33. Spring Bloom Festival

“C-C-Can I…. C-C-Can I have t-t-two…” I struggled to get the words out while the woman at the stall patiently waited with a crisped smile for me to finish my order. 

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

I took a pause and a deep breath 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 that the church had given us as a reward for helping.

I turned around and spotted Silika, who was idling about, looking at other stalls.

Lucian, who had been waiting behind me, sighed loudly.

“You could have just let me order for us both, if you were going to take so long.” He grumbled.

I was about to retort, but Silika came in and punched him in the arm happily.

“S-Silika! Where did you come from?!” Lucian babbled, flustered, to which Silika pulled her tongue at him.

I chuckled at their interaction. 

Since the night of Baptism, their relationship had slowly shifted from horrible to relatively friendly. 

And now, unbeknownst to him, it seems Lucian might be developing teensy-tiny feelings for Silika.

This one turned to me.

-Was he teasing you?- She asked me.

Lucian looked at Silika meekly.

“I wasn’t doing anything bad! I just wanted to help!” He turned toward me for help “I just wanted to help, I swear! I’m sorry! Please!” He pleaded.

I considered making him squirm, but decided otherwise.

-Not at all, he was just saying 'Hi'.- I told her, to which she nodded.

She turned to Lucian and patted his shoulder empathetically.

-It’s okay, Purple boy. One day, they’ll find a blessing to fix that ugly face of yours.-

With a glimmer in his eyes, he turned to me expectantly for a translation.

“Sh-She s-s-said sh-she’s hap-p-p-p-py we’re ge-get-getting along.”

A big smile spread across his face before he fixed his expression, not wanting to be too obvious about his repressed feelings and walked away toward the strawberry puff stall, his ears turning visibly red.

Ohh Lucian. I hope you never learn what Silika actually thinks of you.

I turned back to Silika.

-You talk too much, Jade! I almost starved to death out here!- She signed at me while chuckling.

She extended her hand expectantly.

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

It’s funny, really. In Silika's mind, I was this bubbly word machine. Always talking forever with people, like a chatty granny… What she didn't notice was the annoyed expression on other people's faces while I did. Their impatience and the speed with which they finished conversations so it didn't have to drag on any longer… It didn't escape me.

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 speak to others… And I would rather she never did.

I looked at her as she continued voraciously eating her snack. She looked very small in her oversized dress, the large yellow satchel slung across her body and her plush ‘Alkie’ tucked under her arm.

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 wolfed 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, but forcing Silika to sit and wait would probably put her in a foul mood.

She was also looking around, but being a full head shorter than I, she couldn’t see very far.

Once I finished my own snack, 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…Would she enjoy that type of thing?

-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 some time to wrap my head around that one…

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

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

It was only a few weeks days 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 the holy script, a more advanced version of the alphabet. At first, I just thought she liked their looks 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… 

And then, it only took a few minutes for her to go into full panic, gasping for air on the floor…

That day, I learned two things: Silika used to be a noble… And I should never EVER ask or 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 repeat it to anyone, for her safety. 

I had asked if it was because she was being hunted, but he denied it, saying that those people wouldn't even know that she was alive. He just wanted to avoid making her become an outcast amongst the other kids.

Although that had happened regardless because of her condition…

I cleared my thoughts and instead focused on explaining the festival game to her.

-It's just a game where you throw a…- Just as I was signing an explanation, I noticed someone from the corner of my eye staring at us.

I spun to face them and recognised the man immediately.

"Y-You ag-g-ain!" I screamed out.

In front of me was a man. More specifically, a city guard. It wasn't our first encounter. The first time was at the market just a couple of months ago. He had cornered Silika and tried to take her away. Luckily, I had 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 noticed him skulk around a few times, watching us from a distance, but this was the first time he had boldly approached us again like this.

"I t-told you t-to leave us a-alone!" I said as I pulled Silika closer to me and started backing away. 

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

But then, I felt something hard press against my back.

"Haaahaaaaaa!!!" I heard a strange scream coming from Silika as she was ripped away from my arms.

I turned around in time to see that another guard had already taken a hold of her. He yanked her toward him and slung her over his shoulder in one swift motion.

"W-What d-d-do y-y-you’re d-d….!"

"W-W-we're d-d-doing? Dumb as a rock, ain’t you, girl? You'll find out soon enough." The man in front mocked me.

The man tried to grab me by the shoulder, but I pulled myself away, ripping my dress and. Pain throbbed in my arm. His grip had been strong, and I could feel some blood leaking down my arm. His metallic glove had gotten caught on my skin.

"Stop being difficult! Just come with us and we'll sort it all out nice and quickly!"  The man said in a threatening tone.

Just as I tried to put some distance between us, I heard a strident voice through the crowd.

“Over there! It’s those guys!”

It was Lucian, with a few Kinsmanns following him.

“Damn!” The man swore under his breath as he looked at the crowd forming and the Kinsmanns closing in.

I considered running toward Lucian, but another guard was blocking my way. 

I looked back and saw Silika struggling helplessly on the man's shoulder. Crying inconsolably while punching his back as she was dragged away to a back alley. 

With no time to think, I decided to run away.

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

I was about to make myself scarce again when Something hit me on the side of the head and sent me tumbling.

"Careful! They're kids! Not thugs!!" I heard another man scream some distance away.

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 started running. I heard commotion as they chased after me. Luckily, I was small enough to run through the crowd, and the people visiting the festival were none too keen to do the guards' work.

I kept my head down until their scream grew dim. 

I turned the street corner down Plum Street and kept running until I reached the orphanage. 

Some kids were blocking the entrance, but I just shoved them aside, not slowing down for a second, as I sprinted down the hall toward Uncle's office.

Please be there… Please be there…

I burst through the door.

"U-Unc-c-cle!" I tried to scream as I entered the room.

I noticed the nobleman from earlier was 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, Collie? 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 eyes tearing up and a ball growing in my throat.

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

"It's okay, Collie. Silika. Yes. Silika. What happened to her?" He tried to reassure me.

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!" I immediately exploded into tears as I spoke those words, and Uncle hugged me tightly.

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

Uncle frowned.

“The guards? Why would the guards go after her…?” He asked, confused.

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. They wouldn't know she's here. I made sure to tell Silika never to tell anyone about it either.” 

My knees gave out as I began crying my lungs out. He hugged me tightly as I did. 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 when you said you 'told Silika' something? 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 Uncle for more explanation.

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

Uncle 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.

Uncle stood up and fetched the book from his desk and placed it forcefully into the noble’s hands. He probably thought the man 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 got it from an exotic goods merchant.” Uncle said while shrugging. 

Uncle 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 do you think you're going with that?” Uncle grabbed the nobleman by the wrist.

I gasped reflexively and covered my mouth. 

This was a capital offence! Raising your hand against a noble would at best see his offending hand severed or 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 at 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 offence caused by Uncle.

He relaxed his posture 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 pointed at the book cover.

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

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

“The Tongue of 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 is a tightly controlled language devised by Solomonkin scouts in the second era. It allows them to communicate with people when their heads are elsewhere... Since then, its use has spread as a means to discreetly communicate information.” The nobleman explained, sighing again.

He looked worn out and tired, but there was gravity behind his golden eyes.

“In other words, it’s a language used by spies.”