Chapter 5

The moment the carriage left the capital, it felt like the whole world went quiet.

Behind me, the bustling city, along with ten years of love and hate, was far behind.

Ahead lay an endless stretch of uncertainty.

The wedding procession was long.

There were royal guards, court attendants, and dozens of carts piled high with wedding gifts.

It all looked magnificent. Endlessly so.

But I knew. I was just a piece of cargo, wrapped up in all that splendor.

My destination was the far West.

The buyer was the High Chieftain of the Torgun tribe.

And the shelf life of this cargo? A lifetime.

*****

The journey was even more boring and grueling than I had imagined.

At first, there were real roads.

The carriage was bumpy, but still manageable.

The farther west we went, the worse the roads got.

Soon, it was nothing but dirt and gravel.

The wheels often sank into ruts.

Every bump shook me so hard that my insides felt loose.

Penny was the only maid I brought from home.

She had grown up with me. We were like sisters.

Right then, she was curled up in a corner. Her face was ghostly pale. She kept retching.

"Your Highness... how much longer do we have to go?" Her voice cracked.

I handed her my waterskin. "Drink some water."

My voice sounded calm. It surprised even me.

I thought I would be scared. I thought I would fall apart.

But I didn't.

My heart was like still water. Nothing could stir it.

Maybe this was what they meant. The deepest sadness was a dead heart.

Penny took the waterskin and drank in small sips. "Your Highness, aren't you sick?"

She looked at me, her eyes filled with pain for me.

I shook my head. "No."

What was a little bumping?

Compared to the wound Joseph had given me, this kind of suffering meant nothing at all.

"Penny," I said, looking at her. "From now on, don't call me 'Your Highness.' Call me by my name. Isabelle."

Penny froze. "That... that's not proper."

"Then I say it's proper." My voice was not loud, but there was a strength in it that allowed no argument.

I went on, "We're going to a completely strange place. The only ones we can count on are ourselves.

"You and I are no longer mistress and servant. We're family."

Penny's eyes turned red right away. She threw her arms around me. "Bella." She cried like a child.

I patted her back gently. "Don't be afraid. You have me."

As I said those words, I suddenly felt a small surge of strength.

It was the kind of strength that grew from the ruins of despair.

Before, I thought Joseph was my whole world.

If my world fell apart, I would not be able to survive.

But now I understood.

My fate was in my own hands. I couldn't count on anyone else.

*****

The caravan traveled for more than two weeks. Then we reached the barren desert.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but barren land.

Sand and dust filled the air. Not a single blade of grass could be seen.

By day, the heat was merciless. By night, the cold was bone-chilling.

Many people fell sick.

Even the royal guards who escorted us were full of complaints.

The man in charge of the escort was a deputy commander named Philip Cooper.

He was in his thirties, with a full beard. He looked tough. But he took his duty seriously.

Every day, he came to update me on the progress of the march and the condition of the caravan.

*****

That evening, after the caravan set up camp, Philip came again.

His face was grim. "Your Highness, we have a problem."

"Go on," I replied.

"Our water is running low," he said. "We should have reached the next supply point yesterday, but the heavy dust and sand delayed us.

"The water we have left will last two days at most."

Two days.

But the next supply point was at least four days away.

That meant two days without a single drop of water.

In this scorching desert, no water meant death.

The air inside the carriage turned cold and heavy instantly.

Penny's face went pale with fear.

I was silent for a moment. Then I said to him, "Give my share of water to the sick soldiers."

Philip suddenly looked up at me, shocked. "Your Highness, that's absolutely out of the question. You're too important to go without water."

"I am a princess, but I am also the one holding this whole convoy together," I said, looking at him with steady eyes. "If I fall, this whole group will fall apart.

"These soldiers are in danger because they are escorting me. I cannot just watch them die of thirst.

"And as for me, I am not that delicate."

I lifted the carriage curtain and looked out at the exhausted soldiers.

They were people of Valenor like me.

They were someone's sons, husbands, fathers.

They did not deserve to die there.

Philip looked at me. For the first time, I saw real respect in his eyes.

He put his fist to his chest and knelt on one knee. "On behalf of all my men, I thank you, Your Highness."

He did not try to talk me out of it.

He knew that when I said something, I meant it.

That night, I had a dream.

I dreamed of Riverside ten years ago.

Bodies were everywhere. Blood ran like a river.

A young Joseph carried me on his back, trudging through the firelight.

He said, "Bella, stay alive."

I opened my eyes.

It was still dark outside.

My lips were badly chapped. My throat felt like it was on fire.

But I smiled.

Look, Joseph. You don't need to save me. I can make it on my own. And I'll thrive.