Beneath The Mask
Chapter 6
The horses plodded along, not too slow, but not too fast. The trees stood taller than the city houses, their branches creating a canopy, almost blotting out the sky. Light drifted down in random splotches on the forest floor. The trail they were following deceivingly looked to be only a random deer trail, but I knew better.
I sighed and Torgan pulled his horse to ride next to me. I glanced over to see that he was watching the path intently, but that he was really there to listen.
“Torgan, you’ve been my friend since I was little. You know, as well as I, what kind of memories this trail brings.” I looked down the path to a tree that had scorch marks about shoulder high. He looked on to where the scorched tree stood and nodded.
“What I don’t understand is why they did it?”
Silence, as always. He looked intently at me, then gestured to me and then to his head.
“I know, I know. She shouldn’t have come here, but…it didn’t mean that they had to hurt her. How could that have helped anyone? They could have just said that I wasn’t here or something.” Torgan looked straight ahead at the trail, which ended at the foot of a tree that had a structure in its branches.
I shook my head. “I can’t ever get over the idea that the reason why she left was because of the accident. What if she thought it was me among them? Maybe she confused Char with me. Mother always said we looked alike when we were younger. In fact, we would often play pranks on Father, who never could quite tell the difference between the two of us.”
Torgan just shook his head. He knew exactly what had caused the princess to leave in the manner that she did. In fact, as far as he knew, he was the only person to know. She was good friends with him and had trusted him with her secret. She knew he couldn’t tell a soul, but that wouldn’t have kept him from writing it down. The thing was, he owed her his life.
After his family died of a sudden and fatal sickness, he had decided to burn the house down with him inside. She had seen the flames, while riding in the outskirts, one day. She rode into the flames, grabbed him, and carried him out to the nearby river, where she laid him on the grass, unconscious. His body was burned so bad that he would not have lived had she not healed him. Strange enough, he still had his fire manipulating ability, but even stranger, it was stronger than it had been before. The only repercussion was that he would never be able to speak again. That didn’t stop her from bringing him to the palace, where she talked the Infernian king into keeping him. Throughout his childhood, both the prince and the princess had taught him how to master his abilities, and eventually, the prince adopted him as his own private servant, an honor that he could barely believe.
“Torgan, did you hear me?” Torgan’s attention was immediately brought back to Solano, who was looking a bit worried. He nodded his head. He pointed to himself, to his head, and then to Solano’s chest.
“Thanks. You know, I think you’re the only one who knows how I feel. It was bad enough to see her in pain and not be able to do anything about it. I feel worse knowing that I might be the reason for causing her to leave. I wish I could have been allowed to talk to her.”
They stopped at the tree and I rested one of my hands on the bark. I didn’t see Torgan, who was shaking his head, thinking that there was one more person who understood what I was feeling.
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
Back at the castle, people were rushing around, trying to make sure that everything was perfect for the night’s party. The queen was in the throne room chastising the king for eating one of the kashkas that were for the dinner that night, when the prince came in through the front doors, Torgan in tow. The queen turned around to notice that her son was trying to hide a scowl.
“Is everything all right, Solano?” she asked with concern.
“Oh, he’s all right, aren’t you son?” the king intervened before I could answer her question.
“I was talking to him,” she said as she took a couple of steps down the dais.
“I’m fine, just like Dad said,” I told her.
“How was the ride?”
“Ride? What ride? You mean, you went on a ride and didn’t invite me?” the king asked, his mouth agape.
“Fine. I didn’t think you’d want to come, Dad.” I sat down on my throne, slouching and hanging a leg off of one of the arms.
“Didn’t want to come? Son, you could have asked.”
“Sorry, Dad. I’ll try to remember next time,” I said as I closed my eyes.
“Solano,” my mother piped in, “please sit up.” I looked over at her, questioningly. “Oh, all right. At least take your leg off of the arm of your throne.”
“Yes, Mom.” I moved my leg. “What exactly did you want me here for, anyways?”
“We need to practice for tonight.”
“Ashla, you do realize that we’ve done this more than a hundred times, don’t you?” Dad complained.
“It doesn’t mean we can’t go over it at least once more.” Mom tried to pull him up and out of his throne.
“Can we at least do it without Flay? He’s so obnoxious. Honestly, I don’t see why we have him do what he does. Is it really necessary to have one person announce every single person who enters the room?” I pleaded. Flay liked to be loud and making him the official announcer didn’t help at all. He also showed off, but that oftentimes gave Torgan and I an excuse to pull pranks on him. He seemed to lose his voice after drinking a tea that had an extra herb in the mixture.
“Yes, we can do it without Flay, but we’ll need Flay tonight. It would be nice to be able to put names to faces.”
You don’t even remember their names by the time you talk to them, I countered, but only in my head. “Okay.” I got up and headed towards the side door, where Mom had managed to push Dad. Hey. Got to give her points. As far as I know, she’s the only person who can get Dad to do what she wants.
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
Guest after guest after guest came into the room. It seemed as if the whole world was invited to the event, even though I knew that that was not the case. However, Mom sure made sure that enough people were invited to fill up the throne room and the dining room. The giant doors on the wall that divided the two rooms were open and against their walls, so that guests could walk freely from one room to another.
I thought that we’d never join the party. Mom was fussing over Dad’s robes, trying to make them look as perfect as possible, and then moved to her own dress. I leaned against the wall in the darkened hallway, a ways away from the door, hoping that the party would come and go quickly. No one seemed to notice when I rested my chin on my chest and fell asleep.
I didn’t wake until Torgan nudged my elbow. The trumpets and Flay weren’t enough to wake me, because I was so used to them. As I lifted my head to look at Torgan, he motioned towards the open door. My parents had already entered the throne room and were now seated on their thrones. I took a deep breath, straightened my fest, ran my fingers through my hair, and cantered into the room.
Entering a room full of people isn’t too bad. It’s the fact that every single pair of eyes were centered on me that gave me that shiver-down-the-spine feeling. You never can get used to it. Anyways, I sat down on the throne and Dad kindly started the musicians again. After that, I was able to relax…a little.
A few minutes later, I was already feeling tired. I knew I was slouching, but I didn’t really care. Mother wouldn’t have approved, and probably didn’t, but it was my birthday, and I felt like spoiling myself. I even decided to rest my chin on my fist, having propped my arm on the arm of the throne. I actually almost fell asleep when a light shone in my eye. I looked over at the throne room doors to see a shining, silvery form glide into the room with a man in red robes. By the slim, form-fitting outfit, I could tell that it was a woman, though the doors were a good distance from the dais.
As the form drew closer to the crowd, I had this sudden urge to go down and meet her. Never before had I felt this way, but somehow, I felt as if I should know this person. I didn’t know why, though. She was obviously Aquatian, the color of her garb a pretty good assurance of that. Not only was that, but her name, Silva I believe it was, also indicated that she was not an Infernian. Similarly, if one looked closely, one could see that the circular orb hanging from around her neck contained water that moved in different intensities and patterns.
Lady Silva, for that was the name Flay had presented her with, was definitely a sight to behold. Not only did I have the strong urge to meet her, but I noticed that everyone was focused on this intriguing visitor. I could hear my parents discussing this new and exciting development as the visitor walked to the dining room. As soon as she exited the throne room, the spell seemed to break and conversation and dance appeared to resume.
Chapter 6
The horses plodded along, not too slow, but not too fast. The trees stood taller than the city houses, their branches creating a canopy, almost blotting out the sky. Light drifted down in random splotches on the forest floor. The trail they were following deceivingly looked to be only a random deer trail, but I knew better.
I sighed and Torgan pulled his horse to ride next to me. I glanced over to see that he was watching the path intently, but that he was really there to listen.
“Torgan, you’ve been my friend since I was little. You know, as well as I, what kind of memories this trail brings.” I looked down the path to a tree that had scorch marks about shoulder high. He looked on to where the scorched tree stood and nodded.
“What I don’t understand is why they did it?”
Silence, as always. He looked intently at me, then gestured to me and then to his head.
“I know, I know. She shouldn’t have come here, but…it didn’t mean that they had to hurt her. How could that have helped anyone? They could have just said that I wasn’t here or something.” Torgan looked straight ahead at the trail, which ended at the foot of a tree that had a structure in its branches.
I shook my head. “I can’t ever get over the idea that the reason why she left was because of the accident. What if she thought it was me among them? Maybe she confused Char with me. Mother always said we looked alike when we were younger. In fact, we would often play pranks on Father, who never could quite tell the difference between the two of us.”
Torgan just shook his head. He knew exactly what had caused the princess to leave in the manner that she did. In fact, as far as he knew, he was the only person to know. She was good friends with him and had trusted him with her secret. She knew he couldn’t tell a soul, but that wouldn’t have kept him from writing it down. The thing was, he owed her his life.
After his family died of a sudden and fatal sickness, he had decided to burn the house down with him inside. She had seen the flames, while riding in the outskirts, one day. She rode into the flames, grabbed him, and carried him out to the nearby river, where she laid him on the grass, unconscious. His body was burned so bad that he would not have lived had she not healed him. Strange enough, he still had his fire manipulating ability, but even stranger, it was stronger than it had been before. The only repercussion was that he would never be able to speak again. That didn’t stop her from bringing him to the palace, where she talked the Infernian king into keeping him. Throughout his childhood, both the prince and the princess had taught him how to master his abilities, and eventually, the prince adopted him as his own private servant, an honor that he could barely believe.
“Torgan, did you hear me?” Torgan’s attention was immediately brought back to Solano, who was looking a bit worried. He nodded his head. He pointed to himself, to his head, and then to Solano’s chest.
“Thanks. You know, I think you’re the only one who knows how I feel. It was bad enough to see her in pain and not be able to do anything about it. I feel worse knowing that I might be the reason for causing her to leave. I wish I could have been allowed to talk to her.”
They stopped at the tree and I rested one of my hands on the bark. I didn’t see Torgan, who was shaking his head, thinking that there was one more person who understood what I was feeling.
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
Back at the castle, people were rushing around, trying to make sure that everything was perfect for the night’s party. The queen was in the throne room chastising the king for eating one of the kashkas that were for the dinner that night, when the prince came in through the front doors, Torgan in tow. The queen turned around to notice that her son was trying to hide a scowl.
“Is everything all right, Solano?” she asked with concern.
“Oh, he’s all right, aren’t you son?” the king intervened before I could answer her question.
“I was talking to him,” she said as she took a couple of steps down the dais.
“I’m fine, just like Dad said,” I told her.
“How was the ride?”
“Ride? What ride? You mean, you went on a ride and didn’t invite me?” the king asked, his mouth agape.
“Fine. I didn’t think you’d want to come, Dad.” I sat down on my throne, slouching and hanging a leg off of one of the arms.
“Didn’t want to come? Son, you could have asked.”
“Sorry, Dad. I’ll try to remember next time,” I said as I closed my eyes.
“Solano,” my mother piped in, “please sit up.” I looked over at her, questioningly. “Oh, all right. At least take your leg off of the arm of your throne.”
“Yes, Mom.” I moved my leg. “What exactly did you want me here for, anyways?”
“We need to practice for tonight.”
“Ashla, you do realize that we’ve done this more than a hundred times, don’t you?” Dad complained.
“It doesn’t mean we can’t go over it at least once more.” Mom tried to pull him up and out of his throne.
“Can we at least do it without Flay? He’s so obnoxious. Honestly, I don’t see why we have him do what he does. Is it really necessary to have one person announce every single person who enters the room?” I pleaded. Flay liked to be loud and making him the official announcer didn’t help at all. He also showed off, but that oftentimes gave Torgan and I an excuse to pull pranks on him. He seemed to lose his voice after drinking a tea that had an extra herb in the mixture.
“Yes, we can do it without Flay, but we’ll need Flay tonight. It would be nice to be able to put names to faces.”
You don’t even remember their names by the time you talk to them, I countered, but only in my head. “Okay.” I got up and headed towards the side door, where Mom had managed to push Dad. Hey. Got to give her points. As far as I know, she’s the only person who can get Dad to do what she wants.
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
Guest after guest after guest came into the room. It seemed as if the whole world was invited to the event, even though I knew that that was not the case. However, Mom sure made sure that enough people were invited to fill up the throne room and the dining room. The giant doors on the wall that divided the two rooms were open and against their walls, so that guests could walk freely from one room to another.
I thought that we’d never join the party. Mom was fussing over Dad’s robes, trying to make them look as perfect as possible, and then moved to her own dress. I leaned against the wall in the darkened hallway, a ways away from the door, hoping that the party would come and go quickly. No one seemed to notice when I rested my chin on my chest and fell asleep.
I didn’t wake until Torgan nudged my elbow. The trumpets and Flay weren’t enough to wake me, because I was so used to them. As I lifted my head to look at Torgan, he motioned towards the open door. My parents had already entered the throne room and were now seated on their thrones. I took a deep breath, straightened my fest, ran my fingers through my hair, and cantered into the room.
Entering a room full of people isn’t too bad. It’s the fact that every single pair of eyes were centered on me that gave me that shiver-down-the-spine feeling. You never can get used to it. Anyways, I sat down on the throne and Dad kindly started the musicians again. After that, I was able to relax…a little.
A few minutes later, I was already feeling tired. I knew I was slouching, but I didn’t really care. Mother wouldn’t have approved, and probably didn’t, but it was my birthday, and I felt like spoiling myself. I even decided to rest my chin on my fist, having propped my arm on the arm of the throne. I actually almost fell asleep when a light shone in my eye. I looked over at the throne room doors to see a shining, silvery form glide into the room with a man in red robes. By the slim, form-fitting outfit, I could tell that it was a woman, though the doors were a good distance from the dais.
As the form drew closer to the crowd, I had this sudden urge to go down and meet her. Never before had I felt this way, but somehow, I felt as if I should know this person. I didn’t know why, though. She was obviously Aquatian, the color of her garb a pretty good assurance of that. Not only was that, but her name, Silva I believe it was, also indicated that she was not an Infernian. Similarly, if one looked closely, one could see that the circular orb hanging from around her neck contained water that moved in different intensities and patterns.
Lady Silva, for that was the name Flay had presented her with, was definitely a sight to behold. Not only did I have the strong urge to meet her, but I noticed that everyone was focused on this intriguing visitor. I could hear my parents discussing this new and exciting development as the visitor walked to the dining room. As soon as she exited the throne room, the spell seemed to break and conversation and dance appeared to resume.