19. Alira #3
I squat beside Kalel and offer them a warm smile. “Thank you for your help. I’m sure your parents come before you know it so that you can go on together.”
They all light up with excitement before returning their attention to the water and trying to catch minnows again.
Kalel casts one last curious look their way before we walk through the village once more. The longer we walk, the more we realize that there are no adults here; it’s only children.
“Are they here all alone?” I whisper, trying not to look too sad, since none of them seems to be upset and I don’t want them to think something’s wrong.
“There must be an elder somewhere around here… Alira, does this place look familiar to you?” Kalel asks, his voice trailing off with thought as he looks from building to building.
I swallow thickly. “I thought it sort of looked like Thornhall…but that doesn’t really make much sense, does it? Why would an entire village be here?”
The thought is quite absurd, as if ghost towns and villages, abandoned kingdoms, and castles could end up in Mortem as well. Do the creatures that fly, walk, and swim also end up here? The minnows that those children were trying to catch too? This place is so odd.
“That’s what I thought too.” He pauses and stops walking as we reach one house in particular. Come to think of it, it looks just like the one we stopped at when we passed Thornhall three months ago on the way to Devicit.
My brows knit together, and I set my hand gently on Kalel’s forearm. “Was this your mother’s house?”
He nods slowly as if he didn’t really hear me.
“Do you want to…” I’m not quite sure how to say it without sounding any sort of way. Instead, I just take a step forward and look back at him.
Kalel’s eyes look so weary; dark circles have formed beneath them, carrying a sadness I’m all too familiar with. “There’s no point. The children said there were no parents here.”
“They said that their parents weren’t here,” I say softly.
He firms his lips and looks away, sorrow clawing at his expression.
I set my hand on his shoulder, and he glances down. “I’ll take a look real quick… I’ll be right back.”
Kalel nods, biting his lower lip and trying to keep the hope from his eyes as he watches me trek toward the house.
It’s a cute cottage; the boards are worn, but it fits the town’s aesthetic. The windows are uneven, and the front door is painted a light robin’s-egg blue. The curtains are drawn, and there are no lights on, but I still walk up to the door and knock twice.
No one answers, not that I was expecting anybody to, but I thought it would be polite to do so anyway.
I slowly open the door and step inside. I’m instantly swarmed with the warmth of a fire and the smell of fresh bread and soup.
A lullaby that reminds me of one I’ve heard long ago is hummed.
I search for its source, finding only colorfully painted walls with bright blue curtains, a roaring fireplace, and plants that hang from the ceiling and sit on shelves.
It’s a home that’s filled with so much life.
“Hello?” I announce myself once more now that I’m inside.
“Oh, I didn’t realize I had company,” a woman’s voice chimes from near the oven. My brows wrinkle at first, confused because I don’t see anyone, but then she stands up with a pan of freshly baked bread and oven mitts clinging to the breadboard.
Although Kalel had no photographs of his mother in his palace, I wouldn’t need one to place her.
Like most demons and demigods, it looks like she stopped aging around the age of thirty-five or forty.
She looks young and beautiful, hair as dark as Kalel’s and eyes as fiery and filled with embers too.
Her ears are pointed, and she wears a handkerchief tied like a bow at the top of her head, keeping her hair out of her face.
Her cheeks are flushed red from the heat of the oven, and she wears a wide, welcoming smile.
I’m so stunned to see her that I don’t say anything; I just stare. A gut-wrenching pain stabs my stomach.
I know exactly who she is, and I know exactly whose fault it is that she’s here.
She sets down the bread and takes off the oven mitts, walking around the countertop with a concerned grin. “Are you all right, dear?” she asks, taking my hand and leading me to her sofa.
I follow mindlessly and sit across from her.
Guilt rises within me in such great waves that I just want to leave. I wish I hadn’t come in here. But Kalel will be so happy to see her and finally be able to say goodbye.
“I know it’s a bit shocking at first, waking up and realizing you’re in Mortem, but you get used to it, and everyone here is perfectly delightful,” she says, offering me a small cup of tea.
I shake my head and force myself back to my feet. “I’m…um… I was just checking to see if there was someone in here… Someone would like to see you, though.”
She lifts a brow at me. “Don’t you want to stay?”
I shake my head again. I really, really don’t want to.
I hurry back to the door and fling it open, already stepping out when I run into a practical wall. Oof. The breath is knocked out of me as I run straight into Kalel’s chest. His hand is up as if he was just about to knock.
“Kalel, it’s…” I can’t even finish the sentence. I try a few times before stepping out of the way so that he can see for himself.
His pupils expand and his jaw slacks, tears brimming in his eyes. “Mom?”
I don’t wait for him to say anything else. The guilt is overpowering me, and I feel like I’m going to fall apart if I stay here a moment longer. I step out and take off toward the end of the village.
I’m drowning.
I cannot face the things I’ve done.