Afeallan

"Chapter" Four

“I don’t know why I’m writing this. I’ve never written anything, not even a letter. It’s not for or to anyone. Odds are no one will read this when it’s finished, if there’s anyone left at all. Just seems like something that needs to be done. I feel that I must. An account of history. Everything seems so hopeless. We’ve been starved out by our friends. No one will trade with us any longer. For what? There have been talks of war. We have to do something. Everyone’s afraid. No one trusts. My neighbor was robbed today. No money stolen, just food. Might as well have been murdered. He left the next day.

They started trading with us again, but they’re charging more for goods. Perhaps I wrote too hastily. There’s going to be a town meeting tomorrow at the Tavern to decide what to do. We have to take some sort of action. No one knows what to do. There’s talk of electing an official, a king. They say: ‘Give us a king to judge us.’ Kind of exciting, I think. It’s about time. Everyone else in the free, civilized world has a king. I think that’s why they don’t trade with us like they used to.”

Rýnelic lowered the book. He wasn’t sure he was reading the truth. He had never heard any of this. From anyone. He heard the door open and place the book back down in the rectangle made from the absence of dust on the table. He went downstairs. He thought about questioning Léas, but then decided against it.

“Where’d you go?” asked Rýnelic. He didn’t really care.

“Everywhere,” replied Léas with a sly grin, mockingly trying to achieve the same ambiguous banter that Rýnelic had previously. It didn’t have the same effect. Rýnelic snorted, growing bored. Smug. He leaned his head backward as he walked back the stairs as Léas laid out a sheet to sleep on. “Good night,” Léas called after him. Rýnelic shut the door.

Rýnelic had a weird and fitful sleep. He dreamt, woke up, and fell back to sleep. He found himself watching Afeallan from a vantage point he did not recognize. The city was hazy. His head was throbbing. As the smoke cleared, he realized that the city was upturned. Everything was upside-down. The city appeared to be in peril. He wanted to save it. The city appeared to be in jeopardy of falling off the face of the earth. In eternal danger and dependence. Buildings seemed to be suspended from the sky. He watched formless bodies as they leisurely strolled about, going about their business, oblivious or ignorant to their current, Petrine, condition. He looked in the direction that should have been down and saw his feet bound with rope, tied off at the ankles. He followed the rope with his eyes and found that he was suspended. Hung by his feet. The rope came from nowhere. Hung upon nothing. It didn’t seem out of the ordinary as he hung there, watching the city that was dependant on the sky. A dog appeared. It approached. Rýnelic smiled, suspended, and pet the dog. The dog wagged its tail. It licked his face. He laughed. The dog began to growl. It hunched its back and its hairs began to stand. Rýnelic withdrew his hand. The dog lunged. Terror. Rýnelic sat up in bed. His back was cold and wet. He groped his throat, mechanically, rubbing his neck. It was morning.

Rýnelic stood up. The night-gown he wore fell in creases around his ankles. Too big. The door was open. He thought he remembered closing it before he want to bed. He bent down to gather his clothes and the thought left his mind. He thought of fire. Léas was waiting downstairs with Byldan. “Ready to go?” Léas asked, not revealing his feelings on the subject either way. Rýnelic thought of the diary. “Not yet,” he said as he reached across the table for some yeasty piece of breakfast that Léas was enjoying. Byldan clasped her hands together in enjoyment. Joy altogether. She was there, Rýnelic realized. Léas smiled and nodded. “Stay as long as you’d like.” He turned to Byldan and finished his meal. “No pressure,” he concluded. Rýnelic began to wonder about the book he had read. He wanted some more time with it. His hope was realized when Byldan said: “I have to go.”