Excursion

Chapter Sixteen - The Curious Character of Yvette

  "Tea?"

  "All right."

  Scath turned toward the kitchen, and would have undoubtedly found me squatting on the floor like a fool if I hadn't rose to my feet just before he came in. Upon seeing me, he took a few shaky steps backwards.

  "Why are you here?" he blurted.

  "Why shouldn't I be here?" My voice was wavering.

  "I thought you'd be tired. I thought you'd want to go to bed."

  "My friends are arguing. Didn't you hear them?"

  "Yes, but I thought you were still in there."

  "No, I can't stand it when people argue." My eyes traveled over to Yvette. "Why is she here?"

  "We're friends," Yvette answered.

  "OK, but... you're... a criminal."

  "So they say..."

  "Hey." Scath motioned to me. "I thought you didn't like arguing."

  I fell silent, at which point Scath offered me a cup of tea as well. The next thing I knew, I was sharing tea and a table with a loonie, and a dangerous outlaw.

  "So the officials have been breathing down your neck again, have they?" Scath said.

  Yvette groaned. "You wouldn't believe what I've been through lately."

  'The officials are the same as the Lazullians you mentioned before?" I asked.

  "Yes, rather," Yvette spat.

  "Why are these officials so bad?"

  Scath took a deep, troubled breath. "They are of such a twisted nature that what's thought of as freedom to us is considered 'illegal' to them, and the people that we consider to be intelligent, they pin as 'dangerous'. I was one of the intelligent ones. They considered me 'treasonous', and 'dangerous', and when I refused to reform, I got banished out here."

  "Really?"

  "Really."

  "But... don't the people agree on these methods? How could they get away with rules like that if the people don't approve of it?"

  Scath shrugged. "Most citizens probably aren't even aware of what's going on due to clever deception. When something is so covered in frosting that you can't tell what kind of cake is under it, you're bound to eat it anyway."

  "But... back to Yvette," I continued, my voice taking on a sterner tone, "Aren't you afraid to befriend a criminal?"

  "Yvette is here because she is also falsely accused of many things."

  "Her wanted posters said she's accused of stealing, murder, treason, and attempted murder of the Premier; and they're everywhere!"

  "Deception again. All of it. She stole dinner for herself because Headquarters stopped giving her a proper allowance; one of the three men that tried to stop her from running away with the meal ran off the edge of a ravine; she's charged with treason and the attempted murder of the Premier because she yelled, 'down with the Premier' as she ran away. That was only a threat – nothing but words. Although that woman deserves to die," Scath finished with a growl.

  I felt as if the foundation of my mental reasoning had been hit by a dust storm. "But... why do all these people believe she did horrible things if she didn't really do them? Every wanted poster in Magnicum said these same lies."

  Yvette spat again, tossed her red hair out of her face, and answered, "To make an example out of me; can't you see it? Everyone else stays in line if they're afraid for their lives with a minor infraction!"

  At this, Scath crossed his arms and adjusted his weight in his chair. "May I ask where you're from, Nomen?"

  "The Vannakai camp."

  "Is that in the Harena Region?"

  "I don't know. It's covered in a lot of sand."

  "Yes, that would be Harena. All right, that makes sense now. Well, Nomen: you're not in Harena anymore. Here in Magnicum, no one believes in truth unless it's given to them by a 'trustworthy' source. The trustworthy source is known as 'Headquarters.'"

  "Well, ok, but..." I began, but didn't finish my sentence. Instead, I just sat there in silence, watching as Yvette drank her tea. Thinking back to the 'Wanted' papers – the only other place I had seen her – I had to marvel at how different she was in real life. She was so small, so thin, so... un-threatening. This was not the snarling, malevolent girl I had seen.

  Yvette broke the silence. "Are you a fugitive, too?"

  "No. Scath let my friends and I stay here for the night."

  "So you are a fugitive."

  I shrugged. "We're not running from the same things you are."

  "So, why are you hiding this time?" Scath inquired of Yvette with a sigh as he got up to refill the teapot.

  "What do you mean?" she replied, stirring a bit of sugar into the remains of her cup.

  "I mean, are you here because the officials are after you?"

  "They are always after me, Scath. You know that. I can't stay long in any one place."

  "And what if they catch you? Did you ever find out exactly what they're planning to do with you?"

  Yvette let out a sigh. "I think they're so intent on catching me because they want to make me into a spectacle. Shoot me dead on a platform in front of a crowd; that sort of thing."

  "Well, we have to figure out more safe hiding places for you and eventually, a new identity entirely."

  "Hold on..." Yvette murmured, staring directly at me.

  Scath waved a hand in my direction. "They're from out of town. Don't worry."

  "If you say so..." She didn't sound convinced.

  I sat in confused interest as Scath and Yvette delved into a conversation concerning the best escape routes through the forest, but stiffened as I heard a door open from down the hall.

  "What was that?" Yvette asked absentmindedly, turning her head towards the dining room door. "Another guest?"

  Scath quickly jogged to the entrance and peeked out.

  "It's your friend, Nomen," he told me, just as I was rising from my chair.

  "Which one?" I asked as Esis pushed past the man and entered the room.

  He laid eyes on Yvette. Yvette laid eyes on him.