“Sixty-eight kids are missing?!!” Rienna exclaimed. “That’s terrible!! How long has this been going on?”
Jen thought for a moment, then sighed and said, “Who knows. Kids have gone missing in the past, but not enough to warrant suspicion until six years ago. That is when ten kids went missing in one year. Everyone taken then was ten to twelve years old, I was nine then. It was one of the few years I did not want to get older, I just wanted to stay nine forever so I could be safe.”
“Wait. Didn’t the kids start coming back whenever they were around sixteen? Or when they refused to work?” Rienna asked. “Surely you would have noticed that kind of thing if all this kidnapping started longer than six years ago.”
“Well, I was not old enough then to know much about it all, but I think that the people coming back were considered lucky. Also, younger kids did not start coming back until after that terrible year,” Jen said. “In truth, I think that most people thought that the kids were taken to Vieryen, not to a camp in the mountains.”
Rienna wasn’t entirely sure that was a valid reason to not go searching for the missing children. She was about to ask another question, but then she noticed that the group of girls she had been talking to were staring at her with wide eyes. Oops, Rienna thought. For some reason, it seemed as though the girls hadn’t thought Rienna was from Vieryen, despite the fact that she whispered to a cat who translated for her.
“Hva? Hvorfor er du her? Er du fra Westrikov Kontravi?” Haylie asked doubtfully.
Jen quickly jumped in, “Nei, hun er fra Cræstil. Med, hun er un god perud.”
The girls looked a little suspicious, but they nodded and slowly began talking amongst themselves again, occasionally glancing back at Rienna and Jen.
“So… since some of the kids are from the Four Towns, does that mean that Rufdand will send them back to their families? Or will the families come to them?” Rienna asked.
“It sounds like the plan is to send a trade caravan and all the Four Towns children with it tomorrow. There could possibly be later caravans for the kids who need longer to recover,” Jen answered. “Why?”
“Well, Four Towns has a lot more correspondence with Vieryen, right? We were thinking that maybe we could find a way to get back home from there?” Rienna said, smiling anxiously.
“Hmmm… so you would go with the Four Town kids… That is a good idea,” Jen said thoughtfully. “We should probably tell King Hoyand so that he does not think you are caught again, or anything of the sort.”
Rienna wasn’t sure how to feel about Jen’s lack of disappointment. She thought there would have been some sort of asking Rienna to stay in Rufdand. Well, that makes this easier then, she decided. “Okay. How do we do that?”
“I will find a way. Could you do me a favor in the meanwhile though?” Jen asked.
“Sure. What is it?”
“Try to find out how to get rid of the muteness. I do not think you will be able to get very far, it seems to be entirely magic based, but maybe you will find some clues,” Jen said.
“Okay. I will try,” Rienna agreed. Haylie’s probably my best chance.
“Thanks,” Jen said. “I will see you perhaps in two hours. Hopefully you will find some clues in that time.” She then left Rienna standing in the middle of the crowded room wondering what to ask Haylie about.
Would it be weird to go back and talk to her again? Especially after I just revealed myself as being from ‘the Crystal Sorceress’s realm?’ It’ll probably be fine, I’m only ten, so I can’t seem that bad. “Xio,” Rienna said, “I’m going to go back over to Haylie and those other girls. Could you tell them, ‘Hi again. We were thinking about how the people seem to come back mute and were wondering whether you knew what was in that weird drink. Or if they even mixed it while you were in the room.’”
“Okay,” Xio said. “Let’s go.”
Rienna walked up to the girls and tried to smile encouragingly. Xio spoke to them in Queltan, explaining the situation.
Haylie thought for a moment. She began speaking and Xio translated for her. “It was weird, they mixed the entire potion right in front of me. I guess if they had finished the spell then I wouldn’t be able to talk about it. Still, you would think that they would try to keep the ingredients a secret. They added a variety of things to the potion. They crushed up flowers, herbs like thyme, I think. Stuff like that.” She paused for a moment then continued, “The weird thing was that they mixed it all with a-” Xio cut off abruptly as Haylie struggled to speak.
“Are you okay? Are you choking? What’s wrong?” Rienna blurted before remembering that speaking was useless since she couldn’t speak Queltan. Fortunately, Xio quickly translated what she said.
“I’m fine. I just. Can’t. Say. … Urgh!” Xio rushed to translate for Rienna. “ROCK! It’s like a rock. But...not,” she continued.
“Like glass?” one of the twins jumped in.
“Yes! No… coloredglassrock!” Haylie sputtered. “It was all purple and pink. They used the- the-… it. They used it to mix everything together. They also sanded some powder off of it and into the potion.”
“Was it a crystal?” Rienna asked.
“Yes!”
“One moment. Hold Xio, I’ll be right back.” Xio hardly had any time to translate what Rienna had said before she shoved him into Welafrid’s arms. She ran back to her room and grabbed her crystal from the dresser. “Did… it… look like this?” Rienna asked, completely out of breath when she got back to the lounge.
“Ja!” Haylie exclaimed. Xio didn’t need to translate for Rienna to know that meant yes.
“It’s the kind of crystal that Sovereign Jenni uses for her magic.” Rienna said.
Haylie’s eyes widened as Xio translated for her. He jumped down from Welafrid’s grasp and brushed up against Rienna’s ankles.
“Can I see it?” Haylie asked, putting her hand out in front of Rienna.
Rienna hesitated. Was this a good idea? It’s fine. She’ll give it back. She put the crystal in Haylie’s hand and watched as Haylie turned the crystal over in her hands and peered through it.
After a moment, she handed it back to Rienna. “I wonder how much they bring with them to V4. It can’t be a lot since it’s up in the mountains. -Hey! That’s the first time I’ve been able to directly say the location! I must be getting better.”
Rienna smiled. “That’s good! Maybe it fades over time, that would explain how some people can speak.” she said. She took a step back, “Thank you, maybe we can use the information about the crystals to find a cure for everyone!”
“Bye.” Haylie said, and some of the others waved as she walked away. Rienna was glad that they no longer seemed angry or resentful towards her, she was a little worried that they would hold a grudge against her for the crimes of her kingdom. I mean, their concerns are completely valid. I just had nothing to do with anything.
Rienna walked back to her room with Xio and Xia and sat down on the bed. Laying back on her pillow, she held the crystal above her head and examined it curiously. How did its magic work? How did the Sovereign use its magic? Or the people at V4? The two methods must be different. It didn’t seem very likely that the Sovereign drank potions to gain power, but that was definitely how the V4 potions seemed to work. How could they fix the effects of the potions?
She yawned and struggled to keep her eyes focused on the crystal. She had a feeling that she was close to the answer, but she was just so tired. She focused all her energy into speculating about the crystal, but she soon realized that she was just going in circles. She sighed and tucked the crystal in the space between the bed and the wall; perhaps sleeping would clear her mind.
It was a short nap. At least she thought so, it only felt like it had been half an hour. Of course, what made her think that she could tell time in her sleep? Both Xio and Xia slept soundly at her feet, both curled up in a way that made Rienna feel like she couldn’t, or at least shouldn’t, move. So she stared up at the ceiling once more. So they use crystals to infuse the potion with magic. What do I know about these crystals? Well, she thought, Sovereign Jenni uses them to make magic. Does she infuse herself with magic? Or does she just make a bunch of potions and spells? She thought back to her encounter with the witch. The witch seemed to believe that the Sovereign’s spells came from within her, and she knows a lot about magic, so probably infusion is how she does it?
She felt herself dozing off again, so she slowly moved her legs away from the cats so she could stand up. She began pacing the room, hoping that it would keep her awake. Maybe there was a special incantation to undo the spell? If that was the case, it was unlikely that she would be able to find it. Sighing, she went to the window and pulled aside a curtain. Outside her window was a small, empty area of grass and a couple of trees. Just a bit beyond the yard was the vine hedge. She couldn’t even see the top of it from her angle. She noticed one of the cats stirring and shut the curtain.
Xio yawned and stood up, stretching. “Hi, Rienna…” he said tiredly.
“Hey, Xio.” Rienna paused for a moment as Xio settled back down into a seated position. “Xio, what do you remember about the magic crystals?”
He looked up at her thoughtfully. “Well, they can cut through the Suppression. Also, they seem to be a source of magic.”
“That’s what I thought,” Rienna said. “Wait… They’re a source of magic, but they can also cancel out the Suppression just through physical contact even though the magic of the Suppression originates from crystals. Do you think that maybe Haylie’s getting better was not just a coincidence?”
“You mean, maybe touching the crystal is what made her better?” Xio asked, his eyes widening. “But I thought that it was just wearing off.”
“Maybe it was both! I doubt the other kids are touching any magic crystals, so the spell probably wore off some for them,” Rienna exclaimed.
By this point, Xia had woken up as well and was listening raptly. She mewed quickly to Xio, who promptly translated. “She says you and me should go and test that idea. Also, that she won’t be much help anyway, so she’ll just stay here and sleep some more.” He paused then whispered, “That’s her way of telling us to leave so she can has some quiet.”
Rienna laughed as Xia glared at her son. “Okay then,” she said. “How about we go to the lounge, I bet we’ll find someone there who can’t completely speak.”
Xio agreed and bounded out the door. When they reached the lounge though, they found that it was nearly empty compared to how it was before. There were maybe ten kids in the room now, and the snack table was completely barren. I wonder where all the other people went, Rienna thought.
“Hei!” Xio said, bounding up to a group of three kids. “Sniffer du?”
They all looked at him strangely. “Ja… og du sniffer, med du er en katt,” one said.
Xio mewed with an annoyed tone and bounded up to another group and asked the same question. Most of the kids he talked to could talk since they had just been rescued and never had to take the potion. The seventh kid he talked to though, couldn’t talk.
Xio jumped around excitedly, “Det er ok. Dette kristal vjil hylp du! Rienna, this kid is mute! Give him the crystal! Merp! You’re so slow.”
“Okay, okay!” Rienna said, walking over to the boy Xio was referring to. She was a little annoyed that Xio was rushing her so much. She knew that he could get excited really easily, but sometimes it was a little bothersome. “Here,” she said, handing the crystal over to the kid.
He took the crystal cautiously. “Hva er dette?” He gasped suddenly and Xio began to translate for Rienna as the boy continued. “I can speak again! What? Why?” To be completely truthful, Rienna was a little disappointed; she had been hoping that there would have been some sort of sparkly magic effect, but there wasn’t one for Haylie, so she should’ve known better.
“The crystal is the same kind that is used to make whatever potion you were forced to drink.” Rienna paused for a moment, waiting for Xio to catch up. “By touching it, you cancel out any magic caused by this kind of crystal. At least, that’s how I think it works…”
“Thank you. I tried to escape V3 a few months ago. In a way I succeeded, in the sense that they put that terrible spell on me and let me go,” he said.
“V3… that’s the name of another camp isn’t it…” Rienna asked glumly.
“Yeah. I was originally brought to V4 around a year ago, after a couple weeks they sent me to V3 instead. Wait- now that I can speak, I can tell others where I was. You know, it was so weird, not only could I not talk, but every time I tried to point to the location on a map, it was like my arms couldn’t move,” the boy said excitedly. “I know that Yinda has a map in a drawer in her desk, maybe I can tell her.” He stood up from his chair then paused, “Who are you anyway?” he asked.
“I’m Rienna. I don’t speak Queltan, so Xio is translating for me.” She purposefully avoided mentioning that she was from Vieryen, though he heard her speaking, so he probably already knew.
“I’m Jeradin. I’m from Westrikov Kontravi, which is why I haven’t left to go home yet. Apparently, I’ll be able to take a caravan back home tomorrow. I just wonder why I haven’t been able to do so sooner. I mean, I know that the people here know I am from Westrikov, so why haven’t they offered to bring me home sooner?” He began walking out of the lounge, still talking. “Are you from Melavi? They’re the only town that requires you to learn their language, right?”
Rienna followed Jeradin out the door. “What’s Melavi?” She said, picking up Xio and placing him on her shoulder where he dug in his claws for stability. Rienna winced.
He gave her a strange look, “Melavi. One of the four towns… wait, does that mean you're from the Crystal Sorceress’s realm? Or are you from Trilliah? But if you were from Trilliah, wouldn’t you know what Melavi is? I guess if you’re from the crystal sorceress’s realm then that would explain why you can’t speak Queltan. I thought only soldiers came out of the crystal realm though… How do you get in and out of that weird bubble? Does the bubble even exist? I’ve only ever heard about it. Hey! That crystal, the Sorceress uses them a bunch, yeah? That’s why she’s called the Crystal Sorceress! I’ve always wondered about that.”
Jeradin’s constant talking was starting to get on Rienna’s nerves, but she tried to hide it. He just hasn’t been able to say anything in three months, I’m sure he’s not purposefully being annoying. “I am from the Crystal Sorceress’s realm. We call it Vieryen though, which is much easier to say in our language. Most people in there don’t know what’s going on with the people out here though,” Rienna quickly added, seeing the judgment on his face, “In fact, I didn’t know that there were any people outside of Vieryen until about a week ago.”
“Oh. Okay. That’s weird.” For once he didn’t seem to have more to say.
“Yeah…” Rienna said as they reached the entrance area. It seemed a little different from the last time she had been there. Well, the last time during the day that is, since it was late at night when she had come back yesterday. There were actually people milling about besides just Yinda at her desk in the back (who was already keeping a close eye on Rienna) and many of them were talking and hugging children, most of which Rienna recognized from the lounge earlier. These must be these kids' families. They must be so relieved.
Jeradin walked quickly over to Yinda’s desk. Rienna hastily followed as Xio began whispering translations in her ear. It was kind of gross; she could smell his breath and the feeling of moist hot air going into her ear was very uncomfortable.
“Hi Yinda! I can speak now!” Jeradin said enthusiastically, startling Yinda.
“What? How?” she asked, no longer staring at Rienna.
“Rienna here has a crystal that cancels out the magic! I bet I can show you where I was held captive now too! That’s why I came, since you have a map.”
Yinda glanced over at Rienna surprised, like she wouldn’t have thought Rienna could be helpful. “Really? But, Jeradin, we already know where the camp is, Jen showed the King.”
Rienna resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She really wasn’t liking how this lady was treating her. “No. I’m talking about the other camp, V3. I wasn’t held at V4 like the rest of the people here,” Jeradin said.
Yinda looked genuinely horrified. “There’s more than one camp?!
“Yes! Could you show me a map so that I can tell you where it is?”
“Yes, of course!” Yinda quickly opened a drawer and pulled out a map of what Rienna assumed was the continent. She turned it over and revealed a zoomed in picture of what appeared to be the upper half of the previous image. “Where is it?” she asked, frantically spreading the map across her desk.
“Here,” Jeradin said, pointing to a spot near the top and next to a mountain range. It was the mountain range that was situated north of Rufdand.
Yinda quickly circled the area with some blue ink and scribbled down some writing that seemed pretty illegible to Rienna.
Rienna scanned the map. Following a road south of Rufdand, she was able to find a region on the map marked Westrikov Kontravi. There was another road connecting to the one near the towns that traveled to a circle with the word Cræstil. Surrounding Cræstil, which Rienna was pretty sure was Vieryen, was a forest called Prul Can Chol with a sinister looking house drawn in the center of it. “Home of Trusten Ylad?” the marking next to the house asked. So that must be that terrible crone’s name… Rienna thought. Although, that’s not at all what her house looks like.
“Rienna!” Jen’s voice called out from the entrance. Rienna turned around to see her walking over to the desk. “I was able to find a messenger for the King. I told him the situation and he said he would contact the king and would bring us word of his response.” she said.
“I found a way to cure the muteness,” Rienna said.
“Really?! How?” Jen looked rather surprised that a cure was even possible.
“The crystal I have cancels out the magic. All anyone needs to do is touch it. At least, that’s how it worked for Jeradin here.” Rienna gestured to Jeradin who was watching them curiously.
“That is amazing!” Jen exclaimed. “I know at least eight kids here that could use that, and at least six more who are with their families in Rufdand.”
“Jeradin also showed us the location of another camp called V3. It’s on Yinda’s desk.” Rienna added.
Jen stepped closer to the desk and peered down at the map. “By the Trintal Stream? How strange, the land around there is very marshy; it doesn’t seem like a great spot to grow anything…”
As she trailed off, a tall bearded man with blond hair had come up behind them. “Excuse me,” he said awkwardly, “Did you say crystal clean mute?”
“Um… Yes?” Rienna said cautiously.
“King Hoyand must know now. I has carriage outside, I then was planing to go to the palace.” He paused, concentrating on what he was going to say next. “I will bring the King the information, yes? I am also a official messenger for him.”
“Really?” Jen asked. “That would be great. If you have a carriage, maybe you can get there before the other messenger does.” She turned and whispered to Rienna, “The guy I talked to is a little crazy. He refuses to use a carriage and walks barefoot most of the time. He is good at delivering messages though.”
“Yes. Yuni is not right in head. Thinks strange stuffs. I will go then,” The man said, turning away. He took a young boy by the shoulder who appeared to be his son, and walked out the door.
Jen turned to Rienna, “Go to the lounge. I will try to gather up all the mute kids here and bring them to you.” Rienna found her complete lack of concern about the random messenger somewhat unsettling. However, Jen had already turned around and was walking hastily into the hallway with all of the bedrooms.
“Okay,” Rienna said as Jen left. “Bye, Jeradin. Bye, Yinda,” Rienna said, waving to them as she walked back towards the lounge.
When she got there, she walked over to the table she had sat at for breakfast and set Xio down on a chair. Sitting down herself she thought, I’m glad I can do these kids good. I never thought that I would be the reason some kids were reunited with their families. I never thought that I would be the person who helped cure a magical spell. She smiled to herself as the first mute kids came into the lounge, seeking her out. She waved to them and held out the crystal as Xio explained how it all worked. One by one, she helped cure the mute children, and for the first time since the beginning of this whole adventure, she didn’t regret stealing that crystal. Not even a tiny bit.
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