The Dreamfarer

33

Throughout the next few days, Mae watched Lona like a hawk. She was sure that the woman would backstab her at some point, since there had been no apparent reason for her change of heart in the first place. Mae had constantly been worried that she was being led into a trap or an ambush, but so far, none had come.

She had been particularly careful to observe Lona's eyes. Never once had she seen them open since before the woman got strangled by Kilmah - though she had never seen them up close even then - and her voice had always sounded a bit like she was in a daze. They had made camp and slept two nights in a row now, and both times, Lona had lain down and remained silent when they decided to go to sleep, but Mae was not convinced that she really slept. She knew that she had barely slept herself; she did not trust Lona, so she had tried to stay awake as long as she physically could both nights in order to keep an eye on her.

However, the woman had never seemed to move from her resting position throughout the night, and in the morning, she was as active as ever. It was like a switch was being flicked on and off, like Lona was some kind of robot and someone else held her remote. And of course, the fact that her guide was successfully navigating miles and miles of land while apparently blind did nothing to ease Mae's internal disquiet.

They had barely spoken at all. Lona walked, sometimes ran, and Mae followed. Lona would tell her to stay, Mae would obey, and less than an hour later, the woman would come back with something for her to eat and drink. She only had tiny nibbles and sips of things herself, and Mae had no idea how much longer Lona could keep going at this pace without a proper meal, but she was not about to question it out loud.

There was, of course, one thing that bothered Mae even more than relying on somebody that had been her enemy up until a few days ago: She had still not been able to Dreamfare. 

Besides when she had inadvertently ended up in Viv's dreams, her abilities had remained out of her mind's reach, like those boxes she placed in her conscious mind to lock up any thoughts she did not want Kroma to see. She knew that she was still a Dreamfarer, that she still had the magic to travel through dreams somewhere inside of her, but she just could not call it into action. It was almost as if Folco had somehow dragged her into Viv's dreams himself, like she had not been the one to travel there, but she knew that that was impossible. Folco would never hide himself from her.

Folco. Her heart sighed out his name along with her mind. 

Without having control of her Dreamfaring, she had still not seen him since the guards had dragged her into Kroma's tent. She had not spoken to him, had not been able to contact him to give him a warning or to receive his advice. There was an emptiness inside of her in his wake, and she did not want to grow accustomed to it. Unfortunately, she feared that she might soon have no choice.

Mae tried not to think about the block that had somehow been placed in her mind to inhibit the use of her powers too often. She had no idea how her father had managed it, and she refused to believe that the block was permanent. For the sake of her sanity, she could not accept that possibility. The fact that she had traveled to Viv's dream twice made her feel slightly reassured that his curse was fading, but her sleep was bland without her Dreamfaring pulling her into another world during it. Not to mention, she and Folco had a connection through their abilities. They were the only two Dreamfarers, and if Dael had somehow taken her powers away from her, where would that leave her relationship with Folco?

It might not even matter, Mae, she reminded herself, frowning. You might be marching to your own death right now. Remember? You chose Vivienne.

She exhaled and focused back on reality. Her feet were dragging through the grass, and sweat was beading on her forehead and sticking hairs to the back of her neck. They had finally reached open fields and forested areas again early yesterday morning, and the lack of rocks had made her a much happier camper. She had removed her spell from her feet the first night, knowing that it would be dangerous to keep active for so long when she didn't really know anything about it.