Saving the Hawk
The ashes that stained his clothes were heavier than any other villages, Harpi realized. This little town wasn't special to him in any way. He hadn't grown up here. When he burnt down that village it was painful in a different way.
But it didn't matter anymore, all of the bigger buildings were reduced to the cinders and ashes that floated on the forgiving breeze. Harpi looked down at his bundle again; a tattered blanket that was grey with soot and dirt, covered the little girl.
Why had he pittied her?
The man, the assasin, who killed without mercy or regard for honor, just for gold. He had no idea what drew him to the girl. She was barely five, her hair was filthy and matted. It was a remarkable coincidence that their eyes were both a glowing gold. Harpi had never seen another human being with those eyes. His eyes. The eyes were part of it, his own child might have had such eyes, if he had ever found a woman to love.
But it wasn't just that either. The assain shook his clothes free from the excess ash, and turned away from the smoldering earth. The village still burned in his eyes. Not even the cool back of his eyelids could remove the image. Harpi resettled the bundled girl carefully and mounted his chestnut mare, placing the girl infront of him on the saddle. She made no motion or fuss, she just stared forward, unblinking. Unseeing.
He had killed her spirit.
Harpi's sword had stopped people from fleeing the village, as per orders. A woman, who must have been the girls mother, was herding three children to safety. Harpi could see his sword coming out of its sheath as if he was doing it all over again. His muscles tensed with the familiar action. He felt the blade slice through the woman's neck, as clean as butter. A quick blur of his sword slashed her brother in two. Merciless
But before Harpi could kill the others he noticed the girl, feebly punching at his leg. How had such a small child gotten through his defenses like that? He was of the Shang. He was the greatest assain in Tyra. No one had ever escaped his radar before, no one had ever fooled his senses. And the child had? Impossible.
A kick at the girl sent her frail form flying. He spared the child a glance and killed the last boy who cowered beneath his mothers dead carcass. The girl he had kicked had risen, unhurt, she stared at him with a look of pain and determination. Harpi remembered feeling tired, the look in her golden eyes was soulless and full of raw hatred.
Killing a person was much different then killing their spirit. He sheathed his sword and said "Hawkling, I will not harm you."
The child still stared at him, it was too late for such proclamations he realized. The child did not speak, but continued to stare blankly at the man who ruined her world. Harpi left her there, he had to, the rest of the village waited for him to finish his job. He killed quickly and painlessly, his senses were alert for the girl, who he knew was still watching with burnt out eyes. He watched a small herd of horses run toward the exit, he did not bother with them. He turned away from his dirty work and looked to the girl again.
Once again his senses had failed him. The girl stood, unmoving, staring at the horses that ran madly at her. They would trample her! Without thinking Harpi sprinted for the child. The pounding hooves came closer to the child and still she did not move. Harpi exerted himself and barely grabbed her in time. The horses trampled the place where she had stood. The girl child struggled from beneath him he let her up. As he rose to his feet he glanced around.
This was wrong, he should have noticed the girl moving, she was much too far from her familys final resting place. The image of her standing on the other side of her mother had been burned into his brain. So that meant what? That he was losing his touch? Perhaps. That the child was trying to kill herself? No, his reason argued, she was four at most. His experience with children was limited, but a four year old killing herself, intentionally? No. Absolutely not. There was nothing left to do.
Harpi held the child in his arms. She struggled for a moment, but utter exhaustion clung to her body. Her struggling ended and they left the burning city behind.
The girl refused to speak the entire way to Harpi's home. Harpi forced her to eat and cared for her as well as he could. It was a hard job, Harpi was forced to think of his own mothers inabilities to care for him. Although whenever he had thoughts like that he always shoved them away.
The greatest assasin in all of Tyra lived in an old, but beautiful home, just outside of the town of Venica. Harpi's feet and body yearned to enter the house and sleep, but instead his disciplined muscles set to the task of stabling his mount. The girl watched his movements, dazed. Harpi hoped he saw a little fire in her eyes, but he knew he was just fooling himself. The assain figured if he kept talking to her she might talk back. When he was finished with his horse he moved on to the tack, he kept up a moderate flow of conversation.
"See this bit of dirt on the saddle here? I have to make sure I get all of it," he said. The girl watched with muted fascination as he gave the horse a rub down, fed it and finished cleaning.
"I used to have servants doing this for me, Hawkling," he said. "but you can't trust every servant, not in my line of work."
Harpi shooed the child into the house when he had finished. "We need baths I think," he said. "Are you alright to bathe yourself Hawkling?"
The girl gave no answer. Harpi still guided her to the washroom, unphased. He quickly gathered the supplies she'd need and put her next to an entire basin of hot water.
"I'll leave you to it?" he asked. The same silence met the question he merely nodded to her and left the room.
The assain strode through his home in a thoughtful stupor, he would keep the child, of course. But his orders were very specific, no one leaves that village alive. Harpi decided to push that from his mind, he could deal with Jennis, it was the girl he needed to worry about. What was she going to wear? What would she eat? Did she need schooling? And how, how would he ever get her to talk?
He stopped suddenly as he sensed something, a helpful something, or someone. Harpi glanced at his doorway and walked toward it, flinging it open. He saw a young woman, she was poor, unwashed, tired, and it looked as if she was begging for food.
"Girl? What is your name?" The young woman looked at him.
"Angeline," she replied, slowly.
"I have need of a maid Angeline, would you like a job?"
Angeline brushed her feathery brown hair from her eyes and frowned.
"I will be your maid Master, but nothing more,"
"I wouldn't ask more than help with a child."
"Your child, Master?"
"Yes," Harpi replied. "You see, I am trying to get her to take a bath, but I am afraid her mother used to handle such things." Angeline hesitated for a moment and nodded to him, she would work for him.
"Thank you. Please come with me," Harpi led her through the house to the bathing room, he knocked politely, listened and pulled the door open.
The golden-eyed girl sat in the same place Harpi had left her, "Please, there was a fire I must get her new clothes, and other things. I am entrusting her to you."
Angeline replied "I will take care of her, Master."
Harpi smiled and turned away, "Oh and the two of you will need lunch? There is bread in the cupboard, I will bring more food home." Then he strode from the room.
"My name is Angeline, who are you?"
The child didn't speak.
"How old are you little one?"
Again the girl didn't respond.
Angeline looked at the child, she was covered with ash and dirt from her trip. Her eyes looked blank and dulled. With a deep breath Angeline stripped the child down and got her in the water. The girl was fussy at first, she didn't like the water, but as soon as she was up to her shoulders in warmth she calmed. Angeline found soap and scrubbed the dirt off the poor girl, all the while speaking to her in a soothing tone. Once cleaned she wrapped the little girl in a large fluffy cloth, drying her quickly. The girl clung to the cloth with a fierceness that Angeline couldn't comprehend.
"Angeline?" a voice called softly. "I have clothes for her."
Harpi was back, Angeline quickly opened the door part way and took the offered clothes. Angeline opened the brown package to find an adorable little yellow dress with a million bows and ruffles. Angeline shook it out and offered it to her.
The girl looked at it with disgust.. Angeline took her shoulder to help her with the dress, but the girl shook away from it. Angeline tried a few more times to get the girl into the little yellow dress. Angeline carefully opened the door again.
"Master?" she called. He was sitting in a chair nearby "She will not wear the dress, I have tried many times with no success."
"What? She won't wear the dress?" Harpi fumed he wrenched open the door, Angeline backed away fearfully.
Two pairs of golden eyes met each other in an angry, silent battle. The girl stared at him with passionate anger. To Angeline's surprise Harpi laughed with a bark.
"Here, try these," Harpi offered another package, she took it hesitantly. Harpi left the room, closing the door softly behind him, with joy, so perhaps he had not killed her spirit after all, he thought.
Angeline torn open the second package, breeches and a shirt? How odd. But before Angeline could protest the girl scooped them up and hurriedly put them on, backwards. She put away her own reserves for another time and helped the girl fix her shirt.
She ushered the girl into the main room, Harpi rose as they entered, "Come along to the kitchen, I have prepared some food," He told them.
They sat together at a round, wooden table. Three plates were on the table, piled with grapes, steaming fish and a pudding. The girl stuffed herself with the food, Harpi and Angeline took a more conservative approach, using silverware and napkins.
A few moments into the meal Angeline found herself saying, "She will need to learn manners." Instantly she bit her tongue, it was too late to take back her forward words.
Harpi smiled, "I hope you will be a willing teacher for her."
"Shall I then be more a governess then a maid?" Angeline couldn't stop herself from saying.
"I had hoped you would be more of an older sister to her then anything else."
Angeline smiled, "Whatever you wish, Master."
"Harpi."
"I'm sorry?"
"Please call me, Harpi, Miss Angeline."
"If I am to call you Harpi the least you could do would be to call me Angeline."
"Of course, Angeline."
"And I must ask what the child's name is, I realize she cannot talk."
"Cannot and Will not are to different things Angeline, she has not spoken to me. I had rather hoped she might speak to you. I do not know her name," Harpi admitted.
"But how is that possible? Are you not her Father?"
Harpi thought for a moment, he couldn't tell this lovely young woman his own torrid past, any more then he could tell her how he had come across the hawkling, he knew he would have to be careful. "I didn't know she existed, then about a week ago I found her with her Mother, she had died, she refuses to speak and now I shall have to raise her here."
He had watched the girl throughout the story, she had not heard a word of it. She merely chewed as much fish as she could stuff into her mouth.
Angeline didn't speak, merely finished her meal. "I will get a bed for the both of you tomorrow, unless you have a place you would prefer Angeline?" Angeline shook her head. "So tonight you may both sleep in my bed, I will sleep here." Harpi indicated the couch.
Angeline opened her mouth to argue, but Harpi shooed her into the room too quickly. She gave in and readied the girl for bed, the two of them climbed into Harpi's large bed with the warm wool blankets wrapped around them. The girl cuddled up to Angeline and slept with nightmares, but never screamed herself awake.
For a year the child still refused to speak. But she was far from stupid. She was quick to learn what she needed to do to help, she would sweep the floor in the late afternoons when she grew tired of playing with her toys and help with the wash on sunny days. Angeline did her best to read to her, mostly books with colors and pictures. Angeline couldn't read very well on her own, but it soon became apparent that the girl didn't need anyone reading to her. Often times Angeline found her hiding in odd places in the house with her nose buried in a book, many of which didn't have a single picture.
Angeline began to love the child like a daughter and would often beg for Harpi to teach the girl everything he could. Harpi blatantly refused every time.
"Why will you not teach her?" Angeline asked him, she had learned that Harpi didn't mind if she spoke out of turn or even if she spoke rudely.
"I have nothing important to teach her," he would reply
"You must teach her something Harpi!" she finally said one day, "I find her reading books all the time! She needs to know everything she can!"
"She is what six maybe? She is merely looking at pictures."
Angeline scowled at Harpi's closed mindedness. She grabbed his arm and led him from the main room into the girls bedroom. Angeline glanced around the room and opened the giant mahogany wardrobe, revealing the girl, with a startled expression, perched on a pile of neatly folded tunics.
The girl smiled sheepishly when Angeline said "You'll wrinkle those tunics sweetling and after all that time we spent putting them away."
Harpi stood with shock on his face, the girl was holding a large leather bound book from his own study. "Hawkling, this is from my study," he told her.
The girl jumped nimbly out of the wardrobe and stared at him, a look that smoldered with unconcern met his eyes. Gold irises flashed together uncomfortably. Harpi regarded the girl with a new perspective, his hope had been all but completely worn out. He thought he had not only killed her spirit, but also all hope of her ever becoming a normal child again. He was wrong, she would be fine. No. Better then all the others, because he would teach her. Math, science, anything she wanted to know. And eventually she might even speak. The hope flared brilliantly now and Harpi bent down so that the two were eye to eye.
"Hawkling," he said. "Do you like this book?" Harpi studied the title, Herbs, Remeides, and Things to Make You Well. The girl nodded, "And do you understand it all?" The girl didn't respond.
"I'd take that as a no," said Angeline, Harpi almost jumped, he had forgotten her presence. "You can admit you don't know something Sweetling, no one can ever learn everything."
"Angeline is right, Hawkling," Harpi said with a smile. "But I am willing to teach you as much as I can. Do you wish to learn?"
In response the girl ripped the book open and pointed furiously at a word.
"I think that means yes Harpi." Angeline laughed.
"I think you are right. Thank you, Angeline," Harpi said and looked at the word. "Sterilize? It means to make very, very clean. When everything has been sterilized it cuts down on infections"
The girl then flipped through the book pointing to everything she wanted to know about. "Let us go into the kitchen. Perhaps we can learn with a snack."
Angeline sat with them as Harpi taught the little girl, Angeline listened as intently as the girl did, Angeline had never learned much more then a little reading and enough writing to know her own name, the fact that her surrogate daughter was learning was a dream come true.