GIDEALIS ENIGMA. Chapter 2 To Lose a Friend


I do not want to startle the girl by the water, who is weeping quietly, oblivious to the ghost standing over her, and my stealthy approach alike. But the men fix it for me. They break noisily through the brush like a couple of moose, drunk on berries on a hot afternoon.

“Domiarn!!!” Yells my father nearly in my ear as he can’t see me in the grasses.

“I’m here. I found Akahida.” I answer and watch Taonur push my Dad aside and rush towards his daughter.

“What happened? Why did you run away?” – He asks, grabbing the girl by the shoulders.

He darn well knows why she ran away. The girl had lost her mind long, long ago. She was six years old when she saw it. What she saw had damaged her psyche so bad she could no longer function normally. What I believe he does not know, is that she saw it all. Because if he knew, he would have killed her, too.

Ever since she sees her sister every time she is in front of a mirror, or the smooth waters of a pond… She believes her long-lost sister is there, behind the glass, and under the water.

Sure enough, she is under the water, I think, as Taonur leads his daughter away. He threw Ina’s body into an abandoned well, and the dark waters covered it all – his lust after his own daughter, and his crime to keep her silent. The only thing the waters could not cover was Akahida’s memory.

We go back to the carriage that is waiting for us by the side of the road. Akahida does not resist, as it is useless. Taonur is holding her by the hand firmly, happy that she was found.

Her sister, who introduced herself to me as Ina, is following us. She wants to know if I can help the girl regain her sanity. I do not know that. But my interaction with the ghost is a progress in itself. Before that I never talked to them, and I never cared for their issues. I just did what I was told to do. And today, all of a sudden, I care about the girl that was murdered ten years ago, and her sister.

The summer morning is unusually bright in Deikeren, known for its gloomy, rainy days. On mornings like these my mother, Leozarit Gidealis, would be smiling. However I can’t say she was ever happy. That feeling seemed to have evaded her.

She would come to me, and hug me, and say something nice. In her eyes I saw her love for me, and other worlds. Distant, magnificent worlds in shimmering mists, and long ribbons of purple energy unfurling in strong solar winds.

I miss her very much. A year ago she vanished without a trace. Mevild said that she died. But I remember no funeral. Everyone says that my Dad killed her for an affair, but I know she’s alive. I just do not know where she is.

The unexplainable fear covers me in one big wave. Something bad is about to happen, and it feels unavoidable. Mevild rushes out of the house in a hurry, he needs to be in the city hall right away. And I stand by the door, and wait for my teacher, Valdarin Omerus, to arrive. He is my favorite teacher, and the only loving soul left after my mother had disappeared.

I always felt like an outcast, and I have no friends, because the servants and their children are afraid of me, and I was unable to start friendship with any of the children of nobles. They seem too involved in small stuff, petty squabbles, and they always talk about clothing they wear, food they eat, and so on.

I care nothing about any of it. More so, I can hear their every thought. You might figure people say one thing and think another? Nope. The vast majority says what they think. So, even in the minds of these rich kids I can find nothing of interest to me.

There is one more thing. Every now and then I fall in love with one of those kids. Never a girl. Always a boy. My father takes me to various dinners, gatherings, dance nights. And there I find some aristocrat’s child, and develop feelings for him. Maybe even approach him.

Each boy would always be delighted to get to know the young son of Per Taonur’s well-known and respected financial adviser. He’d sit by me, curry my favor, and then start talking about some girl he was in love with. After that I would come home in tears, knowing I could never be with that boy.

That’s why I am always alone. Well, I would have been but for Valdarin. He is not only a teacher, but a good friend, too. A little bit on the fat side, and somewhat unkempt, but with bright, intelligent eyes impossible to forget. He should be here soon, and I’m looking forward to spending the whole day with him.

I always confess to him about yet another crush on a boy. He never questions it. He never says it is wrong. He wants me to be who I am. And yet, he is afraid for me. Rightly so, as we will find out.

Does he know that my mother was a daughter of an alien and a human woman? Yes, he does. Even my father does not know it. He always thought my mother could not eat any food, and needed no water due to some strange decease, I also inherited. Valdarin loved my mother, and always tried to help. She revealed to him what she never revealed to her husband.

There he is, running up the stairs, swinging the door open, almost knocking a servant off his feet. He is late.

“Where is mister Gidealis?!” He whispers in a shaken voice.

“Relax, he already left for the city hall. Taonur has a reception or something.” I shrug, because I am not afraid of my father, and I do not want my favorite teacher to be afraid of him, either.

“Did you do Math? Because we have to…” Omerus throws his cloak on a chair at the door - without looking.

“U-huh” – I reply meekly. My head is the world of static and various voices I can’t understand, radio signals, transmissions of creatures and distant celestial bodies, like pulsars.

Only later I learned that I had that biological receiving device in my head, that I was a tool, created to hear those things and relay them to my creator. But right now my alien programming is clashing with human reality. The voices are so loud, I can hardly hear what Valdarin is saying.

Yes, I did his silly math in less than a minute. It always helps – he lets me read a couple of pages of material other students would take weeks to understand, and quickly solve all problems. So we can do something more important – talk about life.

We start up the stairs to my room to enjoy yet another wonderful conversation, when the door opens, and there is a courier with a letter in his hand. It is a young man in dusty clothes, with an unfamiliar face. That means he is not from around here. Because I know all the couriers in town.

Suddenly I feel as if I am on a slippery path over a precipice. The messenger’s thoughts drown out the voices in my head, because he is so close. Maybe, also, because I want to know why he is here. I get shivers, looking at him, and the sky gets cloudy. It becomes dark in the hall, and the shadows lay on Valdarin’s face as he approaches the messenger.

The guy is thinking about his girlfriend that dumped him. He was paid to deliver the letter, but he also wants to charge us, and see if it works.

Valdarin yells for servants to take the message, but no one comes. So, he wants to take the letter himself.

“You need to pay for the delivery” Says the messenger, wishing to pull off his scam to get paid twice.

“I’m not authorized to pay!” Answers Valdarin.

It starts raining outside and I want to leave. I need to take my teacher away from this.

“Let the greedy idiot come when my father is home.” I whisper to Omerus.

“No, that’s not fair to the messenger”, He says.

It is all about fairness in his life. That’s how he is wired. All of a sudden I realize that the courier has committed more than a crime of greed. He also read the letter.

Oh, my. I can see it. The lines, written in a firm, mature handwriting burn into my mind, they stifle me and I can hardly breathe:

“By this letter we notify you that your servant, Valdarin Omerus, is wanted for murder. You are to give him up to the authorities of Antein, Reienkeren, as soon as possible in order to avoid…”

My heart sinks. This is it. They are going to take him from me. It is all I think in a panic. And panic is a wrong state of mind to make decisions. Somehow I believe, that if we hide the letter, persuade the courier to be quiet, it would all go away.

I just want him to never speak a word. Disappear, as if he never existed. I stretch my hand to touch him. Why? To attract his attention? To talk to him? I do not know.

“Demi, go to your room until I have this straightened out, OK?” Omerus takes my hand. He is always so nice and respectful. He looks at me with love, because he believes, that everyone deserves love.

This is the last time I see his bright eyes full of intelligence.

He falls on the floor, and never moves again. The messenger screams and runs away without ever coming back. Servants come to the noise, and start slapping my teacher’s cheeks, throwing water in his face, wanting to know what happened, and if they should send for master Gidealis.

All of that is a blur. I sit by his body and I know that his heart stopped beating.