Meadowcity Read online

  The young woman reluctantly turned back and padded swiftly down the hallway, shoulders slumped.

  Sylvia and Ven stepped into the small room, lit entirely by another large window in the ceiling. Against one wall the boy in question lay sleeping in a cot, covered in a blanket. Several chairs were scattered about the room and Gero indicated that they sit.

  “Thank you both for meeting me here,” Gero began.

  Sylvia looked at Ven in question—hadn’t she invited him? He only grinned back at her as he sat on the bench beside her. Gero sat in the chair closest to the bed, glancing once at the closed door. He seemed to gather his thoughts, taking in a deep breath before speaking.

  “What is said in this room today is not to be repeated,” he paused, earning a nod from each of them. “This boy appearing is not the only cause for alarm. As you may have guessed yourselves, evidence suggests he is no Rider.”

  Sylvia’s stomach flipped.

  Gero continued, matter-of-factly, “Search of his bag turned up only personal belongings, no survival tools or even food. His injuries are nothing we’ve seen from the forest. I would venture to guess they’re from some sort of—battle.”

  Silence weighed heavily upon the room. Sylvia could think of nothing to say. The word “battle” echoed strangely in her head.

  Gero went on, coldly stating the facts as if to keep himself apart from them.

  “Yesterday I received a letter from Skycity,” he nodded towards Sylvia. “Governor Greyling said in no uncertain terms that if Meadowcity wished to remain prosperous, we must align with Skycity and—” he paused, recalling the words “—bow before their rule.” His tone of voice clearly indicating he would do no such thing.

  Ven, quiet until now blurted, “What—all of a sudden? Why now?”

  Gero ran a hand through his short dark locks. Sylvia could see the silver feathering his temples.

  “This is all the information I’m working with Ven,” he spread his thick hands out before him. “There was no other message other than to surrender.”

  Sylvia took a wild guess. “Resources?”

  Gero leaned back in his chair and shrugged. “Perhaps. Our best hope is that this boy wakes up soon and we can figure out what in the world happened to him. I’m thinking Riftcity might have received a message similar to mine.”

  All three of them turned their eyes to the boy in the bed. Looking closely, Sylvia could see that his arms lying on top of the blanket were a worker’s—the muscles looked naturally strong, and his hands were thick and callused. Half of his face was covered in a soft bandage on one side, and his dark hair was cut very close to his head. He looked just a bit older than Sylvia, and dark brown stubble covered his wide chin.

  Ven, eyes intent on the boy said, “Think he was coming to warn us?”

  Gero nodded his head, “Aye.”

  Sylvia guessed there was a reason Gero had invited her and Ven here, other than to speculate. “What do you want us to do?” she offered.

  “Right to the point,” Gero said, smiling slightly. “That’s why you two are here. I can’t say this is something I’ve ever dealt with before—hell; no one in all of the Four Cities has ever seen a war. It’s something from a fantasy book. But we are not giving in. I will show the message from Skycity to the Council—as Greyling expects me to.”

  Sylvia almost groaned. The Council was not known for agreeing on things easily, and certainly not in a timely fashion.

  “We can take advantage of their deliberation to do some research,” Gero said, clearly sharing her thoughts on the Council.

  Puzzled, Ven asked, “What kind of research?”

  Sylvia couldn’t guess how they could do research either—like Gero said, war only happened in fantasy books.

  Gero placed his hands on his knees. “I need you to go to Riftcity.”

  Chapter Three

  “Riftcity?” Ven echoed.

  Sylvia’s thoughts were reeling. Gero had said the boy’s wounds looked like they were from a battle. Had Skycity attacked them? Sylvia’s unease at her experience in Skycity felt entirely justified. How could they do that?

  “When?” Sylvia asked, one of the many questions now swirling about her mind.

  Gero let out a breath, leaning back into his chair. “We wait until Flint wakes up. We need to know what you’re walking into.”

  Gero rose out of his chair, glancing again at the dark haired boy from Riftcity.

  Ven stood, offering a hand to Sylvia, who took it as much for its steadiness as for its comfort.

  “The Healers tell me his face has been badly burned, but even with the rest of his wounds, he should wake soon. It was mostly exhaustion, they think, that made him collapse.”

  Gero had dark circles under his eyes, thrown into relief as the light caught his face. Has Gero slept since he got that message? Sylvia wondered.

  Ven opened the door to the hallway, letting Sylvia and Gero go before him. He fell in step behind Sylvia, asking her in a low tone so his voice didn’t carry outside of the hallway, “When was the last time you visited Riftcity?”

  Hearing the question, Gero’s head perked up, and he fell back to match their pace.

  Sylvia glanced out the bright windows on her right, thinking back. “Hmm. Not for a month or so. The last two contracts were to Lightcity, and then to Skycity.”

  Gero, continuing in their hushed tones, said, “Perhaps you can ask around the other Riders and find out when was the last time someone visited Riftcity. Someone must have had business there. We can figure out some sort of time line.”

  They cut their conversation off as they opened the thin door to the entrance hall, where Caylee sat at her desk looking up at them, her eyebrows raised and a pleasant smile tacked to her face.

  “Miss Forrester, please send word immediately when he wakes. You will find me at the Citizen’s Hall.” With that, he nodded at Sylvia and Ven, and left the Hall.

  Ven slipped his arm into Sylvia’s again and swiftly headed for the door, calling over his shoulder, “Bye Caylee!” as the door closed behind them. When they were outside, he gently let go of her arm and they headed for the lake.

  “What was that all about?” Sylvia asked him with a chuckle.

  “What do you mean, about Riftcity?”

  “Avoiding Caylee,” she smirked at him, eager to think of something else for a moment.

  “Oh, ah, well she asked me round for dinner after I brought in Flint yesterday.” He stared down at the path, cheeks reddening.

  Sylvia chuckled. “And you’re going?”

  “Well, maybe not anymore…” he trailed off.

  “You’d rather go to battle-strewn Riftcity than have dinner with Caylee?” She couldn’t help her grin. Ven was always dodging girls. When they had been together in lessons, he had always been popular, as handsome as he was.

  When they first met, she had been about Sonia’s age, and she had been waiting for her father in secret by the gate. He was supposed to return any day, so each afternoon she would sneak down to the massive tree gate after lessons and hide in the bushes near the inside of the gate. One afternoon, sitting in her spot in the bush, just as she heard voices outside the gate, a sharp elbow rammed her in the shoulder.

  “Ouch!” she cried, standing and revealing herself from her hiding spot.

  Caught in the middle of crouching into the bush himself, Ven hadn’t seen her and was trying to do the very same thing she was—waiting for his father to come back from a hunting trip.

  “What are you doing!” she said, pushing him away.

  He stumbled back towards her and proceeded to crouch down in the hiding spot. “I can sit here if I want to,” he said.

  “Hey!” she crouched down again, in fear of losing her spot. The Gatekeepers had caught her the other day hiding on the other side of the gate—telling her to get back home. It wasn’t safe for her to lurk inside the gate when the doors were open, they said.

  “Scoot over,” she hissed, settling back
in the bush, and they waited.

  They had waited all afternoon, mostly in silence, because Sylvia was so annoyed that she had to share her spot. Their fathers didn’t come back that day, but they ended up seeing each other a lot after that.

  As they got older, Sylvia and Ven would compare stories of their training as Rider and hunter. Even going weeks without seeing each other, they would pick up their friendship right where they left off.

  As they turned onto the lake path, Ven answered, “Hopefully we’ll leave for Riftcity soon, so I won’t have to go.”

  “What’s wrong with Caylee?” Sylvia wondered, inhaling the sweet scent of the flowers by the path.

  Ven shrugged. “She probably just wants to find out more about Flint,” he said shiftily.

  He led the way to a wooden bench along the path. It was shaded by a full willow tree, its green boughs swaying gently. The shade was cool and welcome, as the day seemed to be heating up around them.

  The two of them sat in silence for a long while. Sylvia studied the lake, a slight breeze playing over it as the water glinted softly in the morning sun.

  Ven eventually broke the silence. “I’ve never been to another city,” he said, clearly trying to sound casual.

  Sylvia exhaled; unaware until then she had been holding her breath. “It’s quite a journey,” she said simply.

  *

  “There’s no wind! It’s not going to work,” Sonia pouted, her toy raft clearly not holding up to her expectations.

  Sylvia sat on the grass nearby, legs extended in front of her, the hilt of her long knife poking out of her boot. Sonia plucked the raft from the water, and fiddled with the sail once more. Sylvia had stopped in a woodworker’s shop on her way home earlier. Linden, the man who ran the shop, had given her some scrap wood to help Sonia make a raft.

  The bench where Sylvia and Ven had sat this morning was not far off from where she and Sonia sat now. After Sylvia and Ven discussed the situation at length, Sylvia had gone to the Citizen’s Hall to see which Riders were still in city. Since it was their business to travel, she had only found two in the Hall all morning. She worried about the Riders abroad, whether they were safe with Skycity’s threat looming.

  The first she met was Ollie, who seemed quite harassed about something. Sylvia soon found out what when she casually asked him when he had last been to Riftcity.

  The older Rider replied, “What does it matter, the last time I was there? Can’t go there now, can I?”

  Shocked, Sylvia asked, “What? Why?” She hoped the story hadn’t gotten out so soon.

  “Gero’s just put an order out; no one’s to travel anywhere until further notice,” he said seriously.

  At least he doesn’t know why, she thought. “What?” she cried, trying to sound surprised. She was glad though, at least the Riders at home would stay safe. For now, she thought bitterly.

  Ollie scratched his beard, “Something vague about safety concerns. I heard a Rider came in unconscious the other day—I wonder if it’s got anything to do with that.”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I just got in last night, but I heard about the Rider—I think he was coming from Riftcity.””

  “Aye, I heard that,” he said, nodding.

  “When’s the last time you were there?” she asked.

  He scratched his beard, “Eh… ‘bout a month ago. I was bringing Siara back from a stonesmith’s there.” He shrugged.

  A little while later, another Rider, Vince, entered the Hall. Sylvia waved at him and strode over to greet him.

  “Hear about the ban?” she asked. The topic would be much cause for gossip.

  “Aye, and my contract back to Lightcity’s going to lose me a whole month’s pay,” he sat down next to the fireplace, studying it.

  “When did Gero announce it?” she asked, genuinely curious.

  “‘Bout half an hour ago—posted a notice on the City board,” he jerked his thumb at the wall by the entrance. “Ell’s been bombarded with questions by the Riders passing through. There’s only about twenty in city though.”

  So ten or so of them were still abroad. Sylvia couldn’t help but wonder where their journeys had taken them.

  Word would spread through the city fast of the ban on travel. It had never happened in all of Meadowcity history—it was always a Rider’s choice to traverse the wilds if they had the skill.

  As Sylvia watched Sonia struggle with her toy raft, just bobbing along in the water, she considered the journey to Riftcity she was about to make. It was a trip she had made hundreds of times, perhaps, but this time it would be entirely different. Having Ven along would make it easier—another set of eyes on the trail and someone to talk to. But what would happen once they reached Riftcity? What would be left of it? Sylvia exhaled long and loud, I guess I’m just going to have to wait until Flint wakes up.

  Chapter Four

  How much longer can that boy sleep? Sylvia wondered for what felt like the tenth time. She sighed loudly, trying to concentrate on the knife in her hand as she re-wrapped the handle with a new strip of leather. It was her best knife for the trail, and she had been prepping and rechecking her gear since yesterday’s discussion with Gero. There was only so much she could do to get ready for the trip, but the wait was making her anxious.

  The leather wound easily around the hard metal handle, giving it a comfortable place to grip. The full length of the knife was about as long as the length between her elbow and fingertips, a very useful knife for the forest. She had worked hard to convince her mother she could carry such a large knife when she first became a Rider. But her mother wouldn’t openly show her reluctance at Sylvia undertaking her father’s profession, since that was how it had always been in Meadowcity. Each family passed down their knowledge of their trade to their children. The first-born child was always trained to assume the family’s occupation, whereas any other children would have more of a choice. Sylvia knew Sonia wasn’t cut out to be a Rider, and hoped she would take interest in teaching, since she was rather good at speaking to others. Or perhaps Sonia will become Governor one day, Sylvia thought, smiling to herself.

  Tucking the end of the leather underneath the rest, Sylvia stretched her legs out in front of her from her bed, which doubled as a bench in front of the window. Placing the knife back in its sheath inside her boot, she stood, reaching for the wood ceiling to stretch her muscles after sitting so long. Now I know why Lark has to keep himself so busy in the city. I’m so anxious sitting still for just a day.

  Sylvia surveyed her small but cozy room, just big enough for her window side bed and her wooden trunk that she kept all her belongings in. Everything was tidy, and the wooden floor showed no dust. Perhaps her mother kept it clean while she was away. The thought made her insides burn with guilt, knowing that she would need to say goodbye soon. She was quite reluctant to tell her parents of her mission, but it would be obvious that she was gone, especially since no one was allowed to travel.

  The true nature of her journey would scare her mother, she knew. Adeline preferred not to know about Sylvia’s exploits until after the fact, when she was no longer in harm’s way. Then her thoughts turned to her father. Of course I can tell Lark. He’ll understand. And he won’t tell a soul.

  Riders shared such a bond of the common danger they all faced, and of course she shared an even greater bond with her father, having taught her everything she knew. Who was to say Lark didn’t know a thing or two about war? He had become an avid reader after retiring, and books were the only place it happened—until now.

  Books were revered in the Four Cities. A handful of ancient books had been discovered throughout the centuries, mostly by Skycity, as they were known for their thirst for knowledge. Riders were generally the ones to discover such books, travelling everywhere and uncovering these artifacts from the past by accident. Many of these ancient texts had been copied in order to be preserved and read. Book-makers in Meadowcity sold a small number of books, both newly written and ancien
t, all hand copied onto fresh pages.

  Just then, Sylvia made up her mind to divulge her task to Lark. Giving her room another glance, she headed through the main room and towards the door. As she stepped outside and turned to close the latch, her mother called to her from beside the house. Sylvia wandered over to where her mother and sister were kneeling in the shade beside a row of carrots.

  Sonia spoke first, “Are you leaving, Sylvia?”

  “Of course not, do I look ready for the forest?” she asked, winking at Sonia.

  Sonia smiled and looked down as she toyed with the carrots in the basket.

  Sylvia spoke to her mother, “I’m going to talk with Lark, is he back in the fields today?”

  “Aye, and tell him his loving wife expects him home on time for dinner today.” Adeline grinned mischievously at Sonia, who grinned right back. The little girl threw her carrot into the basket with unnecessary enthusiasm, her dark braid swinging merrily down her back.

  Wondering what the two could be plotting, Sylvia called a cheerful goodbye and began to walk towards the lake path, towards center city.

  She wondered if Lark actually did have a book on war, and if he might lend it to her. She had been taught to read by her mother, and of course had schooling, but reading was not something she was accustomed to on a daily basis. She remembered reading the histories of Meadowcity, and even some ancient tales, but the ancient ones were all myth, the people who lived those tales long gone, and their stories so far from fact. The histories of Meadowcity and the other Cities would give her no advice. Even those histories had a mythical air to them—especially the one about the founding of the Four Cities.

  As she meandered over to the farming quarter to meet her father, she recalled the tale:

  The people of the land were scattered. Living in savage little bands across the land; they fought each other often for land, for food, for no reason at all. The land had become barren from war, but now it was alive with people and flora and fauna, none of them getting along.