Eternity

Oratus

When I woke, Silensunus was there.

“How are you?” she inquired.

“Fine. In fact, better than before.”

“Good.”

She seemed to deliberate for a second. Then… “It’s a shame” she murmured.

“What about?”

”Well… those three cuts you had. When we met. They’re just scars now, but they’ll stay with you. I thought they might fade.”

“Hmmm…” I too, deliberated for a second. “Silensunus…”

“Yes?”

“Will you do me a favour?”

“What were you thinking of?”

“You are the silent one. You can kill before anyone notices you, and move around unseen.”

“Yes.”

“Can you deal with my father? Don’t kill him. Just… I know. Give him something to remember. Give him three cuts, in groups, all over his house. Make them deep. Do not leave any part of the house unscarred. Make them just like mine.”

“If you want.”

“Thank you Silensunus. I want him to remember me.” I paused. “Where is Tutis?”

“He’ll wake soon. You’ve both been out for a couple of days.”

A couple of days?! How could I have lost a couple of days?!

“For now,” continued Silensunus, “I suggest you amuse yourself by exploring your new talents. You will be amazed at the difference between when you were human and now. You are much stronger. Faster. Quicker thinking. Better sight, and hearing. You will notice things much more. Basically, you’ll be a human being, but improved. A bit of a super-human. I also suggest that you explore your limits – you might find you have a talent. There is a reason I’m assassin for the Children. It’s because I’m quieter than the rest of them. And quicker. Sure, they can sneak up and slit someone’s throat. But I’m quiet and quick enough to do it without them even realising that I’m there.”

“Wow.”

I considered what she said for a moment, less time than I would have if I were human. My silens brain seemed to work so much quicker than my previous human one.

“Very well. I may meet some new people on my wanderings.”

“Good.”

I walked – or rather, glided – out of the door, wondering at this new way of walking that was so smooth and lithe that it was like floating above the ground. I wandered down to the river. It was quiet there, and peaceful. I perched on a rock, near the bubbling waterfall, and dangled my feet in the water there. Its cool embrace calmed me, and I thought about all that had passed since Tutis and I had left our father. It was all so complicated, so surreal; I needed time to ponder it all.

I sat there for I don’t know how long; I had discovered that silenses needed no sleep. They didn’t really need very much actually.

I was wrenched out of my reverie by a soft, musical voice.

“May I sit here?”

I glanced up to see a handsome young man, with sandy coloured hair and golden eyes looking curiously at me. I called him a man because, although he didn’t look much older than my sixteen years, his eyes portrayed an age I could only guess at. They almost seemed to glow as he looked at me. I gestured for him to sit. He sighed.

“I like to come here, to think. It’s quiet, and calming,” he told me.

I nodded my head once.

“That’s why I came here. A lot has happened to me in the past few days.”

“Are you new then? I thought I didn’t recognise you.”

“Yes. I only just woke up.”

“Really?”

He was silent for a second.

“I’m sorry,” he continued, “I’ve forgotten my manners. I’m Oratus, Orator’s son.”

Surprised, I paused for a second.

“Wow. So, can silenses have children?”

“No,” he replied, “The change to silenshood stops us being able to bear children. As for me, I'm adopted. My father has a partner, and they wanted a child.”

“Oh.” I was quiet for a bit then. After maybe half an hour, Oratus looked up.

“I’ve got to go. Sorry, but I can’t escape for long. It’s my curse. I am Orator’s son”

“O.K. I’ll see you around. Thanks for talking to me – it helped me get to grips with this all... will you come again? How about the day after next, same time. I’d like to talk again. You’re a very... calming... influence.”

Oratus walked, or rather glided, away and I was left to think about the life that had just begun for me. I reached out, to dangle my hand in the crystal stream, enjoying the feeling of the cool water stroking my hand. Suddenly, I noticed a flash of luminous green. Slowly, carefully, I turned my hand over and lifted it out of the water. I recoiled at what I saw. A glittering, green mark snaked across my hand, tendrils reaching as far as my fingertips. It glowed harlequin green as water droplets dripped off my fingers and back into the stream, like diamonds against emeralds. The only sound was the bubbling waterfall, which seemed to have changed from comforting to mocking. And yet, surely this was too beautiful to be wrong? Because it was. The confusion it had raised in my head was insignificant compared to the fog its beauty created.

I wondered what it meant – did it mark me out as special, or did all silenses have this? If they didn’t, why did I have it? So many new questions had been raised, to join the general hubbub within my head. Why me? Surely someone would have mentioned this, this mark that decorated the palms of my hands, were it normal. So if it was abnormal, why was I the one chosen to wear it? But all these questions were outweighed by my firm belief that this could not be wrong. If it was, then the world must be wrong in some way. This could not be wrong.

Only one thing was certain. I needed to tell someone. Probably Silensunus. If I could tell anyone, it would be her – or Tutis, but he was still unconscious.

But could I tell anyone?

What if it meant that I had to be cast out of the tribe? What would that do to Tutis? And my other friends? Oratus? For I counted him a friend, even from that one short encounter. I had to say something. Silensunus – she, well, she was silent. She wouldn’t tell anyone. Would she?

I decided the best thing to do would be to ask about Tutis. If he was awake, I would go to him. If not, it would have to be Silensunus. I just hoped that he would be awake. It would be so much easier to tell my brother, than to tell the enigmatic girl who, after all, I had only just met. I stood up, reluctant to leave this beautiful place. It had calmed me so; yet I knew that I had to go back to the stress and the fear of the silens society. I couldn’t stay here forever! Sooner or later, I had to return to the Children.