“I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name, it felt good to be—”

Bree sighed. “Seriously, Eve?”

Eve laughed. “Come on, it’s a road trip, it needs music.”

“It’s not a road trip,” Bree retorted. “We’re just trying to get back home.”

Eve shrugged. “Same difference.”

“I like Evelyn’s singing,” Cat pointed out.

“See?” said Eve, cheekily.

The four of them — Bree, Cat, Oliver and Eve — were traveling through the desert south of the Skeleton Ridge. So far, it didn’t look quite like what Eve had imagined deserts should look like. I mean, everyone’s seen those pictures of the Sahara, the ones with tall sand dunes all around, shaping what could well be called an ocean of sand. Terra Desert wasn’t quite like that. The terrain was mostly flat, the dry soil was cracked, and there was some vegetation, albeit rather little. And, apparently, Bree didn’t like Eve’s attempt to give their little adventure a musical backdrop.

“On a dark desert highwaaaay...”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake, Evelyn, not that one!” Bree exclaimed, dismally. “I thought you liked punk music.”

“I like all music,” said Eve. “Punk speaks to the soul, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun with other stuff too.”

“Who’s Pete?” Cat asked.

“Nobody,” said Bree, “it’s just a manner of speaking.”

The group rode together in silence for a while. The silent treatment from Bree was beginning to make Eve worried that she might have pissed Bree off. She was even beginning to consider an apology, when suddenly—

“I shot the sheriiiiiiff...” Bree sang.

Eve laughed. As it turns out, music itself wasn’t the problem. Bree simply didn’t care for Evelyn’s song choices.

“...but I did not shoot the deputy,” Eve completed. For the next two minutes, Bree and Eve had fun together singing Eric Clapton and laughing at each other. Bree was a surprisingly good singer. Eve was about to start on “Layla”, when the other girl interrupted her.

“Eve, stop. Wait.”

She pulled Antares’ reins, bringing her to a halt. Cat and Oliver did the same. Bree was looking around, as if trying to see something invisible among the rocks and scraggly bushes.

“What is it?” Eve whispered.

Bree shifted around in the saddle, uneasily. “It’s... nothing.” She shook her head, patted Antares’ neck, and resumed the journey. After a couple of minutes, though, it all happened again.

Eve sighed. “Bree why do you keep sto—” and then she saw it. A fleeting glimpse of something red, moving quickly around the group, hiding behind the rocks.

“Who’s there?” Bree called. She dismounted Antares, and Eve quickly realized she should do the same. Eve kept one hand at the hilt of Oliver’s sword, worried. It couldn’t be another wyvern, could it? It was daytime, and they were not in the Wilderness anymore.

There was a moment of silence, and then a scream from somewhere behind her.

Eve turned around to look, worried. It was Cat. She had fallen on her back, and there was a stranger standing on top of her, pointing a spear at her face. Before any of them could think of how to react to that situation, Oliver too was pushed off his horse by another stranger. Then Evelyn felt a kick on her back and plunged to the ground, scraping her arms as she tried to use them to break the fall. She tasted dirt, wiped her mouth with one hand and realized it was bleeding. As she turned on her back to look, Eve saw another of those strangers pointing a spear at her. Eve stared into the stranger’s eyes: they looked fierce.

There was more movement around the group. Eve glanced quickly, and realized they were surrounded by warriors riding — I kid you not — giant lizards. Their clothes were made of leather, dyed in shades of red. They wore body paint that resembled the war paint from an old history schoolbook Eve once had. And their spears... looked quite sharp and deadly, all right.

“Why is it that nobody is ever happy to see us?” Eve asked, annoyed.

“Who are you?!” asked the stranger who had knocked her down. At first, Eve had thought that she’d been ambushed by highly trained warriors. But after a more attentive look, Eve realized that the girl who was standing above her couldn’t really be much older than Bree or herself. And she was a cutie, too. Eve might have even tried flirting, if not for the deadly spear pointed right at her face.

“Oh would you look at that? Bandits!” she mocked. “What’s a little trip through the desert without running into some muggers and assassins, right?”

Beside her, Bree wailed. “Eve, for once in your life, could you please stop with the sarcastic tirades? It’s not doing us any favors, you know.”

“If anyone’s a bandit here, it’s you people. You’re trespassing into our territory. Who are you?!” the woman repeated. She pressed the spear lightly against Eve’s forehead, as a threat. She had a firm grip, but her aim seemed a little off, no? You’d need something better than a spear to pierce through someone’s skull.

“Easy,” Eve told her, tapping the side of the spear. “We’re just travelers.” She began to enumerate them, pointing at each one as she spoke: “I’m Evelyn, this is Bree, that one over there is Catherine, and the boy is Oliver. The horses are Antares, Sirius, and... oh hey, we actually do have a horse with no name, that’s kinda cool.”

Bree sighed. “Eve, please...”

“What are you doing in our territory,” the stranger pressed. “And don’t you dare lie, our lizards can smell a liar.”

That, Evelyn found even more intriguing. “What, really?! Sweet! But how does that work, exactly? ‘Cause I sort of read about lie detectors in the past, and they don’t seem to be much better than chance. If those lizards are the real deal, whoo boy, that would be awesome.”

“You know, Evelyn,” said Cat, “I kind of agree with Brianna this time. You’re not helping. Shut up.”

“Umm... yes, ma’am,” said Eve, embarrassed.

Cat turned her eyes to the woman who had addressed the group, and called: “Are you the People of the Rose? You are, right? I’ve heard stories about you.” The girl took in a deep breath, then started singing.

When kings and queens storm out the land

A wayward soul too close to sand

Is bound to hear the first ones’ call

The hundred peoples underground

And those who seek not to be found

Take shelter where the rain won’t fall.

It was... a lullaby?

Eve sighed. Why was Cat singing a lullaby? I hate to break it to you, Cat, but if your plan is to make these people fall asleep, this isn’t exactly the best way to go about it.

But it seemed to cause an impression on their attackers, nevertheless. The woman who was standing over Eve stared at Cat in disbelief.

“How do you know that song?” she asked.

The man who’d been pointing a spear at Cat’s face took a couple of steps back, respectfully, allowing for her to get to her feet. Cat looked around at the warriors who were surrounding the group, and announced:

“I am Catherine of Terra. My mother was Rhea of Terra. But your people had a different name for her.” Cat locked eyes with the girl who’d been threatening Eve. “She was Memory of Rain, a woman of the Rose.”

Several people started exchanging whispers all of a sudden. But they weren’t the only ones surprised.

“Hold on, you’re Rhea’s daughter?!” exclaimed Oliver, stupefied. You could clearly see the outrage beginning to brew in his eyes. “Queen Rhea?! You’re... princess Catherine of Terra?! Daughter of the King Leon the Fierce?!”

Cat looked at him with an apologetic expression. “Sorry,” she whispered. Eve stared between the two of them, flabbergasted. Did she hear that right?! Cat was a princess?! How come?! She turned her eyes to Bree, and saw that her sister looked serene in face of that declaration.

“I kind of figured,” said Bree. “I heard stories, those two days I spent behind bars.”

And suddenly, all the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together in Evelyn’s mind. The two of them had first met Cat inside a castle, from which she was trying to flee. Cat knew her way around rather well, too. Not to mention her curse, and the spells she used at the time. “Everyone in the royal family is involved with witchcraft”, she’d said. And didn’t Bree say that she’d been arrested on charges of kidnapping a princess? Well, of course it would look that way. A couple of suspicious people show up, pretending to be part of the castle staff, then steal horses in the same night that Cat goes missing. And so many other things, too! It was so goddamn obvious Eve could kick herself for not noticing it sooner.

Cat was, at that moment, ignoring the others. She spoke only to the warriors, or the People of the Rose, as she’d called them.

“What did you come here for?” asked the woman from before. She’d completely forgotten to threaten Evelyn with the spear, by then. Cat was walking toward her.

“We are travelers,” she explained. “We seek only to cross the desert in peace. We do not mean any harm.”

“Well, you’re honest,” said the woman, looking at the lizards for confirmation. “But what about the others?”

Cat nodded, and looked around at the group, first Oliver, then the two sisters. “Wayward souls,” she announced. “One is searching for his long-lost father. The other two are from a different world, brought here by witchcraft. And we all...” she took a deep breath, and averted her eyes. “...seek not to be found.”

The people who were threatening them retreated, allowing Bree, Oliver and Evelyn to get up.

“You won’t make it far in the direction you were headed,” said the Rose woman. “There’s a sandstorm brewing. Those can be quite dangerous, if you’re unable to find shelter.”

“Then I presume it is good fortune that we met,” Cat replied. Eve scoffed. Good fortune? she thought, exasperated. We almost got killed.

“My name is Light of Stars,” said the Rose woman. “I did not know your mother, Catherine of Terra, but it’s not a trait of our people to mistreat travelers who come with no ill will. And it would be unwise to remain out here much longer. Come with us. You can wait in our home until the sandstorm eases.”