FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (60 page)

     “Garrison _ it is the town’s of it, and here we shall find men who can take you to your father,” answered the Elementhar.

     Clover was about to ask another question when suddenly her mother stepped out of the garrison’s giant doors with some steel shirted men.

     “Mommy
!
Mommy!
” cried Clover as she ran to her mother.

     “Clover
!
” responded Fragrance as she ran to her daughter, hugged and kissed her and examined her for injuries.

     “Where have you been
?
Did I not tell you to stay close to me
!?
” cried Fragrance, who was unsure whether to spank her daughter or hug her some more.

     “I was in an alley somewhere, and that man, Elementhar, saved me from a bad man and brought me here,” said Clover.

     Fragrance looked up to see the Elementhar walking away.

     “Master Elementhar
!
Kind sir
!
What is your name
?
How may I reward you
?
” Fragrance called out.

     The Elementhar stopped and turned around. He bowed, offered a slight smile and said ‘Name _ mine of this is Elementhar Rock Dencon, and no reward is necessary; for I am happy that you are relieved and now I must be on my way.’

     “Thank you Elementhar Dencon
!
Thank you
!
” Fragrance said, not knowing what else to say.

     Master Elementhar Rock Dencon bowed again, turned around and walked away.

     The journey back to Fort Eastguard was uneventful. Clover sat in a wagon with her mother, along with several other women and children of the fort. Behind their wagon were ten other wagons carrying the goods that they had bought as well as the provisions for the fort. A cavalry stream accompanied the wagons.

     “Mommy, what is an Elementhar
?
” Clover asked.

     “Elementhars are strange people with strange powers, Clover. They can make fire, earth, water and air out of nothing and control them in ways we do not understand. They are not friendly. They do not socialise. They do not live like us. Most Elementhars are good, I think. They kill demons and occasionally thieves and highwaymen. But some are bad, because they use their powers to hurt innocent people. Nobody understands them, really,” answered Fragrance.

     Clover felt fascinated with the ‘phenomenon’ known as the Elementhar. Her mother’s explanation was not enough to satisfy her curiosity.

     “When I grow up, I want to be an Elementhar
!
” Clover declared.

     “No
!
Your father will be upset with you
!
You are a Genox
!!
Your father is a soldier
!
Your grandfather is a soldier
!
His father before him was a soldier
!
You cannot abandon your lineage
!
Elementhars are strange people and their way is not ours
!
Forget about this wild fantasy of yours before you break your father’s heart, Clover
!
” said Fragrance sternly.

     “Yes, mommy
!
” was all Clover could say.

     Serene’s life in Fallsene was a little different from Clover’s in Fort Eastguard. Her parents were always attending some party or function of sorts and she always got dragged along. She did not like going to these places. The crowd felt suffocating to her. She would meet other children that she would never meet again. She had gotten so many ‘friends’ that she sometimes forgot that they
were
‘friends’. The whole situation felt artificial to her. She was a Genox
!
What care does a Genox have for parties
?
All she needed was a good blade on her belt and a good horse between her knees. That was what her father and uncles used to say.

     But she was compliant to her parents’ wishes and went along to these events anyway, because she had to ‘give face’, just like how her parents had to ‘give face’. What does ‘give face’ mean anyway
?
But other than that, life was great as far as she was concerned. She went to the market place with Velvet every morning and rode ponies every afternoon. Sometimes she would go to the theatre with her parents and watch talented actors and actresses bring all sorts of stories to life. Yes, life was good in Fallsene City, though it was always better when Clover was around.

     Of all her cousins, Serene was particularly fond of Clover, as they were both of the same age and shared the same interests. The feeling, of course, was mutual.  Clover had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and loved reading. So did Serene. Whenever Clover’s father had brought her back to Fallsene for visits, Clover and Serene would spend hours in the library together, or would spend entire afternoons under a shady tree in a nearby meadow, doing nothing but reading and discussing what they had read.

     Mainly, the Cousins Genox liked fantasy novels. Tales of knights and dragons and sorcery. Stories of chivalry and valour. But they would always laugh at the damsel in distress. For the Genoxes, there was no such thing
!
Every Genox, man or woman, was a trained fighter. They started their training at the age of nine, mastering first the unarmed fighting skills and then moving on to weapons and strategies. So whenever they read about damsels in distress, they laughed out in disbelief, until one day Clover remembered her ordeal in the back alley of Timberstock. Then the biggest argument ensued between the two girls. Clover insisted that occasionally, there could be damsels in distress. Serene said that that was all rubbish. Both girls made angry faces at each other, and then they gave each other the silent treatment. But by the time they got home, they had already made up.

     When Clover was eight, Hammer Genox was promoted to the rank of orgavian, given command of 3
rd
Lake, 1
st
Ocean and was transferred back to Fallsene City. Hammer brought his family back to live in Mansion Genox. Clover was as happy as she could be when she got the news.

     Clover’s life in Fallsene was a drastic change compared to her life at Fort Eastguard. Now she had to attend parties and functions just like Serene. What was this stupidity
?
All she needed was a good sword on her belt and a good horse between her knees. What was worse, sometimes she had to attend parties that Serene’s parents were not invited to, so she ended up going without her favourite cousin. Her elder sister, Chrys, would run off with some boy somewhere, and her little brother Pike had his ‘circle’ of friends and she would be left alone in an ocean of strangers.

     ‘Giving face’ was what Serene had said when Clover asked her about the parties one day.

     “What does ‘giving face’ mean
?
” asked Clover.

     “Giving face means showing respect and acknowledgement and saving the other person from embarrassment, I think
!
You see, we are Genoxes
!
Whenever our parents attend these functions, they attend to represent our family. And since our fathers are soldiers, they also represent the king and the military. It is part of their job,” Serene explained further.

     “How did you know this
!?
” Clover asked.

     “Experience … and many, many years of suffering
!
” answered Serene, and both girls broke into laughter.

     Schooling was a new experience for both girls. They had some informal education by tutors since the age of six, but at the beginning of the year when they would turn the age of nine, they were required to attend formal education. Formal education differs from the informal education in the sense that the latter only covers reading, writing and simple arithmetic, while the former covers a wide range of subjects such as history, geography, economics and such.

     The Cousins Genox were enrolled at Fallsene Brightshield Educational, instead of the more prestigious Royal Fallsene Educational. All Genoxes send their children to Fallsene Brightshield. It was a school exclusively for children whose parents were soldiers, as opposed to Royal Fallsene, whose students’ parents were wealthy businessmen, politicians, government officials or royalty. The Genoxes were always welcomed at Royal Fallsene, but they have always declined. The Genoxes have always thought that warriors were a breed apart, and that their profession was sacred, and thus their minds were not to be ‘polluted’ by other mentalities.

     School life was tough. Both girls woke up before dawn, jogged around in the compound of their mansion for half an hour before they had their breakfast and got ready for school. At school, they would spend the mornings and afternoons studying academic subjects and train in the martial arts in the evening. They only went home at night. They would come home with bruises, have their dinner, rush through their homework and go to bed. And the next morning before dawn, they were up again.

     And unlike the other schools where there were bullies, at Fallsene Brightshield Educational, they were non existent. The teachers there understood that bullies were actually people with weak minds. Bullies felt insecure all the time, so they needed to make other people miserable in order to make themselves look better; and that they actually thought that it made them become better. But the truth was far from this. Bullies would in turn be bullied and would end up as docile and insignificant individuals because of their inherent insecurities. This type of people did not exist at Fallsene Brightshield. The teachers there made it their personal quest to ensure that no such students existed. The tough training and the constant monitoring by them and the ‘nurturing’ attitude towards teaching yet firm hand when it came to discipline, prevented the bully mentality from developing.

     The same cannot be said about Royal Fallsene Educational, where the money and power of their parents made the students arrogant. They would challenge each other in many ways and boast of their victories or be extremely ashamed of their defeat. Every student wanted to be the ‘king of the hill’. The weak cannot survive at Royal Fallsene. They would break down and run away from school. Or so went the theory, but in actual fact, the weak would seek ‘protection’ from the strong and all the students would break into factions. These factions would fight each other in many ways and the whole school would feel like a war zone. Harmony was a foreign word to these students. Naturally, Royal Fallsene and Fallsene Brightshield were the bitterest of rivals.

     Students were normally given the Sixth and Seventh Day off from schooling. On such days the Genoxes occasionally went for family picnic trips. On such a trip just shortly after the incident in
the field of flowers
, Clover and Serene were reading their story books beneath a shady tree after an invigorating swim.

     “Serene, what do you know about Elementhars
?
” Clover asked suddenly.

     “Elementhars
?
Not much, just that they are weird people with a weird belief and they do not fit in into our society. Why are you asking about them anyway
?
” asked Serene in return.

     “I am curious. I would like to know how they control the elements,” answered Clover.

     “The elements
!?
Why would you bother
!
All you need is a good sword on your belt...,” said Serene halfway.

     “And a good horse between your knees. Yes, I know,” Clover said, cutting in to complete the sentence.

     There was a moment’s silence. Serene looked at her cousin. A thought had just occurred to her.

     “You are not planning to go looking for them, are you
?
” asked Serene in a concerned tone.

     “Maybe I might,” answered Clover.

     “Clover, we are Genoxes
!
We are soldiers
!
Or at least, we will be when we grow up. The Elementhars are an insult to our ways. Dad said that Elementhars do not serve the king and they do not serve the kingdom. They show no loyalty
!
They do not consider themselves as part of Fallsian society. They are transients, whatever that means
!
Why would you want to go looking for them
?
” expressed Serene.

     Clover shook her head in disagreement.

     “They kill demons
!
That is what I have heard from the soldiers at Fort Eastguard. Is that not service to the kingdom
?
” she countered.