Holes & Strings

The sliding doors at the center of the restaurant slowly slid open just by a few inches. Then, it opened all the way.

The windows of houses came open. Villagers peeked out of their shelter to see a bright blue sky.

Xylo was one of the first people to step onto ground after the mist had left the village. He looked around in awe.

Later in the day, Xylo and the others were at the inn. With the exception of Lafiet, they were all in the boys’ room, waiting. Xylo was by the window, making sure everything was alright outside. Brandon was resting on the bed. Idalene was sitting on the end of a bed and Malica was sitting on a chair beside a wooden drawer.

Lafiet walked into the room.

“What’d you find out?” Xylo asked.

“I have encouraging news,” Lafiet announced. “No one was reported being harmed.”

They remained quiet, waiting for Lafiet to go on.

“However, several people were found unconscious,” Lafiet continued. “But the medics speculated that is was due to fear.”

“Is that so?” Xylo responded.

“That’s right,” Lafiet said. “Those creatures you said you saw probably walked right passed the people.”

Lafiet picked up his black bag. “There’s more,” he said. “Some villagers confirmed they saw a cloaked man heading toward Mailca. We can catch him, guys.”

They gathered their belongings and made their way to Lafiet’s ship. In no time, the ship set sail.

“Malica, huh?” Brandon mumbled.

“That’s where my parents met,” Malica said gently.

Brandon froze. Malica looked out into the sea. Brandon looked over at her. She was silent. He looked out at the sea and chose to be silent, too.

Some time had passed. The sun was no longer rising. Seagulls flew beside the ship as it pushed through waves.

Xylo walked up the steps at the back of the ship that lead to where Lafiet steered the ship. Xylo notice Lafiet’s tired eyes.

“Can’t you let the ship cruise while you get some sleep?” Xylo asked.

“Yes, I can,” Lafiet replied.

“Then why don’t you?” Xylo responded.

“I don’t like sleeping while sailing,” Lafiet insisted. “I like being aware of what’s going on at sea.”

“I can understand that,” Xylo said.

Idalene began calling up to them. “Hey, you guys,” she said, “there are several ships quickly approaching us. What’s that about?”

Lafiet turned his attention to the northeast. Big, sturdy wooden ships with purple sails were almost on them.

“Oh, no,” Lafiet silently gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Xylo questioned.

“This is upsetting,” Lafiet mumbled.

Lafiet started pulling a rope that put his ship’s sail away.

One of the four ships pulled beside Lafiet’s ship. On that ship, a man in silver armor revealed himself.

“By the authority of Queen Milayla,” he declared, “you are all under arrest!”

“Under arrest?!” Idalene said.

Other men in armor began setting up a thick, sturdy plank, preparing to board Lafiet’s ship.

“Lafiet?” Xylo muttered.

“It’s no use,” Lafiet said. “The queen’s fleet consist of rammers, which are designed for speed and durabilty. This ship would never see another day if I tried to flea.”

The queen’s men boarded Lafiet’s ship.

Xylo and the others had their hands tied behind their backs. They were then escorted to the other ship. Some of the queen’s men stayed on Lafiet’s ship so that it wouldn’t be left behind.

“We didn’t do anything!” Brandon shouted.

The queen’s men didn’t respond.

“There must be a mistake,” Idalene insisted.

The queen’s men sat Xylo and the others in a dusty corner of the ship. Xylo looked at Brandon and then glanced at Lafiet. Lafiet had his head down.

The ships sailed. Time went by; the sun had gone down hours ago. The moon’s light illuminated the ocean waves.

A man in armor approached them. “We’re here,” he said calmly.

Xylo peered down the ship. He could see that they were at the docks of Exandrial. He could also see someone standing on the land with their hands on their hips. It was Queen Milayla.

Xylo was the first to be escorted off the ship. The others followed. Soon they were all off the ship. They were lined up in front of Queen Milayla. She paced before them, examining each one.

“I am ashamed of you all,” Queen Milayla commented.

She continued pacing herself.

“I’m quite in awe,” she added.

“We don’t know what you are talking about,” Brandon blurted.

Queen Milayla stopped and turned to Brandon. With her eyebrows up, she put her hand on her chest and held her head back.

“Is that so?” Queen Milayla responded. “You wouldn’t happen to know how else twenty-thousand gold pieces were stolen from me?”

“Queen Milayla,” Xylo said, “I assure you, we haven’t a clue what you are speaking of.”

Queen Milayla frowned and turned her attention to Lafiet. She walked towards him. He raised his head.

“How dare you, Lafiet,” Queen Milayla jested.

Lafiet remained silent.

Queen Milayla laughed under her breath.

Xylo looked at Lafiet.

“You stole twenty-thousand gold pieces and twenty diamonds from me,” Queen Milayla said.

Lafiet didn’t utter a word.

“You stole twenty-thousand gold pieces and twenty diamonds from me,” Queen Milayla continued.

“It was my money!” Lafiet shouted angrily and annoyed.

“There it is,” Queen Milayla responded. “Money I had not given you.”

“What does that matter?!” Lafiet barked.

“What you did was wrong. Would you want others doing that to you? Taking things from you before it officially belongs to them?”

Lafiet became noticeably silent.

Queen Milayla stood in front of Lafiet. She held out her hand.

“I’m confiscating your map,” she said. “You are no longer working for me. You have lost the privilege to possess that map.

Lafiet reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled out the rolled-up map. He then handed it to Queen Milayla and lowered his head.

Xylo watched as Queen Milayla began to smile malevolently.

There was a brief silence.

Queen Milayla looked back at Lafiet. He had a small smirk on his face.

“Search him,” Queen Milayla commanded her men.

Two of the queen’s men patted down Lafiet. One checked above Lafiet’s upper body and the other checked his hips and below.

A map was pulled from Lafiet’s left boot.

“Well, well, well,” Queen Milayla said.

Lafiet grit his teeth.

The rolled-up map was handed to Queen Milayla. She opened it. It was an amateurish drawing of the actual map.

“Maps are a rare sight,” Queen Milayla. “And then you go ahead and make a copy, a poor one, at that.”

Queen Milayla looked at them all. “Take them away,” she said with a smirk.

“We weren’t with Lafiet!” Brandon exclaimed.

Queen Milayla looked at Brandon. She looked at him for a few second, then said, “Let them go.”

With the exception of Lafiet, all of them had the ropes taken from them.

“As for you Lafiet,” Queen Milayla added, “your trial is in five days. Lock him up. Be sure to check him for any more copies of a map before you lock him away. His look of dismay could possibly be a ruse.”

Milayla walked to her castle. Her men followed, bringing Lafiet along with them.

“So, now what do we do?” Idalene asked.

“Hey,” someone hissed from the direction of the town.

They looked and saw a middle-aged man with light-brown hair in a robe. He was motioning for them to go to him. They walked to him and he met with them halfway there.

“Come with me,” he said. “I’ll take you all in. There is plenty of room at my home for you all to stay.”

“Pardon me, sir,” Xylo said. “If I may ask, who are you?”

The man turned to Xylo and said, “My name is Lale. I’m Lafiet’s father.”

Lale walked away, motioning for them to follow.

They followed Lale through the town. Candles lit the streets. A gray cat meowed as it skipped passed them. They walked by brick houses on brick roads, and even crossed a small brick bridge.

Lale stopped in front of a huge house.

“I recall seeing you last time we were in Exandrial,” Xylo stated.

“Yes,” Lale said while taking out a key to unlock the door. “You probably saw me watching my son leave.”

Lale opened the door. They walked in behind him and were in awe. The inside of the house was decorated in royal red. There were gold trophies, shiny vases, awards on plaques, and other high quality items. In front of the front door were the steps to the second floor. To their left was a living room with couches and chairs. It was lit by candles. To their right was a dining room with a long table. But it was too dark to see the room in detail.

“Have a seat,” Lale said kindly.

They all sat down in the living room. Xylo and Idalene sat on a curved couch. Next to them, Brandon and Malica sat on a smaller couch. Kale sat on a couch across from them.

“This isn’t good for my son,” Lale started. “The queen is a force to reckon with.”

“We’re not sure what to do from here,” Xylo said.

“Will Lafiet be okay?” Idalene added.

“My son,” Lale said, “is a strong one. He always has been. It’s probably due to my frequent absence during his youth. I was a hard working man. Lafiet was too young to understand that all the things I did was for our family. He took it as abandonment. Because of this, he is resentful towards me, and our relationship is strain. While I helped him develop good character, he is still prone to making unwise decisions here and there. I toiled days and nights to make sure he, his mother, and his sister were alright. But he couldn’t see beyond the feelings of abandonment. Sometime into his late teen years, he began to show great contempt toward me, to the point of ignoring my existence. We haven’t spoken in years, even though I’m always a block away when he is in the kingdom getting assignments from the queen.”

“We’ll go to the queen tomorrow,” Xylo said.

“Given how the queen is,” Lale responded, “Lafiet may have little to no hope. The anger she displays in situations like this provides a small glimpse into her true nature.”

Lale got up from the couch.

“You all are free to sleep down here if you are more comfortable,” Lale said. “There are three guestrooms upstairs at the end of the hall. Use them however you please.”

Xylo and Brandon shared one of the guestrooms. Idalene and Malica shared one of the other guestrooms. Moonlight shined in both rooms.

Xylo was in bed. His back was facing Brandon, who was in the bed across the dark room.

“Lafiet’s dad is like royalty,” Brandon whispered. “Did you see all those awards?”

“Yes,” Xylo replied softly. “He’s a man of many accomplishments, a hard worker indeed.”

“So,” Brandon whispered. “First thing in the morning, we go visit Queen Milayla?”

“That’s right,” Xylo replied.

“Got it,” Brandon responded.

The morning came. Birds were chirping. The kingdom’s people were awaking. The streets started to fill.

In a dungeon under the castle, Lafiet was opening his eyes. He was in a small rectangular room made from rock. His back was to a wall. About twelve feet in front of him were bars. His wrists were chained to a wall.

A barred window high in the wall was letting sunlight in.

“At least it’s day time,” Lafiet mumbled.

Lafiet saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Someone else was in the cell with him.

“I thought I was the only one in here,” Lafiet said.

The other person in the cell was a young man. He was chained to the wall with short chains. He wore gray glasses and had a golden-brown ponytail that came down to his waist. His head was down and he appeared to have a rope gagging his mouth.

Lafiet noted that the other prisoner was gagged.

“You look about my age,” Lafiet said. “I wonder what landed you down here.”

The prisoner didn’t budge.

“You’re pretty quiet,” Lafiet continued. “Say, why do you have the rope around your mouth? They didn’t do that to me. Although I’m sure you would have preferred that they had.

Meanwhile, Xylo and the others were just walking into Queen Milayla’s great hall. She was sitting in her chair enjoying her quiet time.

“Good morning, Queen Milayla,” Xylo said. “We wanted to speak to you about Lafiet.”

“I’ve been expecting you all,” Queen Milayla said. “State your concern.”

“Is there any way you could let Lafiet go?” Idalene said.

“He stole from me,” Queen Milayla replied. “What sense does it make for me to let him go?”

Queen Milayla nonchalantly shrugged.

Back under the castle, Lafiet sighed.

Lafiet looked over to the other prisoner. “Milayla is not going to go easy on me,” he said.

The prisoner adjusted his shoulders. Lafiet looked closer and saw the prisoners rope come undone.

“Whoa,” blurted. “Were you holding that in you mouth the whole time?”

The prisoner raised his head and looked at Lafiet. “To answer your question from earlier, my name is Aniraco.”

“Perplexing name,” Lafiet replied. “My name is Lafiet.”

“You’re right about Queen Milayla, Lafiet,” Aniraco said. “You are going to get the worst of it from her. If it wasn’t for me, she’d be three times worse.”

“What do you mean, ‘if it wasn’t for me?’” Lafiet questioned.

“I’m sure you know Queen Milayla acted very differently up until five years ago,” Aniraco replied. She was the meanest and harshest person I had ever met. But she is no longer able to operate like that.”

“Are you telling me you did that to her?” Lafiet said in astonishment.

“Yes,” Aniraco replied. “I was being arrested for something I let get out of hand. When her men brought me to her, she acted very unruly. Of course, I had heard how bad she was of a person. But I never would have guessed she was that bad. I let my anger get the best of me and—”

“You enchanted Milayla,” Lafiet interrupted.

“Yes,” Aniraco admitted.

“She can still behave in her old ways, though,” Lafiet said. “I’ve seen her do it.”

“Is that all you think you saw?” Aniraco responded. “Queen Milayla is free to act however she pleases. No one can control another person. But, as a result of her enchantment, if she treats others unjustly in anyway, she will become terribly sick for three days.”

“I do recall hearing about her sicknesses,” Lafiet said.

“The sickness that befalls her is almost unbearbable,” Aniraco continued. “It doesn’t threaten her life, but it does cause her skin to become pale. The skin around her eyes become dark. Her nose runs. Most notably, she experiences overwhelming nausea. That is the icing on the cake. I’m sure she looks quite miserable when it happens.”

“You are something else, you know that,” Lafiet snickered.

Aniraco looked out at the barred window.

“Lafiet,” Aniraco said. “Have you ever heard of a lullaby?”

“Yeah,” Lafiet replied. “Of course. A lullaby is a song played for little kids or babies.”

“You are correct. They are usually sung to little children and infants. Some people use lullabies to sing their children to sleep.”

“What about them, lullabies?”

“Well. I wasn’t talking about those kinds of lullabies. I was talking about the kind of lullabies that musicións play. Do you know about them?”

“Not at all.”

“Many skilled musicións can play what is known as a lullaby. With the exception of the one who plays the song, anyone else who hears the lullaby will fall into a deep sleep. The deep sleep happens after the hearer blinks three times.”

“I suppose musicións don’t have problems getting their kids to sleep, huh?”

“I suppose . . .”

Lafiet looked at the sunlight and sighed. Aniraco took note of the sunlight, as well.

“Lafiet?” Aniraco began.

“Yeah?” Lafiet responded.

“You want to see hear something cool?” Aniraco said.

Lafiet paused.

“It’s a melody that allows you to amplify your voice,” Aniraco continued. “It’s called ‘Melody of Vibration: Song of Vocal Extent.’”

Aniraco began licking his lips.

Lafiet’s eyebrows rose. “You’re a musición?” he asked. “Why are you even down here? Why would she lock you up? Why did she gag you?”

“Questions, questions, Lafiet,” Aniraco responded. Yes, I am a musición. The queen has me down here because I played a melody of death.”

“What?” Lafiet squinted.

“It wasn’t on purpose,” Aniraco replied.

“I have no room to say anything negative about your past choices,” Lafiet smirked. “And the gag? What’s the story with that?”

“The queen did, in fact, gag me with that rope,” Aniraco inform. “But after it was undone, I had to act like I was still gagged so no one would notice when they came down here. All I had to do was bite on the rope.”

“You ungagged yourself?” Lafiet asked.

“No. I was visited.”

“Huh?”

“A visitor cut it for me. There were two of them. They actually visited a few times prior to ungagging me. One was wearing a black cloak. He exhibited the guise of an old man. The other guy was a bit peculiar. He toys with melodies fearlessly. He isn’t afraid of even the dangerous ones.”

“Who were these visitors?”

“My rescuers.”

Suddenly, a smaller side of the castle exploded. The people in the town turned their attentions to the castle as they saw smoke rise into the air.

Xylo and the others kept their balance as the castle shook from the explosion.

In the prison, Lafiet’s eyes were wide open.

“It’s time,” Aniraco said under his breath. He licked his lips and began to whistle a tune.

“What’s going on?!” Lafiet shouted.

Aniraco finished whistling. He then yanked his wrists free from the chains. He stood up and faced the bars to the prison-cell. “I wish you well, Lafiet,” he said. “My next destination is the Southeast Temple.”

Lafiet stared, speechless.

Aniraco began whistling again. As he whistled, he effortlessly bent the prison-cell bars open. After ended his whistling, he stepped through the bent bars and was free.

Aniraco cleared his throat and said, “ahem.” His voice could be hear around the kingdom. The towns people became silent, listening closely to the sound they weren’t sure they were actually hearing.

Lafiet noticed the chains around his wrists don’t feel the same. He looked up at Aniraco.

Aniraco began whistling, once more. The continuous tune echoed through the whole kingdom. It sounded pleasant and caused the people of the kingdom to feel relaxed. Some people looked into the sky, wondering wear such a blissful sound came from.

Lafiet watched Aniraco walk up the stairway to the left of the prison-cell.

The chains around Lafiet’s wrists felt like rubber. He squinted at them and then yanked his wrists free. He blinked. “This is not good,” he mumbled in distress. He exited through the bent bars of the cell. “How can I possibly go without blinking?”

People around the kingdom began dropping to the ground.

In the queen’s great hall, the melody was clearly audible.

“It’s a lullaby!” Xylo exclaimed.

Two of the queen’s guards in the great hall collapsed.

“What is going on?” Queen Milayla asked in disbelief.

“Someone is playing a lullaby,” Xylo responded. “If you blink three times you will fall into a deep sleep.”

Queen Milayla grabbed something from behind her chair. She plugged her ears with earplugs. Then, she covered her ears with her hands, fearful of hearing the lullaby even a little bit.

“I can’t keep my eyes open much longer, Xylo!” Brandon exclaimed.

“Neither can I,” Idalene added as her eyes watered.

Suddenly, Queen Milayla fell to the ground.

“Everyone, close your eyes,” Xylo commanded. “And keep them closed.”

They all shut their eyes in relief, feeling a slight burn from not blinking.

“Why did she just collapse?!” Brandon asked.

“Not hearing the lullaby did nothing for her,” Xylo said. “The vibrations of the lullaby cause the deep sleep. The impact of the vibrations on your body results in deep sleep.”

“Is anyone in here?!” a voice from the great hall’s entrance called out.

“Lafiet!” Brandon gasped.

Lafiet was feeling on the walls in order to find his way around. His eyes were closed, too.

“I’m glad you’re all still awake,” Lafiet said as he slowly walked to them. “I figured out that the key is to keep your eyes closed.”

“We have about thirty minutes before the queen wakes up,” Xylo informed.

“Thirty minutes until Milayla wakes up,” Lafiet repeated.

They all headed outside.

“Xylo, I know where the healing musición will be,” Lafiet said. “There was another prisoner locked up with me. He was a musición. He is meeting the guy you are looking for at some location.”

“That will be our next destination,” Xylo replied. “Let’s get off this island as soon as possible.”

The group followed Lafiet as he guided them out of the castle.

Lafiet stepped outside of the castle, with the rest of them following closely behind. The rest came soon after. The lullaby that plagued the air had finally stooped.

Xylo and the others paused. Soon, one by one, they began slowly opening their eyes. The whole island was silent.

“Looks like it stopped,” Brandon said.

“What a relief,” Idalene said.

Xylo began walking forward. As he looked ahead, he could see tons of the townspeople on the ground.

“We should be making our way to your ship, Lafiet,” Xylo said. “Where did the prisoner say he was heading?”

“Some place called ‘Southeast Temple,’” Lafiet replied.

“What?” Idalene gasped.

“You’ve heard of that place?” Brandon asked.

“Yes,” Idalene replied. “Back when I was younger, my father traded in that area. I haven’t actually seen the Southeast Temple. It sits in a huge forest. My father traded right outside the forest.”

“Do you know how to get there?” Lafiet asked.

“Yes . . .,” Idalene replied. “But I haven’t been in the forest before. I don’t know my way around the inside. It’s actually a really dangerous place. I’ve never known anyone to go inside. My father didn’t want to trade anywhere close to the forest. But, at the time, there were many people in need and that was the only way to meet with them to make the trades.”

Xylo and the others rushed towards Lafiet’s ship.

“How do you suggest we go about handling this dangerous forest, Idalene?” Xylo asked.

“I have an idea,” Idalene answered. “We have to go back to the place where I met Xylo and Brandon. Lutef. There is someone there who will be able to help us. He knows his way around the forest.”

They arrived to Lafiet’s ship and boarded it. Several of Queen Milayla’s men were asleep on the ship.

“It seems she had them guarding my ship,” Lafiet said. “We’ll have to move them.”

Lafiet picked up one of the queen’s men. Xylo got on the other side and picked up the man’s feet. The others helped get all the men off the ship.

Lafiet pulled a rope and the sails of the ship fell down. The ship began to cruise.

Brandon looked out into the kingdom as the ship moved in-between the town streets. He could see the people peacefully sleeping. The town was still quiet.

“Eerie, isn’t it?” Idalene said as she walked beside Brandon.

“Yeah,” Brandon replied.

Brandon looked at Idalene. “I didn’t think we’d be going back to Lutef anytime soon,” he said.

“Me either,” Idalene said. “But it’s necessary. We’re not going to Lutef just to get directions for the forest. The person we need to meet may have information on how we can stay safe. I don’t know why that place is dangerous. All I know is there’s something inside that forest.”