“C-C-Can I…. C-C-Can I have t-t-two…”

The woman at the stall patiently waited with a crisped smile for me to finish my order.

She was a neighbor who often came to help out at the orphanage, so I had felt confident talking to her, but it seems my voice didn’t cooperate.

I breathed in for a moment, before speaking again

“... S-s-strawberry puffs!”

Yes I got it!

The lady showed a proud smile before giving me the two pastries. I happily placed one of the festival tokens the church had given us as a reward for helping.

I turned around and Silika was patiently waiting for me.

-You talk too much, Jade! I almost starved to death!-

She signed at me while chuckling.

I smiled and handed her one of the strawberry puffs. She happily devoured hers as I took my time appreciating each and every bite.

It’s funny, really. In Silika's mind, I must be a bubbly word machine. Always talking forever with people, like a chatty granny. What she didn't notice was the annoyed expression on people's faces, their impatience and the speed with which they finished conversations so it didn't have to go on any longer.

Talking with Silika was different. She would attentively listen to anything I told her and would happily respond. Sometimes, she would even ask me to say things to people for her… She really had no clue about how difficult it was for me to say these things… And I would rather she never did.

She looked very small in her oversized dress, the large yellow satchel and her plush ‘Alkie’ tucked in between her arms.

I assumed that, like the many nicknames she gave everyone, it probably had another meaning, but she never figured out how to sign it.

-Where to next?-

Silika asked after having wolved down the snack. I looked around. This festival had many activities, but a lot of them required us to listen… or talk.

It was too bad since there were a few plays I was interested in.

Silika also looked around, but being a full head shorter than I, she couldn’t see very far.

I took her by the hand and we walked through the different stands, looking for something fun to do.

Eventually I spotted a ‘Hit the pot’ stall and a puppet show… Could she enjoy that?

-What do you think, Silika? Should we go for the puppet show or hit the pot?-

I asked her, but her confusion was visible.

-Hit the pot? What’s that?-

And there it was. Silika’s usual cluelessness… It took me sometimes to wrap my head around that one… Probably for the best too.

At first, I had thought it was only because she had had a sheltered life before she came to the orphanage. In the loose definition of sheltered that is, but over the weeks and months, I came to the conclusion that it was something else.

It was little things at first. Her mannerism. Her likes, Her dislikes… Before her, I had never met someone who would have refused to eat perfectly good food based on its appearance.

It was only a few weeks before her baptism that I understood. The way I figured it out was simple really; her choice of books.

Every Time she had to pick a book to study reading, she had always picked the few that used holy script, a more advanced version of our alphabet. At first I just thought she liked their look better or something like that, but when Uncle drew a crown to explain that this was a script used by the church and aristocrats, her face had turned dark. It only only took a few minutes for her to go into panic, gasping for air on the floor…

At that moment I learned two things: Silika used to be a noble… And I shouldn’t ever ever mention it to her.

I did ask Uncle about it, but he had remained evasive. He only answered once I openly told him I thought Silika was a noble.

He made me promise to never tell anyone, for her safety.

I had asked if she was being hunted, but he denied it, saying that everyone thought she was dead. It was mostly to avoid her becoming an outcast among the other kids.

Although that had happened regardless just from her condition…

-It's just a game where you throw a…-

Just as I was signing an explanation, I caught a glance of someone staring at us from the side.

I turned to face him and recognised him immediately.

"Y-You ag-g-ain!"

In front of me was a man. More exactly a city guard. It wasn't our first encounter. The first time was at the market just a few weeks ago. He had cornered Silika and tried to take away. Luckily I arrived in time and was able to get her away from him, but it wasn't the last time I saw him. I had also seen him skulk around a few times.

"I t-told you t-to leave us a-alone!"

I pulled Silika close to me and started backing away.

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It was broad daylight and there were tons of people. There’s no way he would…

I felt something hard behind my back.

"Haaahaaaaaa!!!"

I heard a strange scream from Silika.

I turned around and noticed that another guard had already taken grip of her. He yanked her toward him and slung her onto his shoulder in one swift motion.

"W-What d-d-do y-y-you’re d-d….!"

I heard a mocking voice behind me.

"W-W-we're d-d-doing? Dumb as a rock, aren’t you girl? You'll find out soon enough."

The mansaid as he grabbed me by the shoulder.

I pulled myself away, ripping my dress. His grip had been strong and I could feel some blood leaking down my arm. His glove had probably gotten caught on my skin.

"Stop being difficult! Just come with us and we'll sort it all out nicely!"

The man said in a threatening tone.

I started sprinting toward the church to get help, but realised there was another guard blocking the way. I looked back and saw Silika struggling helplessly on the man's shoulder. Crying incomprehensibly while punching his back. The festival goers around didn't seem to know what to do. Probably because the men were city guards.

I'm sorry Silika… I need to go get help....

I turned right and started running toward the orphanage. Something hit me on the side of the head and sent me tumbling.

"Careful! They're kids! Not thugs! They can't talk if they're dead!"

I rolled on my back quickly and figured I had been hit with the handle of a spear.

I continued rolling, got to my feet and just ran. I heard them screaming as they chased after me. Luckily, I was small enough to run through the crowd and the people were none too keen to do the guards work.

I kept my head down until their scream grew quiet. I turned the corner and kept running until I reached the orphanage.

Some kids were blocking the entrance and I just shoved them aside. I sprinted down the hall.

Please be there… Please be there…

I burst through the office door.

"U-Unc-c-cle!"

I screamed as I entered the room.

I noticed there was the nobleman from earlier also in the office, but it wasn't the time to think about that.

Uncle jumped from his seat and came kneeling right in front of me.

"What is it, Colie? What happened?

He asked.

There was a smile on his face, but he looked tremendously worried.

Oh gods what happened? How do I explain this?

"I-It's S-S-Si-li-li-lica!"

Damn it, mouth! Stay still!

Get the words out! It's important!

I could feel my eye tearing up and a ball growing in my throat.

No! I can't cry now! It's too important

"It's okay, Colie. Silika. Yes. Silika. What happened to her?"

I took a deep breath. I need to tell him. I need to breathe. I can't cry right now, Silika needs me

"T-T-They t-took her! T-They took Silika!"

Uncled hugged me tightly as I started crying.

I didn't want to cry, but I couldn't hold it anymore.

He released me and looked me in the eyes.

"I know you're scared right now, Collie, but I need you to be strong and tell me exactly what happened."

I nodded as I tried to calm my crying.

"I-I-It w-w-w-wa-wa…."

Deep breaths, Collie. Deep breaths.

I took a big gasp of air before releasing it.

"I-It was at t-the f-festival. I w-was t-talking t-to S-S-Sili-lika and t-the g-guards t-took her and tr-tried t-to take m-me."

I mustered to say before the tears took my voice again

Hare frowned.

“The guards? Why would the guards go after her…?”

He asked openly.

Think Coleen, think!

“M-M-Maybe h-h-her… F-F-Family?”

I said, still trying to calm my tears.

He shook his head.

“Impossible.”

I fell to my knees crying my lungs out. What is going to happen to Silika!? It’s all my fault. I couldn’t protect her...

The man behind him suddenly spoke up.

“What did you mean by talking to Silika? I was under the impression that she couldn’t hear or say anything.”

He asked. His tone was dry, but I felt compelled to answer.

I worked through the tears and mustered two words.

“S-S-Sec-cret l-lang-guage…”

I then did a few signs with my hands saying the same thing.

The man looked toward Hare for more explanation.

“It’s a book I found. It teaches hand signals that can be used to communicate. We learned it together to talk with Silika.”

Hare explained as he rubbed my back.

“Show it to me.”

The man asked dryly.

“My lord, I must beg your pardon, but there…”

“Show it.”

He ordered, cutting any chance for rebuttal.

Hare stood up and fetched the book from his desk and angrily placed it into the noble’s hands. Probably because he was wasting precious time that could be spent looking for Silika.

I started drying my tears and getting back on my feet.

The man didn’t even open it before his eyes grew wide.

“Where did you get this?”

The nobleman asked.

“I found it at a used-book salesman at the market.”

Uncle said while shrugging.

He looked angry at the man, but there wasn’t much he could do against a noble. The nobleman ignored him and started walking toward the door in a hurry, book still in hand.

“Where are you going with that!”

Uncle grabbed the nobleman by the wrist.

I gasped by reflex and covered my mouth. This was a capital offense! Raising your hand against a noble would at best see his offending hand severed and at worst sent to the headsman.

“Silika is under my care! If she’s in danger, it’s MY duty to protect her and be there for her.”

The nobleman looked Uncle in the eyes for a moment before sighing.

I suddenly got the impression that this man was actually worried about Silika… And didn’t care about the offense caused by Uncle.

He relaxed his countenance and gently moved uncle’s hand off of him. Uncle, probably understanding the gravity of what he had just done, did not resist, but still glared at the nobleman fiercely.

The nobleman showed us the book cover.

“There’s one thing the girls got right about this little book. It is for a secret language. The tongue of Solomon…”

Uncle’s eyes grew wide at this revelation, but I felt confused.

“Solomon? Why is that a problem?”

I asked the two of them.

Uncle hesitated to explain, looking guilty, so the nobleman turned to me.

“The Solomon tongue was devised by Solomonkin scoots. It’s to allow them to communicate with people when their heads are elsewhere... Since then, it’s use has spread as a mean to quietly communicate information.”

The nobleman said, sighing again.

He looked aguard and tired, but there was anger behind his golden eyes.

“In other words, it’s the secret language of spies and assassins.”