Speak
Mae burst through the door, I imagined her cherry face full of excitement. “They’ve found it! It’s here! I went to the market at the village and I saw it with my very own eyes!”
I spun around to the sound of her voice. “You did!? What does it look like?”
“Oh, it’s beautiful. You should have seen it. It is purple. A soft, violet purple.” Mae’s eyes searched the room as she changed the subject. “Where is everyone?”
I took to my sweeping. “Saraiah is sleeping in her chamber and everyone else is at the dock buying fish.”
“Then you should come with me!” Mae attempted to drag me out, but her frail, undernourished body prevented her from doing so effectively.
“Mae,” I sighed. “I’ve got loads of work to do. Mother wouldn’t be happy if-”
“You can come while they’re still at the market and Saraiah is sleeping. We won’t stay long. You’ll be back in time to finish cleaning before they return.” Mae pleaded.
“All right,” I gave in as usual. “But promise we won’t stay long.”
Mae led me down the long winding path towards the village. I smelled rotting apples and dry, crusted, flaky leaves crunched under our feet. I felt the coolness of the shade from the thin elm and oak trees on my skin. The autumn sun was warm and delicate.
Soon we reached the village. I pictured shops lining the wide streets caked with mud and filth. A dense stench of salt and fish hung in the air. Crowds of people were gathered around something, Mae explained. She said she couldn’t see over or around heads. I tried shoving my way through aimlessly, but did not succeed.
Finally, (with the help of Mae darting in between large bodies and dragging me behind) we were able to come to the front row of the gathering. Mae described to me open barrels that sat before us containing small, feathery lavender plants. Men with matching teal coats hoisted and loaded these barrels into a ship bearing the royal crest. Crimson colored flags had been mounted at various places upon the deck, thirty feet above us.
Gasps and whispers floated. “Mae,” I spoke curiously. “Where are they taking it?”
“A gentleman earlier told us that they were ordered to bring it to the King’s palace. It is rumored that His Majesty will distribute it fairly to each village at the beginning of November.” Mae guided me back out of the growing mass of people. “I wonder what they’ll use it for.”
✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵
Mae and I were home just in time to finish the housekeeping that evening. The new purple plant was the highlight topic at supper. “I heard the King is going to use it to Silence the Insane, permanently this time.” Father informed us as he aided Mother in dishing out cabbage and Salmon soup to us. I smelled thick, warm steam rising from my bowl. “But that seems a weak thing to use such a powerful Magic for.”
The entire village had hoped for decades that once the scientists and magicians working for the King had discovered such a magic as the purple plant, the King would use it to aid the impoverished kingdom. But no, the King had decided to use it to Silence the Insane! The need of the kingdom appeared greater than the threat of the Insane.
Late that night, laying blindly in bed, the ruckus of Mother and Father disputing about their opinions of the King and what he should use the Magic for slipped through my doorway. I felt the cool, clear moonlight streaming onto my olive skin through my open window. I imagined bright, twinkling stars speckling the night sky as Mae had described a robin’s egg.
“Aid to the poverty-stricken farmers,” Father argued with intense. “That’s what the King should use it for! Those farmers are the entire kingdom’s supply of food. If the peasants are broke, so is everyone else.”
“No!” My mother disagreed and I heard the clamor of a pot shattering on the floor. “Taxes are much too high! He should use the Magic to somehow create money and lower taxes!”
“That will lead to inflation!” came Father’s reply.
I tuned them out of my thoughts, and stood up. Blood rushed to my head, causing me to sway slightly. I felt my way to the window. A draft assisted me in finding it with ease. Bracing my arms against the edges of the small dugout window, I hauled myself up and out.
Immediately after escaping from my chamber, I fled to our garden on the roof. Our garden was composed of a simple pond complete with fish and even a few frogs. There were dozens of silky, cherry red roses and a stone bench. Mother worked for long periods of time daily on the task. In affect, it shaped a lovely, comfortable setting.
Placing myself down on the raw, stone seat, I explored my thoughts. What made the “Insane” so insane? Why was the King so concerned about getting rid of crazy people when the kingdom was so helpless?
Abruptly, color and depth flooded my world along with a frightening, pale hunched woman. She was walking below me on the cobblestone street, to my left. I peered down at her, observing her appearance. She was clothed in a black robe with stringy grey hair extending far below her wide, stubby waist. I thought she looked rather like a wet dish rag.
The hag took hesitant, awkward steps headed for a near evergreen tree. Once arriving at the tree, she reached her claw-like, deformed hand into her pocket and drew out a handful of something orchid and delicate.
“She’s one of the Insane!” I shrieked silently. “She must have used the Magic break out of the asylum!”
The diseased hag muttered a few strange words that sounded like a curse in another language. A blue flash instantly pricked the darkness, and the Insane woman was gone along with the path that she had tread. Not a trace of her or the dusty road below me was left. A great black hole replaced the lovely trees and road that had previously been before me.
I gasped. So this was why the King was so zealous about “Silencing the Insane”. They were evil magicians who’s cause were still unknown to me, but clearly the kingdoms meager circumstances must have been an effect of the Insane.
Misuse of Magic was always severely punished. The most thought, effort, and trials in court went into punishing people who disobeyed Magic law. Magic had the potential to help, or destroy. When one decided to cast a spell, it had to be planned years in advance to ensure that it would not create a Magic Gap. A Magic Gap was when the use of Magic went against what destiny held. The world was like a ball of yarn: A few threads were cut each time a Magic Gap was created, just like going back in time and changing history. It messed up what was meant to be.
Seconds after the flash, my eyes were dull again. The brilliant colors (even in the dank light) had vanished.
Heavy pants escaped me as I scrambled down from the roof and into my chamber. I bumped into things, franticly searching for the door that led back into our Kiva room where my parents had been altercating.
Fortunately, both were still awake and less dramatically conversing. It smelled like they were sipping something sweet and warm. “I saw one of the Insane!” I choked. “I SAW an Insane! She stole the stuff and disappeared!”
“Haelaa. Bad dreams have to happen all of us once and a while. Be calm, and so will your dreams. Now, shhhh. You’ll wake Saraiah and the others.” My mother soothed.
“No!” I cried desperately. “I really did see her! You don’t understand! I sneaked up to the garden on the roof and saw her poof away! There was a giant flash and everything!”
“Haelaa!” My Father’s deep, molasses like voice halted me. “Go to bed. You remember you are blind, right? You haven’t seen anything for fourteen years! You must have been dreaming.”
I shrank back a little and turned halfway around. “Why don’t you believe me?”
“Haelaa! Go to bed this instant! Be gone!” My Father again shooed me. I tiptoed back to my chamber, deciding to try again in the morning when my parents were in a better mood.
✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵
Weeks went by in the same manner. I told everyone I knew about what I had witnessed. No one believed me, not even Mae! No matter who I told, or how, they just scoffed and went on their way. Nevertheless, I kept trying. I had to warn them about the Insane getting ahold of the Magic! Word eventually got around about my story. Gossip and rumors spread like measles. There even arose suggestions that I was an Insane myself!
“See that girl,” they pointed. “She’s crazed. She claims to have seen a witch casting spells over our town! The strangest part is that she’s blind. Supposedly, an Insane stole some of the Magic, but she couldn’t have even seen anything! She’s been blind ever since she was a toddler.”
Even small children would pause to stare at me. “That girl’s an Insane,” they would say.
There was no point in trying to persuade any longer. Quite soon, my story had webbed its way around the entire town and still no one believed me!
On the third day of November, the King sent a proclamation to each village. One of his subjects stood upon a roof and read the announcement while our whole town gathered below to listen with much intent.
The man read:
“My dear people,
I am aware that there has been much confusion concerning this new type of Magic that has been discovered by my scientists and magicians. I will start from the beginning and explain everything now:
For centuries, scientists have searched for an indestructible, powerful Magic that can grant almost any wish ever thought of. People have yearned for the day when it would be discovered. Just this autumn, my scientists found it. It is a cotton-like plant similar to lilac. Because of its intense Magical abilities, there are not many restrictions on what it is able to be used for. It can and will be used for good as well as evil purposes.
We must keep this valuable Magic from falling into the hands of the Insane (extremely dangerous magicians who crave power and create Magic Gaps when they do gain it), we must “Silence” the Insane permanently. When the “Silencing” ritual is performed, a special doctor will use this new Magic to calmly cast a spell upon an Insane person. This will not completely kill the person (since I hold the people of my kingdom very dear to my heart and killing is extremely brutal), it will only cut off the nerves connecting muscles to the brain. The “Silenced” person will then not be able to think, talk, move, breathe, or use any other senses. However, the heart will continue to beat. You ask, how can the heart beat if there is no oxygen? My scientists and have discovered a way to do this using the special Magic. The useless body will then be stored in a special dungeon used only for Silenced persons.
I will silence the Insane first, then distribute the rest of this precious Magic to each village and assist you according to your needs.
Sincerely,
Your loyal and gracious King Edward
A sudden bust of courage, energy, and frustration gushed into me. I clambered to a rock. “The Insane have already gotten hold of the Magic!” I yelped. Tears sprouted from my darkened eyes and stung as they ran down my face. Something burned inside of me and needed to be let out. “I am a witness! An Insane woman stole some of it and used it to do something - a curse - I don’t know - but it’s probably bad, and it’s most likely about to affect us - she made a road disappear! Now there is just a black hole where the road used to be! I think its a Magic Gap that she created! No one believes me, but really, I swear to you I speak the truth!”
Chuckles and whispers snaked their way through the crowd. I even made out a few townspeople imitating me in childish voices.
“Please!” I pleaded with all the energy inside of me. “If we don’t do something, the Insane will! We need to capture this woman that already has it and ban the Magic or it will spread faster than ants on a pile of sugar!”
Again, mutters of “don’t listen to her, she’s blind and is probably delayed mentally” found their way to my ears. I tried to ignore them, but some comments were from my own friends and family!
Too embarrassed to show my face any longer, I sprang off the rock and darted through growing laughter. The burning in my heart had vanished, and was now replaced with a dark, weeping hole.
Bitterness took over me. I whipped around bodies, shoving aside anything that blocked my path. In contrast to my splotchy crimson face, a graceful rain drizzled. I imagined dramatic storm clouds gathering around the bright full moon.
The drizzle gradually evolved into a downpour. Raindrops the size of large pebbles pelted me the last few minutes of my dash home.
Once safely inside, I warmed myself by the fire. My heart thumped like drums in my chest as I reflected on what so suddenly had happened.
My sopping wet clothes dripped rhythmically, the fire blazed calmly. Shouts and wild footsteps abruptly shattered the peace I was savoring. Picturing a mob with glowing torches, I dampened the fire with a pail of water and thrust myself upstairs to hide.
Feeling my way up the steep stairs, my whole body throbbed. Anguish and fear stuck to my insides like sap. My heart had been crushed. People who I had trusted and loved betrayed me! Where was I to go now? What was I to do with the rest of my life I had just ruined?
Tears of frustration and hatred gushed out of my eyes as I heard a boom throw down the front door. Hands shaking, I whimpered and concealed myself inside a dugout cupboard upstairs. Darkness engulfed me. I sank back, waiting for certain death. My clothes were sticky from tears now. I probably looked hideous from crying so much.
Dozens of heavy footsteps approached my hiding place. I pressed my body into the muddy wall behind me. “Please don’t look here, please don’t look here!” I sobbed. The hoard of people less than five feet away from me growled and the noise of glass cracking came from downstairs. What was I? Some sort of beast being hunted? Questions circled in my mind like bobbing apples. I had been trying to warn my community, and they repay me with this?
Then came the end. A violent punch caved in the door of my cupboard. The aura of ferocious men crouched around my meek hiding place was torture. I felt their eyes glaring at me, an energy something like hunger melting through. I smelled the torches, the stench of their breath. The sound of their hard boots clacking on the icy stone floor sounded like skeleton bones. Unexpectedly, I smelled a sweet calming scent. It reminded me of spring flowers. I swallowed the peaceful aroma before I had time to comprehend what the smell was. I had injected the Magic.
Crying softly and helplessly, I savored the last moments of my life. My already dull, blind world darkened to an incomprehensible blackness. Sound faded, leaving me cut off from the life and sunlight of the world.
My last breath was that of lilac.
