Chapter Two: A Simple Sleight

Janelle

I sat cross-legged on the ground outside the entry to Residence M105 as the brisk autumn wind chilled my bones. A pyramid shaped lantern glowed in the dim dawn light. Its purple hue shone against the assortment of knitted socks, blankets and other wares I had laid out on the ground in front of me. I gritted my teeth, drawing my thinning faded brown cloak tighter around myself and held my knees to my chest in an effort to keep warm. It had been a mad idea from the start, but I had gone too far to stop.

A few minutes late the distant sound of chatter filled the cold morning air. My chapped blue lips curved into a smile. Just as planned. A group of about ten middle-aged men trudged along the dirt path outside the resisdence. They carried a large assortment of old fishing nets, rusted rods, and buckets of bait. Their coats were badly frayed at the edges and had numerous patches. I knew each of them by name.

"What're you doin' out here, love?" One of the fisherman called, stopping in front of my rug while the others walked on. His name was Tony and he was an old friend of my father's. His forehead was wrinkled with concern and a stab of guilt tore through me at the thought of decieving him.

It's not him you're tricking. Stick with the plan.

"Y'know they Gifted won't like you bein' here," Tony continued. His normally gruff voice car ried a hint of concern. "If they catch you sellin' stuff..."

"They won't," I said, straightening up. "I know what I'm doing, Tony. I just need a few rations, that's all. they don't give me any now I'm alone."

It was the truth, in a way. I survived on the scraps and generosity of my parents' old friends like Tony, and any leftovers I could snaffle fron the soup and sandwiches the women of the village prepared for fisherman's lunches each day. It had been nearly two years since I'd recieved any rations of my own. Not since my sister had been taken away. I contributed to the village as best I could - I helped cooked the lunches for the fishermen, I did laundry for the village. But to the Gifted, I was no-one.

A lump rose in my throat. I swallowed it down and smiled up at Tony. "I'm ok, really. But if you want anything and have rations to spare, let me know. The others, too."

"Alright," he said reluctantly. "I'll ask Mary when I get home tonight, she's probably saved some extras, I can drop them 'round later. But 'Ella, you need to get somewhere more tucked away. Out here in the open, they're gonna find you in two seconds flat. and that blonde man, he's cruel. He lashed Freddie he other day just for givin' him cheek. If he finds you..."

"I'll be fine," I interrupted. "You should go, Tony. The others are almost at the jetty, look."

I pointed towards Lake Ilewyrch in the distance, where the other fishermen were setting up for the morning. The rising sun glittered in the distance and dappled the water with an orange hue. Bessie, the fledgling sea serpent who made our lake her home, floated on her back in the centre of the lake, her glittering green scales soaking up the sun's rays. She let out a loud moaning sound that filled the entire village. To an outsider, she sounded somberly mournful. But the locals of the Forgotten Village knew she was perfectly content.

"Alright," he said, leaning down and kissing me on the cheek. "Be careful, love. Your parents'd want us to look after 'ya. You must miss them very much. Your sister, too. What was her name again?"

"Mabel," I said. My voice quivered on the second syllable. "Her - her name was Mabel."

"Yes, that's right. Just like your poor mother. Such a shame that she turned out to be... Well, you know. But I s'pose she's with her own kind now. And we wouldn't want any more of them hangin' about. Still, I don't like seeing John's daughter lonely. Mary's been saying our nephew, Tim, he's lookin' for a wife. He's only a couple'a years older than you. Thought you might like to get to know him better."

I feigned another smile. Maybe in another lifetime, I would have agreed. But finding a husband and having a normal life was no longer an option for me. "Thanks Tony. Maybe some other time. Goodbye."

He waved heartily and continued on his way, joining the other men at the docks in a matter of minutes. Once he was gone I uncrossed my legs and stood up, stretching for a minute before settling back in for a long day. As the morning wore on, more villagers emerged and startting going about their day - children running around and playing chasey, women carrying baskets of laundry, extra buckets of bait and fishing gear, many with snuffling babies strapped to their backs or whining toddlers clinging to their skirts. No-one else stopped in front of me like Tony had, but a few gave me strange looks. I knew they were wondering what I was doing, offering to barter like this in broad daylight. The Gifted were bound to catch me. Of course, that was my intention. M105 was known as the Forgotten Village for a reason, but I knew one of them was bound to come around at some point. Our village had always been less guarded than most. It had been this way as long as I could remember. There were never more than two or three Gifted stationed here at a time, even this close to Assessment Day. With only a hundred and fifty townspeople, we were barely worth the effort.

The village was sandwiched between Lake Ilewyrch and a dense forest, cut off from the rest of Faeven. We had fishermen and their families in the crumbling red brick residence that made up the northen half of the town. Each family had a cramped room to themselves and communal kitchen, dining and laundry rooms. There were also four families living in their own cottages in the southern half of the village. They were all blacksmiths, supplying the few other villages on the banks of Lake Ilewyrch with tools and weapons for the Gifted. Most of the villagers distrusted them, as the Gifted were known to give them more rations for their services. But my mother had been close friends with a tradeswoman who'd lived alone in one of the cottages with her two children. Like Mum, she has gone now, and her children had disappeared about a year ago. There were whispers among the village that they had been murdered in a jealous rage and thrown into the lake by a disgruntled fisherman. Why else would the Gifted punish anyone they caught speculating about it?

As my thoughts turned back to the Gifted, I shook my head, telling myself to focus. It was only a matter of time before one of them found me sitting here. I just hoped it was the right one. From my careful observations and the charts I'd compiled, I was sure it was his turn for the day watch, but what if I was wrong? What if I hadn't done enough research?

"What are you doing here?" A shrill voice demanded loudly from the distance. I stifled a smile and looked up. Just as planned, a young man with slicked back blonde hair trudged purposely towards me. Unlike the residents of M105 he had a polished, haughty air to him, and the uniform he wore was crisp and new. Like all Gifted, he wore a steely grey tunic secured around his waist with a thick leather belt. his trousers were a deep black and the ends were tucked into his boots. A grey cloak lined with dark fur was secured under his chin with a circular brooch. The brooch had a small red-orange flame stitched carefully in the centre. It was the only part of his attire that gave a hint to his Gift.

"Bartering is forbidden," he said, his gloved hand resting on the hilt of his sword, which hung from the belt around his waist next to a small dagger. "I've told you this before, M105-92. Didn't I say if I caught you again there'd be consequences?"

I looked towards the ground, lowering my voice to a whisper. "I'm sorry sir. I was just hungry, so I thought I'd trade -"

"Don't talk back to me," the man snapped. "You recieve the treatment you deserve, M105-92. You're lucky we've let you keep your residence this long. Throw this mess away and get to the kitchens."

I glanced up at him, shaking my head. "But sir, I just wanted -"

His eyes flashed red and a burst of flames shot towards me from his outstretched hand. I cried out as it seared against my neck, singing my hair. Before i could react he kicked me in the stomach with his steel-capped boot, knocking me to the ground. He kicked me for a second time and I curled into a ball, groaning. My head throbbed and my eyes watered, but with one hand I carefully reached into the pocket on my skirt and pulled out a small drawstring bag. With a jerk of my wrist, I let it tumble onto the ground before me. I made a show of trying to grab it, my fingernails scraping against the ground. The Gifted man stepped on my wrist and bent over to pick it up. He opened the bag with a bemused smile and pulled out a small sweet roll studded with berries and nuts. My stomach growled audibly at the sight. It was involuntary, but useful for my plan. I swallowed loudly and shook my head.

"Please sir, that's all I've got today," I said, gasping as he pushed down harder on my wrist with his boot. "If I could just take it back, please..."

"Of course not," the Gifted man said, his dark eyes glinting as he grinned down at me. "You should have thought about that before you broke the rules."

He tossed it up in the air and caught it with is left hand, laughing at me. His eyes flashed red and a flame sprang up in his opposite palm. I was filled with a sudden dread.

"No, please, I..."

The flames shot from his right palm towards my hand-made blankets and socks that lay in a crumpled heap on the ground. The smell of smouldering wool filled the air and he stuffed the roll in his mouth, chewing long and slowly.

"Get up," he growled, crumbs spraying from his lips. He reached down and grabbed me by the end of my pony tail, jerking my body upwards. I cried out, my eyes watering. Through my blurry vision, I could see figures watching me from the docks in the distance. Villagers, too scared to intervene.

"You're coming with me," he hissed, his breath hot against my neck. "twenty strong lashes should teach you how to -"

"Stop this at once."

The blonde man let go and I fell to the ground, chest heaving. I looked up, rubbing my stinging eyes. A second man came into view. He wore the same uniform as the first, but he was much older, balding and with a forehead lined with wrinkles. His uniform was a litte frayed around the edges and his faded brooch had a small wave motif in a mix of greens and blues.

"You know the punishment for bartering is extra duties and confiscation of the offending items," the older man said firmly, glancing at me. "She is to be taken to the laundry room and kitchens and will be on night shift for a week as well as her normal duties. If she does not comply with this, further action will be taken. We will be watching closely, M105-92. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I rasped, letting a tear roll down my cheek. He reached out and offered me a gloved hand. Hestitating slightly, I took it and let him pull me to my feet. He bowed his head towards the residence's entrance and I nodded quickly, scurrying away as I clutched at my wrist. It ached painfully and my neck and scalp throbbed, but it had been worth it. The blonde Gifted man had taken the bait, and by tomorrow morning he'd be feeling the consequences. The bread had been laced with Gutsick berries, which I'd spent a few hours combing through the forest in the dead of night to find. They were sweet and red and resembled raspberries. High doses could kill someone, but I had only given him enough to be sick for a couple of days. That was all I would need. Everything was going as planned.

I kept my head down for the rest of the day and night, toiling in the kitchens and laundry with the other village women, then cleaning the common rooms by myself until dawn. By then I was exhausted. I trudged back to my family's residence and collapsed onto the sagging mattress, inspecting my injuries. My left wrist and stomach were badly bruised and my neck had a large, shiny red burn. I reached into a box beside my bed and wound a bandage around my wrist and hand. I lathered a small home-made salve onto my burn, wincing as it throbbed. Letting out a sigh, I lay back on the bed, staring up at the cobwebs on the ceiling. Despite my exhaustion, my mind was too active to sleep. My thoughts jumped from moment to moment, obsessing over the events of the previous day. had expected some punishment, but even so, I was lucky the older Gifted had arrived when he had. Tangling with the Gifted was always a risky plan, but so far, everything had gone relatively smoothly. I could only hope the rest of the plan followed that trend.

It has to work. For Mabel.

A lump rose in my throat. I swallowed back a sob and glanced over at the dusty crib on the other side of the room. Like everything else in my family's old room, it carried a sense of neglect. It had been almost three years since Mabel was taken away. She'd only been ten months old at the time. I'd been helpless to stop it. Once the Gifted declared a child one of them, there was nothing the family could do - they were taken back to their ranks and raised to maintain the Gifted's rule of Faeven. My mother had died shortly after her birth, and my father six months before that. For those three years, I'd been all alone, trying to get by as best that I could. This room where I had been born and raised, where I'd learned to sew from Mum and listened to Dad's stories every night, was nothing but an empty shell now. My parents were gone forever, but Mabel was still out there somewhere. I had no idea where the Gifted had taken her, but wherever it was, I would find it. Tomorrow, I was leaving this village for good.

I closed my eyes again, squeezing them shut and willing myself to sleep. I'd need every ounce of energy I could get for tomorrow. Even in The Forgotten Village, escaping the rule of the Gifted was never going to be an easy task.