Silent Kingdom

by Rachel L. Schade

  My stomach clenched; my head was spinning again. No. The room felt like it was closing in on me and I thought I would fall from the chair. I pressed my hands to my temples and forced myself to focus, to push the panic back. I needed to hear everything Marke had to share.

  Steadying my breathing, I sat up and dared to look in Rev’s direction. Thankfully, he was too engrossed in Marke’s news to notice my pain. I turned back to Marke, fearful of what he would share next, but desperate to know more.

  “He has been gone at the front for months now with no word. We have little hope…” Marke gasped and ran a weary hand over his brow. “We have little hope he will return any time soon, if ever. Few even remember to call Zarev king regent anymore.”

  I swallowed, wishing the chill gripping my heart would melt away, that I could convince myself the worst had not happened to my cousin.

  Marke didn’t stop. “So, as I said, things are…not going well in Misroth. You’re fortunate to be cut off from it all, but I doubt it will last long. Zarev’s greedy eyes will roam toward the smaller, more distant towns and he will not be satisfied with leaving them untouched. He will take supplies for his army and force his laws upon you as well. If it is true that he is endangering you by angering the sedwa, then he is simply waiting for you to begin clamoring to him for protection.”

  Rev stirred uncomfortably in his chair. “So…the sedwa…”

  “As I said, that second night of my travels I started to have my doubts. The forest was ominously quiet and I knew something was wrong; something was hushing nature into an unnatural silence. My horse knew this too, and was restless and agitated all night. I hardly slept, but I neither heard nor saw anything of the sedwa. The arrival of daylight rallied my courage and I shrugged off my nighttime fears. I told myself my imagination was running wild and that perhaps stormy weather was on the way, or some other predator, perhaps a bear, had been roaming the woods.

  “However, as soon as twilight descended, the quiet did again too, and my steed was even more unnerved than before. When I tied him to a tree for the night, something spooked him and he began to rear and kick. My efforts to calm him were to no avail.” He looked at me. “That’s when I saw it.

  “First I noticed the eyes: brilliant gold shimmering in the moonlight as they watched me. The pupils were such thin slits they were almost lost in the wide glow of its irises. The way they stared at me, unblinking, chilled me and kept me frozen to the ground. I had never seen eyes like that in any creature. My thoughts were going wild and I could not keep my wits about me to determine what to do next: flee on the horse without my wares, or stand and defend?

  “I was desperate, hoping to save my supplies, to make money for my family, so I suppose I took the fool’s choice. I dashed back to my wagon where I kept my bow... Yes, I’d been so overconfident in my belief that the sedwa weren’t real that I hadn’t even kept a weapon on my person.” He sighed. “Maybe movement is what attracts them and entices them to strike. All I know is that it took mere moments for it to spring. It was so swift it was merely a mass of darkness, great golden eyes, and fangs and claws diving toward me. It leapt and snapped at my neck, but I managed to jump back. Its fangs grazed my chest instead.” He tapped the sheets gingerly to indicate the hidden wound. “I did have a dagger in my belt and had the foresight to draw that. I buried it deep into one of those eyes.” He shuddered.

  “The rest of the fight is a blur in my mind. I slashed when I could, but the sedwa overpowered me. It was impossibly fast and powerful and unnaturally intelligent, studying my every move. At some point, by some miracle, it left me bleeding on the ground. What kind of animal leaves its prey to die, I do not know. It was Selna’s husband Ekrem who found me as he was returning from a hunt. If not for him, his wife, and your healer, I would have died there alone, unable to even attempt to find help, for my horse had long since fled.”

  He glanced at me again. I bit my lip, but still he said nothing.

  “We are sorry if we troubled or upset you,” Rev responded, his brow furrowed.

  Slowly, Marke shook his head. “No, I am glad I could tell you about the sedwa and what is going on beyond your town’s borders.” He closed his eyes, drawing a deep breath. “Call me a traitor now, if you will, but I promise you that no good has come of the war or King Zarev’s reign. You will see all too soon for yourselves.”

  “I fear you may be correct,” Rev said, his face whiter than I had ever seen it. “Thank you for your information. We will let you rest now.”

  Marke nodded, his head moving against the pillow, and Rev and I stood. Tiptoeing through the doorway, we met Selna in the hall.

  “Will he be all right?” Rev whispered.

  Selna’s forehead pinched with concern. “I hope so.”

  My head ached from all of Marke’s news; my thoughts and fears were consuming me. Heart pounding, I followed Rev through the backdoor and out into the cold night air. The wind rustled around us and snowflakes fluttered into my face and melted in my hair.

  Rev reached out to offer me his arm, so I humored him and leaned against his shoulder as we trudged back through a light dusting of snow. The townspeople’s voices carried to us on the wind as we wound our way from the inn, avoiding the crowds still lining the street and hoping for news of the stranger. Icy air fingered its way past my cloak, but I knew it wasn’t the cold that was leaving me breathless and numb. The knowledge of what was happening to the kingdom of Misroth as I hid away sent a chill through my veins. Old memories flitted through my mind but the hurt was distant—they were only well-remembered nightmares that held no power over me in my waking hours. Not for now. Not when I kept my heart hard against them.

  There is nothing I can do, I told myself. Knowing the truth does not mean I can change what is happening. I shoved the guilt away and pressed closer to Rev’s warmth, tucking my arm tighter in his.

  But Gillen. Gillen… I sent up a silent plea that the Life-Giver would bring him back safely to Misroth.

  ~ ~ ~

  The sound of crashing waves roared in my ears and the wind tore through my hair, swirling my skirts around me and wrenching my breath away. Tears from the cold air stung my eyes and traced down my cheeks, but I was too numb to feel the cold on my skin. Instead, the icy fingers crept into my lungs, stifling me, forcing my words down inside of me. I could not speak, could not protest, though Marke was condemning me. He stared me down with an accusatory glare as I stood frozen on a precipice overlooking the sea, Misroth’s Royal Guard holding me over the edge. My back was to the sea but I was all too aware of the vast drop between me and the tumultuous water.

  “You let them die,” Marke was saying. There were men, women, and children standing behind him, crying and wailing and wearing red armbands of mourning. Blood was running through the streets of Misroth, staining the castle, the shops, the houses, and the ramparts crimson.

  No, no… Horror and guilt shot through my veins and clenched at my heart. My lips were frozen and would not move. The wind howled in my ears, but I could still hear the low laughter of the guards beside me.

  “You did nothing even though you knew what your father was doing—what he was capable of! How could you?” Marke was furious.

  I couldn’t do anything…no one would have believed me… How could I stop him?

  “For that you have been sentenced to death!”

  Already the guards were shoving me over the edge. My scream tore from my throat and was stolen by the wind as I tumbled, suspended in the air for a few terrible seconds, and then plunged into darkness. The water was icy cold and suffocating. My hands were tied again. The sea pressed in heavily on all sides, threatening to crush me slowly…

  With a start I awoke, trembling from head to foot in my bed. Outside the wind was shrieking. Slipping from beneath the covers, I approached the window and shoved aside the curtains. Snow swirled in blankets of white past the house, almost masking my view of the tree outside my room. I shivered, not sure if it was more from the cold
or my nightmare, and turned to tumble back into bed when I saw flickering candlelight outside my bedroom. Lyanna paused in the doorway, her long nightgown nearly covering her bare feet.

  “Are you all right?” she whispered. “You were tossing and kicking in your sleep again.”

  I blinked, and to my surprise I felt a tear snake down my cheek. Touching my hand to my face, I tried to brush it away as I nodded, but Lyanna broke the distance between us in a few easy strides. She set the candle on my nightstand and pulled me into an embrace. With a sigh I rested my forehead on her shoulder and inhaled the familiar, comforting scent of lavender soap. But Lyanna’s embrace couldn’t erase the guilt and fear weighing heavily on my heart.

  How many more people had died at the king’s hand? The question persisted no matter how many times I tried to banish it. But still worse was another question, growing louder in my head with every passing hour:

  What if Gillen was dead?

  CHAPTER 9

  The icy wind bit at my face and tore straight through my cloak no matter how closely I tried to wrap it around my body. I shivered miserably as I walked beside Avrik, trying to listen as he eagerly related Marke’s tale, not knowing that I already knew it all.

  “I can hardly believe it,” he said. “Selna didn’t want word to get out about the king supposedly encouraging men to provoke them because of the controversy it would create.” He glanced over at me and I frowned in confusion. “She couldn’t keep people out forever when there were men who wanted to learn about the sedwa and decide if they are a threat to Evren. But I agree with her…none of the hunters in our village would be committing such a crime against the town. After all, they’d be endangering themselves. It’s not as if the king’s guards are here to protect us. I’m sure the sedwa attack whenever they are hungry like any other predator does. No one is doing this to us.” There was a firmness in his tone that I was not used to, an edge that cut through the air like a dagger and snapped my attention toward him.

  Biting my lip, I rested my hand on his arm in what I hoped was a comforting gesture. He paused, his boots sinking into the snow as he turned to look at me. I stopped too, gazing up into his dark, troubled eyes.

  “Everyone will be accusing my father…” he said.

  In response, I patted his arm feebly until he moved away. For one moment I was hurt and glanced down in embarrassment. Then his arms were around me, pulling me into an embrace. I forgot about the cold as I basked in his warmth, forgot even what we’d been talking about while we stood there, silent. He held me long enough for me to wonder if he could feel my heart pounding against his chest. “Thank you for believing that he is innocent,” he murmured in my ear. “Sometimes it seems like no one else does.”

  He released me as abruptly as he had hugged me, leaving my head spinning. Get a grip, you fool.

  We continued to trudge through the snow toward the schoolhouse. It still seemed distant in the vast white landscape, tucked snugly among the hills. The wind stung my cheeks as I thought about how quickly my trips here were drawing to a close. Then Lyanna would have me helping her at home full time, expecting suitors to show up at her door over the next few years and whisk me away to a new life. I frowned at the thought and promptly dismissed it, as I always did. Somehow I couldn’t see the village boys finding a mute wife particularly appealing when it came to practical tasks, such as raising children.

  And maybe those practical tasks don’t appeal to me anyway. Having a family someday was not something I was against—but being trapped in a life revolving around baking and sewing sounded like a nightmare.

  “Elena?”

  I snapped my head back to Avrik, who was walking slowly by my side, studying my face with a bemused expression.

  “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”

  Smiling sheepishly, I admitted my mind had been wandering with a reluctant shake of my head.

  “I was saying after school, Bren and Shilam wanted to do some target practice. Do you think Lyanna will miss you if you aren’t home right away for your sewing or baking lessons?”

  I rolled my eyes at his mocking tone, but my smile gave away what he already knew: I agreed with him. Even after several years of attempts, no amount of patience, prodding, or stern lectures could prompt my interest in the chores Lyanna offered. My stitches were passable; my food at least edible, but polishing them beyond minimally functional skills taught by necessity would never excite me. More than once I’d watched Lyanna throw up her hands, sigh, and dramatically proclaim that I was hopeless as Avrik or Bren arrived at the door to rescue me from domestic responsibilities. She would have been a little more convincing if a smile didn’t tug at her lips every time.

  I considered Avrik’s invitation with mixed emotions. Ever since I’d listened to Marke’s story, my memory of the sedwa, with its glowing eyes fixed on me, had prowled through my head. The thought of being even closer to the woods made my pulse quicken. On the other hand, I’d never heard of the sedwa attacking anyone outside of the forest, and the idea of escaping Lyanna’s endless chores even for an extra hour or two was always tempting.

  Shrugging, I let Avrik arrive at the answer I couldn’t vocalize for him. “She’ll mind…but not that much…if you’re not too late.” He broke into a boyish grin. “No worries; no one in the village will want us out too late near the forest now with those rumors.” A slight shadow passed over his face again, but he fought it off this time. “Bren’s and Shilam’s mothers will panic and I’m sure Lyanna would too if we stayed out very long. We can walk back to my house after school and we won’t go far.”

  I sighed, wishing I could tell him that the threat was real. It wouldn’t be long before he and his father spent another long day within the woods to track and hunt, and though I could not stop them, I wanted them to use caution. Once we reached the schoolhouse, I would have to write down a message, something that would warn him and his father. But if he refused to believe what he’d heard about Marke’s tale from others, would he even believe me?

  We reached the schoolhouse as Teacher was opening the door and trudged in line behind the other students. I slid into my seat beside Avrik and pulled my journal and pencil from my pack. Quickly, I scrawled words across an empty page: Rev and I visited Marke last night, and I think his story is true. You probably would have believed it too if you had heard it from his own mouth. I only want you to be careful.

  When I brushed my journal onto Avrik’s desk, I watched his eyes scan the page and a frown crease his forehead. He glanced over at me and carefully mouthed, “You believe too?”

  I scrambled to take my journal back and write: There’s surely a reason why this rumor came about and why Marke was attacked. It doesn’t make your father guilty, or anyone else in Evren. Perhaps the hunters are men from other towns near the forest and mountains. Maybe they are even from Vorvinia.

  He caught my eyes again; his expression difficult to read. Was that fear? Did he trust me or was he concerned that I might give credence to the rumors about his father? I could not tell.

  ~ ~ ~

  Stretching back the bowstring, I held it to my cheek and gazed down the length of my strung arrow toward the wooden target Avrik had set up in his yard. In my mind, I imagined setting the arrow free and watching it soar across the yard, arcing in its path, and slamming into the target. A little to the right, because of the wind, I thought. I shifted my bow slightly to compensate for the steady easterly breeze and then let it fly. I held my breath as it zipped through the air and buried itself in the red bull’s-eye Avrik had painted on the target.

  I glanced toward Avrik, who smirked back at me in a silent challenge. “Good luck, Bren,” he said as Bren stepped forward to take my place.

  “Splendid,” Bren said with a sigh. “Could we hold a harvesting competition next? Come out to our fields next autumn and we will see who gathers the most crops the fastest.”

  Shilam and Avrik chuckled.

  “On with it!” Avrik said.


  “Don’t take all day,” Shilam added.

  Almost without thinking, I glanced toward the woods as Bren strung an arrow to his bow and took aim. A cold breeze stirred through the bare branches and made me shiver. Shadows were beginning to stretch across the snow and I knew I couldn’t stay out much longer. Who knew what could happen at night, at the edge of the forest? I blinked and tried to focus on Bren’s shot. His struck further from the bull’s eye than mine.

  “Too bad,” Shilam teased. “Maybe next time.”

  Bren shrugged and smiled at me sheepishly. “Defeated again.”

  Avrik shuffled forward to take his place.

  “Maybe we should remove the arrows so you don’t strike any,” Shilam said, but Avrik waved him away. Everyone knew he would hit the target dead on. I could count on one hand the number of times I had seen him miss: three, exactly the number of times I had bested him in our shooting competitions, and one more time than he’d ever defeated me. I smiled at the thought.

  The breeze strengthened, tugging wavy strands of hair in front of my face. With an impatient move I brushed them back. Was it my imagination, or had I heard something? My eyes darted back toward the trees. Of course it is your imagination. Even if a sedwa was there, you would not hear it. I squeezed my eyes shut, then looked back at Avrik as he yanked the bowstring back and released his arrow. It soared easily toward its mark, splitting my arrow to take its place.

  Bren and Shilam clapped and cheered.

  Again, I was too preoccupied to partake in the excitement. An uneasy sense that we were being watched flooded over me, and I turned to search the woods again. My heart throbbed against my chest but I saw nothing—no eyes stared back at me. Yet. I knew it was time to leave; it was too late to be this close to the forest and not expect trouble.

  “Looks like a draw between Avrik and Elena,” Bren said. “Again.”