Eden: The Eighth Day Part 1

Vita struggled, her senses obscured by the internal red mist that had become so familiar, as five guards manhandled her out of the stocks. There was no way she was going to cause any more trouble. Not today. Not in this palace. The guards dragged her up to her feet and for the first time she saw her buyer. Its face was like a dark pit beneath its reaper’s hood and its body masked by an impenetrable cloak – it could have been anyone or no one.

It produced a set of clanking metal chains and Vita looked at them, the soft skin of her forehead wrinkling with anxiety. Each link was as thick as her wrist and it produced five branches, each with an equally intimidating cuff on the end, and the fifth was longer than the rest, enabling the owner to lead its cattle. Whatever this beast was, it was certainly taking no chances.

Vita’s anger spiked. This was her life! It was her freedom that the thing was going to steal from her. Surely that should be a sin! She would never belong to anyone but herself, her brother and the image of her parents’ memory. The hood stepped towards her with those chains and she felt like a cornered animal. With every ounce of remaining strength she could summon, she fought for her freedom.

Her arms flailed at the three guards who still restrained her and she managed to free one arm and land a vicious blow across the veiny red cheek of one man. With one almighty spin, she managed to free herself from the rancid guard’s grip, but the sheer force of the movement flung her backwards and straight into something solid; her mind mustered up a bull. It was warm and the scent of sweet flesh drifted through her nostrils and for just a moment she was transported.

She couldn’t tell where to but she felt peaceful. She felt like she belonged; she looked up to see the sky, not a red cover like Mendacia, but beautiful blue with a bright yellow sun and fluffy clouds. The streams didn’t bubble and spit, they trickled and snaked with blues and foamy whites. What is this place? she wondered, overwhelmed by a sense of familiarity.

With a snap, the icy weight of the first cuff secured a wrist, her illusion now broken. With each of the three subsequent snaps, Vita felt her heart sink further and further into her stomach. She thought of her brother, of Virgo and Petrus, even of Sera and Kayin and she felt a single tear snaking down the contours of her face and tasted the salt as is slipped between her parted lips. She shuddered as the faceless being turned, as though to examine her and stepped purposefully forward. It reached inside its cloak to produce a hessian sack which it raised above Vita’s head. She could feel it scratching her hair and then her forehead and nose before everything became pitch black.

‘Where you headed?’ one of the guards asked. ’Need us to drag ’er there for you?’

It simply shook its head slowly from side to side and took up the end of the heavy chain like a feather. The sheer power of the being causing even the burly guards’ hands to produce a subtle tremble. It turned and began to walk and Vita couldn’t do anything but follow.

She set off slowly and tentatively, only having her senses to guide her. She thought back to her training with Agil and tuned into the sounds around her. She found it soothing to disappear in this way, like the bird in the emperor’s chambers beneath its own satin blanket. Without the ugly sights of the city, she could go anywhere.

They walked for what seemed like hours in her imagined nirvana until, quite suddenly, she was brought back to reality with a hollow bang on what Vita presumed was a door. She felt the chains drop and heard the hood’s footsteps walking away from her. She heard the door creak and she was guided into a room. She stood motionless but trembling and she could feel a bead of sweat rolling from her forehead.

‘You have nothing to fear here,’ a woman’s voice startled her. ‘Sit, child, you must be exhausted, there’s a seat to your rear. I am Minerva. I know you must be shaken up by your ordeal but, please, let yourself calm. I have often found that nerves can weaken our resolve and hinder our progress and your resolve and progress, dear Vita, is my highest priority. I want only the best for you.’

The voice was heavily accented in a way that Vita had never heard. Everyone in Mendacia spoke with the same rusty drawl and Vita couldn’t place her, although there was an uncomfortable familiarity to her accent. She spoke with an angry, rasping tone and sounded almost intelligible, but somehow, soothing.

Vita could tell by the slight jitter of the speech that the lady was elderly. As she let the woman’s reassurances sink in, she felt her shoulders begin to slouch, her heart slowing to a mellow drum and she suddenly felt very tired. ‘W-where am I?’

‘The wheres are of small importance, child,’ the woman said. ‘Your stay here will only be brief.’ She sighed a saddened sigh. ‘You look so uncomfortable in those awful chains and that ugly sack.’

Vita rolled her ankles as she sat. She dipped her head to try and pull at the sack, but the chains were too tight. ‘I am,’ she answered nervously. Her voice sounded muffled through the hessian sack. ‘C-could you help me remove them?’

‘I’m afraid that’s not possible,’ the lady said. ‘I regret your pain but it would be a terrible mistake for you to look upon me now.’

Vita breathed deeply and shuffled in her seat. She was at least beginning to relax slightly and felt her spark returning. ‘So, who are you?’ she asked. ‘That was a huge sum you paid for me. Why? What do you expect from me?’

‘Nothing. I only wanted to see you.’

Vita felt her shackles rising. Before today, she hadn’t known such a huge sum existed in Mendacia. Something wasn’t right about this. ’Nobody in this city would pay such a sum in return for nothing. You must want something from me?’

‘You be a very clever girl, Vita. You are as curious and quick as a snake and these are great gifts, but sometimes, you be too stubborn in your persistence. It be wise to accept what I tell you and leave it be.’

Vita remained silent for a few moments. She wondered how this woman would know how stubborn she was. She knew it was true, but how could this stranger? And how did she know about her ordeal? Unless… ‘Are you from the palace too?’ she asked, hoping to perhaps locate the strange accent.

‘No,’ she replied. ‘You don’t know the place where I come from. But be assured that we all know you well enough.’

‘We?’ Vita asked, wondering if she could sense the woman’s smile.

‘Yes,’ the woman said brightly. ‘There are many of us.’

‘Where is it?’ Vita asked. ‘I know everywhere in this empire. I used to go all around with my father. He used plants and venom in his medicines so I would help him gather the plants at least. Although I was never much concerned by the snakes, we seem to have a mutual, avoidant understanding. I have even spent many an afternoon exploring the serpents’ lair. I leave them alone and they leave me alone.’ Vita paused, taking a sharp breath. She couldn’t remember the last time her conversation had seemed to flow so easily.

The memories of her parents brushed over her like a gentle breeze, feeding and soothing her. The invisible wall she had built for herself was useless here, she seemed to know so, but, she didn’t care.

‘Just trust me, child,’ the lady said.

And as she said it, Vita realised that she did. She did trust this woman.

Vita let her mind wander and the stresses of the previous days melted away. She felt as though she had come home. And now it seemed like all the horror she had seen and experienced was insignificant. She saw a flash of a very different future and dared to let herself believe that this woman would give her the freedom and security she longed for. She let out a deep, satisfied sigh. ‘I suppose I will see for myself soon enough,’ she finally said. ‘I suspect you have already made plans to collect Castus? I doubt my presence back at the palace would be a welcome one.’

‘Ahhh,’ the woman paused. ‘I am sorry, it seems I haven’t explained myself very well. I’m afraid you can’t come back with me, child, not yet at least. You have too much to learn here, in Mendacia. You be too important to the cause. It would be too dangerous for you out there.’

Vita stiffened, no longer listening to the woman. She felt stupid for believing she was a saviour. Of course that wouldn’t be the case. Not in Mendacia. She tried to force back up the barriers, despite knowing it was pointless. This woman could see into her soul.

‘They were to sell me to a man who will kill me!’ she said, quietly. ‘That is surely more dangerous than anything else I could face.’

’I know that must be a disappointment to you. I just wish I could explain. Whatever horrors the city throws at you, they are only mild compared to what you would face outside it. There’s many a soul who wishes to find you. And if they did? Well, that just doesn’t bear thinking about. Although it may not seem it. You are safe in the empire. Just try to remember that. One day you will understand. I am sorry, Vita.’

‘Why would you pay so much just to send me back? You tricked me! I thought—’ Vita stopped, her voice cracking with the hot salty tears pouring down her face.

‘I am sorry,’ the lady said again. The desperation broke through her voice. It pained her to see the girl so hurt. If only she could explain everything to her fully. She felt her heart constrict with the pain of having to send such a young, fragile thing back to the horror which she believed she had escaped.

‘I promise it isn’t like that. I never tricked you. I just needed to see you.’ She had to give her something, anything! Some hint at her importance, so she could at least hold on to that. ’I needed to make sure you are OK. The pain you have suffered has weighed heavy on us all. Thomas and Abelia were true souls.

’We believed you would have a better life with them, safe and loved. But now, beneath the emperor’s roof, you must be careful. Please, I can’t tell you anything else. I just can’t. But he is your only threat here. Don’t give him rise for any suspicion. Please, for your own sake, behave! That temper of yours will tip him off if you don’t learn to control it.’

Vita tried to make sense of what she was being told. So many questions and her mind so very tired. She knew she should try to find out more but somehow, she couldn’t find the words. ‘I – I don’t really know what to say.’

‘No,’ the lady said. ‘I’m sure you don’t. I know you must have many questions but now is not the time. I was foolish to tell you so much but now, you can at least begin to understand why you must return.’

‘Will I ever find out the whole truth?’ said Vita.

’I hope so. We will come for you. That I promise. As soon as the time be right.’

‘But where will I go now? I have no place at the palace and no one in the town will help me.’

‘You will go back to the palace, it is all arranged. Just try to stay strong. It is all for the best, I promise.’

There was a banging on the door and Vita knew it was her time to leave. She heard the woman stir and supposed she would be walking towards the door, but then felt two shaky hands take either side of her face. The woman planted a kiss on her forehead and Vita was overwhelmed by the sweet scent she had smelled from the hood.

Once again, she was transported. This time the sky had white fluffy clouds floating in it, different shapes and sizes. She saw her hand reach out as if to touch them, when something flitted past her vision. A bird, like in the emperor’s chamber. She had never seen one uncaged and was quite taken aback by its sweet beauty. She leant back onto a carpet of lush green grass, so unlike the dry yellow sticks that were scattered around Mendacia in miserable clumps, and smelled that sweetness again. Turning, she saw a desert of yellows and pinks and blues, every colour she could imagine, all beautifully delicate. She smiled.

Vita stopped only when walking into what she presumed to be the hooded figure. She felt a fiery heat on her arm through the stiff fabric and felt what could have been the solid torso of the figure. Except it felt too huge, or maybe that was because her senses had been stunted for so long.

She heard the chains clatter to the floor and the sound of another banging on a door and then, daylight once more as she watched the sack flop to the marble floor. It took her a second to adjust, but she knew where she was. Back at Malum’s chamber door. She rolled her wrists and ankles, pleased to be free of the heavy weights, but suspicious of the woman having delivered her right into his clutches.

She spun quickly to see the hooded figure disappearing around a corner. She caught only a glimpse of a hand steadying itself on the wall. She inhaled sharply at the sight. The colour of the skin was different to anyone she had ever seen. It was a dark, charcoal colour and looked as smooth as silk with the palm as pink as the roses the emperor grew in the courtyard.

Surely if someone with skin so dark should walk the streets of Mendacia, they would be the talk of the town and, no doubt, like herself, be labelled a monster. A conversation with Agil drifted into her consciousness. The survivor of the Octavo fights. The man who Agil said had simply vanished. Orion?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the clanking of bolts and her stomach sank as the door creaked open.