EPIC: Fourteen Books of Fantasy (60 page)

Chapter XXV

T
HE
SUN
WAS
STILL
OUT
. Birds flew overhead. The white clouds in the sky were thin and stretched. The breeze in the air was chilly despite the noontime sun. Winter was setting in. Almost every chimney spewed smoke into the sky. Another sign of winter. I felt my body slouch at the idea.

The duration of summer barely felt enough before the cold air swept down from the mountains to chase away any pleasantness. For the first time since I had considered living at my uncle’s shack, I was afraid. The snow could get deep in Senya. The rivers would freeze, and Borrelia’s animals and crops would die. I would need the coin from the sale of the property to live. I would need a horse and cart to carry supplies, and Klawdia and I would have to spend a time preparing. But we didn’t have time, and if we were discovered, we’d be hunted until I was taken to Meligna.

I passed several people on the way to Frooby’s. All paused to stare at me. The two houses where the road veered off towards Frooby’s farm were ordinary. Klawdia’s house was smaller than most, although she didn’t need much room. Her doors and windows were closed, and no smoke rose from her chimney.

Down Frooby’s lane, there were footprints from animals in the dirt road. I eyed cows in paddocks and horses grazing. Crows perched on wooden fence stakes. They cawed and cleaned their beaks against the timber railing. Breaking up the horizon, steep mountain sides disappeared between thick drooping clouds. My mind struggled to grasp the magnificence of the view. Who would be crazy enough to climb them?
Klawdia,
I thought, answering my own question. And I had heard that the mountains around Borrelia were smaller than those Death Peaks in Ruxdor or the Mountain Pass in Senya. It made sense that the only viable road that linked North Senya to South Senya went past Borrelia, which sat in the valley of the mountains.

If there was a war between the North and South, Borrelia would be the first point of contact. I shivered at the thought and focused my attention on Frooby’s farmhouse, which stood wide and impressive on the farm’s large plot of land.

The farmhouse sat on stilts and spread wider than any of the houses in town. The smooth roof angled downwards. Smoke poured from two chimneys at either end of the building. Someone was home. I hoped it wasn’t Frooby’s father. I stepped up onto the veranda and peered through a window. The furnishings seemed old yet comfortable. I looked at them, imagining what sort of person Frooby’s mother must have been. The colours matched, and there was symmetry in the furniture’s alignment, meaning the lady of the house must have been an orderly person of routine and composure. Those were things that I, being a merchant’s daughter, would notice, or so Mother often said.
A merchant has an eye for value.

I knocked twice and waited. When there was no reply, I cracked open the door. My cheeks flushed from the thick and suffocating air.
Why is it so warm in here?

Then I heard the roar of a hearth so full of logs that the surrounding bricks glowed red. Surely that was dangerous.

A maid came into the room. ‘Oi, who are you? You’re not supposed to be here.’

‘I’m a friend of Frooby’s.’

‘Well, he ain’t fit to receive visitors now, is he? So be off with ya.’ She used her broom to usher me out the door.

Her rudeness made me more determined to see Frooby. I crept around the house, peering into each window. Bedrooms were always upstairs in houses like his, so I climbed up onto the railing of the veranda and crawled across the roof. I took care to move along the supporting beams, avoiding the rickety areas.

Two windows later, I found Frooby’s bedroom. The maid pottered about, tidying and cleaning. I ducked down as she dusted a nearby window frame. After a while, I raised my head and saw that she was gone. I tapped on the window.

Frooby didn’t respond. I tapped louder, and his face appeared at the window. His eyes were dark, his cheeks sunken, and his skin as pale the mountain mists. He had always sounded unwell, but upon seeing him, I realised just how sick he was. He unlatched the window and slid it upwards.

‘It’s cold. Come inside.’ He grabbed my arm and pulled.

As I passed through the frame, I lost my footing. We landed on the floor with me on top. Frooby’s hand had accidentally caught my blindfold. It lay on his chest.

My exposed eyes met his, and he gulped. I smiled. Mother had told me that a smile relaxed people, but I realised how stupid that must have looked. Frooby’s shock only grew when he looked at my face. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say. What could I say?
Hey, remember when I was blind? Well, I’m not anymore. Surprise!
Would he think I’d always lied to him about my blindness?

‘I was wondering how a blind girl could climb up here,’ he said. ‘Your eyes. They’re gold. You can see.’ He frowned.

‘I’m sorry.’ I looked away.

‘No. Please,’ He shifted out from underneath me. He sat with his legs crossed. ‘Have you always been able to see?’

I shook my head, and tears fell on my cheeks.

‘Don’t cry. Please.’ He handed me a handkerchief.

I dabbed at my eyes and reached for my blindfold, but his hand got there first. He brought it closer to his face, staring at the black material.

‘It’s only recent. My mother, she…’ I sighed and put my head in my hands. ‘I only found out recently that I wasn’t really blind.’

‘You’re a healer, aren’t you?’

I breathed out, hesitant to admit it. Healers were hated for many reasons. But as I looked into my sick friend’s eyes, one of the reasons stood out above all others. Healers asked for a lot of gold to save people’s lives. And I was so messed up since Uncle Garrad had tried to lay with me that I just couldn’t do what Frooby needed me to do to help him. No amount of gold could buy a healing from me.

‘You didn’t know? But surely you knew you could see?’

‘No, I swear. I always believed I’d scalded my eyes. I’ve told you before. Have you ever heard of healer children having their eyes stitched together?’

He shook his head. ‘No, never. That sounds awful. Is that what happened to you?’

‘Yes.’

‘How?’

‘With a needle and thread. A doctor does it. Look… I lied to you about something.’

‘What?’ Frooby narrowed his eyes slightly.

‘My real mother is Capacia. My father was Ardonian. Garrad is my uncle. My parents kept me inside most of my life.’

His eyes widened. ‘On the first day we met, you said you hated being shut inside too. Now I know why.’

‘Mother and Father had my eyes stitched so that no one would know I was a healer.’

‘I can see why they made that choice. Although, I can’t agree with it.’

I nodded.

‘It wasn’t Varago, was it?’

I stared at him for a moment, inspecting his delicate features. He didn’t look like a girl as he’d said on my last visit, but he didn’t have the typical wide build of a farmer’s son.

‘Yes. Varago stitched my eyes.’

‘He shouldn’t have done that.’ Frooby leaned closer, inspecting my eyelids. ‘Close your eyes.’

I did, and he ran a finger along the top of one of them. The lid was so sensitive that it fluttered, but I tried not to move.

‘There are no scars. How old were you?’

‘Ten.’

‘You’re thirteen now, aren’t you? So you’ve been blind for three years. That’s a long time. Why did they do it?’

‘So I wouldn’t go to live in Juxon City, so I wouldn’t have to go to Meligna. You know how the people feel about healers.’

He nodded. ‘I do.’ He stared at my eyes. ‘How did you find out about all this?’

I wanted to answer his questions, but I was afraid of what he’d think of me, afraid I would see judgement in his expression. I forced myself to look back at him. Why was it so hard to look people in the eyes?

Frooby looked deep in thought, a faraway look on his face. His eyebrows knitted together, and his lips twitched. ‘You’re not fourteen yet, right? Fourteen is when healer girls are taken away. Is that why that older healer remains in town? I know very well that few people here can afford her coin.’

‘Yes,’ I said.

‘You’re still wearing your blindfold, though. Does that mean no one else knows? Are you keeping it a secret?’

‘I can’t stay in Borrelia… well, at least not in the town. I’m moving to my uncle’s hill shack. I’m going there today, just like you advised. You should come and see it.’

‘Adenine, I can’t. Look at me. I’m too unwell.’

‘I’m selling it back to Mr. Corgastor, that land-law man from Juxon City. Do you want me to get you a healing? I can afford it once the property is sold.’

‘I don’t want that, Adenine. It wouldn’t be right.’

I wondered if I’d offended him. ‘Do you know how it works?’

‘I’m three years older than you, Adenine,
and
a boy. Of course, I know how it works.’

My face flushed, and he smiled.

‘Look at me with those eyes again. They’re mesmerising. It’s like someone dipped the sun in honey.’

My lungs locked up. He admired me for something others would reject.

He must have noticed I was upset. ‘Come now. You’ll have to get used to this. You’ll be a healer.’

‘No. I’m keeping it a secret. I don’t want to go to Meligna. I know about that city. I know what goes on there… well, some of it. I’m going to keep pretending to be blind.’

He gestured towards his bed. I hesitated, and he laughed. ‘Sit there. It’s more comfortable. I’ll stay down here.’

Being in a boy’s room made me nervous. Borrelia had strict rules about how boys and girls should mix. I knew I was doing wrong by being there, but I didn’t see what the fuss was about. Frooby was my friend, and we would never… well, I didn’t feel that way about him.

‘I’m sorry. I can’t heal you, Frooby.’

‘Nor would I let you, silly girl. As for paying for me, I don’t want my first time to be with some strange old healer woman.’

‘You’ll never have a first time if you stay sick and keep to this room. What are you sick with?’

‘Varago says I have an infection of the chest. It will pass.’

‘Will you recover soon?’

He looked away. ‘I am warm. I am fed. That is all that can be done for now.’

He coughed hard into a handkerchief, and I saw the blood inside of it. I became agitated, but I could say nothing. He didn’t want to be healed, and even though it tore me apart to watch him suffer, I bit my tongue. He should get a healing from a healer.

‘Father wants to keep me away from school,’ Frooby said. ‘He thinks I am always catching illnesses from the other children.’

‘He can’t do that. You love school.’

He smiled, grabbed a spare blanket, and put it between him and the floor. ‘I can borrow books. I can learn here.’

‘What about Emala? Will you see her and Jark?’

‘Father does not like Jark or Emala.’

I became angry, which produced a crazy idea. ‘Frooby, you have to get away from here. Come live with me. You can still go to school.’

He looked sad. ‘The outside air makes me cough. It dries my lungs. It’s excruciating. I cannot leave the house. And besides, Father would look for me. I couldn’t go to school because someone would see me and report it.’

I sighed and crossed my legs underneath me. ‘Promise me when you get better you’ll at least visit me.’

‘Of course. I’ll want to see what kind of a home you’ve made for yourself. Adenine, won’t your mother be sad?’

I gritted my teeth. ‘Yes, but I don’t have a choice. It’s either that or Meligna.’

The door to the bedroom suddenly opened. The maid stood frozen in place, eyes locked on mine. Slowly, her body seemed to inflate while her features contorted.

‘Get out! Devil child! Golden whore! Witch! Get out!’

I panicked seeing that the only quick exit was the stairs beyond where the maid stood. I dashed past her.

‘Adenine, stop!’ Frooby yelled.

The maid managed to slap me across the head and as I passed. I made it to the front door and yanked it open. I had forgotten my blindfold. My vision went white. I closed my eyes, but the white spots remained.

‘Blind girl. Lying to us all. You’re a golden whore! Everyone will know. Everyone!’ the maid shouted behind me.

My heart thumped as I stumbled blindly away from the house. I stopped my racing thoughts by counting my steps from the farmhouse. I concentrated on the road underneath my feet. I listened to the sounds of the city. Slowly, the white blotches faded from the edges of my vision.

‘Get to Klawdia’s,’ I said over and over, trying to encourage myself through my tripping and falling. While I could see some of the land before me, the centre of my vision was still coated with white. I brought my hand to my eyes. They ached from the glare. When I arrived at Klawdia’s house, I banged on the door.

‘Adenine,’ Klawdia said, opening the door. ‘I was about to visit you at home.’

I pushed past her, but when I looked back, I was startled by how blue her eyes were. They were the colour of a cloudless summer sky, and her hair was in long plaits that reached to the rim of her pants, and indeed, her tresses were the dark red of a ripe tomato. The black outlines of her lashes were all that separated the whites of her eyes from her white skin.

‘Gold,’ she said, staring into my eyes.

‘Blue,’ I replied, looking into hers.

‘What is it?’ she asked.

‘Frooby is sick. I had to see him. And the mayor, he visited the house today. Mama admitted to him that I’m a healer.’ I rubbed my eyes, trying to make the spots go away.

‘You should have worn a blindfold.’

‘I did. It’s at Frooby’s house.’

‘Why did you leave it there?’

‘I didn’t do it on purpose.’ I sighed.

‘You lost it?’ She guided me to a chair and closed the front door. ‘How?’

I put my head into my hands. ‘The maid. She came in and saw me. She saw my eyes, screamed at me, and chased me out the house like I was some sort of vermin.’

‘I warned you to be careful.’

‘I was going to, but my blindfold came off. He’s my friend.’

Klawdia stood and looked around the room. ‘I went to the hill shack today. It’s empty. You need to go there now. We need to get you away from this unpredictable town and its narrow minded people.’ Klawdia was being unusually passionate.