The Mirror After the Cavern

by Jeffrey Quyle

  A sachet of pearls was discovered hidden on the pier where the divers docked and walked to meet the buyers. An anonymous source had claimed that the pearls were placed there by Mata, who intended to wait until there were no buyers at the pier, then smuggle them out and sell them on the black market to make money for herself, against all the laws regarding the pearls of Amenozume.

  “Would Mata even know how to sell pearls on the black market?” Silas had hastily written a question.

  “No, of course not! The girl is a dreamer, not a doer, and she never dreamed of anything like that,” Jade had replied. “She just happened to be spotted in the vicinity of where the pearls were. Someone was going to walk by them, and it happened to be her.”

  Mata had been seized by the Pearl Traders Guide guards, and placed in their own prison, one they were allowed to maintain apart from the public ones because of the guild’s power.

  It was all part of a plan, Jade had concluded. She repeated her previous report that the Guild was strongly promoting bringing Ivaric guards to Amenozume to help protect the Guild’s monopoly and power on the docks. The queen had resisted allowing the foreign soldiers to land on her island, strengthened in her resolve by the insistence of Princess Lumene that no Ivaric guards come to the island.

  Now, with the alleged proof of insecurity and lax discipline, the Guild was making the case once again that Ivaric guards would be able to put an end to corruption and crime in the all-important pearl trade. The false crime was being used to bolster the case for bringing the Ivaric guards.

  “They say they will execute her as a way to scare off other smugglers, once Ivaric has forces here,” Jade’s handwriting was badly scrawled by that point in her emotional story.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” Silas asked. “I wish I knew something.”

  “I know you mean it, but I don’t know what to do. I just need to talk to a friend. Thank you,” Jade wrote in the last corner of her pad of paper. She suddenly looked off to her right, distracted by something, then quickly wiggled her fingers in a wave of farewell, and left the mirror.

  Silas watched for a moment longer, then put the mirror away. He rode along in stunned silence, devastated by the news of Mata’s dire circumstances. His own problems no longer seemed of any consequence, compared to the girl’s terrible fate.

  He spent the rest of the day in a state of deep concern about Mata, and by the end of the day, he had made up his mind that he could, and would, do something about her troubles.

  “I want to leave the caravan,” he startled Prima by telling the caravan master when the wagons were collected together at their evening campsite.

  “What’s this about?” he asked in a surprised tone. He clamped his hand on Silas’s upper arm, and marched the boy away from the rest of the caravan workers.

  “My friend in Amenozume, Mata, has been thrown in prison. I want to go help her,” Silas replied.

  “You’re going to go all the way back to Amenozume for a girl?” Prima asked skeptically. “What did she do to end up in prison?”

  “The pearl traders want Ivaric to start guarding the docks and the pearl trade,” Silas replied. “So they’ve falsely accused her of stealing pearls to smuggle to make it look like Ivaric is needed for security.”

  Prima’s eyes widened and he pursed his lips thoughtfully for a long moment.

  “That sounds unfortunately believable,” he replied. “You’re sure about this? You’ve been using your mirror to talk to someone there?”

  “I have,” Silas nodded.

  “You’re sure you really want to do this? You’ve thought about what it means?” Prima prodded him.

  “It’s the right thing for me to do,” Silas replied. “I’ve thought about it ever since I heard the news.”

  Prima studied Silas closely. “I tell you what; we borrowed you from the Speakers Guild when we really needed a hand, and you’ve been a great addition, much more useful for much longer than I expected. We don’t have any right to keep you any longer, and we’ve picked up a couple of extra hands along the way, so we can afford to let you leave.

  “And there’s something going on, something happening to you that has a touch of divine intent. I owe you some shares for the sales you’ve had, and the message you sent from sea. Will you do me a couple of favors on your way?” Prima asked.

  Silas was relieved that Prima was willing to let the parting of ways be amicable. “Sure! Anything,” he quickly agreed.

  “I want you to deliver a pair of notes for me to business acquaintances in Amenozume and Avaleen,” Prima began.

  “But Avaleen may be invaded soon,” Silas pointed out.

  “Use your judgement on what you can safely accomplish,” Prima offered.

  “I’ll try,” Silas agreed.

  “And promise you’ll use some common sense; don’t try to go out and be a hero. I don’t care if you are a Speaker with a magical mirror and have Ruten as your trainer, you’ve got to be careful. It’s a big world out there Silas, and sometimes it’s mean, especially in situations like you plan to go to,” Prima placed a hand on Silas’s shoulder and gripped it tightly, emphasizing his words of caution.

  “I will be careful,” Silas promised.

  “I’ll write the notes for you to carry this evening, and you can leave us tomorrow morning – will that do?” the caravan leader asked.

  Silas nodded, and Prima left.

  And then Silas felt remorse, concern, and panic. He had actually taken the step to leave the caravan. He was as far from anyplace he knew as it was possible to be, and he was leaving his traveling nest of security to rush on a long journey towards a dangerous situation.

  He was going to part ways with his trusty wagon and his closely-bonded mule. He heard Hron bray, perhaps in recognition of the sense that Silas was preparing to leave him.

  “What’s this I hear?” Minnie spun him around and stared at him closely, not allowing him to break his golden eyes away from her as she held both his cheeks between her hands.

  “You are going to leave the caravan to go try to save someone from prison? Prima must be out of his mind to say yes to this catastrophe!” she moaned and hissed her dissatisfaction.

  “I think I have to. I want to help her. And, maybe, it feels like time,” the last words blurted out of his mouth, expressing an opinion that seemed contrary to what he thought he felt, though the words seemed true enough as he gave voice to them.

  Minnie pulled his face towards hers and kissed him soundly on the forehead, then released him.

  “You better not let anything go wrong,” she warned him, then walked away.

  Word of his planned departure spread rapidly among the members of the caravan crew over dinner, and a pair of new employees came to his wagon to check it out and to ask how to handle Hron.

  “Give him the best treatment possible,” Silas told them sternly. “When I come back, I’ll ask him how you did, and the report he gives me better be good.”

  The two youths left the meeting with an air of uncertainty; the bond between Silas and Hron was legendary among the caravan crew members, and many believed the pair could talk to one another.

  Ruten proceeded to deal Silas a particularly brutal practice session. “I want to toughen you up before you go,” he explained. “I believe you might just get that wish you told me about the first time we met – you are going to be someone important.”

  And then there was the night of restless tossing and turning, followed by the morning when Prima approached him with Minnie at his side.

  “These are for delivery to trading agents in each city. Just ask around the docks to find them, and deliver these to no one but them directly,” Prima commanded as he handed over a pair of thickly-wrapped, addressed messages. “And this is for you to pay you for your work,” he dropped a small leather bag in the palm of Silas’s hand, a bag that was heavy with the weight of the coins inside.

  And not too much later, breakfast was eaten, then camp supplies
were put away, and Silas had no reason to stay with the caravan. He hugged Hron and tried to explain, then shook hands all around, then finally, had nothing further to say or do.

  And he began to walk away, back in the direct that his wagon had rolled from the previous night. He was on his way to Amenozume, and whatever awaited him there. He was a different boy from the one who had joined the caravan just months before. He was physically and emotionally changed, no longer frustrated by who he wasn’t – not a Tracker and not a Speaker. He defined himself by what he was able to do – he could handle a magical knife, he could see very well in the dark, he could Speak the Wind Words better than most trained Speakers, he had a magical mirror, and he was on the verge of learning to control telekinesis.

  He was convinced he was ready for whatever lay on the road ahead.

  Watch for the release of Book Two in the Wind Word Series:

  The Pearl Diver

  Coming in Summer 2018