Promise: The Scarred Girl (11 page)

“It was like something from television,” Faith adds sadly, but still manages to smile.

Nea says nothing, but looks at the two of them in front of her so full of enthusiasm and tries in vain to ignore the lump in her throat. Tears form in her eyes because she feels bad about lying to them and her guilty conscience is getting bigger. The twins admire her, how disappointed and shocked they will be when they find out the truth. All this time Nea played them and they believed everything about her and then to find out none of it was real? As the first tear rolls down her cheek, Faith calls to her, “Oh, Nea.” Immediately both girls sit next to her, one on the left and the other on the right. They close in to hug Nea with the dog still in her lap.

“As of today we are no longer two sisters, but three,” adds Hope and lovingly strokes Nea’s tears from her cheek. This is clearly too much for Nea and she frees herself from the awkward hug.

“Stop,” she pushes out, whereupon the girls stare at her in horror.

“What’s going on? Have we done something wrong?” Faith asks anxiously.

Nea shakes her head and hides her face behind her hands. “I cannot do this anymore,” she sobs loudly.

The twins do not dare touch her, but remain silent and wait for her to continue.

Nea lifts her head, when Faith and Hope look her in the eyes, she can collapse the lies she has told them. “I am a liar; I am not a member of Carris... All of this time I have been with you because I want to travel safely through Dementia on my way to Promise. I only pretended to be one of you. Just before we reach Fortania, my plan was to bolt. I’m sorry.”

For a moment, the two just stared at Nea stunned. She expects the twins to either hurl insults at her or cry in frustration. But neither happens, instead they look to Nea and both smile.

“Nea, we knew you weren’t a member of Carris,” Faith said dismissively. “We first questioned it when we saw you staring at the light bulb in the barn, but we certainly knew it when you were defending the little boy. Most Carris members are too cowardly to stand up to an overseer like that.”

“And now what are you going to do with me?”

“We’ll get you as close to Promise as we can. Then we’ll go back and tell Urelitas that Ereb kept you in the south. He will never know we did not take you to Fortania. Although he acts like he’s a big shot, he really isn’t, why do you think he is so far away from Ereb? Because he is so incredibly important and significant? Certainly not, he is just a very small light in the greater priesthood.”

“You are not angry with me?”

“How could we be? You saved my life. We are serious, now that you are one of us, it does not matter if you are not with Carris.”

Warmly, the two hug Nea again in their arms. She would never have expected such a response to her treason, but maybe she’s not as good of an actress as she thought.

“Will you remain with Carris? You are not like them and it does not fit you. Go with me to Promise.”

“What will we do there?”

“How could you not want to go to Promise? It is the only place where a normal life is possible. I am so sick of having to fear for my life every night or have to steal food from garbage cans.”

However, Faith and Hope show little enthusiasm. “Promise is not unlike the Carris, you might as well stay here with us.”

“Everything is different in Promise. There is television, electricity, running water, and most importantly, they do not worship any lunatics. You do not really believe in Ereb, right?” Nea asks indignantly. She cannot understand that the twins do not share her hope.

“No, we do not. We simply see him as our leader. Of course it would be cool to take a bubble bath with warm water again. But surely you there has to be some kind of cost? Everything has its price, Nea, especially in our day and age.”

“Yes, they do not just let anyone into Promise. They only take people with special talents. We could do it, I mean, we killed a bear!” Nea desperately tries to convince them.

“No,
you
killed the bear, not us. We just stood by crying and screaming next to it. We are members of Carris, we know the Carris. Why would we run from one group of people straight into another group that seems to not be that much different? If that is your goal, we will support you as well as we can, but if this is still your goal, you will have to go alone.”

Whether Nea likes it or not, she must understand that the two of them will not accompany her to Promise. That night, they have a camp fire. Faith and Hope let Nea sleep in their midst and the three cuddle close up together with their sleeping bags.

The next morning, the girls’ breakfast consists of toasted bear meat and fresh lake water in order to strengthen themselves for another busy day. Faith and Hope put their habits on again. When they meet with other Carris, they will explain Nea’s missing habit with the truth, she was attacked by a bear and they used it as a bandage. When they leave, Nea notes that she will need a lot of strength to get through the day. She can barely walk with her leg injured as it is, let alone run. Whenever she tries to put too much weight on it, it sends a sharp driving pain through her body.

Not only will it be hard for Nea to walk, but carrying her backpack with her injured shoulder would be impossible. Therefore Faith carries Nea’s backpack in addition to her own. On the way, they discover a stick large and strong enough to serve as a walking stick. Their progress is slow, but around noon they encounter a group of Carris who are busy chopping wood. The trio sits down with them at their campfire. The woodcutters share some of their stew with Nea and the sisters. When Faith and Hope tell the men the story about the bear, they look at Nea with admiration and awe.

“The scars will only make you more beautiful,” says one of the men with large protruding ears, winking mischievously at Nea. When the twins start to giggle, Nea only lowers her head.

The men tell them that not far away is a former monastery inhabited by Ereb’ first wife. They advise them to stop by there, as it also houses healers who could help Nea’s wounds. When they go to leave, the man with the jug ears runs to Nea and gives her his campaign staff. In the grip he has carved a bear.

“Take care of yourself, Bear Killer,” he says with a red face and waves them goodbye. Again Nea must learn that you cannot lump all Carris into the same category. No matter where you go, you will find both nice and not nice people. Nea feels better and hopes she can function without the walking stick.

“Ereb has had several wives? And why does his first wife live in a monastery?” Nea asks curiously.

“Well, from time to time, female believers submit themselves to Ereb. Urelitas would probably be only too happy to submit himself to Ereb in that way, but as far as we know, Ereb is not into men,” Hope chuckles.

“But there is only one woman he loves with all his heart, and that is his first wife. They had a falling out, but a few weeks ago they found their way back to each other so wedding bells will be ringing for the second time,” Faith explains. The more Nea learns about Ereb, the more unlikable he appears to her. Not only is he worshipped as a god, he also operates a harem, and then dares to claim to have a single great love.

Without hesitation, Nea opened the door to the old barn and freezes in her tracks upon looking in. She could not believe what she saw. Although it should have been exactly what she expected. On the straw covered ground was Miro and a black-haired girl. Her hands were clutching like claws at his hair and her legs were wrapped around his body like a spider on its prey. Their lips were pressed against each other while a low moan came out of Miro’s throat. The fact that they were not naked was only a tiny consolation.

Nea had trouble breathing. Her stomach wildly rebelled against the last thing she ate, a box of macaroni. Hot tears ran down her cheeks. She gasped like a fish out of water. The sound made Miro sit up. When he turned around and saw her standing in the doorway, his eyes widened in horror. Almost as if he had been burned, he pushed the strange girl from him. His belt was dangling loose on his pants.

This was too much for Nea. Without saying a word, she turned on her heel and stormed off. It did not matter where she would flee to, nowhere was far enough to get the images out of her head. She heard Miro calling her name, but she did not heed his calls. He was a liar. He repeatedly told her how important she was to him, and every time she was inclined to believe him, she caught him with another woman. She and Miro should be friends and nothing more. He clearly could not be faithful and she could not show him how important he really was to her. It was easier to be insulted than to expose her heart for it to be broken.

Meanwhile, Nea had reached the beach and stumbled in the sand that was wet from rain. Her steps slowed and she sank to the ground, exhausted. While the wind dried her tears, her heart felt sore and empty, as though her heart had been ripped from her chest, leaving only a gaping wound.

Soon she could see Miro’s brown boots in front of her, blocking her view of the sea. His body cast a dark shadow on her face. She could punch him directly in his stomach, it would give her a little relief, but later it would plague her conscience, but she was too limp to even lift a finger. She did not want to see him and did not want to hear any more of his lies. If only he had stayed with the strange girl.

Miro knelt before Nea. When she still did not look at him, he lifted her chin with two fingers. Furious, she slapped his hand away.

“Leave me in peace and never touch me again. You’re disgusting,” she hissed. Her eyes were slits, her voice trembling with anger.

“And you’re a shrew!” Miro said without a hint of seriousness. He dropped to into the sand in front of her.

“Then why did you not stay with your latest conquest?”

Miro sighed: “Nea, I’m really sorry that you saw us together. I really thought you would be gone longer.”

Outraged, Nea gasped for air. “Oh, and that would make it better? How many times have you met with her behind my back?”

Miro grinned at her mischievously. “With her? Never.”

Nea was absolutely not laughing and it made her furious that Miro found the whole thing funny. “Never with her? But what about others? How many others? Ten?“ She bit back the comment. She felt disgraced enough already. Angrily she crossed her arms over her chest and looked fixedly past him at the roaring waves.

“Seriously Nea, you’re my number one. You really do not need to be jealous. You will always be first to me.”

Nea now risked a look at his face. His eyes were sad while his mouth was formed into a serious shape. How dare he?

“What do you expect from me?”

Now Miro’s eyes formed into slits. “No, what do YOU expect from ME.”

“I do not want to be one of many. I want to be special,” Nea tried desperately to explain. They had had this conversation many times.

“You are special to me. You’re the most important person in the world to me. What more do you want?”

“Thank you, but if I’m the number one person in your harem, I can do without it,” Nea replied tartly.

Miro stood up angrily, brushing the sand off his pants. He looked down to Nea. “I do not know what you want from me, and I think you do not even know yourself. You act as though you’re the betrayed wife, yet we are not even together.” And therein lay her problem, but she would dare not say.

The woodworkers were right, because it does not take long for the girls to exit the forest. As soon as they do, they see a meadow and not far off are the walls of the monastery. They decide to stay there overnight so the healers can look at Nea’s wounds, and so they can rest.

The dog jumps merrily through the meadow and Hope plays fetch with her with a small stick. Once they almost reach the gate of the monastery, something odd happens. Suddenly the door opens a small crack and a young woman in a red habit rushes out. When she sees the three girls, her eyes go wide with terror. Her gaze wanders from one to the other before finally settling on Nea. She runs past the three and yells, “Quick, we have to get out of here!”

Without stopping, she keeps running into the woods. When Nea and the sisters do not follow her, she turns around and calls in a hushed voice, “Come quickly!”

Unsure, the girls look at each other. Should they heed the strange person? Their curiosity is aroused and they follow her.

The strange person runs fast and it’s not easy for Nea to keep up. When they reach the edge of the forest, they hear the sound of a loud horn coming from the monastery. Startled, Nea turns to look around. From the monastery many people wearing red habits rush out and are obviously looking for something. They spread out around the whole monastery. Some of them run in their direction.

“Okay, what’s going on here?” Faith asks the stranger.

“These are terrible people, they have tortured me. Please help me,” the girl pleads with panic-stricken eyes.

“Why do they torture you? You must have done something really wrong!” Hope pierces further, suspicious.

Exasperated, she rolls her eyes and pulls the habit tight over her belly. She is pregnant. “If it is a crime to expect a child, then I have definitely done something wrong. They want to take it away from me because all children belong to Ereb. When I refused, they locked me up. Please, let us go now,” she urges once more and runs off without waiting for the others. Shaken, the girls look at each other. Hope is the first to resume following the pregnant stranger.

Again and again, the loud horn sounds and everywhere in the forest steps and shouts are heard. They run as fast as they can, but neither the stranger nor Nea makes rapid progress. Eventually they reach the shore of the lake and miraculously; there is a functional boat moored on a pier by the shore, almost as if it had been waiting for them. First, the pregnant woman gets in, and then Nea gets in and turns to help the twins inside. With Nea and the stranger, the boat is basically full, but the twins and the dog could all fit if they sit close together. But this does not seem to be the twins’ plan, because Faith unties the rope and then both twins repel the boat from shore and into the lake too quickly for Nea to react. Nea rushes to the end of the boat. The dog becomes restless and starts barking from the shore, jumping up and down. The dog could easily swim to the boat, but something seems to hold her back.