Chapter the Tenth

After walking off of her street, Iraella pulled out her map. She studied it closely and realized for the first time that she did not know the lay of her homeland very well. She traced the Perillora River with her finger, and then looked for the closest wilderness. There was an unnamed forest nineteen miles from where she stood. It appeared to be west, towards the town of Neygren. “Unnamed, eh?” Iraella said aloud. “Sounds like where Darks might be.”
Iraella looked at the path on the map. She then realized that she must cross a lake. She winced, wondering how she would get a boat. Iraella sighed, mentally reminding herself to try and stay positive. She started west onto the dirt path and continued to go straight even when the path veered. She swallowed when she passed the path and walked through the trees, discovering that the path on the map did not lead directly to Neygren as she had anticipated.
Iraella thought about stopping, but instead took a deep breath and continued on. Long, untrimmed grass tickled her ankles above her slippers, making her bounce forward to get to the shady area faster. Iraella traveled this way for several more strides before slowing back down to a walk through a copse of trees.
Iraella was surrounded by Cheriun trees with their dark, crisp, evergreen leaves. Also around her were the beautiful Freiba bushes. Its stunningly white leaves covered nearly all of its bright green leaves during April, Iraella’s favorite month of the year. Niaequeins prided themselves in their brilliant bushes, and refused to sell them to any place outside of the country.
However, Iraella hardly was able to enjoy the scenery due to her intent focus on following the exact path on the map. She went and moved her feet in every little unesscesary curve and waver on the path, for she did not want to go the wrong way and not find exactly where she was.
She stepped out of the copse and found a bright sun in her eyes. Iraella reluctantly took one hand off of the map to shield her eyes and walked back out onto the grass. This time she ignored the irritating itchiness it made on her ankle.
Iraella only relaxed enough to look up once, and she saw a brilliant green field that made her smile momentarily, and then left her with a pang of guilt. “Baeddan would love this,” she thought, instantly looking back to her map.
She walked for what seemed like hours before she finally reached the edge of Neygren. “At last,” Iraella mumbled under her breath. She picked up her speed a bit and hurried over to the bustling streets of the lakeside town.
When Iraella stepped onto the streets, she saw street performers, all dressed in rags and all but one with dusty faces. Guiltily intrigued, Iraella put her map back in her bag and made her way over to watch a performer with a few others. This boy was the one with a clean face, and up close he looked like he was only about sixteen. Iraella studied him closely. His eyes were the most ocean-like blue and his face was so pale it was nearly white.
He reached into a bucket of water as if to scoop some up, but instead the water followed his fingertips in a bubble. Iraella gasped and her eyes grew wide as she watched the man work through the water with his fingers. He cooed to it and felt through it lovingly; as if it were his dog and he were scratching it behind its ears.
Other audience members were “oohing and ahhing” while Iraella remained silence in her surprise. This boy was water tamer. He pulled more water out of the bucket without even touching it and made a bubble around him. He grinned, and showed everyone that he could breathe inside the bubble. Iraella’s eyes grew wider. He could get her across the lake. The Water Tamer dropped the water off of him with a flick of his fingers and bowed. “Tha ‘tis all, my dear friends, for Mabon the magnificent!” he called out with a thick Bellordian accent. Bellord was a small isle just bordering Niaequei.
Everyone in the audience clapped and dropped in a few coins. And when the rest of the audience left, Iraella remained. “Does you have no money, girl?” he asked as he pulled up the water and sloshed it into the wooden bucket.
Still awestruck, Iraella hesitantly shook her head. “Ah. Where are your parents? You look too young to be on your own,” Mabon said.
Iraella furrowed her brow. “So do you!” she shot back defensively. Mabon threw his hands up in surrender and laughed. “Calm down, girl. My age is none of your business,” he said.
Iraella peered at him, hands on hips. “Will you take me through the lake?” she asked suddenly. Mabon laughed and ran one thin hand through his dark brown hair. “No! Not without any money. Take a boat, they are on the other side of town,” he said. Iraella glared at him as she asked “How much do they cost?”
Mabon stopped laughing. “Stowaway on one, for all I care. But I do no' give free water rides,” he folded his arms stubbornly and nodded for no reason.
Iraella’s hands curled into fists. “Fine. Which direction are the boats?” she asked. “They are on the other side of town, southward,” Mabon told her, pointing in the direction where they were.
Iraella nodded. “Thank you,” she said reluctantly. Mabon nodded and stepped back as Iraella walked away, only with the slightest feeling of guilt that he had just sent a young girl to stowaway on a ship. That was never a good idea in Neygren.