ZARAMANNI (BOOK ONE)

Her breath failing her, Zara put a sudden halt to her fast movements. Patting her chest as she clutched the cloth in that area, Zara watched with distress as the King advanced without looking back to see if she was really following him.

“Mr. King-”

It was hard for her to speak at that moment, so, while breathing hard through her mouth, she decided to take a small rest. Just a few seconds to restore some strength wouldn’t hurt, she thought.

With a single movement, Zaramanni squatted and took her rest in that position. Looking up at the clear night through the branches of the trees that surrounded her, Zara let out a sigh. Her troubled mind wondered if running was all she would be doing for a long time.

What use is running if there’s no particular direction in mind?

The man she was trusting to lead her out of danger was just taking a huge risk, and it was clear that the paths in Amarxona were strange to him.

“What kind of shit is this?” Zara groaned. At the same time, she pulled at the root of her hair as she attempted to think of something. Anything to make sure that she doesn’t end up jumping from frying pan to fire.

While her confused soul tried, Zaramanni found it difficult to come up with an idea.

But, as the battle in her mind abounded, her ears picked up a crunchy sound from the depths of the forest.

Suddenly, Zaramanni got up, more alert than ever. She took a look around and finally noticed how the ground that was looking green and fresh was gradually changing into dust.

The path quickly and wondrously became a rough path filled with piles of sand and stone.

Zara quickly guessed that the strange occurrence was one of the things that usually happened in Amarxona, so she focused on the approaching footsteps that caused her to pause her rest.

And, she hoped that the footsteps wouldn’t belong to a vicious creature that would cause her to die untimely by tearing her apart with its angry fangs.

Besides, if she would be dying, it should not be in a strange land.

“What are you doing?” It was the King.

While she was glad that he noticed that she was no longer running behind him and came back for her, Zaramanni was happier that death was not as close as she had thought.

“Oh,” Zara wore a smile which she quickly collapsed, “I was taking a rest.”

“In this situation? We don’t have time for that.” He folded his arms, the growing light of the night amplifying the impatient look on his face. “If you want to follow me, you need to have very swift feet. We don’t have the luxury of taking rests.”

“How does that make any sense?” Zara dared to question his stern comment, a scowl etched on her forehead. “How would we have the strength to move if we don’t rest?”

“We can’t rest until we get somewhere safe.”

“We have been running for so long. We are deep into the forest, I am sure we can take a rest and continue our journey when dawn arrives. Besides,” she watched as the man’s frown deepened, ” won’t we eat or drink to have more than enough strength?”

“I-”

“Are we going to keep running for days without taking necessary breaks? I don’t think it works that way.”

The King finally moved closer to her, his boots and trousers still a pitiful sight. “I don’t have time to wine and dine. I have a kingdom waiting for me.”

“If you die of fatigue, you will have no kingdom to return to,” retorted Zara, her voice thickened to communicate the seriousness of her thoughts.

“Oh!” he scolded her, his thick lashes flying with fury. “How dare you suggest that the King would die? You have such a foul mouth. If you were my subject, I would have ordered the guards to flog you for your rude talk.”

Zara’s lips scrunched with disgust at his last statement while her head painted a picture where she was being flogged.

It bothered her greatly that they had such punishment methods in their universe but she didn’t voice her concern.

Instead, she maintained her stance on the idea she had.

“I want to ask a question.”

“It had better be reasonable.”

“How many days will it take us to get to our destination?”

“About fifteen days,” the man replied casually.

“What?!” Zara wished she heard wrong, but she did not.

The funny thing was, the man didn’t seem fazed by what he just said. It seemed walking or running for days was something he was used to. But still, there was no way he would not take a break in such a situation.

“Considering how we are in a thick forest, a weremobile wouldn’t function well here. But a horse will. So, if we had horses, it would take us about six to seven days.”

Not paying much attention to the strange word in his lengthy response, Zara glanced behind her but she could not see the lights of Amarxona’s city anymore.

“They have cars here,” Zara said.

“You need to be a citizen to use one of their vehicles. So we have no choice but to take this path and run as fast as we can. I would like to guess that some soldiers have been sent out to look for us. So... What are you doing?”

The king questioned Zaramanni who left him to talk to himself as she walked toward one of the big trees and sat down, her back resting against its accommodating stem.

“I am taking a rest. I need to sleep well if I will be running for days.” Zaramanni looked up at him after she brought out her clothes from her bag. “You should rest as well, stop trying to be tough. You are allowed to rest, I am sure Ezeman and his boss didn’t give you peace of mind while you were with them.”

The man sighed and surprisingly headed her way. As he settled beside her, Zara felt certain warmth surround her. Excusing the distinctive scent that oozed from the man, Zara found herself being conscious of his close presence and she instantly remembered the kiss they shared.

With caution, she glanced in his direction and wondered if he remembered what happened between them.

“I don’t remember what they did to me,” he suddenly dropped and Zara almost let out a gasp.

′Did he read my mind?′ she wondered.

“After they attacked me at The Big Tear, I don’t remember what happened next. All I know is, that I became fully aware of my environs after you let all hell loose in that sacrificial room.”

“You are welcome,” Zara uttered without thinking.

The King stopped tracing the ground with the stick he had found and snapped his eyes in her direction. “We can rest, but for a short period. I don’t want to take chances.”

“That’s fine with me.”

“You should-”

“Won’t we get to eat? We might be hungry when the day breaks. We should get something ahead of that time.”

“We can-”

“What if when we need to get rid of our body wastes?” Zara gasped, her face strangely looking somewhat elated. “What if I suddenly need to go for the number two?” Her right hand stayed in the air as it made the peace sign.

It seemed she had confused the man. Perhaps she made him feel more tired as well.

“What is number two?” he asked, the lazy tone of his voice indicating that he wanted to close his eyes and escape from her many questions.

“You know...”

“Know what?”

“What if we need to excrete?”

“Sweet mother of-” The man glared at her. “Just dig a hole and do what you have to do. Are you trying to be modest when you are on the run?”

Zara pouted.

“You should go to sleep,” he said after a few seconds of silence.

“Are you sure you don’t like me?”

“What?” The King sure loved shooting anger-filled glares at her.

Zaramanni shrugged, looking unbothered by his reaction. Her sight then rested on the ground ahead which was still changing like it was experiencing puberty. “You said you don’t want to talk to me because you don’t like me.”

“I don’t,” his response was sharp. “Go to sleep now.”

“Okay,” Zara could sense his fury growing bigger and for the sake of being safe, she dragged her bag beneath her head, stretched the rest of her body, and stayed still. While she waited for sleep to come, she watched the King rest his back against the bark of the tree.

Quietly, as she observed him further, as his eyes closed, Zara realized she was yet to know what kind of King he was.

The people he ruled, the kingdom he ruled, his name…

She wanted to know it all.

Zaramanni was really curious...

~

Zara was about to reach for her phone to check the time when the cold breeze of the night reminded her of her sorry situation. While she wondered how many minutes she had slept, she looked to her side to see if she had been abandoned or not.

Her heart fell instantly.

The King was nowhere to be seen. He had slept right beside her, she was certain of that.

Sitting up swiftly, her distressed sight searched her immediate environment, hoping that the man had just gone for a stroll or to get them something to eat.

Zara was almost scoffing at herself for having so much faith in the man when she heard a growl behind her.

Rushing to stand on her feet was a thing Zara could not attempt as fear gripped her the moment she felt heavy breathing being loaded against her neck.

The girl could tell that the thing behind her was not ordinary but she couldn’t dare try to catch a glimpse of the monstrosity. This huge presence moved closer to Zaramanni.

Its growl deepened and she become more frightened, her dilated pupils were enough evidence.

Suddenly, in unison with the scary noise that filled her ears, she felt some threatening liquid drop onto the skin of her neck area causing her to shiver some more.

So, Zaramanni closed her eyes and tried her best to hide her fear. And, she hoped that her safety would be ensured by doing that.