Chapter 31.
A City of Secrets
The hustle and bustle of the crowded street grated on Theodren’s nerves, but Reina seemed to have it worse. Sweat beaded on her brow and her breath came ragged and fast as she clung to his sleeve more desperately the deeper they pushed into the city.
Shouted offers from vendors and angry curses between citizens assaulted Theodren’s ears. But the whispers ravaged Reina’s mind. The whispers had been bearable at the gate and almost silent in the relative seclusion of the stable. But here on the street, pressed in on all sides by the irritable foot traffic of Oreton. The whispers had built up into a cacophony of human darkness. Their deepest secrets and darkest desires assaulted Reina as she clung to Theodren like a drowning woman to a raft.
Suddenly, her surroundings changed. Theodren hauled her off the street and down an empty alley way until the sounds and voices faded away, leaving only a dull echo to bounce off the stone buildings around them. Theodren’s face filled her sight as he called her name loudly. “Reina!”
Tears beaded at the edges of her eyes threatening to spill over. “They won’t stop! All of them! All of their dark thoughts. All of their greed and cruelty! It’s like they’re shouting the worst of themselves into my ears!” She sobbed. Each panicked breath sending tendrils of shadow flailing this way and that on the alley walls.
Theodren placed a hand on both of her ears. “Listen to me.” He murmured, like he was calming a skittish colt. The sound of his heart beat, steady and strong, thrummed in his palms and into her ears. Her eyes locked on his as the storm in her mind began to calm. “Don’t listen to them, listen to me.” He brushed a tear from the corner of her eye. “Theviana needs you.”
The reminder of her responsibility broke through the turmoil in her mind as her eyes narrowed in concentration. The city was a sea of whispered secrets and dark desires. Each of the millions of people walking around with their own darkness threatened to drown Reina if she listened to them all at once. She searched the chorus of whispers for one she recognized.
There amidst the chaos of greed and fear was a whisper of familiar regret. Theodren’s soul spoke to her. It told her his anxiety, his fear of inadequacy, his fear of failure after already losing so much.
Deep in his soul she heard the worst of it all. What if time dulled his rage at Hardwright? Was he honoring his friends properly? Did he even deserve to live? What if he failed to avenge them? Who did he think he was to fight the Order alone? Did losing his rage at Reina mean he wasn’t committed enough to his friend’s vengeance?
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The turmoil in his soul was more profound than Reina had thought. Composed as he seemed to be, the idea that he second guessed himself so persistently surprised her. As she considered his darkness the surrounding cacophony of souls seemed to fade and her shadows slowed their menacing dance on the alley walls so long as she kept his soul at the forefront of her mind. Snippets of whispers were still audible, but no longer did they threaten to overwhelm her as they had before.
This was how he survived. She realized. All of his fears and anxiety were alive within him, but he pushed them to the side in order to focus on what was in front of him. She steeled herself as she did the same, pushing the whispers away and focusing on his soul and his alone.
Before long her breathing slowed from its panicked pace and sounds of the city returned as Theodren pulled his hands from her ears. “Whatever you heard in my soul… I can’t imagine what it must be like to hear people’s worst impulses.”
She went to answer when a voice cut her off. “Oh you poor dear you look dreadful!” Theodren looked up to see an older woman walking down the alley towards them. An immaculately tight grey bun rested over a wrinkled and smiling face with dark eyes Theodren couldn’t quite tell the color of. She shifted her wicker basket laden with vegetables further up her arm as she pulled her deep green shawl tighter around the shoulders of her simple blue frock. “You two look as though you may collapse on the spot! Are you looking for an inn by chance?”
“Indeed we are madam, my wife and I just got into town.” Theodren said, resuming his role of traveling family man. “No wonder You both look ready to drop! I run an inn just up the road from here. Follow me and I’ll have a nice warm stew and fresh blankets for you two.” Reina stepped out from behind Theodren to better see the old woman, shifting the babe in her arms to a more comfortable position.
The old woman’s eyes locked onto Theviana, asleep in Reina’s arms. “And an adorable child to boot! You really must come with me.” She laced her arm into Reina’s, guiding her deeper into the alley. Reina looked back at Theodren confused. He could only shrug and follow along as the old woman led them down a twisting route of back alleys and side streets all while she asked them where they came from, and if they knew anyone in the city.
Theodren and Reina answered as vaguely as they could, doing their best to keep their fabricated history synchronized. “You two really are a lovely couple. I’ll set you up in a delightful little suite. I dare say you may never want to leave!”
As they rounded the final corner, one building stood out from the rest. Where the rest of the buildings were of stone construction, this building was made of wood. Two stories tall and narrow, there could not be more than a handful of rooms from the look of it, but it seemed well maintained. coated in fresh lacquer and decorated with dark blues of varying shades. Hanging from a sign post over the door, was a blue rose painted on a wooden sign that creaked softly as it shifted in the wind.
Theodren froze in his tracks. “What did you say was the name of your inn?” The old woman turned back to him as she continued marching Reina forward toward the blue door. “How silly of me, did I forget to say? My name is Dahlia Black, and this charming inn of mine is the Blue Rose.”
