Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 21341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 107(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 107(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
"I went the wrong way!" bellows a boy, followed by delighted laughter. "Coming back!"
It is Joden, so loud that we can hear him clearly over the walls. Joha immediately holds tighter to my belt, gazing up at me. "You won't tell him I'm scared, will you? He'll tease me."
Poor Joha. "You are not scared. Your papa is here and I will shove anything and anyone that comes toward you into the nearest ravine."
"But...I'm hiding behind you."
"No," I correct. "You are guarding my back."
"I can do that," Joha says bravely. Her hands are locked on my belt and as I move forward, she steps on my ankle again. We head farther into the maze, and the path forks up ahead.
I pause.
"Go left," Joha tells me.
It is a start, I tell myself. She can be brave while I stand in front of her. At some point, she will not even need me ahead of her. She will just be brave on her own.
At least, that is my hope.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
HAEDEN
Much later, I have walked through the maze three times with Joha and Shae (who are no longer scared once we have gone through it once). Shae begins to yawn and I send the girls back with Sam and Sessah. "I should check on my son," I tell them, even as Joden shrieks loudly from somewhere deep inside the maze. He has been howling and screaming all night like a wounded metlak, and while that is rather normal for my son, I still wish to check and make sure he does not need anything.
I find Joden in the very center of the maze, where Warrek sat earlier and passed out brightly colored fishing bobbers to the kits that made it to him. He has gone now, but the older boys are still playing. As I watch, Joden shouts and pushes off one of the sturdy ice walls, flinging himself toward Holvek and Pacy and knocking them over. They all scream and laugh, rolling on the snowy ground and being, well, boys.
The moment they see me, however, they all freeze.
"Hi, Dad," Joden says after a moment. He gets to his feet and brushes snow off his clothing. "Were we loud? Sorry."
I am immediately skeptical. Joden is always loud, but the guilty look on his face is new. "It is fine."
"I should head home anyhow," Joden says, and waves at his friends. He meekly comes to my side and walks obediently next to me instead of his regular pacing and chattering. This is very much not like my son at all. Perhaps he is tired? But no, even a tired Joden is a talkative one.
This is as if a candle has been snuffed. He walks, matching his steps to mine, his expression bland.
Something is wrong.
I say nothing as we leave the maze, waiting to see if Joden will speak up. When we get to the lift that will take us back down to the village and he remains silent, I decide to speak first. "Did you enjoy this day?"
"Yes."
No mindless chatter of every detail of his day. No giddy, delighted excitement. Surely this hawl-day will draw more than a simple “yes” from my normally effusive son? I am even more concerned. "You have been too quiet lately."
Joden looks up at me in surprise. "Was I too quiet in the maze? Just now?"
"No," I admit. "You were loud. When you were with your friends, you acted like yourself, which is a good thing. That is what concerns me. Why are you quiet now that you are at my side?"
His mouth purses and he crosses his arms over his chest. "They're my friends. They don't mind if I'm loud."
"And you think I mind?"
"Well...no."
"Then who is it that you think you bother when you are loud?" If someone has told my son to be silent, I will have fierce words with them.
He thinks for a moment longer, and then Joden glances up at me. "Vekka."
I am surprised. Shorshie and Vektal's younger daughter is a sweet creature. "Vekka? What did she say?"
"Nothing." Joden scuffs his boot on the icy ground. He stabs his toe against it, and then as if a dam bursts, looks up at me and blurts, "But I'm s'posed to resonate to her, right? Her or her sister, but Talie's no fun so it's gonna be Vekka and I was talking to her the other day and then one of the elders said I was so loud I wouldn't even be able to hear myself think and if I can't hear myself think then I can't hear resonance and everyone is s'posed to resonate so I'm practicing being quiet so when I resonate I can hear it all right because I don't want to miss out on my mate—"
I put a hand on his shoulder, kneeling in front of him as he abruptly cuts off. "Joden."