Burning Bridges

by Nadege Richards

  I shielded my eyes from the hot sun as I walked, elbowing through crowds of people and men on horses. I hadn’t expected it to be so hot this time around, and whatever gods the people prayed to, they seemed pretty damn frivolous to me. August was hot in general, but not this hot. Not in Alwaenia.

  To my left, a woman dressed in a polychromatic dress stood behind her parlor, showing off her jewelry to a customer. I wasn’t sure how much of it were real jewels, but something pink and silver caught my eye. I asked to see it and took it from the table, holding it up to the light. It was a glass heart, perfectly shaped and iridescent in the sun. Inside of the heart, as if captured in a moment, was a pink bleeding heart surrounded by Maidenhair ferns. I turned it over in my hands and marveled in the handiwork.

  “Beautiful, yes?” the woman asked.

  I nodded, but barely acknowledged her. It was beautiful, so unlike any piece of jewelry I’d ever seen. Running my fingers across the smooth glass, the flower conjured the memories of a girl. A girl who had, in such little time, reminded me of everything good from the past. A girl who made me remember Alwaenia for what it used to be—youthful, vivacious, and a land of the free. The bleeding hearts had long lost their meaning, as Alwaenia had lost all hope. But this one, captured in a time when love roamed free, was different.

  “How much is it?” I asked, eyes still on the necklace.

  “Four hundred,” she answered.

  It was pricey, but I knew I had to get it. I wasn’t quite sure why, but the compulsion to have it was strong. I fished out a few bills from my pocket and handed it to her. The picture of the little girl accidently slipped out and the woman watched me cautiously as I hid it from her view. By the look of shock on her face when she looked at the bills I assumed I’d given her a little more than four hundred.

  “Thank you so much,” she murmured, quickly tucking the money away as if it would disappear. She looked back up at me and paused. “Are those guys here for you?”

  I blinked and turned away from her, staring out into the crowd. It was hard to make anyone out at first, what with all the sun in my eyes, but through it all, I could see Tyron and his friends across the way. I sighed and immediately shoved the necklace into my pocket. He was the last—probably not even—person I wanted to see when I had more important matters to take care of. I began to walk in the opposite direction, heading for Miss Bluejay’s and the fruit vendors. I dared a glance back and noticed them following me, pushing through throngs of people faster than I could.

  “Wait up, pretty boy!” Tyron called. I wasn’t afraid; I just didn’t want to face the reality of what I did. Though it was for my family, it was pitiful and low. I’d only agreed with Tyron and his idiotic entourage because I knew the second time around there’d be more money involved. I’d overestimated the size of Old Haven, though. I couldn’t run from him forever, nor did I want to.

  I stopped by Miss Bluejay’s long enough to pay her and tell her I’d come back for the pie. Tyron called out again and I led him down an alley away from all eyes and closer to the forest that went on for miles behind Old Haven.

  “Let’s skip all small talk, Grey. Where’s my money?” Tyron stepped into the alley and the bit of sunlight from overhead played on his haggard features.

  My hands clenched at my side. “Deal’s off. There was no money.”

  “You’re lying. I can see it on your face, Ayden. Where’s the money?” Tyron laughed and stepped closer to me.

  When I took the next step forward, I met him nose to nose. Tyron was big and he used it as a way to get what he wanted, frightening people with his overrated ego. “There. Is. No. Money.”

  “You know,” he said, laughing, “I think you like making me mad; this is a game for you, isn’t it? Just mind that when all the jokes and fun are set aside, I get even. And when I do, it’s game over.” Tyron pushed at my chest and I frowned.

  Was he serious? “I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware this was a game. Those little girls running around with your devilish offspring will have to get along without your sudden good fortune, because I have nothing to offer you. Next time, do the damn dirty work yourself. I’m done.”

  Tyron’s jaw clenched, making it obvious that he was at a loss for words. I stepped back to walk away, but Tyron quickly said, “You want to talk about dirty work? Your girl stopped by last night. What’s her name?” He looked around at his friends. “Oh yes, Feven. Nice girl, but she’ll do anything for spare change.”

  There was a split second when I contemplated walking away, but the anger was so immediate and irrepressible that lashing out was my only solution. I had no control of my hands; when the first punch landed in Tyron’s face it was more of a shock to me than it was for him. My knuckles cracked and I heard the soft snap of his nose as it began to bleed. He stumbled back, but quickly regained his footing.

  Tyron laughed and swiped at the blood on his lip. “You punch like a girl. Where’d you learn how to hit like that, your Mother?” He stared back at me in challenge.

  “Watch your mouth,” I sneered.

  He laughed, as well as the other guys. “Come on, Ayd. You can do better.” He turned his head, exposing the left side of his face. “Hit me again.”

  “I’m not playing your sick games, Tyron.” I stared him down and refused to be like him; repulsive and utterly stupid. I didn’t regret punching his nose into a different shape, and as much I would’ve liked to beat him to mince meat, it wasn’t me.

  “Hit me,” Tyron slurred. He stepped towards me with bloodshot eyes and a tense jaw. When I didn’t react, he added, “I wonder what the King will think of your night with the Princess, hm? All the things you probably did to her.”

  My breath caught in my chest. “How did you—” And in the next second I was punching Tyron again. Anger and fear fuelled me, desperation clawed at my mind. The fact that he knew was enough to make me want to strangle him. My anger was directed solely at myself and my inanity. The Princess wasn’t here and she was still reaping havoc.

  Again, when I took a swing at him, Tyron didn’t remain motionless. He ducked out of the way and grabbed me at the middle, tackling me to the floor and pinning me down in an odd position. “Thought no one knew, huh?” he whispered in my ear. “And you still hit like a girl. Lucky for you, I enjoy pain.” He held me down with his knees, and surprisingly, they weighed a ton. He held my face to the sandy ground as the other douche bags came around to kick at my sides.

  I laughed. “You’re all pathetic. Stealing from a man who has to steal for himself, look at you.” As soon as the words were out, another kick landed in my side, bruising my ribs and knocking the air right out of my lungs.

  Arms lifted me to stand and I felt blood trickle down the side of my face. Though I probably looked like hell, I smiled in Tyron’s face and only allowed him to see what I wanted him to: a man who’d had enough of everything that he just didn’t give a damn anymore.

  “We’ll see who’s pathetic when you’re fighting for your useless little life,” Tyron spat.

  Through the haze that had formed in my mind, I managed to ground out, “You wouldn’t.” It wasn’t a question, more like a challenge. Tyron was tough on the outside, but his interior reeked of fear. By the look on his face, I knew I had him.

  He grunted and kicked me in the stomach. I coughed up blood and spit, the gods-awful aftertaste of iron and copper drying out the taste buds in my mouth. “I may not, but I know someone who wouldn’t hesitate to throw your ass in the chambers,” Tyron said.

  “Who?” one of his friends asked stupidly. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Tyron, you’re what, nineteen? You’re young, you still have time to redeem the crap of a life you’ve lived and get a new one. Grab opportunities and go, right?” I laughed again, savoring the way it got him so upset. “If you think about it, we’re both wasting precious time we obviously don’t have.”

  “Shut up!” Tyron finally screamed.

  “You scream like a girl.”

&
nbsp; “I do not!”

  I sighed. “Then what was that?”

  Tyron screamed again and stooped down to my slumped level. He grabbed my throat with a beefy hand and pressed his fingers hard against my jugular. “I’m about two seconds away from gutting you with a knife. Give me my money before this gets messy.”

  “So this,” I pointed to my face with a throbbing finger, “isn’t messy?”

  His hands tightened on my throat and I tried to flex the muscles to let way for air, but Tyron wasn’t budging. “The money, Ayden.” He glanced up at his guys. “Search him.”

  They dropped me to the floor and began searching me for the money. It felt oddly like déjà vu, and I just needed to hurl. “We got to stop running into each other and hiding out like this, Ty,” I teased. “Don’t you think this is a bit taboo? I mean, I didn’t know you were into the scandalous thing, but—”

  “You’re all talk, Grey. It’s shameful that your Princess had to go back. We were actually thinking about stopping by to…play.” Tyron winked at me as the guys grew restless in their search.

  His words that time got to me. One more remark about the Princess and I swear I was going to hang him by his tongue. “What are you, jealous because I can actually get a girl to leave with me willingly? Or is that just something that runs in your blood?” I myself was growing restless of playing this stupid game with Tyron. My patience was running low and since breakfast, my mind had been caught somewhere between oblivion and Echo; both of which left me goaded and confused.

  “Well, what do we have here?” One of the guys reached into my pocket and dug out the bleeding heart necklace. My own heart sped up thirtyfold and I could tell Tyron knew the necklace was important to me when I squirmed and reached for it. It was stupid, fighting for a necklace I’d really bought for no reason. But it held meaning, it helped me remember.

  “Give that to me!” I yelled. Tyron pressed a heavy foot to my stomach and I quickly stopped struggling.

  “What’s this?” Tyron took it from him and smiled down at me. “A necklace, how nice. I think I’ll take it for safe keeping.”

  “No!” I shouted. “I’ll give you the money.”

  “That’s more like it. Hand it over and I’ll give you the necklace.” Tyron tossed the necklace to the far side of the alley. As it hit the floor I winced, hoping the glass hadn’t shattered.

  “You have to move your foot first.” I smiled up at him and feigned innocence. He snapped his fingers at his friends and they crowded around me as Tryon released me from his hold. As soon as I could breathe again, I kicked forward at the guy in front of me and heard his knee pop. He fell to the floor with his hands wrapped around his calf. Before the others had a chance to acknowledge him, I stood and punched Tyron in the face, elbowing another from behind. There were only four aside from Tyron and two of them already lay cowering on the floor. My ribs ached and kept me from moving faster than I was, but I ignored the pain and set it aside for a time when I could handle it.

  A feisty redhead charged me from the side and I easily side-kicked him in the groin, barely taking a step or two. He crumpled to the floor with the others.

  “Silas would like you. You’re brave.” The last guy, short and skinny, stood at the end of the alley swinging a knife around in his hand. People walked by outside, but once again, they wouldn’t dare to interfere. That’s what eons of inferiority does to people.

  “Is that so?” I watched his sloppy handwork with the knife. I was no swordsman, but I could tell the difference between an expert and a novice. “I’m not interested.” He charged for me in the little distance there was in the alley and poised the knife to strike. I frowned and shook my head. He was a joke.

  I spun to my right, my left coming up, and kicked him directly in the mouth before he had a chance to embarrass himself further. He dropped to the ground immediately, his hand covering his swollen lips.

  “Where did you learn to fight like that?” he whispered. When he removed his hand I saw that he’d lost a few teeth.

  I reached down and took the knife from him. “I’ve had practice.” I stared down at Tyron still holding his nose. I guessed it must have hurt a lot since it was its second beating. Shaking my head, I went to retrieve the necklace on the floor. It hadn’t shattered, but it was covered in mud. I wiped it off and kissed the smooth glass.

  “I…hate—” Tyron murmured from the floor.

  “Who’s all talk now?” I spat blood at him and limped my way out of the alley. Miss Bluejay stood by her parlor waiting for another customer, and I smiled when she set eyes on my face.

  “Ayden Grey. You leave for a minute and come back looking like you just got dragged through the streets?”

  I smiled and winked at her. “You could say that. Pie ready?

  She sighed and reached behind her for the cherry pie wrapped in a brown bag. “Here. I put some extras for your mother. Tell her I said hello.” I took the bag from her and she watched the necklace in my hand. “And Ayden? Take care of yourself, please.”

  An unspoken message hung high in the air between us. I knew what she meant; she didn’t want me to end up like her husband. I nodded, knowing I was heading in that exact direction—to my infinite hell.

  F I F T E E N

  Echo

  There weren’t enough clouds in the sky, hearts in the garden, or hours spent in this bed to make me feel at home. Everything was foreign, a far off world I’d been living on, but had long detached myself from. The fabric of my stripped bed didn’t even feel familiar and my dressers, now bare and empty, had never seemed so worthless. I cried as if I had lost something, and in some way, I guess I did. But how do you mourn something you never had? It’s psychological, I told myself. You just know when something is amiss, when you look at someone else and you long for something that is not yours or you cannot have. It’s an absence—a loss of a heart beat.

  I’d lost my will then, any strength to go on. I not only mourned this nation, but anyone who dared to take me away from what little freedom I had left.

  “Echo,” someone called.

  I’d heard my name, but that, too, sounded foreign. I stared blankly out my window from my bed, desperately trying to figure out how I felt. I’d been so emotionally killed that I felt nothing at all.

  “Echo, you can’t stay in bed forever. Talk to me.” It was Everlae, of course. She took measured steps into my room, and I could only imagine the thoughts running through her mind at the sight of the mess. I felt the bed sink as she sat beside me, my back still to her. She put her hand on my shoulder and I immediately shied away.

  “Don’t touch me.”

  She sighed audibly, never being one to hide her frustration from me. “This is ridiculous, Echo. It’s been three days and you’ve done nothing but lie in bed all day and sulk. Do you not pity yourself?”

  I opened my mouth to reply, but nothing came out. I’d been three days? The moon had fallen and the sun had risen so much that I lost track of time. Time ceased to matter anyway, when my being here had no meaning.

  “You have a rehearsal today,” Ever whispered. I could tell she was making a hard effort to get me out of the funk. She glanced around the room and tried again. “What can I say or do to make this go away for you, Echo?”

  That time, the words came to me easily. “You can stop making it seem as if this can actually go away. How do you even suppose that’s possible?” I turned to her, eyes swollen from all the tears I’d shed.

  “Quit being such a baby. I don’t understand where you possible got this attitude from. You fight everything and it’s just not making sense, Echo. What happened to you?” Everlae’s voice had taken on a different octave and she stared at me in disbelief.

  “I found a reason to fight, Ever. Father has locked us all in his own world where it’s sunny all the time and no one can be harmed. There are more important things than being Queen or fashionable jewelry. There is no love, at all, in my arranged marriage. I haven’t the furthest clue about yo
u, but I dare walk this world alone and happy if that is what it takes.” I hadn’t even known it, but tears slipped down my cheeks and I had to quickly rub them away. “I refuse to take part in the destruction of a nation so blind it cannot see that even its own people are struggling to stay alive.”

  Everlae’s eyes were hard and cold. She looked at me as if a stranger sat before her. “Who are you? Where’s my little sister who loved this place and dreaded ever leaving?”

  I stared at her, reading her. Her eyes never left mine. “She’s dead, Everlae.”

  A tear fell from her eyes and she quickly rubbed it away with the sleeve of her sweater. “To tell you the truth, whoever you are, I’m not sure how much I like you.”

  Shaking my head, I said, “You don’t mean that. I’m the only person you consider liable, the only one you trust. I’ve never lied to you, Ever, and I won’t start now. You’re better than this, you need to grow up. If there’d ever been a reason to doubt this family, you have to believe me when I say there is more to this world—so much more. More than anything Silas could ever offer you.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Do you want to know a secret?” I asked, smiling. Ever shrugged. “I left, Everlae. With a boy, and he took me to Old Haven. I felt free for the first time; you just had to see it there. I mean, they all lived so poorly, but I wasn’t burdened or worried that I shouldn’t be out alone. I slept on a bed that wasn’t downed in expensive fabric and you should have seen the place where he lived. It wasn’t much, but it was home for him.” I smiled to myself, speaking the words from memory as if I could taste them.

  “That sounds so…” Ever rolled the words around in her mouth, “so different.”

  My forehead furrowed at her choice of words. “No, you don’t understand. The place was different, yes, but the people weren’t. I’ve only just met him, of course, but—”

  “This is the boy Mother was talking about? The one from Old Haven who works in the garden?” She’d said the words like she just wanted to get them out of her mouth.