by Shelby Hild
“Did you hear?” Suzetta said before dashing to the screen. She put her hands on both sides of it as though to be sure it was real. “Can you believe it?” Suzetta said so quickly Maia would have been proud. “The first in Treelyn chosen in generations is my Vivilyn! My darling little Lyn!”
“Waaah just…” Eso said from his curled-up position on the ground. “Did they call Vivilyn?” He rubbed his eyes and looked around. Suzetta ran over to Vivilyn and pulled her up from her chair. The motion almost propelled Iza to the ground, but Vivilyn managed to catch the light child just in time.
Vivilyn’s stomach churned. It felt as though pressure was building all the way up her throat. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t speak. What had just happened?
“Lena Martina of Baytown, Natalie Darleen of Grayston, Alysa Bree of Clovetown …” Names continued to be called until at last, Prince Aiden pulled out the 200th slip of paper. “Rose Anise of Frinta.”
Vivilyn barely heard any of the names between Suzetta squealing and her own heart beating.
“If your name was chosen tonight, expect someone to arrive at your house in the next two weeks to begin preparing you for this journey.”
A loud pounding began on the door downstairs. Magnar looked at Verno and both men walked downstairs to see who was at the door.
“Are you okay?” Duncan asked, lifting Vivilyn’s chin to look directly into her eyes.
“I…” She began, “I don’t know.” Her gaze flicked to her mother then returned to Duncan. “I never thought this would happen. I can’t go to the Enchanted Trials.” She shook her head then finally set Iza down on the ground. The girl smiled up at Vivilyn.
“I can’t wait until I can tell everyone I know the future queen,” Iza said, hugging Vivilyn’s legs.
“I’m not..” Vivilyn began.
“You could be,” Suzetta said before Vivilyn could form her argument.
“Iza, let’s let them have a family moment.” Lolina reached down to take the little girl’s hand. She then reached her other hand out for Eso and Mo.
When all four of them left the room, Vivilyn looked over at her mother and brother.
“What if…” She began. Tears filled her eyes as her hands began to shake. “What if I have a vision in front of everyone?”
Suzetta looked away from the screen to Vivilyn, eyes wide as if that thought hadn’t occurred to her.
“You won’t,” she said. “You’ll have to control them.”
“I’ve never been able to control them,” Vivilyn tried to keep from speaking loudly, but she heard her voice rising. Her breathing shortened. “What if I have a vision in the middle of an interview or something?” She held her arms tightly across her chest. “I shouldn’t even be alive.” Tears began to fall. “The moment you found out I had special abilities, you should have taken me to the Administrations Office and had me killed. No special abilities are allowed in the kingdom.”
“You are a dreamer and sometimes your dreams come true, that’s all,” Suzetta said trying to pull Vivilyn into a hug. Vivilyn pulled away as she tried to calm herself.
“You know that’s not true.” Vivilyn shook her head. “It might not be the same as the magic from the past, but it is a remnant.”
“Then just don’t go,” Duncan said.
“Do you remember what happened to the Chosen from the last trials that didn’t show up or that tried to leave the trials without being eliminated?” Suzetta asked.
“No,” both Duncan and Vivilyn said.
“They are exiled,” she said. “No, you must go. You don’t really have an option.”
“Maybe if I acted super unqualified?” Vivilyn suggested.
“No,” Suzetta said, shaking her head. “You wouldn’t be able to keep up the act all the time. You have gotten better at hiding your visions. It’s not like when you were a child. If you do have a vision, then you can play it off like you got lost in thought.” Suzetta smiled and clapped her hands a single time. “Here’s what you’ll do: You will try. You will do your best. And if or when you get eliminated, you’ll come home having done Treelyn proud.” The door up the stairs crashed open and steps started racing loudly up.
“Besides,” Duncan said, “just think of all the new places you’ll be able to see. Maybe the right person will see one of your sketches and they’ll hire you as an artist.”
Her mind flickered back to the canvas in her room. If I can last long enough to really show my art to anyone, then maybe the risk will be worth it.
“Do you really think so?” she asked. A slight smile formed on her lips.
“You are a great artist,” Duncan said as Maia scampered into view. “Everyone will want a piece created by the Vivilyn Minette.”
“You’re good enough for it,” Maia said. She leapt up the last two steps with Ryso right behind her. “I can’t believe it! Our Vivilyn, one of the Chosen! You have to tell me everything that happens--”
“I wonder when your assistant will get here,” Ryso said before Maia could go into a long tirade of questions. He moved from behind Maia to one of the windows facing the street. “The announcement just happened and I was already hearing talk of ‘Vivilyn cakes’ and ‘Vivilyn pins’ on the way here. We just barely beat the crowd.”
“I was the one suggesting Vivilyn cakes. I think the whole town is outside your store. Have we missed the showing of the stills?” Maia laughed as she pulled Vivilyn into a hug. Ryso pulled the two of them back in front of the screen.
The sound of unfamiliar voices brought Lolina and her little ones back out of their rooms.
On the screen, different stills were being shown. One for each of the Chosen. Everyone was talking. Vivilyn couldn’t tell what was being said either in the room or on the screen. Her mind gave every sound a muffled sound as her heart pounded loudly. Magnar slowly moved up the stairs.
“Verno is keeping an eye out downstairs,” Magnar said to Duncan as he smiled at Maia and Ryso. “People are everywhere.”
“There she is!” Eso screeched as Vivilyn’s still filled the screen. The room grew quiet as everyone looked to see it. Vivilyn didn’t know if she preferred the noise or the silence. The still shown was the second one taken, the one with her hair down. Her cheeks had color to them, and her eyes did glisten as Nell said they would.
“You look like you’ve got a secret to tell,” Maia said, “like you’re hiding a love affair or something dramatic.” Maia nudged Vivilyn’s side with her elbow. “Is there something you’ve been meaning to tell me?”
“You can’t even see my ears,” Vivilyn said. She lifted her hands up to her ears and smiled as her still vanished and someone else took her place.
Knocks started pounding on the door downstairs. Vivilyn peeked out of the upstairs window and saw a huge crowd gathering outside. Despite being told it seemed like the entire town had collected outside, Vivilyn didn’t believe it until she saw it. Her stomach turned.
All these people are here to see me? She closed her eyes and took three deep breaths. When she opened her eyes, Magnar stared at her. There was a look in his eyes Vivilyn didn’t recognize.
“I always knew I’d lose sleep over you, Lyn,” Magnar said as he moved back over to the stairs, his lips upturned slightly in a smile. “I never thought this would be why.” He went back to the first floor. The bells over the door jingled and Vivilyn heard Magnar shout to the crowd.
Eventually the crowd dispersed, as the townsfolk realized Vivilyn wasn’t coming down and Magnar was not planning to allow anyone inside.
“We should decorate the shop with some of your sketches,” Duncan said. “I have a feeling the shop is going to be a popular spot for the foreseeable future.”
“Maybe it’ll help us actually buy this building rather than rent it,” Vivilyn said. It was an attempt to see some good in the situation as she watched the people walking away. “We are pretty close, right, Mama?” Suzetta looked over at Vivilyn, her excitement giving way to concern.
"W
e should be going home too," Maia said, giving Vivilyn a quick hug.
"Yeah," Ryso said. "We just wanted to be the first to congratulate you." He hugged Vivilyn too. "Congrats, Lyn!"
Magnar stomped back up the stairs almost immediately after Maia and Ryso left.
“I got rid of them for now,” he said. “But they’ll likely be back tomorrow. Practically everyone in town was out there.” He shook his head. Vivilyn walked over to him. When he pulled her into a hug, she felt as though she were a child again, being comforted after getting startled by a nightmare or the sounds of the house settling or even a vision. “I think we are going to have a very long couple of weeks.” Magnar sighed as he held Vivilyn securely.
Magnar walked the few steps to Vivilyn’s room with Vivilyn still tightly held to his side. As she went into her room, Magnar turned back to the family room. She didn’t bother to light any of the candles. Everything in her room was exactly where she left it and she planned to go directly to bed. Vivilyn could hear Magnar telling everyone it was time to start settling down and heading to bed through the walls as she changed into her pajamas.
She sat on her bed and slid her legs under the blankets. Before Vivilyn laid down, though, a knock sounded on her door.
“Come in,” Vivilyn said as she smoothed the blanket over her legs.
Magnar opened the door, letting a bit of the light from the hallway illuminate the room. It felt ominous to Vivilyn. Her unease increased as she noticed her father sniffle slightly as though he had been crying.
No, Vivilyn thought to herself. It must just be allergies or something.
“May I come in?” Magnar asked.
“Of course, Papa,” Vivilyn said.
“Would you mind if I tucked you in?” He asked. “You know, like old times?”
Vivilyn felt her hands tighten on her blankets in concern. In all of her memory, Magnar never sounded so uncertain.
“Of course,” she said, as she took a deep breath.
Magnar stepped into the room, leaving the door wide open for the light. As he slowly made his way the few steps across the room to her side, Vivilyn slid so she was laying down.
“It seems like forever ago since you last tucked me in,” Vivilyn said. Magnar laughed slightly.
“To me it seems like just yesterday you informed me you were a big girl and no longer needed me to tuck you in,” Magnar replied as he pulled Vivilyn’s blankets up around her shoulders. “You didn’t need me to save you from the monsters in the dark anymore either.” Magnar sighed before wiping at his eyes. “No matter how old you get, though, I still see that little girl giggling as I swung her around the orchard.”
“I won’t be gone long,” Vivilyn said as she pulled her hand out from under the blanket and set it on her father’s back. “I’ll probably be back before you’ve finished prepping Mama’s garden for winter.”
“I love you, Lyn,” Magnar said, changing the subject. He shook his head before looking at Vivilyn again. “You know that, right?”
Vivilyn smiled. “Yes, Papa.”
“I’ve done everything I can to keep you safe,” his voice shook, “but… but I can’t protect you once you’re there.”
“I know, Papa.”
His fear was evident in his voice and that frightened her. He had always been the strength, the rock of the family. If he was scared, what hope could there be for the rest of them?
Light from the open door illuminated a glistening trail from Magnar's left eye all the way down to his chin. He spoke again after a brief pause, “Do you remember when you had your first vision?”
Vivilyn knew which vision her father referred to. She’d never been able to admit to him it was just the first one she’d had that scared her. She'd had visions since she could remember. The earlier ones hadn't seemed like visions; they had been more like dreams, hazy and far away.
“A little.” She curled up on her right side towards Magnar. “I remember seeing fire and being afraid, so I ran to you and Mama.”
“You ran to us in the middle of the shop, hysterical, crying as loudly as your little five-year-old body could about how the orchards were all burned down. How the gardens were about to be on fire as well, vanishing in the smoke like bubbles in your bath. There had been three people in the shop that day. Edwin, his wife Marlena, and their little one.”
“Maia.”
“Yes,” Magnar wiped at his face. “We all ran to the gardens, to see it in perfect shape. The orchards were fine. Edwin helped me search the grounds for anything to explain why you were so adamant something was wrong. That night, you were still so sure something was wrong, you convinced me to stay in the hut in the orchard. That’s the only reason I caught the fire as soon as it started. When Edwin came to help that night, I was scared.
“The whole town knew we stopped the fire, but only the Bakers knew why I was in the orchard that night. They were new in town, wealthier. The terror in my heart that they would tell someone about you running in that day…” Magnar shuddered. “I didn’t know Marlena had an ability too. Maybe things would be different if I had; maybe I could have helped when others found out.” He shook his head.
Vivilyn remembered not long after that vision Marlena had been taken to the Administrations Office, never to be seen again. It was a reminder of what would happen if someone found out about her own visions. Guilt built in Vivilyn’s chest as she recalled the other vision she’d had around that time. The knowledge that she could have possibly warned Marlena ate at her inside anytime Maia mentioned how much she missed her mother.
“The only time I’ve ever been more afraid than the days that followed Marlena being taken, just waiting for them to come and grab you as well, is the moment your name was Chosen.” Magnar rubbed his eyes.
“Papa.”
“You’re a dreamer, Lyn,” he said. “And you’re always looking for the best in people. People will try to take advantage of that.”
“I’d never tell anyone…”
“I know you wouldn’t, but people are sneaky there. You can’t trust those at court.” Magnar kissed Vivilyn’s forehead, then stood up and moved to the door. Before leaving the room, he turned back to Vivilyn.
“Snakes can hide in the rottenest trunk or on the prettiest of peaches. And they aren’t picky about who they bite.”
Chapter 5
“Iza, get down from there!” Duncan called up into the apple trees. It was four hours past midday, three days after the Choosing. Vivilyn, Duncan, and Iza had spent the morning in the orchards. Vivilyn saw the girl climbing higher and higher into the tree. Iza picked ripened apples and tossed them down at Duncan and Vivilyn as she went. Duncan caught each falling fruit with ease. “Don’t make me come up after you.”
“Nananananana,” Iza yelled down. “I can’t hear you! I’m helping!”
Duncan shook his head.
“You were never this much trouble,” he said to Vivilyn. “We should go back to the shop to get help. Perhaps she’ll listen to a parent. If not our parents, then hers at least.”
“We’re on the opposite side of the orchards,” Vivilyn said as she set her basket beside the wheelbarrow Duncan pushed. “It would take too much time to go through them all and down the street to the shop. I’ll get her.” Vivilyn looked up, one hand held above her eyes to block the sun. As soon as she mapped out the easiest route to where Iza stalled to gather more apples, Vivilyn grabbed the lowest branches and hauled herself up. An apple barely missed hitting Vivilyn square in the forehead. Instead, the fruit bounced off her shoulder. Duncan caught it.
The feel of the bark under her hands reminded her of each season she and Duncan spent outside in the orchards. Being taller than average helped Vivilyn when she had to pull herself into trees. As Vivilyn hoisted herself closer to Iza, apples continued raining down from higher up at an increasing rate.
“Come on, Iza!” Vivilyn shouted as she dodged another apple. With a quick look down, she saw Duncan hadn’t missed one yet.
�
�But I’ma gettin’ ‘em!” Iza called down. Vivilyn climbed up as close to the young girl as she could, but the higher branches wouldn’t hold her weight. The one she was on felt unstable enough. It wobbled as she leaned over to get a better look at Iza.
“We know you can get them!” Duncan hollered. Vivilyn held back laughter, thinking of all the times in the past Duncan told her she couldn’t do something. It always became a challenge and made her need to prove she could. Maybe he did learn something from their youth together. “We just need you to either come back down or slow down! I can’t keep up with your apple-dropping frenzy!”
“The best ones are at the top, though,” Iza said, as she climbed even higher. Underneath her, Vivilyn heard more people walking over. She vaguely heard Magnar’s deep, rumbling voice, but it was too quiet. Vivilyn couldn’t hear what he was saying.
“Iza, let’s go down and greet Papa and whoever he brought,” Vivilyn said. Her latest attempt to convince the girl to come back down failed. Although Iza threw eight apples down, Duncan only caught three of them. Before Vivilyn could determine where the others had silently fallen, Magnar cleared his throat so loudly her own throat hurt in sympathy.
“There are people down here,” Magnar called up. “Please stop dropping unannounced items on our heads.” Vivilyn heard Iza giggle.
“Apples!” Iza shouted back. “Here’s an apple. I’m dropping apples. And I’m announcing it!”
“Not what I meant,” Magnar replied. Vivilyn could hear the amusement in her father’s voice.
The small sound of a branch cracking brought Vivilyn’s attention back to Iza above just a moment before the child’s laughter turned to a scream. Iza fell right into Vivilyn. Despite being so light, the added weight of Iza knocked Vivilyn off balance and both fell from the tree. Vivilyn held Iza close as they fell, trying to shield her as branches whipped her own arms and face.
Time seemed to slow down as Vivilyn began anticipating hitting the ground. She closed her eyes tight. Lights began to form in front of her.
