by Cilla Raven
“Come on, let’s go,” she says, still smiling as she walks over to the cart, and I follow her without question because what else can I do? “We’ll get some food later. You know, you can sit in the front if you want. You don’t have to ride in the back if you don’t want to.”
I look at her like she’s sprouted horns and ask, “Why didn’t you say that yesterday?”
Priya just shrugs and says, “You hadn’t earned it yesterday.”
I chuckle a little at how quickly she answers me. “Oh, but somehow now, after trying to escape again last night, I’ve earned it?” I ask, while at the same time yelling at myself on the inside for fighting against her on this.
“Yup,” she says with a tone of finality as she climbs into the cart and reaches down to give me a hand up, and I take it gratefully with my bound hands, choosing not to question her reasoning anymore, and take my wins where I can get them.
The front of the cart was designed with fae and/or human transportation in mind. It has two bench seats that face each other, separated entirely from the back section, which could hold a ton of all kinds of things. In the very front is a smaller bench seat that Quinn is occupying as he drives us through the woods at a steady pace. Priya is sitting next to me, and Lazlo and Roan sit across from us, but nobody is talking as we leave our makeshift camp, and the quiet starts to get to me.
“Where are we headed now?” I ask.
Lazlo is the one that answers, but Roan starts making weird hand motions in front of him toward Priya that distract me from what Lazlo says. However, I do catch enough of what he says to understand that we slept in the forest that borders the outskirts of Tavatika, but that we’re heading back into the city to deliver more supplies or something like that.
Priya makes motions back at Roan, and I turn my head to Lazlo with a questioning stare.
“That’s the best way for Roan to speak,” he answers my unasked question. “Priya understands some Eruxian, and Roan understands some Tavatikan, but they made this language over time that seems to work out better for them than words sometimes.”
“Eruxian?” I ask, bewildered yet again.
Nobody ever gets out of Eruxus. Ever. Unless they’re the Ambassador, that is. Everyone turns to look at me with humor in their eyes and hidden secrets behind their smiles.
“Roan is a third-generation Eruxian,” Priya smiles like I’m supposed to know what in fae that means.
“What?” I ask, completely thrown.
Lazlo laughs and says, “You think the bounties you send to Eruxus don’t get down after they’re exiled? Or that they wouldn’t have children with wings? Oh, how naïve our little Ghosty is.”
“That’s just,” I hear myself say, but the rest of my words die on my lips as an entirely new concept forms in my brain: the fact that Eruxus probably isn’t as desolate as I’ve thought it was up until now. I mean, it’s in a land called The Bone Reach for fae’s sake; it’s no wonder I had the impression I had.
However, Lazlo’s point makes sense to me. We don’t castrate the fae that are sent there, we only de-wing them. To think that the males and females living there wouldn’t get together and have winged babies afterward, is naive, no matter how bad it makes me feel for thinking that way and being called out on it.
Lazlo watches me intently, and as my brain finally starts to understand what I’ve just learned, he laughs happily when I look back at Roan as if he shouldn’t exist. Then I think about those wings of his, and my mind is even further blown.
That’s why they’re multicolored… he’s a mixed breed fae. But, ugh. That sounds bad. It seems like I have a problem with mixing up the ranks when I absolutely don’t, I think to myself as Lazlo continues to stare at me.
“I can see everything you think as you think it, Ghosty. It’s written all over your face,” he laughs wickedly, and quickly I slam my mask of impassivity down on my features again, shocked that I’d forgotten it in the first place.
The rest of the ride is passed in relative silence. There are a few hand gestures displayed between Priya and Roan, and occasionally, Lazlo turns around in his seat to talk to Quinn, but for the most part, I’m left alone with my thoughts as we travel.
Soon enough though, we are back in the ‘city,’ but as I gaze around, it is so far from anything I’ve ever seen that it takes my breath away.
All of the buildings are in major disrepair, and some even have their roofs caved in. Still, even with a caved-in upstairs, some of the dilapidated buildings seem occupied, like people actually live there. Everything is filthy, and as I look at the humans that are everywhere I can see, I realize they’re just as dirty as the buildings around them, if not more so.
A dog runs past us, and I can see his ribs. Children run through the streets, but they aren’t laughing as they run, and I notice they’re almost as thin as the dog I saw.
Heartbreak and utter despair are all I can feel as we ride through, and pretty soon it gets to be too much. A pained gasp escapes my throat, and tears blind me as I send my hands to the side of the cart, watching as the farther we go, the worse everything seems to get.
Priya surprises me when she puts a light hand on my thigh, and I look over at her, tears slipping out onto my cheeks.
“Is this your first time seeing the slums, Mika?” I want to think she’s mocking me for a second, but I quickly dismiss that thought because her concern seems so genuine.
I can’t speak through the lump that’s formed in my throat, but I’m able to nod at her in response. She nods back at me as she looks around too. “I had the same reaction when I came here for the first time to see my parents,” she says, and my heart breaks even more at what she must think of this place and the people that put her parents here.
People like me. Royals, nobles, and aristocrats.
The high fae.
No wonder she joined the rebels.
I glance over at Roan to see that he’s staring at me with wide eyes full of emotion. I can see surprise and worry, but most of all, I see remorse, and I think I know exactly why he’s looking at me like this.
He thought I knew.
He thought I knew about this travesty we’re riding through, but now he knows I didn’t because of how I’m reacting to everything I’m seeing, and the compassion I see on his face just has more tears falling down my face.
“Don’t worry, Ghosty,” Lazlo speaks up, and I turn my head to look at him questioningly. “We’re here to give them food. All that in the back there is being dropped off here. They’re the ones who need it the most.”
My mouth drops open as I look at him, considering what he’s actually saying. “Where did you get all of this to give to them in the first place?” I can’t help but ask.
Lazlo smiles knowingly before he says, “Not from the trade routes, but from donations made in Tavatika Proper. We give them as much as we can. Food, money, gems, the whole nine.”
I spin around to look at the full load in the back of the cart and whip back around quickly. “But this is nowhere near enough to feed all these people!” I say, worry seeping through my words.
Lazlo’s smile fades as he says, “No, it’s not enough. It will never be enough.”
“These people don’t work, so they don’t have much to fall back on,” Priya says.
My mind is swirling, wondering why. “Why don’t they work?” I ask, knowing that to these fae, I’m probably flaunting my naivety at this point, but I can’t find it in me to care. I just want to know what’s going on and how places like this are even allowed to exist.
“These people are made up of humans who can’t find a job being a servant and fae that have had their wings cut off. No one is ever going to hire them. The most they can hope for are our regular shipments from inside the city,” Priya explains, and again, I’m left staring at her with my mouth hanging open for a second before another thought occurs to me.
“Can they plant their own food, maybe grow their own meat? They’ve got the land, right?”
Priya listens intently to him, and then translates as best she can. “I think he’s saying you should know the law forbids it… basically.”
“What do you mean, the law forbids it? The Tava pride themselves on being able to feed all of Arorial,” I say, thoroughly confused by everything they’re telling me.
Priya shakes her head as she says, “‘Those with jobs can afford to eat. Those that can’t work don’t deserve to.’ That’s the law, and it prevents the people living in the slums from being able to do anything to offset their own hunger. They even have a few high ranking fae living here in big mansions to ensure no one crosses that line and starts up a farm or anything like that. But you can bet that tight ass of yours that they get their cartfuls of supplies and food from the city every week.”
At that, I’m fucking furious.
I’m so angry and outraged, it’s hard to sit still.
My fucking father. Extol. They’re to blame for this… this fucking genocide, I think, as my sadness turns into a blinding rage that I’m just barely able to contain.
“There’s that anger we have in common,” Lazlo says as he looks at me with his head cocked to the side, and in this moment, I couldn’t agree with him more.
“We’re here,” Quinn says as he stops the cart and turns around on his bench seat. “Come with me, Mika. I think what we’re about to do might cheer you up a bit.”
I’m so lost in my anger, I don’t even argue with him as I jump down from the cart and make my way over to him.
“If I take the rope off of your hands so you can help us hand out this food, do you promise me you’re not going to take off?” he asks as he gently grabs my bound hands in his.
I don’t have to think about that answer. There’s no way in fae I’m not going to help feed these people if I can. “I promise you I won’t run away,” I say, and I mean it, through and through.
Quinn tries to hide the smile on his face by covering it up quickly, but I saw it, and as he unties the rope around my hands, I can’t help but feel the tingly feeling that flows through me at the sight of it.
Once my hands are set free, I nearly moan and cry at the same time since I’m finally able to move them again. But I can’t think about that for long because a few short minutes later, we’re unloading the cart and handing out boxes, crates, and bags of food to the gathering crowd. The looks on everyone’s faces that I hand something to is thoroughly gut-wrenching because they’re all so grateful, but I know that what I’m giving them will in no way suffice for long.
Too soon, the cart is emptied of everything but the Doconqueh’s luggage. Those that are still waiting around, hoping for their own helping, turn away with the pained acceptance of their reality and the sight is enough to make me want to scream at the top of my lungs, in spite of the fact that I know it won’t do them any good.
As the people disperse, I notice Quinn is deep in conversation with a man who’s holding a board in his hands, and I guess he’s someone who’s trying to make sure that those who get the food from this load are the ones who need it most.
Priya has completely disappeared, but if I had to guess on what little I know of her, she’s probably taking the time while we’re here to go see her parents, and something about that makes me smile.
Little red wings catch my eye then, and I turn to see a little boy with wings as big as he is, jumping up and down next to who I assume are his parents. I can see the stubs on their backs from where their wings used to be, sticking out of the clothing they wear as they walk away, carrying one of the crates we just gave them.
The little boy looks so happy to have that crate, I just take a moment to stare after him, a smile on my face as I think about the innocence of children, and how easy it can be to please them. I wish he wasn’t getting so excited over food because that means he was really in need of it, but I guess I’m just happy that he’s still able to smile. If I were in his situation, living here under these conditions, I’m not sure I’d be able to.
Just then, a purple winged fae turns the corner, looking as pompous as ever, and I know instantly that the red winged boy doesn’t see the fae behind him. Before I can even think about it, I’m running toward the boy, hoping to stop the collision before it happens.
However, I don’t make it ten yards before the boy bumps into the purple winged fae, and I watch in horror as he reaches down and picks the boy up by one of his wings and starts yelling at him for being so complacent.
The boy’s parents try to reason with the fae as the boy screams in pain, but he slaps the mother hard enough to send her down to the ground with his other hand. The father looks like he’s torn between reaching for his child or reaching for his wife, and as I see the situation play out before me, I don’t think twice before I’m rushing toward them again with renewed effort.
Heavy hands land on my shoulders, pulling me up short, and I look back to see Roan holding me in place.
“What are you doing? Let me go! That fae needs to be taught a lesson, and I’m going to teach it to him,” I say as I struggle in Roan’s grip.
He sighs at me, and then, in broken Tavatikan, he says, “You wing brown now,” and I stop struggling instantly as realization spreads through me.
As a black winged royal, I could do something about the purple fae’s behavior, but as a brown winged guard, he could have my head on a spike if he wanted it.
Lazlo walks up to me then, followed by Priya, and Quinn.
Bending down, Lazlo says, “Watch the Doconqueh handle this,” and he nods to the rest of the members of his group. They all nod back to him in unison before Roan lets me go, and I stand there wondering what in fae they’re going to do.
They walk casually forward as if they aren’t paying the situation in front of them any mind, but as I watch, I see them place themselves strategically. They’re surrounding the purple fae, the red winged boy, and his parents, and with an unspoken cue passed between them, they lunge.
Priya sends a sick looking blow right to the purple fae’s face so quickly I would’ve missed it if I’d been blinking. Quinn catches the boy as the purple winged fae drops him. Lazlo sneaks up in front of the purple fae, squatting down low so that when he stands up, he headbutts the fae in the chin with the top of his head as he laughs that laugh of his, and Roan grabs onto those bright purple wings by their apex and holds them tight, making sure the fae doesn’t move. Quinn pulls the mother from the ground, and says something to the father, then runs with them around the corner, out of the fae’s line of sight.
The purple winged fae starts screaming and fighting back, but by the time Quinn comes back around the side of the building, the others have beat the fae to a shriveling pulp, and as Quinn passes them, the rest of the group get their final licks in, turn around, and start running back toward me.
I don’t ask questions, and I don’t hesitate as they get near me. I turn on my heel and run with them back to the cart, jumping in without anyone telling me to do so. As we make dust fly up from the road behind us, I turn around to watch the purple fae struggling to stand up, looking around in wonder as if he doesn’t know what’s going on, and a victorious laugh falls from my mouth as I turn back around in my seat, hearing all of the Doconqueh laugh with me.
Chapter 12
An hour or so later, Quinn turns off the main path and drives us through the forest again, following the riverbank of one of the tributaries that branches off of the Delverthorn River, the main river that flows all the way from Wrogmar’s mountains, past the edges of Tavatika, and then down through Lotaque before it dumps out into the Southern Ocean. It’s usually a heavily traveled river, and as we were heading down the main road beside it, I saw quite a few trade boats pass by, but the tributary where we stop is far enough away from any passing boats that we can’t be seen or detected from it.
It’s the middle of
the afternoon by the time we stop, and the heat of the day is at its hottest. Even though we’re not in the direct path of the sun because of all the trees overhead, there’s no breeze to speak of, and I’m sweating, the ropes cinching my wings to my back becoming almost unbearably uncomfortable as sweat pools thicker where they cling to me.
“This is where we’ll eat,” Priya says as she helps me down from the cart even though she doesn’t have to; I’m fully capable of jumping down by myself, but I let her help me anyway, and try not to read too much into it.
Roan and Quinn unhook the horses and tie them to trees near the water for a drink before they go on the search for logs to build a fire as Priya grabs a couple of buckets from the back of the cart and starts heading toward the river to collect some water. I kind of feel a little lost like I should be helping out somehow, but I’m drawing a blank for ways I actually can help.
“You’re coming with me, Ghosty,” Lazlo says, sneaking up behind me.
I turn around to see him leaning heavily against the cart while he plays with the dagger in his hands. It’s the same one I saw that first night in the woods beside the castle, and the memory of retreating from them sours my mood pretty quickly.
“Where are you going?” I ask, trying really hard not to let any worry seep into my voice.
Standing up straight, Lazlo walks over to me, and the intent in his eyes, mixed with his nearness makes me nervous for some reason.
“You’re going to go catch us some food. I want to see what our little Ghosty can do,” he says with a sinister smile that sends a shiver through me despite the heat outside, but I ignore it and stare at him like he’s lost his already crazy mind.
“I can’t use my wings, and Priya has my daggers. How am I supposed to catch us anything like this?”
Without answering, he grabs me by the biceps and spins me around, so my back is to him, and I’m facing the water.
If people don’t stop touching my fucking wound, I might just stab somebody, I think as a small growl escapes me.
