Promise: The Scarred Girl by Maya Shepherd

are still in their gates, which means it must be early in the morning. Hope pushes a bowl of cold water into her hands so she can wash her face. Just as the first drop falls upon her face, the barn door creaks open, followed by a loud barking dog. Urelitas enters in his bright yellow robe. Faith and Hope kneel on their knees and Nea joins in when she sees them prostrate themselves before the priest. “Greetings, High Priest!”
    Some time passes before Urelitas says, “Good morning, followers of the one true faith!”
    He seems to love showing off his power. Nea is just glad she does not have to kiss the stupid ring again. Faith and Hope are focused on him, but her eyes wander mutely around the barn, she does not dare look directly at Urelitas. They are very afraid of him and Urelitas seems to know this because he enjoys dragging this out and making it even more intimidating for Hope and Faith.
    “It is a great honor for you to be selected by me to travel to Fortania. You are aware that this is only because you have been a member of Carris for so long. If anything goes wrong, it will be your first and last time, do you understand me?”
    They both nod in a hurry, while Nea’s heart starts to feel even heavier. She did not want to hurt anyone and now the twins that have received her so warmly into their midst will soon be hurt in a big way. Secretly she wishes she were able to resist her conscience and seal her thoughts about betraying them away. But her conscience is feeling guilty, even though she has not betrayed them yet. Even though it has not happened, she feels as though it has.
    Urelitas now turns to her. “Spread the message on your path of chaos and punish the unbelievers. Who knows, maybe Ereb will send you back to me.”
    Nea’s stomach cramps when she sees his smug grin.
    “It was an honor to meet you,” she politely replies and lowers her head in mock humility. She appears to feel she is inferior to him, but she knows inside that she is not.
    Again he remains there briefly before her. But then he finally leaves with the words, “Ereb is chaos, chaos is Ereb.” He exits the barn and the moment the door closes behind him, Hope and Faith breathe a sigh of relief.
    “I thought I would pass out when he came around us. We’ve known him for years, but he is still no less frightening.” Hope says excitedly.
    “How was your commander in chief?” Faith asks Nea.
    “He was a part of our unit, the only difference was he wore a yellow robe,” Nea says.
    “I am so happy you get to go back with us.” They both grin conspiratorially at Nea. Nea would prefer to run away rather than continue to lie to them.
    A few minutes later, they pack up their sleeping bags and leave the village. As soon as the village is behind them, Hope pushes a small loaf of still-warm bread and a bottle of milk into Nea’s hand. “When you have a long journey ahead of you, you should at least have some breakfast. Urelitas says those who pray to Ereb need no food and should free their selves from earthly needs, but our bellies do not quite understand that.” The fact that they are so faithful makes them more sympathetic.
    The bread is delicious. The dog stares at her with ever so trusting eyes wanting her to give her some bread. But Nea does not want to seem to be disrespectful and ungrateful, but then Hope is the first to throw the dog a piece. “Who could resist those eyes?” She giggles and then Faith throws him the next piece. She throws a piece of bread into the air, only to see the dog jump and catch it in the air. Not a single piece touches the ground. In the end, the dog eats as much bread as the three women.
    Around noon, they pass one of the fields where the slaves work. When the twins see that they grow strawberries, they view this as a perfect time for a little break and run to the guards on the field. Nea feels uncomfortable when she feels the contemptuous glances of the slaves themselves. A little boy causes her to be