XVIII. A Journey Awaits

                                    

                                          
 "This is Cormak," I say. "Mak, this is Arabelle."
	The two shake hands, glancing at each other wearily. 
	"You know Ettiana?" Mak asks.
	Arabelle nods. "Yeah. You?" she asks, surprised.
	Mak smiles. "She taught me everything I know about magic." 
His fingers wiggle as if to show off said magic, but nothing happens. He can't cast without the aid of a soka. 
	Arabelle laughs, clearly warming up to Mak. "She taught me everything I know about gardening. She didn't practice much magic once she had this one," she nudges me gently.
	I roll my eyes, but find myself relaxing as the two launch into a conversation. I'm glad they get along.
	"Do you prefer to go by Mak or Cormak?" Arabelle asks.
	The prince shrugs. "Either works. I started going by Mak to blend in here, and it's kind of grown on me."
	Arabelle chuckles. "I've wondered about that!" She turns to me. "Is that why you made up that ridiculous fake name?"
	I scowl. "Hey!"
	She laughs again. "Come on. Mila Wilde. It's not even close to your real name."
	"I was twelve," I pout. "I thought it sounded cool."
	It's not my fault that my name doesn't have a conveniently built-in nickname. I mean, Amietta? What am I supposed to do with that?
	"We should get going," Noelani interrupts after a quick moment. "It's getting dark.
	I nod, jumping into the driver's side of the truck. "We need to find somewhere to camp for the night."
	One more night in Tsulona, and then we'll be going home.
	Everyone gets in the truck. Noelani sits next to me as Arabelle and Mak slide into the back. I fill Arabelle in during the drive.
	"So Ettiana didn't teach you anything about magic?" Mak asks as I pull off the road and into a little clearing. This is as good a place as any, I suppose.
	"No," I tell Mak. "She didn't even tell me that she was a sorcerer, let alone the fact that I'm a bloodsorcerer."
	Mak frowns. "That doesn't seem like her."
	I shrug. "I don't know," I say honestly. 
I don't care. I'm done wasting energy on the woman.
	Sensing my distress, Noelani places a hand on my knee, squeezing gently before unbuckling her seat belt and exiting the truck.
	That was odd. That's the second time Noelani has comforted me– or anyone, as far as I know. 
My eyes latch onto the spot where her hand just was.
It wasn't unpleasant.
"Mila, you coming?" Arabelle asks.
"Uh, yeah," I mumble, unbuckling my seatbelt and following everyone else out of the truck.
"Arabelle," I call out. She turns to look at me. "Can we talk for a minute?" I ask.
She nods, hanging back while Noelani and Mak go set up camp for the night.
I rip it off like a bandage– never one to beat around the bush.
"When we get to Armenta, I don't want to find Ettiana anymore."
Arabelle frowns. "Mila–"
"I promised Noelani that I would help her overthrow Queen Reina– I'm going to join the rebellion."