Where Her Voice Is Taken

Chapter 2: Fractured Silence

The house was painfully quiet after they took Nîpisîy. The warmth and laughter that usually filled the space seemed to have vanished with her cries, leaving behind an unbearable emptiness. The walls of the house, once a sanctuary for Leigh and her family, now felt like they were closing in, trapping them in the suffocating weight of their loss.

Leigh sat on the edge of the couch, her body hunched over, staring at the blank television screen. Hours had passed, but she hadn’t moved. Her hands rested limply in her lap, her fingers still faintly stained orange from the mashed carrots she had fed Nîpisîy earlier that morning. It felt like a lifetime ago. Her mind replayed the scene over and over again, the sound of Nîpisîy’s cries echoing in her ears. She couldn’t stop hearing it—the desperate, pleading way her daughter had called for her, "Mama, Mama!" The memory clawed at her chest, making it hard to breathe.

Sîl paced the small living room like a caged animal, his movements restless and agitated. His fists were clenched at his sides, his jaw tight as he muttered under his breath. Every so often, he would stop and glare at the front door as if willing Seren and Caldor to walk back through it, carrying Nîpisîy in their arms and apologizing for the mistake they had made. But the door remained shut, and the house remained silent.

Skylar sat cross-legged on the floor near the coffee table, her face pale and streaked with dried tears. She hugged her knees to her chest, her dark blue eyes darting between her mother and her stepfather. She wanted to say something, anything, to break the oppressive silence, but her throat felt tight, and the words refused to come. Her world had been flipped upside down in an instant, and she didn’t know how to make sense of it.

“I should have done something,” Sîl growled suddenly, his voice low and full of frustration. He stopped pacing and turned to face Leigh, his dark eyes burning with anger and guilt. “I should have stopped them. I should have fought harder.”

Leigh’s head jerked up at his words, her own anger rising to meet his. “And what would that have done, Sîl?” she snapped, her voice hoarse from hours of crying. “They would have called the police. They would have arrested you. Do you think that would have helped Nîpisîy? Do you think that would have brought her back to us?”

Sîl flinched as if she had struck him, his anger deflating under the weight of her words. He sank into the armchair across from her, burying his face in his hands. “I just feel so… helpless,” he admitted, his voice muffled. “They came into our home, Leigh. They took our baby, and there was nothing we could do to stop them.”

Leigh’s heart broke at the sight of him, her own anger dissolving into a deep, aching sadness. She reached out and placed a hand on his knee, her fingers trembling. “We’ll get her back,” she said softly, her voice trembling but determined. “I don’t know how, but we will. We’ll fight them, Sîl. We’ll do whatever it takes to bring her home.”

Skylar shifted uncomfortably on the floor, her gaze fixed on the patterns of the carpet. “Why did they take her?” she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. “We didn’t do anything wrong. Nîpisîy didn’t do anything wrong. So why did they take her?”

Leigh turned to her daughter, her heart aching at the confusion and pain in Skylar’s eyes. She wished she had an answer, but the truth was, she didn’t understand it herself. “Because the system is broken,” she said finally, her voice heavy with bitterness. “Because people like Seren Draycott and Caldor Fenn have the power to tear families apart, and they use it without a second thought.”

Skylar frowned, her hands tightening around her knees. “But it’s not fair,” she said, her voice rising. “It’s not right. They can’t just take her away like that.”

“No,” Leigh agreed, her voice hardening. “It’s not fair. And it’s not right. But that’s the world we’re living in, Skylar. And if we want to change it, we have to be strong. We have to fight back.”

The room fell silent again, the weight of Leigh’s words hanging heavy in the air. Sîl leaned back in his chair, his hands still covering his face, while Leigh stared down at her lap, her mind racing with thoughts of what to do next. Skylar remained on the floor, her expression unreadable as she tried to process everything that had happened.

The sound of the front door opening startled them all. Leigh and Sîl turned toward the doorway, their hearts leaping with hope that it might be Seren and Caldor returning with Nîpisîy. But instead, it was Leigh’s mother, Elowen, who stepped into the house. She carried herself with quiet strength, her presence a mix of calm determination and underlying sorrow. The light that filtered through the door caught the strands of her silver-streaked hair, giving her an almost ethereal glow.

“I came as soon as I heard,” Elowen said, her voice gentle yet steady as she closed the door behind her. Her keen eyes took in the scene before her—the slump of Leigh’s shoulders, the tension radiating from Sîl, and the tear-streaked face of her granddaughter Skylar, who sat huddled on the floor.

“Mom…” Leigh’s voice cracked as she rose to her feet, the floodgates of her emotions breaking open at the sight of her mother. Before Elowen could say anything more, Leigh rushed toward her, collapsing into her embrace. Elowen wrapped her arms tightly around her daughter, holding her as though she could shield her from the pain that threatened to swallow her whole.

“They took her,” Leigh sobbed, her tears soaking into the fabric of Elowen’s sweater. “They took my baby, Mom. They took Nîpisîy.”

Elowen’s heart broke as she listened to her daughter’s anguished cries. She gently stroked Leigh’s hair, whispering soothing words she knew couldn’t erase the pain but might, at the very least, dull its sharp edges. “Shh, my love,” she murmured. “I’m here. We’ll get through this together.”

Sîl watched the scene unfold in silence, his fists still clenched tightly at his sides. He didn’t know Elowen well—she lived several towns over and visited sporadically—but in that moment, her presence felt like a balm on his raw, frayed nerves. For once, he didn’t mind stepping back and letting someone else be the pillar of strength Leigh so desperately needed.

After a while, Elowen guided Leigh to sit on the couch, her arm still wrapped protectively around her shoulders. She glanced at Sîl, her gaze both assessing and reassuring. “You’re Sîl, right?” she asked, her voice gentle but firm. He nodded silently, his dark eyes meeting hers.

Elowen’s expression softened. “Thank you for standing by her,” she said. “I know how hard this must be for you, too.”

Sîl swallowed hard, his voice rough when he finally spoke. “We’ll get her back,” he said, his words as much a vow to himself as they were to Elowen. “Whatever it takes, we’ll bring her home.”

Elowen nodded, her grip on Leigh tightening slightly. “That’s the spirit we’ll need,” she said. “But we’ll need more than just spirit. We’ll need a plan.”

Leigh wiped her face with the back of her hand, her tears slowing but not stopping. “What kind of plan, Mom?” she asked, her voice hoarse. “What can we do against them? They have all the power, all the resources…”

“They may have power,” Elowen said, her voice growing sharper, more resolute. “But they don’t have what you have—a mother’s love, a family’s determination, and the truth on your side. Those things are stronger than any bureaucrat with a clipboard.”

Her words carried a weight that filled the room, silencing any lingering doubts. Skylar, who had been quietly listening from her place on the floor, felt a spark of hope ignite in her chest. Maybe her grandmother was right. Maybe there was a way to fight back.