Chapter 2: In Which Maris Rejoins the Living,
With Mixed Results
With Mixed Results
oriko was quite used to her father's behavior. He couldn’t accept that his daughter refused to marry, and chose to "romp around in the damned forest," as he put it, instead of doing meaningful work at home.She sat on the hearth’s edge, across from the unconscious man’s bench. Moriko pulled her pack into her lap and opened it. The white package fell out, thudding thickly on to the hard, earthen floor. She slid it under the bench, hoping to keep it safe from curious hands. The children wouldn’t dare come that close to the stranger, she knew.
A creak on the front stairs told her that someone had not obeyed her father. The child sneezed as she meandered into view. Moriko smiled slightly—it was Bella.
"Hello, Bella."
The tiny girl gasped, moving quickly down the stairs to peer between the railings at her older sister. "Is he dead?" she whispered, sounding both childish afraid and curious.
"No, little one, he's sleeping."
"Oh." The word was merely a breath as Bella bounded down the stairs and plopped down into her sister's lap. She had changed into a long-sleeved cotton nightgown that was much too big for her. It was a hand-me-down. "Did you find anything in the woods today?" she didn’t wait for an answer, already digging through Moriko's pack.
"Lots of snow," Moriko replied, as Bella pulled out her favorite thing in the bag: a small flute used to call birds.
"Don't play that right now, Bella," Morko scolded her quietly as the child put the flute to her lips.
"But why?" Bella whined.
"Do you want the scary man to wake up?" Moriko asked, teasingly.
Bella stared at her with wide eyes and dropped the flute. "No."
Moriko packed the flute away again, and admonished, "Then you shouldn't play it now." Moriko picked the child up as she rolled up onto her feet, and asked, "Why aren't you in your room?"
"I wanted to see the scary man, Mori," Bella whispered.
Moriko smiled. "Well, you've seen him, so up to your room now." She set the girl on the stairs.
"Mori," Bella called as Moriko turned back to the fire, "You didn't give me my goodnight kiss."
"How could I have forgotten?!" Moriko exclaimed dramatically, placing a hand over her heart in mock shock, causing the child to squeal with laughter. Moriko returned to the stairs and kissed Bella on the forehead. "Now, off to bed with you!"
The child scrambled up the stairs and disappeared into the shadows of the second floor.
Moriko returned to her place by the fire and began to sort through her pack, replacing the things that Bella had thrown out of it while searching for the flute.
The bench creaked slightly.
Moriko looked up, narrowing her dark green eyes in surprise. She watched the man in the white furs closely.
The man blinked his eyes a couple of times, and ran his tongue over his dried lips in an effort to get a bit of moisture back into them. He made no immediate move to sit up, or even turn himself.
Moriko rose slowly and moved to the man's side, moving cautiously so as not to startle him. "Sir? Are you all right?" she whispered, touching the man's shoulder lightly.
He turned his head slightly, his mouth still slightly open. He stared at her with wide, warm brown eyes, and retracted from her touch.
Moriko drew back at the sudden reaction. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."
He continued to stare at her, frightened and confused. Then, after a long moment, he managed to ask shakily, in a faintly strange, but otherwise a pleasing accent, "Where am I?"
"You are in my family’s house, in the hidden city, Lokgil," she answered.
The name of Lokgil struck an important chord. He sat up, bolt-straight, and blurted, "Can I see the elders? Someone? Anyone? It's an emergency."
Moriko's brow furrowed. "My father is part of the council. I'll go get him." She moved to the door, and called for her father.
Froderich stormed into the front room. "What the hell do you want now, girl?"
The man rose to his feet and put his hands to his head in an attempt to flatten his dark hair, which had grown unruly while he had been unconscious.
"This man wishes to speak to you," she answered quietly, suddenly losing all boldness and drawing into herself.
Froderich turned to the man. "What?"
"This woman told me you are on the city's council," he responded swiftly, his accent only making his foreignness more obvious.
"Yes. What of it?" Froderich shot a glare in Moriko's direction.
"Are you familiar with the town of Angles?" the man asked patiently.
"Never heard of it."
"I have," Moriko chimed in.
The man sighed, "It's a large city, about a week's walk south of here."
"What about it?"
"It's been seized and utterly demolished by a demonic man and his servants, for its resources," the man explained.
“And what does this have to do with me?"
The stranger looked at him for a moment, like he wasn’t sure why the dots weren’t connecting without his explicit help. "This same man has his eyes set on this place," he said finally.
Froderich scowled at the man in white. "Give me one reason why I should believe you, stranger."
"Because I was there, and I saw it happen. I can show you they did to me."
"Father, you must call the council and spread the word," Moriko insisted quietly. "We are in grave danger if he speaks honestly."
The man in white pushed back his sleeve and showed them the inner side of his arm, which was scored with burns, bruises, cuts, and welts. "He is a blood mage," he said softly. "He tortures his victims, feeding off of their agony, their pain."
Froderich's eyes popped. "I'll call the council, then. I promise you nothing." He turned, glared in his daughter’s general direction, and left the room. The back door slammed shut a moment later.
The man in white looked distinctly relieved.
Nelia Shaw entered a moment later, freezing mid-step at the sight of the stranger. She gulped, and turning to Moriko, asked, "Where is your father going?"
"He is calling the council, mother." There was a thump upstairs and then a scream. "Perhaps you should look after the children." Nelia nodded, and moved to the stairway, sending one last frightened look at the stranger before scrambling up the stairs. The stranger watched inquiringly, briefly turned his face to the ceiling, but remained silent.
Moriko turned back to the fire, throwing another log onto the flames. She was waiting for him to speak first. However, the stranger seemed exhausted again, now that his message had been relayed. Moriko placed her pack back in its corner, and broke the silence at last. "There are nine of us, hence the noise," she explained quietly, tilting her head toward the ceiling, where muffled footfalls could still be heard. "Perhaps you should sit down."
He nodded vaguely, and collapsed on the bench.
Several more thumps sounded as the children moved to the third floor.
He looked up at the ceiling again. His pale face and white clothes looked so strange bathed in firelight. The light seemed almost to reflect off of it.
Moriko reached under the bench, pulling out the white package she had found near the stranger. "This is yours, I believe," she murmured, handing it to him.
He took it slowly, his pale fingers wrapping lithely around the edge of the white package as he took it. "Thank you."
She jumped as Froderich wrenched the front room’s door open. "Father," Moriko breathed, turning.
The stranger twisted his torso slightly to face Froderich, his face drawn. The white package lay across his lap, his fingers still pressed against its edges.
"You leave tomorrow at dawn," Froderich informed the stranger.
"But, father, the council . . ."
"The council will not be meeting. They do not believe what he speaks of."
"Then I will show them," he said, his voice hardened, knife-like, "This cannot not be ignored."
Froderich shook his head. "If your face is seen within the city, you will be killed. It has already been decreed."
"This is foolishness! At least allow him to tell them!" Moriko exclaimed.
Froderich rounded on her, pushing her against the wall. "You will remain silent! This is a matter for men, not for puny little women like you, especially not foolish female foresters."
The stranger shook his head slowly, and patted the sword at his waist. "Hear me out, or I'll save you the trouble, and take my own life. Then I'll haunt you with my ill-tidings. For eternity."
Froderich spun back to face the stranger. Moriko remained in the corner. "Speak then."
"I want to speak before the council. I don’t mean you harm. If I did, I'd have killed you long before now. I’m warning you, pleading really."
"The council will kill you, boy." Froderich's voice was gentler now, as though he was truly worried.
"For what?" he demanded, his brown eyes narrowing.
"Disturbing the peace; spreading rumors. They will find a dozen reasons," Moriko murmured from the corner.
Froderich glared, but nodded, "What she says is true."
"I am not afraid," the man said stolidly. "After the horrors I have seen, I hardly wish to live longer."
"What is your name, Boy?" Froderich asked suddenly.
"Marisellinth," he responded, giving his surname.
"You can stay here for the night then, Mr. Marisellinth," the word rolled awkwardly away from his tongue, "I will take you to the council in the morning, if you are foolish enough to go. I advise you leave while you still have the chance."
"I know why I came, and I will not leave before I do what I need to,” he said stubbornly.
Froderich waved a large hand at the younger man. "Moriko, take him to the extra room."
Mr. Marisellenth rose from the bench, his arms around the wrapped white parcel. Moriko moved from the shadows, and motioned for the man to follow her. She led him into the back room and up the back stairs.
Several children scampered past them, including Bella, with Cole, the oldest of the boys, on her heels. Moriko could hear her mother shouting after them. She rolled her eyes and continued up to the third level. Pushing the wooden door open, she was nearly bowled over by two more children, who flashed past too quickly for her to figure out which ones they were.
Moriko led him across the third floor to a ladder along the opposite wall. Climbing up, she opened a trap door and motioned him to follow her. He slipped the package under one arm and followed her, gripping the rail with his free hand as he ascended, eyes lowered.
It was a small room, the slanted ceiling making it painfully obvious that they were at the top of the house. A small cot stood in the corner by a round window. A desk and stool stood across from the cot, next to a wardrobe. It was neat, not a speck of dust to be found.
He didn't speak, but seemed to appreciate the cleanliness of it.
"Breakfast will be at six tomorrow, if you care to wake that early. I don't know when father intends to take you to the council. I can find out for you if you'd like,"
"I'd be thankful." he responded, inclining his head out of gratefulness.
Moriko bowed her head slightly and moved back to the ladder.
He watched her for a moment, and then asked quietly, "You aren't afraid of me, like the others, are you?"
Moriko paused, halfway through the trapdoor, holding onto the ladder. "No. Sleep well, Master Marisellinth," she disappeared down the ladder.
"Thank you kindly," he responded softly, admonishing himself. It was better not to make friends if he faced almost certain death at the hand of their stupid council the next morning. Well, he reasoned, at least it was a new kind of death threat. That was something.
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formatting to follow, Diluvian soon. Sorry the start is a little slow.
