Vanya took a deep breath. Her thumb reached for the missing signet ring she usually wore on her right middle finger. It was no longer there. It never was ever since that night she and Joan left the castle grounds for the last time.
Today the sea was rough. The sound of the waves amplified in her head. The salty air was harsh on her skin. The clouds kept the sun away this morning when she needed to have the sun embrace her warmly the most. She was, for the first time in her life, unsure of what was to come.
The nurse, Clara, whose name Vanya finally asked, gave two simple dresses to the girls. She helped them dress, combed their unbathed hair into two plump braids, and made them look almost identical although Joan, compared to Vanya, had much paler skin and a button nose matching her gentleness.
Joan made a joke about how not even in her wildest dreams did she think she would be a sister to the princess of the Kingdom. Clara did not hear her, of course. Besides, if it was not for Vanya and Joan sharing the same dark hair, deep brown eyes, and being relatively similar in height, with Vanya coming out a tad bit taller, it would have been harder to convince anyone they were sisters. Vanya smiled listening to Joan’s silly joke knowing Joan was only trying to ease her nerves.
Ever since Joan mentioned how there were more questions to come, Vanya wondered if it was going to start off with Rhohaz and his annoyed face sitting them down and hammering away at what their purpose was in accidentally floating their way to Shalom. But it was not until this morning when Clara brought the news that the elders of the council have personally requested to meet the girls and discuss further decisions, did Vanya feel the gravity of potentially being thrown out of the village and left to fend for themselves with no food, shelter, or protection. She looked to Joan, who was sitting there with her freshly bandaged leg. Joan had no inkling of how to fight to defend herself out there. At least Vanya has had the privilege of being trained from an early age to swing a sword properly. She could not be rash, for both their sakes.
Clara got to them with a small breakfast and two stems of pretty flowers shaped like snowdrops. While Joan ate, Clara wrapped one of the stems through Vanya’s hair.
“How are you feeling today, dear?” Clara asked knowing how Vanya carried a high fever the night before.
“Feeling much better,” Vanya replied without giving it much thought for frankly, she did not care how her body was feeling right now.
“Now remember, do not walk in there as scared as a leaf in a storm. Keep your head up and be confident. There is no reason for them to say no if you ask them humbly but confidently,” Clara spoke while fixing Vanya’s hair hoping her words carried a bit of encouragement.
But Vanya was far too deep in her thoughts to even hear it. She wished it would be over already. She wished things would go their way but if it was not the case, she would rather them just deny the girls and they be off on their way already. The wait was unbearable.
A stern knock startled Vanya. It made Clara alert and walk over immediately. It was time. Someone was already at the door to get them and walk them over to the council building.
Clara had told the girls that Roza would be the one to walk the girls over. She had also told that Roza had been up all night trying to convince some of the elders of the council that the girls needed a safe place for at least a couple of days.
“Where’s Roza?” Clara asked making the girls look up to see Rhohaz standing by the door.
Vanya looked at him not expecting to catch his gaze. It took her back for his large grey eyes shone gold before they found hers. Vanya blinked wondering if she saw wrong. He broke his gaze off in an instance looking to Clara.
“She’s not here,” he answered.
“Clearly,” Clara retorted making way for him to come inside.
“Are you two ready?” He asked walking to the girls. Both of the girls stood in a straight line, Joan barely holding on to the edge of the bed. He looked at them for a moment before commenting, “You’ve done it, Clara. You’ve made them look like twins, an ugly pair at that.”
Vanya rolled her eyes while Clara slapped Rhohaz’s arm in response. Vanya found his comment unnecessary but had a feeling Rhohaz was somehow trying to ease the tension in the air, unlike how she thought he would be this morning.
She caught his gaze once more. This time he held it for two breaths and spoke, “I hear you’d be the one explaining your position to the council today. Are you prepared?”
Vanya straightened her back and answered, “Yes. Yes, of course. Any advice?”
Vanya watched his eyes light up, only slightly, before he adjusted his stance and took a moment before saying, “Don’t talk back to them like you did me.”
A smirk traveled across Vanya’s face. She wondered for a second how he would have felt if he knew who he was talking to. If he would be so confident with his words.
But that was the last of any thought that was not draining Vanya of the little energy she had left.
From the time they departed from the infirmary leaving Clara behind, she wondered if she would mess up her words. She wondered if she could have done more to present herself well, if she should even be the one speaking. She wondered why she was feeling such fear. This fear was something she had never felt before. Sure, she had times when advisors at her father’s court questioned why he chose her to be his heir and her competence as a woman but she was always supported by her father and others around her, sheltered from the cruel words, given words of encouragement. She had never felt the uneasy feeling of not knowing what was to come. The feeling that everything around her was pushing against her and she was barely carving her way out. She felt it in her bones now. She was about to beg for her own safety.
The walk to the council building was a blur. All Vanya knew was that she was blindly following Rhohaz’s broad back wherever it went. Soon they reached the building, a small hall with a thatched roof, four walls, and giant wooden doors. The doors remained shut. There were voices inside, quite loud, and at times intense.
They waited patiently outside. Vanya looked to Rhohaz, who was biting into his nails as time went on. She then looked to Joan, who had limped her way from the infirmary refusing any help from Vanya, tired and resting against the door. They waited till someone let them in, but there seemed to be no end to the waiting. Rhohaz finally decided to knock on the door and announce that they had arrived.
The giant doors opened. A heavy silence took over the crowd inside. With Joan’s hand in hers, Vanya let Rhohaz guide them in.
They walked till they were halfway inside the hall and the doors closed behind them. Vanya let her eyes adjust to the sudden change in light before looking ahead to see four older men and two women, sitting in a half circle, looking narrowed-eyed at the two girls.
The lady at the center with large grey eyes, similar to Rhohaz, and long luscious grey hair cleared her throat while looking down at Vanya, “Welcome, Jade and Joan, to Shalom, our humble village by the seaside.” Her lips curved into a confident smile making the large scar travelling across her slim face more apparent.
Vanya was confused for a moment. She did not expect any of the council members to welcome them. But quickly bowed along with Joan in thanks.
“I hope your stay for the past day and a half was pleasant, although I heard from my people…,” the lady shot a cruel glance at Rhohaz, who lowered his head in turn, and continued, “...that you two were found in a wooden chest washed ashore, am I right?”
Vanya nodded in agreement. Her throat dry and parched, no sound coming through.
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“Well, we sure are glad that chest did not decide to sink with you two in it…” she laughed eerily raising the hairs on the back of Vanya’s neck, “...I hope you two are well rested and were very well taken care for by our infirmary staff.”
Vanya cleared her throat forcefully watching the rest of the elders eye them like hawks, “Yes, of course. Clara took care of us very well.”
She watched the woman give out a reluctant smile. “Well then, I see that we have done everything we could. You two seem fit and fine to be walking off to your destination. We will not send you empty-handed, of course. Rhohaz,” she looked to the leader who was as quiet as an owl, “See to it that these ladies are well supplied with everything necessary for their long journey ahead…” Rhohaz barely lifted his head, “...That is all for today.”
The woman rushed standing from her chair. The rest of the elders followed.
Wait, that’s it? That’s all the questioning?
Vanya panicked and leaped in front in an attempt to stop them from dispersing.
“Wait!” she shouted grabbing their attention, “I have a request.”
The woman looked to her frustrated raising her brows before asking, “What is it?”
“I would like to request permission for me and my sister to stay a bit longer–”
She was interrupted by a rude thundering laugh from the woman. The elders too followed with a snicker. Vanya felt a rush of embarrassment take over her body. She felt small, insignificant. She looked to Rhohaz, who continued to hold his head low as if he had experienced this before and he knew that familiar feeling of shame more than anyone else.
Something in Vanya snapped. “That was quite rude, don't you think?”
The laugh halted mid-air, freezing the room. Vanya saw Rhohaz look to her from the corner of his eye. She had made a mistake.
“Rude?...” the woman erupted, “...Don’t you think it's rude for you to tell me how to run my village? Who to shelter under our delicate roof? Who to trust?--”
“You can trust us…” Vanya declared immediately not wanting to let the woman’s attention go, “...We bring no harm to Shalom. We are two girls who found themselves in a precarious situation asking you to help us!”
“But we don’t want to help you, dear. Do you not understand that? We don’t even truly know who you are. For all we know, you could be lying about your very name to us–”
“Please, I beg of you!” Vanya let go of Joan’s hand she was grasping onto and fell to her knees. She was desperate.
“No amount of crying and begging can change my mind, child. Rhohaz, you should have dealt with them when you had the chance. You are wasting our time bringing such issues to the council. Get them out of my sight immediately. See to it that they are out of Shalom by the end of the hour. Do your job properly, boy!”
Rhohaz nodded with his head still low. He looked to Joan who was flabbergasted seeing Vanya still on her knees. Rhohaz got closer to Vanya and spoke, “You must stand. It's over.”
“No…No, it's not,” Vanya said wiping her tears, “Please! Please I beg of you. We do not know of the dangers that lie ahead of us. We are alone, lost, and helpless. I promise you, that your kind act today will reap you many rewards in days to come. Please!”
She watched as the woman made her way through with the rest of the elders. They passed Vanya who was on the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks, and without even a glance proceeded towards the doors.
But before they could get any further, the doors blasted open. The loud sea breeze engulfed the room letting the bright light outside blind everyone for a moment. Once everyone’s vision adjusted they saw a figure standing at the entrance.
A tiny woman with a crooked cane and a warrior-like stance stood at the doors, radiating light. She stepped into the shadows and her eyes glistened in gold before turning pale gray. Vanya instantly felt it. A tug of warmth hugged her while she watched the petite woman with a full head of gray hair scan the room.
“What are you doing here?--” the rude woman started but got instantly shut down.
“You despicable woman! How dare you have a helpless child beg on her knees like that?” she bellowed making Vanya’s bones shudder.
“But mother–”
“You don’t have the right to call me mother anymore…Move aside now!” She spoke in the same manner, pushing the rest of the elders of the council aside to finally waddle her way down to Vanya, who was still on her knees.
It was then that Vanya saw Roza right beside the elderly woman. Roza looked just like her but much younger with brown hair.
The elderly woman got to Vanya and poked her lightly with her cane, “Stand up, child. I hear you were both very sick all day yesterday. You should not be crying on your knees like this.”
Vanya stood up with the help of Joan. The elderly woman stepped to Vanya, held her chin in between her fingers, and smiled gently. That same warmth hugged Vanya once more. She felt a strange sense of relief. The woman then caressed Joan’s hands greeting her and turned to her own daughter whose face was beet red.
“You selfish pricks! To think you vowed to be fair and just when you first created the council and this is what you do to two poor girls…”
“Mother! How many times have I told you, you do not get to interfere as you please–”
“...and to hear what you are up to from my granddaughter at that, who was begging me to interfere! Carmin, how could you?...”
The two women went on to argue for a few more rounds while Rhohaz reached Roza and whispered, “You told her?”
Vanya’s ears perked and picked up on the siblings' conversation.
“Yes, yes, I did! Because guess what I found out when I went to the infirmary this morning from a very confused Clara? That you had come before me and taken the girls to the council by yourself. You knew I wanted to escort them and make their case. How dare you?!”
Roza stared into Rhohaz’s eyes. Her eyes dimmed in sadness seeing her brother silent. Vanya pondered for a second and then it hit her. They were tricked by Rhohaz.
No wonder! He was so calm and well-mannered this morning at the infirmary. He did not want to get caught trying to sabotage perhaps our only chance at staying here...
Vanya gulped realizing how he was so silent when the council members laughed at her and how he did not say a word. It was what he wanted all along, to get rid of them. She looked at Roza who spoke to Rhohaz again.
“You told me last night that I was free to speak on behalf of them. What happened to that? You said you supported me–”
“But my duty as a leader comes first. And father would agree. They have no place here in Shalom.”
Vanya watched the siblings go silent amidst their grandmother and aunt still shouting at each other from a distance.
“I did not know you so desperately wanted to be just like father. A leader just like father. Oh how proud he would be of you! I do not want to talk to you ever again.”
Roza snapped at Rhohaz and immediately walked to her grandmother’s side not sparing one moment. Vanya watched Rhohaz frozen in time. Her belly filled with anger. She did not like being tricked. Seeing how different he acted this morning, she remembered thinking he perhaps felt different about their situation and was leaning towards helping them. But she was wrong. She was so wrong that he was in fact cementing the notion that they would most definitely leave Shalom within the hour. She hated being so wrong.
The chaos died down and the council members began to speak in normal tones again.
“Fine, we will allow it for the time being,” the aunt, Carmin, spoke in exhaustion looking to her mother, who was still on her feet ready to keep going.
“And they will stay with me, so I can watch over them till they fully recover,” the grandmother demanded.
“It should not be for long, however, we do not have resources to support two additional residents in Shalom, therefore, I suggest they only stay for another five days–” Carmin pulled out some paperwork that seemed to back her argument however immediately got cut off by the grandmother who looked to Vanya and Joan and said, “That won’t be a problem. They will work for their share of resources and I am happy to house them for free.”
The grandmother raised her brows at Vanya, who immediately agreed, “Yes, yes, of course. We will do everything we can to help and earn our food and shelter. Thank you, thank you very much.”
The grandmother smiled brightly and turned to her daughter, who sighed annoyedly.
“And they will stay as long as I say so…,” the grandmother watched her daughter’s disappointed face in satisfaction, “...That will be all. Come with me, girls!”
She twirled around directing the girls out of the council hall. Vanya and Joan followed her with Roza right beside them. The council members watched them in disappointment.
Vanya took one last glance at Rhohaz with anger that had fully formed in her belly, traveled up her heart, and out through her eyes. If it was not for Roza getting her grandmother involved, tonight would have been her and Joan hiking through the woods, hiding from wolves, or perhaps caught by the shadows that were chasing her that night at the castle. The very shadows that choked her. She still felt the grip around her neck faintly.
She tore her gaze from the leader of Shalom, who seemed so bogged down with his duties, swearing to herself for as long as she stayed in this village she would make his life as miserable as she possibly could.