Journey to the Forgotten Island

The Wall in the Desert - I

As they approached the wall and were clear of the territories where the warlord's men most often prowled, Lila loosened the knot around Silvia's wrists and allowed her to ride freely. They had spoken little and of nothing important in the days of riding west but as the sand of the growing dessert seeped through the grass, as the trees grew scarcer and the heat began to scorch, Lila began to speak.

'I will not charge your man for the task of bringing you here,' Lila said.

Silvia, irate from several sleepless nights and embarrassed by the failure of her attempt to escape or bring Toma back, said nothing.

'He was probably right to do what he did,' Lila said. 'I told you of your madness. Of all the men I've dealt with as a smuggler, your man is the most reliable. He is a good man, your man.'

'He's not my man!' Silvia cried.

The horse whinnied in surprise and Lila tutted.

'He said he would protect us and now he's shipping off to an unknown island for who knows how long,' Silvia shook her head. 'Does he think he is the only soldier who uses smugglers to send extra money to their families? I've seen you coming to the wall for years, Lila. Don't forget, I know that you hand out money to the other families too. We would not survive without the extra coin. He is not protecting us – he is simply keeping us a few days from death at a time.'

'All the same,' Lila said. 'If I were of a mind to keep the paper gold, or not to risk exchanging it, I would not be leaving you with enough iron to eat for a year. But it's Toma's money and he uses it only for you. For every soldier who gives me money to smuggle to the west, I can tell you, there are a hundred who spend it only on rice wine and brothels. Look, the wall approaches.'

Silvia looked up and saw the old wall coming into sight. She had fooled herself into thinking she may never see it again. And though it pained her to think that she was back in the desert – she felt a familiar sense of home.

As soon as she saw other familiar sights, however, she felt a pit in her stomach. Children with swollen bellies played around a dead wild cat, throwing stones at its bloody fur. Young boys up on the dunes carried stones, preparing for the next arrival of the imperial soldiers. Two women argued over the fate of a recently orphaned child.

When Silvia dismounted from the horse, she looked up at Lila who gave her the same hard stare she gave to everyone.

'Will you really tell me if Toma dies on his expedition?' Silvia asked.

Lila nodded.

'Make sure you stay alive too,' Lila said. 'Or it's all for nought.'

With that Lila turned and left to deliver packages and money to other families.

As Silvia approached the home of Vita, Toma's mother, where Silvia lived and slept, she heard a loud sob and ran to the crevice. Casi was alone, lying on the bedding rags, crying loudly and hitting the ground with her fists.

Silvia, fearing that Casi had been attacked, ran to her side and put a hand on Casi's head, gently stroking her dark curly hair. Casi screamed in fright and then, seeing it was Silvia, continued to cry.

'You are not surprised to see me?' Silvia asked.

'Why should I be?' Casi sniffed. 'If you are here it means that Toma has abandoned us as all men do. That is not a surprise to me.'

Silvia tried to look into Casi's eyes to gauge her meaning but Casi turned back down to the ground and cried into her own arms.

'Casi, what happened?'

'If you need to ask then you are not as wise as you are known to be,' Casi said, her voice muffled by her arms.

Silvia sighed. 'Your companion has left you.'

Casi said nothing and Silvia shook her head. Half a moon ago, when Casi's companion had offered to marry Casi and take her away, they had devised their plan for Silvia to bring Toma back. It had briefly seemed as if their lives would change forever after years of dreaming. But now, all was the same as it had ever been.

'Not only that,' Casi whispered.

Silvia stroked Casi's head and felt herself restrain a sob for she knew what Casi was about to say.

'He promised me, Silvia. Lethi, he promised me. I believed him – I thought I saw love in his eyes. And he kept asking, and he spoke so gently. His hands were rough but he spoke more gently than I ever heard a man speak. So I – I bedded him. No, why speak so softly as if I'm not some forgotten peasant? I let him have me – Lethi screwed me and disappeared the next moment.'

Having said it all, Casi now cried as loud as when Silvia had arrived and Silvia tried to hush her and reassure her.

'Casi,' Silvia whispered to try and soften Casi's cries. 'You are not at fault. And you are not the first or last woman to be tricked and abused by a man. Your heart is hurt but your body is strong.'

'I don't care about my body!' Casi shouted. 'Or my heart – I'm sick of this place. The same shit every day. I'm not sad because this has happened now, for the first time, Silvia. I'm sad because I know it will happen like this for the rest of my life. And if I'm not carrying that bastard soldier's child – then I'll surely be carrying another soldier's child in a month or two, so what does it all matter when that child will either share our sad lot or be sent off to work himself to death or fight someone else's battles? Can't you see that, foolish girl?'

'Why are you turning on me, Casi?' Silvia said as calmly as she could. 'I am here, your friend. We will protect each other.'

Now, Casi's face contorted. Sivlia felt guilty thinking it but Casi's face in that moment was ugly, monstrous, the kind of contorted face that summed up all the misery and desperation of the wall.

'Don't you understand?' Casi said. 'After he took what he wanted from me, Lethi told me that he wasn't finished. He said that he would come back with his friends and that they would come for you. Your beautiful friend who thinks she's a forgotten Duro noblewoman accidentally left behind in the desert – we can teach her a thing or two too, he said.'

Silvia, who had only left the desert once and had never experience true cold before, felt ice in her blood. Seeing Casi in such desperation, she had not thought that she, who kept her clothes dusty and her hair long and unwashed purposefully, was also in danger.

'They all told you,' Casi sniffed, 'that you couldn't hide your beauty for ever. That's the thing with soldiers. They like something to look at, but they can sniff beauty and innocence out – they're like coyotes, hunting in the dark for a beautiful woman to hurt. You should have married Fio when he proposed to you – he would never have touched you. He would have protected you. And instead you let him throw himself off that crumbling fighting arena. So few good men and even they abandon us.'

'D-did he say,' Silvia took a deep breath, trying to control herself, trying not to think of her cousin, Fio, pushing herself to focus on her current danger, 'did he say when he would return?'

Casi looked at Silvia now with a face blank as emotionless as a soldier and said, 'He's been sent north to some farmlands to put down a peasant rebellion. Once they've killed the rebels, they'll no-doubt come back here to collect more farm workers.'

Silvia nodded to herself. Peasant revolts usually took a half moon or more to be overcome. But once it was over, Lethi and his band of pig soldiers would return. She knew something had to change. She wouldn't be able to do what she had always done. She wouldn't be able to hide any longer. 

END OF CHAPTER, END OF PART 1

Author's note:

I hope you enjoyed this continuation of Silvia's story. If you did, please give it a vote!

What else did you think of this chapter and of part 1? Do you feel differently about Toma's decisions now that Silvia is home? What would you do in Silvia's situation?

In part 2, Toma will begin cross the ocean to Magoa (as the Duro call it) or Naxual (as its inhabitants call it). I look forward to seeing you on board the Vuela! - L.K. Prevost