by Anna Logan
“Mostly. Ki and Kae don’t work yet.”
“Oh,” was all she managed. So the new rules didn’t apply to anyone but laborers. Typical.
Ayida must have caught on to the notion, because she turned to face her with a sympathetic frown. “I’m sure things have not been easy for you, in these recent weeks. I’m sorry that you had to be among those to bear the brunt of Kaydor’s cruelty.”
Talea couldn’t help the curious tilt of her head. “Do you know anything about him? Kaydor?”
The woman’s eyes shifted away in what might have been discomfort or withholding. With her calm, keen countenance, however, it was impossible to be sure. “Oh, well, not specifically. We have picked up on things, though. He’s an advocate for the Eradication in Zentyre, and a military man. He earned a nickname as ‘the Dragon’, I assume for his fierceness.”
Since there was no reason Talea could think of for Ayida to be hiding something about the matter, she decided to ignore the idea. “Oh. So, none of the new rules he made applied to middle class?”
“The draft applied to us, though I suspect they were more careless in drafting laborers, because with middle class they only took a few men. Not enough to hurt the town at all. I suspect it wasn’t so, where you’re from,” she posed it almost as a question.
“Not really. They took about half of the men between eighteen and fifty in my village, including my father.”
Ayida laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, her serene brown eyes holding a surprising amount of sympathy, considering they’d only met the night before. “Well,” she said, the brightening of her tone announcing that she was switching the topic. “Are you hungry?”
All she did was nod, even as she mentally noted that famished would perhaps have been a better word. “Can I help you with the preparation?”
“No, no, just have a seat, thank you though.” Ayida returned to the kitchen and the quosip eggs that were sizzling in the skillet. “I suppose your mother did better by you than I did by Kae, and you’re quite capable in a kitchen.”
“Well I…” she pressed her lips together. “Kae doesn’t cook?” That probably wasn’t the right response. But, how could Kae not know how to cook?
“Hardly, at least not with results that are edible.”
Thankful that Ayida’s back was to her so that she wouldn’t see her confused expression, Talea frowned to herself. Well, I suppose if Ayida didn’t have to go back to work as soon as possible, the cooking and chores wouldn’t have been left to her kids. Or maybe she comes home from work early to make supper. “Well,” she said again, pouring some cheer into her voice, “I guess I can put some ingredients together and heat it up to make a meal, so yes.” Makes sense. Middle class probably gets paid a lot more than us, so she wouldn’t have to work so much. Almost subconsciously, her gaze traveled the house. That, in and of itself, was a distinguishing factor—that the Krims lived in a house, not a haliop. A squarish building of wood with a thatched roof and wooden floors. Talea had been envious of it nearly the moment she’d entered last night. It was so much cleaner without floors that kicked up dust or turned to mud if water was spilled.
The Krims had nicer things and much more of them as well. More furniture, most of which was cushioned rather than the majority being plainly wooden. Rugs. Shelves. Curtains in the windows. Their clothes weren’t much different from Talea’s, except they were brighter shades, and less tattered from being worn so long.
She’d been silent too long. “May I ask what you do, Mrs. Krim?”
Ayida was sprinkling salt over the eggs. “I’m a school instructor. What about you?”
Now she wished she hadn’t asked that question. The words “I’m a maid” were a bit harder to get past her lips with the words “school instructor” bouncing about in her mind. Her own instructor back in Vissler, Miss Abley, hadn’t seemed all that special even for being middle class. Yet it somehow put Ayida on a higher level by far.
Talea nearly sighed with relief when Seles came out from the bedroom, and smoothly eased into polite discourse with the other woman. She wondered if her mother felt any of her same inferiority.
Breakfast was soon ready and put on the table in the main room. “Wylan and Naylen went to take care of the celith and yuley you brought, in the woods out back. Maybe you’d like to fetch them?” Ayida said to her.
Acknowledging, Talea left the house. Now that it wasn’t dark, she had a better view of the area: a line of houses all an equal distance from the tree line and each other, similar in size and layout, a gravel road separating their fronts from the yards of the next row of houses.
It was a far cry from the sporadic but practical placement of the haliops in Vissler Village. And a far cry from the privacy that sporadic placement allowed, with each haliop nestled in its own little clearing, concealed from its neighbors by a span of forest.
Behind the house was an open yard with a well, a wood pile, a few other odds and ends, its farthest boundary marked by the tree line. That was where she went. There was a certain peace, venturing into the familiar shaded labyrinth of the woods. Even if not quite the same as she’d grown up among, the leafy canopy and tall trunks still reminded her of home. It was a refuge.
The solitude didn’t last more than a five minute walk, before she had arrived at where they’d left the animals tied last night. Wylan was moving Ash to a spot with more grass, Naylen was sorting through their provisions. He glanced up hopefully as she approached. “Breakfast?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, breakfast.”
He was already headed back to the house. Talea kept pace with him, listening to the subtle footsteps behind them. Should she slow down and walk with Wylan? It didn’t seem right to ignore him. Yeah, one problem: if I do walk with him, it’ll just be in awkward silence. Maybe not. Even as she thought it, the previous night’s curiosity flared to life. Is he one of those “Radical Xanytes”?
Well, that was hardly a discussion to initiate on the five-minute walk back to the house. Maybe just a casual question that could apply to both of them. “Will it be okay to just leave Ash and Rosy back there? If it rains—”
“Won’t.” Wylan interjected. At her backwards glance at him, he shrugged as if she ought to have understood. “Doesn’t rain around here this time of year. Almost never.”
She bit down any sort of retort or even a frown. “You from around here?”
“Further east,” he answered. Right, he’d said something about Twaskked, wherever that is.
Back at the house, breakfast was a more subdued, orderly affair than Talea imagined it would have been if the rest of the Krim family were present. The rest of the day was much the same, and idle. There wasn’t much to do beside talk and do whatever chores or odd jobs Ayida gave in to. That turned out to be the most suited to Wylan, who fixed or accomplished everything she put in front of him, and more.
Because of their age, Emali and Quo’s early arrival from school lifted the sobriety of the company considerably. Since their usual chores had been done, Ayida reluctantly granted them freedom. Emali soon shyly approached Talea, with Quonas hiding behind her, to ask for a game of hide-and-seek.
That, and a variety of other games, occupied the next two hours of her time. Playing with the two joyful children was the perfect way to clear her head for a while. Their laughter and smiles were infectious.
Things became all the more spirited when Ki and Kae got home. No more hide-and-seek, but there was plenty of animated conversations about their abilities and the upcoming journey. Ki seemed perfectly thrilled with the entire situation. Kae, a little more restrained, a little more wistful about leaving home. Yet as far as Talea could tell, neither were at all fearful of the prospect. Despite all the fun and happiness that filled the Krim house, her puzzled suspicion refused to be undone.
Supper came and went in a blur of cheerful, energetic conversation. Eating in-between bouts of laughter proved a challenge. “You’re telling me you purposely tried to shock each other with
it?!”
Ki threw his hands out—nearly hitting Kae and Naylen on either side of him—with a wide grin. “Wull o’ course! ‘Oo wouldn’?”
Talea shook her head with a laugh. “That wasn’t exactly my first thought when I met Wylan. ‘Hmm, I wonder if I could knock him out with a good shock. Let’s give it a try’!”
Wylan wore a faint smile, but his interest apparently wasn’t on the humor of the matter. “Did it work?”
Ki and Kae exchanged a glance and shrug. “Sort of,” Kae answered. “Eventually I put enough energy into it that he kind of passed out, just for a couple seconds.”
“Did it hurt?” Talea raised an eyebrow at Ki.
“Naw, nothin’ hurts me!” he declared with self-assurance. “Wull, it felt kinda weird. Like a jolt.”
Alket gave a chuckling grunt, setting down his cup of water decidedly. “Wull, I tell ya what, it hurt me!”
Talea couldn’t help her astonished grin. “You did it to him?!”
“Ah, jus’ a li’l bit!” Ki waved his hand dismissively.
“Ha! Li’l bit my big toe!” Alket reached across the table to give Ki’s head a playful shove. “Near killed me, ya did.”
“Wull, in ma defense, was en accident.” Ki crossed his arms. “If you adn’t snuck up behind me like while I was practicin’ with Kae, neva woulda happened.”
“Mm-hmm,” was his father’s skeptical, good-natured response.
Talea, still smiling, ducked her head, gaze on the napkin resting on her lap. It was so different. Talking about their ability so openly, so cheerfully; not in a repressed tone as if afraid of it, and not with a feeling of awkwardness or guilt. It was…well, it was refreshing. She dared a peek at her mother to gauge her reaction. Seles’ pretty, aging features were relaxed, the wrinkles around her eyes more pronounced with her smile. Maybe the Krims’ amiable influence had softened her feelings about the whole thing. Hopefully.
The food, despite the distraction of laughter, was eventually finished and cleared from the table. Alket leaned back in his chair, balancing it on the back legs, his arms crossed over his stomach. When he spoke, his voice made it immediately clear the subject was about to become more sober. “We’ve already agreed ta them goin’ with y’all, so, I reckon we should discuss de plans an’ such. Yer welcome ta stay as long as ya like ta be sure, but, I spose the sooner ya get goin’ the less chance o’ discovery. What are yer thoughts on da ma’er?”
Talea’s focus shifted to her brother and Wylan. Somewhere along the way, she realized, she’d taken to thinking of them as the authorities in this entire affair. She looked next to her mother but found that Seles must have felt the same way, because she showed no inclination to answer first.
Naylen cleared his throat. He, like Alket, had a way of being completely light-hearted one moment and completely serious the next, with no visible transition phase. “I think you’re right. We can’t stay long, not safely, anyway. And the longer we’re here, the more risk you’re in.” His eyes traveled over the occupants of the table, as if assessing everyone’s reactions. “Honestly, maybe we should leave tomorrow. Or, I mean, the next day. Just, soon.”
Kae’s blue eyes grew a little larger. Ki’s glinted with enthusiasm. Ayida’s might have been glistening with tears. Alket’s solemn but accepting. “Reckon yer right. Tamarra’ll do.”
Naylen allowed a brief pause, whether because he was thinking or was sensitive to the mood of the family, Talea didn’t know. He spoke again without much emotion or implication, just plainly. “Do you have a tarp or other similar materials we could use for another shelter? I’m not sure we have enough for everyone anymore.”
“Sure thing. I’ll figur somethin’ out.”
“And food,” Ayida put in, voice steady, despite her strained expression. “I wish we had more, but what we do have that is suitable for traveling, I’ll pack up for you.”
“Thank you,” Seles joined the exchange. “Thank you all, for everything. We’re very grateful.”
Ayida opened her mouth, as if to say something. There was something in her brown eyes…something that made Talea instinctively lean forward to hear what she was going to say. But it never came. Her mouth closed, leaving the words unspoken.
There wasn’t much time to dwell on it, because within moments the silence was shattered by creaking wood and chairs scraping across the floor, as everyone got to their feet. Ayida went immediately to scour the kitchen for any food that would keep well enough for traveling. She packed it while delivering instructions to the rest of her family: Alket, go look into a tarp, then go tell the other school instructor that she was still ‘not feeling well’, and now the twins weren’t either, so they wouldn’t be at school for a couple days. Emali, go get fresh water from the well. Quo, do your homework. Ki and Kae, get your things ready.
That left Talea and her companions standing uncertainly in the living room, some of them looking questioningly at one another, some staring at the floor. As in: Wylan staring at the floor. Is that floor pretty exciting, Sir Secrecy? The inward sarcasm drew her from her daze. “Okay then,” she murmured, transferring her weight from both feet to just the left one. “What do we need to get ready? Anything?”
“Not really,” Wylan pulled his stare from the floor to settle it on her. Shifting her weight back to the other foot, she did her best not to look away. He didn’t say anything more, instead going into the kitchen, where he mutely helped Ayida, before taking inventory of what she’d gathered. Then he turned back to them, giving her a once-over, and was then walking toward the door and out.
Talea nearly scowled. “Well, wait. Where are you going?” her words almost fell on a closed door, but he stopped at the last moment and gave her a dull look.
“Out. To get some more supplies, in the town.”
She retreated the couple steps she’d taken after him. “Oh.”
Without another word, he was out the door and gone.
The rest of the evening was painfully idle. There was little they could do, either by way of preparing themselves or helping the twins to prepare. However, Kae welcomed her and Brenly’s company, so that’s what they did. How Seles and Naylen occupied themselves, she didn’t know. She and Brenly sat on Kae’s bed, watching the girl’s methodical packing. She worked with a conspicuous purposefulness and efficiency. All the while, she was perfectly capable of talking—whether about the coming trip, about the lightning, or just general chatting.
“Are you nervous?” Talea finally ventured to say.
Kae continued her flawless folding of a smock. “No. It’ll be hard to leave, but I’m not scared by it.”
The suspicion came creeping back into her mind. Perhaps some subtle questions. “Even with, well, with those guys we told you about? Yhkon and Grrake, who are probably assassins?”
Kae looked up from her task with a thoughtful air, yet she still didn’t strike Talea as particularly unnerved. “Well, we have four people who can throw lightning bolts. I should think they wouldn’t bother us unless we put ourselves into a weaker position. And, well,” she swallowed and broke eye contact. “Are you so sure they’re bad? From what you’ve told us, they almost sound like they have good intentions, just an intimidating look.”
Talea couldn’t help her frown. “Wylan told me that he saw them kill innocent people, even children, to get access to him.”
Kae blinked. Just before she did, Talea could have sworn she saw the same look as Ayida had, that same…something. It was gone with the shudder of the eyelids, however, and the only public reply Kae made was a nod and frown of her own.
What could that something possibly be? Could it be Kae and Ayida’s strange way of displaying fear? After all, they both had a calm, rational way about them—not the type prone to anything dramatic. A simple flash in the eyes might be their version of an outward sign of anxiety about the subject. The only other possibility was that they were lying about something. That they either did know about Yhkon and Grrake, or that they had suspicion
s of their own, or some other problematic option. But she found that difficult, even impossible, to believe.
Talea looked sideways at Brenly, hoping her observation would go unnoticed. It did and yielded the results she expected: Based off of appearances, Brenly had not noticed the “something” nor experienced any of the same doubts. I’m imagining it.
As the night progressed, other than that one look, Kae did nothing worthy of misgiving. She was friendly, pleasant and likeable. Every one of the Krims were. Even in the view of losing two of their children in the morning, Ayida was the perfect hostess, polite, obliging. Beyond that, she displayed a genuine caring that still surprised Talea.
The preparations were finished, the exact plans made—though detailed planning seemed to be something Alket and Ki didn’t understand the necessity of—and everyone went to bed. Talea doubted if any of them were fast to fall asleep, however.
The next morning was a haze of haste and solemnity and packing. Ayida hardly said a word all morning. But then, most of them didn’t. Ki was somewhat of an exception, but even he was a little mellow.
It was early, the sky only recently brightening to give them visibility of the sleeping town. It was much the same as when they’d left Vissler: sneaking away early in the morning to avoid being seen. Ash and Rosy had been brought to the house to be loaded with the gear and provisions. With the extra items, they were barely able to carry all of it.
It wasn’t until everything was loaded and ready that anyone broke the barrier that had previously kept them all from any discussion that wasn’t strictly related to the packing or assembling.
Ki clasped his hands together and swung them forward and back a couple of times, spinning on his heel to face his parents. Kae, after a pause, took two skipping steps into a tight hug from Ayida. Her brother made a better show of nonchalantly gripping Alket’s hand and smoothly moving into an embrace. It was still a more openly affectionate gesture than Talea felt she’d ever seen her brother and father exchange. The parents and twins swapped, Kae being enveloped in Alket’s arms and Ki in Ayida’s. They hugged their younger siblings next. The entire family excepting Alket and Ki were crying, but still smiling through their tears with expressions of appeared to be something like acceptance.
