The Enchantment of Shattered Illusions - Chapter 4

The hem of a grey skirt brushed against dry shrubs as dark brown botas walked placidly along an unseen path. Zalli had her arms crossed with her shawl trapped in between as she contemplated her previous day. Only a few months had passed since her unanimous election, but she assumed she would have mastered the council’s system by now.

She had once again spoken out of turn. A bout of passion about the topic had given her a rise and made her impatient. Council member Poton reprimanded her in front of everyone, speaking to her like a child. She wasn’t even the youngest one there, as she was five months older than Necalli. He had two years of experience over her, though, so he was well-respected by their peers. It seemed like he always had his suggestions and ideas chosen over hers, too.

Zalli sighed in frustration. She was not too sure if she could hold up to her mother’s legacy.

Not knowing what else to do, and feeling comfortable she was alone on the outskirts of her town, she let out a cathartic shriek, which caused some nearby birds to fly away in alarm.

Seeming slightly better, she walked towards the edge of the forest, hoping to sit by the river and relax. Just as she was about to cross the threshold of branches, she heard a tinkling sound, like soft bells, which stopped her in her tracks.

Zalli recognized the chiming could be fairies passing through, and she meant to mind her business, but as she paid closer attention, she realized the sound felt urgent as it seemed rushed and panicked.

Without a second thought, she changed her course to follow the source and see if she could offer any help. As she walked along the edge, she heard the bell sounds get louder, and before she knew it, she saw two orbs of light floating above shrubbery.

The orbs would switch between moving in a flurry and hovering, as if contemplating a plan, before zipping around again.

“Excuse me, are you in trouble, do you need any help?”

She asked with some distance between them, not wanting to cause them any more distress than what they were already experiencing. The yellow orb must have heard her first as it stopped mid-air at eye level with Zalli.

After a long pause, the orb flew to her with such a fierce determination she thought it aimed to attack her. Luckily, that was not the case, as it gave a hard stop in front of her face before speaking to her.

“Can you please help us? My friend is stuck under a rock and we can’t get her out. I fear her life is in danger if we wait much longer!”

“Sure. Please, lead the way.”

Zalli held concern for the poor, trapped fairy and hastened to follow the yellow orb as the fairy brought her to her friend. The other orb, a blue color, was moving side to side in what one can assume was anxiety, as Zalli arrived at the scene.

The first fairy arrived next to the rock and prompted the council member to lift it. With no hesitation, she did as she was told and saw a dimmed green orb underneath the rubble she tossed away.

“Oh, Tepi!”

Tepi?

“Thank you so much! Thank you, thank you.”

The blue orb was hovering around her face, leaving soft touches on Zalli’s cheeks—she couldn’t see what was going on, so she could only assume the fairy was kissing her in gratitude—while the yellow orb went next to their injured friend to check on their condition.

“Xi, come here. I need your help in healing her.”

The blue fairy left Zalli and was by the yellow fairy’s side in an instant. Together, their fairy light overlapped into a soft green light as they emitted a white light over the green fairy.

Zalli stood by awkwardly, waiting in the hope that the green fairy’s condition would become better. It seemed like it was going to take a while, so she dropped to sit with her feet tucked underneath her.

As she sat idly, she felt a prickling sensation overcome her, like she was being watched. Zalli turned her head to peer into the nearby foliage, making sure there was no predator animal, like a jaguar or wolf, trying to attack for its next meal.

She continued to search with her eyes until the yellow fairy flew in front of her vision, catching her attention.

“Young maiden, thank you for your aid. Our friend is alive and well, but she is still in critical condition. We need accommodations to ensure her full recovery. Do you think we can lodge with you for a while until she is ready to move on her own?”

Zalli turned to look into the forest again to make sure nothing would come out before she responded.

“Yes, absolutely. If you would like, I can carry her in my hand, and we can head to my home right now.”

“Please, please, yes, let’s go.”

As Zalli brought her hand down so the two fairies could gently lift the green one into her palm, she looked one last time to search between the trees. Immediately, she made eye contact with deep, blue eyes, observing not the situation occurring before them but placed solely on her.

They appeared to be hungry, but for what, Zalli did not know. They seemed to be too humanlike to be considered as belonging to an animal, but she knew most likely whoever they belonged to, the creature was still a predator.

They needed to leave immediately unless Zalli wanted to find out what the intentions of the unknown entity were.

This time, the blue orb was in front of her, grabbing her attention away from the ethereal, but deadly, gaze.

“We are ready to leave.”

Zalli nodded in agreement and focused on the facial features of the blue fairy before her.

Tia Xilo?

The thought flew through her mind before it disappeared just as quickly as it arrived. She stood up carefully, securing the fragile fairy in her palm. While she walked with the two fairies, they were chittering to her about how the rock fell from the sky. It appeared two ravens were trying to fight for it before it dropped onto their friend.

Zalli only half listened; her attention was stolen to the pine trees, still trying to gauge who the eyes belonged to.

. . •⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ . .

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

“Zalli, mijita. Are you awake? It’s past your usual wake-up time. Is everything alright?”

Groggily opening up her eyes, Zalli looked around her bedroom as she tried to decipher her situation. She looked from the door to her bedside lamp—which was still on from the night before—and she realized something in sudden thought: Oh crap; I slept in! She propelled herself from under her sheets, which brought papers to fly all over the floor.

“Eh, just a moment. I’m awake now. I’ll be down soon!”

Once she finished responding, her door opened and showed it was her tía on the other side, with a concerned expression on her face.

“¿Qué paso, mija? Are you tired? You don’t have to work the fields today if you don’t want to. You can take a rest.”

Zalli was busy scrambling on the floor, trying to pick up the wayward documents she had knocked over from her lap. Keeping her promise to Necalli, she finally read the contents of the envelope left by the Yoltzin Group. She was determined to read all of it in one go, which meant it kept her up way past her usual bedtime.

“No, no, it’s fine. I just got carried away with this stupid thing.”

Looking up at her tía holding the almost-put-together packet, she suddenly froze in her place. From this angle, her Tia Xilo looked different. She looked younger, her hair was now more vivid, and she seemed to have a glow around her. It was like she had this blue aura that shimmered around her form.

“Are you ... sure you’re alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Zalli stood up in alarm and shook her head as if trying to rattle her brain into good senses. Now standing, she saw her tía was back to her usual looking self: she had fine lines around her eyes, her hair returned to its pale green, and she had no light surrounding her body.

“Yes, I’m ... okay.”

She rubbed her eyes as Tia Xilo bent down to pick up the last of the papers that had fallen to the floor. Once she handed them to Zalli, she went to give her a kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll see you downstairs. Take your time.”

Her tía left with a soft closing of the door, leaving Zalli by herself with Huizi, who was still on the bed.

After taking a breath to settle herself, Zalli left the packet on her dresser and got to dress in a rush. Today, she needed to figure out the inventory of her flowers to determine how much she could actually use for the festival.

She moved at a fast pace, not even thinking about waking up her sister today. After she was done freshening up, she sprinted down the stairs and then entered the kitchen to find a snack to eat for breakfast.

Her abuela tried to slow her down and have her eat a full meal, but Zalli didn’t think she had the time for it.

“I will eat a big lunch, I swear. But for now, the manzana is good enough for me.”

She held up an apple in each hand to assure Abuela Ezi, but it did little considering the expression her abuela held was one of skepticism. Either way, Zalli left before anyone could force food into her mouth and was out the back door without delay.

Alright. I have a good feeling about today. I might have started it rough, but it can only get better from here. She thought this while taking a few bites from her fruit, hoping the positive energy she sent out would return to her as excellent results.

“Aurozalli! You’re looking lovely today!”

She cringed vehemently as she recognized who the voice from over her shoulder belonged to. Slowly turning around, with an apple currently in her mouth, she found the same annoying man from yesterday peering at her from the other side of her fence—Sr. Yoltzin.

Zalli finished her bite aggressively before wiping away any juice that dripped down using the back of her wrist. She looked at him with mistrust, trying to figure out if his statement was genuine, or if he was making fun of her.

She just knew her hair looked like a bird’s nest since she didn’t care to brush it today, and only threw it up sloppily into a bun. She was aware she carried bags under her eyes since she experienced a disturbed sleep routine, which was his fault, by the way. As for her clothes, she wore a baggy t-shirt and baggy jeans with her work boots—something she would be fine getting dirt on since she would be out in her fields.

Figuring it must be the second option, she rolled her eyes in annoyance and turned away to walk toward her little barn.

“Aurozalli, wait! I thought we could finish our conversation from yesterday.”

She didn’t respond to the man as she met with Churro’s head hanging over the barn door. She gave her friend her second apple and petted him a few times as she took a bite of her own. Then, she turned around to find Sr. Yoltzin still at her fence with his hands gripping the edge as he waited for a response from her.

She moved to him with every intention of telling him to “get out”, but his forearms, currently exposed from his sleeves being rolled up, distracted her. Though he carried a slim build, his arms clearly showed toned and firm muscles.

The CEO cleared his throat, bringing Zalli away from her admiration and reminding her she needed to get him to leave.

“You should go. My stance is still strong in my decision.”

“Can’t we at least discuss the terms in your contract? I am pretty flexible with the conditions.”

She chewed through her last bite, giving her time to decide, and perhaps to make the man wait in anticipation, not wanting to give him a prompt response.

“Well ... I am curious about what you had put together on the documents. We can talk. But know it will not give you any advantage.”

“Great.”

He smiled handsomely and waited patiently while the farmer unlocked the gate door to let him through.

“I need to grab my notes. Just wait right out here.”

Zalli directed him to stand in front of the barn while she went through the entrance, leaving the door open. She disappeared into the shadowy tack room, which left the CEO alone with the donkey.

He stood with his hands in his pockets, looking over the fields, when suddenly he felt hot, wet breath near his neck. The donkey had left its enclosure and was standing in front of Calip, staring. It was staring at him like he was mere scum underneath its hooves.

He took one step away, a means to offer comfort to the sudden stare-down he was having with the creature, but it only took one step forward to maintain the distance it established. The lean man looked around, hoping someone would come to his help, but, to his dismay, it was only him and the donkey present.

“Uh. Hiya buddy.”

Calip spoke to it with a friendly tone, but the mammal only shook its head aggressively and brayed loudly. At that moment, Zalli stepped out into the open with a clipboard and pen in her hand.

“Don’t mind Churro. He’s only saying hello.”

“Right. He doesn’t bite, does he?”

“Only if you’re an annoying twit.”

Zalli said this as she turned away, cuing to the CEO to follow her. As soon as he took a step onward, he heard a loud clacking sound behind him, followed by a soft bray. It caused him to jump in fear and pick up his pace to walk next to the interesting woman. I swear it’s laughing at me, he thought once he realized Churro meant to actually bite him.

“Alright, first question. Why are you offering so much to buy my farm? I know the value of my land right now, and what you are offering is almost double the cost.”

She brought her clipboard up to take notes while she made a count of the flowers of each bush they passed by. It caused them to linger, but Calip did not mind the pace.

“I understand what I am propositioning is a huge upheaval of someone’s life. I’d rather prefer my client’s transition be easy, whether they decide to stay on the land or not.”

“What are your intentions with the town—seeing how you’re buying the surrounding land—what is your goal?”

Calip did not answer, as he was too distracted by the slender curve of the farmer’s neck as she looked down to scribble her numbers. Noticing the silence, Zalli brought her gaze up to stare at the businessman, causing him to respond. He did it languidly though, as if he did not care if he were to get caught in his ogling.

“It’s easier for economic growth to prosper in a juvenile town like yours. I can monopolize the business to further cultivate my enterprise.”

She gave a subtle look of disgust as they took a couple of steps forward. Her reaction only amused him.

“That’s not a good set-up for a healthy economy. Business needs competition.”

“And my business needs absolute control. I conquer and take what’s mine.”

“You didn’t play well as a child, did you?”

Zalli paused her footsteps to look straight on at Sr. Yoltzin. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one side as she judged him with full force.

“I play very well. I can show you anytime. If you want.”

He brought his head down to make direct eye contact with the woman before him. He crossed his arms in a comfortable pose while he sent a flirtatious smile in her direction.

“Ew. Only in your wildest dreams, Yoltzin.”

“In yours too. And it’s Cal.”

Zalli grunted in exasperation. She stepped away to continue her inventory check.

“Why are you letting any of the families stay—wouldn’t it be better for your business if you forced us all off?”

He crouched down to smell a nearby rose.

“The illusion of choice is a wonderful thing. Makes you think you have all the sovereignty in your position, when really, there is only one thing you can choose. The better option, of course.”

“So you’re going to force my family off my land then?!”

She halted all movement and waited with bated breath to see what he would say, already feeling like she knew the answer to her question. If she were a cat, she swore she would puff her tail up in indignation right now.

He remained crouched, but turned his head upward to softly gaze at her. From this angle, his exposed throat looked delectable enough to leave a love bite there. Maybe more if she could.

“No, actually. Your land is—different. What I need to do with it does not require for you or your family to leave.”

“What do you need to do with it?”

Zalli had her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. First, it was because of her passing thought from earlier. But, second, it was because the man before her was puzzling her.

“There’s something buried in your ground that I desperately need.”

Her eyes widened at the confession. She couldn’t believe he blatantly just said that. Even more bewildering, she somehow knew he was speaking the truth.

Men in power do not reveal all the cards they carry in their hands. There is always something they are trying to hide in order for them to carry the advantage. So, even though Zalli knew he spoke no lie, his disclosure did not give her confidence about his character—he had to be hiding something more. And as long as he was going to continue to bother her, she would figure out what that thing was.