The Solemness

Part 2

After Overlord Simmion's visit, I was barely let out of the house. I was given strict reading assignments about government and Solemnness and politics. Our butler Janus was ordered to watch over me and make sure that I completed my lessons. And he did--- hour after hour. But my busy father never realized how Janus was betraying his trust. Even though I was not allowed to have islander friends, Janus would sneak Dylan into the back room of the house to keep me company every Saturday morning while my father was away at a council meeting with the holders of the seven manors of the other islands.

At first we only talked and Dylan would tell me about swimming in the caverns and picking under-ripe bananas and going to red brick school building. But he always had his crayons in his pocket, and I could never get my mother's lessons out of my mind, so eventually, I started drawing again, this time on my father's legal paper and against his wishes. Anything in my room with color on it had been taken away: my quilt, some of my dresses, my hair ribbons, and my stuffed animals. But I still wove blues, greens, and oranges together into a harmonic ocean through the lines of legal sheets. And Dylan and Janus said that it was beautiful.

Then, as I grew older, Janus would sometimes let Dylan take me around the island. He showed me the rocky coves, the beach, the harbor, the banana trees, the schoolhouse,-- but I could never swim or climb. And I always had to wear a wide straw hat.

"If your skin burns or you come home full of sand or smelling of salt, your father will not trust me again." Janus told me, his Islander's green eyes twinkling, "And we won't be able to see Dylan anymore. So, can you follow the rules like a good girl?"

I would nod so hard my hat would tip up and down on my head. Then, Dylan would tie a scarf around it, take my arm, and pull me through the door.

My father never guessed that I was still learning about colors, and the Sapphire Island, behind his back. I was his perfect student. When he tested me every afternoon on what I had studied, I was able to give him extended answers. The Jewel Islands had been constantly razed by the Sea Raiders. My father's homeland, Shadley, the small continent northeast of the islands, came to our aid. For only a chest of our sapphires, their powerful army got rid of the threat, saving our homes and the natural treasures of our jeweled caverns. They taught the islands about Shadley's Sameness, so they could come together to keep the Sea Raiders from invading again.

The generosity of Shadley was always surprising to me-- they did, and were still doing, so much to protect the Islands. The islands were still learning how to do without distracting colors, and Shadley officials were okay with the use of colors in the transition period, as long as the islanders kept progressing towards Solemnness. But now, the people of the southernmost Jewel Islands, the Emerald Isle and the Topaz Isle, were revolting, and Shadley needed the Sapphire Isle's help especially, as the largest and most central island. The transgression needed to be stopped before it crept into the Ruby Isle and opened the Jewel Islands to another attack by the pirates. My father kept the belief in the Solemnness strong on Sapphire Island so that we could lead the Islanders to peace and protection. The Solemnness ways of Shadley would unite us an make us strong.

And, as I grew older, I felt guiltier about the deception, since my father was putting so much faith in me. He did not keep it a secret that he was preening me for the Rulership. I was the Jewel Island's daughter, he said, so the people would listen to me. They would depend on me, so I needed to know exactly how to lead them. I would need to impress the Overlord.

"He is uncertain that you will be able to rise to the Rulership," My father said, "You need to prove him wrong."

My father had bought me three specially tailored new dresses as an early sixteenth birthday present. All lace, satin, and taffeta . . .but, one a dull gray, another black, and the one that I wore, plain white. I couldn't help but notice how the white lace blended into my skin, and how I seemed to fade into the white walls. My dark hair seemed to float in space above the gray carpet.