What Can't Be Hidden

by Brandon Andress

  In an instant, Father Prodido’s rage transformed into an odd exuberance as he turned away excitedly from Tyran and walked toward the door.

  “I shall summon Pali to gather the town together immediately at Sanctuary, your Excellency.”

  The excited chatter along the Monon indicated a certain sense of normalcy had been restored, at least for the time being. Ochi’s journey to retrieve Thura was undoubtedly on everyone’s mind, but they were eager to get an update from Father Prodido. A gathering felt essential to catch up on what had transpired the last few days. However, what the religious leader had not told them was that the gathering was for the purpose of turning them fully against Ochi and coronating Tyran as their new leader.

  Before heading to Sanctuary, Tyran went home for a quick change of clothing to look more presentable for his special occasion. While taking off his shirt in his room, a quiet, barely audible knock came from his backdoor. Initially ignoring it because he thought it might be the wind causing the commotion, Tyran went to the door when the knock came again. This time it was louder.

  Looking out the back door’s curtains, Tyran closed them immediately and walked away.

  “Tyran, we need to talk,” a man’s voice called out.

  “Go away,” Tyran responded. “I don’t have time.”

  The door opened, ignoring Tyran’s request, and Kaleo walked into the room.

  “Excuse me,” Tyran said. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Listen, Tyran,” Kaleo pleaded. “I’ll be quick. There’s been a lot going on.”

  “I’m well aware,” Tyran interrupted with little patience remaining.

  “There’s been a lot going on you don’t know about,” Kaleo quickly countered.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Tyran asked. “And you have about thirty seconds to get to the point. We have a gathering at Sanctuary that’s about to begin.”

  “I believe Father Prodido is playing everyone, including you,” Kaleo said. “There’s no threat, Tyran. There’s never been a threat. That young man wasn’t in the woods spying on Patrida. And his people haven’t been planning an attack. Far from it. He’s one of many who has been trying to figure out a way to make peace with Patrida!”

  “How do you know this?” Tyran asked.

  “Because I saw them when they escaped,” Kaleo said. “Not a single person in Patrida was interested in sitting down with that young man and hearing him out. He was coming to Patrida to offer an olive branch, and you guys beat the hell out of him, for god’s sake! Don’t you see how manipulative Father Prodido is and how his religious ideas turn people against each other? Don’t you see how he uses fear to keep people in line by forcing his moral code on them? Don’t you see how he uses religion to promote his rightness and everyone else’s wrongness?”

  “You sound just like my father,” Tyran said dismissively as he turned away from Kaleo.

  “No! Tyran, listen to me!” Kaleo begged. “Father Prodido turned your father against his own parents! And for what purpose? To prove his religious beliefs were right? That’s insane! Any religious belief that hurts people or divides people or turns people against one another has missed the point. Do you not see this madness, Tyran? Prodido wears the right clothes, says the right words, and plays the right part. But he has an agenda and is working toward his own end. And it doesn’t benefit anyone but himself. That’s the way he’s always been. And if you don’t think he’s using you, you’re sorely mistaken. Why would he lie to the entire town by saying there’s a threat when there isn’t one? Why? Why would he do that?”

  Tyran remained silent with his back still to Kaleo.

  “Tyran,” Kaleo said in a calmer voice, “has he even told you there’s really no threat?”

  Tyran did not respond.

  “Why do you think that is, Tyran?” Kaleo pleaded. “Don’t you see he’s manipulating you for some greater purpose?”

  Tyran turned solemnly and faced Kaleo.

  “He wants me to succeed my father,” Tyran said. “I assume that’s his motivation. That’s where I’m going right now. He’ll be addressing the town and then endorsing me to take over as Patrida’s new leader.”

  “You can’t do it, Tyran,” Kaleo said. “You can’t let him do the same thing to you as he did to your father. You have the gift of seeing it before it happens. Your father didn’t have that luxury. Prodido blind- sided him. Don’t make the same mistake he made. I beg you.”

  “I don’t know what you expect me to do, Kaleo,” Tyran whispered. “I think I’m in too deep.”

  “No, no, no. You can stop this at any moment,” Kaleo explained. “You’re not in too deep at all. We still have an opportunity here to make this right. What would Patrida look like if Prodido was out of the way? Have you ever considered that? What would the island look like if we stopped making enemies amongst ourselves and others and actually made peace for once? We can do that right now. Let’s go before the entire town and tell them what’s going on. Let’s expose him for the fraud he is.”

  The young man took a deep breath and stepped forward to hug Kaleo.

  “Thank you for coming here and calling me out, friend,” Tyran said. “I didn’t want to hear any of this when my father came to me, but now hearing it twice has really opened my eyes to the problem and given me the confidence I didn’t have before.”

  Tyran released the older man, and the two exited the house, making their way toward a lively and uproarious Sanctuary. Word had already spread that Tyran would be taking over in Ochi’s absence, and almost everyone was standing up, looking diligently for his arrival. As both he and Kaleo walked down the aisle together, the pair received disbelieving and curious looks, not only from the crowd but from Father Prodido, who was awaiting them at the front.

  “What exactly is going on here? Why is he with you?” Father Prodido whispered to the young man while the crowd murmured.

  “It’s okay. Trust me,” Tyran responded dismissively.

  Unsure of what was transpiring but confident in his new leader, Father Prodido raised his hand to silence the audience.

  “Brothers and sisters,” he began, “thank you for coming together with such urgency. There is no easy way to say this. We are standing on the precipice of a holy battle between Good and Evil. We are facing the cosmic clash between Light and Darkness. We are witnesses to the inevitable fight between civility and savagery. But ours is the side of Goodness. Ours is the side of the Light. Ours is the side of civility. Rest assured, my good and holy people, we will surely prevail and vanquish all Darkness standing against us. For as God is with us, who can be against us?”

  Leaning over to Tyran, Kaleo whispered.

  “When should we do this?” he asked.

  The young man nodded in acknowledgment of the question but subtly raised his hand by his side, indicating they should be patient.

  “There has never been a time in our short history,” Father Prodido continued, “that has been more urgent for us to come together and fight for Patrida’s life than now. Not just from without, but now from within.”

  Gasps and chatter moved throughout the crowd. Father Prodido raised his hand once again to regain the silence.

  “As we gave our blessing upon Ochi for safe travels to retrieve Thura,” Father Prodido continued, “we secretly sent Machi and a couple of Patrida’s finest guards to follow him from a distance. We intended for him to travel to the other side of the island and negotiate her return without posing a threat. But we would still have backup ready if he fell under attack. However, one of the guards returned this morning and reported that he saw Ochi potentially commiserating with the enemy.”

  Father Prodido allowed the citizenry to stand and rage without raising his hand to stop it. Kaleo once again looked to Tyran for a signal, but the young leader remained still. Once again commanding the attention of the crowd, the religious leader finished his pronouncement.

  “Not only can there not be two kingdoms on this island, but
there also cannot be two kingdoms within Patrida. For surely as a kingdom is divided against itself, it shall perish. But to face the threats both from without and within, we must have a strong leader. Someone who understands our heritage, who stands for absolute truth, who desires uniformity in belief, and who is not afraid to stand up against the evil within.”

  Kaleo once again looked to Tyran, imagining there could be no better prelude to expose Father Prodido. Tyran stepped forward and took his place front and center before the crowd, raising his hand to silence their riotous cheers.

  “Good people of Patrida,” Tyran said. “It’s an honor to stand before you. There’s no greater task than the one before me. While there are savages to contend with on the other side of the island, there’s one standing before us right at this moment that we must expose for working clandestinely to undermine the Patridian Council and the people of Patrida.”

  Everyone was taken aback by Tyran’s surprising accusation that appeared to come from nowhere. Not a single person knew what he was talking about or who he was passively accusing. Even Father Prodido raised his eyebrows in uncertainty as he surveyed the crowd.

  “By the power vested in me by God,” Tyran announced, “my first declaration as the rightful leader of Patrida is for the crime of treason. This offense carries a sentence of life imprisonment. Guards, go to the prison cell and release Fovos immediately and then arrest this man.”

  Tyran looked at Father Prodido and nodded. But then, turning toward the traitor, the newly coronated leader pointed at Kaleo.

  “It’s this man! Take him away!” Tyran shouted.

  As the guards began to charge toward Kaleo, Father Prodido unpredictably stepped in front of them, appearing to intervene on his behalf. Once again, the religious leader raised his hand to silence the raucous crowd, this time with more vigor and determination.

  “Your Excellency,” Father Prodido stated aloud. “We offer you our sincerest congratulations and commit to you our utmost allegiance. Additionally, I wish to provide you my most humble opinion on this matter of treason. As you are well aware, treason is considered a high crime and merits punishment by hanging.”

  “These men are liars!” Kaleo screamed at the crowd. “They are manipulating you! There is no threat on the other side of the island! Ochi is not … ”

  Without warning and coming in with a solid right hook, Pali blindsided Kaleo, punching him in the face with such force it nearly knocked him out. Staggered and crawling on his hands and knees with blood dripping from a cut below his eye, Kaleo looked up directly at Tyran.

  “You had a chance to heal these deep wounds, Tyran,” Kaleo said. “What have you done? What have you become?”

  Walking slowly with his arrogance preceding him, Father Prodido stood between Kaleo and Tyran. The religious leader towered over the bloody and broken man, his shadow casting down upon him. The religious leader smiled and shook his head in fabricated pity.

  “Oh, Kaleo,” Father Prodido said. “After all these years, old friend, I thought you of all people would have at last learned your lesson. The Lord does surely give on this day. But to you, once again, he takes away. Guards! Escort this man to the gallows and hang him immediately!”

  Father Prodido, enshrouded by the haunting melodies of Kaleo’s screams and the chanting of the crowd, turned blankly toward Tyran and nodded his head.

  CHAPTER 15

  Thura patiently navigated through the dense and unforgiving undergrowth beneath the forest canopy. The early morning twilight offered just enough light for her to maneuver across the knee- high chaos. Any semblance of a trail, or an efficient path forward, had been devoured days ago by the sprawling and seemingly unending brush. Thura knew, however, that she was getting close to the forest opening on the northeast side of the island that overlooked what Odigo said was the most beautiful crystalline sea one could ever imagine.

  Not wanting to wake her guide from his deep sleep, Thura decided to make the short trek alone, as she had never once remembered seeing a sunrise. She wanted to experience it all by herself. From the time she arrived in Patrida as a little girl until a few days prior, she had only known the island’s west side and had only watched the sunset. So despite the intertwined and viney madness that worked against her every step, an irrepressible, childlike excitement accompanied the young woman as she pressed forward into the opening.

  The impervious network of bush and low scrub mounted their last stand as the tree cover above unfolded into magnificence. Thura felt like she was walking in a story written for her long ago with each step forward. She could not quite put her finger on why she believed that was the case, but escaping the confines of Patrida and breaking through into such vast beauty may have had something to do with it. In front of her stood a single relict pine that appeared more like a bonsai tree than any pine she had seen. Its gnarled trunk twisted upward from the dry, rocky ground and branched with elegantly crooked arms that held their sparse green needles like offerings to the sea.

  Taken by the seascape’s resplendence and awaiting the sun’s appearance in anticipation, Thura sat down next to the lonely tree on a flat, angular, almost chair-like rock that protruded from the gentle hill overlooking the water. With her back resting against the cool of the stone, her feet appearing to dangle in search of solid ground, Thura watched the soothing waves massage the gray, moss-covered boulders that lined the circumference of the island’s edge. Without question, Thura knew she was in the right place.

  As the new sun arose and lovingly embraced Thura, she closed her eyes and saw the pink of her eyelids. Her breathing shared the same steady cadence as every tranquil wave that washed onto the shore. Suddenly, Thura was back in the council room at the exact moment when she spilled the wine she had been preparing.

  She remembered running out of the room with the heavy, wood door closing thunderously behind her. The dark of the hallway enveloped her as she ran toward her room. Her back pressed against the cool, stone wall. She closed her eyes and stood in the sun’s warmth. The thought of someone else being on the island outside of Patrida evoked an inexplicable sense of freedom that welled up within her.

  Thura’s breathing began to outpace the constant calm of the ocean’s current. She wished she could open her eyes and have that same feeling of freedom again, not as a fleeting and momentary emotion in the hallway but as something permanently residing in her.

  How can I be so far away from Patrida but still feel the same on the inside? she thought. How can I be sitting in the most peaceful and life-giving place I have ever been but still feel so burdened? How can I be on the other side of Patrida’s figurative prison walls but not experience the overwhelming sense of freedom I imagined when I ran away with Sophia and Odigo? While question after question looped through Thura’s mind, a small, dust-colored bird in the tree next to her began to sing, demanding her attention.

  “Hey, little guy,” she said. “Such a sweet song you are singing.”

  The feathered vocalist tilted its head as if her words were of inter-

  est. Thura’s new friend unassumingly flew down to the pine-needle- covered ground and gazed at her, continuing to tilt its head back and forth as it resumed its song.

  “Such a little performer, too. Are you coming down here to be with me?” Thura kindly coaxed.

  The bird moved toward her as if it understood her question.

  “You are not afraid at all, are you?” she asked.

  From behind, Thura could hear Odigo moving swiftly through the brush and approaching.

  “Hey, good morning!” Odigo called out. “You must have been up early.”

  “Yeah, sorry,” Thura apologized. “I had never seen a sunrise before and wanted to get here in plenty of time to see it. And you were sleeping so soundly I did not want to wake you.”

  “Who’s your little friend?” Odigo inquired.

  “I am not sure what his name is,” Thura answered with a smile, “but he is quite the singer and performer. And not afr
aid of me in the least. Such a humble little creature, you are. You can continue your morning now. Thank you for coming down and joining me.”

  Tilting its head back and forth once again and seeming to understand Thura’s benediction, her friend flew off toward the boulders below.

  “What a nice little visit this morning, huh?” Odigo asked as he sat down under the gnarled tree.

  Thura stared down at the waves washing over the boulders as if trying to find words that matched what she was feeling internally. Sensing her momentary absence, Odigo crossed his legs, leaned back, and contentedly watched the horizon. Breaking the silence, and in an attempt to piece together words that harmonized with the thoughts and feelings she had earlier, Thura asked Odigo a question.

  “Have you ever felt like it is hard to be patient with others who are not moving at the same pace as you?”

  A wide grin stretched across Odigo’s face as he answered Thura’s question with a chuckle.

  “You mean like walking with Sophia?” he asked.

  Returning the laugh, Thura picked up a small rock and threw it at the young man.

  “No! That’s not what I meant at all!” Thura said. “Plus, she moves a whole lot faster than I expected her to! It doesn’t look pretty, but she sure knows how to move when she needs to.”

  “No, no. I knew what you meant,” Odigo said, still laughing with Thura. “And yes, she does know how to get her move on!”

  “But seriously though, what do you think about my question?” Thura pressed.

  “I know this isn’t what you are looking for,” Odigo began, “but I am going to answer your question by asking you a question.”