A Rainbow at Night

For the first time, I didn’t feel constantly tired. Instead, I had lost track of time; I was so wrapped up in the feeling of her arms around me that I could barely navigate, much less think or do anything. 

“Ter?” Ever said. Her voice was uncertain and shaky. “It might be time to stop for the night.”

I shook my head, coming out of a daydream — nightdream? — about kissing her. I blushed once I processed what I had been imagining.

“What? Uh, sure.”

That is when I looked up at the sky. It was the color of a raven with dots like snow all across it. The moon was past its zenith.

I stopped the horse next to the road. We had learned after travelling on it for a few days that robbers wouldn't dare try to attack someone at night, or at all. It was busy — they could be seen and stopped by anyone at any time.

I looked over my shoulder when I noticed Ever hadn't loosened her hold on me. I wasn't able to get a good look at her face, but I did see that she looked like she was in a daze similar to the one I had been in just moments ago.

“Ever?”

I gently elbowed her, and she looked at me for a moment, eyes wide, as if she couldn't believe I was real before snapping out of it.

“Yeah, sorry,” she said before swinging one leg over the horse. She shook while standing on one leg and almost fell before she regained her balance and finished dismounting. 

I giggled. “It’s like you’ve never ridden a horse before.”

“I totally have,” she replied, blushing.

“I mean, you’ve ridden outside of Dryadalis before. I haven’t left there at all.”

She looked away.

I had stopped us by a tree so large that it was thicker than the two of us combined. Once I examined the leaves, I was able to determine from its many rounded lobes that it was a bur oak tree. Another acolyte, Hew, had taught me how to identify trees based on their leaf shape alone. They had studied herbology before deciding to dedicate their life to Deus. I didn’t know what happened to them. 

I felt a weight on my chest. This was my first time being away from the other acolytes, and the Sisters, since I had become one. I felt lost without their guidance. 

My mission was important, though. I had to get to the Saints’ Graveyard. It was the only way I could prove to myself, and everyone else, that I was more than a girl who screwed up all the time. That I was more than someone who struggled to stand sometimes and randomly cursed people out.

I pulled out a rope from one of our packs on the horse to tie it to the tree. 

“Ever?” I said. “We have a problem.”

“What is it?” she asked, turning from the horse where she was unloading some of our things.

I showed her the rope. “It’s too short to tie around the tree.”

We stood there for a moment, thinking.

Ever grabbed the rope from my hand, and, without another word, she began to climb the tree. At least, she tried to climb the tree. She didn't get far before she fell and scraped the heels of her hands along the bark.

I ran to her and helped her up. I grabbed a hand in my own and began to examine the damage.

“Does it hurt?” I asked.

“No,” she replied, but once I touched the torn skin, she flinched.

“Let me take care of this.”

I went back to the horse and grabbed one of our waterskins and some cloth. I poured a bit of the water on her injuries before wrapping it up. Her hands were soft, almost like butter. My fingertips tingled, in a good way, as I touched her.

“There we go,” I whispered, looking up at her. She gave me a small smile, and we stood like that, her hands in mine, for a moment longer than was necessary. We quickly let go of each other, looking away. I felt my cheeks grow hot.

“What were you trying to do?” I asked, suddenly remembering the task at hand.

“Climb the tree,” she said.

“Well, obviously. But why?”

“Oh,” she said. An adorable blush crept onto her cheeks, and she turned her head away from me. “I figured we could use one of the lower branches to tie the rope to.”

I looked up at the tree and saw that there was one branch that was just close enough to the ground that the rope could reach it.

“I can do it,” I told her.

Without waiting for a response, I began to climb the tree. It was difficult, my arm muscles aching, but I persisted. I didn't want to look like a fool in front of Ever.

This took me back to my childhood, before I became an acolyte, when I went up trees with the other orphans. I fell out of the tree every time, somehow managing to never break a bone. Maybe it was because I had barely made it up any of the trees even though I was healthy then.

I eventually reached the branch. I started to put my weight on it, but I thought better of it when I heard a faint cracking sound.

I suddenly froze.

No, no no. This can’t be happening right now!

I tried to lift my pinky. It felt tingly, in a bad way, as I put all of my willpower into it. It wouldn’t move.

“Ter?” Ever called. “Are you okay?”

I could still blink, and, without moving my head, looked at Ever. Despite not wanting her to see me like this, I needed her to know something was wrong. Maybe she could help. I didn’t know how; no one had been able to for a while. Healers used to dig one of their nails into my own nail bed as hard as they could until the pain shocked me out of it. I had long ago become immune to the pain, though.

I was like that for another breath when I suddenly gained control of my body again.

“Toss me up the rope,” I called down, happy to have regained my autonomy.

Ever, who was already holding it (she had been smart enough to at least try to climb the tree with the rope in hand), threw it up. It flew significantly below me. She tried again. And again. And again.

I leaned over to try to grab the rope as she threw it. My head started to feel light and tingly, in a bad way again, as I felt like I was going to fall, so I started to lean more onto the branch. I heard even more cracking until I eventually caught the rope.

I tied it around the branch and looked down at Ever. We were smiling at each other, and I felt something warm blossom in my chest.

That was when I realized that I didn't know how to get down. I looked down, feeling something bubble up inside the pit of my stomach, the warmth in my chest having disappeared.

I called down to Ever.

“Just jump,” she said. “I'll catch you. I promise.”

I looked down, still feeling something bubbling within me, but there was no better option.

Ever lifted her arms to me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before I leapt.

I felt light for a moment before the drop in my stomach caught up to me as I fell.

I crashed into Ever, both of us falling onto the ground.

“Are you okay?” I asked. My body barely hurt because she had cushioned my fall, so she was certainly more likely to have been injured. Again.

Ever started laughing.

I looked at her, concern hitting me like a wave. Maybe she hit her head too hard.

“Are you okay?” I repeated.

Through giggles, she said, “I'm fine. You should have seen yourself. You looked ridiculous. I hope I can keep that image in my head forever.”

I smiled at her, the warm feeling building in my chest again.

I suddenly realized that I was probably crushing her, so I got up quickly.

I swiped the dirt off of myself before reaching out my hand to her. She took it, and it felt a bit scratchy due to the cloth wrapped around her hand.

We finished unpacking what we needed from the horse before we created a fire, something we had become better at during our travels. We put out a blanket and laid on it. There was only room to pack one, so we were next to each other.

I felt a warmth next to me that certainly wasn't from the fire; it was too close for that.

I turned over onto my back to look at the stars. Upon closer inspection, I could see that they weren't all white. There were a few that were various colors. There was yellow and green and blue and pink. 

“Have you ever seen the colorful stars before?” I whispered.

“Yeah,” Ever replied. “During my travels.”

“I haven’t,” I told her. “The lights are too bright in the city.”

I felt Ever turn onto her back. She moved her hands behind her head, and her elbow grazed my hair.

“Do you know any constellations?” she asked.

“Nope,” I replied.

“Me neither.”

I wished that moment could have gone on forever.