The Tragedy of Renya

2.2 Wanting to Undo

Alice slammed her fist against the wall. What was going on? She kept asking herself that same question. City council didn’t want anyone leaving the city? Why did it have to ruin her only day off in…however long? She frowned and slammed the wall again. The neighbours would probably come in to complain soon. Still, Alice kept herself from cursing, there was something wrong. There was something very wrong.

Did her boss have anything to do with it? That was the next question that entered her mind. Did Lord Hendri Pentel know what had happened, or was he even the one to decide on it? His behaviour had gotten strange lately, she realised. And that was something. He’d always been obsessed with… something. He’d never told anyone what exactly, but he’d spend hours in the library, and later in the basement, according to her co-workers. They said it was a family obsession, that he’d get over it when he got married.

But when that woman, the one he called his wife, entered the household he’d gotten even stranger. Many of the people who worked for the Pentel family were asking if he’d even officially gotten married to her. He’d never answered, so rumours continued. Alice had always believed he’d gotten married to the woman; he wasn’t the kind of person to not marry her. And he wasn’t the kind of person to throw out his family’s good name either.

Whoever was responsible though; her day out was ruined. She could go to one of the local parks, but she felt like that would only make her anger towards the entire situation worse. And she shouldn’t go out at all; she had the feeling she might hit someone from the city council should she run into them.

“It hasn’t been a year yet,” Leandra commented as she looked up from her book.
“Does it feel like it’s been a year?” Hendri laughed, “it feels to me like you only arrived here yesterday.”

Leandra paused as she looked back at her book without reading a single word. Once again Hendri wished he could read her mind, see what she was thinking about at any given moment. Leandra looked up at him and smiled.
“You’re right,” She said, although her voice was in a slightly higher pitch, showing her confusion.

Hendri put down the notes from the previous meeting of the city council. It had gone disastrously; they had asked all the wrong questions and he had almost been forced to answer them. He’d made his way out without giving them the answers he wanted to keep to himself. They wanted the truth; they wanted to know why people couldn’t be allowed to leave the city. And Hendri couldn’t keep the charades up for eternity.

So instead he had to unlock the basement again and go down there. Everything had been as he’d left it. It pleased him to see that nobody had broken the seal before him. And now he had to make sure that even with the basement unlocked nobody would enter. It would raise more questions if anyone saw what he was keeping down there.

But right now they still listened, and agreed that Hendri and his father hadn’t gotten along well, and that the fact that Hendri didn’t want anyone to honour his father was, if not reasonable, understandable.

Hendri smiled at himself, realising he had everything he wanted in the present. There was no more need for the past, nor any need for a future.

Then he realised he’d have another meeting with the city council today. He could only wish that the measurements he’d taken would work out. But, he thought as he looked at his wife, everything seemed to be fine. The panic she’d had before was gone, she seemed content to stay here again.

If things worked out the same at the city council he’d have solved all of his problems. At least temporarily, he thought. He’d have to find out what had happened before and how he could prevent it from happening.

He needed time so he could understand everything that had happened the last few days. Time he could only hope he had.

Because he didn’t know what would happen to him, to his wife, to everyone, if time ran out before he could learn the problem.