SOML – Chapter 2: People’s hopes and dreams

 Chapter 2 – People’s hopes and dreams

…

A pair of shoes echoed in the silent dark room. But two eyes lighted up the way. He halted and spoke to the darkness before him.

“Father.” The space churned, disturbed. A volatile aura spread out, it was intangible, and only caressed the clothes of the man.

“You are here, Fierce Face.” The space murmured. It was a voice of an elderly. Yet, the strange thing it was still vigorous. “I will go into seclusion. I will hand the place to you and take charge. Plan the upcoming festival and help the awaited wedding.”

“Yes, Father.” There was no change in his expression. His eyes brows stayed straight and his chiseled jaws moved with the right amount of motion.

“I’m grateful. I am confident with your hands. But I will be more grateful if you recovered from your knot. Wiser if you took care of your daughter.” There was a mixture of relief and guilt on the sigh. It echoed everywhere, but the man remained unflinching and silent.

“You are the same with your friend, that Silver Bore. That is the only thing you two have and will hinder you. Wearing that face will not help you. It is not too late. Same with that guy.” The tone returned to its vigor with a couple of chuckles and jested him.

This point, the man smiled miserably. “She took after you.”

“She is still unruly. But today, she agreed to my arrangement.” The man inhaled, comforted but still doubting the news.

The voiced quipped. “That’s my granddaughter! She is intelligent, she is just like that because you don’t care for her.”

“I care…” The man hesitated. Closer, his brows moved with slight curve.

“Reluctant to admit? Do actions speak louder than voice? It does, but you need to say something too! Let her feel it.” The nothingness berated him. He was silent once again.

“By the way, call that Squinty Brat. I have something to tell him. I am positive with my son, but other people might take advantage.” This time, the voice chilled. If the man wasn’t sure, he would say that the aura solidified from freezing.

“Yes, Father.” The man turned away. Yet, before he could take a step, the voice sounded again. It asserted.

“The time has come to our clan. It is our era. I am close. I sensed it. It might reach a week or a century. By then, I hoped you let go. I feel the same, but brooding on it will not change a thing.”

He listened until the voiced had ended. With closed eyes, he took a stride.

…

Huap. A group of travelers landed at the county. The travelers caught on their sight the long solid wall and massive wooden gate. They looked in awe as they examined the various marks of time expressing the resiliency and the tides it had weathered. They wiped their sweat and took canteens of water to drink. It was a relief that they arrived on their destination. The group was worn out, but they nevertheless arranged their tasks in accordance to the arrangements of the guards.

A man, wearing a tattered shawl, with a tattoo of scaly and fanged animal on his left arm, their leader, surveyed his surroundings. When he saw the child who travelled together with them, he couldn’t help but smile while walking towards the latter.

“Hey Jed!”

“Hello Sir.”

“You really want to go here? There are many schools out there. We even passed a few of them.” The leader embraced the child’s shoulder. It was a light touch, not overstepping the other’s space and still looked friendly.

The child bowed his head, shy, but he still replied with a soft voice, “My parents said that they planned here for me. I’ll follow their word so I won’t disappoint them.” The child smiled as he looked at his surroundings. His small fist, under his cloak, tightened.

The leader only nodded. “Okay. But don’t be shy when you needed help, got it? I’ll do your accommodation later. I still need to flex more so I can finally dispose of this baggage.”

“Thank you, sir.” His smile was thin.

The leader laughed with full of heart. He removed his arm from Jed before bidding the boy a goodbye. There were many things they needed. Jed also had to help. They needed to arrange their products and plan their business venture in the county. They also needed to cooperate and coordinate with the county with the papers and procedures.  

But for the little boy, none of it mattered. He had to plan his future. He was alone right now. These people could not help him forever. So, right after he finished counting the rare fishes swimming in the aquarium and the exotic lumbers covered in insect repellant and weathering conditioner, only a small part of their products, he moved towards one of the guards.

He looked at his pocket and saw that he only had five silver coins and three bronze coins. But he didn’t hesitate and gave the guard with one silver and the remaining bronze coins.

The startled guard didn’t accept or reject the bribe readily. “Hello Little Brother. What I could do for you?” He asked.

Jed exhaled to hide his nervousness. “Sir, may I know any recent events happened in the county.”

“Well, the county is peaceful. We are awaiting the bountiful harvest.” The guard laughed a little. He continued, “The festival is coming. So, don’t miss it.”

The boy nodded but brief. He exhaled, wanting to elaborate but he was slower.

“Do you recognize the man with the title ‘The Meteor’? He is engaged now. His wedding will surely bring prosper to the county. Everyone would like to witness that event and bless the lovebirds.” The man’s face lit up and explained with a warm tone.

Even he really doesn’t know about the man they called Meteor; the child managed to not let it on his face. “I see. Thank you, sir.” Jed bowed and reached out his fist.

“Eh? That’s all you need?”

The guard felt shameful. So, he waved his hand in rejection towards the boy. He knew about informants, many outsiders wanted inside information; hence, he didn’t underestimate the child in front of him. He spotted the child from the caravan and figured what he was up to.

The guard scratched his head. “Little brother, you need not give a tip for asking these kinds of question.”

“Hm.” Jed observed once the leader giving money to one guard before during the journey, so he judged he would do the same. But it appeared there was a difference between the two.

The guard examined his blank look with a perceivable honest aura during their conversation and concluded that this child was still innocent on many things. Thus, he considered of giving him advice. “Okay. It was like this. You’ll only give tip if you needed crucial information. For example, the current market or a military excursion. Sometimes, the politics can be shaky, so you ask for that too to avoid trouble later.”

“But asking for simple question, everybody will love to tell you about it!” The guard patted Jed’s head.

“I understand. Thank you.” Jed put the money back into his pocket. It was heartfelt for his money was saved.

Jed was a shy boy. But he was very perceptive. He took everything he saw inside his head ‒ memorize, compile and arrange each information he saw.

Still, because of his lack of actions, his information was not much. More often than not this came to bite at him, just like the current situation.

With that line of thinking, Jed steeled his heart. I could not be shy anymore, he reflected. He considered the leader of the caravan and urged and encouraged himself to ask him later for help.

Jed didn’t rush to the person, nor he rushed towards the school. He didn’t know how, but his parents already made his application. It happened a long time ago, but they did. He moved under the cover of noises; his shadow merged with others.

…

On another location, a simple brown carriage producing clanking sound along the ground, pulled by two handsome horses, driven by a coachman with a goatee wearing a white coat, stopped beside a particular flower shop.

A girl wearing a pink dress came out alongside with two mean-looking men.

The girl looked between nine or ten years old and appeared sweet at first glance, but it ruined the image a second later as she lifted her nose high. She scoffed to the side before strutting towards the shop.

The girl’s eyes squinted, looking at the periphery of her eyes. “I can’t even do what I want! I wanted to tour by myself but I couldn’t escape from my clan’s guards.”

“This is an abuse of power! Just because he is my father, doesn’t mean he would have the reins of my future. I don’t want to go to that school.”

“Whatever, I will just look and see if there’s interesting.” The girl thought while picking a pink-colored flower before sniffing it. At that moment, she was so innocent.

The girl ordered her two guards to buy a bouquet. One of them promptly did what she ordered.

She saw another girl, also accompanied with two guards and looking at the flowers. The other girl was taller so she looked like older than her. Eyes narrowed; an idea appeared in her mind. She couldn’t help but smirked. She went towards the girl. Acting like she’d just bumped into her, the girl in the pink dress soon cried in shock, startling the other people in the shop.

The other girl became dazed after being outshouted by the younger girl. The former was on the verge of opening her mouth when a shrill voice interrupted her.

“You! Why did you bump me!”

As if the former disrespected her ancestor, the girl in the pink dress fumed.

“Eh?” Bewildered, the older girl covered her mouth and her other hand held his skirt tight.

“You! The one with the ugly face! I am talking to you!”

“Didn’t you see where you are walking?”

“What are you looking at? Shall I pull out your disgusting eyes?”

“Look at you, you’re like an idiot. Your brain may be small that you cannot comprehend what you’ve done!”

“Do I need to sell you a brain?”

“We should throw trash to trash can! So, why did you put your bean-size brain in there?!”

“Who am I? Where am I?” The other girl thought. She became dizzy from the barrage of words and swayed into the arms of one of her guards. The girl in the pink dress saw it. Thus, she proceeded to the next part of her plan.

As if on the verge of breakdown, one of her hands snaked towards one of the merchandises. A loud sound of vases breaking soon followed. With mouth agape, the onlookers gawked at the sight. The guards, in particular, had their eyes almost bulged out.

“Quick! Call the manager!”

“Is this how you treat your costumer?!”

The girl in the pink dress shouted once again. She looked like she was going to destroy the world if they didn’t solve her situation. The assistants scrambled to call someone. It seemed they were calling their boss. A few moments later, a wise-looking old lady appeared. She gaped at the scene. The corner of her mouth twitched a little.

“Miss, my store is only small. We don’t dare offend you. So, please.” The old lady gestured at the girl in the pink dress to the exit door. She didn’t question or say anything about the incident. It was almost like she knew what happened and took the lower stance.

Hearing her words, the girl in the pink dress knew that she was facing a tougher opponent this time. “Humph, I have an inquiry.” The girl in the pink dress’s voice toned down. She was not afraid, but she thought the old lady as tricky opponent.

 “Sure, Miss. What this elder can do?” Humbled, the old lady asked.

The girl in the pink dress neared her. She was quite perplexed, but she didn’t avoid her. The girl in the pink dress inched closer and gestured towards the lady to come closer too. She bowed down and the girl in the pink dress quickly whispered at her.

“Ma’am, do you have comfort room here?”

The old lady’s eyes widened. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry with her question. Finding the comfort room was easy, yet this ancestor created a commotion just to ask her about it. Probably not, right?

“Miss, this way.” The old lady still helped the girl. The two guards noticed nothing wrong, but they still followed behind her. Their actions were similar, both parallel to the girl’s side.

She saw their action and barked, “You two! I’m only going to the comfort. Don’t I have the right? Are you pervert?”

The two mean-looking guys felt themselves wanting to beat the unruly child. First, you bulled someone. Next, you destroyed something. It was a thing for us for not reminding you of attitude and proper etiquette, yet you were hollering to us.

We were teammates, weren’t we? My god…

This was their first time with her. But they already heard one thing or two from the maids: how difficult the young miss was. And seeing it in person made the whole gossip authentic.

Without her chaperone, the girl sighed in relief. She observed the comfort room and thanked her luck because there was a window. And it was large enough for her head to fit. The only problem that it was high. But this didn’t diminish her eagerness to sneak away. First, she hopped on the last cubicle before clinging to the windowsill. It was a small space, but she propped herself with one hand.

Next, she muttered to herself an unknown language. Faso. A magical thing happened. A unique energy appeared on her remaining hand before growing into fire. Then, the girl touched the window glass with her flaming hand. She waited for long minutes until the window felt so hot and smoke appeared. Lastly, she descended and opened a faucet. She used the tabo to collect the water before splashing it towards the window.

But the window didn’t crack. She wanted to use the theory of using hot then cold; she had read it on a science book on accident. The girl felt speechless about it. So much for her complex actions!

Hence, the girl put a distance against the window before dashing towards it. She punched it with all of her had.

Peng. The window cracked, but it was visible that it would take time to break. But this time, it satisfied the girl. While moving in action, she revised her plan in her mind. With its sound, her guards would come running to her. She was only trying if she could break it. If not, then it was not bad.

Hearing the messy steps thundering behind the door, she didn’t hide or acted anything anymore. Her guards, the lady and her assistants entered and saw the triumphant face of the girl.

“I am the granddaughter of the County Lord. I am Sarah Pendragon!”

Crash. The guards looked as if their heart fell and break into many pieces. The heck, my grandma, my ancestor! No one was this smug while trying to break other’s own property, wasn’t it?

This time, the old lady couldn’t endure anymore. She still looked calm, though. But it was clear that she was only suppressing her boiling point with her following words.

“Miss, you need to leave. And I want to talk with your father.”

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 3