Assa’s Eggs

Chapter 6

The king wants me help your daughters, said Assa.

Yes, and it appears you are not inclined to do so?

No, said Assa.

And why not?

The king kind of makes me sick.

The queen thought this over for a time. She appeared to be unsure of how to proceed with Assa, who was likewise in unfamiliar territory with the queen.

The thing to remember about the king, said the queen, is that he has a tender heart. He is easily broken. He eats to insulate himself from the pain of the world. Do you understand?

Assa shook her head.

You will, perhaps, when you get older. My daughters are causing him no end of grief. They must return to their own land, and me with them. That is why the king is broken-hearted.

As the queen talked, she slid her hand down Assa’s back and gently guided her on a return walk to her own house. Assa hardly noticed that the queen had done this. She seemed so gentle, now, and understanding. Her whole attitude did nothing but calm Assa. She wanted to lean into the queen and feel her warmth and softness, just like she sometimes hugged her own mother. She thought that the queen’s daughters must be very lucky to have such a mother as this woman next to her.

The bodyguard allowed them contact for only a few seconds, then he intervened by putting his hand between Assa and the queen.

Oh, I know, said the queen. I’m breaking the rules. But this is a child. A girl. She’s no older than my daughters.

Nevertheless, your majesty, said the bodyguard.

The queen shook her head and removed her hand from Assa. I’m going to have to have a talk with my king about this, said the queen.

Very good, your majesty, said the guard, but until then I must discharge my duties according to his instructions.

Yes, yes, said the queen. I know, I know. She sighed. They continued walking in silence. A family of geese swam in the river: a mother and six goslings. The queen stopped to look at them. Assa stoped with her. They watched the geese for several minutes, neither of them talking. The body guard stood between them.

Sometimes I wish I was a bird, said the queen, finally.

I think that too, said Assa. Sometimes.

What do you think would happen if I took my daughters and left this land?

Assa knew what would happen. Exactly what happened before when the king was alone. Thugs would come to their house. Their town would be a terrible place to live again.

Are you trying to make me do something I don’t want to do, so you threaten to make our land awful again? said Assa.

The queen hesitated. They told me you were a clever girl, she said. They were right.

Did they also tell you I conjure spirits? said Assa.

Of course, said the queen. My daughters know this. They sent me and my husband. They wanted to come themselves, but they are afraid to walk the land.

Assa followed the trail of the birds on the water. They left a wake behind them. The tiny waves spread out, crossed each other, and made a kind of checkerboard pattern on the surface. It made Assa think of the disruption of the land, how it had affected her family.

You could make me do anything you want me to do, said Assa.

Not anything, said the queen. I can’t make you want to be the savior of your land.

The birds on the water began swimming in circles, agitated by something in the air. They spread their wings and in a frenzy of splashing water, they rose into the air and flew away.

I think we spooked them, said the queen.

They do that if you stop, said Assa. If we kept walking, they wouldn’t have cared.

My daughters want to do that, said the queen. They want to fly back to their own land. I don’t blame them. They are miserable here. Will you come talk to them? Will you be their friend?

Assa wished the king and the queen could find another way to make their family happy. She didn’t want to be in the palace. She heard rumors about that place. It had all these dark rooms where ghosts and rats and who knew what else spent their time scaring people, especially young people like Assa. But the queen looked so upset, and she wanted so much for Assa to help her, that Assa couldn’t say no.

Can my parents come with me? asked Assa.

Of course, said the queen. We’ll bring you all to the palace in style.

The birds were a long way off now. They were only tiny dots against the sky and they made no sound.

Okay, said Assa. I’ll do it.

The king and queen went back to the palace, but they left several of their staff behind at Assa’s house to assist her family in preparing for their visit. They were told what clothes they needed to wear, how to behave when they met members of the court, and even how to eat.

I think I know how to put food in my mouth, said Assa’s father, who, as far as Assa could see, was thoroughly disgusted by the whole way he was being treated.

Don’t make a fuss, said Assa’s mother. We’re doing this for Assa. And for the land.

It just seems to me, said Assa’s father, that they could bring the girls here.

No, Dad, said Assa. Don’t you get it? They can’t leave the palace. They get sick when they walk on our land.

Assa’s father just grew more grumpy whenever Assa mentioned the problem of the queen’s daughters. He didn’t believe such a thing was even possible.

It’s ridiculous, he said. We walk on our land all the time. Wildlife walks on the land constantly. People are not going around all the time sick.

But they’re different, said Assa. They don’t come from here.

If you really can’t stand all this, said Assa’s mother, you don’t have to come with us. Assa and I can go on our own.

Assa’s father considered the possibility, but in the end decided he needed to be with his family. I’ll go, he said.

Well my goodness, said Assa’s mother. You are such a generous man to bless us with your presence. Can you also bless us with a minimum of grumpiness?

I’ll try, said Assa’s father.

The visit was to last three days and two nights. Assa was allowed to take one small suitcase. There were issues of people smuggling items into the palace, she was told by one of the representatives from the palace. Dangerous things. They had to be very careful, so they made sure visitors took in only a small amount of material.

Even though, said Assa, I’m being asked to come help the palace?

We take very precaution, said the representative.

Two of them offered to remain in the house, to keep it safe, while the family was in the palace.

Assa’s father thought this might be a good idea, but Assa’s mother did not. I don’t want strangers in my home, she said. I don’t know what kind of habits they have. I don’t want them fiddling with our things.

But we should at least protect the mill, said Assa’s father.

The mill will be fine, said Assa’s mother.

Assa could see her father thinking this over. He wanted to object, but finally agreed with his wife. They would politely refuse the offer of help.

In the meantime they were given an itinerary and told to study it carefully. There are many formalities involved with a visit to the palace, they were told. You don’t want to come across as ignorant country folk.

Assa bristled at those words, and she felt her parents’ smoldering anger in the air as well. By the time they had been given their schedules, they had already been subjected to lessons on proper conduct, and proper ways of speaking. They were well and truly sick and tired of the whole enterprise.

I think, said Assa’s father, that we are done with all this now. Leave our house, please, and let us get some sleep, and you all can come back in the morning and escort us to the palace. He said the word palace with a hint of disgust in his voice, as though he wanted to swear instead. In fact, the way he said palace made it seem like a swear word to Assa. She laughed as the palace staff hesitated, then bowed and retreated out the door.

Suddenly the house fell silent.

Glad to see them gone, said Assa’s mother.

Do you think they are going to report us to the king and queen? asked Assa.

Report us for what? asked her father.

For kicking them out. They were only trying to help.

That kind of help we don’t need, said Assa’s father. Now you get to bed and get some sleep. We’ll all be ready in the morning. By the end of the week all this will be over and we can get back to living our lives. Our simple country folk lives. He laughed.

Assa kissed her parents goodnight and went to her room and got into bed. She tried to sleep, but could not. She was too excited about tomorrow. For a girl to go to the palace was enough excitement. But for the queen to say that she held the fate of the land in her hands, that was almost more than she could bear. She got out of bed and went to the window and pushed the pane open so she could hear ocean, roaring in the distance.

It sounded more like a sigh or a whisper from so far away. It was a soothing sound. It made her think of how her mother sometimes told her she needed to appreciate what she had. It wasn’t necessary to her happiness to always be thinking of something new and different.

Assa did not even know she was doing that, but her mother said she was. You stare at the stars, said her mother. I think maybe you think you can make a wish and the stars will grant them.

That wasn’t it. Not exactly. It was more like thinking the stars knew something she didn’t know. They were there for so long, they must have some wisdom that she didn’t have. They must know things she would never know. And maybe they would tell these things to her. She would spend time with the stars. She liked that they were there, every night, making her feel good.

On this night, the stars were not so bright: The moon was out. Its light washed out the stars and illuminated the fields in the distance with a milky light. The creek flowed next to the house. The mill wheels turned and creaked. She liked the sound of them and she always liked being here. This was her home, after all.

Beyond the field the woods beckoned. She knew wild animals lived in those trees. She heard their calls and scampering at night. She sometimes thought the animals were the soul of the forest. They felt like the energy she sometimes felt in herself: like creatures in her body, moving around and taking up room.

Assa sometimes wished she didn’t have those abilities. No one else did, after all, so it meant that she was some kind of oddity. Nothing wrong with being an oddity, but it made things difficult. Different. It meant she had thoughts and experiences that others did not.

And what about the queen’s daughters? Were they oddities as well? Did they have powers from the other world?

She wondered what it would be like to be taken from the only home you ever knew and be told that you had to get used to another land. She didn’t want to have to experience that. She shut her eyes and remembered the wails of the girls. How it made her run from the house.

A chill wind came through the window, raising bumps on Assa’s arms. She closed the window and went back to bed. If the stars had something to say to her, it would have to wait.