“Torin does not have the condition.” Jonas answered.
“Thank heavens.” The king replied. Thank heavens no one else we know has this God-awful disorder. It upset me, hearing the relief he felt that I was the only one affected by it. Lucky them. They could go on and live their lives free of the worries that plagued me. Torin could lift weights, join a sports team, attract the girls with his good looks and big muscles. If I lifted more than five pounds, I risked an aortic dissection or muscle tear; even sit-ups were not allowed. I was envious of Torin and all the other males my age who could stand tall and strong, compared to my five-year old boy physique. I wouldn’t wish this disorder on my worst enemy.
“Okay, I think this little white pill will help.” Jonas opened a pill bottle to show the king a pill. “You’ll want to swallow it whole in the morning with your meal. It will not make your heart problem go away, but it will help ease your discomfort and swelling and buy you some time.” Jonas set the bottle of pills on the bedside table. “Good day, Sire. I will leave you both to your visit. Raynar, see you back at Kyra’s.” Jonas nodded at me.
“Oh, I haven’t seen Kyra in some time. She’s one of my best Guardians. Do tell her I said hello and would love a visit.” The king clearly had no knowledge of her passing or his son’s involvement in it. Henrick stilled and shook his head slightly, letting us know we shouldn’t speak of it. Jonas and I looked at each other noting the power shift in the village. Larkin had the reins and Henrick was either on Larkin’s team or wanting to protect Vintras from worry and stress. I didn’t know which was true.
“I will. Good day.” Jonas nodded and left; Henrick followed him out.
“How long has it been since you’ve seen Kyra?”
“I don’t know. Time passes differently when you are bedridden. Maybe a few weeks. Why?”
“Just curious. I wonder if you could tell me more about my mother. How did you meet her?” I wanted to know the story of how Torin and I came to be.
“My father, your grandfather, was a stern king with many rules. He was strong and no one dared cross him, but I was young and adventurous. He forbade me from venturing past the boundary. He said is was dangerous and no place for a king’s son. Now that I am older and look back at that time, I believe he made these rules so he did not have to assign people to watch me. The village was very busy, trying to build goods for trade and develop a working port for the ships to come in and out from. Unfortunately, we lost the port after a very bad winter. The tributary thawed, but the waterways had shifted. My father and his men had more important things to consider and couldn’t be troubled with a young boy and his adventures.” The king smiled. “But, there was a vast world around us, forests, lakes, and caves that needed discovering!” He sounded like an excited kid as he spoke of the land he had wanted to explore.
“You sound more like an explorer than a king, no offense.”
“I feel more like an explorer than a king.” He chuckled.
“My best friend was a Guardian in training and on his off days, we’d venture out past the boundary. But one day, while he was training, I snuck past the boundary on my own and I came across your mother. Her name was Meina. She looked different from the First Nation natives and our own, I had never seen her before. As you can imagine, growing up in a small village, you come to know everyone.”
A knock at the door interrupted his story. “I’m sorry, Sire. The lunch meal has arrived,” the female guard announced.
“Thank you, Evie.” She moved aside and two older women entered, carrying two trays of food.
“Good day, Sire.” One of the older women said as she bowed.
“Good day, Helena; good day, Freya. Thank you for this meal.” The king kindly addressed them, and the ladies left the room. “Let’s see what the feast is today.” He removed the lid and the plate of food looked delicious. There were fried eggs, pickled onions and carrots, a half a chicken, and cheese. “You’re in luck! They’ve brought cheese and Rowan relish.”
I removed my lid and found a similar meal. “This looks delicious. A meal fit for a king.” The king chuckled at my remark.
“Helena and Freya are the best cooks.” He popped the yolk of his egg and took a bite. Once he swallowed, he continued his story. “Meina had been out collecting Chaga mushrooms. They are these large black wrinkled mushrooms that grow on birch bark. Henrick tries to get me to eat them at each meal. They’re supposed to be good for my heart, but they taste like dirt. Anyway, she saw a bear She was scared and young, unsure of what to do. She knew she shouldn’t run, but when she saw it, her brain told her to run.” He shrugged. “The bear chased her until she fell down this forest ravine. He lost interest, but poor Meina was injured. I found her huddled near a fallen tree in that ravine, both knees bleeding badly and a twisted ankle. Despite looking tossed about from a storm, she was beautiful.” His face lit up as he recalled meeting Meina.
“So, what did you do?” I spread the Rowan relish on a piece of chicken and tried a bite. It tasted bitter, like grapefruit and cranberries. My face must have puckered because the king laughed.
“Raynar, it may be sour, but it’s better than a dirty mushroom and it is excellent for your health.” He spread his own relish over a hunk of chicken and took a bite, making a satisfied sound. “Suffer through it. You’ll thank me later.”
“It’s not bad. It’s just my brain expected something sweeter. The sourness surprised me.” I sipped my water to wash it down.
“Anyway, I approached her slowly because she looked scared.” The king sipped his drink. “I told her I wanted to help, and I asked her to wait there for me. Then I took my water skin from my pack and helped wash and bandage her knees while she told me what had happened. Because she had twisted her ankle, I had to help her get back to her small home in the forest. The next chance I had to run out near the ravine, I took it and found Meina at the top, reading from a family journal. She later confessed that she went there with hopes of running into me again.”
I finished the meal and sat back, satisfied and full of the delicious food. “So, you had regular meetups in the forest after that?”
He nodded. “We dreamed of building a life together. She spoke with her mother about the village and tried to change her opinion of the Yardinians. And I spoke to my father and mother about magic users and the benefit they could bring to the village. But no one besides Meina and I cared about making a change and unifying the two groups. Stubbornness and a fear of outsiders kept them from considering the possibilities.”
“That’s a shame.” I tried to put myself in his shoes. I thought about Lauren and how frustrating and difficult a relationship would be if her parents and my parents were against us coming together. Of course we weren’t together, but thinking this way helped me understand their situation.
“Then Meina told me she was with child. So many emotions flowed through me. I loved her and now we would have a baby born out of that love. But our love was forbidden, and I was not an average villager. There were expectations. My father had become ill and the medic gave him several months to live. I spent less time with Meina and more time learning how to rule a village.”
“But you saw her still, when you could?” I couldn’t imagine feeling torn between my dying father and the upcoming birth of my child.
“When I could, which wasn’t often enough. Each time we met, her belly seemed to double in size. We eventually found she was carrying two children and that was a lot for Meina’s small frame.” He adjusted himself in bed.
“How did her mother take the news of her pregnancy?” King Vintras’s family was probably none the wiser about he and Meina, but she could not hide that she’d slept with a man and was with child.
“She did not take it well. In fact, that was when Malora increased her efforts to attack Yardis and try to drive us away. Houses were set on fire, severed animal heads were hung from trees within the village, and Yardinians that got too close to the boundary had curses placed on them.”
“What kind of curses?” All this magic and mysticism in this world, not some parallel universe, fascinated me.
“Blindness, craziness… The most terrifying curse happened to a woman who chased her wandering child back within the boundaries. She returned to the village, terrified, and told of seeing Malora near a tree trying to entice the child to come to her. The woman grabbed the child and hurried away, looking back at Malora as she ran. Malora stood, finger pointed at them, mouth muttering some incantation. The next morning the girl awoke to find her mother lying next to her, dead with spiders crawling out from her mouth—hundreds of them.” He shook his head at the memory.
“They came out from her mouth?”
The king nodded. “The poor child had been bitten so many times that she died the same day from the horror and the pain.”
“That’s terrible. How old was she?”
“Maybe seven. Anyway, my father wanted no truce with Malora. In fact, he had ordered her dead. I feared the hunts for her would lay Meina and the babies in danger, and I pleaded with my father to call them off. But he never did. Malora must have spelled the territory around her home, cloaking them, as no one succeeded in finding them.” The king lay down, pulling the blankets up beneath his chin. “I’m sorry; I’m getting tired.”
“Do you need anything?”
“No, thank you. I need to finish the story before sleep overtakes me.” He cleared his throat and continued. “A few months had passed, and I knew that you and Torin must have been born. I desperately wanted to see you with my own eyes and to see Meina, the mother of my children. “I wasn’t sure how the cloaking worked; I only knew that countless times before, when I had escorted Meina home, her house stood in this spot. Physically, it was still there. I could feel the wood of the exterior walls beneath my fingers, but it was completely invisible. I called Meina’s name, but she did not appear or answer. I tried the door and window, but neither budged so I hid behind a bush and waited. Finally, Malora returned and uncloaked the house to enter it.” He took another long sip of water and blinked his eyes a few times. I was arguing with myself about wanting to hear the rest of the story and wanting to let the poor, sick man rest when he finally continued, “I could hear Malora and Meina arguing about something and the babies crying. I needed to hold them. I waited, and after a while, Malora left. The house began to fade before my eyes and I ran for the door, making it just in time.
“Inside that house was my own version of happiness. Meina sat trying to soothe one of you, and she froze the moment our eyes met. She looked to the door with fear in her eyes, as if her mother would soon return and find us. She told me her mother was taking them far away from Yardis. She had begged to stay and work it out with the villagers, but her mother would not hear of it. The other baby began crying. She handed the calm baby to me while she picked the upset child into her arms and spoke gently to it. She was a loving and a perfect mother, right from the start.”
I tried to picture what the king spoke of and I wondered why my mother did not keep us. Why were Torin and I sent to Midland when our father saw that our mother was so good to us?
“I’d made a decision to leave the village and run off with Meina and the babies to make a life for ourselves. They were my life. They were what mattered. They were my family. But Malora returned and the moment she saw me there, holding one of the babies, she flew at me. Meina stepped between us and pleaded for her mother to stop.” The king began coughing again, and the fit seemed to pain him.
I sat up and handed him his water again, and he waved for me to sit back down.
“I’m all right.” He sipped some water. “Malora and I argued. I told her about my father dying, and I promised I would be a different king. I promised that Meina would sit by my side and our children would be treated with respect and loved by all in the kingdom. I meant it.” His expression darkened. “But then she tricked me. She agreed to let Meina and the babies have a life with me and said she believed my words.” His eyes filled with tears as he recalled the memory. “I loved her, but the witch took her away from me.”
“What do you mean?” What had Malora done with her daughter.
“She told me she would wait, that she wouldn’t leave and take Meina with her. Once I was king, she’d let Meina and I marry—I just needed to bring a proper dowry for Meina. If Meina tried to warn me not to trust her mother, I missed it, too blinded by the hope she had seeded in me.” He sighed. “Once I returned to the village, I learned my father had passed in my absence. I wanted to return for Meina immediately, dowry in hand—give the witch anything to have Meina and my children—but now I had responsibilities for seeing to my dead father’s wishes. I confided in Lysa, my father’s most trusted Guardian, and asked her to bring a chest of treasures in trade for Meina and the children.” The king started coughing even more, splashing water on the skins covering his bed, but he waved me away when I tried to help. “Lysa returned with the chest and grim news. The small home in the forest was found uncloaked and abandoned except for the two crying babies lying in soiled clothes in their small wooden beds.”
“Did she wait to see if Meina would return? Maybe she jumped to conclusions and got it wrong? Maybe Meina was coming back,” I suggested.
The king shook his head and slid his cup onto the table beside the bed. “She waited and waited; she didn’t bring me the news until that evening. She changed the babies soiled clothes and made sure they were secure in the shelter of the home and returned for my instructions.” He shook his head. “Malora took my love away from me and her babies. I sent Lysa, Jaron, and Jonas to retrieve the babies. But when they returned, the barrier spell had been cast, and they were closed off from the village.”
Clapping came from behind me. Larkin must have snuck into the room at some point. He pushed off the wall. “Beautiful story, Father, no wonder you are so happy to see your new sons. Makes my mother seem like a consolation prize.” Larkin was without his guards.
“Larkin, do not question the love I had for your mother! You don’t know my heart. I loved your mother, but I also loved Meina. Both were smart and beautiful women, and both gave me sons that I love with my whole heart.” The king tried to sit up in bed but struggled. The afternoon had been emotionally and physically draining on him. He fell back on his pillows, coughing with his eyes closed.
“How much could you have loved this Meina? You moved on so quickly, taking my mother as your wife.” Larkin challenged. He said my mother’s name with an edge that made me hate him more than I already did. I never wanted her name to cross his lips again.
The king tensed. His mouth narrowed into a thin line as he met Larkin with an expression far more menacing than a father staring down at his errant child. For a moment, Larkin cowered, but he quickly donned his mask of indifference and left abruptly, slamming the door behind him.
The king let out a breath. “He feels threatened by your presence.” The king shut his eyes. “That is enough storytelling for today. I must rest.”
I rose and helped pull the covers around the king. He grabbed my hand. “Raynar, thank you for coming to see me. It means everything to me, to see you after all these years.” His hand squeezed mine and I tightened my grip as well. “Tomorrow I shall like to see you and Torin here together.” He loosened his grip and patted my hand before he turned over to sleep.
I let myself out of the king’s stronghold and walked back to Kyra’s. I thought about the Vintras’s story, and I wondered, where my mother had disappeared to and why had she not taken Torin and I with her? I walked through the village with my mind chasing around multiple theories; I felt the watchful eye of the king’s guards on me.
Kyra’s house was empty. I expected Jonas or Torin to be home by now, as the evening meal soon approached. I lay on my makeshift bed and let my thoughts wander to Lauren. Listening to the king’s tales of his young love made me think about the lost chance I had with the girl I loved.
The last pep rally of our 8th grade year had star
ted. Lauren pushed past several kids and wiggled her body next to mine. Greg Jones grunted as his personal space shrunk by half because of her bold move. She didn’t bother apologizing to him.
“What’d I miss?” She beamed. It was only May, but she managed to already have a summer glow about her.
“Hey, nothing. Everyone’s still too loud for them to get it started.’
Principal Donaldson stepped up to the mic and commanded silence. After a minute, the crowd quieted enough for the rally to begin. Lauren laced her fingers in mine as she had countless times before, but as everyone’s attention was trained on the cheerleaders that bounded across the gym floor, she pulled our hands to her lips and placed a gentle kiss on the back of my hand. My face warmed and my insides turned to goo. This was new and a bold move by Lauren. I could feel her eyes on me, trying to gauge my reaction. I met her stare as firecrackers of excitement exploded within me. I picked up her hand and placed a soft kiss on the back of it, showing her that I liked this step forward.
But I had blown my chance with Lauren and instead of moving forward as she had tried to lead us, I had pulled away. It hadn’t been a week since my parents had stamped the vEDS expiration date on me. Forty-two the magic number that, from that day forward, would make me cringe. They had taught me from day one how to advocate and stay safe with my fragile body, but this had been the first time they had ever shared the average age of death in patients with vEDS. They’d regretted telling me the moment they saw my face fall. Sure, they had tried to cushion the blow by telling me of some had lived beyond that number and had reassured me it was just a number. Yes, it was just a number, but it was a low number.
Would I live long enough to marry, have kids, make a life for myself? Would I make it past forty-two or would I die in my teens as many males with this condition had? Reflecting on my diagnosis and its prognosis kicked my anxiety into high gear. If Lauren had been there, she’d have done something abnormal to get my brain thinking about something else.
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