Chương 40: Chapter 39: Foolish, Foolish, Foolish

After saying goodbye to Anya, Selena walked alone toward the river estuary. Her steps led her along the already familiar path, that dirt trail bordering the vegetation that she had traveled so many times with Kaela. But today was different. Today she was alone, and she had to be; she wouldn't force Kaela into what she was about to do today. Once at the riverbank, she headed toward the heretics' cave.

She left behind the sounds of the town —the vendors' cries, the bustle of arguments, the laughter of children— gradually replaced by the music of the water, the singing of birds, and the scurrying of small animals among the bushes. The world became wilder, truer with every step she took away from Terracanto. She walked a long way. Time was determined only by the sun, which rose high in the sky, a cloudless sky of a blue so pure it looked hand-painted.

The heat was beginning to make itself felt, but the shade of the trees lining the path offered grateful truces, small oases of coolness that allowed her to keep moving forward. When she finally reached the cave, the sound transformed. There was no longer any bird song, no warble to brighten the atmosphere. Only the murmur of the estuary remained —that constant whisper of flowing black water— and the slight rustle of leaves swaying in the wind. Selena gazed at the entrance for a second.

The black stone characteristic of the cavern loomed before her. The jars with the syrupy liquid still hung from their ropes, swaying slightly in the breeze, but there were no insects in them. They were empty. Until she felt someone watching her from behind. It was a physical sensation, a prickle at the back of her neck, that primal instinct that warns of a presence when the eyes have not yet registered it. Selena spun around quickly, her heart pounding hard in her chest.

There, a few steps away, under the long shadow of a coral tree, stood someone watching her. A young woman with light brown skin and short black hair that fell to her shoulders in rebellious, untamable waves. She was taller than Selena, with a slender but wiry build, the kind of physique that betrays years of physical labor and hostile streets. And her eyes... her eyes, of a brown so deep they appeared black, observed her with a mixture of exasperation and concern.

Those almond-shaped eyes, so unusual among the faces of the town, belonged to none other than Kaela. Upon looking at her, Kaela approached with a determined stride, her sandals barely kicking up dust in her urgency to reach her. There was no hesitation in her walk, only the determination of someone who has made a decision and does not intend to back down. When they were finally face to face, Kaela's brow was furrowed in an expression of reproach so intense it seemed carved in stone.

Her voice, when she spoke, cut through the air like a knife. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. —I knew it. The words fell between them, heavy and definitive. —If you didn't call for me, it wasn't for anything good. Nothing good at all. She paused. Her dark gaze scrutinized Selena's face with an intensity that was almost a physical touch, as if she could read in her features every secret she kept, every decision she had made, every danger she faced.

—I know we all have secrets— she continued, and her voice cracked slightly, a fissure in her strength. —But I won't let the Church burn you for heresy. She shook her head, a quick, almost convulsive movement. —Foolish. Foolish and foolish. She repeated it to herself unintentionally, as if the insult were a shield against the fear reflected in her words, a fear she couldn't hide no matter how hard she tried.

Selena saw that fear in her eyes, in the tension of her shoulders, in the way her hands gripped the folds of her dress. Selena looked down. Her face, filled with shame, flushed instantly, a heat that rushed up her cheeks and burned her ears. She hadn't expected Kaela to come all this way for her. She hadn't considered that her obsession with answers might drag others into danger. She hadn't thought about how her friend would feel waking up to find her missing, following her tracks to this cursed place.

—I want more answers— she confessed. She finally raised her green eyes to Kaela's, searching for them for understanding, even if only a glimmer. —I don't need to believe to receive them. Besides, we are secluded, Kaela. We aren't in danger here. She let out a sigh that carried a palpable weight, the weight of all the unanswered questions, of all the sleepless nights, of all the times she had wished to understand what she was doing in this body, in this world, in this life that wasn't hers. Kaela didn't flinch.

Her response was quick, sharpened by recent memory. —The same fool who doesn't even know how to navigate the West Ward— she retorted, pinning her with her gaze. But behind the harshness of her words, her heart betrayed her. Softness finally broke through her tone, like water finding a crack in a rock. —I understand, Selena. But I'm worried about you. You're... different— She paused, searching for the words. —I don't want them to burn you. A knot formed in Selena's throat, hot and tight.

Then it moved down, sliding to her chest, weighing it down with a pressure that wasn't pain but something else, something she didn't know how to name. Gratitude, perhaps. Wonder. The revelation that she wasn't alone, that she never had been, that Kaela was there, despite the fear, despite the heresy, despite everything. —I'll go inside— she proposed, seeking a truce, a middle ground for her obsession. —And you watch over me from where you were yesterday. Does that sound alright?"

The offer floated in the air between them; a bridge stretched over the abyss of their differences. Kaela looked at her for a long time. The minute stretched out in silence, becoming eternal, heavy, charged with the tension of a decision that could not have been easy. Selena watched as thoughts crossed those black eyes like fast-moving clouds: fear, loyalty, the desire to protect, the terror of the flames, the love for her friend. Finally, she yielded. There were no words.

Only the slow, deliberate movement of her head nodding —once, twice— a minimal but definitive gesture. Even so, there was no smile on her face. Only a look of resignation, the acceptance that she couldn't stop Selena, and that the only thing she could do was be there, watching, waiting, protecting from the shadows.