I feel that type of understanding in my chest. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the way to the four lakes now.
“Stop,” the princess says in Quechua, then shakes her head and continues in Aymara. The man does stop the boat, but then starts to argue with her. They go back and forth, so fast, I can’t even hope to catch any of it. I’m amazed once again by the fluency of her speech. No one knew the Panaka could speak Aymara. I wonder if they all could, or if it was just the princess and the Inka, whispering to each other away from prying eyes.
The arguing stops, and the princess is suddenly at my side.
“Get up. We’re getting out of here.”
I look around us. There’s no dock. We’re still in the middle of waist-deep water.
“Excuse me?” I say, genuinely confused.
“I’ll carry Mare on my back so he doesn’t get wet. Come on.”
I look at Mare with obvious betrayal as he does what the princess says.
“Come on, Rei. You’re holding us up,” he snaps at me. He’s never snapped at me before.
I jump into the water with that dawning realization.
Chapter 28
Wading through the muck of the island’s coastal waters is near impossible. My polleras become heavier with every step, the wool absorbing incredible amounts of water and doubling in weight. The extra fabric gets pulled back and forth by the waves, made more powerful by the boat’s engine coming to life again.
There’s something about being in the water that floods me with dread. This is the third time I’ve found myself surrounded by water with the princess at my side, and, while it is the calmest situation we’ve been in, it is heavy with anticipation like the others. We’re not under attack or fighting, at least not actively. So, why do I feel like I’ve seen this all before?
The princess makes it to shore first, even with Mare on her back. Her arms are outside the lliklla, and her well-defined muscles flex as she lets him down. I lick my lips and heave my knees up again, fighting for my life against the currents. I’m more worn out than I thought if this is giving me so much trouble.
Can the princess tell how weakened I am? Is that why she took Mare without asking?
I fall onto the shore, my polleras the only reason my knees don’t get torn open by rocks. I need to get up, but my body fights my every move. The boat ride here was the longest I’ve sat down, not including sleep, and it’s made my legs useless.
Mare runs up to me, and I put my hand up to stop him from getting closer.
“You’ll wet your shoes,” I huff out. If he nods, I don’t see it. I’m too busy staring at the ground.
The shore here is sandy, nothing like the shining black stones of Lima. I dig my fingers into the packed sand and feel the grit underneath my fingernails. With a slow sigh, I stand up.
I fight the wet fabric around my waist to take off two polleras and leave on one. I feel like an idiot having kept them on in the water, even though the princess kept hers and doesn’t look out of breath. I try to wring the water out of the two, but the fabric is so thick, I can’t twist it fully.
Or maybe I’m just too weak.
I curse and kick some sand. It’s a feeble attempt, bogged down by the remaining pollera sticking to my legs. “Did he kick us out?” I ask, realizing the princess and Mare are just watching me throw a fit.
The princess is silent as she looks me up and down. She picks up the two polleras from where I threw them on the ground in frustration. She’s already shed and folded her extra layers. Now, she folds mine and places them on top of the k’eperina she laid out. She’s getting them ready to carry on her back. The movements come naturally after our days of travel, but then she sighs to herself and throws it all back on the ground in defeat.
“No. He didn’t want to let us get out since there’s no dock, so we had to leave fast,” she says.
I gape at her. I look at my soaked clothes and feel the tremble in my legs.
“That’s what you were fighting for? For us to wade in the water?” I make sure to enunciate every word. Maybe if she understands what I’m saying, she’ll prove me wrong. Maybe she’ll make it make sense. A full body shiver passes through me, and I don’t know if it’s from the wind or the princess’s glare.
“I definitely wasn’t arguing for us to be dropped off at a community dock. He’ll figure out the necklace belongs to a Panaka soon enough. In case you forgot, there’s a bounty on my head, and news of the assassinations will reach here sooner rather than later. I won’t risk anyone’s lives by having us dropped off at a dock, let alone near where we’re going to stay.” The princess stops her tirade with a tired sigh.
My mind jumps ahead, trying not to get caught up in embarrassment. “Which means we’re nowhere close to where we need to be,” I speak slowly yet again, but this time it’s in horror rather than annoyance.
She nods.
“We need to start now if we’re going to make it before sundown. I won’t risk us camping here overnight.”
