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Writer's pictureFiona Hamilton

Chapter 15 - The Rescue

Rienna screamed. "What is happening?!" her voice echoed throughout the building.

"What?! What is wrong?!" Jen asked, bursting into Rienna's room.

"I don't know! I'm molting or something!" Rienna said frantically.

"Wait, what? Let me see" Jen said, suddenly worried more for Rienna's mental state than her safety.

"It's here, on my arm," Rienna said, holding up her arm for Jen to see. "All the skin is peeling off! What is going on?!" She was beginning to sound a little hysterical.

"Just calm down, Rienna. Let me get a good look at it," Jen said. She peered at Rienna's arm. "Oh. It is a sunburn. You are fine."

"What's a sunburn?! Are you telling me that the Sun is evil after all?!" Rienna said loudly. "Are you sure I'm okay?" 

Jen looked at her confused, "No! What? No, no, no. Your skin got too much Sun. It made it burn. It is just peeling off because the top layer of skin cells is dead."

"And that's not bad?" Rienna asked doubtfully.

"No. I mean... it's a little bit bad for your skin, and your arms might hurt for a bit, but otherwise: no, you are fine." She paused, "Have you never had a sunburn before?"

"No! Of course not! The Suppression protects us from that kind of thing," Rienna said. She sounded a little angry, though not towards Jen. 

Jen tilted her head, "Huh. You are talking about the magic bubble, right? Is it not dark in Vieryen then?" Jen asked.

"It is pretty dark compared to here, but there are a lot of candle fairies that – probably aren't actual fairies since nothing else seems to be," Rienna said, changing her words at the last moment due to her remembering at the last moment. Can't anything make sense?

"... Ah." Jen stood beside Rienna a little awkwardly, not sure what to think of the last few moments. "Well... There is food in the lounge for when you are ready. I will make sure there is some sunscreen for you after. Sunscreen protects you from getting sunburns, by the way." Jen said, slowly backing out of the room.


When she was gone, Rienna sat down on the bed. She was still wearing the same clothes from the day before and was feeling pretty dirty. She hadn't bathed since she left Vieryen and she had since then run through a forest, been swallowed by dirt, hiked across grassy hills, got caught in a storm, and then got kidnapped and brought to a camp in the mountains. Also, her hair had begun to look like a nest. 

She looked down at Xio and Xia who were sitting on the carpet, "You guys go ahead and get breakfast, I'll be out in a moment." 

Rienna got up and closed the door after the cats left. She went to the chest of drawers and checked in the bottom drawer where she had found clothes before. Oh, thank goodness. Yinda, or whoever else, had put another set of clothing in the drawer. 

After getting dressed, Rienna sat back down on the bed and looked at her burnt arms. The skin was definitely peeling, all of the way from her shoulders to her elbows. She grabbed a loose piece of skin and made a face. "Nope. No." She said aloud, jerking her hand away. She closed her eyes, "It does not exist. I am going to have breakfast and not think about whatever is happening to my arms." She took a deep breath and stood up. Okay, I'll be fine


She walked out the door, closed it behind her, and made her way to the lounge. There weren't many people, as usual. The table that was usually full of food was mostly empty, nevertheless, Rienna was able to satisfy her hunger with a fair selection of meats and cheeses and a couple of bits of bread. However, she knew she would be hungry again soon seeing as she had skipped dinner the day before, but she had just been so tired. 

She found Xio and Xia sitting on a chair together and sharing bits of bacon and salami. She pulled a chair and sat next to them, eating the last bits of cheese that she had grabbed. Looking around, she saw only two other kids in the room, a boy and a girl who were both around fourteen years old. They sat together quietly and sullenly, slowly eating pieces of food that they had grabbed. What is making all of these kids mute? And how come some of them can talk, some and others can't? 

Xio stopped eating for a moment, "While you were sleeping a bit of your skin came off and I ate it. It was not very tasty." His mother nipped the scruff on his neck and gave a little growl, telling him that he shouldn't say things like that.

Rienna was glad she had finished eating all of her food, Xio's comment had... disrupted her appetite, to say the least. 

Jen came into the lounge holding a jar of something in her hand. She looked around and saw Rienna, "Å, der du er." She walked over and put the jar on the table. It was about four inches tall and half filled with white goop. "This is sunscreen," she said, grabbing a cracker and then sitting on a chair of her own. She popped off the lid, "It is just a lotion that will protect you from the sun. You should wear some the next time you go outside. Just rub it in like this." She grabbed a small glob and rubbed it into the skin on her wrist after closing the jar again.


Rienna looked at the jar questioningly, "And this will protect me from getting a sunburn again?"

"Yes," Jen responded firmly. "Go ahead and keep the jar, by the way. It is yours now."

"Okay, then," Rienna said, grabbing the short jar carefully.

"About an hour ago a rescue party went out to get the kids at V4," Jen said distantly. "I had just woken up when they were leaving apparently. They should be back soon; there will likely be a lot of people around here for a while."

Xio jumped onto the table and looked up at Jen, "Did you want to go with them?" Before She could respond, he continued, "I would've. Especially if I could beat up Zumfy," He began jumping around the table as if in battle with an invisible spirit.

Jen smiled tiredly at the kitten. "Yes, I did want to go, even though I knew I would be of no use. Also, Zumfy?"

"He's the weirdo who calls himself the Houndmaster. I do not like him," Xio said, settling down again and lying on his stomach.

"What a weird name," Jen said. "Is it a normal name in Vieryen?"

Rienna thought for a moment, "Definitely not, but I don't think that it is impossible for him to be from Vieryen."

"Well, he spoke pretty fluently, so he was probably from Vieryen," Xio said with all of his tiny kitten confidence.


Xia, who was sitting in loaf form on her chair mewed in agreement, Zumfy had to be from Vieryen despite his strange name. 

They all sat awkwardly for a moment. Well, Rienna and Jen sat awkwardly, the cats didn't really care about the silence. Then Rienna's focus shifted to the girl who had just entered the room. It was the strange girl who she had encountered before, the one who had acted like a princess. She walked in quietly and to the table. Tiptoeing, she reached up and grabbed a couple of crackers. Then, still ignoring everyone else, she walked out as regally and silently as she had entered.

Rienna turned to Jen, “What did you say that girl’s name was again?”

“Rildie,” Jen responded promptly. “She does not talk much, but I know she can… I just want to know why everyone comes back mute or close to it.”

“And why are some people still able to talk,” Rienna added.


Jen nodded. They all sat for another moment, not entirely sure what to say, especially with the two other kids who obviously had been to camp V4 still in the room. Although, they likely didn’t understand any language other than Queltan. Soon though, Jen stood up, “Well, there is not much we can do about it. They should be back soon, but feel free to do what you like today. Hopefully, we can both have a day of rest.” 

Rienna smiled tiredly in response. She looked at Xio, who was now rolled over on his back and sleeping. She tried to resist the urge to rub his belly and wake him up, but combined with the sight of his pink little tongue barely sticking out of his mouth…; she just couldn’t help herself. Reaching over the table she gently stroked the soft and fluffy kitten fur on his belly. Xio’s eyes fluttered a bit and he let out a purr. Xia, seeing this, jumped onto Rienna’s lap and bumped her arm with her head. Laughing softly, Rienna began petting both cats at once.

After a moment though, Rienna sighed. “What should we do then?” Rienna asked the cats.


Xia mewed something and Xio translated for Rienna, “‘Figure out a plan for how we should get back home.’ – Hey! Remember what Jen said about how Vieryen travels to the Four towns all the time, I bet the guards don’t just walk there; we could sneak on a caravan home!” Xio exclaimed.

“When did Jen say this?” Rienna asked.

“When you both were talking about the geography! There is an area with four towns called Westrikov Kontravi. I don’t think Jen said anything about their individual names.”


Rienna thought for a moment, That doesn’t seem like a bad idea, but I still don’t know what I will do when I get back to Vieryen, or whether I am truly a fugitive or not. Maybe I should just focus on getting back and crossing that bridge when I get there. “Okay,” she said, “but how are we going to get to the Four Towns? I would rather not walk there.”

There was another moment of awkward silence. “Maybe we cans take a caravan from here to the towns?” Xio said, jumping up to his feet.

“We’re just going to hop on a caravan going towards the Four Towns without any resistance from the King?” Rienna said sarcastically.

“Why would the King not let us leave?” Xio asked.

Oh. Rienna had forgotten that the cats hadn’t been there for her first meeting with the King. “He wants the crystal I stole from that spy. He probably wants to find a way to harness its power like Sovereign Jenni does.”

“That’s not cool,” Xio said, flopping back down on the table and lying in a splat-like position.

Rienna smiled, “No, it’s not,” she agreed. “Maybe after everything with the missing children is sorted out we can talk to Jen about forming a plan.”

Xio lifted his head and tail, “Yeah! We go talk to Jen and make a greats plans!”

Rienna scratched underneath his chin, “Yes, but first, she will want the kids from V4 to get back, so let’s wait until then.”


It was around eleven thirty and Rienna was in her room having just finished lunch, when Jen burst in, excited and exhausted. “Rienna, they have brought back all of the children!”

Immediately Rienna jumped up and out of bed. “Really!?”

“Yes! Some of them are coming in now! Mostly the younger ones who do not have as much information,” Jen said excitedly. “If you want, we will be bringing them to the lounge to talk over what will happen next, you could come and meet some of them.”

“Okay, I’ll bring Xio too,” Rienna said as Jen left the room. This is so exciting! Rienna couldn’t help it, she had helped bring all of these kids home. Soon enough, all of the kids would be reunited with their families and friends that they had been stolen from. And I helped make it happen! Rienna thought again. Me! She may feel uncertain about her place in her kingdom, but helping right their wrongs made her feel a little bit better, a little bit more sure of her place in the world.


Rienna and her cats made their way to the lounge where, already, there were about fifteen children from ages eight to twelve. Most of them chatted happily as well as nervously, some were eating the rest of the food on the table, and a few people sat awkwardly in the corner looking as if they didn’t belong. She picked up Xio and made her way to five girls who were chatting enthusiastically at the table Rienna had sat at in the morning. She whispered something to Xio and then clearly approached the group.

Hello!” Xio said in Queltan. “My name is Xio, and this is Rienna. She doesn’t speak Queltan, so I wills speak for her.”


A girl with short blond hair and striking blue eyes spoke up. Her voice was melodic but sounded somewhat scratchy like she was recovering from a cold. Xio whispered what she said up to Rienna. “Wow! You can speak Queltan! That’s pretty cool!” 

Continuing with Xio translating between the two parties Rienna was introduced to Haylie, the one who had spoken; Uliah, a tall girl with long brown hair; Kunah, Uliah’s identical twin whose nickname was Ku; Malafu, a shy girl with her blond hair in a low bun; and Welafrid, a loud girl with black hair hanging down to her shoulders. 

The conversation they had was slow but rather informational. All five kids were around twelve and went to the same school. They each had been kidnapped during a time when fairyeld guards visited, and each was completely astonished at how Rienna and Jen had escaped. They said that the fence around the camp was usually always watched and no one had successfully escaped before. The really interesting thing was that Haylie had tried to escape through the back fence after Rienna and Jen had left, thinking that the increased security at the gate would give her an opportunity to escape from the back. Obviously, she had been caught, but the important thing was that she had been about to be punished and released when the rescue party came. She had been brought to the entrance room where everyone was assigned their cabins and forced to drink a strange concoction that tasted like old beans. The head of the camp had begun chanting what seemed to be a spell. He only got a few seconds through before he was interrupted, but afterward, Haylie’s throat became itchy and she had a hard time saying anything relating to the camp. In fact, it was her friends that told most of the story. Rienna immediately tried to think of a way she could use this information to help the kids who had successfully been turned mute.


Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of anything and decided to switch the subject. Talking through Xio she said, “Why are those kids sitting alone in the corner? What do you know about them?”

Welafrid instantly had an answer. “Those kids are from the Four Towns. No one here really knows them and they don’t speak good Queltan.” She sounded almost disdainful towards the poor kids.

“They can’t help it. They were stolen away from their families just like us. It’s not their fault they were placed in a camp where they were the only kids from the Four Towns,” Malafu said quietly.

Oh no… Rienna thought as Xio relayed this to her. Does that mean… no, it couldn’t be, could it?

“They are all younger though, they never had to do as much work as us,” one of the twins said, possibly Ku.

“And they were punished for it! They didn’t understand half the words the guards said and they were punished for it!” Malafu said in a voice so loud it surprised all of her friends. “They are just lonely children separated from everyone like we were, but worse.”


Rienna would have found it touching, listening to a Rufdian who felt so much sympathy towards someone not at all like her like Rienna was, however, her mind still was racing from the girl’s earlier comment. She said ‘They were placed in a camp where they were the only kids like them.’ She said that like there were multiple options… 

Jen tapped her shoulder from behind, surprising her. Rienna was glad to see her though, she had so much news to tell her. Upon seeing Jen’s face though, she realized that Jen already knew what she was going to tell her. “Rienna,” Jen said quietly, “Not all the kids are from Rufdand and…” She hesitated a moment then gave a resigned sigh. “Sixty-eight people from Rufdand are missing,” she explained, “but only thirty-one were recovered from V4. Rienna, there are other work camps, and I am sure of them.”


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