by Kai Widdeson
I had completely forgotten, as she’s several weeks older than myself she must have come of age by now. Have I really been gone from Avlym for that long? It both seems like an eternity and a heartbeat. I had never realised that she wanted to become a hunter, although now that I think of it, I’m not sure I can see her doing anything else.
I let go of Alice’s hand just as Robyn launches herself at me, the force of her hug sending me several steps backwards. As my head goes past her shoulder, I end up head butting her bow but thankfully she doesn’t seem to notice. I squeeze her back warmly, enjoying her embrace after so long. She is a breath of fresh air, saving me from my slow drowning in this sea of madness. She holds on slightly longer than I would expect, not that I’m about to complain. Finally, she lets go. She punches me on the shoulder, not aggressively but hard enough that numbness spreads through it.
“Where have you been? What happened? There have been so many different rumours!” she says excitedly.
“GUY!” she screams before I have a chance to answer any of her questions.
“It’s Orrian, I’m afraid,” Orrian says with a wide grin, “and this is Damaris.”
It’s now time for the forest king to be punched, I try to hide my smile at the look on Damaris’ face.
“YOU TALK?!” yells Robyn, I wonder if she’ll ever return to a more normal volume.
“I do yes,” Orrian says with a laugh.
“You need to tell me everything!” Robyn says. “Come on, let’s go inside. I’ll get us some drinks.”
“Wow, I can’t believe you actually managed to escape from the colony. To be honest, I still can’t believe you’re actually a king.” Robyn exclaims once Orrian has finished telling our story yet again.
He tries to keep it brief this time, but we are all mostly through with our drinks by the time he finishes. Orrian grimaces each time he takes a sip of his own flagon of Ale. I remember him telling my mother that they didn’t have alcohol in their tribe and he had been hesitant to accept it at first. It had required several promises that it took much more than one drink before he would get in the same state as Bennie often is.
“So, you’re a hunter now?” I say, pointing out the obvious. We’ve told our story too many times and I want to avoid the familiar questions that will come out of Robyn’s mouth for now. She had rushed inside a hut to set down some of her gear before coming here, but she is still in the same clothing.
“Yeah, I am,” she smiles widely, “Devin and Manuel have been teaching me, it took a while to get used to the bow, but I think I’m starting to get there. We’ve all been staying out late, there aren’t enough hunters to provide for everyone here. I almost have to drag them back every night or I know they would just stay out there.”
“What about Randall?” I ask. As a result of the hunter spending a lot of time around my family, he had also gotten to know Robyn well over the years.
Robyn’s face darkens. She raises her hand to gulp down the last of her ale.
“He’s still recovering. Becker’s men hurt him really bad,” she says.
Mother had said that they had attacked him after he tried to get in their way, but I had assumed that meant maybe a few punches until he stopped getting back up. I never thought that the attack might be enough that even now, weeks after Avlym’s burning, he would still be recovering.
“Can we go see him?” I ask, trying to convey my concern.
“Sure,” she answers.
“I’ll see you back at Arthur’s,” I say to Orrian pointedly. I don’t know why but this is a trip I would prefer to make alone.
I reach for Alice’s hand, but she pulls away shaking her head.
“What? Do you want to stay here? Yeah?” I ask.
“Yes,” she answers.
“Is that alright?” I ask Orrian. To Alice’s delight he nods without hesitation. We leave the three of them alone at our table in the corner and set off back into the night.
Robyn directs me towards Randall in silence. I want to tell her how much I missed her, how often I thought of her. A part of me never expected to see her again but now that I’m next to her I have the urge to tell her how I feel. My brain muddles through what I need to say whilst my heart aches for me to open my mouth, but no words come. Now probably isn’t the right time anyway, with everything that’s going on and about to happen. A voice deep inside of me complains at my excuses and so I make it a promise: one day, when this is all over, I’ll tell her everything. She’s my best friend, I would never want to ruin that, but if I keep this inside of me for much longer it will eventually erode me away.
The scraping of our boots in the dirt is the only break to the quiet stillness between us. What do two reunited friends say to each other after so long, when both have been through too much since they last met that they couldn’t possibly know where to start? She’s a little taller now I notice, we’re almost the same height, and she doesn’t bounce as she walks in the same way that she used to. I suppose such a walk wouldn’t have suited a hunter.
How can we have both grown up so fast? What happened to the two children whose responsibilities extended only to spending the day gossiping and picking berries? Will that ever be us again, would it be possible, or is this just how things are now?
We stop at a particularly small shack right at the very end of the street. It’s so far out from the life and warmth of the rest of Tarrin that the outer edges of the forest stroke its walls.
With no door to knock on, I flinch as Robyn smacks a wooden pole by the opening, if she had hit any harder the entire hut may have collapsed in on itself.
“Come in,” someone groans from inside.
The hut barely has a roof, random leaves and branches have been laid across the tops of the walls but it will do nothing to stop the rain. The wind also seems to have brought a lot of it down, patches of the makeshift roof have caved in bringing the forest into the house. Even by Avlym’s standards this place is a wreck.
The interior is not dissimilar from the fisherman’s shack near the mountains. Old equipment leans against the walls of the single room, in its centre sits a bed of tightly bound straw. The man resting on it lays so that he faces away from us, he stares up at the brightest stars that have begun to appear above.
“What?” the man croaks.
“I’ve brought someone to see you,” answers Robyn.
“Hi, Randall,” I say before he can finish complaining. I walk around the edge of the bed to face him as he struggles into a sitting position.
His face is a mess, one side of it is still slightly swollen and even in the dim light I notice the bright red vein that clings to the edge of one of his eyes. His trousers have been torn off at the knee and I notice that his ankles and the bottom half of his legs have been treated with some green paste.
“Dale? Come here,” Randall says. I wince as his face contorts into a pained smile. I lean down as he drags me into a fierce hug, he grabs Jaq’s undershirt in his fist with one hand whilst he pats me roughly on the back with the other.
“I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll see you in the morning, Dale,” Robyn says from the doorway. I pull away to mutter a thanks, but she’s already left.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” says Randall as I sit next to him on the straw. “I’m already back to limping around thanks to Ida, she’s been checking in on me every night. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to normal in no time.”
“We’ll make them pay for what they did to you and Avlym, I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” I apologise. If I had never run off with Orrian, the colony would never have come to Avlym in force, and Randall wouldn’t have had to suffer in this bed-bound state.
I tell him about Thoren agreeing to Orrian’s plan. This leads to me revealing Orrian’s position among his people and giving Randall the increasingly shortening version of our story. Randall’s face lights up as he finds out that we’re finally attacking the colony.
“I’m coming,” he says with certainty.
&n
bsp; “Randall, you can’t.” I say.
“If you’re going then I am, trust me I’ll be back on my feet by then,” he says. I decide to drop the matter, I know how stubborn he can be and the more I fight it the less chance there is that he’ll listen to reason when the time comes. We’ll have to wait and see how much he’s recovered once the rest of the villages have arrived.
I sit and listen to his enthusiasm as the sky slowly fades to black. He’s particularly thrilled as I tell him about the tribe thinking that I’m the Akanian. I had expected him to at least chuckle but instead he looks at me with pride, with a slight curling of his lips.
As I move over to an old lantern in the corner of the room, he points out a pair of shoes for me among the chaos. They fit poorly but they fight off the numbness from the evening chill. I thank him and talk a little longer before leaving him to rest.
The last traces of orange have vanished from the horizon by the time I leave the hut and begin my journey back towards Tarrin. Someone is slowly shuffling towards me, they’re muttering something to themselves. As they near, I recognise the incomprehensible babbling.
“Good evening, Ida,” I smile. She must be on her way to see Randall. She carries a pouch in her free hand, I wonder if it contains more of the peculiar green paste. She uses her other hand to lean on a small branch as she walks.
“The jay returns with the goldfinch, will the sparrow hawk come looking?” she asks with bizarre sincerity.
“I’m sorry, I-” I say, before I am interrupted by a smashing off to our side. A rickety door splinters against the wall as an obscenely fat boy squeezes past. Rhys storms towards us, his wretched mother calls after him from somewhere inside.
I wait patiently as Rhys waddles towards us. I have not been afraid of the boy for years, but I had always dreaded him. That part of me is gone. As I watch him pathetically carry his unhealthy wait towards us, I feel nothing at all. After everything I’ve been through, the fighting, the imprisonment, this bully before me is insignificant. For once I don’t take a step back as he approaches, instead I stand tall and defiant. I’ve grown I realise; the difference is only slight, but I am undeniably taller than Rhys now.
“Spawn!” he shouts.
“Rhys,” I greet, calmly. I could run, he would never catch me, but I am not the same person I once was.
“You’ve got some nerve coming back here,” Rhys says hotly as he points a sausage-like finger.
“From what I hear, it’s your family who should have been exiled,” I reply crisply.
Rhys swings for me, a meaty fist blurring in the darkness. I see it coming from a mile off, ducking as the blow sails harmlessly above my head. I bounce backwards onto the balls of my feet with my hands raised.
Ida beats me to it. She raises the branch and swings it with surprising force into Rhys’ back. He falls onto one knee before scrambling to his feet. Rhys looks down at Avlym’s elder in shock.
“No more. The lone pup fears man, but even man takes caution before the wolf with pack,” says Ida.
Ida sets her branch back down before leaving the pair of us alone. We both watch incredulous as she wanders off into the distance towards Randall’s hut, resuming her conversation with herself.
“You ruined everything,” Rhys accuses, the anger has faded slightly and has been replaced with hurt. “Everyone treats our family like dirt because of you and him. The looks we get, like we’re about to betray everyone if they get too close.”
“Now she knows how it feels,” I reply coldly, some cruel part of me is thrilled that Cecilia is being treated this way. “She’s treated me the same way all my life.”
Rhys doesn’t act like he heard a word I said, his shoulders shake up and down. He lets out a sob. What is happening?
“They killed Landen,” Rhys wails.
“What?” I exclaim.
“When they burnt down the village. Landen was trapped inside,” says Rhys, he loses all self-control and both knees fall to the dirt.
I don’t move for several long seconds. I had hated Landen with a passion, but I had never wanted him dead. I let Rhys’ words wash over me, surprised by the little emotion that stirs within. Have I become desensitised to death and the violence? I have just found out that a boy I’ve known since before we could walk has just died and I can’t manage to free a single tear. Who have I become? Have I lost all my humanity?
What do I do now? A moment ago, my lifetime bully was blaming me for everything and now he kneels sobbing at my feet. I awkwardly put a hand on his shoulder. I am lost for words and so we stay like this for several minutes. A better person might find something comforting to calm him down but try as I may, nothing comes to me.
Shouts come from up ahead as Orrian, Damaris, and Alice hastily make their way out of the tavern. Even from here I can hear Alice crying. A pair of drunken men lean out of the swinging doors calling after them aggressively. The men are telling Orrian and Damaris to go back to where they came from and that Tarrin doesn’t want anything to do with either of them. I guess Thoren hasn’t announced anything yet, they’re in for a shock when he does.
“Just go,” Rhys mumbles.
I help pull him to his feet. I strain against his weight as he rises, and I doubt I assist him much, but I think he appreciates it nonetheless. There’s no need to hurry towards the others, the drunks have already quietened their slurred words and staggered back inside. I’ve only travelled maybe twenty steps when I call back to Rhys, stopping him as he ambles back towards Cecilia.
“Damion’s here you know, he’s alive,” I say. I am too far away to make out his face.
I turn my back on the baker’s boy and my feet thud against the dried dirt as I hurry towards my sister.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Thoren calls a meeting early the next morning. He stands on his porch, not that he needs the extra height, and looks down over the crowd of Tarrin and Avlym’s villagers. The council of elders line up in his shadow, nodding along with every word that their leader says. Last night’s threat was clearly substantial to obtain their support. Only Arthur is absent from their ranks, his hut had already been emptied by the time we arrived last night. Thoren’s voice easily commands silence as he reveals our plans to the masses below.
The meeting doesn’t take long at all, Thoren clearly isn’t one for prolonged speeches. The reactions from the villagers had been mixed. Some wildly pump their fists in the air in support, others heatedly mutter among themselves, the majority nervously turn to their neighbours. Arthur was right to get the support of the council, without them, even Thoren might have been challenged.
Groups are assigned with the council members manoeuvring through the crowd taking long lists of names. The first names taken are those who need to take refuge in the mountain, either because they are unable or unwilling to fight. Thankfully, Thoren’s speech has included several pointed notions about a sense of duty and honour. Furthermore, the councillors are forceful as they approach each member of the community. As a result, many who would rather cower before the coming conflict and hide among the young and frail are coerced into agreeing to fight.
I stand off to one side with Robyn. Ida has already collected Alice off me to go and give their names. The decision had been difficult, my conscience wrestles with reason as I second guess my choice. No, this is right. As much as I want to, I know I can’t stay with Alice whilst the others go to war. Undoubtedly Orrian would respect my decision to remain with my sister, but I know I can’t leave him now. Besides, I need to ensure my mother’s safety, and I can’t do that if I’m not there myself.
As for Damaris, she has already left for the forest, helping Tharrin’s hunters to get the provisions ready for when the other villages arrive. Of course, she had struggled again with leaving her king surrounded by these new people. Orrian had assured her that with Thoren at his side no one will try anything and so she had set off into the woodland, I just hope he’s right.
As the elders reach the last few peopl
e, the crowd finally begins to disperse as various groups head off into their different directions. Harvey gives us a sheepish look as he signs his name to head to the mountain before disappearing with a group to carve spears and gather weapons, causing Robyn to smirk a little next to me. He’s always been a bit of a rodent but I’m not sure I can hold his decision against him. Everyone knows that he’s not a fighter, whilst his signature may be taken for cowardice, there’s no denying that he would be more of a liability than an aid on the battlefield. I certainly wouldn’t bet on him to survive the fight. Even far away at the mountain he may be of some use, if things go wrong at the colony then the mountain will need some able bodies to restructure.
Robyn says farewell upon seeing her parents beckoning and goes off to join them. I watch as she weaves her way through the crowd towards them and bury the slight envy that burns in my chest as they walk off together. Thankfully, I am not left to my own thoughts for too long before Orrian fills Robyn’s place.
“Come with me,” he says as the council members convene on the porch.
Orrian leads me down the street and away from Tarrin’s heart. We continue past the remainder of the buildings before taking a sharp turn into the forest. The clearing we emerge into is mostly hidden by a few trees at the outer reaches of the woodland. By chance, it is in the closest hut that Randall resides. The shack should block us from view from any passing along the main road.
Orrian tells me to wait as he crosses the small patch of grass and bends down at a fallen tree. He reaches inside its hollow body and pulls out our swords from the colony.
“You need to learn how to fight,” Orrian says.
“I can fight,” I say weakly. I feel ridiculous as soon as I’ve said it as I remember who I’m talking to.
“You can handle yourself,” Orrian admits, “but not well enough. To everyone else you need to be the Akanian. That means being more capable than the rest of them.”
I grit my teeth as I glower at the forest king. I’m eager to finally have the opportunity to properly train but not if it’s so that I can continue being a pretender.
