Veles, page 9
“How was Aiden today?” Kazuki asked, his voice low as he gazed at her over the small carving he was working on before the fire.
“I didn’t see him today,” Mizuki answered in honesty, catching her father’s gaze as she unwound the yarn from her fingers and prepared to start the cat’s cradle over. “He had to help his da reset the snares, and they needed to make some more arrows for the next hunting trip after the ritual. I think they are doing alright, though – or at least they are managing.”
Kazuki nodded, his eyes shifting back to the small carving once more. Silence passed between them for a long moment as Mizuki kept her attention focused on her yarn, careful to keep her face blank and her hands still despite the lingering nervousness festering in her chest.
“I’m glad that he has you,” Kazuki said. His words startled her gaze back up to his, and he met her stare with a level look. “You’ve been a good friend to him, Mizuki.”
Her brow creased as she looked at Kazuki in confusion, and her shoulders shifted into an awkward shrug.
“I haven’t done anything more than what any other person would do,” Mizuki mumbled, hooking the yarn from her left hand under her right index finger.
“Except that that isn’t true, Mizuki,” Kazuki disagreed. “I ran into Mrs. O’Kane on my way home today. Not only did you help with the firewood yesterday, but she said that you helped her patch some clothes. But more importantly, she said that Aiden seemed better after seeing you. She’s been worried about him, and most people have been avoiding them ever since the announcement was made.”
Kazuki stared at her for a long quiet moment, and Mizuki’s hands stilled before her as she watched the fire shift across her father’s face.
“You’re a good kid,” he said, his voice taking an odd tone that she had not heard before. “Better than most in this village want to admit and better than most here deserve. I can’t take credit for how you turned out; I know that. But I am proud of who you’ve become, Mizuki. And I know that Miku would be proud as well.”
She stared at him, speechless – unable to come up with anything to say as the wood cracked beneath the heat of the flames and sparks shot up into the air. She could feel the tension in her chest shifting up into her throat as all the emotions that she kept locked away churned in her stomach. He had never told her that he was proud of her before. He had never said anything of the sort, and as he said it, she couldn’t help but feel a sickening guilt slide down her spine as she thought about what she was going to do.
“Don’t forget to add another log to the fire before you go to sleep,” Kazuki said as he stood from his stool and shifted around her to make his way to bed.
She felt his hand drop onto her head as he passed, his fingers gently ruffling her hair in that familiar way that made her heart ache for the past – longing for the time before the Gifting, before her family had been torn apart. The contact vanished nearly as quickly as it had happened, and just like that, Kazuki had ducked into his room, closing the hide hanging behind him, and she was left alone by the fire feeling burning down her throat.
She was going to break his heart.
What little remained of it would be devastated if he found out what she had agreed to do. If she got caught, if Maebh was selected and they left the village – her disappearance would kill him. She felt her eyes prickle with tears as she swallowed hard and forced her body not to allow the emotions any foothold. She was willing to risk her own life on the journey to try to make a difference if Maebh was selected tomorrow night, that much she knew for sure. Her only wish was to make it home so she could see her father one last time and explain to him why she did it, so she could apologize for causing him pain without reason.
She sat there for a long moment, clutching the necklace beneath her shirt and willing herself to calm down before she finally got up and placed the final log on the fire. She couldn’t afford to lose focus, and she could not allow herself to be distracted by thoughts that would not help her tonight. So she went to her room, closed the hide hanging behind her and laid down on top of her bedroll, not bothering to change or get inside it as she stared at the ceiling. Then, just as she and Aiden had planned, she waited. Waited until her father fell asleep and until the village was still and silent. Until the night was so dark, it was hard to see, and the only sounds that could be heard were the wind and the owls as they hunted for mice and small critters. Then, silently, she crept from her bedroll, pulled on her jacket, pocketed her small paring knife, and snuck from the Altherr home into the darkness to go meet Aiden.
It took several long minutes for her to navigate her way around the outermost edge of the village, toward the crops on the east. There were two buildings that made up the Elders’ Chambers: the Hall, a large wooden structure that contained the Meeting Chambers and the Documents Room, and the Residence, where the village Elders lived. Both buildings were located just next to the small section of trees and brush that ran along the eastern fields, and thus she and Aiden had decided that the best way to approach was from the south, using the same brush that he had hidden in when he had overheard the conversation regarding the state of the crops.
It wasn’t far away, but she took her time as she moved, letting her eyes adjust to the dark as she stopped every few feet to listen and ensure the coast was clear before continuing on. When she finally reached the thicket of trees and bushes where they had agreed to meet, her heart was racing in her chest, and her jaw was clenched so tight it was starting to ache. She didn’t say a word as she stepped to his side, only nodding as he gently touched her shoulder and then gestured for her to follow along behind him through the thin trees and brush.
Initially, Aiden had insisted that he be the one to break into the Hall and get the map, but after several intense minutes of discussion by the lake the day previous, he had finally relented and agreed to allow Mizuki to sneak inside instead. While the Elders’ Chambers were not heavily guarded, there was always a single guard located near the entrance to the Hall, which made it nearly impossible for Aiden to sneak inside, given his size. Whereas Mizuki was small enough that she could climb in through the vent on the top of the long wooden structure.
It had been years since she had been inside the Hall, having only ever been brought into it once after getting caught climbing the ridge as a kid. Yet she remembered the layout, and she knew from her one visit and years of watching her father work and discussing the structure’s designs that the large building was made up of two distinct rooms. At the front of the Hall was the Meeting Chamber. It was large, open, and contained very little aside from a massive hearth, tables, and chairs. It was typically where the Praetorian Circle met and where the Elders would meet with village families to discuss important topics. But aside from being their point of entry, there was likely nothing useful in that section of the Hall. She and Aiden both agreed that the map would be in the back room – the room that only the Elders and a very select number of Praetors were granted access to. It was called the Documents Room, and she suspected that not only did it contain the unbounded map but that it was also the place where the village Elders stored the records of their history.
Getting inside would be a challenge because there was no rear door on the wooden structure. The vent on the Document Room was much too small for anything other than a squirrel to fit through. So, their only chance was for her to climb in through the vent of the Meeting Chamber and access the Document Room from inside. It was a simple enough plan, and they figured that they could manage it fine. The problem was getting out. The Hall was quite tall, tall enough that Mizuki sincerely doubted she would be able to climb back up and out of the vent once inside. They discussed it at length the previous day while collecting up the last bits of kindling, and they were not able to come up with a good plan. What they had was weak, and she could feel her stomach knotting as they silently closed the distance toward the large wooden structure. Once she had the map, Aiden would distract the guard by the entrance of the Hall, and she would slip out the front door.
It wasn’t ideal, but it was their only choice.
They hadn’t had the time to come up with anything better, and they couldn’t afford to try to wait for a better time to steal the map because they would need it the very next day if Maebh was selected and Aiden’s fears were proven true.
Mizuki could feel her body starting to tremble with fear as they slowly and silently crept their way to the edge of the brush, avoiding the belladonna that grew near the edge as they darted across the darkened path and pressed themselves up against the rear wall of the building. She shuffled along against the cool wood as Aiden moved, following his every step carefully and moving tightly behind him until they reached the northern corner of the Hall, and he put out his arm and gestured for her to stop. It was the best place to climb given the slope of the roof, and it gave them the most cover because of the trees to the north. With only a sliver of moonlight in the night’s sky, Mizuki sincerely doubted that anyone would see them. As it was, she could barely make out Aiden in the darkness, and he was standing less than two inches away on her left.
She waited in silence as Aiden peered around the edge of the building, and when he finally turned back to her and nodded, she felt her muscles tighten in anticipation. This was it. The coast was clear, and they were making their move. She could just barely see the gleam of his eyes in the night, and yet she could nearly feel the stress and concern radiating from him as they shifted positions to execute their plan.
She exhaled hard as she moved to stand in front of him, and he kneeled to the ground. Reaching out above him, she grabbed the wooden wall behind him as best as she could while she placed her right foot on his shoulder. She felt his hand grip her ankle, tightening around it firmly as she looked down to meet his gaze, and he nodded once more. She swallowed, then pulled her left leg from the ground, placing it on his other shoulder so she was standing on him while tightly gripping onto the side of the building. He waited until she had her balance, then, slowly, he stood, and she shifted her hands up the wall as he lifted her into the air. Once he was on his feet, the roof was nearly at eye level, so she grabbed onto the edge and started to pull herself up. It was far easier than she thought it would be with Aiden lifting her into the air by her calves, and in less than a minute, she managed to crawl on top of the Elders’ Chambers and lay flat along the roof.
She could feel nervous sweat forming across her brow as she looked around from her high vantage point and gazed down at the village. The Elders’ Residence was dark, the paths were empty, and there wasn’t a sign of human life anywhere. Biting back her fear, she cautiously crawled along the roof on her stomach, keeping her weight spread out across the beams. She made her way towards the opposite side, where she could just barely see the outline of the vent and the steady stream of smoke that poured from the hole. The hide that was stretched taut above it to keep out the rain vibrated in the gentle breeze that blew through the village, and her heart raced.
She reached the vent only a moment later and pulled out the paring knife from her pocket. Working quickly, she cut the tie that kept the hide stretched over the opening and rolled the material back so she could peer into the Meeting Chamber of the Hall. She squinted, looking around the dark room for any sign of movement, but there was none, only the faint glow of the fire shifted in the large open space. All she could hear was the wind and the night. Not even the guard at the front was making a sound. She re-pocketed her knife and inched her way onto her knees in front of the small vent. It would be a tight fit, and looking at it now, she knew that there was no way that Aiden would have been able to fit inside.
She twisted her body around, dropping her legs into the hole as she sat on the edge, and she took a deep breath. The drop was at least twelve feet. If she didn’t land carefully, not only could she hurt herself, but she could also land in the hearth or draw the attention of the guard. She swallowed hard, sliding into the hole as she gripped the edges of the roof and lowered herself into the large wooden structure as if she were a squirrel hanging from a branch. She could feel the heat of the fire against her feet when she was all the way in, dangling from the tips of her fingers. She fought the instinct to close her eyes as she hung there, then swung her body to the side and let go. Her stomach lurched into her throat as she fell, the warm air of the massive room rushing up past her face until suddenly the ground met her feet, and she landed just to the left of the sizable hearth. Her legs buckled as she landed, her knee hitting the ground hard as she rolled to the side with a soft thump before pressing her spine against the stone hearth as she rapidly looked around.
She stiffened as she heard a noise by the front entrance, her wide eyes locked to the dark space as she waited, heart racing, to see if the guard had heard her fall. But after a tense moment, Mizuki heard the sound of a light snore over the crackle of the low fire, and she let out the breath she didn’t even realize she had been holding as she closed her eyes in relief.
The guard must have fallen asleep.
It wouldn’t be the first time – it wasn’t uncommon to see the Village Guard snoozing while on watch. As much as they took their roles seriously, they had no true concerns regarding the safety of the village. The last time the village had experienced any discord was a decade ago when Miku was still alive, and that had only been verbal. In Mizuki’s entire life, she had never once seen a guard draw their bow or pull out their knife. They had no reason to expect her, or anyone else for that matter, to stage a break-in, especially not in the Elders’ Chambers. If someone were going to steal something, they would likely take food, supplies, or goods from the supply buildings.
Not documents.
That said, she had no intention of sticking around any longer than necessary, at the risk of testing the guard’s vigilance. So, she silently stood to her feet and grabbed one of the small torches lying on the table next to the hearth. She took a moment to light it, then quietly made her way around the hearth, through the tables and chairs, and past the massive linen hanging of Veles’s symbol toward the back of the room. Thankfully, they had both known that the main fire would be burning, and she would be able to use it for light. It took too much effort to restart it, and the Elders never let it die until well into summer. Smoke could be seen pouring from the roof of the large wooden structure nearly all year long – but she had sincerely doubted that the fire in the documents room would be lit.
Her suspicion was proven correct when she reached the door at the back of the massive Meeting Chamber and pushed aside the thick hides hanging over the entrance. It was dark, cool, and eerily silent. Her eyes quickly scanned over the room, taking it all in and trying to decide where would be the best place to start looking. She didn’t have all night; eventually, the guard would come in to place more wood on the fire, and she couldn’t risk Aiden standing behind the Hall all night waiting for her signal.
Letting the thick furs and hides fall closed behind her, Mizuki stepped into the room fully and willed her racing heart to slow as she began to look around. There were wooden shelves along the three walls – no doubt constructed by her father or grandfather sometime over the last few decades. They were covered in books, scrolls, and random artifacts that she didn’t understand. She stared quietly at a small and strange-looking black box that had a stick coming out the top before her eyes shifted back to the books.
Some looked ancient, others looked newer, but she knew that anything bound or containing colour must have been from before the Great Destruction since books like that simply didn’t exist anymore. They had paper, yes, and they had the means to write whether it be with graphite, paints, or even on occasion chalk – but they had no means of binding books. Every book in this room that was straight cut and wrapped with a sturdy cover came from the Before time, and they had all been found during hunts or located around the village. Her eyes skimmed over the words that were visible along the spines of the books on the left side of the room, and she stopped to pull one out and look at the cover.
‘An Introduction to Electrodynamics’
She couldn’t make out the name of the author, it had long since faded away and the book was covered in dust. She slid it back onto the shelf and frowned. As a kid in school, she had witnessed the Elders coming by to read to them, and she knew that they occasionally allowed their teacher to use some of the books from this collection for instruction. But seeing the extent of the collection now, it was clear that the vast majority of the texts were not shared.
Most people in the village were taught how to read and write, but their education was largely focused on survival and skills needed to get by. As a result, her writing was sloppy, and her ability to read was limited. She had no idea what the title of this book meant, even though Miku had taught her more words than most people in the village knew, and she was certain that if she opened the book up, she would not be able to read the majority of it.
Her gaze quickly flicked over the rest of the shelf, and her frown deepened. There was a lot of information here that the Elders were not sharing. In just a few short seconds, her eyes had seen the words leadership, survival, and crafting – and none of those books had ever been shown at school. Sure, they may allow some of the Praetors access, and she could see a few books related to food, crops, and weather – but knowing that this was all here and that the majority of the village was denied permission only made her hatred of them grow. She turned away from the endless volumes of hidden knowledge to start looking for the map.
She spent a few quick minutes scanning over the shelves along the left side but saw only books, then continued her search across the shelves along the back. The second shelf was promising. It was covered in scrolls, yet no matter how many she pulled out to unravel, there was nothing that even resembled a map. She found notes on each family in the village documenting their heritage, family lines, and health risks. She found ledgers recording the crop yields and even found what appeared to be plans for expanding the village toward the south, but she didn’t see anything that looked like a map. She had just finished going over the documents on the large table in the center of the room when she heard a voice, and her body froze with panic. She couldn’t hear the words that had been spoken, but she could have recognized the tone anywhere.
