The fallen's lament
part 6
Howard chuckled as he spoke. “Go to bed, David, I’ll help you carry the young lady.” Howard stood up and walked over to David, the pair of them picking Sophia up as Rose picked Katie up and carried her up to her room. David and Howard carefully placed Sophia into her bed, tucking her in.
As she lay there asleep, David said, “Like an angel, she’ll be more herself when she wakes up.” Howard nodded at David. As they walked out the door Howard turned and spoke. “David, how did you find this village?”
At Howard’s words, David stopped dead in his footsteps, with a hint of worry in his voice as he replied, “What do you mean, Howard? I followed a red marble path towards the village; we had to cover our noses because the smell erupting from either side was overwhelming.”
Howard did not answer as he showed David to his room, closing the door as David settled in. He walked to his room with Rose, Howard closing the door as he entered, sitting down on the bed beside Rose who was reading a book as she lay under the covers by candle-light. Without looking up she said, “Did you ask him how he got here, and if he did, should we be worried?”
After a few minutes of looking at the floor, Howard finally replied, “No, we’re safe, they came in through the red path, but that path is impossible to find unless you’ve been down it before. He’s been to this village before.”
Rose simply sighed as she marked her book where she had got to, puffing out the candle as Howard climbed in next to her. Once Howard was settled, Rose turned and spoke slowly. “Looks like we have a lot to do tomorrow. Me and you have our jobs to do, the traders arrive soon, so sleep.” Leaning across to Howard to peck him on the lips as he closed his eyes, the pair fell into a deep sleep.
*
*
Daylight beamed in through the open windows, landing on village and its inhabitants. Sophia, David, Katie, Howard and Rose sat at the table enjoying a breakfast that Rose had made with the meat from her morning hunt.
Once everybody had finished their meals, Rose ushered everyone to their places – Katie and Howard to the blacksmith, David to his new stall, and Sophia to Autumn’s stall, while she approached the traders that were visible on the village outskirts. She began to run, running towards the edge of a hill where she leapt with catlike prowess, landing flawlessly in front of the traders, holding up her hand she spoke. “Hold yourselves, traders; this village is not like the rest. You will wait for us to come to you. You may set yourselves up here, but otherwise you will wait. Am I clear?” She finished with a glare to which the traders nodded, slowly setting their wares up on their unfoldable backpacks.
*
*
Around the time of mid-day, the villagers approached the traders, purchasing from them mostly cloth and silk and material goods. However some of them were purchasing the accessories – Sophia had noticed that Autumn was purchasing clothing accessories, and as Sophia turned around, she also noticed that David was purchasing a small box. Sophia tiptoed to see what was inside the box when Autumn tapped her on her shoulder. “Come on, Sophia, time to go.”
Autumn eventually had to drag Sophia away from the colourful figurines in the next stall. As they returned to Autumn’s stall, Sophia watched Autumn with a newfound interest. Autumn handed her a needle with a light pink thread attached to it.
Sophia took the needle from Autumn and asked, “What’re we going to do today, Autumn?”
Autumn merely chuckled as she bent down and retrieved three long rectangular pieces of different colour silk, one of a hollow black, the other a radiant sky blue, the last one a royal purple, laying them out neatly on the stall. Autumn turned to Sophia.
“We’re doing your judgement of clothing today. You see I have given you a needle and thread with three colours to choose from. I’ve had a request from Katie, who would like her name woven into silk for her door. Pick a colour, and don’t worry, I can guide you if you go wrong.”
Autumn stood to the side, letting Sophia examine the colours carefully, eventually reaching for the black, and then picking up the purple which was slightly bigger then the black. Sophia then proceeded to lay the purple down and to Rose’s amazement placed the black sheet on top, giving the appearance of a purple trim.
“Well done, Sophia, you’re going to need more thread but yes, well done –”
All of a sudden an almighty crash followed by screams came from the fields. Autumn and Sophia both turned round to see the traders running away without their wares. At once Autumn and Sophia ran into the field, weaving in-between the crowd until they came to the middle, where they saw a trader impaled against a tree, Rose’s sapphire blade pinning him there. Turning to where Rose was, Sophia saw Rose being held back by the Everseer and Howard, and even as they were still struggling, Rose’s fiery eyes could match that of a towering inferno as she attempted to get back at the trader.
Out of nowhere Katie ran from the crowd, standing in-between her mother and the trader as she held her hands up in a stop sign to Rose and yelled in desperation, “Mother! What are you doing?!”
Rose did not reply – she didn’t seem to know that Katie was there as she continued to struggle against the grips of her Husband and the Everseer – and slowly some of the villagers stepped forward and pulled the blade out of the trader, covering his wound with woollen bandages and quickly holding him up as they escorted him into the village, taking him to what appeared to be the medical building – but Rose, Katie, David, Sophia, Howard, Autumn and the Everseer stayed behind in the fields, Rose now shaking in rage. Katie once again spoke. “Why mother? Why did you do what you did?”
Rose eventually replied, “The scent, he had the scent.”
At Rose’s words, Howard and the Everseer turned to each other. Eventually, the Everseer spoke. “Wait here, I will have to confirm this scent. If so I’ll have him put back here.” As he finished his words the Everseer turned round and dashed off towards the crowd, while the rest sat down in the grass, Rose gradually becoming calmer. Sophia set about weaving the two pieces of silk together, weaving the black into the purple with Autumn watching her carefully, pointing her faults here and there, but not to much to her own surprise.
Rose seemed to cheer up slightly as she watched Sophia weave the silken clothes together. Autumn now had her hands on Sophia’s, guiding her hands to weave the pink thread through both sheets, weaving the name into it. Sophia seemed to be slightly uneasy with Autumn’s hands on hers.
After what felt like an hour, the Everseer returned, holding the trader by his clothes. As he reached them, the Everseer threw the trader down onto the floor; turning to Rose he spoke in a quiet, haunting voice. “He’s scented, finish what you started.”
Rose calmly stood up, but she did not raise her blade, but simply rolled up her sleeve, revealing what appeared to be a small crossbow with a bolt loaded into the bay. Moving the trigger down to her hand she aimed it calmly at the trader; this time, she spoke almost with sorrow in her voice. “Rest in peace.” As her words ended, she pulled the trigger, sending the clockwork mechanism into effect, sending the bolt out into the trader’s head.
Sophia and David were in shock, while the rest seemed no stranger to Rose’s actions. Her voice still shaking, Sophia spoke up. “What’s the scent? And why did you have to kill him?”
It was the Everseer who answered her questions. “The scent is a sign of exile. When we exile somebody we inject them with a specific aroma which eventually fades after a certain amount of years. If they are caught trying to re-enter the village they must be killed on sight to prevent corruption and sabotage to our village.”
Eventually, the villagers came forth, picking up the traders’ wares that they had left behind, packing them up and carrying them back to the village, while everyone but the Everseer followed them. Rose turned her head to look at the Everseer, who just stood in the field, looking out into the forest.
As she lay there asleep, David said, “Like an angel, she’ll be more herself when she wakes up.” Howard nodded at David. As they walked out the door Howard turned and spoke. “David, how did you find this village?”
At Howard’s words, David stopped dead in his footsteps, with a hint of worry in his voice as he replied, “What do you mean, Howard? I followed a red marble path towards the village; we had to cover our noses because the smell erupting from either side was overwhelming.”
Howard did not answer as he showed David to his room, closing the door as David settled in. He walked to his room with Rose, Howard closing the door as he entered, sitting down on the bed beside Rose who was reading a book as she lay under the covers by candle-light. Without looking up she said, “Did you ask him how he got here, and if he did, should we be worried?”
After a few minutes of looking at the floor, Howard finally replied, “No, we’re safe, they came in through the red path, but that path is impossible to find unless you’ve been down it before. He’s been to this village before.”
Rose simply sighed as she marked her book where she had got to, puffing out the candle as Howard climbed in next to her. Once Howard was settled, Rose turned and spoke slowly. “Looks like we have a lot to do tomorrow. Me and you have our jobs to do, the traders arrive soon, so sleep.” Leaning across to Howard to peck him on the lips as he closed his eyes, the pair fell into a deep sleep.
*
*
Daylight beamed in through the open windows, landing on village and its inhabitants. Sophia, David, Katie, Howard and Rose sat at the table enjoying a breakfast that Rose had made with the meat from her morning hunt.
Once everybody had finished their meals, Rose ushered everyone to their places – Katie and Howard to the blacksmith, David to his new stall, and Sophia to Autumn’s stall, while she approached the traders that were visible on the village outskirts. She began to run, running towards the edge of a hill where she leapt with catlike prowess, landing flawlessly in front of the traders, holding up her hand she spoke. “Hold yourselves, traders; this village is not like the rest. You will wait for us to come to you. You may set yourselves up here, but otherwise you will wait. Am I clear?” She finished with a glare to which the traders nodded, slowly setting their wares up on their unfoldable backpacks.
*
*
Around the time of mid-day, the villagers approached the traders, purchasing from them mostly cloth and silk and material goods. However some of them were purchasing the accessories – Sophia had noticed that Autumn was purchasing clothing accessories, and as Sophia turned around, she also noticed that David was purchasing a small box. Sophia tiptoed to see what was inside the box when Autumn tapped her on her shoulder. “Come on, Sophia, time to go.”
Autumn eventually had to drag Sophia away from the colourful figurines in the next stall. As they returned to Autumn’s stall, Sophia watched Autumn with a newfound interest. Autumn handed her a needle with a light pink thread attached to it.
Sophia took the needle from Autumn and asked, “What’re we going to do today, Autumn?”
Autumn merely chuckled as she bent down and retrieved three long rectangular pieces of different colour silk, one of a hollow black, the other a radiant sky blue, the last one a royal purple, laying them out neatly on the stall. Autumn turned to Sophia.
“We’re doing your judgement of clothing today. You see I have given you a needle and thread with three colours to choose from. I’ve had a request from Katie, who would like her name woven into silk for her door. Pick a colour, and don’t worry, I can guide you if you go wrong.”
Autumn stood to the side, letting Sophia examine the colours carefully, eventually reaching for the black, and then picking up the purple which was slightly bigger then the black. Sophia then proceeded to lay the purple down and to Rose’s amazement placed the black sheet on top, giving the appearance of a purple trim.
“Well done, Sophia, you’re going to need more thread but yes, well done –”
All of a sudden an almighty crash followed by screams came from the fields. Autumn and Sophia both turned round to see the traders running away without their wares. At once Autumn and Sophia ran into the field, weaving in-between the crowd until they came to the middle, where they saw a trader impaled against a tree, Rose’s sapphire blade pinning him there. Turning to where Rose was, Sophia saw Rose being held back by the Everseer and Howard, and even as they were still struggling, Rose’s fiery eyes could match that of a towering inferno as she attempted to get back at the trader.
Out of nowhere Katie ran from the crowd, standing in-between her mother and the trader as she held her hands up in a stop sign to Rose and yelled in desperation, “Mother! What are you doing?!”
Rose did not reply – she didn’t seem to know that Katie was there as she continued to struggle against the grips of her Husband and the Everseer – and slowly some of the villagers stepped forward and pulled the blade out of the trader, covering his wound with woollen bandages and quickly holding him up as they escorted him into the village, taking him to what appeared to be the medical building – but Rose, Katie, David, Sophia, Howard, Autumn and the Everseer stayed behind in the fields, Rose now shaking in rage. Katie once again spoke. “Why mother? Why did you do what you did?”
Rose eventually replied, “The scent, he had the scent.”
At Rose’s words, Howard and the Everseer turned to each other. Eventually, the Everseer spoke. “Wait here, I will have to confirm this scent. If so I’ll have him put back here.” As he finished his words the Everseer turned round and dashed off towards the crowd, while the rest sat down in the grass, Rose gradually becoming calmer. Sophia set about weaving the two pieces of silk together, weaving the black into the purple with Autumn watching her carefully, pointing her faults here and there, but not to much to her own surprise.
Rose seemed to cheer up slightly as she watched Sophia weave the silken clothes together. Autumn now had her hands on Sophia’s, guiding her hands to weave the pink thread through both sheets, weaving the name into it. Sophia seemed to be slightly uneasy with Autumn’s hands on hers.
After what felt like an hour, the Everseer returned, holding the trader by his clothes. As he reached them, the Everseer threw the trader down onto the floor; turning to Rose he spoke in a quiet, haunting voice. “He’s scented, finish what you started.”
Rose calmly stood up, but she did not raise her blade, but simply rolled up her sleeve, revealing what appeared to be a small crossbow with a bolt loaded into the bay. Moving the trigger down to her hand she aimed it calmly at the trader; this time, she spoke almost with sorrow in her voice. “Rest in peace.” As her words ended, she pulled the trigger, sending the clockwork mechanism into effect, sending the bolt out into the trader’s head.
Sophia and David were in shock, while the rest seemed no stranger to Rose’s actions. Her voice still shaking, Sophia spoke up. “What’s the scent? And why did you have to kill him?”
It was the Everseer who answered her questions. “The scent is a sign of exile. When we exile somebody we inject them with a specific aroma which eventually fades after a certain amount of years. If they are caught trying to re-enter the village they must be killed on sight to prevent corruption and sabotage to our village.”
Eventually, the villagers came forth, picking up the traders’ wares that they had left behind, packing them up and carrying them back to the village, while everyone but the Everseer followed them. Rose turned her head to look at the Everseer, who just stood in the field, looking out into the forest.
♠ ♠ ♠
it's a curse really