Silence in Sagas

11

Oliwa stood in the room. Particles of dust were swirling in the air, illuminated by the faint moonlight that shone through the window.

Somewhere in the house, something fell, and a faint thumping sounded.

***

The dinner was a blur of countless items on plates, warm food melting on her tongue and servants moving gracefully from the kitchen through the masses.

Willa didn't know who all these people were or where they came from. Nobility seemed to live in the castle.

There was no sign of any parents yet.

***

Arlos slammed his door shut--it almost fell apart at the hinges.

How long were they going to stay in this house? Were they going to move now that his... his Mum might be alive?

Arlos couldn't think right now. His thoughts were like a drain where too much water tried to go through the small holes at once, and it all came to a stop. Ewinne--Ewin He went over to his bed and lay down. And mum... Ewin, endangered in the castle... his mother...alive? Yes, alive, but where?

He closed his eyes. Couldn't sleep. What time was it? 

Mum. Ewin. Alive. Ewin had better keep out of danger.

It was typical that the one time Arlos would find someone like Ewin...

Arlos didn't know how to finish the thought.

It became clear why he didn't like having ticking clocks in his room at night.

It showed the wrong time. It was the world's stupidest clock. 

Arlos didn't know what he was, but soon after, the clock had gone out the window and crashed to the ground in an even more useless mechanic heap. It wasn't unlike how he felt now.

***

At one point, the talking in the enormous hall died out because a man with excessive beard-styling stood up and clinked his glass. The sound was magnified by a microphone next to it. Willa guessed that was one way to keep the traditions.

"Welcome, men and women, Queenlings and noble Citizens. We are gathered here today to mark the annual beginning of this years Queenplay." Yeah, that was the formal name for it.

It was a rather unlucky one, rarely used by the public... Whoever had made it up hadn't been a prodigy at words or social skills... To Willa, it sounded more like a card game or if her mind went there--as it did--some unarguably sexual ritual that would go down at a brothel.

"As you have seen, we have all our wonderful Queenlings here tonight," the man's voice boomed out over the room. Willa sat at a table wit other the other Queenlings. They hadn't had any chance to talk much at all--there had been way too much noise in the hall.

That hadn't stopped the Kestillz Queenling from shooting looks like she was firing arrows at Willa. She had ignored them, only raising her eyebrows slightly, which had irritated the Queenling furter. 

Willa was secretly content. Her mind was swarming with thoughts, not all of them related to each other. She thought this might have something to do with the fact that the beverage she had been served held more than simply water. 

Willa had actually not experienced any drug before. Money was short in her home, and in addition to that, to join the Hunt, one needed to be fit and independent of expensive addicting stuff.