Whisper (Book II)

Chapter One

"Something needs to be done." A low voice insisted.

"What can we do?" Another asked, not nearly as soft and civil.

"Send her. What are we really losing?"

"My daughter!" The voice roared.

"Come on old man, you know she hasn't been the same. Not since she returned."

"Of course she's changed! Going through an ordeal like that is bound to change you."

"An ordeal like what?" The first voice challenged. "We don't know and she won't tell us."

"I will not send my only child away. Not again."

"I don't think we really have a choice!"

Red buried her face in her knees, hugging her legs close and closing her eyes tightly. She didn't want to hear anymore. She couldn't stand hearing them discuss her as if she was more a piece of meat than a person. She stood silently and crept back up to her bedroom, drawing the door shut soundlessly.

The only light offered here was a flickering candle on her vanity and the stars dappling the moonless sky just beyond her window. She moved toward the former and stopped, gazing down at the glinting knife that resided there before the mirror. She had long ago cleaned the blood from its blade and now it shone silver. It was one of the few personal effects left in the room she occupied.

She reached for it, weighing it in her hands as she had so often before. It brought her back to the day she had carried it back into the village stained crimson with the beast's blood. She recalled so vividly the weight of the venomous claw at her throat. It could have happened yesterday for the way she remembered it. It still shocked her to realize that it had been just over a year ago. A year and she still found that a gaping hole resided darkly in her chest.

What she had meant to be a few days to figure out what had left the hole in her had turned into a year. Still she was no closer to figuring out why she cried herself to sleep most nights. Her visits to the forest had become a daily ritual, and it was only among the close-set trees that she ever felt at home. The trees muted sound and blocked out the glaring sunlight. There, it felt like a weight was lifted from her shoulders and it was only there that she was able to lament. The trees listened when she screamed and shouted and cried.

"Child?"

Red started, hastily replacing the knife and settling herself on the bed. "Come in."

The door groaned when it opened and Appa entered with a warm smile and a steaming cup of tea. "How much did you hear?" He asked bluntly, offering her the cup.

She accepted it with a frown, "How did you know?"

"Because I know you and I know you wouldn't let yourself be kept in the dark."

She smiled despite herself and sighed. Appa truly did know her and he cared for her. Then she remembered what she'd heard and she frowned once more. "They want to send me away. Where? Why?"

Appa sighed and nodded. Clearly, he had been expecting this question. "May I sit?" He asked wearily and when Red nodded he took a spot beside her on the bed. "You're quite the celebrity now, do you know that?"

Red blushed and looked down at her lap. Of course she knew that the people of the village had concocted any number of theories about her journey. She didn't encourage them on purpose, but she knew that every time she refused to tell her story they grew more motivated to create them.

"We got a letter yesterday from the king himself."

Red looked at Appa in shock. "King Gavin?"

"The one and only."

"About what?"

"About you."

Red recoiled. She didn't like the sound of all of this.

"Apparently your story, or lack thereof, has reached the castle and he is quite intrigued. He thinks you would make for an ideal wife for his son."

Red choked and gagged on the sip of tea she'd taken. "Wife?" She sputtered.

"I don't like it either, but he said he only wants you to meet you for now. And if you don't come he offered to send his men to...retrieve you."

Dread prickled down Red's neck like icy fingers. "He wants me to go to the castle?"

"As far as I know you don't have much of a choice."

"Appa, I don't think I can-"

"Listen closely Child, I understand. I don't know what happened to you in there, but I do know that you're drawn to it. I know. I know more than you can guess, but this invitation does not leave any room for decline."

Red looked thoughtfully out her window where the tops of trees were just visible over the rooftops. They were dark shadows now in the light of a moonless night, but they called to her. Were it not for Appa and his paternal concern for her she would likely sleep among them each night.

"Would you come with me?" She finally asked, not daring to glance his way. She knew that this was a lot to ask of him.

There was a moment of silence, but when finally he answered his voice was thick with emotion. "Nothing would make me happier." He said, and she turned to him and smiled in relief.

"Then of course I will go."

"We leave in the morning." He stated and stood, smiling proudly. "Bring whatever you deem necessary for a three day journey. I will wrestle us up two horses."

Red watched him leave, still clinging to the cup of tea he'd given her. The hole in her chest was stretching and throbbing. The thought of leaving the forest behind hurt her physically and not even sipping at the scalding tea could soothe it. However, the knowledge that Appa would be there helped. Finishing her tea, she set it carefully on the vanity and blew out the candle.

Before returning to bed she ran a palm along the gleaming blade of the knife, its cool metal offering her a semblance of comfort. Sighing, she padded reluctantly to bed, settling in among the quilts. Sleep, she knew, would not come easily tonight, so she drew the quilt to her chin and waited patiently for the respite that oblivion offered her each night.