“Glen was a farmer, father to Cayson and Mariella and married to Juno. He marks the nineth person killed by the angel. He hadn’t paid his taxes because of poor harvest; he was jailed a week ago for his crimes.”
A weight sat on our chests as Arin read the paper, informing us the poor person that paid for our sins. It wasn’t enough for the council to say they would send people down to the slums and depths of Brighster, no, they had to print it out and tell everyone why this person should live. They framed it like it was all Sora’s fault, as if he forced their hand.
The first made people riot, it was an innocent woman by the name of Robin. Then, they decided to empty the prisons. It didn’t matter what your crime was or if you were supposed to wait there for your punishment, you could be sent to Brighster.
Tarvo, Watt, Imren, Fevzi, Zekvud, Emilie, Evelyn and now Glen had all been punished. Imren and Fevzi were married, their children now left abandoned. Zekvud was one of our spies who was reporting these terrible actions; he paid the price.
They were still alive, but no one came back from the camps. Not alive.
Sora hadn’t talked to me in a week, he would mingle around but wouldn’t stick around when Arin came to camp.
I felt completely helpless.
“How many more must we condemn! We have to fight back. Now!”
As usual, Vivian was leading her charge, and each day she got more and more supporters. Friends and family would cry for help and we could do nothing but give food and water to them.
Sure, it was helping, but I couldn’t leave camp. Arwen had done some trips; he described the people as lifeless. No one wanted to leave their houses, you do anything wrong and now Brighster was the threat.
“We have to wait a little longer. The council is upset by these actions, more and more races are opposing the dragons. Wait and-”
Vivian jumped off the table, facing off Althea. “How much longer, huh? Are you even doing anything?”
“I am!” She shifter, her snake tail making her taller than Vivian. “I speak out about this to every council member and family of the council members. Umari Wise is now standing with me and Lady Yvonne.”
“Wow, the wizards and humans don’t like the dragons. News flash, they have had problems for years! Humans have no power in court and we all know it.”
“Viv, Althea, how about-”
“Shut up Tristen.” She flashed out her knife, pointing it at his throat. “You knew Tarvo, we all went to school together. This isn't right and no one is doing anything!”
No one spoke because Vivian was right.
Camp life had been drained away, day by day. Singing at dinner stopped, we didn’t share stories and laughter died. We didn’t even plan anymore, we just sat and cried for the innocents.
The crowd slowly dispersed, leaving Vivian upset and alone. She ended up shouted and going back to Master Ixon like she did every day, complaining about how we were useless.
I hadn’t felt like this in forever.
I relied on my experience, building relationships and pushing just enough for the story. Sora and I hadn’t even talked on my birthday for the first time since I met him.
“Hey, let’s go visit Mara?”
I looked up at Arwen and shook my head. He had been supporting me, but I just felt guilty every time he did. I wasn’t supposed to be leaning on Arwen, I was supposed to be a support for Sora instead.
“Thanks, but I’m tired. Maybe tomorrow.”
We all knew I was lying.
I ended up wandering through the hallways, brushing my hand against the rough rock. Because I’ve been walking around for the past eight days, I’ve gotten know my way around pretty well. I also talked to Hastrini, she and her friends had helped dig these tunnels.
There was nothing to do here but think, which was good and bad.
I realized how much I had messed up this lifetime. I did most of it without Sora; pushing him too far. He should have decided to leave, who would join us and what we would do.
I felt too much for Arwen; I’ve been avoided him too. But it was for the story, I couldn't worry about two people, Arwen wasn’t any of my business. It hurt to see him, me avoided him caused him pain.
Anything for the good of the story.
“Hello?”
I heard a soft voice, followed by a sniffle. I turned left to see little Pearl curled up in a ball as she cried; her long wavy hair making a curtain around her face.
“Oh Pearl!” I ran over, stopping further away to not scare her too much. “Do you remember me; I know your Re-Father.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything else. The girl was terribly shy and I had no idea why she would even walk around without Dominic.
“What are you doing out here alone? You lost?”
She nodded once more. Do I leave and get help, or should I stay and comfort her? Would I even be comforting her? But being left alone was also quite scary in these caves. Oh, now I was doubting everything!
“Ma and baba fight too, you know.”
I glanced over, a little surprised she had even talked to me.
“I hear them, though they don’t like it when I listen in. But I don’t like it when people fight.”
“Did, you came down here for me?”
“Yeah,” She uncurled a little, showing more of her face. “I wanted to help, but I got lost.”
“I get lost too, sometimes. I think they should have carved arrows in the walls while they were digging.” I got a giggle in response.
“Think about it though, if you have no windows, you can’t see anything. I’ll need to talk to Aratmar about this so both of us don’t get lost anymore.”
Pearl gave another smile and dropped her hands to her shoes.
“Sora is sad too; I walk past him and he’s always laying down. I tried to talk to him but he never answered.”
“Oh, don’t talk it too hard. I hurt him really badly and it’s my problem.”
“I saw Arin exit though one time; she still had the paper. I think he feels bad, Pa keeps saying he wants to do something but that scares me.”
I sat closer and stared at the ceiling, wishing the answers were written in the stone.
“Me too. All of this is scary, I don’t want Sora to get hurt. But if we don’t do anything a lot more people could get hurt. Tough choices are everywhere when you are fighting for what you believe in.”
We all wanted to fight, but there weren’t enough of us. Fear was too strong and the only way to break that fear could get Sora killed. I couldn’t do anything it seemed.
“How old are you, Pearl? Do you talk about this at school?”
She shook her head so fast, I thought she would get dizzy. “Oh no! That’s the one rule and I follow it because I know it would hurt Ma and Pa and I don’t want that to happen at all. But we do talk about the people getting hurt, my friends aren’t happy either. But I’m twelve, I’m not even an apprentice yet.”
Most people don’t think about children. When I first met the wizards, I wasn’t even seen as a threat because I’m smaller. Children get away with anything and can get anywhere.
“Pearl, I think I just got an idea on what we should do, come on!”
I grabbed her hand and began to run, our laughter filling the halls. I may have gotten lost, but the smile never left her face and we did end up reaching Master Ixon.
“Master!”
Vivian was sitting, slouched in her chair with her arms folded. I ran past her, standing next to the old man.
“I have an idea on how to reach the people and get more fighters!”
“What? You have an idea?”
“Woah, love the faith you have in us. Anyway, this is Pearl, Dominic’s daughter.” She gave a small wave, staying at my side. “We need to reach the people and I thought of the papers printed by the council. We could do the same thing, telling them to have faith and how to help their neighbors. Maybe even on how to get some people out of the prisons.”
“Interesting, but how do we reach these people?”
“That’s where Pearl comes in. Adults don’t question little children running around or talking at school. They can listen to the adults and pass over papers. We don’t include our base but we can have meetings. The council won’t see it coming.”
“Parents can go out with their children and the harpies wouldn't even attack. Nothing seems out of place for children to play. And if they get caught, who will believe the words of a child?”
For once, Vivian was silent and I hid my own smirk.
“That, dear Yasmin, is a wonderful idea. Pearl, I think we have a mission just for you.”
Pearl’s smile made me forget about all of my worries and that flicker of hope glowed just a bit brighter.
Comments (0)
See all