Part Two

 Part Two

Shard watched the dark liquid stream down the strange woman’s cheeks from her blindfold. 

Nathalia sighed. “It’s the price I pay for my gift,” she said. Nathalia wiped her cheek and rubbed the liquid between her fingertips. “My curse…” Nathalia suddenly turned to Shard with a smile. “You have a gift too. Did you notice?” 

“What do you mean?” Shard leaned back against the couch, watching Nathalia with wide-eyed suspicion. 

“Ah, forgive me, you probably don’t have the strength for it yet,” Nathalia said pleasantly. “Are you hungry?” 

Shard nodded her head. It took a moment for her to realize Nathalia was still waiting on a verbal answer. “Oh, yes… sorry, I-” 

“Good,” Nathalia interrupted while going into the other room for a moment. When she returned, her face was clean and the cloth over her eyes was replaced with a fresh one. 

Nathalia stirred a pot hanging over the fire. Shard remained on the couch, mouth watering as she sniffed the air. Whether Nathalia’s cooking was decent or not had yet to be seen, but Shard was famished. Shard watched the woman spoon the food from the pot into smaller bowls. She wasn’t sure how Nathalia accomplished the task while her eyes were covered. In truth, Shard couldn’t tell if the woman was actually blind or not. She didn’t stumble or jolt around her environment. Then again, who knew how long she lived here. She probably had the layout memorized to perfection. Shard watched in silence all the same. Nathalia placed the bowls on the table close to the couch along with wooden spoons. As hungry as she was, Shard didn’t touch the bowl in front of her. Nathalia sat, picked up a bowl and spoon, and stirred the contents. She raised a spoonful of food and paused, as if frozen in time. She sat like this for a moment, listening. “Aren’t you going to eat?” Nathalia asked finally. 

“No,” Shard answered. 

Nathalia huffed then shoved her own spoon of food toward the young girl. “Eat.” Shard pulled away, keeping her mouth shut. Nathalia frowned. “You sure are a handful,” Nathalia muttered.  

“I don’t trust you,” Shard finally admitted. “You did hold a knife to my throat, after all.”

“You were being rude.” Nathatlia returned her spoon back to its bowl and set the food on the table. “How long will you question me?” Nathalia asked. “I found you in the snow, alone, unloved, cold, hungry. You would have died had I not intervened.”

Shard glared at her. “I didn’t ask you to save me.” 

“Of course not, you were incapable of it,” Nathalia’s tone was sharp, but she appeared calm. 

“Then why did you?” Shard asked, still glaring. 

Nathalia took a breath, let it out slowly, then smiled. “Would you like to hear a story, Shard?” Whether or not Shard was in the mood for a story didn’t matter. Nathalia started one anyway. 

“A bee once fell into a stream of water and would have drowned had a duck not seen it. The duck plucked a leaf from a branch and held it out for the bee to climb out of the water. The bee was saved. The next day, a hunter came to the forest. He saw the duck and prepared to shoot it. When the bee saw him, it flew to the hunter and stung his hand, saving the duck.” 

“Ooooh,” Shard said in comprehension. “So I owe you now? Is that it?” Shard crossed her arms. 

Nathalia shrugged with a smile. “I simply ask that you repay kindness with kindness.” 

Shard wondered if it truly was kindness that saved her. It didn’t feel like it. Something about the analogy bothered her. Don’t bees die after they sting? Shard thought. Am I expected to one day save her life at the cost of my own? Maybe I’m reading too much into it. It’s just a story. Just a stupid kid’s story.

“Besides,” Nathalia interrupted Shard’s thoughts with a cheery voice. “I’m a weak, frail, blind woman living alone in the middle of the woods. I have every right to be cautious until I’ve gotten to know my company.” She smiled again. “I promise I’m not trying to poison you.” With that, Nathalia picked up her own bowl and resumed eating. 

Shard waited for any sign of deception before finally giving in and taking the second bowl. It was a red stew with chicken and vegetables. Once Shard tasted the first spoonful, she devoured the bowl as quickly as the wooden spoon would let her. When Shard was finished, she didn’t set the bowl down. She held onto it, wondering if she could help herself to seconds without appearing rude. She wasn’t keen on getting threatened again. 

“Would you like more?” Nathalia asked, refilling her own bowl first. 

“Yes,” Shard answered. 

Nathalia held out her open hand. “Yesssss….?” 

“Yes, please,” Shad answered, handing her the bowl. 

“Good girl.” Nathalia smiled. She refilled Shard’s bowl and handed the food to her. 

Shard ate the second bowl a little slower. Between bites, she took the time to look around the room they were in. There was the couch she sat on, shabby and covered in blankets. Dried herbs and plants hung from the log beams holding up the roof. The walls were white and smooth, reminding Shard of chalk. Wooden shelves, benches, and chairs lined the walls, but the only table to be seen was the short one in front of her. The sole window in the whole room was covered with a lace curtain. There was a doorway to a second room, but Shard couldn’t see into it from her current position. “Do you really live here alone?” Shard asked. 

“I do,” Nathalia answered. 

“Don’t you have any family?” Shard asked, ignoring the fact that now she too was alone without family. 

Nathalia smiled. “I did. Two sisters.” Her smile faded. “The first died shortly after this world was created. The second remained on Earth.”

Shard ate another spoonful before asking, “Why are you here in…?” 

“Thorae,” Nathalia answered. “I came to find my sister. Unfortunately, I was too late.” 

“Wait.” Shard tilted her head. “You said when this world was created? When was that?”

Nathalia turned her face to the fire. “Over two thousand years ago,” she whispered. 

“What?! There’s no way!” Shard put her empty bowl down. “You don’t look much older than me and I’m only sixteen. There’s no way you’re over two thousand years old!” 

Nathalia turned back to Shard, smirking. “Oh, I’m much older than I look.” She laughed then leaned back in her seat. “Tell me something,” Nathalia said softly. “Did your Original have a good life? Before you woke up here?” 

Shard crossed her arms, tightly hugging her ribs, and looked away. “I… er… she did,” Shard corrected herself. “I could complain, but honestly…” Shard shook her head, not finishing the sentence. “Maybe if I hadn’t… maybe if I…” 

Nathalia stood up. “There’s no reason to blame yourself for something that wasn’t yours to control,” she said with a shrug. “You’re in this world now. Time to make the best of it.”

Shard nodded. “Thank you for helping me.” She went to stand only for her legs to buckle. “Yikes!” Shard was on the floor staring blankly at the wood pattern on the floorboards in front of her. She was lucky she missed hitting the table on the way down. 

“Seems you’ve not quite recovered yet,” Nathalia said, helping Shard up and back onto the couch. “Take it easy. Even if you could walk on your own, a storm is coming. You’re better off staying here for now.” 

“Thanks again,” Shard muttered, still not sure why her body felt so weak. Nathalia helped Shard lie down and put a blanket over her. 

“Don’t worry,” Nathalia said with a smile. She softly patted the top of Shard’s head. “With as much spirit as you have, you’ll be on your feet in no time. For now,” she picked up the little wooden box and placed it in Shard’s hand. “Rest.” 

Perhaps there was something in the stew. Perhaps it was the socialization. Perhaps just the energy it took to sit up and eat was too much. Whatever it was, Shard was drained. She turned the key on the music box and listened to the metallic notes play as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.