The Tidal Wave That Seized My Walls - Chapter 17

“Yereka Ha.”

At her gesture asking him to look at her, the Grandfather reluctantly turned his head.

“May I stay for a few more days?”

Just then, the Prince who met my eyes winked. He seemed to think he was being terribly amusing. The Grandfather granted the Prince’s extended stay as if it were my punishment. My expression fell, utterly defeated. The Prince was an inconvenient guest to be burdened with. A few days of carrying that burden, and my back might just give out.

The banquet concluded on a flat, dull note. It had been meant as my first gateway to being introduced to the major Western nobles, but it could only be described as a complete disaster. One of the maids said it was fortunate it was just young boys and girls and not the adults, but what those young boys and girls saw would be exactly what their parents heard about.

The proper cleanup was left to my mother. She saw off the attendees by pressing minor gifts into their hands. Luckily, no one seemed to hold a lasting grudge, though I heard Akin Fenek left empty-handed.

I was summoned by my grandfather and given a thorough scolding. What’s more, poor Edryd, being the eldest present, was confined to his quarters for ten days for the crime of failing to rein in a hellion like me. I felt sorry for him, destined to spend the remainder of his holiday in his room. My innocent cousin had probably never seen a fistfight before and was utterly stunned. After all, brawling is more the way of the lower ranks than the upper crust.

Edryd must never have seen anyone throw a punch at a formal dinner. Remembering Ed’s muttered warning to himself—’must never provoke her’—right before his confinement, a smirk escaped me. If this mistake was ten parts, perhaps one part was mine, and the other nine belonged to Akin Fenek, but I still resolved to be nicer to Edryd from now on.

* * *

After being summoned for a scolding by my grandfather and hearing my mother’s reproaches, I received my punishment from my teacher. It would have been better if they’d all just ganged up on me at once. Grandfather said I should have restrained myself. Mother lamented that I should have used a more cunning method, and my teacher, her eyes narrowed to slits, cursed a blue streak.

It wasn’t all for nothing, though. Because he laid a hand on me, Akin Fenek’s engagement was broken off. Sure, I was scolded within an inch of my life, but that bastard was probably getting torn to pieces at his own home. That, at least, was a small consolation, a reason I could still sleep soundly at night.

Grandfather looked utterly exhausted. The Prince announces he’s staying longer, I cause a scandal that has even the servants gossiping nonstop—on top of the mountain of things he already had to deal with. I cautiously watched his mood before finally muttering, “I’m sorry.” Only then did he look directly at me.

‘Before I teach you what it means to guard the Wall, it seems you must first learn the meaning of patience.’

Is he planning to lock me in my room for two months without moving? I thought vaguely. But the next day, the place Grandfather called me to was where my teacher was waiting. I figured that much was expected. However, when my teacher announced she would now be overseeing everything I ate, wore, and even how I washed, I knew things had gone terribly, terribly wrong. To make matters worse, I couldn’t even return to my bedroom. I was to live in my teacher’s quarters from now on.

‘You’ve just moved up the timeline for four people,’ my teacher said. She handed me a sword. The blade, white all the way to the hilt, was far heavier than it looked. The moment it settled into my palm, my strength gave out and I crumpled to the floor.

It felt less like a sword and more like a lump of sun-baked clay. As I lay there, pinned and grunting under the weight, my teacher procured a long cord. She then tied the sword to my calf. The other leg received the same treatment. It was utterly maddening.

I had to run with the swords tied to my legs. If I didn’t complete ten laps around the compound, dinner was a lost cause. I ran all over the citadel every day. Though “running” is a generous term for it; it was more like a crab scuttling on its belly.

What choice did I have if I wanted even a scrap of bread? My life had always been a history of struggle and conquest. Every morning, I completed my ten laps and went to my teacher’s quarters to receive my meal. I was too weak to lift a fork, so I tore the white bread into tiny pieces to eat. After three straight days of nothing but running, I had noticeably lost weight. My cheeks, in particular, had become terribly hollow.

My teacher said the swords bound to my ankles were no ordinary blades. A weapon dyed white like this, she said, wasn’t meant to be lifted by human muscle alone.

I learned what she meant after a week had passed. My teacher told me to forget the running for a moment and just try to lift one of the swords. Even though my stamina had improved, did she really think I could just hoist it up effortlessly?

“My, my. If you ever go to Idriheim, this is the very first thing they’ll teach you.”

It went exactly as expected. Just like a week before, I couldn’t lift the sword.

“It’s hollow inside. It’s heavier because it’s empty.”

My wiry teacher effortlessly picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground.

“So, what do you think should be used to fill this hollow space inside?”

She ran her thumb along the blade as she asked. I almost said “water,” but stopped myself, fearing I’d get whacked for it. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind before she could lose her temper.

“Light?”

She laughed. It wasn’t a belly-clutching, roaring laugh, but from her, it was high praise. She wasn’t someone who so much as snorted on a normal day. She handed the sword back to me. I “caught” it by deftly letting it thump to the floor. My teacher looked at the sword on the ground and said,

“Come back once you’ve lifted it.”

“Excuse me?”

We were at the foot of the stairs leading up to her quarters. The path to the dining table was severed right before my eyes. ‘How am I supposed to do that?!’ I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, but she wasn’t the type to look back. I loitered around the sword like an itchy dog. I kicked it. I even punched it with my fist.

Only my hands and feet were brutally battered. I was drenched in sweat, and my head began to spin. I lay flat on my back, staring up at a night where the stars seemed to be sneering at me. Under a moon that clicked its tongue in disapproval, there was no one around. I raised my hand and began to gather light. The slumbering light from beneath the earth rose into the sky. It perched on my fingernails or slid down my forearms, tinkling with laughter.

How am I supposed to stuff these things into the sword? I asked them if they wanted to go in. They tilted their heads and darted back and forth, hesitant. It felt like I was trying to coax them into being kidnapped, which didn’t sit right with me.

“Be careful.”

The voice was cold, plunging down like an icicle. I jerked my upper body upright as if snapped. The startled cluster of light floated above my head. Greens and yellows swirled together into a mass. The clearer my vision became, the colder the chill that ran down my spine. He was sitting on the steps. He was looking down at me from above. Dressed in relaxed gray trousers and a white shirt, he sat with one leg crossed over the other, idly swinging his foot.

“It’s a cold night.”

It was the Prince, lazing about as usual. The black hair on his forehead swayed in the blowing wind, revealing icy blue pupils that seemed ready to steal my body heat. He called out to me with a familiar, “Iyara.” Since when were we on such terms for him to act this smooth, like a snake’s scales?

“Are you ignoring me?”

It was an indescribably creepy feeling, a sensation I couldn’t quite pin down. From our first meeting, I’d found the Prince unsettling. He was the one who had looked me over from head to toe in a way that made my skin crawl. The news that he was staying a few more days had been enough to disrupt my sleep.

I bent my neck and waist in a slight bow. That should be enough of an acknowledgment, I thought. But just as I reached out to pick up the sword, the light that had been hovering in the sky suddenly rained down like a shower. It happened the moment I looked up. The heads of the light sharpened into mountain peaks and indiscriminately charged at me as I stood. They shoved my shoulders, pushed my stomach, and knocked my legs.

Fine dirt flooded into my nose. My body tumbled and rolled, coated in mud. Earth packed itself between strands of my hair. I didn’t even have the presence of mind to pick the dirt out of my earlobes. My mouth was already full of it. Coughing, I pushed myself up. The trail of where I’d rolled stretched all the way from far away.

Clumps of dirt spilled from my mouth. When I spat, small stones came out with the phlegm. Wiping my mouth, I slumped back down. My back ached, but my mind was sharp and clear. That’s when I saw the silhouette on the steps, his shoulders shaking slightly.

“You.”

I stood up, a complete mess of dirt. The moonlight revealed the truth. His nose bridge was sharp and clear, and he was smiling with his eyes. The culprit readily admitted his crime. There was a reason I was tumbling head over heels in the moonlight. It was clearly the work of that insane prince. Clenching my fist, I charged at him.

But the moment my foot touched the first step, my body was thrown backward. The same thing happened again. I rolled and rolled, becoming one with the earth. I didn’t even have time to cough. I immediately pushed my rolling body upright and just ran forward blindly.

The bastard was controlling the light with a single index finger. He was completely at ease, whether I charged or not. Again, someone yanked me backward. It felt like a large man had grabbed me by the scruff of my neck. The lights weren’t listening to me. They weren’t the pure, gentle lights I knew. They were aggressive and fast. As if I were the enemy, they obeyed only his commands.

By the fourth time I was rolled across the ground, I was vomiting. I lay prone, dry heaving and sobbing. His posture hadn’t shifted an inch. My hands trembling, I barely managed to get up. I could feel my steps were slower than before. I walked as if running, but all the strength had drained from my body. My meager meals were largely to blame.

That damned prince yawned. The swarm of light sat on his shoulders, looking triumphant. Only a few remained around me. I hobbled step by step until I stood before the sword and faced him. He puckered his disgusting lips and whistled.