Faceless

Chapter Four: Jemik Sinchestire

I sat in a plush chair, staring at the golden book. It was rough on the edges, and strangely soft where the lettering was placed. I ran my fingers across the top one last time, and then cracked it open. The book wasn't old, but it has been through a lot. I could tell by the way it's pages ruffled and stuck together that it had been soaked in water at least once. And the slightly seared edges showed that someone had tried to burn it a couple times. The pages were pure white, from what I could tell, except of course for the burned edges. Even more interestingly, when I focused really hard, I realized that it was written in the swirling black words of Old Ink, not the modern Incariss.

I sighed- a small puff of air flowing from the inside of my head, through my crinkled skin, and out into the air.  I began to pull myself out if the chair, trying to think of a way I could ask Old Chancing to grab the translator for me, but he beat me to it.

"Here, Mo," Old Chancing plopped the translating book onto the side table next to my chair.

It's weight- about the same as the average child- made the little table expel a sagging sound so loud that I feared it would completely topple over. I quickly grabbed the book, and started flipping through it viciously, indicating to Chancing that he should leave. I quickly found the page on "Old Ink to Incariss" seeing the different titles shift across in my mind. I focused my thoughts and stilled my hands, the pages flapping in a slight draft. I felt the books in my mind, both the translator and the one about my father, and imagined them laying over top of each other, overlapping on the Old Ink-to-Incariss page of the translating book and the first page of the other. I clenched every part of my body and prepared myself to read the first sentence of The J. Sinchestire Scam. I wouldn't be able to hold this concentration for lo--

"I could read it for you, Mo." The books disappeared from my mind, and I turned my head sharply to Old Chancing. I think he felt the anger in my faceless stare, for he raised his hands up and quickly defended himself. "They don't call me old for nothing, Mo. I remember when everyone I knew spoke Old Ink. And then, as soon as the Warriors and Traders began speaking with Parchins and Mictaas from our neighboring countries, well.... old Ink sort of just disappeared." Chancing took the book on my father from me and and placed it in his lap."Come her, Mo," he said, patting the ground beside him. I hesitated, then joined him on the coarse, Mictain carpet. Before they had started trading languages, the neighboring countries must have traded goods.

"And hand me that book," he said, pointing to the translator I was still holding in my hand. I gave it to him, and he tossed it on the floor far away from where we both sat. "Well," Old Chancing sighed, "Let's begin."

"Introduction: Jemik Sinchestire was once thought to be three things: the late King of Incaria, the husband of Queen Alabeth Sinchestire, and the father of Princess Mokaia Sinchestire. Recent studies, however, have shown these are all completely false. This book contains information on the J. Sinchestire Scam, and the real story of  Princess Mokaia.

"Chapter One: Jemik Sinchestire. Before Alabeth Canter was Queen, she was an unmarried peasant. One day she met a foreign man named Jemik Sinchestire, who hailed from the country Micta. He was on the run from the government of his country, but he could not tell anyone that he was from Micta, as Micta and Incaria were still at war during that time."

There was an strange star symbol at the end of that sentence. Old Chancing skipped to the bottom of the page, where a corresponding star read, "The only reason this story has been printed is because its Reseracher, Phnil Mattis, was a good friend of Queen Alabeth." I remembered "seeing" the book's cover, and realized that it had had a stamp on it, one of the stamps that was used when something was forbidden. This book was never meant to be published.

Old Chancing continued, with only a quick glance to see if I was still doing alright. He must have been as caught up in this book as I was. "Once the war between Incaria and Micta ended, Jemik said that he must leave Alabeth to go back to his home. She tried to convince him that Incaria was his home, but he was convinced that the government would have forgiven his crimes by now. Of course, leftover Incarian spies report that the moment he was spotted my Mictaa troops, he was shot and killed."

Old Chancing gasped, but I remained unmoving and silent. He patted my arm reassuringly and then continued.

"Phnil Mattis told Alabeth of this tragic event, and the shock sent Alabeth into depression. She pushed everyone away, including Pnil.

"Soon after Pnil left to become a Researcher, Alabeth found out that she was pregnant with Jemik's baby. The child was to be named Nitani. Nitani was born in secret, but she was very beautiful, even as a baby. The Birthers loved her very much, but Alabeth did not feel the same way. Nitani's eyes, mouth, ears, and nose all looked exactly the same as Jemik's. It was too much for Alabeth. She gave Nitani to the Birthers, whose names are unknown, and told them never to tell anyone of the child. But Alabeth still craved to hold a child in her hands, just not one whose appearance pained her so much. She went to the doctor soon after, but he told her that Nitani's birth had been to much for Alabeth's body to handle. Alabeth would never have another child. She was devastated.

"Four years later, when Alabeth was only twenty two, the Prince of  Incaria, Sani Toon, saw the beauty of Alabeth and immediately decided he was in love with her. Although the Prince was already married to another woman, by the name of Misa Toon, he and Alabeth soon became very close - close enough that they soon held a secret ceremony in which they were married. Just after the Prince was crowned King, he was murdered. His wife, Misa, was found guilty, but before she could be put in jail, she ran away from Incaria. The secret of Alabeth's relationship with the late King soon came to light, and to the surprise of all of Incaria, the Elders decided that Alabeth was to be the new Queen. It is still a mystery why they showed such mercy.

"When Queen Alabeth was crowned, she asked for all records of both Misa and Sani Toon to be erased, claiming it brought her too much pain to see their names. Misa Toon was forgotten, and all documents with Sani's name were burned. The Queen demanded new documents be forged, and that they said that the late King had not been Sani Toon, nor has there ever been anyone by that name living in Incaria. The papers said that instead of Sani Toon, the king had been "Jemik Sinchestire." These documents were shown across Incaria, and anyone who had the Toon name was either banished or forced to change their name. Over time, Incaria became so brain washed by the Queen and her government that no one was left doubting Jemik as their late King. Everything was as Alabeth intended, but still, she was not happy. She wanted to make up for the child she had given away, and was willing to do anything for that to happen. Anything at all. {Continued in Chapter Two}"

Old Chancing paused at the end of the chapter to look at me. He said nothing, but I knew what he meant: The next chapter must be about me. I continued my blank stare, and so he continued his translated story.

"Chapter Two: From the Ground Up. Princess Mo was tragically born, although some Elders say that she is blessed with the power to 'Feel' as Elder Chancing Brown once said." Old Chancing paused once again, looking at me sheepishly. I nodded to tell him it was fine, and he flipped to the next page.

"Lately, research has shown that Princess Mokaia was not, in fact, "born," in the regular sense of the word. Her mother, Queen Alabeth, was in grief for her two loves {see Chapter One} when she came up with a plan. She had given away her first daughter because of its face, so the only way for her to love her next child was if it had no face. So Queen Alabeth learned magic from a Mictaa sorceress. She shaped a baby girl from clay- making sure it lacked eyes, ears, a mouth and a nose- and set a charm on her to make her come alive. She replaced the girl's memories of being carved out of clay with the memories of Nitani's birth, the real child of Jemik Sinchestire. This little clay girl did not have a father; just a desperate mother. And her name was Mokaia."