{-Rhenei-}
Kalleira took in a long, shaky breath. “Nothing… left…”
“But that’s what Kalleira saw,” Rhenei insisted, trying to make sense of it herself. “It has to be. How could there be nothing there?”
“Well, there could be something there,” Calum said carefully. “But not any people. Places like that tend to get abandoned pretty quickly—superstitions about Darkness and all that.”
“So what does that mean?” She couldn’t quite understand it. It was a part of the memory, it was something Kalleira was looking forward to finding… “We can’t go to it?”
“We could, if we had a death wish,” Farrar remarked all too casually. Calum shot him a dark glare and he added, “Or, there’s a chance they didn’t really know what they were talking about.”
“If you and Kalleira are really desperate to go,” Calum began, “then I think it’s worth a shot to try. You two can both stay here the night. Give me some time and I may be able to work something out for you.”
“Does this have something to do with being close to Vaso?” Farrar asked. Rhenei didn’t really get why he was treating it with such suspicion… then again, she hardly knew anything.
“Just slightly,” was Calum’s casual answer. “Nothing you need to worry about, though. Just make sure you get a good night’s rest and I’ll work out everything else.”
…
Suffice to say, she couldn’t sleep. She was too busy thinking about what would happen if they weren’t able to go to that village. Kalleira didn’t say a word about it, but her thoughts must’ve been more of a mess than Rhenei’s; she stared off into space and, after they were both briefly able to get some sleep, she looked even more distressed.
Rhenei wandered out of the guest room as soon as she recognized the sun was up. It must’ve still been later, though—both Calum and Farrar were up, having some hushed conversation.
Calum smiled when he saw her. “Your breakfast is on the table over there. I didn’t know what you liked, so I hope it’s fine.”
She managed a smile of her own, took what she assumed he was talking about, then went back to where the other two were.
“We were talking about that letter Calum wrote,” Farrar mumbled. “We’re trying to figure out the best way to make sure it goes through, since we’re going to keep trying to get to that village today.”
“Did you think of something?” she asked.
“First of all, do you have anywhere you plan on staying after this is all over?” Calum prompted.
She glanced at Kalleira and, seeing her clueless expression, shook her head. “I think we were just going to see what happened after that. Just as long as we didn’t have to go back…”
“So you don’t know anyone outside of your parents that might be willing to take you in? Even if they’re far away from here.”
“I don’t think I have any other relatives…” Or, at least, her parents never mentioned them. But there were plenty of things they kept from her already, so adding one more wouldn’t surprise her.
“How old are you?”
“Fifteen.”
“Then would you mind coming back here when you’re done? Farrar’s got to go back to Hyasari anyway and it’s on his way. I’ll send this letter now but with a note saying that you’re both a bit too busy to ask questions. They’ll get information from some of your other neighbors. You and Farrar will answer some questions when you get back. You’ll probably need to stay here, both until they finalize it and afterwards. But I wouldn’t mind taking you in for three years until you’re old enough to be on your own—that way, you can also figure out where you want to go and get the money to go there.” Calum paused. “As long as you’re alright with the plan, that is.”
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Even Kalleira perked up at the offer. They’d never given their home afterwards much thought; to have his offer was more than enough.
Rhenei excitedly nodded. “We’d both love that!”
“Then make sure you’ve got everything for our trip,” Farrar said. “I want to make some progress before it gets too late.”
“Ask him… what we’re going to do,” Kalleira mumbled hesitantly. “If they were right, I mean…”
Rhenei would’ve been perfectly content with staying in her little bubble of happiness a little while longer. Unfortunately Kalleira had a point. “What if they were right and there are Skiá there..?”
“We looked into that a little bit more, too, while you were sleeping. We don’t think there’d be any Skiá there anymore, so that’s not much of a problem.” Calum maneuvered his way around the room to grab something, giving it to Rhenei on his way back. “What would be a problem is not knowing what to do when you get there. This is supposed to help with that.”
“What does it do?” It just looked like an average trinket; nothing that stood out, even to her, with limited exposure to such items.
He smirked. “That’s something for you to figure out when you get there.”
Farrar rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, he didn’t tell me anything either.” He stood up. “I’m going to head to town real quick and get some other stuff we might need. Once I come back, we’re leaving, so make sure you’re ready.”
He didn’t give her any time for a response before heading out.
“Could you help me with a couple of things here?” Calum asked. “If you’d rather not rest some more—you look like you didn’t sleep a lot last night.”
Rhenei shook her head and followed him to another room.
New clothes were laid out beside fixed versions of what she’d brought with her from home.
“Farrar mentioned that you didn’t bring much from home,” he explained after she gave him a disbelieving glance. “I figured, no matter where you ended up, you were going to need something. I was able to ask some friends yesterday and they gathered some clothes they thought would fit you. One of them fixed up what you already had, too. You can change over there—tell me which ones fit and I’ll set them aside for when you come back.”
She didn’t want to admit that this was more clothes than she’d ever seen in one place. It probably only made up seven different outfits or so, excluding what she had before, yet it felt like so much. Only, to ruin the moment, she remembered something and couldn’t stop herself from asking, “Why did you go through all this trouble for me..?”
A part of her didn’t believe that she was standing beside who felt like the most generous person in the world. Her mind just wouldn’t let it be a simple reason.
“The average citizen of Qizar cares a lot about their neighbors and practically-strangers alike. We’ve all, in one way or another, been helped by someone—and a lot of us are more than happy to share that with a new person.”
“So you don’t want anything else from me..?”
Her parents would occasionally make deals that really only benefit them. Her father would give her mother something nice, having her repay his “kindness” by complying with whatever he wanted. Her mother would try to tell her she could get desert if she cleaned up fast enough—she never did, in her mother’s eyes. Rhenei knew that not everyone in Qizar would be as nice as Calum was, because she’d seen it for herself. She just needed to remember that nice people could exist, instead of listening to her own fears.
“The only thing I ask in return is that you one day show someone else the same kindness,” Calum said. “Nothing’s going to get better if we don’t put in the effort to try.”
She gave a thankful nod and, gently, took a few of the clothes to the spot he’d pointed to earlier. He turned around even if she was well-hidden behind a folding screen and she started trying out the new clothes.
They were both quiet for a little while until Rhenei couldn’t quite take the silence. “Do you want to come with us? I bet Farrar wouldn’t mind.”
“That’s a kind offer, but for… somewhat obvious reasons, I don’t travel a lot. For one, I’d just slow you down and I’m confident Farrar’s got a strict schedule in mind. Secondly, my parents are going to be coming by in a day or so, and trust me, my mom would not take well to find I just left a note saying I’d be gone.”
“Like Farrar’s dad?”
“Kind of, but not really. She wouldn’t be nearly as passive aggressive in trying to get me to come back. She’d probably just end up making herself sick worrying about me.” There was enough of a pause for a shrug. “Are all of those fitting okay?”
“Yeah… they’re perfect.”