Tangled By Fate

"Ahh… my back hurts." Veronica rubbed her buttocks. They were sore after sitting on a wooden sit for too long. She let out a deep breath and then inhaled sharply.

They reached the desert and got out of the carriage. The carriage couldn't move on the sandy land.

The Govin Desert was a vast land from what she had imagined. The whole place was covered in sand. Sometimes rocks could be seen here and there. The sun was practically glaring at them. It was so hot that everyone had to cover their bodies head to toe. It was a completely different world from what she was used to.

The air around the desert was dry and different from the fresh air she would get from their town. She could smell the dry dustiness underlaid by a subtle herbal scent. She also detected the odor of camels as camels were waiting for them by the order of the king of Synetia. One camel carried two people and they started their journey to the Synetian camp.

The sunlight reflected on the sands and the sands easily heat up. Veronica looked behind and found some healers were already feeling sick. They lived under the snow covered mountains. They were not used to this kind of heat.

Veronica closed her eyes and tried to calm her heart. 'I shouldn't sway my heart. The weather doesn't make me sweaty. It's not half bad. I can get used to this weather.' Afterward, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

The relentless sun desiccated much, the wind blew the sand around them and this blowing sand ground the dry remains to dust.

She observed the golden ground carefully. She saw that the surface was often covered with a stabilizing layer of pebble armor that prevents the wind from picking up any more of the sand. "I kind of like this place," she spoke aloud without even realizing.;

"The smell of this camel is so unpleasant," the person with Veronica commented. It was the blonde girl with a mole under her left eye. She was sitting in front of Veronica.

"Oh, it must be hard for you then," Veronica sympathized. "I'm Veronica. IT's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm violet," the girl introduced herself. "And I can't find anything pleasant right now. I feel like puking."

Veronica suggested, "We can change our sitting position if you want."

"You are kind, Veronica." Violet then agreed to change their position.

[A/N: Veronica is too kind. I would never do that if I were her. I would purposely choose the backseat. My nose's life was at stake.]

Violet started to feel better after changing their positions. "How long will it take? I can't take this sunlight anymore."

Veronica replied, "I'm not sure. I couldn't understand what they were talking about. It has been a long time since I heard someone speaking in another language. I can understand Synetian language but I couldn't hear their conversation. They were standing too far away."

"Hey, did you hear that our fellow healers disappeared?" Violet brought up the subject abruptly. She wanted to know how much Veronica knew about this matter.

"I did. It made me upset. And I wanted to help in any way I could. And so, I volunteered." Veronica lied since she was told by Saint Ava not to speak about the conversation with the Head Priest.

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Saint Ava instructed her, "Forget everything about what conversation you had with Head Priest. No one can find out that you were being sent to investigate this matter in the guise of working as a healer."

"What should I tell them?" Veronica asked her.

Saint Ava responded, "Tell them that you volunteered. This way, others won't find you annoying. You can do some healing there for them to think that you can at least have some usefulness."

"Okay, I will do as you said," Veronica agreed.

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"You volunteered? That's unexpected!" Violet explained. She was surprised.

Mostly, people were scared of going to the war. Furthermore, Veronica wasn't a healer and she wasn't bought to go to the war, unlike other healers. For her to join them in free will was absolutely unexpected.

"Truthfully, I don't like war. People suffer greatly during the war. I want to help the helpless people as much as I can." The words came from the bottom of her heart. "That's why I decided to assist you all in the time of crisis."

Violet stated, "That's very noble of you. But, can you handle the task? I've been in a war once and it's quite horrible."

Veronica shook her head. "I don't know. I'm not sure if I can handle it. All I know is, I have to do something."

When Arthur told her what war truly was, she began to hate war. Knowing the risk of this journey, she accepted this order. She was scared to death but she had no one she could rely on on this matter. She couldn't see her future. All she could do was to prepare herself for some bloody scene.

It took almost five hours to reach their destination, the Synetian Camp in the Gove desert. There were hundreds of tents placed in order. They could see people gathered there. All of them were soldiers. The smell of blood, sweat, and dirty bodies filled the place.

Violet was sensitive toward the smell. She covered her mouth. "This is worse than the smell of the camel."

Veronica snickered. She knew it was rude of her to laugh at someone else's misery but she found it funny.

A man in armor came forward and greeted them, "It looks like everyone has arrived. Welcome to our camp. What happened a month ago was an unfortunate occasion. We know you came here knowing the risk and we appreciate it." He was a tall guy with a muscled body. His blonde hair was tied as a ponytail. His sharp eyes were observing every healer, trying to find a spy from the enemy side.

He added, "I'm Major General Orion. My secretary, Emily, will take you to your tent. Please rest for the day. In the evening, we will instruct you about your mission."

"Thank you, Major General," the healers shared their gratitude.