FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (62 page)

     Clover lay almost dead-like in bed. Serene tended to her as best she could, dividing her time between the kitchen, where she prepared the medicinal potion, and sponging her cousin.

     “Serene, I am dying,” said Clover weakly.

     “Do not be ridiculous
!
You are not dying
!
” reacted Serene.

     “My body burns, then freezes and then burns again. My head feels like a sponge being squeezed. I am in misery. My end is coming. I will never be an Elementhar. I shall be dead even before I get the chance,” said Clover.

     “Your end is not coming
!
You will get well soon
!
And what is this rubbish about being an Elementhar
!?
Clover, you are a Genox
!
You will go to Fallsian Guards Academy, graduate with flying colours, serve in the Royal Guards, retire as an Orgavian just like our grandfather, the father before him and the one before him
!
” said Serene.

     “Do not want. Want … Elementhar,” muttered Clover in delirium.

     Serene chose to ignore her cousin’s delirium.

     The sky was dark when Serene woke up. She had lost track of time. She took a measure of the herbs that the healer had left them, placed them in the bowl and went to the kitchen to get them boiled. When she arrived at the kitchen, the cook told her that dinner had been over for two hours, but he had some leftovers. Serene hungrily dug in into the leftovers while waiting for the herbs to boil. She scooped half a meal of the leftovers into a plate to bring to her cousin as well. She sat down and sobbed. She was worried about her cousin.

     Half an hour later, Serene was back in their quarters feeding spoonfuls of the bitter potion to Clover. Their aunt, Aroma, came in a short while later to see how Clover was doing. She took over the task of feeding Clover the potion. Serene sat down on her own bed, which was next to Clover’s. She buried her face in her hands and Aroma could hear soft sobs coming from her niece.

     “Do not worry
!
She will be all right,” comforted Aroma.

     “I hope so. It was all my fault
!
My fault
!
I made her go to that second waterfall. She did not want to. I made her go
!
” cried Serene.

     “Do not be ridiculous
!
It is not your fault that Clover was bitten. She could have got bitten anywhere, even here in the quarters
!
Mosquitoes are dangerous creatures
!
They spread dangerous diseases and they spread them effectively because they are everywhere, and there are so many of them. It is not your fault
!
” explained Aroma.

     Serene did not answer. She just sat looking at her cousin with teary eyes.

     It took two weeks for Clover’s fever to break. By that time, the girls’ school holidays were over and they were already one week overdue for classes. But Clover was still too weak to travel, so they had to stay for another five days before travelling back to Fallsene City. When they finally got back home, they got such a long and loud lecture from their parents that their ears were ringing all throughout that night.

     The following morning did not get any better for the Cousins Genox. They had to explain to their teachers the reason why they were 18 days late in returning to their studies. Then the two girls received the worst lecture of their lives. They were chastised for failing to wear proper clothing, not using insect repellents, travelling without adult supervision, not carrying a medicine kit with them and other such fault finding conclusions. Javelin Farhan just laughed at them. He was there in the headmaster’s office when they were chastised by
all
of their teachers. Javelin was there for a reason. The headmaster had decided beforehand to punish them, and Javelin was selected to carry out the punishment.

     Clover and Serene spent the next two days cleaning the entire school, including the toilets. Javelin supervised them. And while the girls were scrubbing away at a toilet floor, Javelin gave them a long lecture of his own. His lecture contained many colourful words and terms such as ‘irresponsible’, ‘ignorant’, ‘jelly-brains’, ‘hollow-skulls’ and the best of all, the term ‘golden hairs, rusted brains’.

     “All right
!
Enough already
!
We both got the message, Javelin
!
” said Serene.

     “Yes, Javelin
!
You nag like an old lady
!
” added Clover.

     Javelin laughed out loud. He was clearly enjoying himself.

     “Sorry, girls. I am just doing my duty
!
I have got to make sure that you two do not make silly mistakes like this again. We are going to be officers in the Fallsian Military one day, especially you Genoxes. And for people like us to make silly mistakes is unacceptable as it would get a lot of our subordinates killed in battle. So, jelly brains, what I am saying is that you two had been taught and educated, and yet you disregarded the teachings and knowledge that were given to you
!
Were it on a battlefield where you two had made this type of mistake, a lot of Fallsian soldiers would have ended up dead
!
Not to mention the hundreds or thousands of innocent civilians who would have been killed or enslaved
!
So, you two golden-haired girls, scrape the rusts off your brains as how you scrape the dirt off this floor
!
” he lectured.

     “Stop rubbing it in, Javelin
!
” said Clover.

     “Why would I stop
?
I am having so much fun
!
” retorted Javelin.

     Serene screamed in frustration.

     “You are horrible
!
” she said.

     “Thank you
!
But I am not as horrible as that little mosquito, am I
?
That tiny, itsy bitsy mosquito
!?
” Javelin pointed out.

     “Argh
!
” yelled the Cousins Genox as they went crazy and tried to splash the pail of soapy water onto Javelin’s face, but to no avail.

     Javelin had managed to run out of the toilet in time and from a safe distance, told the two ‘jelly-brains’ to hurry up with their chores. Then he started laughing at them, which infuriated them to the point they started chasing him around the school with their scrubs and the pail of soapy water.

     When the girls finally got back home after the last day of punishment and told their parents about what had happened, Hammer just laughed and said that the teachers were over-protective. But he did agree with them when they said that the girls should have been more aware of their surroundings. And Javelin were right. The girls
were
negligent and negligence, especially on the battlefield, would get many people killed.

     After nine years of formal education, the girls graduated from Fallsene Brightshield Educational with flying colours. They and their classmates felt proud of their academic achievements and more importantly, they felt a sense of relief; for their studying days were over. No more studying and no more examinations
!
Freedom from the many hours of burning the midnight oil
!
Or so they thought
!
In truth, more of these things were headed their way, but their teachers did not want to burst their students’ happy bubble.

     The graduating students skipped along the school’s hallways cheerfully. Every classroom session was a party. They ate, drank and chatted. They shared jokes with their teachers and saw them as friends instead of mentors. Their teachers, in turn, congratulated them and gave them a lot of advice to see them through.

     Each student had a pair of portraits painted of themselves in their graduation cap and robes, one for the school’s keeping and the other for the student’s. There was also a group portrait, where the students and teachers posed together as a class. Then they had a graduation ceremony cum dinner. There were stage performances, songs, dances, a great many speeches and many a tearful goodbyes between the students and their teachers. But they bade their classmates a happy holiday, for they had expected to be seeing each other at Fallsian Guards Academy in a month’s time. Or so that was what everybody thought…

     On the morning after the graduation ceremony, Serene sat down on Clover’s bed with her mouth gaping wide. In her right hand was a letter that she had found. She sat frozen like a statue after reading it.
Clover had run away!

     Serene made her way down to the dining room, where the rest of the Genoxes were having their breakfast. In a trance-like state, she went straight up to her uncle, Hammer, and placed Clover’s letter into his hand. The coffee mug which he held in his left hand landed heavily on the table as he read the contents of the letter. He passed the letter to his wife. She immediately broke down in tears after reading it. Chrys took the letter from her mother’s hand and read the contents out loud. The rest of the Genoxes’ jaws dropped in disbelief.

     Then there were a myriad of reactions. Hammer was furious. Fragrance was sobbing hard. Pike and Chrys had worried expressions on their faces. Castle and Velvet had sympathetic looks. Halberd and Axe turned to look at each other and grinned. Serene was the first to notice this.

     “Why are you two grinning,” she asked her younger brothers, who had a great reputation of being mischievous.

     “She did it
!
” said Halberd.

     “Yes
!
She did it
!
” said Axe.

     “She did what
!?
Are you saying you knew Clover was going to run away
?
” Serene asked in a stern voice.

     “Yes, we did. We packed her backpack for her,” said Halberd.

     “What
!?
” said all the other Genoxes together.

     The faces of Halberd and Axe went pale. They were beginning to realise that they could be in trouble.

     “We helped her. She said she was going off for an adventure. She would not tell us where she was going or what sort of adventure it would be.  She sounded so mysterious. Anyway, she said she needed our help, because she had to attend the graduation dinner at school and she did not have time to gather supplies. So we agreed to help, and spent the whole of yesterday afternoon buying supplies for her,” explained Axe.

     “Yes, we did. We are excited for her. Maybe she went on a secret mission or something of that sort. We asked if we could tag along, but she said no
!
” added Halberd.

     “Secret mission
!?
What are you boys rattling about
?
She is just an 18 year old girl who is not even enlisted with the military
!
What were you two thinking
!?
” reprimanded Castle, partly ashamed that his two sons were so idiotic.

     “Sorry father, we just wanted to help Clover
!
We did not realise that it would be such a big issue,” apologised Halberd.

     “Sorry, Hammer, my two sons are idiots
!
” said Castle to Hammer.

     “Do not blame them. They are just boys. They think life is all fun and adventure. And my daughter can be quite convincing when she wants to be. It is not really their fault,” said Hammer.

     There was a long pause as everyone tried to take stock of what had happened. No one had a clue as to what they should do next. Why was Clover gone
?
Where did she go
?
Would she be in danger
?
Did she hate them
?
Was that why she ran away
?
Why
?
Why
?
Why
?
It was Serene who was the first to compose herself and gain a line of thought.

     “What did she ask you to get for her
?
” she asked.

     “Food, medicine, some camping equipment, a map, a dagger and a sword. She gave us a stack of gold coins and we went out and got the items for her,” answered Halberd.

     “A sword
!?
” Castle commented in surprise.

     “Yes, father. Our friend Shimmer’s father is a sword-smith. He gave us a good deal for a sword. We examined it ourselves. It was almost as good as the Fallsian Military issue. It was ivory white, and it looked very grand, and it had a very sturdy yet slightly flexible blade. There were no loose fittings, or any signs of rust, for that matter. It was thick and heavy, and it felt good in our hands,” explained Halberd.