The Charlatan

34. A Loaded Wagon Makes No Noise

It had been a while since Priyanka had felt rain. It wasn't particularly common in Dehi, except in rainy season, but on the occasions droplets fell from the sky, Priyanka took pleasure in watching them bounce off the walls of the caves lining her hometown. She fondly remembered her escapades over these slippery stones when she was a child. She remembered the squelching sound and feeling of mud between her toes as she ran from her siblings and cousins, nimbly escaping their clutches as they all slipped face-first into wet dirt.

As Priyanka stared at her prosthetic legs, laid beside her while she dealt with the pain that came with wearing them, her chest clenched. The sand here in Hollow seeped into every crevice of Priyanka's body, no matter what she wore, and it chafed the connection between flesh and bionic material. Such is the price to pay, she thought, for living while my brothers died. Gods help them. Priyanka snuck in another prayer, something she found herself doing almost daily. She felt tired. Where there was anger before, and strife against the Charlatan and Velt, there was now just exhaustion.

"Safiya, you are much stronger than I," Priyanka said to her sister, who sat at the small wooden desk their room held, sketching.

"Nonsense. I am strong only because you hold me up," Safiya said without hesitation.

"What are you drawing?" Priyanka asked, shifting in her chair to peer over Safiya's shoulder. Safiya did not answer. Priyanka saw their home, before it had been destroyed, sketched with messy lines but nonetheless intact. "We seem to be of the same mind today," she realized aloud.

"I miss home," Safiya said.

"Perhaps, with where we are heading, we will see a new one built soon." Priyanka tightly held onto the hope that there were survivors of larger Dehic cities that had fled and would be able to rebuild the country and culture.

"Do you think that such a monster as Velt would even consider that?" Safiya replied with sudden aggression. "I joined this mission because I thought we would be committed to heroism, to doing right," she continued. "But all we have been doing is running, speaking to people far out on the periphery. I don't even know who the villain is in all of this mess. I don't know what our mission entails anymore. We haven't seen Velt's King, and right now I am not entirely convinced that Clara isn't on his side in all of this."

"Safi, Clara is Veltie." Priyanka eyed her sister with concern and wariness, but spoke as calmly as she could manage. "She does not want to give up her country. She does not want it to fall when one person is to blame. It is her home. She is likely conflicted, but furthermore she does not hold a lot of power, even despite her courier qualifications. I think we have seen how far those have really taken her, and it is not a considerable distance."

"Are you defending her?!" Safiya suddenly spun around in her chair. "Priyanka, have you forgotten our family? The desolation of our village, of our country? Velt did that." Priyanka did not miss her sore glance down at her nonexistent legs.

"I have not forgotten," Priyanka's voice was suddenly angry, something that happened only very rarely, "I have not forgotten the fallen. I pray for them every day. I ask the gods to guide them, embrace them, and to care for them in their death. Safiya, I have not forgotten. But neither has Clara. She saw the destruction we did, the same destruction, Safiya. She did not cause this and you cannot throw the blame to her because it is convenient."

"I am not doing that," Safiya groaned in frustration, "I know firsthand that Clara is kind. But she is not doing enough. You said it yourself, she does not have the power to enact significant change, to obtain an audience with her King, without endangering herself and us in the process. Our coalition is too small. I am tired of waiting for the chance at retribution, and of hesitating because Clara will not risk her safety for the cause. There is another way, Priya, and I will pursue it the moment it arises to greet me." Without another word, Safiya stood up and marched out of the sisters' bedroom.