"I am terrible at everything I try," I say, slamming the door of the stable.
"Who told you that, Ras?"
I laugh at the absurdity of the question. Anyone on Nosnow Island will think twice before saying anything insulting to me. Father used to be a pirate before we came here and he is the greatest duelist in the world.
"Nobody."
Mother frowns. "Are you upset because your father won today's fencing match? You're thirteen years old, you can't expect to –"
"I won the match," I say. "But father let me win to encourage me, I'm sure of it."
"He wouldn't insult you by letting you win."
"Oh, no?" Mother can be so naïve.
"When he wins you grow depressed and when you win you grow depressed because you're sure that he let you win. Will anything satisfy you?"
"An honest victory," I say, then, add, "I'm going over to Fezzik's."
"Why can't you have dinner at home?"
I am silent.
"All right. Go."
Mother thinks that I am angry at father and this is why I am avoiding him today. But she doesn't understand. I love father. I love being near him and hearing him toss out brilliant and witty words like daggers at a tossing game. I enjoy saying brilliant and witty things back, the conversation becoming more and more like a game with no end. But sometimes the pressure of having to be brilliant and witty gets too much for me and I escape to Fezzik's.
When I say Fezzik's, I don't mean his house. I mean his workshop, where he hauls and chops wood that is later used to build houses and boats. His workshop is always crawling with kids but I never feel jealous because I know I'm not just another kid. What Fezzik and I have is special. I remember when I was five years old and had just discovered rhyming. Fezzik and I spent days, rhyming everything that came to mind and laughing until we couldn't breathe. We still have a ritual of greeting each other in rhyme.
On the way to Fezzik's, I get a glimpse of Inigo standing by the tavern and arguing with a man while a slender girl leans on his arm. No doubt he is challenging him to a duel, which is really more of a jest than a serious challenge because everybody knows that nobody can defeat Inigo. Except father, of course.
Yes, Inigo has probably reminded him of that fact because the man turns away. Inigo turns to the girl, triumphant.
Mother likes to say, "It's time for Inigo to stop running around with women and find his true love."
Father once replied to that, "Inigo's true love is not a woman. It is adventure."
When I see Fezzik, I call out, "Fezzik, how's the air today?"
"Just right for an evening play!" Fezzik calls back.
I grin, pleased that he has mentioned the play. Tonight I will play a lead role in Remorse of a Rogue. The whole island will be there.
Acting is the one thing I am not terrible at. Actually, I love it.
The play is about a young knight who has killed an honorable man by mistake, thinking that he was an enemy. The knight has come to apologize to the man's daughter but she refuses to see him. He stands by her window, night and day, asking how he might make up for his offense. I play the knight. Ophelia plays the daughter.
Ophelia is twelve. She has red hair and the prettiest voice on the whole island. She was probably born singing. Ophelia is also blind. She was born that way too.
There are about fifty people living on Nosnow Island. The men here are either past pirates or escaped criminals of Florin (although most haven't committed a crime for over eight years). Prince Humperdink would love to have all of their heads but nobody in Florin knows exactly where Nosnow Island is and we'd prefer for it to remain that way.
The men, women and children have gathered. The evening air is cool. The play begins.
"All I ask is that I may I speak to you…please?"
"I will not let you in…and I will not forgive!"Ophelia's voice soars.
Occasionally our dialogue gets interrupted by various inconveniences, such as dragons, monsters, warriors that have come to attack the prince. The prince remains by the window, defeats all of them and resumes speaking to the princess. Finally, after seeing that he is badly wounded, she is touched and lets him into the castle.
"You could not hope to defeat a hundred men…Why did you stay?"
I take a deep, anguished breath. "Until I know what I must know, I will not go away…I'd rather die a hundred deaths."
"I hope you understand that I cannot forgive you…yet."
Ophelia is perfect. I hope I am as good an actor as she is.
After the cheers and clapping have died down, I make my way to my parents.
"Oh, Ras! You were wonderful!" mother says, hugging me.
"Of course, I was," I say, nonchalantly. "I always am."
Father smiles because that is the sort of answer he himself would give.
"Why don't you ever act, Westley?" mother asks father as we walk home. "Whatever acting talent he has, comes from you."
"When I act, I prefer for people not to realize it."
Mother looks at him, puzzled. The truth is, although mother loves father deeply, she does not understand him at all. Hardly anybody does. I think Inigo has come closer to understanding him that anybody else. Which is not very close.