TWENTY-TWO - Rhoswen

Rhoswen spreads Silvan's good news throughout the Outskirts.

Immediately after Silvan left the tent and headed back for the city, Rhoswen decided to get to work.  I can’t let Silvan down… he’s counting on me to spread the word.  Silvan is our savior�"a true hero.  He fought for our rights and he managed to convince the King that our children are worth saving.  Things are going to be different now, and I have the power to help!

She looked down at Phineas’s baby, resting calmly in her arms.  “Do you want to come with me to spread the news?  Of course you do.  Let’s go.”  She stood up and brought the child with her out of the tent.  She looked out into the darkness, deciding where to go first.  It was darker than usual, but it always was when the Hunt was happening.  Almost everyone living in the Outskirts was a Hunter, and they brought their torches with them when they left for a Hunt.

So who is still here?

She walked through the empty tents until she found one where someone was inside.  She peered in to see a woman, not much older than herself, sleeping calmly with a baby.

“Hello,” Rhoswen said quietly.  “Are you awake?”

The woman didn’t move.  Should I wake her, or wait to tell her later?  In the end, she couldn’t keep it to herself.  It was too exciting.  Rhoswen reached forward and gently shook the woman.

She woke with a start, looking up at Rhoswen with horror.

“Who are you?  What do you want?!”  She recoiled, and Rhoswen stepped backwards, unsure of what to do.

“No!  I’m not here to hurt you, I promise!  I have good news!  Great news!”

The woman eyed her cautiously, but there was a definite curiosity there.  Good.  At least I have your attention.  “What kind of great news?” the woman finally asked.

I can’t just dive right in, can I?  I don’t even know if she’s the child’s mother.  “Is this your son?”

“Yes, he’s mine.  My only, now.  My oldest died a month ago, on his first Hunt.”

Rhoswen felt her heart skip a beat.  “I’m so sorry to hear that,” she said.  Her heart felt as though it had been torn in half yet again.  Sometimes I wish I didn’t have to feel.  Life would be so much easier if there weren’t constantly so much pain.  But she pushed aside her feelings and pressed forward.  “But you don’t have to worry about that happening, ever again!”

“What are you talking about?” the woman asked.

“Silvan of the King’s Guard has saved us all.  He’s managed to convince King Xanthus to take in children from the Outskirts and raise them as his own.”

“Impossible.”

“It’s true.  He’s already taken in two children from the Outskirts.  And when he gets back with a solution to the food crisis, he’s going to make the announcement.  He didn’t want to tell us until after he fixed everything, but Silvan knows.  He wants everyone to know what’s going to happen!”

“So… my baby…”

“If you want him to, he’ll be raised in the castle.  Like royalty.  He’ll have all of the luxuries of life that we never did.  And he’ll have a chance to do something great with himself.”

Tears began streaming down the woman’s face.  “My son… Is saved?”

“Yes.  All of our children are.  If something happens to the parents, the King takes in the children.  If you’re incapable of raising the child on your own, the King takes them in.  Things will be so much better now.”

“How many people know about this?”

“Just you and me right now.  And Silvan, and possibly some other people inside the city, but I don’t know!  It’s basically a big secret right now.”

“And I’m supposed to keep this a secret?”

“No!  That’s the whole point.  Silvan told me to spread the word!  You can help me.”

“Why you?  I don’t even know who you are.  How do I know you didn’t just make this whole thing up?”

“Why would I make this up?  It’s real!  I promise you!”

“Why are you the only person Silvan told?”

“I don’t know.  We met yesterday when he was returning this baby to his father.  I happened to know him and I led him there.  I think maybe we formed a connection.  But today he came straight to me to tell me that after meeting with me, he went back and talked to the King because he saw the state of things out here.  He used to live out here, so he knows what it’s like.  He wants to help us.”

“So this isn’t your child?”

“No.  It’s a friend of mine’s son.  He’s a Hunter, and I watch the boy while he’s away.”

“After Silvan told you the good news… did you sleep with him?”

Rhoswen was aghast.  “No!  I didn’t sleep with him after he told me the good news.  How could you ask me that?”

“You’re a pretty girl.  A man might say anything to get you into bed with him.”

“He didn’t make it up.  He didn’t say it because he wanted to sleep with me.  He wants me to tell everyone, because he wants to help us!”

“Do you have any children of your own?”

Rhoswen hadn’t anticipated the question.  I didn’t think it would be this difficult to convince one person that things are going to get better.  All these years of darkness… people don’t even have room for hope.  “No.  I never wanted to have any children.  The world… I’ve always felt it was too harsh to bring a child into.  But I also feel as though this is my child.  I love him like�"”

“If you don’t have your own child, you’ll never understand.  I’m sorry, but the more you tell me, the more it sounds like this is too good to be true.  It’s a trick.  I don’t know what the plan is, but Silvan is playing you.”

She felt fury inside of her.  “He’s not playing me.  He wouldn’t.  He’s a good man.  Believe what you will, but when Xanthus gets back… you’ll see.”

She turned and left the tent, not letting the tears fall from her eyes.  What does the fact that I don’t have children have to do with anything?  Why would she think Silvan was only telling me good news so that he could have sex with me?  If that were all he wanted, he wouldn’t have had to trick me into it.

All I want to do is spread the good news.  I finally have real, good news for people and I don’t care what any one woman says.  I’m going to keep at it until everyone knows about Silvan’s plan.  He’s not playing a trick on me.  I know it.

She entered the next tent that she saw light coming out of.  This one was inhabited by a sickly looking man lying on the ground.  She knew this look well.  The expression on the man’s face was the same expression that had been on her mother’s face just before she died.  Rhoswen had only been a teenager at the time.

“Hello?” she said.  The man coughed loudly and managed to open one eye.  “Hi.  My name is Rhoswen.  I’m here to bring you good news about the future.”

He nodded his head slowly, as if to tell her to continue, but he was too weak to form words.  She struggled to decide where to begin.  Maybe this is a bad idea.  Maybe there really isn’t any room for hope, especially not from someone like me.  The King will be back in a day or so, and he can tell everyone himself.  This is too difficult for me.

But one more look into the man’s eyes made her realize that she had to do this.  When she had said the words “good news,” his open eye lit up.  He may not be able to move, but he could feel excitement.  And good news was definitely something this man needed right now.

“I don’t know if you have any children,” she began.  “I don’t know anything about you.  But I think you might be interested to hear that the King is changing his ways.  It’s more than just the food… yes, he’s going out to try to find us a new source of food so that we can live longer, but it’s more than that.  Silvan is a man who used to live in the Outskirts, and he convinced the King to start taking better care of us.  Of our children.  So as soon as he gets back from the Hunt, he’s going to be taking in our children and raising them in the castle, like his own daughter.”

The man didn’t respond.  He couldn’t.  But he was feeling something�"something powerful.  His lips began quivering.  He was trying to speak, but his dying body wouldn’t let him.

“It’s okay,” Rhoswen said.  “You don’t have to say anything.  Do you need anything?  Food?  Water?  I can get you something.  Whatever you need, I’ll find it.”

But the man had managed to open his mouth and was trying to form words.  A low, guttural moan escaped his lips.  I shouldn’t be here.  This was a terrible decision.

Just when she was about to leave, the moaning coming from the man’s lips transformed.  “Ankkk oooo.”

Thank you.  The man was thanking her for bringing him the news.  His mouth closed and twisted into a crooked smile.  Rhoswen had to fight to keep from bursting into tears.  “You’re welcome.  I think everyone should know.  I’m going to spread the word and everyone in the Outskirts will know the truth.  Silvan is our savior.  And for the first time in a long, long time, our future is bright.  We have something worth living for!”

And Rhoswen realized�"it wasn’t just the children that Silvan had saved.  He had saved her, as well.