Grains of Sand

by Varian Morn

  Although his muscular body was a unique sight, since most of his people seemed scrawny and malnourished... it wasn't his muscles that had caused the ensign, and the rest of my people, to be wary of him.

  The man wasn't just muscular, he was nearly naked.

  Thin strips of leather were all that covered a few parts of his body, and I was glad none of the children were here. From certain angles one could see everything.

  “Grothar, of the House of Markith,” the man said as he stamped the spear in greeting as I approached.

  I nodded, and out of the corner of my eye noticed Yevin approaching the man from behind. From the wall. Had he been out on the wall, or had he circled around?

  “Noth. How may I be of service?” I asked.

  Although stoic, the man wasn't able to hide his shock. “Service? No! My apologies, I come instead to be of service to you!” he said hastily.

  For a long moment I wondered what he had meant, but a quick scan of my memories told me that I had not been told anything by any of the House Elders about this.

  “How so?” I asked.

  “Unrest is settling, making the sands shift. My lords wished to warn you... and to let you know that we of the House of Markith will station soldiers around your great Line, as an act of good faith,” the muscular man said.

  Quick understand came, like a brisk wind.

  “You may do as you wish within your city, as is your right. Thank you for the warning, and tell your lords I appreciate their gesture,” I said.

  The man gave me a deep bow, and as he did so he tapped the spear against the floor. It was an odd sound.

  Without another word he turned to leave, quickly exiting the Front-Line and descending the wall.

  As he left, Yevin and the others who had silently approached backed away as well. Returning to their stations.

  “How serious do you think it is?” Jamthi asked.

  “He wasn't wearing anything fancy. He was dressed for battle,” was all I said as I went back to work.

  Chapter Fifteen – A Bride of Derri

  Placing the small box of plates down, I sighed and rubbed my wrists.

  Even though the box itself hadn't been too heavy, the wood it was made of was rough and had scrapped my wrists as I carried it.

  I couldn't see or feel any splinters, but I knew I'd probably find some later.

  “Telleya, would you help Marli and the rest gather the plates and wares? In the main dining room,” one of the head cooks asked.

  I nodded, and went to find something to use to carry empty plates and cups. It didn't take long, but it did take me a little while to get into the dining room.

  “If it's war... we're doomed. Even with this newfound life and wealth. It is like a frail seedling, we must give it the necessary time to grow and become strong again. Stronger than the sandstorms themselves,” Rivini said.

  The dining room was one of the larger rooms of the House of Derri... but it was also one of the coldest. It was underground, and by the feel of the cold wind circulating within, had recently had cold catalyst added to it.

  It felt good.

  “But what are we to do? Even if this Noth trades with the other Houses... no one will believe us when we say we received less or the same as them. Our warehouses are so full, they're bursting! And we were the first to trade. No one will believe we didn't take the best for ourselves,” Jorma said.

  “There's already whispers amongst the sands, that we will leave only scraps for the rest. That we of the Derri have plotted against the others,” a guardsman said.

  “Ridiculous!” someone shouted.

  “We'd say the same!”

  “It doesn't matter! What matters is we must find a way to stop war from coming, at least to for now.”

  While everyone participated in the heated debate, I quietly made my way around the room collecting the trash and used cutlery.

  I had a large circular platter that I was using, so I could gather many at once, but it was a slow process. There were many tables, and all of them were full... and there was no sense of coordination or planning in their placements. Sometimes there was so little room between chairs, I had to round many tables and backtrack to get to a new one.

  “Grandmother Rivini, are you sure we cannot negotiate peacefully?” one of the older women asked.

  “There's little to negotiate. Unless we're willing to give up everything we worked so hard to get,” Jorma answered for her.

  “I'll die before I let another House take our spoils!” A guard shouted, and quickly the rest of the men agreed with vigor.

  The sound of them shouting, and a few banging their tables was annoying... and not just because of the noise.

  Spoils? What spoils? You were given them. By a greater power.

  No blood had been spilled. One couldn't even say that we had given sweat. Most of the goods had been carried here by the Linesmen themselves, not even our own people.

  Passing Marli, I noticed she had paused to watch a table nearby. She had a small basket in her hands, and it was full of cloth, most likely napkins.

  I said nothing to her, since I doubted anyone would notice that she wasn't actively working. Many were far too engrossed, or enraged, to notice something like that.

  “Fight and die? We need solutions, not brazen mistakes! If we antagonize the other Houses, they'll use that as an excuse to simply come in and take our possessions!” an older man said from the center of the room.

  With his words, many of the younger men quieted down and sat back down. Not because they had been chastised, but because they had been so by one of the more respectable warriors. One of the last few we of the House of Derri possessed.

  “I agree with warrior Vectam. Although no man of Derri would run from a fight, there is more at stake here than our honor. We have wealth again. We have water, seeds, power. The House of Derri is once again one of the top grains of sand on the pile, and I refuse to let us fall back down to the bottom! We must secure our futures,” another elder said.

  “Could we employ another House? Alone we are weak, but there are many Houses with great numbers without any wealth. We could use our wealth in such a way,” a woman suggested.

  “That would work, if the Line was gone. But for as long as it is docked here, and open to trade, no House will enter servitude to another. Not with the hope of acquiring such wealth on their own within sight,” another said.

  What House did they have in mind, even if they could do such a thing?

  There was no House that would happily allow it. We had been brought to the brink of extinction... yet not once did a single one of them consider servitude or employment as a means of survival. They chose honor over life.

  Every other House would make the same choice.

  It was why there were no true alliances between Houses anymore... at least, not real ones.

  “Thank you Telleya,” an older woman whispered to me as I took her empty plates away.

  “If that's the case, our new wealth is meaningless then. At least for now, is it not?” someone asked.

  “Not so. Once the Line leaves, which it eventually will, our wealth will make us powerful. Far more so than imagined, maybe even more than we used to be!”

  Although I tried to not think of it, the thought of the other Houses all getting the same... if not more wealth, from the Line entered my mind. It was a great thought, and I feared the smile it placed upon my face.

  Hopefully no one would notice.

  “What if... there was a way to connect the Front-Line with us? Our House? No one could complain then, if the House of Derri did trade amongst its own people,” Jorma said.

  “Customs would protect us then... No one could declare war if that were the case,” another agreed.

  “Is it possible?”

  Putting the next empty plate onto the platter, I carefully navigated to the next table.

  “It might be. After all, he came here for us. This Noth made it clear from the beginning to all,
even before we spoke to him, that he was here for our House.”

  “He was indebted to our ancestor! It'd be easy to utilize that,” a guard said, proud of the thought.

  An ancestor which none of you even remember by name.

  Quickly hushing such a thought, lest I grew angry again, I grabbed an empty cup. It was nasty for some reason, and wet on the outside.

  Great now my hand was going to be sticky.

  “He may play along if we asked him... after all, even he should prefer peace. He wishes to trade as well, and no one can trade during war,” another said.

  “But how? We can't just say the Front-Line is ours, if done improperly the Lord of it will exact his wrath upon us first, before the other Houses even have a chance to!” Jorma shouted.

  “There is a way. A rather simple one, that even we in our destitution can utilize,” Rivini said, raising her voice.

  Thanks to her long silence, her voice had easily made the room go quiet, and my heartbeat become loud.

  Placing a plate onto my platter, I flinched when the clattering sound it made seemed to deafen the room.

  Looking up from the platter, I froze at the sight of the many eyes upon me. Every single person was staring straight at me.

  I didn’t need to look around to know they were indeed staring at me. Even those sitting near me, the ones who sat at the table I was currently cleaning, stared straight at me.

  “Telleya…” I heard a tiny whisper nearby, and knew it was Marli’s.

  Staring into Rivini’s eyes, I shivered as she nodded. To me, more than anyone else.

  This was what she had planned...?

  From the beginning...?

  Not to be the wife to another House, or someone within the House of Derri... but...

  No...

  “A bride,” Grandmother Rivini said, smiling at me.

  Chapter Sixteen – Coming Storms

  I should have stayed in my office, and never left it.

  The old woman had a warm smile, and I was doing my best to not grow angry. It took everything in my power to hold my tongue as her words lingered in the air.

  Luckily, my cousin and Yevin had remained outside. Unluckily, I knew Yevin at least had heard her... his hearing was second to none. At least he was known for his silence.

  A part of me wanted to ask her to repeat herself, but I wasn't in the mood to get sick to my stomach again.

  “I refuse,” I said plainly.

  Rivini's smile didn't disappear, and in fact seemed to grow even brighter. “I understand. But please, sit and hear the why and how. If you do, you'll understand and maybe even agree with me,” she said.

  “You don't need to explain. There's nothing to explain. I am sorry, but I have no need for a bride,” I said firmly.

  “It's the only way to avoid war,” she said back, and for the first time since meeting her... I heard her true voice.

  A new woman sat in front of me, and if not for the circumstance I'd feel honored. At last one of the Elders had put aside their masks of civility.

  “Nice to meet you,” I said as I sat down across from her. That firm look fit her face much better than that fake smile.

  “Excuse me...?” she asked, and didn't seem to understand.

  I shook my head, dismissing it. “Let me hear it then, but I make no promises,” I said.

  With some relief she nodded. “Thank you. Commander Noth, we mean no disrespect... nor do we intend to force you. But you see, a war is brewing in the City... and although it may be between all of the Houses, their focus will be us at first. And we cannot survive the brunt of such a force,” she explained.

  “What would taking a bride from your House do to stop that?” I asked.

  “If you did, and did so openly, then the other Houses would have no choice but to accept that you and your Line are of the House of Derri,” she explained.

  “So...?”

  “So they'd be unable to declare formal war over you choosing to do trade with us first and solely,” she said.

  “Ah. So it's a cultural thing. Politics,” I said.

  “Yes. If your Line was of the House of Derri... then it is obvious you'd do trade with us first, and not them. It's simple,” she explained.

  For a long moment I stared at the woman, and I wondered how desperate she was.

  A bride? A fake pseudo marriage, to stave off war?

  “How would this... protect you once I leave though? We will not be here much longer. Surely once we depart, the other Houses would simply fester in their anger, and eventually attack anyway?” I asked.

  “No. Especially if you do trade with them, at least a little. They will be angry, and they will complain... but their accusations will become baseless, and purely emotional,” she said.

  The small room we sat in was not one I'd been in before. All that was in here was a table and the chairs we sat upon... the room wasn't even cooled with catalyst, and was quite stuffy.

  Still, I looked around and studied it... at least, the sand and dust that covered most of it. I needed something to look at.

  I didn't understand her confidence. And a part of me believed it was simply her grasping for straws. Her House was about to be attacked, out of jealousy and anger... and there was nothing they could do. This was their attempt to stave off the inevitable.

  And it was a poor attempt at that.

  She thinks that cultural stigmas will be enough to keep them safe? Once I leave? Preposterous.

  Such things didn't matter when people were falling over and dying from thirst and hunger.

  Though...

  Glancing to her, I noticed her twitching a little. She was impatient, but knew to stay silent and let me think.

  They were still alive.

  Not just them, but many Houses like them.

  I had wondered about it earlier, but now it was clear. None of the Houses seemed to have any kindness with one another. They bickered and warred with another as if they were completely different nations and peoples.

  They might target her House originally, but then they'd only go to war with one another over the spoils. There were no allegiances or peace between them.

  Yet, they all still existed.

  There had to be a real reason behind it.

  It couldn't be because of any form of treaties or stalemates. It wasn't like going to war with one another was mutually assured destruction or anything...

  “Do your Houses... or rather, did your Houses skirmish between one another before we arrived?” I asked.

  “Oh often. Sometimes daily. Although we of the House of Derri have grown too small for most to notice...” she answered.

  I sighed, and hated how clear it was.

  The House of Derri probably had mere days left, before tensions boiled over.

  “I'm to assume... even if I began trading in earnest with the other Houses, their feelings won't change,” I said.

  “Correct... they'll simply change their accusations from one thing to another. Possibly that we took the most, or the best of your goods,” she said.

  Typical.

  Although this wasn't too unusual, or strange to me, it was also not something I usually dealt with.

  Most cities we traded with were ones already connected to Lines. Places that saw Lines several times a year.

  Those places had strict systems in place, from generations upon generations of trading. There were never problems like this.

  And even the places we visited, like this one, that hadn't seen a Line in a long time... if ever, they were usually a single entity.

  It was rare indeed to encounter a place so... divided.

  Usually there was a monarch or dominant power to trade with, and one could simply neglect the rest.

  It was regrettable that the House of Derri hadn't been such a powerhouse. It would have made my life easier.

  “Noth, we are eternally grateful for your dedication to our House. You've saved us, truthfully... but if you do not help us, it will all be for n
aught,” she said.

  Taking a deep breath, I was half tempted to simply stand and walk out. But I couldn't.

  After all, I had made a promise.

  Damn that madman!

  “Is there any other way? What if I spoke with the other Houses and negotiated...” I started to say, but the old woman simply shook her head.

  She didn't even bother saying anything, it was that clear.

  “So... can this just be in name or something? Just tell people that I married her, and then we go on about our lives?” I asked.

  Rivini hesitated, and although smiled... didn't nod. “Somewhat... we will have to go through steps to ensure the other Houses know it's not us playing a trick, which will require you to do the heavy lifting,” she said.

  “Me,” I said.

  She nodded. “You will have to be the one to prove to them that you're actually a member of our House. We cannot do that,” she said.

  Disgusted, I had to force myself to stay seated... and had to force myself again to keep inquiring. “How heavy we talking?”

  Rivini gave me a tiny smile, one that showed how old she was. “A wedding will be needed, for one thing.”

  Flashes of my people's faces, smirking and giggling at me, nearly gave me a heart attack.

  “No,” I barely said.

  “It's the only way. A formal wedding, where the heads of other Houses are invited and there to witness...!”

  Shaking my head, I stood from the chair. I took a step towards the door, but stopped myself.

  Barely.

  “Lord Noth, please... I am not asking you to truly take a wife, simply convince the other Houses that you are,” she said with a hurried voice.

  “And what of when I leave?” I asked, starting to pace.

  “As I said they'll be bound by customs and,” the old woman started to speak, but I stopped her with a raised hand.

  “And I leave my supposed wife here? They'll doubt it instantly,” I said sternly.

  Rivini gave me a toothy laugh as she shook her head. “Leave her here? Nonsense,” she said.

  Gesturing to the world around me, I looked around. “So what?”