The Tellanon

17. Lynn

"Lynn, stop it," Michelle said. "She isn't coming back today."

"I'm not only looking for Emyra. I'm looking for Allen and Father and Mother as well. " Lynn looked at Michelle almost pleadingly for a second with brown puppy eyes, before turning back to the window.  Her mother was working in the riverside Inn, and none of the others had returned. She was all alone with Michelle and Thomys, and those didn't count. Thomys didn't like her, and he was so small, and Michelle was pretending to be grown up. Lynn hated that. She just wanted Emyra and Allen to tell stories and play with her. Father had to return as well, and put her to bed and comfort her. They were all gone. All had left. It was so empty, and some part of Lynn knew there was a chance none of them would return. For now, all she could do was hope. And no one was going to crush that hope, like no one would crush her hope of seeing dragons. Some things you hope for are so impossible you have to believe them, even if your mother tells you to grow up.

"They're not coming just now. Come here. You need to eat." Michelle said. She was getting irritated. Her sister could be so stubborn every now and then. It wasn't that she didn't understand; Michelle herself was desperate for her parents and sister to return. It was simply that it was no use waiting and watching. She did what she knew she had to do, and went on hoping in secret. It was the only thing. She watched Thomys wolf down his food at the table, picked him up and cleaned him with water from the barrel in the corner, just beside the kettle. It was a cool evening, a summer's breeze was blowing through the open window and brought in the salty sea air. Outside, it was empty. No one was out on the streets, and barely anyone had been in the past weeks. All people did was pray now that the men were gone. The city was empty, and everyone worried or worked. All the women had to find work now. Michelle herself was too busy taking care of the little ones to be able to work. 

"I'm not hungry. I just want a story. Can't you tell me one?"  Lynn said.

"No, I'm busy. I need to put Thomys to bed. Mother will return soon. Just ask her." Michelle said, and went upstairs, pushing Thomys before her. Lynn shifted her weight to her left leg and continued staring out of the window. She sighed, and stepped back , closing the shutters as she did so. Her blond curls fell in her face, and she tucked them back behind her ears. It was getting darker, she saw. Michelle hadn't lit the fire yet. Lynn sat down heavily, knowing that she'd changed. When everybody left, she had grown up, and she knew it. However much she pretended, however convincing her mask, she wasn't the old Lynn. Her belief and hope were as strong as ever, but Emyra had left with all her stories and all the smiles in the house, leaving Lynn alone. Lynn played with her food listlessly and lay her head on the old table. She fingered the holes and traced the lines age had left on it. She chewed her hair, and closed her eyes briefly, only to open them seconds later. What was that sound? It sounded like footsteps, only much louder. She sat up straighter, and listened carefully. That was Michelle, telling Thomys a bedtime story. That was a cat, meowing and hissing. And there, there was the sound of heavy footsteps and the faint rattle of armour. Lynn buried her face in her hands, hoping they wouldn't knock on her door. Who was there to take? Who would she be robbed of next? She listened. The footsteps continued. Step after step toward her door. Lynn stood up and watched, waiting for them to knock.

The knight didn't even bother. He entered the house by kicking the door open, sword unsheathed. He was fully armoured. Black, shiny metal, reflecting the dim light of the moon outside. Lynn screamed loudly, pressing herself against the wall.

"Don't take them, don't take them, don't take them, don't take them," She whimpered, with her hands pressed against her ears. "Please don't take them..."

The knight called out to someone she hadn't seen before, an apprentice Tellanon maybe. For they were Tellanon. They obviously were; the coat of arms on the Knight's breastplate made that clear enough.