Lies of the Line

Chapter 7

 The sun beamed in through the window and woke me up the next morning. I sat up and stretched, a small folded piece of paper catching my eye on the nightstand. I leaned over and picked it up from its place. I unfolded it and began to read the words that had been hastily written on the inside.

I have gone to the markets. I will not return until lunch and by then you will be gone. -Adrienne

I fiddled with the top corner as I read the two sentences again trying to decipher where she suggested I would be going. My heart lurched as my brain caught up with the date. The funeral was today.

It had slipped past me since we traveled so much but the last few days had flown by quickly. My stomach churned as I thought about seeing my mother and brother and what they might say to me. I thought about seeing my father in a casket being carried away to rest forever. I stepped down from the bed and returned the note to where I had found it before I began pacing the length of the room. I silently chewed my nails as my mind raced with all the possibilities that could present themselves if I went. I walked three laps before I stopped in front of my bed and told myself I needed to get ready and distract myself so I wouldn't back out of going. I bent down and grabbed my bag from its spot underneath my bed before standing up and setting it on the blankets that covered the mattress. I opened it and pulled out a few articles of clothing before finding what I was looking for. I pulled the long, black dress from the bag and laid it neatly across the bed. I fidgeted nervously as I looked at it.

After I heard the funeral plans, I snuck back to my room and grabbed my dress dedicated to mourning, knowing I would need to attend the funeral in honor of Father. A knock on the door pulled my attention away from my dread. I slowly walked to the door before twisting the handle and opening it.

Adira stood tall in a floor-length black gown made from silk. She brushed past me into the room without a word and sat in the chair positioned in the corner.

"We plan to leave in a half hour, I thought I would come to help you get ready." She broke the silence as she looked around the small room. I merely nodded as I walked toward the dress.

It didn't take long to get the dress on and as Adira laced the corset that had been sewn into the waist I studied my appearance in the mirror. The dress was black with quarter-length sleeves frilled at the ends with lace. The top was cut into a v that complimented the shape of the corset and there was an undershirt sewn into the front. The length was frilled as layer after layer of fabric settled on top of each other. I smoothed my hands over the skirt at least a dozen times before Adira tied a small bow at the back of the corset and stepped to my left. She had taken the hair from my braid and let it flow freely down my back, brushing it until it was soft.

"I believe we are ready to go." Adira checked her appearance fluffing her hair and wiping around her lips, before walking swiftly to the door.

I took one final glance at my reflection before following behind her. Two guards were positioned on either side of the door. Nothing was said as they led us down the hallway. The shadows danced on the walls as the candlelight swayed in the draft from our exit. I looked at Adira to see her standing stoically as we walked down the steps. The front room buzzed with silence once we reached it. Chairs had been abandoned with not a sound to be heard or a person in sight. It was almost as if the world had gone silent until we stepped outside. People walked through the streets as children danced and laughed with each other as they followed their parents to the market. Birds flitted through the sky calling out to one another as they went along. Horses pulled wagons carrying people to their homes or work, their hooves clattering across the stones.

"Lilac," Adira called out to me. She stood in front of a carriage looking at her capital city. Two beautiful, black mustangs stood in front of the carriage ready to travel. Adira offered me a hand as I stepped into the carriage and slid across the seats and to the far side, sitting down and looking out the window while I waited for her to join me. She spoke to the guards she had brought with her before pulling herself in and shutting the door behind her. She sat on the opposite side of me but to my right and angled her body towards mine so she could recline freely. She tilted her head back, resting it against the wall and closing her eyes.

"We'll be there in no time." She murmured before a shout rang out and we lurched forward, bumping across the stone streets and out of Westmere. I sat silently, watching as the buildings passed and people stopped to stare at the royal carriage as it went through the streets. Adira reached for her bag sitting on the floor, opened it, and pulled out a book. She opened it to a spot where a ribbon had been placed between the old pages and skimmed her eyes across the words.

"Would you mind if I read aloud to you?" She lifted her gaze from the book and looked at me.

"I think that would be nice." I shut my eyes and rested my head on my hand to keep from knocking it against the glass.

Adira cleared her throat and ran her finger across the page until she found her spot. "Here we are." She sighed contentedly, getting comfortable before opening her mouth to read. "I was not fond of horses in my youth." She started. It was evident to me that she was several chapters in and I had missed the introduction. "For my father died when I was young in an accident caused by a horse, but as I grew older and more mature I began to see that simple-minded creatures could not be blamed for the repercussions caused by an ill-minded fool like my father." Adira read boldly annunciating each word like she had been trained to do when she was in school. "My schooling taught me from a young age that I was to be open-minded and meek, letting myself be willing to new ideas but never sharing any of my own. My tutor, Mr. Righberry struggled with both parts, thinking only how he wanted and never being afraid to state it. That was how he was fired. My mother overheard him rambling about some empirical nonsense, using not fact or logic, but his emotions to rule the opinions he gathered from this atrocity that had shaped him so well." Adira paused, going back and re-reading the phrase to herself under her breath this time in a different language, one I had never heard. 

"Oh, I meant to say, My mother overheard him rambling about some empirical nonsense, using no fact or logic," She read through quickly, "Ah, but he relied on his own experiences and traumas that shaped him to dictate the way he felt." She smiled contentedly, having translated the message in a seemingly simple fashion. "Which is why I did not let my disdain for horses, because of some silly accident, rule my choices." She stopped and with my eyes closed, I could hear the flutter of the page as she flipped to the next.

"What language is that originally written in?" I asked, opening my eyes and looking the cover over. It had strange markings and the title was written in words I had never seen before.

"Etaphe, the book is called Thi thájüymíl. I Learn." She told me. "I'll read in the original language and then translate." She found her spot on the page and began. " Oúng spedi spaoishkúth shpish. He liked the easy path. Bädh oúng üsh ngkaj shkúth vdu. For he was a simple man." She smiled softly at the words. "My mother used to sing to me in Etaphe. When she died I decided to learn the language. It's dwindling. Most words have two or three meanings now, and when I decided I wanted to learn, it took months to find someone who could teach the language to me. It was my mother's first language since she was born in Estile del Filla in the Northern Isles. That's where my parents met." Adira reminisced on the memories before turning back to her book and reading some more.

The story unfurled before me to reveal the author had written from her own experience, her name was Natoui and she had grown up in the Eastern Isles, called Tephil pur Fule, and she was writing her story from the perspective of a young nobleman's daughter growing up in a time of rebellion. She wrote about the Civil War in the Isles of Poture and how she dealt with the changes of moving across the Great Sea to safety.

"And in the end, all we understood was death was inevitable and the things of this land were fragile and seemingly small in the vast experiences of this life." Adira read the last sentence slowly before closing the book and returning it to its spot in her bag.

"I believe we are here." I opened my eyes once more and looked out at Nyer's empty square. Most people had gathered in the gardens to prepare for the funeral. The city felt empty in ways I had never experienced. The carriage moved swiftly over the stones before stopping at the gates. A guard stepped down and opened the door, holding out a hand for us to use to get down. Adira stepped out first. I took the hand of the guard and stepped onto the path, my legs sore from lack of space and movement. People dressed in black littered the lawns leading to the back gardens where the funeral was being held.

My stomach twisted and I immediately regretted having come once Adira looped our arms and began walking.