6. Still, They Do

The citizens’ path is crowded.

As we descend the stairs, the other orphans begin to enter the tribunals.
None of them even dare to look at us.

Not a single glimpse.

I’m used to being an outcast to their eyes; they can go detune and turn into white noise.

The use of the throat box is forbidden inside of the fields, so the lullaby doesn’t have any influence here.
No wind during our walk this time; the harebells made of metal aren’t ringing and our shackles are the only things we hear.

We were lucky to have the little amount of peace we had while we crossed the first time, as, for now, only headache-inducing questions are throbbing in my head, followed by unpleasant theories I’m making up.

I’m so fucking tired. Everything’s upsetting me.

This time, I’m at the front of the line.
Apry’s behind with Decy and Nolvem, Mary, Mayth, and Febry are at the back.
Apry is sniffing behind me and sobbing from time to time.
She tries to hide it from the others as hard as she can but she ain’t fooling no one.
Mary is speaking with Febry and Mayth; her high-pitched voice is annoying my tired ears even from this far.

We arrive at the grand doors separating the city from the fields and cross them.

The White Plaza reached, all the stalls from earlier have gone away and I can now see which head from the leaders’ statue has been vandalized.
It’s Earl Scabiosa’s; and rather than vandalized, it’s been cut clean by someone with the right tools, so my guess is that it’s official and ordered by the city.

“ Stop here, young man, something is blocking our way. “
The guide says to me.

I stop walking, and Apry bumps into me.

“ Hey! Watch out! “
She shouts angrily, her voice trembling.

I turn toward her and look straight at her.
My intimidation is useless; her gaze is elsewhere.
She scratches her arm frenetically.
I’ve never seen her like that.

“ Hey, I had to stop, something’s happening. Damn, why are you so damn tense today?
One moment you’re excited about the city, then you yell at Mary for asking questions and now you shout at me while being a creep, scratching your arm as if you wanted it off! What’s up with you? “
I say to her.

Her eyes finally settle onto mine.

“ I hope you’re joking. Among all of the monthlings you won’t be the one to tell me how I should behave with the others.
You’re not a really good example for social interactions. “
She answers, avoiding half of the things I asked her.

I click my tongue on my palate.

In front of us, a group of people in a circle surrounds what seems to be a sort of public event.
I can hear shouts from the crowd that clearly aren’t joyful ones and seem more like discontent ones.

From the crowd, a voice rises:

“ For giving merchandise to a Pistil from one of our precious Petals, you are to be judged immediately by one of the representatives of the leaders;
Duke Lanarth, in charge of our great city-state’s security.
You are to be sentenced immediately.
Given the context and due to the unavailability of its services, your sentence is automatically chosen for the grave act you did of feeding a Pistil without any authorisation whatsoever.
You will be sent to the Noise Dent where criminal scum like you belong! “

The people are very pleased by what he’s saying and are now scattering away from him, allowing me to see what is happening.

The man is a merchant. Right behind him, his stall, which is the only one remaining within the White Plaza.
It contains various seeds as well as dry oats.

I don’t know where I’ve seen this man but I definitely did.

The other monthlings gather closer to me, breaking the straight line we were forming into a malformed circle.
Mayth begins to talk loud enough for us monthlings to hear:

“ What’s in it? “
She begins to say.

I turn to see what she’s talking about.

Mayth’s right next to Nolvem, her hands behind her back, a malicious look on her face and her eyes aiming right toward Nolvem’s hand hidden in the pocket of her dress.

“ That is none of your business, leave me be at last, Mayth. “
Nolvem says, her voice trembling from stress.

Mayth quickly puts her hand in Nolvem’s pocket; Nolvem fails to prevent it.
Nolvem pushes Mayth away, and as she does, Mayth’s hand escapes her dress;
we hear multiple ticking sounds hit the ground.

Mayth bursts into laughter, the others back away as if afraid of what she had done.
I thought that Apry would be the first to react to what just happened, but her eyes are lost in the void again.
Without Apry’s intervention, it means that Nolvem is left alone against Mayth and me.

I will not let this occasion pass for anything.

“ Well, princess, care to fucking explain? “
I tell Nolvem.

“ It’s no- “

“ Ya know what’s ‘bout to happen to this poor soul princess? “
Mayth interrupts her.

“ Another victim of your stupidity and your unbothered disgusting attitude. When do you plan to stop! “
I continue.

“ I was just hung- “

“ You’ve doomed him. Lemme tell ya what he’ll become. “
Mayth says, interrupting her again.

“ First, they’re gonna strip him in front of everyone to take off anythin’ that could be remindin’ him of his humanity;
Just hope for his soul that he ain’t got any family, cuz that’s hard to be seen humiliated like that in front of know folks am I right?
Then, He’ll get detuned.
His hair will fall, his eyes will be bleedin’ ya know?
A bit like Marc did ya remember?
Just ‘nother poor fella you took.”
She starts to explain.

We both get closer to her.

“ Ah you’re damn right Mayth and, right after, the guy will get locked up in a public jail during the whole process of his whitening.
His skin will turn whiter and whiter, his nails will then fall, and, at the very end, every breath he’ll take will make his low-pitched note ring, erasing a memory of his at each one of his exhales and making him madder and madder until no trace of consciousness is left in his head. Something like that! “
I continue.

“ He’ll be thrown down in da Noise Dent and never to be seen again.
Erased from existence.
Ya did that to him.
Yet again Nol’, ‘nother life taken from yar dirty deeds. “
Mayth concludes.

Nolvem loosens her fist, making the last dry oats she held fall on the ground.
Countless tears roll down her face; this time, we hit hard.
She can’t answer; her eyes are trying to dig into the ground where her feet stand.
Her lips are shaking, searching for a way to lie to our face again but her will and mind refuse to let words out.

Damn, that’s good to see her like that.

I truly hope that, this time, she’s finally realizing how much of a fucking problem she is and how her careless actions led so many people to their fall.

I wish Marc could see what’s happening right now.

I turn my head and see Decy with his fist clenched fiercely, his eyes darkened by anger.
Mary is afraid, shaking as usual, and Febry is visibly disappointed and lost on how to react properly.
Surprisingly, Apry just stands still, looking at the ground where the oats lay, searching for who knows what in them, all of that without saying a single word.

The guide rejoins us.

“ Get back in line! We’re close to the lobby. “

We execute.

We walk for a bit and pass through the Box Overseer once again.
As we arrive near the main lobby, the guide signals us to stop.
The Tailor arrives from an alley and they both begin to speak together about the tuning ceremony.

I’m bored; their discussion lasts forever.

My legs are in pain from standing still so long; isn’t there anything I could sit on nearby?
I turn to look around to try and find a seat somewhere.

W….

Two ankle shackles are open at the very back of our line; Mayth and Febry are gone.

“ Hey Apry, Dec Nol ! Are you all blind? where the fuck are Mayth and Feb’?! “
I ask them.

Apry turns and is in shock when she finds out the shackles are empty.
She quickly turns toward the guide and the Tailor to try and warn them.

“ Guide, sir! Two of… “ She immediately closes her mouth shut.

I move my head in the direction Apry is fixating on to understand why she’d stop so suddenly.

“ They’re gone too?! “
I shout.

The guide and the Tailor both disappeared from our sight; we’re left alone.
Apry gets closer to me, dragging Decy, Nolvem, and Mary with her, the metallic sound of the empty shackles scraping on the ground as they come.

Mary reaches for me.

“ How did that happen! What will we do? What will happen to us! “
She says, panicking.

She breathes heavily, moving her head in every direction to try and find anything that could make sense of the situation.

“ Calm down, Mary! They can’t just let us alone in Harebell like that. “
I try to tell her, to reassure her.

“ But what about Mayth and Febry! “

“ Just calm down, please! I don’t know anything about it, I’m as lost as you are! “
I answer.

From the same alley the Tailor came from, a tall figure approaches also dressed in a Tailor uniform.
He turns his head toward us.

“ Sorry childs! I had an important matter to handle.
Let’s get back on our track a bit, I forgot to register you all to the Overseer correctly. “
The figure says quickly, almost biting its tongue in the process.

This Tailor is way taller than our original one.
His back is weirdly curved and the fact that he doesn’t have a cane also point to the fact that this isn’t our Tailor.
His veil is darker, his face is hidden better and his voice is higher-pitched.

…

My heartbeat quickens at each of his footsteps led to us.
My legs are screaming at me to run as far as I can; my breath goes uneven, and I begin to sweat.

“ Since when are you allowed to talk to us? “
I somehow successfully ask.

“ That’s true, aren’t you forbidden to speak directly to us? We’ve always been told that! “
Apry continues finally getting over her numbness.

“ Who the fuck are you! “
I add, shouting.

“ I can only talk to you for special reasons or urgent situations.
You were left alone right here, defenseless in Harebell; what is it if not an urgent situation?
Now, let’s get back to…”
He hastens to answer, frenetically turning his head left to right as if scouting for something.

“ I’ll scream as loudly as I can if you get any closer and the others will do accordingly! “
Apry warns him.

Glad to have the unyielding will of Apry finally back!
With that, it should discourage him from doing anything fancy.

His black gloves tighten. He gets even closer to us.

“ You dare to speak to a Tailor like that? Listen closely, you low-tuned noiselings, I have the authority to break your box open, letting you slowly drown in your own blood if it pleases me;
if I hear the voice of any of you or even a breath too loud that would annoy me, I swear it on Harebell itself, I will get it done! “

Mary is terrified and pulls my clothes back to try and take me away with her.
Apry also backs away, sealing her mouth as hard as she can.
Decy just follows our behaviours.

My stomach aches;
another threat from him and I think I’ll pee myself.

I never felt that before, even against the Apron Lady.
My whole body is alert, ready to jump over a cliff if it helps me get away from him.

He isn’t joking about a single thing he said I’m sure about it.

The odd Tailor waves his arm above us to someone.
An old man dressed in a white suit and a top hat joins us in a hurry while arranging his grey moustache.

“ Ah, fortunately I appear to be right on time!
Are the trades still open, can I get myself one of the Pistils still, dear Tailor? “
The old man asks.

The odd Tailor, almost laughing as he does, answers:

“ Why of course, a second later and you would have missed it!
The yearly trades just ended but, for you, dear sir, I’ll let you have a last catch, what do you say! “

Yearly trades?! There’s nothing like trades! Those are just stories told to the young orphans for them to behave at the orphanage!
We’ve never been objects for auction, they just made the whole story up!

I would react, but the threat of the odd Tailor keeps resonating in my head.
I begin to shake myself too; fear and the stress of being taken are taking over my reason.

“ Well, if I may say, that one with the mask on its jaw is a pleasure to the eye!
And I bet he will prove himself quite useful at my factory if you would let me have it ! “
The old man says joyfully.

Apry’s body moves towards Decy and her mouth begins to open; her eyes tearing.

My arms move instinctively, exactly like Mayth’s arms did at the ceremony, to pull the shackle and stop her from making the worst mistake of her life.
Although she’s outraged, my arms restrain her easily;

she’s weaker than I remember…

“ My good sir, you have a keen eye! An excellent choice indeed! “

The odd Tailor hastens to grab Decy’s shackle and unlocks it.
In a desperate attempt, Decy pushes him away once freed only to fall right after, face-first on the ground.

The old man attaches a leash to Decy’s neck and drags him with a strong motion you don’t usually find in old men.

For some reason, my heart lightens and my limbs stop shaking, only to find out that the odd Tailor had disappeared when i turn to look back at him.

Mary bursts into tears alongside Apry.
Nolvem simply lowers her head and lets a single tear roll down her cheek.

“Decy! No! No…….Mayth Febry….where are you?!”
Mary cries.

Making the shouts of Mary silent, I hear the familiar sound of a cane, and with it, yet another Tailor emerges from nowhere, still without our guide.
His height is the right one this time, his veil lets his white beard show, and his back is as straight as can be.

That’s him, that’s our Tailor no doubt this time.

Apry and Mary run to him, dragging me with them whilst almost making me trip on the shackles, to try and tell him what happened;
between cries and shouts, he simply ignores them and avoids talking to them, as it should be.

In a way…

I’m relieved it happens this way.