Echoes of a Fallen Kingdom Read online

  “I don’t have long with the book.”

  “When does Gartel want it back?”

  “Soon, he said. It could be after two days.”

  “Gartel will give you longer than that,” Verona said. “It’s too late to read with Leo tonight.” She looked back at her supper as if not expecting a reply.

  Rygen knew there was the point of arguing. She had only one other book besides the one she’d just received. It was a gift from Gartel for her tenth birthday, not long ago. “A Summoner’s Life,” it was called, a fictional tale about a woman who was not human but Analyte. Like most people, Rygen knew little about the Analytes and the summoners. She figured at first that a book on this subject would be highly valuable, even if it was fiction. It was well-written and at least as long as most of the books she binded at twenty pages. It had no illustrations like some of the others, but that shouldn’t stop someone from buying it.

  She’d seen Gartel trying to sell it for months before he wrapped it and gave it to her on her birthday. While she still appreciated the gift, for she did enjoy the book, the gesture was dampened by his inability to sell it. But more than anything, it made her curious. Why didn’t anyone want to buy that book? The title caught many eyes in Gartel’s shop, but whenever those people asked what the story was about, they became disinterested after Gartel told them.

  Mother seemed to know the answers to many questions, so Rygen had asked her recently why this was. Verona let her gaze fall, no doubt revealing she knew the answer, but she stayed silent. It took Rygen some prodding to finally get the answer. The fathers in most families took charge of the coin, and most of them were uninterested in a story about a woman, especially one who was an Analyte.

  “Why?” Rygen had asked, for it made no sense to her.

  “You have to remember that those who have the coin to buy books lead different lives than we do,” her mother had said. “They believe their difference in class is because they are better than us, even though they are not. The men especially are not like Leo’s father. Gartel has some of what I’m describing. Have you noticed how he acts toward people who cannot read?”

  “Yes. Like they are beneath him.” Rygen knew that it was extremely rare that anyone living in houses belonging to the Farmers’ Guild, like hers and Leo’s, would be able to read. She and Leo had only learned because his father had taught them. Mother learned later, from Gartel, but she was slow and didn’t have the same interest in books as Rygen did. Rygen could never think illiterate people were beneath her. She could have been one of them had Darren chosen another house for his boys.

  As Rygen went to her room to fetch her book about the Analyte summoner, she heard someone screaming in the distance. It came from the east. The one window in her bedroom didn’t point that way, so she hurried to the kitchen. Her mother was already looking out, but it was too dark to see anything.

  Rygen heard someone running toward her house. They seemed to be on the only road that ran between many of these identical buildings, but she couldn’t see anyone. Hoping to see who it was as he or she passed by, Rygen held the brightest lamp she and her mother owned up to the windowsill.

  Suddenly something landed on their roof. Rygen didn’t realize she should be scared until she noticed the fear in her mother’s face. Verona took the lamp with one hand and closed and latched the window with her other. She ushered Rygen away and into the doorway of Verona’s bedroom, looking up all the while as if expecting something to break through the shoddy roof.

  There was movement from whatever was above them, quick little steps as if it had four feet. Rygen figured it was a rift creature, though she didn’t know how she’d arrived at that conclusion. She had never seen or heard one before, but she’d read about them in the book Gartel had given her. She was curious to see it, not afraid like her mother.

  “Rygen! Do you hear me?” Verona asked in a panic.

  Realizing she’d been removed from herself, Rygen suddenly became aware that her mother was pulling her into her room.

  “Keep your window closed and hide under your bed.” Verona said. She remained in the kitchen, checking the roof.

  There was a holder for one wooden plank for the front door. Mother had bought the nails and the metal holders from the market and installed them herself. They’d never had to use them to set the wooded beam across the door until now.

  Rygen felt an intense need to glimpse the creature. She might never have another chance. She started toward the front door. Her mother grabbed her.

  “What are you doing?” Verona shrieked. “Why aren’t you listening?” Her eyes glistened.

  Terror gripped Rygen, seizing her voice as she tried to reply. Something had taken hold of Rygen. It had pushed away all emotion except curiosity to meet this creature, almost making her set foot outside their home. Fearful she would lose herself again, she ran back into her bedroom and finally found her voice.

  “I’m getting beneath my bed,” she told her mother.

  She ducked low near her bed but stopped herself, her teeth on her lip. Her curiosity won out over her dwindling fear. She went to her window and opened it. During the day she could see Leo’s house from here. Now the earth between them was all she could make out, the land in shadow. She knew she should be hiding with the window closed, but she couldn’t help it.

  Rygen listened for other screams, but there were none. She crouched low to look up as high as she could, wondering if she might see the face of this creature peering down at her. She didn’t know how close it was. It hadn’t moved for a little while.

  Then she heard its steps as it went from the center of the roof toward the edge above her. The shadowed shape of a large catlike beast jumped down and landed on the black ground. It started toward the darkness and leapt marvelously high before she lost sight of it.

  “I think it’s gone,” Mother called from the kitchen.

  “I saw it,” she told her mother.

  Her mother noticed the window and quickly ran over to close it. “Rygen, I told you—”

  “It’s going toward Leo’s house. We have to warn them.”

  There was another scream, this one closer, but it didn’t seem to be from Leo’s house.

  “We are not leaving this house,” Verona said.

  “They might need our help.”

  “Darren can handle whatever it is.” She shut the window and stared at Rygen for a moment. “What did you see?”

  “Just a cat,” she lied after some thought. Perhaps this way Mother would let them go after it.

  Her mother folded her arms. “A cat cannot jump high enough to land on our roof, and that sounded much heavier than a cat.”

  “It looked more like the size of a dog.” Though it was too different for it to be one. The creature didn’t seem to have a tail and it was larger than any dog Rygen had ever seen. It probably wasn’t much taller than a dog, though its legs were thicker and stronger.

  They heard another women’s scream, the closest one yet. Rygen figured she would be able to see the woman if she went to one of the kitchen windows, but she knew her mother would never let her.

  Fear came out from wherever it was hidden before. Rygen was not going to see this creature again, she realized, and it was time to worry. Something really is happening out there, something that might find its way in here.

  She and her mother had no means to defend themselves. Mother might’ve been realizing the same thing, for she looked around as if at a loss about what to do.

  Mother grumbled what might’ve been a curse. “I suppose we do have to see what’s happening if we can. It went this way right?” She carefully opened the window Rygen had looked out of earlier.

  “Yes.”

  Rygen’s heart pounded. She supposed she had always figured her mother would protect her against any danger, but Verona was not at all like Leo’s father.

  Rygen had never known her own father, but for the first time in her life she yearned for his strong presence. Her mother was not large, not strong physically. It had never mattered before, but as Rygen had learned from stories, all it took was one moment—one failure—for the hero’s life to change forever.

  Rygen strained her eyes to look out her window. She heard her loud breathing, but it wasn’t as loud as her mother’s, who stood with her arm around Rygen.

  Eventually, the tense moment passed without incident. Perhaps it was over. Still, she and her mother couldn’t tear their eyes away from the shadowed land. Rygen might’ve been able to make out the outside wall of Leo’s bedroom by then unless her eyes were tricking her.

  She heard something land in the dirt not far from her window. It was too soft a sound to startle her, as if it was a small stone. But it did send her and her mother away from the window.

  “What was that?” Rygen asked.

  “I don’t know.” Mother went back to close and latch the window. She took Rygen’s hand and led her to the kitchen. “We’ll wait here until we don’t hear anything else.”

  There was another shriek, this one right outside their house. It was on the other side of Rygen’s bedroom window, though, on the street side.

  She knew there was nothing she could do to keep them safe, but if she at least knew what it was they were afraid of, perhaps she and her mother could formulate a plan.

  They were quiet again, listening. Rygen heard something scamper across the dirt outside. It sounded like a heavy beast. The summoned.

  It darted past Rygen’s house and soon could no longer be heard. For whatever reason, she wasn’t afraid of the beast, though she knew she should be. It didn’t seem interested in getting into any of these houses, only on top of them as if to scout for something. It was the master of this creature that Rygen feared. Who was he or she and what were they doing
here?

  Why was she so sure it was a summoned? It was more likely to be an unfamiliar animal. But it was something she felt that told her otherwise. She couldn’t explain it, even in her own thoughts.

  “Rygen!” shouted someone. “Are you all right?”

  She recognized the voice as Andar’s. It seemed to be coming from his home.

  Rygen ran to open her bedroom window. “Yes,” she called into the darkness. “What about you and Leo?”

  “We are!” Andar shouted back.

  She waited for more, but it was all he said. Perhaps he was the one who’d thrown whatever had landed near the outer wall of Rygen’s bedroom. If Andar and Leo were concerned for her, then whatever that item was must have something to do with this. But were the boys too afraid to come over and check on her? They only shouted. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed, especially because Darren had not come. He shouldn’t be afraid of anything, given his size.

  “We must keep this closed,” Rygen’s mother told her as she shut the window once again. “Get in bed, Ry, and go to sleep. I will stay up to ensure you’re safe.”

  Rygen wanted to ask how her mother intended to do that with no weapons, but questions with no answers were better left unasked. Her mother stayed in her bedroom as she shut the door. Rygen got into bed and clutched her new book against her chest. Her mother sat at the foot of her bed and stared at the window. Rygen promised herself that as soon as she was old enough to do so, she would find a way to protect their family, for she couldn’t bear this feeling a moment longer.

  CHAPTER THREE

  It was the time of year for pruning the fruit trees to ensure they grew and produced more fruit. This was not a job for Leo. He was too young, though his brother was old enough to take on the difficult task. Leo spent his days wishing he could climb the trees with shears in hand instead of weeding the ground with no tools, no gloves. He hadn’t “earned” either of them yet, for he hadn’t been working at the farm long enough. Having labored on this farm since he was six years old, he didn’t understand what else he needed to do.

  Leo had not mentioned anything about last night to his brother. They usually didn’t speak much during their walk to the farm anyway, as both were often too tired, but last night had been unusual. It had been exciting, and not in a good way.

  Leo figured this morning might have the same dark excitement, for whatever had happened last night didn’t feel resolved. Andar had left the house before Leo, probably to visit the market as he had told their father he would. He had just gotten back when it was time for Leo to leave for the farm, but Andar didn’t say one word.

  At the farm, a few of the sheep looked ready to be sheared. It was something Rygen used to do when she spent her days here with Leo and Andar. Rygen had received an early acceptance to the Bookbinding Guild a year ago, after proving her care for books and ability to bind them together. Leo would have his turn to prove himself in a week. The meeting with Gartel, the bookbinding guild master, was already scheduled for the day of Leo’s tenth birthday.

  Leo had never met Gartel, but he knew much about the guild master from Rygen. Gartel used to be friends with Rygen’s mother. Well, not friends exactly, Leo thought as he plucked out a weed. But that was the word Rygen tended to use. Gartel had refused to meet with Leo when he’d turned nine, as Gartel had done with Rygen. She promised Leo that she’d told Gartel just how much Leo loved and cared for books. He was good with his hands as well, she’d relayed to Gartel, but it was still no use. Gartel said Leo would have to wait until he was ten before they would meet.

  Ever since Rygen left the farm, the only fun Leo had there was with his brother. But Andar had been more reserved ever since their farm master had assigned a reeve, a six-year-old girl, to watch for anyone who was slow in fulfilling their duties.

  The little reeve, named Chay, wanted to catch Andar stealing. She had made the mistake of telling him, and that the farm master had offered her a reward if she did. She wasn’t the smartest child, but it wouldn’t matter even if she was precocious. Andar never stole anything from the farm. He was smart enough not to risk his hand being cut off at his wrist.

  Leo didn’t see why the farm master suspected Andar. Nothing had gone missing, that Leo was aware of, and the farm master had no way of knowing that Andar thieved when he left the farm.

  They were given bread for lunch that day. Leo found his brother in one of the barns, where they could eat in shade and privacy. The smell of animal waste kept most others out, but lunch was never anything delicious anyway, so it didn’t matter much to them.

  They ate quietly until the large barn door started to open outward. It got stuck after just a few inches as a girl grunted in strain from the other side. The door tended to drag on the ground, making it more difficult to open the more dirt it gathered at its base. The girl didn’t seem to realize this, struggling to pull it open rather than kicking the dirt free.

  She squeezed her body into the small opening but soon got herself stuck. She wiggled and groaned until she fell into the barn.

  “So sly,” Andar teased. “You’ll be a spy for the king one day, no doubt.”

  She didn’t seem to understand his sarcasm, squinting at him with confusion as she got herself up and dusted off. “You steal anything yet, Andar?”

  “Shut the door and come over here, and I’ll tell you a secret.”

  Chay turned and tried to pull the door by its rusted handle, but she couldn’t free it from the dirt. Eventually it broke free and slammed shut. She fell backward and rolled over. Seemingly without shame, she got up and even ran to Andar and Leo as they sat on bales of hay. Chay huffed, her cheeks red.

  “What’s the secret?” she asked.

  “First you have to promise not to tell anyone.”

  “I promise.”

  “Even if it’s about something I stole.”

  “I promise.”

  “But you promised the farm master you would tell him if I stole something,” Andar pointed out.

  “I…” No other words came out of her mouth, which hung wide open.

  Andar laughed. “Relax, Chay, it’s not about something I stole.”

  “Then you can tell me?”

  He nodded. “It’s about you.”

  “Me?”

  “About why the farm master really has you watching me.”

  “To catch you stealing.”

  Andar shook his head. “That’s what he will continue to tell you, so you must not mention this, but the truth isn’t that he expects you to catch me stealing. It’s that he expects you to keep me from stealing.”

  She thought about his words for a moment, but her confused expression never changed. “What do you mean?”

  “He knows I’m not going to steal anything if you’re watching me,” Andar explained. “Which is true. I never will. So you will never get your reward. He knows this—he’s using you.”

  She let out a raspy breath.

  “The only way you’re going to get your reward is if you trick the both of us. You have to stop watching me for a while, make me forget that you’re trying to catch me stealing. Once I have forgotten, you can start watching me again, but you have to make sure I don’t see you doing it. You especially must not speak to me. Only then might you catch me stealing something. You understand?”

  “Yes.”

  Andar stared at her for a moment. “Well, then why are you still here?”

  Chay turned and sped toward the door. She had the same trouble with it as before, getting stuck halfway out and eventually tumbling out of sight. The door closed with her grunting from the other side, and soon it was quiet again.

  “That should buy me a few days of peace,” Andar said.

  “Do you know what her reward is for catching you?”

  “I’m sure the only thing offered to her is a lie. You know how the farm master is.” Andar finished the last of his bread and got up. “Come on,” he said. “Perhaps we can convince the farm master to send us off early if we start work again now.”

  Andar had just finished reminding Leo of how the farm master was. Leaving early was extremely unlikely, no matter how hard they worked during their break. But Leo didn’t bring it up. He knew Andar was trying to avoid a conversation about last night, and Leo gladly remained silent. He didn’t want to have to lie to his brother about what he had done after Andar had fallen asleep.