Artifacts, Chapter Three: Discussion

Chapter Three: Discussion

“Do you have any idea how serious this is, Milo?”

“No, don’t tell me, Milena,” Milo used the mocking tone of an adult, using Lena’s full name. He rubbed his knees where the walls had sunk into them, “I just got out of a dark room where I was kept for four hours. Please, tell me how what I did was wrong”

“It’s not like you haven’t been in the Cabinet before, Milo. They’re not just going to keep sticking you in there. What were you even doing anyway?”

Milo didn’t raise his brown eyes, “I was out in the woods.” He raised his tone on the last word, as if asking a question, trying to dampen the severity of this statement.

Lena drew in a sharp breath and she lifted her head as if she were praying for him, and then threw her head in each direction to make sure nobody had heard him, “You shouldn’t have told me that. I don’t know that”

Hearing a commotion, Lena turned around and saw that a group of girls from school had been looking at her from a distance. Too far out to hear Milo’s words. Once she turned to face them, though, they quickly looked away from her.

For a brief moment, Milo drew a grin on his lips, “I’m just causing you all kinds of problems today, aren’t I, Leens?”

Lena’s eyes lit up as she bent over swiftly into a huddle with him, “Is this some sort of joke to you?”

Milo’s face turned to stone as he held out his arms before her, revealing his pale skin, “What could I do if it weren’t?”

Lena ignored his exaggeration. “What were you even doing out there?”

Milo put his thumbs in the waistline of his burlap pants and kicked the snow, “I just had to get away”

Lena sighed, resigning from her attempts to get through to him, “What did you want to tell me?”

“I think I found something. I’m not exact sure what it was”

Lena shook her head slowly and tightened her already folded arms, “What did you find?”

Milo found himself chuckling at her obvious discomfort, “I just told you I didn’t know”

“Could you at least describe it?”

“It’s something I’ve never seen before. It didn’t look like anything around here. It was shiny and looked like some type of rock, I think.”

“Was it metallic?”

“I guess. If so, it’s more metal than I’ve ever seen in one place, save the fence and the Great Riv, of course. When I got near it, it started singing”

“Singing?”

“Yeah, like really low. Like someone was humming a hymn. And there were, uh, these blue and purple stripes on it that moved all over it. I can tell you don’t believe me-,”

“Milo, we’ve been friends for a long time. You’re not the exaggerating type. Or a liar. It’s not that I don’t believe you-,”

“Good, because it gets weirder”

“Okay”

“The thing… showed me stuff. Once I got close to it, it showed me what the town looked like from above, and then suddenly the sky was under my feet.”

Milo panted as he continued, “Otherwise I was completely surrounded by blackness. The rock also showed me where there might be more things like it, scattered across the woods”

Lena was silent and her face stoic.

“I know; weird, right?”

“It’s not that. There’s nothing in the Words that describe something like that. Not at all, ever”

“So? Maybe there’s something left out of the Words?”

Lena’s eyes grew wide and she shushed him by putting her hand over his mouth, “Are you insane?”

She removed her hand and then continued, “There’s nothing in the Words that isn’t described or at least hinted at. It can’t exist”

Milo squinted and shook his head. Lena threw her hands down, “That’s what the Words say. Maybe if you spent more time reading them you’d know that”

“I’m perfectly aware of the theology, Leens”

Lena took a deep breath and disengaged from the conversation, striding in a quick circle before coming back, “This isn’t something you should spread around”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re already on bad terms with the Riv”

Milo scoffed.

“Milo, I need your word that you won’t talk about this rock, or whatever it is, to anyone else”

“At this point, I don’t think I could avoid being punished. I really can’t win”

“Hey, Milo!”

Milo looked over his shoulder. Across the snow-littered, cobblestone courtyard stood Vlad and his usual group of thugs. As soon as he registered their faces, he looked right back at Lena, who glanced at him and back to the group. They started walking closer.

“Speaking of not winning”

Milo didn’t say anything else. Instead he just looked at the ground as the group stopped in front of the two. Vlad was considerably taller than Milo and if it weren’t already a cloudy day, he could have blocked out the sun over him.

“What’s this I hear about you trying to kill Adam?”

Milo made a disgusted face and spat.

“Who?”

Vlad took two long, quick strides and ended up right in front of Milo, giving him a quick shove, which tossed him back a few steps, but Milo was able to retain his balance.

Lena was incredulous, “Hey!”

“Keep her out of this, will you?” Vlad remarked to the four others that were with him; they obediently walked over to Lena, two of them holding an arm.

“Stay away from her!” Milo found himself shouting in between the earthquakes in his chest.

“Too good to answer me?”

He shoved Milo again, and this time he stumbled backwards and fell over, his rear scraping against the cold masonry and tearing his pants in yet another spot. Milo looked over to Lena, who was failing her struggle. He tried to stand back up, but Vlad pushed him back over. His hands ached from the force and from the cold from the snow, now melting on his fingers.

“You Niz are all the same.”

Milo tried to get up one last time as he ran for Lena, but Vlad grabbed him by the arm, swung him back, and laid a solid knee right in Milo’s gut. Lightning shot right through him as the shock quickly spread throughout his body, and the wind swiftly left Milo’s lungs. Lena was screaming something, but Milo couldn’t focus enough on what. Vlad let him collapse on the ground as he gasped for air.

Glancing back at Vlad, Milo saw his opponent was bearing down on him yet again. Before he had time to think about it, Milo found himself throwing a wild punch toward Vlad’s face. His arms were too short to make the distance, and his fist whooshed past Vlad, completely missing his mark. Vlad caught the fist in mid-air with his right hand, and then brought his left elbow down on Milo’s arm.

Milo cried out as he felt the bone snap, but Vlad wasn’t done. He kicked Milo while he was down, again expunging the air from his lungs. Milo lay on the ground, helpless and panting.

Before he left, Milo felt Vlad bend down right by the ear that was facing the sky. Then he felt Vlad’s disgusting breath on Milo’s ear, “Next time you take off another Riv’s mask, your other arm gets broken too”

The other four boys that had come with Vlad must have let Lena go, because Milo immediately heard and felt her footsteps as she ran closer to him. Milo kept his eyes shut as he grimaced from the pain. He clenched his teeth together so hard he wasn’t sure they wouldn’t break. Suddenly he felt Lena get on her knees in front of him. Milo opened his eyes to see tears in hers. She frantically moved her hands to different areas above Milo’s body, but seemed afraid to touch him.

“It’s just my arm; everything else is fine,” he hissed in between his clenched teeth. As he opened his eyes he noticed two Enforcers standing guard at the nearby Sanctuary doors. Thanks for helping, guys.

“I’m sorry, Milo; I’m so sorry! If only I could have gotten away from them…”

“Leens, there were four of them. They were taller than you, and stronger than you; there’s nothing you could have done”

Lena shook her head, “Why do they keep doing this to you?”

“Could we maybe talk about this later?” Milo said, trying to keep the sarcasm from his words. As he said them, though, he knew they wouldn’t help Lena’s guilt. Sure enough, she began to tear up again, but she seemed determined for him not to see.

“Can you stand?”

“Probably; just give me a second”

Slowly but surely, Milo used his body weight to gather momentum and roll himself over onto his feet. Milo slowly reached out his broken arm as much as he could and Lena clung to his torso to prop him up. She had to bend over as he got on his feet because of their height differential.

“We need to get you to the healers”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Lena,” Milo grunted.

“Why not? I’m taking you with me”

Milo sighed and shook his head as Lena gently grabbed his good arm and led him away.

Even though Milo had absolutely no trouble walking, Lena stayed close to him the whole time on the walk to the Holy House of Healing, across the public square from the Sanctuary. Along the journey, the air became chillier and the wind began to howl, whipping at Milo’s wound and stealing his body heat. Milo was worried what people might think about these circumstances, but nobody was out in the square. Nobody was ever out in the square except for purges.

“Ouch,” Milo said, trying to hold his arm up. He couldn’t keep it warm or supported without causing the broken bone to shift painfully. It felt like Milo’s heart had migrated to his arm, it was pulsing so badly. Finally they stopped at another wooden house with a black diamond painted over the doorway. Lena walked up to the door and pounded on it with the butt end of her fist.

In a few moments Milo heard footsteps on the floorboards draw closer and closer until finally someone approached and opened the door. A woman’s head – adorned in a white kerchief – poked out of the door. The woman smiled at Lena, but never gave Milo a look.

“Lena, good to see you. Shouldn’t you be at home? It’s awfully chilly out here”

Lena briefly smiled back, her green eyes twinkling from the candle light within the healing house, “I have a serious problem”

The woman’s face sobered up, “What can I do for you?”

Lena turned to face Milo, gesturing towards him with a half-extended arm, “It’s my friend. I think his arm is broken”

Milo didn’t dare look the woman in the face and instead looked at the ground. Using the tips of his shoes, he kicked a pebble to and fro.

“I can’t take him”

Milo heard a frown in her voice, but it was filled with deliberation.

“Can’t take him? Why?”

“Lena, don’t make me explain.” Now she sounded apologetic, even desperate. Milo could hear the disappointment now. But then her words became more intense and harsher as she looked around to make sure people weren’t watching this conversation.

“Frankly, boy, you should have known better. You know the rules. You think by showing up with a Riv…”

As Milo continued to examine the snowy ground, he heard the door close softly in front of them. Lena didn’t immediately turn around.

“Can we leave? Please?” Milo asked.

“Let me help get you home.” Lena’s voice wavered as she spoke the words. Milo was far ahead of her, but she fell into step beside Milo as he walked.

Milo shook his head, “I don’t want to go home”

“Right. Come on, we’ll go back to my house and get you fixed up as best we can”

“This is all we have,”

Lena kicked aside the heavy boxes that had been by her doorway, brought a wet rag and some strips of cloth and dropped them on the floor in front of Milo.  He assumed that a Riv family of connections as Lena’s might have more material at their disposal. Looking around the room, Milo was again greeted with momentary jealousy. What he would give to have this much space to himself.

“What’s the cloth for?”

“To make a sling,” Lena replied, tearing portions of it with her teeth, and tying ends together, “Bend your arm by your side”

Milo obeyed and slowly held his elbow by his side. Lena then wrapped the cloth sling around his neck and shoulder, then gently approached his arm. As she wrapped it, Milo felt a sudden twinge of pain course through his arm and yelped. Tears came to his eyes and he closed them, determined Lena not see them.

“Sorry! Sorry!”

Lena’s father’s voice came through the doorway, preceding his entrance into Lena’s room, “Everything okay in here?” His voice seemed concerned, yet calm, even through the filters of his breath mask.

Lena didn’t look away from her work and responded bluntly, “Yes, everything’s fine, Father”

Milo suddenly stood up, “I can return later if this isn’t a good time-”

“No!” Lena had spoken with such force that her response left a moment of silence in the room as either Milo or Lena’s father thought of something to say. Lena cleared her throat and spoke more softly, “We need to finish that sling”

As Milo sat back down, Lena’s father regarded Milo in his new sling, “What happened to you?”

Lena could tell Milo was trying to think of a diplomatic answer, but he ultimately failed to conjure one.

“Well, I’m glad Lena seems to be taking care of it. She’s a good caretaker, aren’t you, Milena?”

He bent over to give Lena’s shoulder a light squeeze, but Lena shrunk away from his touch.

“I’m certainly trying,” she said, still not looking up from her work.

Her father continued, “Well, if you need anything at all, you let me know. Anything for the son of a Priest, no matter how long ago that was.” And with that, he left the room.

A few moments passed before Lena spoke up again.

“Your mom was a Priest?”

“You don’t have to sound quite so surprised, Leens. No, my father,” Milo said, still trying to keep his attention off the pain, “I’ve heard he was a low level Priest”

“You don’t know for sure?”

“When was the last time you saw him?” Milo asked, one of his eyebrows arched.

“So you’ve just heard this from your mother?”

“Yes,” Milo sighed, “For what that’s worth”

He glanced at the boxes Lena had slid aside, motioning with his good shoulder.

“What’s with the boxes?”

Lena kept her voice low, fitting the cloth for the right length relative to Milo’s arm.

“The lock doesn’t work”

“You guys have locks too? Metal isn’t cheap”

With venom in her voice, Lena spoke up again, “Why can’t Vlad just leave you alone?”

“We go way back,” Milo said, pretending to talk about an old friend, “No, he’s always had it out for me. Who knows why? Can you hand me the rag? I can wipe my own face”

Lena grabbed the rag from the wooden floor and handed it over to Milo’s outstretched palm. Pulling it to his face, he wiped the dirt from when he had fallen on the cobblestones. Pulling the rag away, he noticed small traces of blood. He guessed he had fallen harder than he initially thought.

“He mentioned the fact that you’re a Niz”

Milo looked up at Lena, who was still concentrating on getting the bandage just right, “Is that comfortable?”

“Yeah, I think that’s fine,” he replied, still clenching his teeth, “And I’m only half Niz”

“Half Niz?”

“Yep, my father was full blooded Riv”

“Really? But you don’t…,” Lena trailed off.

“What? Look much like a Riv?”

“I didn’t mean-”

“No, it’s fine. I guess I take more after my mother. Let’s hope it’s just in looks”

Lena finally managed to get the knot right behind Milo’s neck. She leaned back and sat on her knees and lower legs. With their skin so close together, the difference in skin tone looked like night and day.

“Vlad also mentioned something about a mask. Did he say something about the Riv boy Adam too?”

Milo continued to look at the floor as he scratched the top of his head with his good hand. Lena stopped what she was doing and shuffled back to Milo’s full view.

“What did you do?”

Milo avoided her gaze. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her disappointment with him.

“Who would do such a thing? Why would you do such a thing?” She emphasized the ‘you’. Still Milo didn’t answer. Lena stood up and looked down upon him.

“He was half your size, even for a Riv!”

Milo kept looking at the floor, his pulse quickening again and his stomach turning sour. Maybe the events of the day were finally sinking in; maybe he was delusional from his confrontation with Vlad. Vlad. I’m no better than him, picking on someone smaller than me. I’m pathetic. He remembered Adam’s face again, turning purple as he groped the ground for his mask. Vlad could have done the same to me, but he didn’t. I’m worse than he is. Maybe I always have been. Maybe I always will be. Then he couldn’t stop Lena from seeing the tears this time.

“I don’t know why I did it!” he cried, “I don’t know! And I’m sorry if you hate me for what I’ve done.” He paused, “I know you’d never do anything like that. You’re so perfect, always knowing what to do, always so pious”

Surprisingly, Lena sat back down in front of him. Her face was serious.

“I’m anything but perfect”

“The other Riv love you enough. Bishop Jaromir loves you”

“The Great Riv loves you”

More tears, “I don’t believe that”

“How can you say that?”

“Why would the Great Riv want me to be treated like this?”

He kept his voice monotone and his eyes toward the floor. Lena threw her arms around him. Milo felt her chest rise as she sighed. She reached back up over his neck and finished the knot in the sling.

“Try to let your arm relax and see if the sling holds”

Milo sniffled and then obeyed; even though the pressure of the cloth surrounding his arm caused the bone some pain, it was easier on his arm not to support its weight.

“Looks good to me,” Lena said, “How do you feel?”

“A little light-headed”

“Did you forget to change your air filter this month?”

Milo shook his head, “No, I changed it. I think it’s just the broken arm. But thank you”

“It’s the least I could do after doing nothing for you earlier”

Milo shook his head, “It had nothing to do with you, and it may have even been worse if the other three morons weren’t occupied with trying to keep you under control”

“I hadn’t thought about it like that”

Lena helped Milo up from the wooden floors and together they walked from Lena’s house. A cold chill blew in accompanying the sunset as the sky glowed a deeper shade of purple.

“Try to make sure that arm moves as little as possible,” Lena said, “At least, that’s what the healers told me when I broke my leg,.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, passing the center stage block in the public square, passing the school and the adjacent Sanctuary, out to the outskirts of the village towards Milo’s house. After being at Lena’s place, Milo could only notice the smaller size of his house in comparison, as well as the more-weathered façade. What was impossible not to notice were the hundreds upon hundreds of large sheets of paper hanging from the house’s walls and ceiling, stacked on top of each other, each with hateful slogans painted in large, black letters. The ones toward the bottom of the seemingly endless stacks had long turned a deep yellow from sun exposure. Lena tried to covertly glance at Milo; he didn’t seem to notice as he approached his front door. If he had hinted at any related emotion, she missed it.

Milo opened the door and Lena gasped.

On the floor lay a sprawled out woman, who was surrounded by three empty jars and one that was still half-empty, a worn out copy of the Words beside her, its spine facing the ceiling.