Chapter One: Home Fuge

Chapter Two: What Happened After Sunrise

Chapter Three: Arrangements

Chapter Four: Mother Returns

Chapter Five: The Next Day

Chapter Six: Hannah

I stood in stunned silence. Never had I felt this helpless. I heard running feet approach the door, then hurried hands opened it.

“Is she still alive?” The undertaker asked breathlessly.

I shook my head subtly, hoping he would leave. Tobias had ceased weeping when the door opened. The undertaker approached the bed.

“Be gentle with her,” Tobias whispered, reluctantly handing over Hannah to the undertaker’s arms.

“I will,” he responded softly, “I will.”

Tobias coughed and inhaled. “Kynder, do you have a white sheet?”

I nodded and pulled one from the bottom of my wardrobe. Its doors were still open. I handed it to him and they wrapped the body loosely. The words “Homo Fuge” had once again appeared on my and the undertaker’s hands. There seemed to be more important things to focus on at the moment. The undertaker was leaving.

“Sir,” my voice sounded strangled in my ears, “She is to be honored with the king tomorrow.”

He paused, nodded, and continued on his way. I shut the door behind him and drew the bolt.

“There’s so much blood,” Tobias whispered, seeming to notice the bed and our hands for the first time. I crossed the room to my counter, pulled out a clean towel, and filled a bowl with water from the pitcher.

“Come here,” I said gently, walking about half way to the bed.

He rose and met me. I knelt and motioned for him to sit. He did and let me wash his hands of her blood. Then I washed mine. I waited for him to talk.

“She was my sister. You already knew I wasn’t from a royal bloodline. When Hannah was born, my dad took off, so I joined the army to replace his income. Once she was old enough, I had her move up here and work as a messenger to get her out of that area of the castle. Mom should have come with her, but she could never give up hope that Dad would come back.” He shook his bowed head. “This will kill her.”

“Can I help?” I asked.

Tobias didn’t seem to have heard me. “The thing that confused me was that she didn’t speak. When she came to the door and I opened it, that voice wasn’t hers. It couldn’t have been. Her mouth wasn’t even open.” His chin trembled and he pressed his eyes with the fingers on his right hand. “It wasn’t her voice,” he whispered.

“I believe you.” I said.

Tobias looked up. “Your hand. The words are back.”

I nodded. “They’re back on the undertaker’s hand too.”

“We have to talk with someone about this; we can’t wait for Nathan.” He took my hand in his and kissed where the words had reappeared.

My left foot fell asleep, and I slowly made my way to my feet. Tobias rose as well. He took the bowl and dirty towel and placed them outside the door. I went to the windowsill, looking away from the bed when I passed it, and took the necklace’s box from behind the curtain. When he turned around, the chain was clasped around my neck, the knot in front of my heart. We met again in the middle of the room.

“I’ll never be able to sleep in this room again. May I join you in yours tonight?” I looked earnestly into his face.

He lifted the knot and let it rest on his fingertips for a moment. “That would be nice,” he said in a trembling whisper.

His eyes strayed to the bed behind me. “Let’s go somewhere else. We shouldn’t be in here.” I gently took his hands and led him towards the door.

Before he left the room, he stopped and turned back. “May this chamber always be peaceful and grant its sleepers dreams of light and spacious places.”

We walked slowly to his room without anyone stopping us.