Chapter 16

Year 1, Month 2, Week 1, Day 2

Sael

It had been five days since she first arrived in Frolis, and Sael actually had a job. Desi, true to her word, had secured employment for Sael and Jophiel. Jophiel was serving as a secretary to the mayor, which was an enviable position, to be sure, and Sael was working as an apprentice to the local librarian. It seemed to Sael that Desi was going to great lengths to secure her relatives in the city; establishing a great house had to start somewhere, she supposed, and the jobs were a great start.

The librarian that Sael was learning under was an elderly woman, “not long for this world”, in her own words, that wanted nothing more than for her beloved library to be well taken care of. She was teaching Sael how to properly catalog the books, and the process of checking them out and keeping track of who checked which books out, and what to do if a book had been checked out for too long, which, funnily enough, involved a small itching curse the library itself emanated through all of its books.

The librarian, known to the town simply as “Earl” was supremely excited at Sael’s level of reading comprehension, as Earl had to host frequent reading workshops with the town to ensure that they were properly literate, which most of the town took for granted until the scarce time of the year the traders came to town, at which points, Earl was the most popular person around. Earl had come to realize in the short time she had spent with Sael that the elavis’ education was probably better than her own, and the woman who was despairing the fate of her library now had her hopes renewed.

It was about sixteen chimes, now, and Sael was on her way home from work. Despite the rural setting, the town was really well-paved. It was odd to Sael, seeing the environment around the town, she never would have guessed, but the streets were cobblestone and the sidewalk finished limestone. She wanted a loose rock to kick, but her Whisper advised against looking for one–something about making responsible choices.

Boring.

She made it to Desi’s house–she hadn’t yet made the mental shift to calling it home–and walked into the house. Desi called from the kitchen. It seemed to Sael that Desi was always cooking. Making her way into the kitchen from the entryway, Sael called back.

“Desi! What’s for supper? Is it greens again?” Laughter chimed from the kitchen in response.

“Well, Onfreth isn’t willing to slaughter any pigs at the moment, so, yes, just greens for the moment. Next week, we’ll have corn, though!” Desi said with a definite smile to her voice.

“Mom, aren’t you tired of having greens?” Sael called through the house, attempting to tease Desi.

“Wait,” Desi asked with a sudden change of tone, peering her head around the corner, “she’s not with you?”

“...No? Is she supposed to be?”

“She was supposed to be here an hour ago. I just assumed she wanted to walk home with you.”

“I haven’t seen her, Desi. She’s a big girl, though.”

“Go over to the mayor’s mansion. Make sure he’s not making her work long hours. If he thinks he can get away with that, he has another thing coming.”

“Can it wait until after I’ve had some greens?” Sael asked. You should do as you’ve been asked, Sael; it won’t hurt you to go out and tell your mother that supper is ready.

“Sael, I will throw this potholder at you.” Desi stated quite firmly.

The younger elavis threw her hands up. “Fine! I’ll go! Empty belly and all.” Stop complaining; it’s not becoming of you. No, but it is becoming a nuisance to hear “stop complaining all the time”.

***

By the time Sael reached the mayor’s house, the sun was well on its way to setting. She walked up onto the porch and pulled the doorbell. After some steps and shuffling inside, the mayor, an especially wide dwarf, answered the door. He was dressed in pajamas with a grey smoking-jacket, holding a pipe in one hand and twirling his beard with the other.

“Mayor Redmine, I’m sorry to bother you so late in the day.” Good manners, Sael.

“Not to worry, child. What is it?” the mayor responded.

“Have you seen my mother, Jophiel Erus? I was under the impression she must be working late.”

“Sael, is it?” the mayor asked briskly. Sael nodded. “I haven’t seen your mother since noon. She left for her lunch break and never returned.” A chill went down Sael’s spine. “I was planning on having a chat with Desi about that, but as you don’t know where she is, perhaps I should summon a search party?”

Sael thought about that. Don’t react quite that strongly just yet. First establish that something bad did happen, first, before you trouble the man.

“No, not yet. Tell me, where has she been getting lunch?”

“Golbert the pretzelmaker’s stand. His house is across town from here–the last one before the grazing fields on the west side of town.”

Sael thanked Mayor Redmine for his time and bid him goodnight. He instructed her to come back and wake him if she did end up needing a search party organized. After the door shut, she wasted no time in making her way across town. She interrupted Golbert’s family dinner, and asked the halfling if he had seen Jophiel.

“No, I haven’t. But, surprisingly enough, you haven’t been the only one who’s been looking for her.”

“What?”

“Yeah, this morning, a tall fella with, eh, light-brown, maybe dark blonde hair, and a scar across his cheek came by asking for ‘Lady Erus’.” Sael’s vision unfocused for a moment.

“You’re shitting me.” She said loudly, panic creeping into her voice. Language, Sael. The halfling recoiled, startled at the change of tone. “Did you see where he came from? Where he went?

“Begging your pardon, madam, But I did see him come into town from the direction of the hills to the northwest.” Sael paled, realizing he meant the area where she saw the caves when she first came to Frolis.

“Shit.” Again, language. Have the mayor summon a search party. There’s no time for that. “Look,” she said to the halfling, “please go get Desi. Tell her exactly what you told me.” The halfling nodded and Sael took off, despite the protests of her Whisper.

***

She made her way to the caves in the dying light, expending her daily use of her wings for a bit of extra stamina, for a few less steps run. In the distance, she saw a spark of light in one of the caves. What would she find once she reached them? She didn’t know. It probably didn’t matter–Sael couldn’t afford any lost time; she had a feeling that she could now recognize. It was a feeling that she first felt in Almaz, being carried away from the raving hordes of helwolves by Dexian, whom she sorely missed, and then again as she faced the illusion of her father being held hostage on the other side of an impenetrable barrier; the feeling she had when she looked into Frintak's eyes just before he was speared through his head: death. Sael felt death in the air. It wasn’t something she could properly explain or put reason to, but it was there nevertheless; like a scent on the wind or a recurring melody in a song, and she knew, she knew that death was imminent. As the bright speck on the horizon gradually grew bigger, she considered that she didn’t know whose death was imminent, but this feeling was as solid as the ground beneath her feet and as sure as there were stars in the sky–there would be death tonight, and she was frightened, she was terrified that the death would be her mother’s.

She approached the cave entrance, softening her footfalls as much as she could as she did so. She peered into the cave and accompanied by a repeated and wet thud sound that echoed through the cave was a sight of such horror that her sanity was momentarily and forcibly removed from her. Lit by the light of a campfire that caused shadows to dance ominously around the cave walls–it flickered colorfully on a natural pool of water in the corner of the cave–there were clothes scattered around the dirt floor of the cave, and two nude figures on the far end, one male, one female, one standing, one hanging from a pole by her hands, one clean, one beaten and bloody, one conscious, one unconscious. She knew both figures. The man, Gammel; the woman, her mother.

As the scene unfolded before Sael’s eyes, she knew only the feeling of death. Without thinking, and almost without realizing, she bent down and picked up a sizable rock with both hands; her legs propelled her forwards, the occupied male with sandy-blonde hair and a scar across his cheek was none the wiser, still consumed in his atrocity. She briefly remembered that the bruises he had given her weren’t completely gone just yet. Sael raised the rock above her head and brought it down on his head with all her strength, crumpling the man.

She tossed the rock to the side and reached up to untie her mother, paying close attention to the way the rope was wrapped around her wrists and how it was knotted. Her mother fell to the ground, still breathing. Sael’s Whisper urged her to pull her mother out of the cave and to safety, but Sael refused. She felt death and something more. It was still there; a feeling that was almost tangible. She found where the rope was anchored to, tied around a larger boulder. She untied the rope from the boulder. Her Whisper pleaded with her. Sael ignored it, tying the opposite end of the rope through the man’s wrists as they had been tied around her mother’s. She looped the rope over the divot in the pole that was buried in the floor, she securely tied the rope around the large boulder on the ground, and she, with no small effort, rolled the boulder over, twice, eating up the slack in the rope and hoisting the man up into the position Sael’s mother was formerly in.

She took a moment and dragged her mother to the cave entrance. Her Whisper instructed her to continue dragging her mother.

Sael stopped. She still felt it. Death. And also something more. It was still in the air, it was still under her feet. Her Whisper pleaded with her once more.

“No.” Sael said. This man had beat her. He had just raped her mother. Sael was no longer going to just let bad things happen to her. No longer would she be helpless. “This time I will be the one with power over him. This time he will be weak before me.” And she strode over to the campfire and pulled a pointed stick from the fire and prodded him in the ribs until he regained consciousness, at which point he started screaming and cursing in rage. “Shut up, you bastard.” Sael spat. “You deserve to be awake for this. Let’s see how you like this sort of thing being done to you.”

She stood behind him and reared the stick back, then jabbed it forwards and up, through the clothing and in. Again. And again.

She didn’t cease until long after the screams stopped.

***

Sael dropped the stick, that was red, brown, and pink with viscera and unnamable fluids and turned to head to the cave entrance when she found two wide, silver orbs staring at her from where her mother was.

“Come, child, quickly,” Desi said, her voice kind, “Gather your mother’s clothes; she can’t return to town like this. Sael nodded, almost not comprehending.

“Okay.” She said, her voice dry. She cleaned her hands off in the pool of water and began to pick Jophiel’s clothes up. Sael saw Desi looking at Jophiel’s wounds. “Is she going to be alright?”

“She should be. I’m a bit concerned with this lump on her head, but her breathing is even. I’ve seen worse. I’ve been worse off than her. We’ll get her to the town physician, but in the meantime, I think she’ll be alright.” Sael handed Jophiel’s clothes to Desi.

“What will we do about him?” Sael gestured towards the body hanging from the pole.

“We’ll cut him down on our way out and I’ll have Onfreth herd his pigs over in this area tomorrow, to dispose of the corpse.” Desi smiled. “This isn’t my first time dealing with a situation of this nature.”

“What was the first?”

“Honey, before I answer that, we need to get your mother out of here, and, I suppose before that, I need you to go look into the pool over there.”

“What?”

“Look at your reflection. We’ve got to get this part out of the way first, and quickly. I can't have you realizing while we're carrying Jo.”

Sael walked over. “Do I have something on my face? I just cleaned my hands in it, so I don’t know if–” She stopped as she stared down into the water and saw two silver eyes staring back up at her. “What…? Does that mean…?” She reached up and covered her eyes, then uncovered them. They didn’t feel different. She rubbed her eyes and looked back down at her reflection. Her eyes were still silver. “No. No.” She repeated the phrase a few times, but there was silence. No advice. No chastisement. Nothing. “Please speak. Please speak to me.”

Sael felt arms wrap around her and she turned to find Desi pulling her into an embrace.

“Sael, I’m so sorry. Look.” Desi reassured her as Sael gritted her teeth and tears began to flow. “Stop and look at me,” Sael obeyed. “I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. But your mother needs to be transported back to town, and I need you to help me. When she wakes up, she’s going to need you to be there for her.”

“I–I–I can’t—” Sael sobbed, quickly losing a grip on her reason. It was gone. No comments, no suggestions, no criticisms; there was only silence in her mind. "Speak to me!" she begged, squeezing her eyes shut. Don't leave me. Don't-- please don't--". Desi reared back and slapped Sael with a resounding crack that reverberated throughout the cave. Stunned, Sael ceased her crying.

“I know what you’ve lost, Sael. I, better than anyone, knows what kind of hole will always be in your life, always unconsciously reaching for a support that isn’t there anymore. But right now, Sael, your mother needs you. She needs treatment, and she to be tended to more than you do at the moment, so put your own griefs to the side long enough for your mother to get the medical attention she needs.” Sael just nodded in response, holding the red handprint on her cheek. The slap hurt, but the words were clear and reasonable.

***

The next few hours were a blur to Sael. They carried Jophiel to the physician’s house. The physician was a thin halfling by the name of Helen, who had some small talent in healing magic. She promised her discretion and went to work. When Sael asked Desi about it, she said only that if Jophiel wanted the town to know about this, she would tell them; in the meantime, the man responsible was no more and so no longer posed a threat, so it was nobody’s business but Jophiel’s.

Helen pulled out some cots and blankets for Sael and Desi in a separate room while she cared for Jophiel, but sleep eluded Sael. After what seemed like hours, Helen came into the room and explained to them Jophiel’s current condition.

“Doctor.” Desi greeted Helen as she came into the room.

Helen inhaled quickly on a freshly-rolled cigarette. “I told you, I’m not a proper doctor. Helen will do.”

“Helen. Will Jo be alright?”

Another drag. “As alright as anyone would be, I suppose. Physically, she’s fine, now. She had a skull fracture when she came in. That’s been healed along with most of her cuts and bruises, and all of her… internal abrasions.”

Sael spoke up. “Will there be…?”

“Pregnancy?” Helen asked flatly. “I don’t know. Did he finish?”

Sael shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Then probably not. Then again, that area isn’t my specialty. And there’s always a possibility of that.” Turning back to Desi, she confirmed, “And you said that the perpetrator in question is dead?”

“Yes.” Desi replied, stonefaced. “We don’t suffer attacks against our family.”

Helen smiled and rubbed what was left of her cigarette into a nearby glass ashtray. “Duly noted.”

“Also, if you would be so kind, present yourself to they mayor tomorrow with a summary of what happened, minus the details about the rape, along with another promise of confidentiality.” Desi instructed. Helen raised her eyebrow. “Jophiel has a job with Redmine’s office, and we would like for her to keep it.” Desi produced a stack of gold coins and set it down by the ashtray.

“I see.” Helen picked up the coins. You needn't pester me about confidentiality. I've made my promise, and I keep the promises I make." Desi gave her a hard look and Helen threw up her hands. "Fine, fine, I swear I won't tell anyone the events of tonight, save the mayor, and I will omit the details of the rape. Happy?" She scoffed and said, "I've administered Jophiel a sleeping spell. She'll be asleep the entire night." After finishing off another cigarette, she bid them goodnight and retired to her bedroom.

When she left, Desi turned in her cot to face Sael. “So, do you want to talk about it, now?”

“Yes, please.”

“How do you feel?”

“Quiet. Empty. I’m supposed to have something more, and I just don’t. I don’t feel right.”

Desi nodded, knowingly. “Yeah. It’s a wound that never goes away.”

“Azrael never told me about this.” She pulled her blanket up to her chin.

“Your friend from Almaz.?”

“Yeah. He had silver eyes for as long as I knew him. He never spoke about feeling empty. He’d get upset when I’d show off my wings, but he’d never talk about it, you know?”

“Not everyone does. I wondered if that’s why you didn’t ask me about mine right off the bat. Like Azrael’s, and, I assume, every silver-eyed elavis, the circumstances of their silver eyes are deeply personal. Just look at what happened to you: is that something you’d want to discuss with visitors over morning coffee?”

Sael shuddered. “No, I suppose not.”

“No, I didn’t think so. But let me tell you something you might not know about the elavis Whispers.”

“What?”

“They’re all judgmental bitches.” Sael’s now-silver eyes shot open, wide. “What I mean when I say that is this: do you remember the first night you were here at my door and you spoke about having insulted the princess of Almaz?” Sael nodded again. “Well, imagine that something had come of that. Imagine that the king had decided to have your father executed over that. That would have been cause for some Whispers to abandon their elavis, while others wouldn’t have left for anything short of premeditated murder. Each Whisper is different and each Whisper has an inflated sense of what’s right and wrong that is individual to them.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. So I say, damn them. I don’t know who made them the sole arbiters of what we should and should not do, but abandoning us when we need them the most isn’t the behavior of something whose company we should covet.”

“I appreciate it, Desi. I really do. But I don’t feel any less empty.”

“No, naturally. You’ve lost something that you’ve had your entire life. Just understand, when you're feeling alone and empty, I’m still here. And I’m not going to abandon you. And if, whenever you feel empty, you ever want somebody to talk to, I’m here, another elavis, a silver-eye, just like you, who knows exactly what you’re going through.”

“Thanks, Desi.”

Despite the bad things that had happened, there was a little comfort given to Sael. Comfort and family who loved her.

She didn’t feel whole.

She didn’t feel okay.

But this was a start.