"Oh. Right. Forward," Rissa said, the letting out a sigh as she dropped her head, utterly defeated.
Two days of continuous travel later, the Queen and her aide finally spotted a small, dilapidated hunting hut. Aeryn was swaying in the saddle, feeling like she would faint any moment. Rissa practically carried her inside.
Once settled in the small, dusty room, Aeryn slumped onto a pile of furs. Rissa, seeing the extreme exhaustion on the Queen's face, fussed over her. Unconsciously, Aeryn leaned her head onto Rissa's shoulder, and within moments, she was fast asleep.
As soon as her head hit her shoulder, Rissa went rigid with shock, then her whole face dissolved into bubbling happiness. After a few hours, Aeryn's eyes fluttered open. She realized her head was resting in Rissa's lap, and Rissa was sitting rock-still, her small, dagger hidden near her waist. "Rissa," Aeryn murmured, raising her concern. "You should have slept. Why… you…?"
Rissa instantly launched into an explanation, her words tumbling out like marbles and scattering across the floor. "Oh, no, Your Highness, I'm perfectly fine! I was just sitting here guarding you! I'm practically a squirrel, I only need tiny naps! Did you know some of the toughest mountain folk can go five days without sleep, sustained entirely by strong tea and sheer willpower? I haven't tried the five days yet, but I bet I could do three! And I was thinking about how we can best disguise our trail when we leave." She was talking without taking a break to breath .
"And I came up with eighteen different methods, twelve of which are totally nonsensical, four are too visible, and two are actually genius, but one of the genius ones requires a flock of domesticated sparrows, which we don't have, so I've been trying to figure out if I could train a squirrel instead, but then I remembered your rule about visible power, so I've been refining the stream idea to only use minimal force and perhaps a really big shovel, which I don't have, so back to the squirrel, are squirrels bendable? I bet they are, you know, because everything is! But for that I need your permission. That reminds me, I wanted to ask you if I can use my power for just a little bit, you see..."
"Stop, Rissa! Stop!" Aeryn said, rubbing her temples. "Don't tell me! Stop talking!"
Rissa immediately shushed, freezing mid-sentence, her mouth slightly open. She looked utterly deflated, like a balloon losing air. Then, she brightened slightly. "My Lady, last thing I will ask... allow me to get us some food! Please! I'm starving! I ate my last fruit an hour ago!"
Aeryn waved a weary hand in assent. Seeing this rissa ran outside and aeryn allowed herself to fall on her side, sleep again catching on her.
Rissa came back soon after to the glorious scent of sizzling hot food. After two days of eating nothing but dried grass and whatever meager fruits they could find, the warm, fragrant meal was worth dying for. Aeryn ate to her heart's content, barely looking up.
When she finally finished, she looked at Rissa, who was still eating with focused determination, a roasted hen leg in one hand and the soup bowl in the other. Aeryn smiled and then sighed.
"Do you think they know where we are?" Aeryn asked.
Rissa shook her head, still chewing vigorously.
"It's the first time I've been out without anyone. Without guards, without protocol…" Aeryn added, still looking at her. "It's actually nice, you know."
Rissa wobbled left and right happily, blinking her eyes, expecting more quiet reflection and approval of her aide skills.
"Do you think the General will come after us personally? Or send a whole battalion? Like what must she be planning??? I think we need to be ready to move again quickly, don't we?" Aeryn pressed, needing a serious strategic answer.
Rissa paused her chewing just long enough to shrug one shoulder, then immediately went back to demolishing the hen leg.
"Are you even listening? This is important! We need a plan for tomorrow, and I need to know the risks!" Aeryn said with a rising voice
Rissa nodded quickly, her mouth full, giving a vigorous thumbs-up sign with her soup hand.
Aeryn got irritated. "RISSA! I am talking to you! Why are you not replying to me! Earlier you couldn't stop talking and now you are silent like a mute!!!"
Rissa stopped eating, looked at Aeryn as if saying, Seriously?, and then put her food down and started pointing with her fingers, trying to tell something.
"What the heck is the problem with you!" Aeryn said angrily.
And then Aeryn's tired eyes widened in sudden realization. "Ahhh... I told you to stop talking! That's why you are silent!"
Rissa beamed, hitting her hand on her knee with an air of achievement, and instantly picked her food back up as if to say, Yes! That is what I was trying to tell you!
Aeryn smiled, shaking her head. "You can talk, Rissa… I was just saying, you don't have to take it too seriously when it's only us." She said it softly, as if she was trying to soothe a pain only she could feel. She remembered Sakina, who had been left kneeling on the ground by the same unconscious, rigid command when Aeryn lost her memory.
It hurt her that her every word, even a casual phrase, was taken as a command which, if unfulfilled, might command death.
Aeryn shivered, suddenly coming back to her reality as Rissa burped loudly.
"Hehe… forgive me, My Lady," Rissa said, slightly abashed, and promptly burped again, even louder this time.
Aeryn chuckled.
"Where are we by the way? It's quite chilly even at this time of the day!" Aeryn said while stroking her arms, looking here and there.
Rissa immediately put the food down. "We are near the Azure Dominion, My Lady! Just outside the borderlands, near the peaks!"
"AZURE?" Aeryn gasped.
"Yeahhh… Azuuuuure," Rissa replied dreamily, starting to pick up the dishes and plates.
"But weren't we closer to the Cinder Hegamony from the campsite? And from statistics, we should have been in that territory by now!"
"Yes, My Lady, but I knew Sakina would lead the hunt there, because Cinder was closer from there, and from any sane person's point of view we should have gone that way! BUT…" Rissa said, eyes shining with strategic pride. "because I am not THAT much sane and still enough to know that we obviously shouldn't go that way unless we want them to caught up to us …I realized this on the way, so I changed our path to here. I think …after leaving this hut, we will be in the Azura's territory after a day's travel more. It was a perfectly executed plan! We're brilliant!"
Aeryn just stared at her for a long moment. Rissa wasn't just loyal, she was strategically brilliant, if maddeningly literal. She was calling herself not sane and yet she planned it so well. Aeryn nodded with deep approval.
"Finish your food," Aeryn said, a soft, genuine smile on her lips. "And then tell me what are you thinking. And how do you even know the directions?"
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