Faceless

Chapter Eight: Tikoo

Aunt? No, no it can't be! My mind rocked back and forth as I tried to to figure out if I was wrong somehow, or if she was part of a different Canter family. But deep down, I knew that she was my aunt.

I turned around, pain searing through my back and sat up, scrambling quickly away from Jilin. She scrunched up her nose and placed her hands in her hips. Just like my mother would have.

"I'm not going to hurt you, niece, I'm just going to help train you. We all are." I cautiously moved toward her again, this time very aware of the wounds in my back. They were burns, I could feel the heat still scratching away at my skin, but how I got them was still a mystery to me.

Train? My mind went into overdrive thinking about what that could mean. I had so many question --

"We will answer all your questions, but first you must heal. No Queen should ever be weak while she trains," and with that, Jilin and the rest of the Elders left. I stared after them for a while, and then suddenly something Jilin had said caught my attention.

Queen? I thought to myself. "I'm not the Queen, I'm the pr--"

Suddenly a young boy's voice called out quietly from the shadows of the room.

"Miss? I've brought medicine for your burns," the boy moved closer and I realized that it was the same servant that Jilin had called to before. What had she said his name was? Ticky? Oh well, just another person who can somehow talk to me, too.

"I am Tikoo," the boy said, his eyes stuck on the ground. At first I thought it was because of my disfigured face, but then I felt the heat coming off of his cheeks. He was blushing.

I hadn't thought much about the fact that I was not wearing any clothes. I pulled the blanket over my body, although if he had dared to look he would have seen only smooth nothingness. Like clay, I thought, shivering. 

Suddenly he looked up at me, eyes widened and mouth dropped open. He had seen my face. Or rather, he had seen my lack of one. His hands threatened the drop the package he was carrying, but he stilled his shaking arms and passed the small bowl to me.

I concentrated on it through my mind, and saw a light-colored creamy paste sitting in a round bowl. I almost thought of trying to tel him I couldn't eat it—I had no mouth— but he continued in, gaze once again on the dirt floor.

"It's cream, Miss," he said shakily, almost as if he was scared of me. I didn't blame him. I would have been scared of me, too.

I nodded, and he was about to scramble out of the door when I made a loud gurgling sound and shoved a piece of animal skin at him. Etched onto it were badly shaped words, spelling out a message.

How was I burned?

He looked up at me, understanding the message, even though it was in Incariss. "Mistress Canter said you fell." Tikoo looked around, as if the information he was about to share was for me only. "Sh— she said you burned yourself."

I stared facelessly at Tikoo until he was gulping with fright. "I— I have to go, miss." And with that, Tikoo scurried out of the door and away from my unearthly stare.

There are too many questions, and not enough answers.

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