The Children of Calm (3 page)

Suddenly she had the unsettling feeling she was being followed. Stopping under the warm yellow light of a brass lantern post, she looked over her shoulder. She peered through the darkness, scanning the street-space between houses, but she could see no one. Yet she still felt a deep apprehension that someone was watching her, for she distinctly felt a piercing stare. Making up her mind rather abruptly, she quickened her pace to her home. As she hurried along she listened for any footsteps that might fall on the cobblestones, but she heard nothing. However, the uneasy feeling in her stomach would not lessen.

Finally she arrived home and felt instantly relieved once she and the twins were inside and her front door was bolted shut. The fireplace was still lit, miraculously, and she tucked the children warmly into the cradles sitting not far from the fire. She had gladly opened her house to Retessa when she was found in the pass, and was fascinated by her condition. Retessa always suffered from extreme confusion, and was constantly calling people by other names. She had no memory of where she had come from or who she was, but bore it all in a way that made Penephoni marvel. She had a gentle, melancholic spirit, and often Penephoni awoke in the night to the sounds of Retessa weeping.

She looked down at her hand and saw she had been lightly running it along Selenor’s cradle.
Ronas is a master of his craft,
she thought to herself. Then she thought of Retessa’s empty bed in the second bedroom and a pit of emptiness ached her stomach. A single tear splashed onto her hand.

It’s a good thing I don’t drink
.
I’d really be in a world of hurt tonight.

To help take her mind off things, she instead brewed herself a pot of peppernut tea and intermittently hummed old melodies from her childhood. However, she could not keep herself motivated to do so for very long. As she sat in front of the fire with a cup of tea in her hands, her eyes rested on its dancing flames as though their light and heat could burn away the dark memories of the last several hours. Finally, the emotional drain paid its toll, and she fell into a dark and dreamless sleep.

Chapter Two:

News from The Outside

The following morning
the people of Calm held a small memorial service for Retessa. The sky was gray and looked to bring snow, with a chill wind that ached the bone. Everyone gathered around a freshly dug tomb in the cemetery field on the western edge of town. The proceedings were short, and as Penephoni noticed, while Caenar gave the eulogy he surprisingly did not talk much about Retessa at all. Instead he addressed a vague hope for the future that was now before them in the form of the four children. Penephoni, now privy to the secret knowledge of the prophecy, thought that maybe he felt the other events of the previous night should not be overshadowed by a near-stranger’s mysterious death. But this left an uneasy feeling in her stomach that told her something felt wrong. Retessa was most certainly not an evil person - she had adjusted surprisingly well to a life with strangers, especially considering she had forgotten everything about her past - but Penephoni could not help feeling Caenar was somehow treating her as a criminal.

A quick scan of her surroundings revealed a solemn congregation. But once again Penephoni was drawn to Celek, who looked as though he were attempting to hide a tempest of emotions. Their eyes met and she recognized great sorrow, hopelessness, and wrath storming in his glance. He quickly looked back to the ground, leaving her to wonder again at what he might have been hiding.

When Caenar was finished with his eulogy, Penephoni studied him again and was suddenly struck with the notion that he appeared to be shouldering a great invisible burden. He promptly but seemingly reluctantly walked away, and stopped in front of two graves. One was marked
DAPENI TOCELEN
and the other
AMILLA TOCELEN
. She knew these to be where his wife and their daughter were buried. His head hung low as he stood motionless for a few moments, and then slowly turned away, gradually blending into the gray day.

He obviously feels some loss
, she thought to herself as she pulled her coat tighter around her body.

***

Life settled back to normal as the days progressed, and Penephoni thrived on mothering Selenor and Tresten. Her own husband had died in a village-shaking accident several years prior. She had done all she could to save him when they had brought his limp body to her, but he had been beyond hope. The only way she could cope with her imagined failure was to devote herself to medicine in such a way that she could not afford to become attached to another man. Therefore her life was consumed with the wellbeing of the village and raising the twins.

The morning after they were born, some of the villagers had brought gifts to the new family: baskets of freshly baked bread, bundles of potatoes, turnips, cabbages, carrots, onions (all straight out of the community greenhouse), jugs of water and milk, blankets, and piles of chopped wood. Then there were hats, mittens, shirts, pants, and booties for the twins. The women, and especially the younger girls, were constantly in and out to coddle over Selenor and Tresten. Penephoni often employed some of these to watch over the twins as she tended to her duties around Calm.

They were fairly quiet for newborns. In fact, Tresten literally never made a sound, and would not respond to speech or song. Penephoni was forced to feed him based off Selenor’s vocal cues, and she began to fear he was deaf or mute. Her logic countered that only time could really tell. Otherwise they were splendidly behaved. And everyone was fascinated with the twins’ eyes, for they were something marvelous to behold: both sets of eyes were of a blue so deeply dark that they seemed to be black. Selenor’s were flecked with tiny dots of silver, while Tresten had a silver ring around his pupils with silver streaks that radiated out from them. It was not long before Penephoni gave nicknames to each of them – Starry Sky for Selenor and Midnight Sun for Tresten – and the village as a whole referred to them as the Evening Children.

Meanwhile, Rylek and Lana were being raised by their parents, Faltir and his wife, Clarina. In contrast to Selenor and Tresten, Rylek and Lana were very vocal, which would leave some of the neighbors grumbling in the middle of the night when they were awakened by the children’s summoning for a meal. The neighbors would never publicly complain, of course, for it could prove disastrous for the Council to find seeming dissention within the village.

The women were in and out just as much to visit Rylek and Lana as they were for Selenor and Tresten, though these twins were more fidgety than Selenor and Tresten were. Instead of being held for long periods of time, they would rather lie down and thrash about the air with their pudgy arms and legs, as though they were warding off unseen foes. They were large, strapping babies, just like their father had been when he was young. Rylek’s eyes were a bold bright blue, while Lana’s were a lighter, softer blue, and it was not long before the people of Calm began referring to Rylek and Lana as the Morning Children.

It was Caenar who first suggested having all four children spend time together everyday, “to be rooted in friendship and loyalty to each other,” as he put it. Penephoni was more than happy to likewise spend time with Clarina. Clarina was tall and lithe, with long flowing red hair that shone with the might of the sun. Though her frame was thin, she possessed a strong heart and will, and many women in the village feared to be on her bad side. Few ever saw it, for she was a peaceable woman, content care for her family and all of their needs. Her smile could stop a charging beast, as it was whispered among the villagers; Penephoni did not doubt it.

As she stood in front of the mirror brushing her hair, Penephoni took a minute to study her reflection. She was in her late thirties, yet still retained a much younger looking face. Her black hair was thick and straight, falling just past her shoulders. Her figure was fuller than Clarina’s, and she momentarily wondered how much fuller it would have been had she borne the twins naturally.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a rustle on her front step. “Knock knock!” came Clarina’s voice from the front door.

Penephoni rushed over to help her with Rylek and Lana. “Oh, do come in!” she said as she arrived at the door.

Clarina looked elegant as usual, and her smile was somehow warm and shattering at the same time.

“Let me give you a hand with your two,” Penephoni continued.

The women brought the little bundled packages to a large soft blanket laid out on the stone floor in front of the fireplace. As Clarina took off her overcoat and mittens, Penephoni carried Selenor and Tresten to the blanket also. The two made small talk as they settled down into comfortable chairs by the fire.

After a few minutes there was a pause, and Penephoni took the opportunity to ask her something that had been on her mind for awhile. “Clarina, what do you know of Retessa?”

Clarina looked at her and said, “Well, not much at all, though I suppose I know what everyone else knows: she was a pregnant amnesiac who wandered into our village. You diagnosed her yourself. Why do you ask?”

“There’s something that’s been bothering me for some time now,” Penephoni said. “I haven’t told anyone this besides Elder Caenar. The night that…our children were born, there were two objects that fell from her ears. They were small and round - one was solid and the other looked broken or popped. And there was this smoke that came out of one of her ears, as if the object had caused it. I guess I was wondering if you had ever heard of something like that before.”

Clarina looked puzzled and said, “No, I can’t say that I have. You are the doctor, and therefore would know more about these things than I would. Why ask me?”

“Well, I think it seems pretty obvious that this was not some medical condition,” Penephoni said. “Unless she had some mutated things growing in her ear canals. But they were clearly not organic in nature. Don’t you find it suspicious?”

“Who knows where she came from, and what sorts of things she was into?” Clarina said, waving her hand as she spoke. “You know we don’t exactly keep up with all of the trends that go on in The Outside. Maybe it was some fashionable jewelry she wore, or a type of drug she was addicted to. Retessa was an enigma, an unsolved mystery that left us with two children and a lot of questions. I think it might be best for all of us to put her behind us and move on by caring for Selenor and Tresten the best we can.”

“But surely she has family somewhere!” Penephoni said. “In fact, before she died she called out for her father. We can send messengers out to track them down. They’re probably worried sick wondering where in all of Calabranda she is. It boggles my mind that we never even attempted anything when we first found her. Now, of all times, it seems most dire for us to find them. Besides, you of all people should know the importance of finding one’s family, no matter what lengths one needs to go to.”

Clarina sighed. “Believe me, I do. But in my situation there were leads to go on and ideas as to where to look. But we know nothing of Retessa – goodness, Retessa knew nothing of Retessa! – so where would we even begin? All we truly know is that Celek was on his way back here from an errand Caenar had sent him on when he discovered Retessa half-buried in the snow in Solemn Pass – a mere few minutes’ walk away from warmth and safety here. Perhaps she was fleeing from danger, or she had placed herself in some form of trouble and was attempting to start her life anew. Besides, she could not have gotten this far in her condition if she had been from a far away place. If she had family, I feel certain they would have looked for her here already.” Clarina paused and leaned in close to Penephoni, placing her hand on her arm. “Maybe it is best to assume she was looking for sanctuary for her children. And if that is so, dear Pen, keep her children safe and do not let us dig too deeply to uncover her past. Who knows what form of danger or evil was after her?”

Penephoni looked at Selenor and Tresten as they lay sleeping. They were so small, so still. The rise and fall of their chests as they slept was gentle and soothing, the same way the lake’s gentle flowing was lulling. From the fireplace came some snapping and popping as the wood shifted. Everything seemed safe here, Penephoni admitted to herself. She sighed and said, “Maybe keeping them safe is all I can do.”

Clarina smiled and squeezed Penephoni’s arm. “I have a feeling that is all she would have asked,” she said.

Tresten began to stir a bit. Penephoni looked down at him, and he turned his face towards hers and looked into her eyes. There he held her gaze for a few seconds, unblinking and unmoving. Then, just as quickly, his eyes closed again and he was fast asleep.

***

A few hours later, after Clarina had taken Rylek and Lana home, Penephoni found herself nodding off by the fire. Selenor and Tresten had slept most of the day, content to be covered under soft warm blankets. Watching them sleep for so long was rubbing off on Penephoni, and with the sun going down and the warm gentleness of the fireplace, she had almost slipped away to steal some sleep when a loud knock came on her door.

“Penni!” called a voice. “Penni, open up! It’s an emergency!”

She jumped out of her chair and ran towards the door. When she opened it she saw Ronas supporting a man she had never before seen. The stranger was large and looked unconscious. “What happened?” she asked. “Who is this?”

Ronas brought the man inside after she got out of the doorway. “I’m not sure,” he said. “I was out checking Solemn Pass when I saw him lying in the snow. When he didn’t respond I decided I’d better come bring him here to you.”

“Well, it certainly looks like hypothermia, at least for a start,” she said. “Here, help me wrap him in some blankets and set him by the fire.” Ronas obeyed and they propped him up in a chair. Then she started shuffling through pots in the kitchen. “He looks malnourished,” she said. “I’ll bet he’s been wandering around for quite awhile without any kind of sustenance.”

While she was preparing a stew and some peppernut tea, Ronas decided to build a makeshift bed out of blankets and cushions in front of the fire on which the man could lie. Meanwhile, others from the village, including Caenar himself, began coming in to look upon this new exciting addition that had unexpectedly dropped into their world. But Penephoni had nothing to offer them. “I’ll let you all know when he wakes up,” she said. “Till then, please give him solitude and peace.”

As everyone was leaving, Caenar walked over to her. “You will alert me as soon as he regains consciousness,” he said. “I fear he brings evil news.”

She nodded and said, “Of course I will.”

He smiled and left, leaving her alone with two babies and a nearly frozen stranger. She looked at the unconscious man.

I wonder if he’s looking for Retessa,
she thought.

***

Two days had gone by before anything of note happened. Penephoni had been caring for the stranger by warming his body and managing to slip some broth and tea into his mouth, all with no reaction whatsoever. But late one afternoon some murmuring began to come from his lips. She rushed in just in time to see his eyes slowly open, look around his environs, and close again.

“Where am I?” he asked in a low, scratchy whisper.