Vessa entered Castillo’s office. Her ears perked as her heart raced and her body tensed. The likelihood that she would exit this door of her own volition was not high. Castillo sat at his desk, reading over papers with several books scattered about. The door shut, and he still said nothing, as Vessa stood waiting for her fate to be sealed.

The bright blue sky shone from his window that was slightly ajar and let a nice breeze in. An empty bird feeder hung right outside hanging from the window. Castillo continued to mark papers and flip books open as reference. Vessa said nothing. She stared outside and enjoyed the breeze as her heart continued to pound. He would speak when he was ready. Vessa would not break the silence.

A bird flew to the bird feeder and picked at the seeds. Soon other birds joined and Vessa examined their bright colors of pink and red, brown and blue. One with pink spots went at a fully brown one and the brown one flew off.

“Do you think yourself clever?” Castillo asked, and Vessa jumped. Her eyes darted from the birds to him and then to the dark wood walls behind him. She shook her head. No words would escape her mouth.

“You must, given how you chose to fulfill the last assignment.” Castillo said as he shut the book in his hands with a loud thump. Vessa jolted. Her eyes stayed on him, but his face gave away nothing.

“Tell me, when did you decide that blowing up the building was a part of the plan?” Castillo asked, and Vessa couldn’t decide what to say. Saying she hadn’t decided that she had merely pointed out the problem of missing bodies. And then the rescued prisoners had come up with a plan; wasn’t something she wanted to say. Lying, on the other hand was also a terrible option.

“That wasn’t rhetorical.” Castillo said, pushing his chair back and standing up. Vessa tensed even further, barely breathing.

“It was a solution to a problem.” Vessa said, and Castillo stared at her as he let the silence fall in the room. Birds chirped outside, their wings flapped and the bird feeder creaked back and forth.

“The Casters are furious. Reprisal for stealing one of our children they understand, but the substantial loss of inventory for not just the perpetrators but a myriad of uninvolved, they are less understanding of.” Castillo said and then walked around his dark brown desk, sturdy and old. He made his way to the window. Castillo’s footsteps loud in her ears. Inventory. We’re ingredients, not prisoners. That had been what Kelsi had said. Castillo reached out to touch a bird of red and brown. It hopped onto his hand and he pet it with a single finger.

“And yet you killed everyone in the building. Followed the directions and found a clever way to complete the assignment.” Castillo said as he continued to look at the bird. Vessa nodded, there were no words in her mind to form a reply. She was barely breathing.

“I’ve never liked Pantries. They are overwhelming with misery and death. Filled to the brim with thousands of people, some of them barely born.” Castillo said as he put the bird back and another one with pink swirls on a black body jumped onto his finger, chirping at him. Vessa stayed completely still. Where was he going with this?

Castillo turned to her, the bird on his finger. It looked at her, curious. It chirped and took off flying towards her to land on her shoulder and began tweeting a song.

“Still, the events that took place were so clearly out of the scope of the mission that I can’t fathom how you thought of it.” He said as he leaned against the windowsill, looking her up and down. Vessa stared back at him, as the bird sung to her with a joy, Vessa didn’t believe she was capable of feeling. She strained to hear two pairs of footsteps walking towards the door. Vessa could almost hear the screaming making its way into the hall as she was dragged down it, towards a room within.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Castillo pushed off the windowsill and walked towards her, holding out his hand to the still singing bird. It cheerfully jumped onto his pointer finger, singing all the while until it fell silent. Its body went limp, and it fell to the ground.

“Sometimes, Vessa, we must do difficult things. It is the nature of our curse.” He said and Vessa looked down at the dead body of the once singing bird. Tears fell down her face.

“There were so many numbers and some were infants. Infants with missing body parts. I couldn’t.” Vessa’s words choked out of her mouth. Castillo cupped her chin and lifted her gaze from the dead bird. He stepped towards her and the sound of his boot crunching the dead bird’s body filled the room. She felt sick.

“I know.” Castillo said, and Vessa’s body shook. A part of her wanted the pain to make her numb again.

“Let me walk to the Center.” Vessa asked as she stared at his black shirt, unable to meet his eyes.

“That will not be necessary.” Castillo said and walked away from her to his desk. Vessa kept her eyes on his back, not on the floor or out the window. The sounds of happy birds made her want to scream; even so, she felt relieved. The Learning Center was not her next destination.

Castillo picked up a file and walked back to Vessa, holding it out to her. She took it from him. More assignments without a break in between was a preferred punishment to a visit to the Learning Center.

“In there are targets for the Umbaan. An essential planet that trades goods to the Casters is rebelling and they’re having trouble suppressing the instigators. You will go and help them bring the planet back into order. The Casters have agreed that this will suffice as an apology.” Castillo said as Vessa flipped through the file. It had detailed maps of cities and terrain as well as long paragraphs describing the politics and the magic. She got to the target section and froze on the fifth page. The relief disappearing completely.

Target:

Female

8 years

Vessa didn’t move, didn’t speak. The birds chirped outside the window. She couldn’t breathe. Silence fell, and they both listened to the birds. The room was too small and Vessa’s breathing too loud.

“I haven’t been to the Empire. Wouldn’t it be better to assign another?”

“You must gain familiarity somehow, and this is your mess.” Castillo said, Vessa had nothing, no wasn’t an option. She’d just be dragged down the hall and not just punished, but broken until she conceded and was assigned a similar case. The last vestiges of her would be gone.

She would be fine. She would complete the assignments and return with no need to visit the Center. It would be fine.

“When do I leave?” Vessa asked, her words barely loud enough for her own ears.

“Soon, there are still some things to be ironed out. Until then, wait in your room.” Castillo said, and Vessa nodded.

“Yes, sir,” Vessa said, pivoted and opened the door. She walked out, hearing it shut and with it the sound of birds singing. File in hand as she walked towards her room, taking a detour at the last moment.