She isn’t sure why she follows the spotted girl back to her home, but she does.
The journey south is long, and Eila has ample time to reflect on her decision and what it means for her future. Lexa had been the nicest of the greedy bunch, certainly. But kindness has never been a real draw. As fleeting and ineffective as her mother’s soft words had been towards her daughter, she came to expect coldness, came to thrive under the thin ice of her dam’s gaze. She knows that the world takes far more than it gives. She knows that she is lucky to even be alive; had she faced the same choice as Emmerly on whether to keep her or not, she’s almost sure she would instead be bones bleaching on the beach.
So there is no comradery swelling in the girl’s painted chest when she spots her recruiter on the path ahead. Lexa’s motivation to bring her back to the Jungle is likely nothing more than every kingdom’s gluttonous desire for an increase in able bodies. Not that it bothers her, really. If the jungle can protect her and give her shadows to hide herself within, she will do whatever it takes to stay. And if the appaloosa proves to be a woman of substance behind the mask of an inviting face and honeyed words, perhaps she’ll find a real friendship as well.
It would be her first.
Eila can’t help but stare when the palm trees rise to great heights just ahead. Impossibly large, like the birds dipped in a myriad of colors that seem to flock around the canopies. The heat hits her then, encapsulating and sticky. She’s reminded of the warmest, most miserable summer day in the Gates as a child being multiplied tenfold. There’s a cloying smell to the air, too, that she is wholly certain is caused by the ungodly heat of the place.
“You might’ve mentioned the second sun you guys are hiding in there.” The silver-paint calls out to Lexa as they make it to the border of trees. She has to admit, though, it is impressive. And loud. Perfect for making one’s way through the kingdom completely invisible and silenced by the constant noise throughout the place. She makes to move further into the dense wall of vines and leaves but stops suddenly. For the first time in her life, she is weighted by an occasion. This is it, Eila thinks to herself. Mother will never find me here. The monsters won’t either, she hopes, but she can’t be sure of that. “Can we go in?” Suddenly meek, she looks to the spotted girl for guidance. “I can’t wait to see my new home.”
Eila