clad figures, a gate I had never been able to see without feeling nauseous. Though, with the naked eye, it was not so easily noticeable. Behind the building, farther from the city, we stopped in a barren valley surrounded by mountain peaks.
"The car is waiting on the other side," John spoke up, then crossed over to the nothingness I sensed with Clara. Elis and I stepped across the magical line, both with gloomy faces, when I experienced something even more interesting than my initial entrance. It was as if time had stopped, and there was an alignment between my physical body and me. I froze in my walking pose, like the rock left behind, my face scanning the other side, watching the car, and listening to the chime of Swiss cows' bells while my hair fluttered in the wind carrying the scent of Rindanofi narcissus.
"Mom isn't coming! She won't move!" Elis's desperate voice hit my ears as she desperately tried to drag me over, but it was as if my body had become a solid pillar. I couldn't even move a finger. I was present, but so very present. My heart was pounding in my throat, but no words left my mouth, and my lips wouldn't move.
"Don't tug at her, Elis. You've attracted the attention of the guards on the other side with your flailing!" Clara ordered firmly.
"Darling, are you okay?" She gently stroked my face, but, just like everything else, I didn't feel it particularly. Nor did I feel it when Deliah, the walking arrogance on two legs, rushed by me, accompanied by a group of darkly dressed people.
"Just what I needed!" My friend rolled her eyes in irritation.
"Elis!" Clara commanded. "Deliah, my sister," she greeted kindly. "You said the girls could come with us. We've honored your request. The next requirement won't be due for another two weeks. What else do you want from the poor girl?" My adopted mother justifiably asked.
The arrogant woman only furrowed her brow.
"Did you really let the girl in, sister?"
"Why do you ask?" They stared at each other, their gazes locked in a firm confrontation.
"Maybe because the one who let her in, won't let her out, and it's odd that if it's you, why you wouldn't know about this. Come on, let her out!" She ordered aggressively. As Clara looked into my eyes, I thought I saw pity in her gaze. I felt that she couldn't help, and it hurt her. John and Elis watched with similar concern, as fear flooded through me. Was I scared? Oh, I was so scared! Even though my body was incapable of movement, my inner self was overwhelmed with uncontainable despair. Suddenly, I felt it again, that cruel, nauseating feeling that once again threw me to the ground. I heard the impact of my body hitting the ground as I fell sharply backward, toward the direction of the Rindanofi border. But before I lost consciousness a second time, I also smelled it, I felt how it blended in my mouth, in my nose, in my very being, as it enveloped me and helped me get through the internal suffering. It was as if that inexplicable scent exhaled a breeze on me, and beside it, the embrace of narcissus, vanilla, peppermint…