Journey to Water's Heart

by Lea Ben Shlomo

  He didn’t know how to continue. The more he tried to coherently describe his journey, the less logical he felt he sounded.

  “Who helped you cross the borders?” asked Galrock.

  “No one helped me. I didn’t see any borders on my way. Not in the tunnel and not on the way down the mountain. The only thing I saw was a wall.”

  “Write!” Galrock ordered the soldier. “The Blue spy is hiding information. He refuses to disclose the names of those assisting him. We are well aware of the fact that without their help, he couldn’t have made it so far. He denies trespassing, during which he and his people impaired the guards, which is how they managed to infiltrate Anura, all the way to the royal court, his main goal to collect information and harm the queen.”

  “I didn’t harm the queen, and I have no intention of doing so.” Tanti yelled and jumped to his feet. “Why are you ordering your people to write down things that I haven’t said or done?”

  Galrock approached him and pushed him back into his chair. “Sit down and answer the questions. We don’t really need you to reveal the identity of your friends. We’ve already captured the White accomplices red-handed. Unlike you, they didn’t demonstrate foolish determination and fill our ears with falsifications, but immediately revealed the names of the trespassers. This granted them a mitigation of their sentences.”

  Tanti stared at Galrock and his people, without understanding what he said. The man documenting the interrogation scribbled industriously. However, instead of words, he filled the page with spiral signs that looked like snails, bugs, and writhing worms.

  What would happen if Galrock turned around and noticed that instead of writing what he ordered him to, his young helper was scribbling happily?

  “I’m asking you if you attempted to harm the queen, following a direct order from King Dark Blue, or if were you sent to gather information?”

  Galrock’s question enraged him. He barely managed to stop himself from screaming his protest.

  “I’m asking you again, Blue spy. What was the purpose of your infiltration of our country?”

  “I’m not a spy! And I’m not Blue!” He hesitated. He couldn’t lie. Yet he also couldn’t tell Galrock the truth.

  “I request a meeting with the queen,” he said, when the idea occurred to him. She had listened to him once, in the magical grove. Maybe she would listen to him now.

  “You don’t really think we’ll make your conspiracy easy for you and endanger our queen.”

  “I’ll say what I have to say to the queen.”

  “You’d better say what you have to say here. Our time and patience are running out.”

  “I’m talking but no one’s listening,” Tanti shouted. He took a deep breath. “Tie my hands when you take me to meet the queen. Your men will be able to watch us from a distance and see that I’m not harming her in any way. But what I have to say is for her ears only.”

  “Your impertinence goes too far! Just like you, your King Dark Blue, and his malicious letters!” Galrock furrowed his white, entangled eyebrows angrily. “You refuse to admit your crimes and try to manipulate us into allowing you to hurt the queen in any possible way.” He turned to the registrar. “Have you written what I’ve said?”

  “I’ve written,” said the man. “The prisoner refuses to admit his crimes and wishes to hurt the queen.”

  Tanti jumped to his feet. “Have you written down one word of what I’ve said here?”

  Before he could finish the sentence, Galrock slapped his face with all his might. Tanti stumbled back and hit his head on the cold marble floor, the entire weight of his body landing on his left hand.

  He didn’t know how long he lay there, dizzy and stunned. When he opened his eyes, he saw Galrock and his assistants standing over him like wolves circling their prey. The walls of the room melted before his eyes and started undulating, and the ceiling alternately swooped closer and then further away.

  “Now answer the questions you were asked, without any further comments,” Galrock said. “And the first thing we want to know are the names of the Whites who helped you cross the border.”

  Tanti tried to answer.

  “Speak up, and speak clearly,” Galrock said.

  He tried to sit up. His head was heavy, as though filled with stone. His arm hurt. “I don’t think I have anything else to say to you,” he said hoarsely.

  He noticed Galrock’s brief, almost invisible nod, before the two guards attacked him, punching and kicking and taking out all their rage on him. He groaned and wept, his hands protecting his head and face as much as possible. Then they left him trembling and curled up on the floor.

  Galrock whispered something to them. One of the guards lifted him into a sitting position and put the scribble-filled page before him. He shoved a pen between his fingers and said, “Sign your confession.”

  Tanti tried to open his eyes. Snails started to swirl and crawl toward his hand. They climbed over him, overwhelming him, covering his hands and neck. One of them made a buzzing sound, as well as a steady thudding like the beating of his heart, which grew stronger. Their bodies became thicker and grew until they became huge creatures, grasping his body and threatening to choke him. Then he lost consciousness.

  Chapter 14

  The Room Beyond the Wall

  When Tanti opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a pair of blue eyes flickering worriedly. He tried to get up, and a shock of pain flooded him. “Don’t move,” Dionun said. “You’re in your bed, in the room. They beat the crap out of you, but you’re okay.”

  “My head…”

  “Your head’s still in place. Let’s keep it that way. Don’t move.” Dionun quickly ripped off a corner of the sheet, soaked it in water, and placed it on Tanti’s forehead. He ran his hands over Tanti’s body, checking for broken bones. He immediately noticed Tanti’s injured left arm. Luckily, it wasn’t broken. Expertly, he wrapped the arm with another piece of the sheet. Tanti groaned in pain. It looked as though no part of his body had evaded the blows of the White soldiers.

  He had a bleeding wound above his temple. On his waist, he had a nasty cut, which was especially painful. Dionun stripped him of his clothes and cleaned him. He washed his wounds with water and wiped the blood around them.

  “Everyone endures this treatment during their interrogation,” Dionun said. “Luckily, you have no serious wounds. The pain will ease. Just keep those bruises and scratches clean,” he said. “You hear me, Tanti?”

  Tanti, still woozy with pain, wasn’t listening.

  “Snails,” he mumbled, his head spinning.

  “Ah, they made you sign the confession,” said Dionun.

  “What confession? That soldier was scribbling snails and worms; he didn’t write a word I said.”

  “He did, poor Tanti. He wrote what Galrock told him to write. I mean, he snailed.”

  “Snailed?”

  “Snailing is the Whites writing. It’s what those idiots’ letters look like,” Dionun said. “The Blues, for example, ‘arrow.’ Meaning that our writing is made out of arrows. You have to agree with me that it’s much more logical.” He paused thoughtfully and then said, “I’m sorry, but they made you sign a confession implicating you, obviously, of espionage. Your signature on that confession will make it very easy for them to receive permission from the Royal Council to sentence you to a punishment reserved for spies.”

  “Snail and arrow as much as you like,” Tanti mumbled. “But what do I have to do with Blue spying?”

  “Since you’re here, you and your wounds have much to do with it. For now, Tanti, you must focus on quick healing. You can’t take that beating back, right?” Dionun exposed his missing teeth when he laughed. “That’s what they say in Nautilin. Of course, you can always beat them back, which you won’t be able to take back either…”

  Tanti sighed. “If only Sinb
ar were here. He would’ve let them have it.”

  “Listen to me, Tanti. There’s no Sinbar here, whoever he is. There’s no one to fight for you. You must close your eyes and sleep. That’s the best way to get stronger. Besides, I can’t concentrate with all your groaning.”

  Tanti would’ve loved to fall asleep and escape his pain, but he didn’t think he could. Every time he closed his eyes, his pain escalated, and with it, his fear and outrage. The increasing buzz of loathsome fat snails, wrapping themselves around his limbs and squeezing his heart, forced him to constantly open his eyes and make sure that his prison and pain weren’t just in his imagination.

  “Dionun?”

  “Yes, Tanti. Not asleep yet?” Dionun paused with his somersaults and approached him, walking on his hands.

  “Thank you for what you did for me.”

  Dionun jumped back on his feet. “Soon, I’ll deserve special thanks, but you won’t be the one giving it.” He reached out and pressed a spot between Tanti’s brows.

  Tanti felt an explosion of pain. Sparks floated before his eyes and disappeared. The pain fell silent. He fell into deep sleep, and never noticed Dionun standing over him and staring.

  Dionun paced back and forth, as though weighing possibilities, jumped, climbed the wall, and left the room.

  When Tanti woke up, the sun was setting. Through the window, he could see the clouds turning red in the light of the sunset. Dionun stood before the white bars, enjoying the changing colors.

  Tanti sat up. He felt much better. His pain had eased. The dizziness was gone. The burning sensation in his hip had dulled to a feeling of mild discomfort. His wounds were well dressed with white bandages. They smelled of healing ointment. Still groggy with sleep, he didn’t know what to deal with first. In the end, the lavish meal on the table drew his attention.

  Dionun, sensing his awakening, rushed toward him. He supported him as he stood, leading him first to the washbasin, and when Tanti had finished his business and washed his hands and face, he guided him to the table.

  He was satisfied. His eyes twinkled with a mischief Tanti hadn’t noticed at all. Dionun avoided Tanti’s questions about the bandages and the smell of healing ointment rising from them. He just mentioned that when the guards came, he must lie down, cover himself, and pretend to be asleep, thus urging him to finish his meal. Then he went to the door and pressed his ear to it. After that, he sat at the table, turning his face to the window and the view of the sky beyond.

  “I’m getting out of here,” he said.

  “What? They’re setting you free?”

  Dionun chuckled wryly. “They’d like to set me free from this world. But I’m not too eager to be separated from my head. There are still things I have to do. Besides, I promised Dionnie, my dear sister, that I’d repair her roof before the winter. And the date of execution is in three more days, at the most.”

  Tanti was shocked. “You’re being executed? What for and why? You’re such a good man.”

  “Not a lot of people will agree with you.”

  “Isn’t there a trial where you can prove your innocence?”

  “If there was a trial,” Dionun said, “it took place without my presence. And the verdict was decided. They’ll behead me in the city square, before a large, genteel, and excited White crowd. By the way, you’ve been sentenced just as harshly.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They have a signed confession of espionage and subversion. All they need now is the queen’s signature on a punishment befitting spies.”

  “But I didn’t sign anything.” Tanti hadn’t accepted the news yet. “And anyway, I don’t know how to snail, or all those things. What’s going on here?”

  “Someone wants your head. Although I’m not sure what they’ll do with it the minute they separate it from you.”

  “You’re joking,” Tanti said. “How do you know about the verdict? You’re locked here, with me, in this room.”

  “That’s what it looks like.” Dionun laughed again. Tanti’s concern just increased.

  “I’m not joking, Tanti. I know we’re doomed here. But to me, life is just as sweet as blue wine when no one’s kicking and beating you.”

  “You were beaten too?”

  “Of course.”

  “I’m sorry. How do you intend to get out of here?”

  “I come and go as I wish.” He looked at the nook in the wall.

  “You snuck out of there, out of the room? You were outside, and you didn’t run away?”

  Dionun pointed at the bandages.

  “You came back to bring the bandages and ointment. You’re crazy!” Tanti was full of admiration. “How can I ever thank you?”

  “It certainly won’t be easy if I’m not here.” Dionun slapped his shoulder. “You’re a good man, Tanti. A good man…maybe a bit Izmeran, but you’re okay. Listen,” he said after a pause. “I hid another box of disinfecting ointment and painkillers under your bed. Tomorrow, you have to change the bandages.”

  “Are you really getting out of here, Dionun? What about me?”

  “I would take you with me,” Dionun said. “If you weren’t weak and wounded.”

  “I’m not weak.”

  Dionun got up and yawned. “I think I’ll grab a nap,” he said. “Tonight, I’ll need all my strength. Apparently, leaving here isn’t as easy as I thought.”

  “Dionun!” Tanti yelled. “Why are you taking care of my wounds if they’re going to take off my head? Why did you take care of me if you’re going to leave me?”

  “Your left arm can’t handle the climb,” Dionun said.

  Tanti tried to move and bend his arm. Even the slightest movement was agonizing. Dionun was right.

  He sat and stared at the white walls, which were closing in on him. He hadn’t completed his quest yet. It was impossible that his journey would end before it had begun with a cruel and unjustified death. Before Tanti’s tearing eyes, an image appeared, moving its hands in a circular movement. Her familiar face became clearer until he recognized Avona with her linen gown. Then her image faded away until it disappeared like a cloud.

  “I know a bit about healing,” he said hurriedly. “I can help myself and heal my elbow.”

  Dionun seemed to have been waiting for Tanti to say that. He brought his head close until his forehead almost touched Tanti’s. “Are you willing to do what I tell you?”

  “I’ll do anything.”

  “Are you aware that if you stumble, or say a word while we escape, you may compromise both of us?”

  “I swear, I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”

  “After you take care of your arm, you must start strengthening your muscles, and regain movement. Some of the movements I’ll tell you to make may hurt you. Still, you have to continue doing them. I’ll wait one more day… Shush,” he suddenly said. “Hurry to your bed and cover yourself. Try to groan occasionally.”

  Tanti, eager to placate Dionun, rushed to his bed and covered himself, even though he couldn’t understand how this could help him strengthen his muscles.

  He started groaning when he heard footsteps beyond the door, and then the creak of the lock. He closed his eyes and waited.

  “Stop groaning,” Dionun said. “They aren’t coming here.”

  From the adjacent room they heard a commotion, someone scolding, a thump, and then someone crying out. The gap between the wall and the ceiling allowed them to hear the cries much more clearly than they wanted to. Then they heard the slam of a closing door and the click of the lock. Unmistakable cries of pain continued.

  “Another prisoner,” Tanti whispered.

  Dionun nodded. “They left.” He took a step back and then another, until his back touched the opposite wall. Then he leaped, crossing the room, scaling the wall, and shoving his body between the wall and the ceiling.

&nbs
p; Tanti got up and approached the wall. He heard talking, and immediately, Dionun’s head emerged. He jumped into the room again, hurried to Tanti’s bed, pulled out a bundle from beneath it, and hurried back. On the way, he passed by Tanti’s clothes. “Your scarf,” Dionun said. “We’ll need it.”

  “No!” Tanti shouted and rushed to grab his scarf. “Leave the scarf.”

  Dionun looked at him in surprise. “Now isn’t the time for foppery. That man there needs bandages. This will suit him perfectly.”

  Guiltily, Tanti pulled his scarf back. How could he explain his behavior?

  “I thought you wanted to help,” Dionun said. He didn’t stay any longer. He jumped up the wall with the bundle in his hand, and disappeared behind it.

  Tanti remained where he was, the scarf in his hand, his heart heavy. Only now did he feel what a burden a secret could be. A man, on the other side of that wall, needed help. On the other hand, the scarf was a tool he couldn’t sacrifice without obstructing his quest. Yet he couldn’t reveal the secret of the scarf or explain his refusal. He also couldn’t do without Dionun’s sympathy, for he was his only chance of escaping.

  Ignoring his pain, he pulled the table to the wall separating the two rooms. He placed a chair on it and climbed, until his hands reached the upper edge of the wall. His arm ached so badly that he couldn’t pull himself up. He tried to lift himself with one arm.

  “Dionun,” he said. “Dionun, help me.”

  Dionun’s head popped up before his eyes.

  “What are you doing here, Tanti?”

  “Help me get to the other side.”

  Dionun disappeared. He should’ve expected him to ignore him. Tanti decided to pass over that wall, no matter what. Just then, he was sorry that he wasn’t taller. He tried to think of how to make himself a bit taller and scale the wall without exerting his left arm. On the other side of the wall, he heard the sound of something dragging.

  Dionun appeared again. “Stubborn fool,” he said. He extended both hands, hooked them under Tanti’s armpits, and pulled him to him. He noticed Dionun had placed a chair on a table on the other side, just like Tanti had, thus enabling him to climb down.