The wind blew through the meadow- soft and slow. A whisper through a fairytale. Sion sat on the grass under a large tree by a lake, staring into the horizon.
The meadow stood not far from the Perlin house; He remembered the night he had found the meadow. He had been seven, hiding from the sound of his mother's cries. He had promised himself that night that he would never be small again. That he would never be the one on the ground.
This was his silent place, his personal space. Here he could breathe.
He looked at the tiny creatures that wondered through the meadow. The rabbit couple that chased after each other, the fairyflies with their elegant wings that shimmered like a kaleidoscope and the birds that flew above.
Sion took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then his voice came- soft and divine. A songbird in the morning light.
"I am a bird within the walls of chaos. Color in a pool of black water.
The pillars that held are falling to bits. My heart cracked."
"The wind calls-soft and slow.
Come to me and I will make you whole. A whisper of resolve.
Can I reach out and answer its call?"
"I am a dolphin trapped in ice. The sun's ray stings through cold.
A bird in a cage, the door wide. Wish I could spread these wings wide."
"The wind calls-soft and slow.
Come to me and I will make you whole. A whisper of resolve.
Can I reach out and answer its call?"
"A bird within the walls of chaos. The wind calls, soft and slow.
A bird in a cage, the door wide. Wish I could spread my wings wide."
His voice blended with the soft swish of the wind- a thread weaving through a loom.
"Like always, you take what belongs to me," a voice said behind him.
Sion turned and not far from him stood Isamu.
Sion let out a dry chuckle
"And what pray tell is that supposed to mean?"
"For starters, you are sitting under my tree. Father cares more for you than he does me, when you appear in the room his whole attention shifts to you and that your cunt of a sister"
Sion eyes narrowed; his jaw tightened. He jumped to his feet and walked to Isamu. He towered over Isamu and looked him straight in the eyes.
"You watch your mouth" he said each word came out sharp and cold. "Now let's get somethings clear, shall we?"
Isamu looked into Sion's eyes. They were filled with a darkness, his stare- a knife piercing deep through flesh.
"I am the original son and you are the bastard" he said. "And if your mother had kept her legs closed and eyes elsewhere, we wouldn't have to breathe each other's air."
Sion inched closer to Isamu. Isamu tried to hold his gaze.
"Secondly, the man you call your father is a self-centered narcissist. You shouldn't be surprised if he gives you a cold stare nor if your whore of a mother gets what's coming to her"
The silence between them was thick- a hanging invisible cloak.
A smile cracked across Sion's face. Dark. Threatening. Cold. Isamu legs trembled, his breath came out in gasps
"And I hope it's slow, sharp and painful"
Sion's shoulder connected with Isamu's chest. He walked on ahead. He stopped and turned to meet Isamu's gaze.
"Word of advice, stay out of my space. I will not be so forgiving next time."
Sion turned and walked away in hurried steps with his fist tightened. As he walked away, his hands trembled. Not from fear. From the effort of holding himself back. He had wanted to hurt Isamu. Truly hurt him. And that realization made him sick.
Isamu stood; his gaze lingered on Sion. He had thought that Sion was a push over, how wrong he was.
Isamu gaze fell to his shoe, Sion was right. And he hated the fact. If his mother had not met the man, he called his father he wouldn't have to compete for his father's approval.
It was a relief that Sion was to be sent west. He hoped that he, his sister and stepmother would just vanish forever.
Maybe then and only then would his father recognize him.
*****
The days had grown into a month and Sion stood by the carriage. His sister sat inside while his mother stood in front of him, her hand in his.
She offered him a smile—the kind that was supposed to be reassuring. But it wavered at the edges, and her chin dimpled slightly, as if she were biting the inside of her cheek to keep from crumbling. She reached out and touched his cheek.
"I am really going to miss you both" she said.
He touched his mother's hand. His lips cracked into a smile like the one he's always gave her when she was sad.
"Mama" he said. "We will be fine, it's you I am worried about."
He turned his gaze to the mansion and back to his mother.
"I will be alright," she said. "I would be going to Zafon to spend some time with your aunt,"
"Would you be leaving soon?" he asked.
She nodded. "Tomorrow"
He brushed a loose lock of hair from his mother's face. His hand rested on his mother's cheek.
She leaned into his touch. "Stay safe, mama"
She nodded.
"Study hard, son."
Her hands lingered on Sion's as she stared into his sapphire eyes. She let go of him and he got into the carriage shutting the door behind him.
"Bye mama, we will be fine." Called Harrieta from the carriage.
Their mother waved at them as the carriage rode through the gravel layered road to the wide gate.
Harrieta sat in the carriage, her face pressed against the window. She didn't cry. She hadn't cried since she was six and her father had told her that tears were weakness. Instead, she just watched the mansion grew smaller and smaller, until it was nothing but a speck.
"Sion," she whispered, "do you think we'll ever see Mama again?
Sion lips stretched into a smile. He nodded
"Hopely" he said.
His father stood by the window, watching. He had watched them from this very pane for years—Kamani and her children, the living reminders of a life he never wanted. He had loved someone else once. A woman with a laugh like wind chimes and a name he still whispered in the dark. But his family had chosen Kamani. They had bound him to her like a chain around his ankle. And so, he had made a vow: if he couldn't have happiness, neither would she. This separation was only the beginning.
He watched the carriage disappear through the gates, the dust settling in its wake. Then he turned from the window, his face unreadable. He had all the time in the world.