Weaver's Curse

“Hey, Indeara?” Sedine asked the next morning.

Indeara paused, a half-folded blanket in her hand.

“So I asked my friend about that letter, ko.” Sedine said. “And she said it was part of the archaic form of the Telare alphabet. So, sorry for doubting you about that.”

“Archaic?” Indeara asked.

“Yeah.” Sedine said. “They stopped using that letter like, a long time ago.”

“What?” Indeara said. “Sedine, I’m certain that everyone where I’m from uses this letter.”

“Were you raised in a cult or something?” Vassa asked brightly.

Was I?

Like most things, Indeara could remember. Her family and community were nothing but a massive, black gash ripped into her memory.

“Can you remember ever attending a linguistics academy?” Sedine asked “Maybe a boarding school?”

“Oh, I guess that would make more sense than a cult.” Vassa said.

“Those two things aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.” Pinky interjected.

“No, I can’t.” Indeara said, answering Sedine’s question.

“But that doesn’t mean you didn’t.” Sedine said. “That’s the most logical explanation I can think of right now.”

Indeara put those thoughts out of her mind as they began to walk.

They went on foot like that for the next four days, skirting around any villages and sleeping in fields or woods. Then the small supply of food that Sedine had bought in Kestrel began to dwindle, and they set course to a town called Amina.

“Alright, Pinky. I’m afraid you attract too much attention.” Sedine said. “Why don’t you wait in the woods here while we go buy supplies?”

“But what if some hooligan thinks I’m free game and drags me off?” Pinky asked fearfully.

“Bite him.” Sedine suggested

“Sedine, I think I’d better stay with her.” Vassa said. “I can’t let anything happen to her. I hope you understand.”

“We’ll be fine.” Sedine promised. “Indeara, remember: my name is Sedna, not Sedine.”

“Got it.” Indeara said.

They entered Amina, and found the nearest inn.

“How may I help you?” the man at the front desk asked.

“Do you sell waybread?” Sedine asked.

“We ran out this morning.” The man apologized. “You could try the Fir Tree Inn a few streets over.”

“Thanks for the advice.” Sedine said, bestowing a smile on him.

“No problem. Have a nice day.” He said.

“This is not a bad town.” Indeara commented as they walked.

The streets were relatively clean, and it didn’t stink as much as cities tended too.

“Yeah,” Sedine said. “Some previous queen used to have a mansion here so they have a lot of pride in themselves.”

“Oh I see.”

A queen’s mansion...

She felt like she should remember something like that.

She froze in her tracks, images of a tall tower, cloaked in fog, raced through her mind.

“Indeara? What’s wrong?” Sedine asked.

Indeara groaned. In the memory, someone stood beside her, looking up at the tower with her. Someone stood inside the tower with her.

Someone faced them both down.

Her mind went blank, and her vision went dark. Sedine grabbed her as she began to fall.

“Indeara! What’s happening!”

Indeara tried to speak, but all that came out of her lips was another groan.

“You’re okay. It’s going to be okay.” Sedine murmured, positioning one of Indeara’s arms around her shoulder, supporting her weight.

“The tower...” she croaked. “the...”

Who was with me? Who were they? Where are they? What connection did they have with me? Who!

The markings on the back of her neck felt burning hot. Indeara whimpered, clawing at her neck.

She heard a sharp intake of breath from Sedine, and then felt one of her cool hands clap down over the pattern.

“The markings are glowing.” Sedine whispered to her. “I’m sorry if this hurts, I can feel how hot they are.”

“Is she alright?” a calm, male voice asked.

Indeara felt Sedine tense, and pried her eyes open. A handsome boy close to their age dressed in fine clothing, with light brown hair and gentle blue eyes stood there, looking at them worriedly.

“She’s just having a migraine.” Sedine said. Her voice sounded weirdly hoarse.

“Do you need help?” the boy asked.

“No. We were just heading home.” Sedine said.

“I can help you carry her,” the boy offered.

“I’ve got it under control.” Sedine said tersely.

Indeara picked up on her friend’s anxiety and let out a pitiful sounding moan.

“Look, sir.” Sedine said. “I really need to get my cousin home.”

“Oh, sorry for keeping you, miss.” He said, stepping back.

Sedine dragged her off. Indeara could feel her shoulders trembling slightly.

“Sorry, this is going to take a while. I’ve got to make sure that bastard isn’t following us.” Sedine said, her voice venomous.

Indeara wanted to ask who the man had been to elicit that reaction from Sedine, but her tongue felt too heavy to move.

She finally felt grass underneath her feet instead of cobbles, and realized they’d made it out of the city, and were heading back to where they’d left Vassa.

“You’re back early!” Vassa said cheerfully.

“We didn’t get the supplies.” Sedine said in a rush. “We ran into Fayen.”

“That was Fayen?” Indeara choked out.

“Did he recognize you?” Vassa gasped.

“No, I don’t think so.” Indeara said. “He was mostly distracted by Indeara... doing whatever she was doing.”

“You’re welcome.” Indeara muttered.

“But we need to get out of here before he realizes that girl he met in the street looks a little too familiar.”

“What’s wrong with Indeara?” Vassa asked.

“I don’t know, she suddenly collapsed, and the marks on her neck started glowing, and they’re burning hot.” Sedine blurted.

“I remembered something.” Indeara said shakily. “A tower, covered in fog. Someone went into it with me, and we faced something there.”

“Did you see your comrade’s face?” Vassa asked excitedly.

“No.” Indeara said. “I wish I had.”

“We can talk about that later, we need to go.” Sedine urged.

“But we’re almost out of supplies!” Vassa protested.

“We’ll have to manage.” Sedine said grimly.

“How about this?” Vassa asked. “You two take Pinky and skirt around the village. We’re going south right?”

Sedine nodded.

“I’ll go into town and buy supplies and then find you.” Vassa said. “Just take care of Pinky for me.”

“Who’s taking care of me?” Pinky asked, finally waking up.

“Sedine and Indeara.” Vassa said.

“More like the other way around.” Pinky snorted. “Vassa, dear, you’re the only sane one in this group.”

“That’s fair.” Indeara said.

“Um... Vassa isn’t sane either. She knitted a sweater for you.” Sedine said.

“I was afraid she’d get cold!” Vassa protested.

“And what’s wrong with my sweater?” Pinky asked, glaring.

“Okay, okay, I won’t say anything about the sweater again!” Sedine said, raising her hands defensively. “And back to the main topic; Make sure you aren’t caught, Vassa. Can you do that?”

“I can. I promise.” Vassa said, determination shining in her eyes.