The Puppeteer

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The marketplace was emptier than usual, but they had had worse days, and all of the soldiers had gone to a killing at the stage. Apparently, they had captured three known rebels in the act of burning down the stage of a nearby village.  The rebels now waited their fate at the foot of the stage stairs.

Just as the two were ready to close up shop for lack of business, they heard a familiar tune in the distance.

“I’ll take the message,” Camden whispered, “you stay here. We don’t want to draw attention.”

Luca nodded and Cam walked toward the approaching joker. The distinctive whine of his bagpipes was emanating cheerfully in all directions, giving people a rare opportunity to tap their feet and grin. She held out three whits, dropping them one at a time into the purse hanging off of his instrument. He paused to thank her, and continued on his way. 

“Wait!” she called out. He turned around, raising an eyebrow. “I paid you, so in return you must pause and play me something special.”

He grinned and nodded, pulling seven juggling balls from his purse.  Setting down the bagpipes, he broke into song.

“Hal-tor kamu leip-kel

tan-torfaseikau-boshsasu

ha-kel eh ek'man'es

na’ goh itsk ar'kadan.

Lesek.”

He caught the balls one by one as he finished the verse, and bowed graciously to her.

“Thank you, sir. Have a wonderful day!” she said as calmly as possible, the only thing showing her tremendous excitement being the giant smile plastered across her face.

Luca just starred at her unfamiliar joy, wondering what on earth the joker told her that was so fantastic.

She squealed, giggling a little as she gestured for him to follow her into an empty alleyway. He protested, trying to make the point that he needed to watch to make sure the dresses weren’t stolen, but she pulled him with such force that he had no choice but to follow.

“What is it? Those dresses are going to get stolen!”

“I have the best news you will ever hear. I guarantee it.” Cam was bouncing with excitement, tugging on her braid anxiously.

Luca decided she wouldn’t give in until he listened, and succumbed to her pleas. “What is it?”

“We have a chance for safety. A home. I truly am not kidding. There’s a human, apparently an old wise man who is going to let elves live with him. But we have to pass a test and do some small work for him, too. Oh, and we have to meet someone at midnight on the roof of the bakery, who will tell us what to do. That’s what the joker was saying. Can you believe it? Imagine, living without the constantly fear. How wonderful...” she trailed off, obviously dreaming of all the possibilities associated with the prospect of safety.

Luca stared at her, unable himself to process that idea. He was terrified of everything, always. Whenever he was walking down the street and there was a soldier nearby, his heartbeat would instinctively accelerate and he would have to fight his “fight or flight” instincts desperately, for if he started running without reason he would immediately gain pursuers, exactly the opposite of what he needed. So he tensely speed walked everywhere, constantly worried about Camden and whether she was okay. And it didn’t help that they posted ads for the stage performances, because his mind would replace the pictures of condemned strangers with his sister. And he couldn’t imagine what she went through every single day. She was responsible for him, and he knew she must be even more stressed than he.

Yet, he wasn’t sure he wanted to go. They had been living the same life every day for almost as long as he could remember.  He had a few happy memories of his parents, but those were blurry and kept alive only by Cam telling him the stories on a reasonably regular basis.

He wondered for a moment what was worse, remembering dead parents or not. But it only took a moment for him to decide that he would give almost anything to be able to mentally call them back into existence for a moment with his memory.  The prospect of safety was more than he could imagine. Never in his life had he been truly safe, but suddenly this mysterious man was offering it to him.  And why?

He knew there were other elves in worse situations than they, and if he took this chance, what would happen to them? Did they deserve this opportunity?

He looked back at his sister and realized he needed to go with her for her sake.  She had been responsible for him since she was eight years old, over four years. This was her first chance to actually live unburdened..

“Let’s do this,” he said, confident in his decision.

And so it was that the two of them would head off at 11:50 that night to the bakery roof.