The Portal

III 3.6 Let it wind

Hannah woke to the sound of breaking glass. It was the middle of the night and, confused, she stumbled out of bed. Opening the curtains, she found chaos on the balcony. She had retired early and ordered dinner in her room. She had eaten at the porch table, had hot tea while answering her mail, and gone to bed. Now all the dishes were on the floor. She opened the glass doors. The wind swept the room, rattling the curtains violently. Barefoot, Hannah walked carefully out, dodging the shards of broken crockery, and could see the violent waves at sea.

The gale ruffled her hair and plastered her nightgown to her body. She felt a hot tear trickle down. She wasn't used to crying, but this was a special occasion. Packed with emotion, she didn't notice that someone had entered her room. She saw the servants run to the stables. The horses would probably be scared. In the forest, the long trees swayed and one of them was certainly lying on the ground. She realized she wasn't alone on the balconies. Everyone had left. She counted three men in front of their respective rooms: they were Rariff, Blake and Roparzh. On the other side, Chris and Bia watched the destruction. From inside the room, where she couldn't be seen by the others, a voice called to her and she entered. It was Serena and she looked furious.

- Why did you do that? - she scolded.

- I had to - Hannah replied, shrugging off the responsibility.

- What do you mean?

- They wanted me to read an inscription in the history lesson.

- Hannah, don't play with me, I know what happened. Daria told us while we were playing cards.

- Well? What's the question, then?

- Why didn't you make it up? Why didn't you read it wrong? Do you know what this could cost us? - Serena looked genuinely concerned. The wind blew in through the doors and ruffled her long golden braids.

Toughly, Hannah closed the doors. She lit a candle and closed the curtains. No one could see she had company.

- It's just wind, it will soon pass.

- Explain yourself.

- I...- Hannah sighed. - I've never read an inscription out loud. I didn't know if they would hear me - she said softly, her sad expression lit by the fire.

- Did you decide to take a test?

- Yes, it was a test. Excuse me.

The two remained silent until Hannah continued, her gaze lost in the fire that burned the candle: - All my family died, and they never came, I thought maybe... I thought maybe, really, the gods weren't our friends anymore.

Serena took her hand and said in a whisper: - You know damn well why the gods can't help you.

- Since I left Palatials, I've never seen an inscription from the gods again - Hannah said. Her voice was almost a whisper. Serena waited. - I asked Raoul... I asked him countless times to show me more about my house, but he always denied it.

- You know why he denied it.

- I know... - Hannah agreed, shaking her head. - Since last week, when I saw the inscription on Mr. Theirn's engraving, I had this doubt. I wasn't old enough to learn, but as soon as I saw the inscription, I knew exactly how to pronounce it. I tested the sentence in silence. Its meaning came like a flash, for no apparent reason, I just knew what it said. And I wondered if I was imagining things, or if I really knew. I thought I should test it. What harm could there be in taking a test?

- Mani, why didn't you try it last week? Why give in to such an explicit challenge?

- I couldn't - Hannah confessed, her shoulders slumped. - As soon as I left the room, the pronunciation escaped me. I couldn't remember what to say, how to say it. I kept the meaning, but the appropriate sound completely eluded me...