TWENTY-FOUR - Silvan

Silvan continues his investigation and his plot.

Silvan approached the castle.  Esmarine seemed obsessed with this two children from the Outskirts, Saxon and Sephora, and since she wasn’t at home, the next place he could think to look was with the two of them.  I need to find out what she knows, and what she’s up to.  Why would she get out of bed early to talk to Hoyt about the two of them?  Maybe she knew that boy who was exiled a little better than she let on.

Silvan climbed the steps up through the castle doors.  By now, the story that Xanthus would be taking in orphaned children would be spreading through the Outskirts like fire on spilled oil.  As long as Esmarine wasn’t going to accidentally get in the way of his plans, everything was going to play out perfectly.

Silvan slowly opened the door to the room where Saxon and Sephora were being kept and peered inside.  The boy was sleeping, but Sephora was sitting alone in the corner, crying.  Silvan approached her slowly.

“Are you alright?” he asked softly.  “You don’t have to be afraid anymore.  We’re going to take care of you.”

She cowered away from him.  “I want Afferty!”

I clearly haven’t lived in the Outskirts in too long.  I can’t even speak their code anymore.  “What’s an afferty?”

“Afferty!”

“Are you hungry?  We don’t have much left here but I can get you something.  Have you been fed at all today?”

“I want AFFERTY!”

“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what you mean.  I don’t know what an afferty is.  I can get you food, I can get you toys… I can even bring in the King’s daughter for you to play with.  Does any of that sound good to you?”

“No!  Afferty!”

I should have spent more time with Esmarine when she was small.  Maybe I would be able to translate some of this a little better.  But I was trying to provide for her, to save her life.  “Look, I’m sorry, I don’t know what that is.  But let me ask you something… has a young girl been in here to visit you today?  A girl named Esmarine?”  It’s a long shot, but I might as well try.

“Nooooo Esmy.  Want Afferty!”

She doesn’t even know what I’m saying.  “I’m sorry I bothered you.  I’ll bring you some food and hopefully that will calm you down.”

As he closed the door behind him, the cries of “Afferty! Afferty!” only grew louder.  At least I know the children are alive.  But they need something else to do, and they definitely need something to eat.  They can’t be alone in that room until Xanthus returns.

He made his way to Cassiopeia’s room.  Perhaps she would be willing to spend time with the children and make them feel at home.  Because they weren’t happy now and Silvan wasn’t going to be able to help.  Afterwards he would go to Willoughby and see if they had food in the storeroom to spare for the King’s new children.

He entered her bedroom to find it empty.  That’s odd, he thought.  Where’s Cassiopeia?  Perhaps she’s playing a game.  He searched under her bed for her, but she wasn’t hiding there either.  He exited the room and looked around the corner.

“Cassiopeia!” he called.  Her name echoed down the empty hallways.  Silence was the only answer he received.  I guess it’s Missing Daughter Day.  If I hadn’t seen Sephora alive and well, I’d think there was some sort of conspiracy.  Cass is going to grow up to be a lot like Esmarine.

“Sorry, Sephora.  Looks like you don’t have anyone to play with today,” he muttered to himself and made his way towards the Healers’ room, where he would hopefully find Willoughby.  He passed through the dark hallways, passing empty room after empty room.

That’s right… the guards are all wandering aimlessly in the city, trying to “keep the peace.”  That essentially leaves Thaddeus in this castle alone.  What is he up to?  If Thaddeus had some sort of sinister plan to take over control of the city, now would be the perfect time to put it all in motion.  Silvan pushed it from his mind.  He can’t get anything done if there’s no one here.  I have bigger things to worry about right now.

He knocked on the door to the Healers’ Room.  “Come in,” Willoughby’s voice came from within.

Silvan pushed the door open and entered the small room.  It wasn’t so much ‘small’ as it was ‘smaller than every other room in the castle.’  It would comfortably fit the whole of the King’s Guard, but was only meant to fit the Healers and a patient.  It actually felt fairly spacious with just the two of them.  And it wouldn’t get much more crowded unless Willoughby finally took on an apprentice.  Might be a good idea, old man.  Don’t want you dying with all our medical secrets.

“Silvan,” Willoughby said.  He sounded surprised to see him.  “What are you doing here?”

“I came about the children that Xanthus adopted from the Outskirts.  Is no one looking after them?”

“That responsibility falls to me when the King is away.  Xanthia, I’m afraid, wants nothing to do with them.”

“I just came from their room.  The girl is crying.  It looks as though they are hungry, or bored, or both.  Can we spare any food for them?”

“Why are you so interested in helping them?”

“I don’t know.  I have a big heart.”

“Apparently.”

“Are you implying that I don’t?”

“I just find it strange that you would take so much interest in the safety and health of two children who do not belong to you when you hardly watch after your own daughter.”

“Mind your own business.  I take care of Esmarine.  She’s lasted this long, hasn’t she?  She doesn’t need looking after much these days.  She’s fully capable of taking care of herself.”

“So now you just need a new project?”

“Do you honestly find it that strange that I would want to take care of two kids from the Outskirts?  In case your old mind is failing you, I used to live there.  And it would mean a lot to me to see that our city is taking an interest.  Besides, they’re just infants.  They don’t even know what’s happening to them.”

“A fairly convincing argument.  It’s amazing what we can convince ourselves that we believe.”

“I resent that.”

Willoughby ignored him.  “Follow me to the storeroom.  There is a little bit of food there, we can spare some.”

Willoughby slowly got to his feet.  He followed Silvan out of the room and closed the door behind them.  The two of them headed off towards the storeroom.  Willoughby led the way, which meant Silvan felt like he was barely moving.

“One other thing,” Silvan asked.  “Do you have any idea what an ‘afferty’ is?”

Willoughby scratched at his beard.  “Where did you hear the word?”

“The girl, Sephora.  She was asking for one.”

“Childish nonsense, then.  Or Outskirt slang.  Either way, we’ll probably never know.”

They arrived at the storeroom and Willoughby unlocked the door.  The door was heavy, but Willoughby managed to get it open and the two walked in.

It was even worse than Silvan thought.  The walls were nearly barren.  The shelves were empty, with nothing but a few candles and pieces of meat strewn about seemingly randomly around the room.  He had heard how long they were getting on all of their supplies, but somehow actually seeing the devastation made it seem real.

“How long could all of this last us?” Silvan asked.

“Realistically?  Three weeks.  And that’s if we don’t give anything to anyone who lives outside the city walls.  You can imagine that won’t go over so well with any of them.  Unless Xanthus returns with some sort of solution, a whole lot of people are going to die.  There will be riots…  No one will be safe.”

“How did it ever get this bad?”

“The King never seemed all that concerned whenever I would bring him updates.  He thought the problems would take care of themselves.  To be fair, for most of his life, there weren’t any problems.  He never had to worry about a thing.  The storerooms were always full, he never went hungry… The updates I would bring his father were simply out of obligation.  We were never in any real trouble.  But things changed after Seven died.”

“Is that when the problems started?”

“They started when he got sick.  When I informed him that he was going to die, it really changed him.  His priorities shifted.  He started talking more and more about the ‘greater good.’  By the end, he wasn’t making any sense at all… and that was the first time I noticed that the supplies were running dry.  We weren’t collecting as much food, the storerooms were emptying… I explained the situation to him, but I don’t know if he fully understood.  If he did understand, he didn’t let me know.  Between you and me, I think that’s what drove him mad.”

“And we’ve been slowly running out ever since.”

“Xanthus VIII never knew any of that.  He was too young.  When he got older, I tried to tell him, but he didn’t seem to believe me, or care.  He was a very different man then.  Things had always been perfect for him, how could they have changed?”

“What made him finally realize that he needed to do something?  Why did he decide to lead the hunt?”

“I haven’t the slightest.  You’d have to ask him when he returns.”

“And now he’s taken in these two orphans.  Maybe that means he has hope that he can fix all this.”

“Do you have hope?” Willoughby asked.

“What?”

“Do you think we have a chance?  Do you actually believe Xanthus is going to save us?”

“I have to.  Or what point is there?”

Willoughby nodded slowly, pondering Silvan’s answer.

“What about you?” Silvan asked.  “Do you think he’s going to save us?”

“I think if we were going to find something, we’d have found it a long time ago.  We’re basically just waiting for the end to come.”

“Is that why you haven’t taken an apprentice?”

“I was wondering when somebody would bring that up.  Yes, that’s why.  I just don’t see the point in teaching something that’s never going to have any value.”

“Then what keeps you going?”

“The little things.  I’m not done enjoying my life.  Do you have any idea how good food tastes when you think it may be your last time eating?  Everything is better when you know you’re going to die.”

Silvan didn’t have a response for that.  Willoughby stepped towards a shelf with some meat on it, wrapped in old cloth.  “A lot of men died on the last hunt to collect this meat.  And if they had survived to eat it, they would never enjoy it as much as I do, or as much as anyone else who accepts the inevitability of death does.”  He broke off a chunk of the red meat and handed it to Silvan.  “Give this to the children.”

“I will,” Silvan said.

“And then return to your duties in the city.  This conversation doesn’t change the fact that we all still have work to do… and I’m worried about what’s going to happen out there with Xanthus gone.”

Silvan nodded and left the room, leaving Willoughby in the darkness.

All of this started when Seven got sick.  Have we just been dying this whole time?  Was Seven the last hope that we had?  Did Xantom die with him?

He headed back down the long hallways towards the room where Saxon and Sephora were being held.  Hopefully this food would tide them over until someone could figure out what an afferty was.  Or until we all die.

As he neared the door, he heard loud footsteps approaching.  “Who’s there?” the source of the footsteps called out.

“It’s Silvan,” he answered.  “Who’s asking?”

“I thought I told you to go to the city,” Thaddeus stepped into the light of Silvan’s torch.  “You’re supposed to be keeping the peace.”

Silvan couldn’t help but notice the state of Thaddeus’s dress.  He was wearing his nightclothes as opposed to his usual Armor of the King’s Guard.

“The peace can keep itself for an hour while I feed the King’s new children,” Silvan said.  “Or had you hoped they would die while Xanthus was away?”

“Of course not.”

“They were hungry.  So I went to Willoughby and he gave me food for the children.  I’ll head back out as soon as I’m done.”  Not only was Thaddeus in poor state of dress, but he was out of breath as well.  What’s he been up to since he sent us away?

“Be on with it, then,” Thaddeus spat.  “I’ve got other things on my mind.  I can’t concern myself with every stupid thing you decide to do with your time.”

“What are you doing now, Thaddeus?  Why are you in your nightclothes?”

“That’s none of your business.  And if you question me again, Xanthus may return to find that the newest member of his guard was accidentally impaled.”

“Unless Xanthus is impaled before he can return.”

The two men stared each other down.  What is that, in his eyes?  Was that a flicker of fear because I know his plan, or was Vanderford wrong?

“The King will hear of your insolence when he returns.  Until then, I have a spy to deal with.”

“A spy?”

“Someone has been watching me today.  It wasn’t you, was it?  You’re the only other person I’ve found in the castle so far.”

“If I had been spying on you, you never would have found out.”

Rage built beneath Thaddeus’s eyes.  Silvan was ready to draw his sword and fight if he needed to.

“Finish feeding the children and get back to work.”  Thaddeus spun around and vanished into the blackness of the castle.

Silvan exhaled.  Who would be spying on Thaddeus?  And what would he be doing that he would be worried about someone seeing?  That man is definitely up to something, and it isn’t good.

He walked into the room and saw that both children were now asleep.  He sat down on the floor and watched them, keeping the meat safe in his hands.

“Everything I’m doing might be for nothing,” he said to them.  They continued snoring, oblivious to his words.  “What are you dreaming about right now?  Food?  An afferty?  It must be nice not to know just how bad things have gotten.  You don’t even know that you’ll probably be dead in a few weeks, just like the rest of us.”

Their sleeping bodies looked so peaceful.  There was no fear on their faces, just serenity.

They don’t even know.  They have no idea how little food we have left, how little time we have left to live.  If Willoughby is right, we’ll all be dead in a few weeks.  What good will it be if I become the King but there’s no one left to rule?

“I’m going to try to fix this.”