Silent Kingdom (7 page)

“…and sometimes we wrestle,” Avrik chattered on, “but since you are a girl and it would probably be considered improper, we can change that and tap you… You’ll have fun anyway though…”

Though I tried to tread carefully, I stumbled in Lyanna’s boots. Avrik shook his head and, with a laugh, caught me before I fell. Grasping my arm as if he thought I needed help keeping my balance too, he took in my outfit with a mischievous grin. I rolled my eyes at him and glanced down at my secondhand clothing.

Lyanna’s old blue dress was worn and faded to a dull grey color. Though the fabric hung loosely on my tiny frame, I must have been taller than she was when she fit in the dress, because the hem rested above my ankles and left room for the large boots to show. Over it all I wore a long black cloak, which had once been Rev’s, so long it dragged a little in the grass behind me.

I stared straight back into his glinting eyes and glared at him. Out of habit, I opened my mouth, only to draw in a deep breath and clamp it shut again. Would I ever be able to speak again, if I really wanted to?
Did
I want to? I pressed my lips together.

“Lyanna will make sure you have new clothes soon,” he said, forcing the smirk off his face in response to my frown. “Don’t worry. Besides, it’s not like we are in a big city where all the girls talk about is fashion and they’re always fussing about their hair and dresses… Though I suppose there are a few here who do that.” He scrunched his nose in distaste and waved a hand dismissively, like he was ordering those girls out of his presence.

You’ve been in big cities?
I raised an eyebrow at him in surprise. What if in his travels he had learned more about the monsters like the sedwa and the myths about the Wastelands and the kingdoms beyond ours?

Avrik seemed to read my mind. “Yes, I’ve been to some of Misroth’s other towns and cities with my father. He’s a hunter and trader, so he does a lot of traveling. He sometimes journeys as far as Argelon, but he’s never let me go with him.”

My curiosity stirred, but my question was answered. Avrik knew nothing of the myths, or surely he would already be launching into his third or fourth mesmerizing description of the monsters lurking in foreign kingdoms.

He seemed wistful, but then he brightened at another memory. “But I have been to Misroth City before. Have you…?” He hesitated, stopping before he finished the question, as if afraid to ask me about my past.

I finished his question for him in my head.
Have I ever been to Misroth City before? Yes, but this, Avrik, is the farthest I’ve ever been from home. I always thought I’d travel throughout all of Misroth someday, see my entire kingdom, and even explore the kingdoms and lands beyond ours despite our closed borders. I never thought I’d be hiding in a little village where no one knows me, making friends with a boy I can’t talk to. So please, please don’t ask any more… Not now.

Pain welled in my chest, stinging relentlessly in my throat and eyes, but I forced back the tears.

Avrik turned from me with a shake of his head. “I wish you could share your name, or where you are from, but I won’t pester you. If something terrible happened to you, it makes sense you’d want to forget.” He sighed and quickly changed the subject. “Don’t be nervous, though, about your first day of school.”

I don’t think you’ll mind having a quiet friend when you seem comfortable enough with filling the silence,
I thought.
Good. We’ll get along well.

“Although, I will warn you, word spreads fast around here,” Avrik told me as we trudged up one of a series of hills in our path. “Everyone already knows about you, and Teacher is expecting you. She encourages us to read often, so if you enjoy reading as much as Lyanna told me you do, you should enjoy our schoolwork.”

Panting, we reached the crest of the hill and paused to take in the view. Grey and white clouds smothered the sun and sky and swirled together, wrestling with one another to determine which would choose the weather of the day. A cool breeze tugged at my cloak and brushed leaves past us, sending them rolling down the hill. Slashes of brown obscured my vision as locks of my hair, hanging freely about my shoulders, blew across my face. Up ahead, tucked behind a few more hills, rested a one-room building, about the smallest building I’d ever seen. I blinked, wondering what it was like to have to walk somewhere to school every day and share your teacher with a room full of other students.

With mild surprise, I realized Avrik was talking still.

“My mother liked to read a lot too… I think Father is lonely without her. Some of the townspeople like to spread rumors about his hunting habits, say he acts suspicious with his frequent travels and his long days up in the mountains and out in the forest. They do not like that he rarely socializes. Sometimes they tell stories about how he must be traveling across our borders and joining in forbidden deals with Alrenor and Toryn. He likes to keep away from everyone…avoid the talk…” Pain leaked into his dark eyes and I found myself feeling sorry for him.

You have things you want to forget too.

Questions about his mother flitted through my brain, things I’d hesitate to ask even if I could speak.

He shrugged, as if tossing his grief aside like an unwelcome weight.

I offered him a half-hearted smile, trying to express my encouragement and sympathy in one look, and he returned it gratefully.

“Anyway, everyone at school will probably be in awe of you, a mysterious outsider.” He laughed. “But I’ll keep you company.” Then his lips quirked in a playful expression and his eyes sparked with fun. “I’ll race you the rest of the way there!” he exclaimed, and before his words registered with me, he was gone.

Grinning, I sprinted down the hill after him as gracefully and quickly as my clunky boots would allow. He drew up beside the schoolhouse, panting and standing apart from the clump of children gathered at the door. Gasping, I stumbled after him.

Race me when I’m wearing shoes that fit and then we’ll see who wins,
I thought, recalling all the times I had bested Gillen in races through the castle grounds and along the beach.

I glanced over Avrik’s shoulder, my eyes skimming over a group composed of children from six years old to a few years older than me. Relieved, I noticed that no one else seemed to be armed with any sorts of weapons, but they didn’t appear surprised at Avrik’s accessories either.

Avrik nodded and wished them all good morning, but most were staring at me with large, curious eyes instead. A girl my age, dressed in a floral print dress, scanned my oversized, faded outfit and quirked an eyebrow. I shot her a sheepish smile, but she turned away, tossing her blonde braid over her shoulder.

“Don’t mind Jayn,” Avrik whispered in my ear. “She thinks having a wealthy merchant for a father makes her royalty.”

Before he could say more, a young woman waded through the group of students, pushed open the door to the schoolhouse, and urged us all inside. Long black hair draped past her shoulders, and her eyes were pale blue like Lyanna’s and full of a kind light.

Following the other students, Avrik stepped through the doorway and leaned his pack, bow, and quiver against the wall. I followed, but the teacher made me pause when she held up her hand.

“I’ve heard about you,” she said. “I’m Ara. We’ll have to come up with a name for you I suppose, if you don’t remember yours. I heard you can write and that you love to read.” Her eyes flitted to Avrik and I nodded eagerly. “Well then I think you will get along in class well. It won’t matter that you cannot speak. Talking is often valued more highly than it is worth.”

I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination or not, but I thought I saw Avrik turn a shade redder out of the corner of my eye.

As I seated myself beside Avrik, I drew far more gazes than I wanted. Self-conscious, my face grew hot, but every time I turned to Ara—or Teacher, as everyone called her—I felt the knots in my stomach lessen. At lunchtime, after several hours of studying history, she told us to put our books away and invited us to join her outside to eat.

I lifted the pail of bread, cheese, and fruit that Lyanna had prepared for me and followed Avrik out into the schoolyard. The older girls had clustered close to one another against the schoolhouse wall to avoid the cold breeze and bent their heads close together as they ate their food and chattered. One of the younger girls looked over her shoulder and caught my gaze, then turned back to whisper to Jayn. Jayn lifted her golden head and met my stare with her perfect blue eyes. She shot me a smile that clearly said:
You are not welcome with us. Find someone else to sit with.

I shuffled uneasily on my feet. The life of a royal had always been somewhat isolated for me: my world had mostly revolved around time spent with my family, my tutor, and the occasional visits, balls, or feasts with nobility, consisting of the councilmen and their families or the city and town Leaders from throughout the kingdom. I had never had to impress any person other than my father. Gillen had been my best friend, my mother had been nurturing, if demanding, and visitors respected me as a member of the royal family. As long as I strove to follow the rules of conduct for royal blood, my father had been content. Before, my mere presence had been enough to earn respect and admiration from others; now I was being judged as unworthy just as quickly.

A stocky boy, with dark grey eyes and hair red as strawberries, approached Avrik and nudged him. “Are you eating with us?”

“Uhh…” Avrik hesitated and glanced at me. “What about her, Jaren?”

Jaren frowned. “You don’t even know her name, and you want to forget about us to spend time with her? What about archery tonight? What about—”

“Jaren,” Avrik interjected, “I am still your friend. But she’s my neighbor and I want her to feel welcome.”

Another boy with golden blond hair joined us. “She can eat with the girls.” He paused and wiggled his eyebrows, adding in a taunting voice, “Unless she’s your lover.”

I bit my lip and felt color flood my cheeks.

Avrik rolled his eyes. “She’s a friend, Shilam! Why can’t she join us?”

Shilam shrugged. “The girls never eat with us. They want to talk about…well, I-don’t-know-what.”

“Give her a chance.” Avrik turned to a boy further back, with sandy hair and soft brown eyes. He was tall yet quiet, observing the conversation thoughtfully. “Bren, help me out here. She wants to join us to shoot bows and swordfight too—”

I cast Avrik a sidelong glance, surprised at his words, but not unpleased. He must have assumed my long silence this morning as he’d described he and his friends’ activities together had been assent.

“
What?
” Jaren’s eyes went wide. “What kind of girl is she?”

Now my whole body went hot and I stiffened.
What kind of boy are you?
I thought fiercely, wishing I could yell at him.

“There’s nothing wrong with her,” Avrik said. “She simply isn’t dull like the ones you know.” His grin was bright and made his eyes sparkle, and I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my own face at his words.

Jaren raised up his hands. “I’m sorry…I did not mean it that way…”

“So she is interesting, like you,” Shilam said, smirking at Avrik and nudging him on the arm. “I’m surprised she doesn’t carry a bow and quiver everywhere also.”

“It’s a habit of my father’s to always be prepared,” Avrik said, the sparkle still in his eyes even as he crossed his arms across his chest. “Is that so wrong?”

The other boys chuckled, clearly enjoying their opportunity to poke some lighthearted fun at their friend.

Clearing his throat, Bren finally spoke. “I’m with Avrik on this one. There’s no reason she cannot join us.” He shot me a welcoming smile and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Jaren shrugged and Shilam nodded at me, saying, “If you don’t want to spend time with the girls, you can sit with us.”

We settled in the grass with some of the other boys. Sitting cross-legged with Lyanna’s dress pooling out around me, I rested my lunch pail on the ground and began to empty its contents.

Avrik leaned over to whisper in my ear. “I’m sorry about all of that. Jaren usually likes to tease and doesn’t mean most of what he says.” He grinned again. “The boys try to accuse me of having a love interest every week, but that is because they are jealous of the attention I get.” He winked and shot a glance over at the girls, who immediately noticed his gaze and lost themselves in giggles and bashful smiles as they hid their faces.

Suddenly self-conscious, I nodded and played with the hem of my dress. Taking a bite of bread, I swallowed and tried to pretend nothing about this unusual environment made me feel shy or out of place. How strange to feel familiar in the spacious corridors and vast expanses of the castle, yet uncomfortable here in a cozy, secluded village.

“And I’m sorry they weren’t open to you joining us immediately...Shilam and Jaren are not always open to new things,” he explained simply. “But Bren is my best friend; he has always supported me, no matter what. I know in the end they will all like you.”

I smiled at him to show my thankfulness.

Avrik turned back to his friends. “By the way,” he announced, “she does have a name. It’s Elena.”

My mouthful of bread went down hard and felt like it lodged itself somewhere in my throat. I swallowed again. This was a bold move on Avrik’s part, and I wasn’t sure if I liked the fact that he had taken it upon himself to give me a name.

“Wasn’t that your mother’s name?” Shilam asked.

Looking uncharacteristically bashful, Avrik toyed with the slice of cheese in his hands. “Maybe.”

Noting his discomfort, I patted his arm and smiled, and Avrik’s face brightened. Studying the light dancing in his eyes, I realized how much my silent acknowledgment meant to him. The name was important to him, a clear sign that he was welcoming me into his life. With my parents’ betrayal still searing my heart, his token of friendship felt like a healing balm.

Thank you,
I thought.
I can be Elena. I can be your friend and live this new life.

Maybe life in Evren wouldn’t be bad. Lyanna and Rev made their house feel like home, and though no one could replace Gillen, I could make new friends. Perhaps someday I could even feel safe here.