Journey to the Forgotten Island

The Wall in the Desert - III

The day had come. The soldiers had been discharged from the fighting in the fertile lands. The Duro officers had descended on the wall to take away the settler families. Silvia watched from the steps in front of the wall as the families crowded round with their few belongings. Casi was hiding in their small room in the wall, preparing her costume. She had rubbed some dirt lightly on her cheeks to mimic a beard in case a soldier tore her sand scarf off.

It was said that the flood of gold from Magoa had paid off both the rebel leaders and paid for mercenaries from the west to support the Duro cause. Silvia had spent her days worrying. Sometimes she worried that Lethi would come to the wall with his friends to attack her. Other times she worried that the newfound riches in Magoa would mean that they would no longer need peasants – and then Lethi would come to the wall with his friends to attack her. The first worry had not happened so far. The second worry, as Vita has reminded Silvia, was unlikely. 'There is always need for peasants,' Vita said.

Silvia had wondered why she had not heard from Toma. If he had discovered gold, surely he would have sent a letter to Casi to tell her of his journey by now? But Lila hadn't returned to the wall since she had delivered Silvia back from Duro City. The rumours along the wall were that the rebellions had disrupted the smuggling routes. Roads had been closed and checks had been established by soldiers to keep track of fleeing rebel peasants. Lila was probably either biding her time in Duro City or taking advantage of the rebellions by smuggling weapons north, which would fetch her far more coin than letters to the desert. If Toma had written, she would not have received anything.

What would Toma say when Silvia arrived on the island unannounced? Would he be happy? Would he send her back? Being a soldier for so long had changed him. She remembered the letters he had sent from his first posting in Solapailtea after he had learnt to write. The letters then were full of stories of adventure, battles hard fought and won. He wrote as if he were pretending to be a hero in an old myth – claiming that his love for her was the only thing that kept him alive. But he hid his true suffering, she knew. He had only mentioned Vulnir once – but the stories had spread long after the sack of the city, that it was a violent and bloody month of fighting. Toma had only been twelve when he was there. When she imagined him as a mere boy, surrounded by the bloodbath, she wished she could go back to when he was first taken away and hold him tighter. She should have told him to stay. If she and Casi made it to Magoa, they would be safe. For the three of them to survive this far – though she did not believe in the old Vetustan gods – there must surely have been a spirit looking after them, protecting them, willing them to reunite.

Casi now came from the wall, looking like a true man of the western ruins. She had her few belongings wrapped in a cloth.

'I wish Vita were here so we could say goodbye,' Silvia said.

'It is better that she is away picking the olives,' Casi said. 'A goodbye would have been too painful knowing we will surely never see her again.'

The disguised couple walked towards the crowd just as the future settlers were being divided into two queues.

'Left for Solapailtea. Right for Magoa,' a soldier yelled. 'And don't try sneaking into the Magoa line. If you signed up for Solapailtea, you're going to Solapailtea. And if you try and sneak off home we'll search the wall and drag you there if we have too. The rest of you Magoans – you lucky bastards – if you survive the journey, think of the soldiers who freed you and spare us some gold if you ever return.'

The soldiers laughed along with the peasants and it seemed to Silvia that the mood was jovial enough for things to go well. She kept her eyes open and alert, looking to see if Lethi was anywhere to be seen. The soldiers and clerks made their way down the two long queues, confirming the names and identities of the settlers before nodding them forward into the large open carriages. The biggest risk now was if Lethi came to check their identities and recognised Silvia.