by G S Santos
"What's wrong, daughter?" said the man, stunned.
"Help me, please, they want to stone me!" said Adelphine, trying to catch her breath.
The man raised his head while Adelphine watched the scrawny boy follow her with a pair of ragged boys behind him, holding stones and half-broken bricks.
"There he is," she said.
"Stop right there!" The monk spread his arms crosswise. Adelphine hid behind him, breathing as if she had been about to drown. “That is no way to act, if you do not want to incur the punishment of the gods, stand aside, and leave this poor woman alone."
"The problem is when they let that kind of people in! They are parasites!" the scrawny boy shouted. You do not even know who she is! If you knew who she is and what she did, you would throw her out of the city."
"I do not care who she is, only about who you are."
"And you should care," said one of the scrawny boy’s friends. "Look at you, you're skinnier than a nail."
"It is over. Go back to your own."
"She is a swindler of the worst kind!" the scrawny boy cried, "and she threw a stone at a woman who was not doing anything to her! We would leave her alone if it were not for that."
"It was an accident! The stone was for you!" Adelphine shouted. "And you started this!"
"Well, she's not going to scam anyone, she's going to pray at the temple."
"Yes," said Adelphine. "I just come to pray."
"For once in a lifetime, leave her alone." The monk lowered his arms.
Adelphine's pursuers grimaced, snarled, and turned their backs to leave without quenching their thirst to overcome boredom and beat a victim of defamation. Adelphine sat up and looked at the monk.
"Thanks, good monk. Now, I must go."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm looking for my aunt. I'm from the outskirts..."
"I think I know who you are. That old family, those of the vineyards, is it not?"
"Yes, it's me."
"So you’re a Varunas. I am Silas. If I were you, I would come to the sanctuary with me for a few hours, maybe change your clothes, get out later, to evade the ones chasing you."
"To the sanctuary? I'm not going there."
"Why not?"
"I do not get along with the gods."
"Come, you'll be fine," he said. Adelphine nodded and sighed, defeated, and followed the monk through the zigzag streets of the city, through the Pilgrimage Gate.
The pyramid shaped temple was becoming clearer; pristine, of pure marble, like a crystalline mountain. Two cherubs with axes in hand and long wings guarded the entrance. She followed the monk inside, and as soon as she crossed the threshold, she lowered her head, for a wave of childhood memories invaded her along with the smell of incense.
"Put this on." The monk offered her his scarf, and she stared at him, confused.
"Cover when entering the temple."
"What?" Adelphine raised an eyebrow.
"Just do it, it's a tradition."
Adelphine wrapped her scarf around her head and followed him. Obelisks stood at the sides, and a circular channel bordered a pyramid of shiny marble. The image of the young god stood amid the walls, with his hair to his bare, muscular chest, his eyes closed, as if he were indifferent to the world around him with crossed legs and the pristine face of an innocent youth. A crown of sunrays circled his head.
“Don’t you understand? Something horrible happened to my family, and the one who did it is still there, living like a king, is respected and loved, while we are treated like cockroaches. I'm sorry, but you would never understand."
What made her soul burn the most was the desire to see justice, to know that Count Siwelzac would get payback, that he could feel the same pain. She looked the priest in the eye. "Do you have any proof that their god does justice? Can you help me?"
The priests looked at each other.
"Girl." The high priest looked into her eyes. "I see it in you. I know what you are feeling. I know it with every feeling of my heart. You want someone's world to burn in flames. What if I tell you that it will not take your soul on the right path? A wise word is to know that hate does not consume you. Let go, and start again."
What did he know about hate? All that emotion was placed in a very fair place. She, herself, could not put out that fire. On behalf of her family, on behalf of Kaunas, of her mother, of her father’s name, that could not stay that way.
"Thank you for everything." She bowed her head.
She said goodbye to the monks and went out as soon as the sun drifted through the mountains. She walked through the stone streets now half undone, the part she remembered had been the home of her aunt. She walked with the scarf around her face, covering her disheveled hair and hiding it from the bad people.
"Do you know Talia? She lives in the north wing," she asked a brewess with a pointed cap and a crooked nose, who shook the contents her cauldron by the window. The woman pointed to a high street in the intricate labyrinth of streets and stairs.
"I do not know her, but there's your north wing," the woman said in a harsh voice and looked back at her steaming cauldron. Adelphine lowered her head and continued walking on ever darker paths, now silent.
Suddenly in an alley, she crossed her eyes as a thick man with a thick beard shouted while waving a bright bottle.
She walked faster, but the man stopped and followed her with his eyes.
"Where are you going? With me, come with me, my sweetie!" He lunged at Adelphine, and she rushed up the street. The man stumbled straight ahead. She ran faster through the almost empty streets, crossed a couple of blocks, as her lungs demanded for air, until she could not take it anymore. She stopped to breathe like a woman saved from drowning. She looked around and realized she had no idea where to go. It was too late to go home, and Kaunas was surely starving.
But she had forgotten the way back.
Suddenly she heard a few steps behind her and turned around. A lamplighter went on to light a street light, while she moved on the darkening street.
"Hey, you," he said. "It seems you're lost. Are you looking for someone?"
Adelphine gasped and gave him a shy look. "Eh… I'm looking for my aunt's house."
"And who is your aunt?
"Her name is Talia.
"Talia what?"
"Talia from... from..."
"There are many Talias here. What is her last name?"
"It starts with an M."
"Talia with a last name that starts with M. Haven’t you seen her for a long time?"
"No, but I know she brews beer in the north wing."
"There are also many breweries and a ton of people with that name. Do you know the name of the neighborhood where she lives?"
Adelphine shook her head, and the lamplighter sighed.
"Well, I cannot help you, but be careful around here. You do not know the kind of people you can find, especially at this time. I suggest you go back to where you came from and look for her tomorrow morning."
Adelphine nodded. "Thank you, I'll keep it in mind," she said and kept walking up. She could not give up by then. The way through the fields of Ladania, so late at night, were not safe nor easy to walk through. Nevertheless, the pain in her feet was becoming unbearable, and she preferred to sit in the middle of the street for a couple of hours, and even take a nap, hoping not to find another ill-intentioned man.
Suddenly, she heard murmurs on the other side of the street and lightened her pace. She found a light in one corner. Across a clean street, there was a wooden sign with a frothy beer carved on top. I read the The Cheerful Horse. Outside, fur-lined lanterns hung on the side of the door, and the interior was bright and cheerful. Fiddle music rang inside, and scruffy men stood on the sidewalk, holding tin beer glasses in hand, while waitresses with long curls welcoming those who entered.
Adelphine smiled and ran toward it, but as soon as she crossed the alley, someone pulled her arm, and her entire body was pulled back.
A coarse voice surprised her. "Where do you think you’re going?"
Adelphine turned in astonishment, but the arm pulled her into the alley where the lantern light died off. She looked up and saw the silhouette of three men.
"Wait." One of the guys ripped off her scarf. Adelphine's hair broke loose, and she took a step back.
"Give it back!" she cried and tried to take the scarf from the rascal. In vain.
"Help...!" she shouted, but another one of them covered her mouth with a sweaty hand and held her tightly.
"Wait, I tell you!" shouted one of them. "See? It’s that girl! She’s that Varunas wench! Look at her eyes! What a freak of nature, one of them is blue and the other one green!"
"Well, well," his companions applauded. "Oh boy, she sure is full of money."
"Yes, and remember the play. You know the stories! She is an easy girl."
"Easy girl!" laughed the other two.
"Wait, wait for just one second... What if we ask for a ransom?"
Adelphine shook her whole body to escape. She struggled to open her mouth and could not, but one of the men, who seemed to be the leader, looked at her as if he had found a fortune and the gods knew what else.
Chapter III:
The man who had no honor
"Well, you’re a goldmine, that’s what you are!" grunted the thug, scanning her from the feet to the head, his long neck towering over her like a ladder.
Adelphine shook her body with all her strength, but the bony arms that held her squeezed too tight. She tried to kick her captor’s feet with her heel, but he dodged the foot and exerted more pressure on her body. She felt his warm breath over her ear, then she tried to head-butt him, but he turned his face away before she could.
"Calm down, sweetie!" she heard him whisper next to her ear.
She tried to speak, but the wet hand held her face firmly. All resistance was in vain.
Suddenly, she heard a deep voice behind her, as if it came from a mountain cave. "Hey! Why not you mess with someone of your size? Leave the girl alone!"
Adelphine turned her neck as far as she could and caught a glimpse of a wide guy with damp, tousled hair, and a sheathed sword dangling from his waist. He pointed at the thugs who had captured her and looked at them with his head raised and frowning. His eyelids looked like bags and a deep, pale scar crossed his left eyebrow.
The man took a step forward and approached the one who was covering her mouth and attacked with a slow, and clumsy punch. He lost his balance and fell like a sack of potatoes.
Just a drunkard trying to be the hero.
The thugs in the alley laughed like hyenas.
Adelphine swallowed. Suddenly, Adelphine's captor fell to the ground, and her along with him, and crawled upside down from one side to the other. Adelphine turned her head and noticed that the drunk was holding the boy with the ankles and dragging him down the stone street.
The tall thug drew a knife, sharp as a needle, and shouted, "You! Who do you think you are?"
The drunkard raised his fists to a fighting stance and pouted. "Coward! Men fight with equals. I do not draw my sword because I am a man of honor!"
Adelphine stood up slowly. She felt like someone had stirred her brain with a spoon, as if someone was making Wodanian potato soup. It hurt, especially when she turned her neck to the left side. Beside her, the boy who had held her stood up with a leap, blood pouring from his nose and a hand trying, in vain, to stop the bleeding.
The drunk moved his head from side to side like a boxer. He approached, pulled back, and punched the wind.
"I will give you what you deserve, you villain!" he shouted, revealing six full teeth, and the rest being empty spaces.
He came to a step from the top and threw a right hand with the weight of his whole body, but the tall thug dodged him like a lynx and responded with a blow to the nose. The gentleman fell on his back with the sound of a sack of eggs breaking, then stopped moving. The other two thugs rushed to kick his face with iron boots.
Adelphine closed her eyes as soon as she saw the blood spilling on the floor. She turned and ran, but felt a hand cling to her wrist. She pulled harder, but now she was held by two hands covered with wool gloves.
"Where do you think you are going?" The tall guy looked at her and yanked her close.
"Leave me alone!" Adelphine tried to break free with all her strength. "I do not know who Varunas is! She looks like me, but it's not me."
The others looked at her, and the tall one held both her wrists. He pulled her close to his body and looked into her eyes. Adelphine swallowed. His legs trembled as if they would collapse, but he took a deep breath. She had to escape from there.
"What? It’s not you?" The tall one looked at her with an arched eyebrow. “There is no one else in this country with one green and one blue eye!"
"No, no. Do you think Varunas would dress like me? She is an expert thief, and I have heard she has very good taste! The eye is a coincidence. It’s a disease caused by an excess of moonlight. I swear!"
The thug looked her up and down, his mouth twisted and his eyes curious.
"It makes sense," he said and looked at his friends.
"Even better!" said the boy with sweaty hands. “If she was that rich woman, they could send someone to find us. Yes, if you are poor, as you say, we can do what we want and nobody will come looking for you. Don’t you think it's better, guys?"
The other two looked at each other as if solving an equation.
"It seems like a good idea to me," said the other boy who had been silent until then, so short that he was almost a head shorter than she was.
"Yes," the tall one continued. "It is a very economically sensible and humble idea."
"Well, I have a better idea." Adelphine cleared her throat. "What do you want? Girls? I'll take you to a place where you'll find the best girls. There is everything: beer, fights, everything you want."
"Do not change the subject!" grunted the tall one. "We are talking about how you are not Varunas. So who are you?"
"Does that matter? I’m nobody!"
"It matters. If you're Varunas, you have a lot of money. If you're nobody, what do you have?"
"You know what..." She tried to hide the fact that her legs were shaking. "I work at a cheap, humble bar, where there are also many girls. It is the merriest place in the city. The girls are waiting for guys like you, they love tall guys. And there is another girl who would die for a short guy!"
"Who are you calling short!" yelled the short one.
"Are you serious?" The one with the sweaty hands had his eyes open like a plate.
"Of course! Come with me," said Adelphine.
"Wait, wait." The tall one lifted his hands. "I have been to many taverns. What’s the name?"
"It’s new! The name is… The Queen of the Merry Dragonflies and Sons."
"Oh. Is it?"
"Come, you are gonna enjoy it," she said, and as soon as the sweaty-handed guy let go for a second, she ran like a hare, tears streaming down her face and her heart beating fast like the drums of a polka. She turned on the corner, her eyes set on the tavern illuminating the street like a lighthouse in the middle of the night sea.
"Help!" she shouted, looking back and running down the stone street until she reached the door and entered as if to save his life. The customers looked at her in surprise, while some seemed to speak of her from their tables. She stopped abruptly, her hands on her knees, and breathing as if she was about to drown.
"They wanted to kidnap me!" she gasped, but the crowd seemed unwilling to help her.
However, when she looked up, she noticed that a waitress with curly hair approached her with wide, green eyes. She extended her hand and helped her stand up.
"My gods, you look frightened. It’s fine, it’s fine." She smiled like an old friend. "Did they hurt you?"
Adelphine shook her head, her eyes fixed on the ground, facing the opposite side. She could not let her see her eyes or else she would recognize her
. Suddenly, the waitress looked back at the long-mustached bartender, who filled a pint of beer behind the bar. His hair was curly like the girl's, and there was a kinship in the features; he was probably her father.
"Come here." The girl took Adelphine with her hand clinging to the opposite side of the tavern, to a table in the corner near the bar, while Adelphine tried to contain her trembling body. She glanced behind the window and saw those who had wanted to kidnap her, who looked in and whispered to each other as if debating whether to enter or not.
"With what were they..." The girl looked out the window and shook her head "Those three again? We've seen them more than once. Be careful, they are the worst kind of stalkers. Let's see, sit down for a moment, and take a deep breath. Are you feeling better?"
"Much better," Adelphine sighed.
"Would you like something to drink?" The girl lowered her face, looking for Adelphine's eyes, but she did not dare look up. Her kindness could fall apart if she found out who she was.
"Just a little tea, please," Adelphine said, keeping her eyes below.
"All right." The girl turned and walked to a door behind the bar, where Adelphine caught a glimpse of steaming pots and bottles on the shelves. Adelphine turned her back against the customers, some who still looked at her strangely or curiously, and kept her gaze fixed on the table, her long hair hiding her face.
The girl returned with a wooden tray and a cup of steaming tea, accompanied by a porcelain spoon and a jar of honey. It gave off a soft smell of jasmine. She poured a pile of sticky honey and took a sip. She immediately felt the honey fill her with energy.
"Thanks," Adelphine whispered with her eyes still fixed on the floor and with her hand concealed, covering her face.
"No need to, relax for a moment. I’ll get back to work. Just let me know if you need anything." The girl turned around and returned to her customers.
Adelphine sighed. Her mind reviewed what had just happened, disappointed at herself that she had run away. She wished she could have melted their faces or burned their wicked skins. Yes, she was a woman who had never learned to defend herself, but something in her made her want to be able to fend for herself. Maybe it was what her father said long ago, the Varunas clan had warrior blood; that of the first Sarmatians who came from the East in their iron chariots from the land of the great empires. But that was another story. Sure, her ancestors would be disappointed. She had ran away again and knew that she could not spend the rest of her life escaping and hiding.
