The Silent Place - words 38,770

The sun had begun its work banishing the morning chill from the air. Its gentle touch warmed their backs as Magda weaved through the now bustling streets, as she led him to the heart of the city. There were only two places in Palandor which had not followed the stepped fashion of the other buildings. The first was the barracks, a massive open parade ground flanked by sturdy bricked buildings on all sides, and the Solarium of Solkarus. The Solarium was the thriving heart of trade in Arundel(rename) and merchants traveled from all over Alorica to peddle their wares to the citizens of Palandor. In the center stood a glass pyramid which towered over the stalls. When the sun reached its peak, its rays kissed the structure and split sending countless streaks of rainbows throughout the market.

The main road ran alongside the Solarium and a constant stream of people and carts pushed their way into and out of the mass of stalls. As they strolled through the winding maze of crowded tables Flynn scoured the goods on display and relished the sheer otherness of the Solarium. They were pushed this way and that as throngs of people surged between the booths in the hopes of stealing a bargain from their neighbors.

Merchants proclaimed their unique wares and exotically dressed men and women showcased weapons and armour in flashy displays of sinewed skill. They gave the food stalls of the Solarium a wide berth, lest Derick change his mind and set them to work, but took the time to slowly pass through the spice vendors, each stall smothering them in delicious scents they could never afford.

They finally made it to the rear of the Solarium which ended abruptly in a row of houses separated by dozens of meandering alleyways. It was down one such alley that Magda guided them stopping just inside, near a pile of discarded timber logs and a large damp woolen blanket. There was a rustle of cloth as she grabbed the corner of the blanket and pulled it to the floor revealing a small hole just large enough for someone to crawl through. Then, with a mischievous grin, she disappeared into the tunnel. Flynn hesitated for a moment then followed her through.

The sudden darkness blinded him temporarily. As he waited for his eyes to adjust he heard Magda whisper to him from up ahead.

“Put the blanket back!”

Cold stone pressed against his worn shirt as he turned awkwardly in the tight tunnel and stuck a hand back out the hole. Unable to see from his position, he groped around blindly until he felt the fabric of the blanket brush his fingers. One sharp tug later and the blanket fell across the hole, plunging him into darkness.

“Where are you?” he whispered.

His voice seemed very loud in the cramped tunnel. He lifted his head a little to try and see Magda and smacked it on a hard surface above him. His heart thudded hard in his chest as he thought of how much weight was directly above him.

A muffled scuffle reached his ears from up ahead, “It’s not far.” She whispered into his ear.

The warmth of her breath on his skin sent tingles down his spine and his neck hairs stood on end. Her fingers ran down his arm then found his hand and she pulled him gently through the tunnel. After a few short turns they emerged from the cramped tunnel into a small courtyard bounded on each side by the flat white stone of the abutting houses. It was roofed by a rough wooden lattice that had been overrun with vines. Thin shafts of lights peaked through the gaps and rested on an unassuming well tucked away near the far corner of the room.

“What is this place?” he said quietly.

He wasn’t sure why he whispered but something told him to speak loudly would be wrong… Disrespectful.

Magda’s green dress flared as she gave a little twirl through the grass on her way to the well “It’s great isn’t it?” she whispered.

She leaned over the low wall, her hair hanging loosely across her face as she stared into the dark waters below. Flynn joined her resting his hand on the edge of the well and peering in. The stones were smooth and cold under his fingers. A small piece of dirt broke away from one of the bricks and fell into the water.

There was a flash of white. A pale thin face stared up at him in shock, eyes misty pools of pearly white, then disappeared as a pulse of heat flashed up his arms and into his chest. He threw himself backwards with a shout that echoed around the silent sanctuary.

“I see her too” said Magda quietly.

Flynns heart thundered in his chest as he fought the urge to run. Only the the stationary form of Magda staring longingly into the well stopped him from sprinting across the courtyard and scrambling back through the hole.

“Who is she?” he said.

Magda trailed her fingers across the stones as she slowly stepped backwards from the well stopping once the waters had faded from view.

“I think she’s trapped,” said Magda.

Flynn tried to make sense of her comment but failed. Not wanting to look like a coward when she was so calm he let the matter rest.

“I thought a lot about the night before my father and I left while I was gone you know,” she said looking up at him.

Flynns mouth went dry and it felt as though his adams apple had suddenly filled his throat. Her pale green eyes captured him and rooted him to the spot as she slowly walked towards him. The silence of the courtyard pressed in on him and he was certain that Magda could hear his heart as it renewed its vigorous pounding in his chest.

“I’ve been noticing you for a while now. I thought that you had noticed me too” she said.

“I always see you” Flynn croaked.

Her gentle finger found his lips, silencing him in an instant.

“You live in your head Flynn. But I don’t…” She removed her finger from his lips and held his hands in each of hers “You weren’t ready.”

He felt a tingle across his skin as the edge of a moment built around them.

“I’m going to kiss you now Flynn” she said then leaned in.

Her lips gently touched his and time stood still. Her hair tickled his face and the faint smell of iron from her fathers forge filled his nostrils. Then all too soon, she pulled away.

Flynn opened his eyes and saw her standing awkwardly in front of him.

“So?” she said quietly.

Flynns ears were ringing and his body felt as though it might burst with excitement but his mind was completely calm. For an instant he thought it funny that she was the nervous one, after all the sleepless nights he had spent berating himself for not kissing her back, then he remembered the woman standing in front of him waiting for his response. He stepped forward and kissed her back.

Sometime later Magda slid slowly backwards and rested her head on her folded hands she had rested upon his chest. Her leg draped possessively over his thigh and he felt the warmth of her skin through his thin pants. The warm fog that had protected them from the world seemed to gently peter away.

“What’s wrong?” he said running a hand through her hair.

He didn’t want this sudden escape into bliss to stop.

Magda tilted her head lazily to one side and smiled at him. Then she sat up and gave a long slow stretch. Flynn gazed unashamedly at her body as her back arced and her clothes tightened across her chest and hips. She caught him staring and gently flicked him on the nose.

“We need to go to Asher,” she said.

Flynn groaned and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. He couldn’t imagine anything worse than rhetoric and arithmetic when the sun was shining and Magda was at his side. He opened his eyes again and saw Magda standing with her arms folded.

“If we are late then your father will ensure your days are filled with endless jobs while I’ll be stuck all alone wondering how I ever found someone so unavailable so tempting,” she said “I’m sure our parents would also be curious as to why we both didn’t make it to our lessons.”

Flynn pushed himself upright so fast his head swam. He staggered a little then steadied himself.

“Shall we go then?”

Magda entered the tunnel first and disappeared from view. Flynn took one last look at the tiny courtyard and smiled at the impressions their bodies had left in the grass. Then his eyes lighted on the well and a feeling of unease briefly fluttered across his stomach. Pushing the image of the women in the water from his mind, he ducked quickly into the tunnel after Magda.

The trip to Ashers’ house was uneventful and within fifteen minutes they had made their way back through the Solarium, up the main road, past the barracks and through the winding streets to his door. A lone door seemed to have been squashed between the abutting buildings as an afterthought, the hinges of which were bolted to the stone of the house on the left rather than it’s own door frame.

Flynn lifted the heavy knocker and struck it against the dark timber. A boom, far louder than to be expected from such a small entrance, echoed from behind the door.

“Enter,” came a deep voice from the other side.

Flynn forced the heavy wooden door inwards, its rusted hinges screeching in protest. He held it open for Magda, who stepped gracefully over the threshold. Their footsteps echoed off the hard stone walls as they descended a familiar yet roughly-hewn staircase, chiseled into the bedrock beneath the neighboring houses.

With each step, the narrow passageway opened up, revealing a large, dimly lit cavern. The space was stuffed to the brim with an assortment of overcrowded bookcases, strange contraptions, and tables overburdened with stacks of wizened leather tomes. The warm glow of cheap candles, suspended from metal fixtures on the rough walls, permeated the air with a waxy aroma that quickly invaded Flynn's nostrils.

Flynn resigned himself to the next few hours of drudgery as the musty aroma of ancient parchment pushed past the waxy smell of the candles. The fire in his heart that had been stoked by his morning with Magda flickered and died leaving him longing for the lesson to be over in the hope of restarting the flame.

Asher was bent over a map he had secured to a round table in the center of the room. Flynn knew the table well having spent countless afternoons tracing the hundreds of strange symbols carved into the steel dreaming to be outside as Asher droned on about various boring subjects. Even though he had spent a significant chunk of his life looking at them, he had never managed to memorise them all. Secretly he had suspicions that they changed when he was away.

Asher rolled up the map as they approached and placed it on a bookshelf at the back of the room. His heavy feet thumped scraped noisily across the floor as he shuffled slowly through the jumbled mess to greet them.

“Welcome back Magda,” said Asher placing hands the size of shovels on her shoulders and kissing her gently on the forehead.

Then he turned his gaze on Flynn “Whose ire did you raise?”

Flynn opened his mouth to retort but Magda cut him off.

“It wasn’t his fault,” she said then quickly explained to Asher what had happened between Kealen and Flynn.

The old man listened quietly then once again turned his attention on Flynn “A group of men do not blend in to the wall, you should have seen them and avoided them, pay attention next time. Should you fall into fighting again, you will not return to this place until your wounds have healed.”

“Yes sir,” said Flynn fuming silently. It seemed everyone but Magda was against him today.

“Come in and settle down then,” said Asher as he headed slowly back towards the table.

Magda and Flynn followed him into the maze of bookcases.

“It’s not my fault they attacked me!” whispered Flynn furiously to Magda as they wound between the stacks of books “Not that I would expect him to know anything about the real world anyway. I’ll bet the closest he has ever been to a fight is in one of his books...”

Magda gave him a little smile then shushed him quietly.

“Flynn, could you bring the Chronicles of (name) to the table?” called out Asher pointing to a large stack behind Flynn.

With a heavy sigh and much slouching and stomping of the feet, he turned around and found the stack in question. It was leaning at a frightful angle but he managed to grip the bottom most book then lean the stack against his chest. There were so many books that his sight was obscured by leather bound pages forcing him to walk in an awkward sideways shuffle.

Just as he rounded the last turn to the table he felt something sweep his feet out from underneath him. There was a moment of confusion as the world turned upside down then the ground met him with an unforgiving smack. Forgotten mysteries slide over his face and torso as the chronicles collapsed on top of him. Flynn was so shocked by what had happened that for a moment he lay stunned staring at the roof.

Ashers face appeared in his field of vision. The deep wrinkles surrounding the dark eyes that stared down at him crinkled at the corners, “I know enough about the world to understand the best time to attack someone is when their attention is elsewhere.”

The face disappeared and Flynn sat up, causing a minor avalanche of books. Humbled and embarrassed that this was the second time today someone had caused him to hit the ground in front of Magda, he picked up the books and quietly placed them on the table. The chair creaked slightly as he sat at the table where he tried not to look at her. A few seconds later he felt her hand find his underneath the table.

“Once again you have overestimated the strength of hardwood. This would collapse under even the slightest weight. Try again.” said Asher sliding a half finished hand drawn series of planks and measurements to Flynn.

He scowled down at the paper then grabbed a pencil from a table behind him and set to work. It had been weeks since Asher had given him the task of designing something to lift a fully loaded wagon onto a ship. The premise was simple but the actual creation of the design was excruciatingly complicated. Asher had already scrapped two of his designs stating they were unsafe.

“I have nothing for you Magda until Flynn catches up. Have you anything you wish to research yourself?” he asked.

“There is something, but I don’t expect you to know much about it,” said Magda looking at the table.

“Oh?”

The image of the woman in the well flashed across Flynns mind and he glanced sharply at Magda.

She looked up at Asher eyes bright with excitement “What do you know of the Duantha? We met one during our travels through (town).”

Flynn looked up from his paper with interest. The Duantha were a constant pillar of high society however it was incredibly rare for anyone, other than kings and lords, to ever meet one.

Asher ran his fingers through his thick graying beard “Did you converse?”

“Not really,” she said shaking her head “She, I think it was a woman anyway, asked about the harvest and bought some of our oats. After that she bowed and headed off again.”

His fingers sent a dull echo around the room as he drummed his fingers idly against the table.

“Knowledge of the Duantha is closely held and well policed,” he said stroking his thick graying beard “this is not a topic I wish to discuss.”

Magda slumped back into her chair with a look of disappointment. Asher pushed himself upright with a grunt and shuffled over to an over stuffed bookshelf. He rummaged around one of the lower shelves then straightened up with low groan and shuffled over to the table. There was a thump as he tossed a small brown leather covered book across the table where it skidded to a halt in front of Magda.

“Wilmunds litany of noble houses. Once you have read this we will discuss how they fit among the Three Kingdoms and what role they play in trade and war.”

With the possibility of finding out more about his vision in the well now quashed, Flynn quickly lost interest and forced himself to concentrate on his original task as Asher’s voice droned on and on. While time had stood still for Flynn, it seemed that the rest of the world had not taken it upon themselves to notice.

They escaped from Ashers house just after third bell. Snippets of a melancholy melody told Flynn the Eternal Ode had reached the fall of faith. He stopped for a moment and let the notes wash over him. The fall of Solkarus was his favorite story in the legend of the Sun God.

Solkarus had placed his trust in (role of person) who had then poisoned his drink the night before battle. The golden god had fallen into death where he had struck a deal with the warden of death. Filled with fury he had risen from his funeral pyre and led the charge into the enemy army, scattering them to the winds. After the battle he tracked down (name of the person) and had them sacrificed to the warden in place of his own soul.

Magda nudged him gently with her shoulder “What shall we do?”

Every part of his body told him that they should head back to their secret paradise.

“I should walk you home,” he said with a heavy sigh.

Magda gave a small laugh then linked her fingers through his and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“There’s always tomorrow,” she whispered in his ear raising the hairs along his neck and arms.

Flynn walked back from Magdas house in a daze. He couldn’t recall what he had said to her father but he was dimly aware he had promised to do something for him. What he did remember was the soft trace of velvet across his palm as her fingers parted his and the faint smell of flowers as her hair flicked over her shoulder when she waved him goodbye.

As he rounded the corner of his street he shook his head in an effort to push Magda from his mind. It would do him no good in the coming battle of wits with his father for him to be anything less than ready. Especially after his run in with Kealen this morning.

He walked up the familiar street past the white washed faces of the houses. Thin wooden tables took up half the road as many families prepared themselves for dinner.

Flynn hurried by smiling and returning greetings as he rushed to reach home. Derick and Nora had already prepared the table and a fat rainbow coloured fish sat in the center surrounded by a dozen tiny rolls. Clearly they had a successful day at sea.

Nora rose as he approached and gave him a kiss on the head “Will Corwin and Magda be joining us tonight?”

Flynn cursed himself internally. “I may have forgotten to extend the invitation,” he said haltingly.

“How hard did he hit you?” said Derick popping one of the rolls into his mouth.

She glanced down at the huge fish on the table “It’s too late to go get them isn’t it?” said Nora ignoring her husband “I guess we can salt it and keep it in the cellar.”

Flynn took his seat next to his mother and gazed out over the city. The final rays of the sun were falling behind the mountain. Thousands of tiny lights were beginning to spark into life as families sat down to eat the final meal of the day.

Nora lit their candle then carved a fillet from the fish and laid it on his plate. The soft pink flesh melted like butter in his mouth and he closed his eyes as he savoured the delightful flavour of freshly caught fish.

“So what did you two get up to today?” asked Derick.

Flynn inhaled his food in surprise then erupted into a coughing fit as his lungs tried to rid his body of the fish. Derick slapped him hard across the back until he finally managed to dislodge the chunk that had stuck itself in his throat. Tears streamed down his face and his cheeks burned like fire as he fell back into his chair.

“Not much,” he gasped out finally.

Derrick snorted then winced as Nora elbowed him in the ribs.

“They are back early, we weren’t expecting them for a few weeks yet. Did Magda say why?” asked Nora.

“The first frost fell last week. The farmers have no time for repairs or improvements when they are trying to bring in the harvest,” said Flynn glad to have a distraction from his choking fit.

Palandor sat at the base of (mountain) while the rest of the kingdom was situated far higher and in land. It was not uncommon for it to be snowing two days march from the city and completely dry with only a mild chill in the capitol.

“We’d best stock up before prices get tight then,” said Derick.

“How was the market?” said Flynn quickly turning the conversation from Magda and himself.

Derick scowled and flicked a bone off the table. Nora tutted but didn’t try to stop him.

“We were inspected today,” growled Derick.

“What? Why?” said Flynn.

The inspectors of Palendor were a hated profession by all walks of life. Their purported purpose was to ensure that quality standards were maintained across the many different disciplines found within the city. Given powers to inspect any business at any time without warning an inspector would almost always find something to fine you for. Common practice was to bribe them with whatever goods you were selling and hope they didn’t come back tomorrow.

“I’m guessing it had something to do with your altercation with Kealen,” said Derick.

Flynn felt a hot pulse of hatred shoot through his veins. The bastard had everything yet he still went out of his way to punish those with nothing.

“Did they find anything?” said Flynn.

“Oh no, Stibbs let us know they were coming long before they appeared,” said Nora.

A small sigh escaped his lips as relief washed over him. He would have felt terrible if his parents had to pay the price for his folly this morning. Flynn cut himself another fillet from the fish before remembering his conversation with Corwin.

“Oh! Corwin asked if I would like to help out in his forge tomorrow,” said Flynn shoveling the fillet into his mouth.

“Did he now?” said Derick “Well you best get there bright and early. Make sure you pull your weight you hear?”

Flynn nodded and focused on his food. They sat in silence for a while and watched the sea grow darker and darker. When the moon was just about to rise over the horizon, Nora excused herself then quickly cleared the table and went inside.

“You need to be careful Flynn,” said Derick quietly sitting back in his chair gazing into the night.

“Of Kealen? I’m sorry the inspectors went for you today but I didn’t even touch him!” said Flynn.

Derick raised a hand and Flynn fell into silence “Of Magda. The (last name) have been very dear friends to us for decades. You treat her with respect, you hear?”

Flynn’s mouth dropped open for a second then he slammed it shut and nodded.

“I’m serious Flynn. If you do wrong by her, there will be (hell) to pay,” said Derick.

His fathers deep brown eyes, almost black in the limited light from, pierced him like an arrow and rooted him to his seat.

“I would never,” whispered Flynn.

“Good lad,” said Derick, then he too went inside.

Flynn sat alone outside and stared out into the darkness. Earlier today he had been blissfully unaware of anything other than the fantastic luck that had landed him alone with Magda. Now he felt a tinge of fear as his private dreams of what they would do alone together smashed hard against the rock that was his father.

He sat there a long while as he mulled over what to do. The moon had risen over the horizon and the sky had drifted into darkness when Flynn finally moved. He picked up their chairs and deposited them inside, then folded up the table and leaned it against the front wall. It was just as Magda had said, he was over thinking things. He would worry about the future when there was something to worry about.

Dim light seeped into the house through cracks in the shuttered windows and the small gap beneath the cold stone door. He tip toed swiftly across the room to the stairs and listened at the door of his parents room for a moment and heard the reassuring sound of his fathers light snoring before continuing up the stairs.

His own door was wide open and pale moonlight flooded through it and down the steps. He walked through then pulled the door quietly shut behind him. He kicked his boots into a corner and hung his shirt and pants over a long rail that ran the length of the room. His bed sat below the window with the wooden shutters thrown wide open to welcome the moon.

Laying atop of the thin mattress he stared at the roof and let wonderful fantasies of the days ahead play across the pale stone ceiling. Now that he was alone he couldn’t get the thought of Magda out of his mind and the memories of the hours alone with her played over and over in his head. The urge to hold her in his arms again surged through his veins, to see her and tell her how much she meant to him.

He threw back his sheets. It was time he followed his heart. He was going to see Magda.