These were some of the milder phrases of self-loathing burning as a mantra through Palos' head. He had been there again. At the murder of his family. And he had done nothing. He could do nothing. Oh, he had tried this time. He had tried harder than he'd ever tried at anything in his pathetic existence. But even an average bully from a village as small as Lotterdale could make short work of a frail, blind kid who tried hard. And these had been no average bullies.
Palos was curled up in a ball on the moth-eaten sheets of Sir Callod and Madam Motts extra bed shaking and shattering to pieces for the second time in his life. All he had in the world - his brother, Padimus and Padimus’ love, Otherna, along with all of their children – lay dead in the hut a walking distance away. He'd been there but of no use. He was still of no use.
Useful people could describe their families' killers.
Sir Callod and Madam Motts' concerned voices leaked in through the thin mud walls of their hut to Palos' ears.
“We could take him in, I mean, imagine what he's going through. First his parents and now this. It's the least we can do,” Madam Motts gentle voice was like a sword through Palos' heart.
“No!” Sir Callod's voice was firm, “We went through this last time! The Guard won't allow it. It's got to be someone from his family. Do you want us to lose our status? Become one of the Commons? What use will we be to anyone then?”
Madam Motts' voice was no longer gentle, “What use are we now if we can't even help a single blind child. I don't want our status if that's what it costs!”
“Motty dear, be reasonable. We'll be able to find a relative, if but a distant one. If they are anything like the rest of his family, they'll be kind enough to take him in.”
She spoke deliberately, emphatically, each word a blow. “He has no one else. How many times must I tell you. It's like someone has a massive, unrelenting grudge against his entire family. They're all gone!”
“You can't know that for–”
“I can't? You know perfectly well how long I searched before. You know perfectly well I wouldn't have left him with Padimus if there was anyone else, someone old enough to properly care for him.”
“Well perhaps there's someone young. I mean, they just need a working pair of eyes. Hell, one eye is fine! Some eyes and a job to bring in food! That's enough! The kid doesn't need a lot.”
“Do you even hear yourself!” Madam Motts shrieked. “You want to abandon him with some other kid? As long as they've got eyes? What a joke! He needs more than that! He needs–”
But Palos never heard what Madam Motts thought he needed. Unable to bear one more moment, he tuned them out as he hoisted himself onto the mud ledge of the window. Grateful - for once - for his unimpressive size, he wriggled through the opening and out into the night.
He didn't go far, for it would be foolish to get himself lost at a time like this. He just needed some quiet. The woods crowded the area behind Sir Callod's hut. Padimus had told him about them on several occasions. The sheer size and number of trees was incomparable to any other wood in all of Opal. No, Palos definitely didn't want to go too deep.
About a minute's walk in led him straight into a massive tree. From the roughness of the bark, Palos knew it was a lotteroak for which his village was named. He sat against it, in a pile of lotteroak leaves, trying and failing to stop his racing thoughts. He was extremely intelligent for his age and had even helped solve some of the major problems plaguing the village back when his father was still alive. That had been his strength, his contribution to the family, but it had gone away along with his parents.
Palos' eyes never dried and his breathing never steadied; his mind never shut down and the pain never stopped. But Palos knew himself well enough to find a solution. A puzzle. A distraction. That's what he needed. He got up and began to pace around the lotteroak, soon carving a dirt path amidst the leaves.
He began with the puzzle he had never been able to solve. The water supply. Everyone needed it, yet there was never enough of it. Well perhaps there might be if the Royals shared their supply. But father always said that was never a real solution, that you couldn't expect people to change to fit your plan.
As his thoughts turned to his father, the horror of the day threatened to again overwhelm him and he forced his mind back to the task at hand. He needed a different puzzle. Something else. Something he didn't work on with his father. Padimus had once told him about his desire to travel across Opal, but how it was impossible with their income, or any Commons' income. That seemed like a worthy puzzle. Or rather it had seemed worthy. Now it just seemed worthless. Padimus would never enjoy a cross-country ride on Palos' new, cheap transportation system, so what was the point in designing one?
Palos stopped pacing, giving once again into despair. He turned back to cold reality and loss and bitterness. He turned back to his hopeless existence in the Callod hut, destined to be shoved off on some poor child who might be younger than him. He turned back... or so he thought.
The walk should've been over after about a minute. Palos should have been able to hear Sir Callod and Madam Motts bickering about his fate. But he could not. He began to walk faster, slightly scared now of where he was but still confident enough to not doubt his direction.
More minutes past though, and his confidence faltered. Had he turned around on accident? But when? He mentally retraced his steps to the giant lotteroak. He had been pacing around it. He had not kept track of where the pacing began. That must've been it. He had walked off in the wrong direction. How stupid of him! Palos immediately turned around and began his way back.
He had not gone three steps before he smacked into another lotteroak and fell to the ground. That hadn't been there before. No wait, of course it had. Trees didn't just up and move.
The idea took a few seconds to sink in: he was lost in lotteroak woods after dark. He was as good as dead.
Thank you for reading! The Seer's Stone is my attempt at writing to the Steemit format of shortish chapters. If you're a fan of this story, consider checking out my other major project Universe of Lies.
