Chương 16: Chapter 15: The Weight of Words

Kaela let herself drop onto the warm rock beside her with a sigh that seemed to release the entire weight of the morning. The scrawny little anurhy, as if waiting for that very signal, crawled up next to her and collapsed onto the loose dirt with a faint croak of satisfaction. Without ceremony, Kaela broke the brown bread in half, the crumb releasing an aroma of rye and heat and passed a portion to Selena.

They ate in silence for a few moments, the crunch of the bread and the murmur of the water providing the only soundtrack. It was the tanner who eventually broke the air, her voice measured, like someone carefully unearthing a fragile, sharp-edged truth. —Selena— she began, staring at the crumbs in her lap, —you hate the nobles because your father lost everything to them, don't you? I was thinking about it.

The gate taxes in Terracanto went up when the Mayor arrived, but throughout the barony, the merchants have been complaining about the second grain tax this year. And that always drives up the price of fabric... Kaela didn't add more. She left the words suspended in the warm air an invitation to confirm, to deny, or simply to fill the void with one's own truth. —Yes. It was the taxes— Selena said at last, her voice rasping but low. —I don't know exactly which one; Papa didn't talk about it.

He just said the numbers didn't add up, that the burden was too much. Then... well, you see how I ended up. She made a vague gesture with the hand holding the bread, encompassing her humble clothes, the knife at her side, and the precarious shelter they shared. It was a story that fit another piece in the borrowed identity she was constructing. A crafted identity, full of cracks and shadows, but one that at least possessed the texture of truth. Kaela tossed a piece of crust to the anurhy.

With surprising speed, the creature flicked out its long, sticky tongue and caught it mid-air with a dry snap. —So, you ran— Kaela continued, as if speaking to the animal, though her words were aimed at the void between them. —I understand that. I ran, too. She paused, and when she spoke again, her voice had a flat, metallic tone, like the edge of her knife. —That night... I had stayed up late working the leather. The master tanner, my...

employer, had stayed behind playing cards with his friends, like so many other nights— Her hands, resting on her knees, tightened slightly, her knuckles turning white. —When I finished, I went to the back room to show him my work. And I heard him, talking to one of them. Her breathing quickened slightly. —He said: 'Yes, the girl in exchange for everything on the table. I swear I'll deliver this time.' The words left her lips as if spat out, laced with ancient poison.

A slight but visible tremor ran through her arms. It wasn't fear. It was rage. A contained rage, fermented through sleepless nights, finally finding a chink through which to breathe. —I understand you, Selena. Running because the one you think protects you... betrays you. To sell you. Instead of paying his own debts— She fell silent, and the stillness that followed was more eloquent than any scream. Selena did not look at her; she fixed her gaze on the horizon, where the weeping willows melted into the sky.

Kaela, for her part, stared at the animal at her feet, as if she might find a reflection in its bulging eyes less painful than that of her own memories. It was then that Selena spoke again, and her words were neither empty comfort nor condescending pity. They were a raw, precise recognition, born from a place within her that felt admiration for the strength of the girl sitting beside her. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

—You are an incredible woman— Selena said, and the sigh that accompanied her words was deep, laden with a genuine emotion that surprised even her. —To keep going after all that. To even be kind, with the little you have. What you did for me today... She paused, searching for the right words. —But I don't just mean that. You keep giving whatever you can to those around you. Even to this hungry little anurhy. You are... a warm person. In a world that insists on being cold.

She kept her eyes on the sky, unable to face the reaction her words might provoke. What she heard was not an immediate reply. It was a brief, stifled sound: a small sob, barely a gasp forced through a suddenly congested nose. When she finally turned her head, she saw Kaela. She wasn't looking back. Her eyes were pinned to the clouds, but down her dust-streaked cheekbones ran two clean, glistening lines. The tears slid down silently, inexorably.

Kaela wiped them away with a sharp motion of her forearm, leaving a damp trail on her tanned skin. Selena spoke clumsily. —I'm sorry, I didn't... — she began but was cut off. —Do you always say such beautiful things? — Kaela's voice sounded hoarse, still fragile with emotion, but there was a genuine wonder in it, almost a tender accusation. Selena remained silent for a moment. Wasn't kindness common? she thought to herself.

Something in her deepest core, the residue of the man of the earth, perhaps, or simply the lucidity of displacement, shouted at her that no, it was not. In this world, disinterested kindness was a dangerous rarity, a vulnerability. Kaela's tears were the proof: they were the reaction of someone whom the hardness of life had taught that kind words were either a luxury or a trap. It was one more contradiction, another crack in the reality she was trying to understand.

Resigned, she answered with a half-truth that nevertheless resonated with an authentic depth in her chest: —No— she said, and her own voice sounded strangely vulnerable. —I say it because... even if the story wasn't exactly the same, I understand what it is to lose everything and have to keep going. So much so that, many times, you don't even recognize the person you see in the morning's reflection. A sudden tightness gripped her sternum, an echo of that first horror in front of the stained mirror.

The taste of phantom blood reached her throat. Kaela nodded slowly. A long, weary sigh escaped her lips. —My mama used to say: 'No one is coming to save you, daughter. Learn to save yourself.' — A forced smile, tinged with bitter resignation, traced her face. —Quite a pair we are... She shook her head. —I suppose the saying the Solendri merchants repeat is true: 'Birds of a feather flock together.' Selena offered a bitter smile.

—Each individual can only love in another that which reflects their own essence— she said, the phrase flowing with a natural ease that contrasted with its melancholic content. She sighed deeply and looked Kaela directly in the eyes. The intensity of the tanner's gaze, now clear and stripped of sarcasm, pierced her. —I heard it from a cantankerous old man. But it's true. A sharp, familiar pang hammered at her right temple.

Kaela nodded again, savoring the words, letting their weight and truth settle in the space shared between them. The silence was comfortable this time, charged not with secrets, but with a mutual understanding that required no further explanation. It was the little anurhy who, restless or seeking more attention, crawled until it was between them. Kaela, with an instinctive gesture, began to stroke its rough back. The creature emitted a soft croak, almost a purr, and closed its bulging eyes.

Selena watched her, fascinated by the scene of tenderness in the midst of such harshness. —Pet him— Kaela said without looking at her, her voice recovered and practical once more. —Or are you afraid of him? Selena hesitated for only an instant. Then, she extended her hand slowly. As she touched the anurhy's skin, a strange sensation ran through her. The texture was damp, cool, slightly grainy.

It reminded her vaguely of a slime from some fuzzy childhood memory, but another pang, fainter this time, struck her forehead. She shook her head, not in rejection, but to clear the confusion. She continued stroking the animal, which seemed to puff up slightly with pleasure under her touch. Then, as if understanding it was on safe ground, the anurhy clumsily rolled over and showed them its pale, softer underbelly. Both women smiled and, without the need for words, began to stroke the creature's vulnerable belly.

The anurhy croaked with happiness, its back legs kicking lazily in the air.