by Varian Morn
It was hard to tell, since even though it revealed a lot... not just about my House, and the circumstances around it, but also revealed very little of Noth.
Such a small journal gave me a peak into my ancestors mind, but not into the mind that mattered the most.
For all I knew the truth changed nothing. After all... he was the owner of a Line.
He was one of the most powerful men in the world.
What would a small truth being revealed do to him?
Speaking of him where was he...
Looking around the office, I partly hoped that I'd see him somewhere... sitting in a corner, waiting for me to notice him. It wouldn't have been that surprising, since I had been so engrossed in the small book, after all.
But not even I would have been so oblivious. I was still alone in the room.
Tapping my fingers along the chair's armrest, I wondered how much longer I was going to wait here.
It could be a long time until someone comes back to this room...
By the sands, for all I knew he was sleeping or something. I wasn't in the mood to wait here for half a day before someone came.
Deciding, I hurriedly put the small journal and papers back into the decrepit box, and then carefully returned it to its proper place. I even made sure to close the drawer to the same point, making it look as if I'd never touched it.
Though I didn't mind if he knew I had snooped around or not. What was he going to do about it anyway, kill me? Punish the House of Derri?
Cease all trade?
Threaten me with a good thing...
Going to the door, I was glad to find that the door was already propped ajar. Not enough for me to squeeze through, but I only had to pull on it a little bit.
The door wasn't as heavy as I had assumed it to be, but it was still hard to open.
Grunting a little as I opened it, I breathed a sigh of relief that I was able to open it enough.
Not just was I able to exit the office, but there were even people down the hallway.
A part of me had worried that the whole Line had gone to sleep or something, and I'd have been forced to sit alone and unsure of what to do.
Heading down the hallway, I tried to remember the path that Sarley had taken when she had guided me around. It was hard when most of the hallways looked exactly the same.
She had mentioned that her office, and Jamthi's, had been near Noth's... but I wasn't entirely sure if I should just randomly open doors looking for them.
More importantly, there was a strange sense of excitement in wandering around on my own without any supposed guides.
It reminded me of the times when I was young when I'd sneak out of the Derri compounds, out into the city beyond... it was both exhilarating and terrifying.
Rounding a corner, I startled when it came to an abrupt end. Only a few doors were down the hall, and it didn't continue on.
“Could have sworn...” I mumbled, heading down another hallway.
Seems I was lost already...
Not a good testament to my sense of direction, but I more so blamed this place. It was practically a maze.
Even though I could have sworn I had a good idea where certain things were located, thanks to the tour from Sarley, I still ended up finding myself lost. Wandering mindlessly through the brightly lit hallways, I began to worry when I started to realize that I was no longer passing people even at a distance.
“Did I really get lost?”
No one answered, and I headed down a new hallway.
There were fewer and fewer doors appearing and they all looked a little too difficult for me to open. They were many times larger than the one for Noth's office, and looked several times heavier.
Though maybe I should just start banging on doors until someone opened one for me...
When I was about to randomly pick a door, I heard the sound of people talking coming from behind me.
I couldn't see them, but I quickly hurried to find them. Rounding more corners, I eventually saw a group of people walking down a hallway some distance away.
Hurrying after them, I felt relieved when the sound of more and more commotion could be heard. I had found not just people, but many of them.
Proud of myself for getting my own self out of my own mess, I rounded a corner and found a very large room with lots of people.
The room was loud, and very bright. It reminded me of the entrance to the Front-Line, since there was a lot of random boxes and crates scattered everywhere.
Staying in the hallway that led to the room, I stood there and watched for awhile as people carried and arranged crates of all sizes. They were stacking them in the center and tying them down with massive ropes.
“Looking for your husband are ya?”
I startled a little at the sudden question, and looked to my right to find a woman smiling down at me. Her large smile was a little dirty, as were her clothes. She also had some sand on her legs, indicating she'd been outside recently. She pointed to one side of the room upon our eyes meeting.
“Over there,” she said, and then promptly returned to work.
I ignored the kind woman, and ran my eyes along the men off in the distance. Sure enough, I eventually found Noth.
Huh... not only did I find people, I found my husband too.
I'm pretty good at this.
“You alright, little miss?”
I jumped at the voice, and spun on a heel. The act had been done so quickly I nearly fell over in the process.
Before I even fully turned around, and looked up to see who had spoken... I knew who I would find. That deep, rumbling voice could only come from one man.
“I was. Nearly stopped my heart,” I said to Yevin after a few moments. Actually he had nearly made me throw it up. It felt like it was thumping away in my throat even now.
A tiny crack of a smile appeared, as if amused, but he said nothing more.
My heart thumped wildly, but eventually went back down my throat and calmed down.
“Why'd you do that? Where'd you come from?” I asked, peering past him and down the very long hallway.
How had I not noticed him? I looked behind me not too long ago, and he was so massive...
The giant shoulders of the man made tiny little shrugs, and he looked away from me.
Following his eyes, I noticed Noth had walked over to the other crate, and was looking into it.
“You can go to him. He won't mind,” the deep voice said from above.
“I just wanted to watch him a little,” I said honestly.
“Hm.”
For a short time, me and the giant watched Noth as he worked.
We watched as he inspected every crate that was brought in, and even went so far as to assist occasionally. The sight of him picking up crate, or helping others lift a large one, was an odd sight to see.
“Does he always participate in such labors?” I asked.
“Not always,” Yevin said.
“So he's helping now to make it go as fast as possible? He wants to get this over with that much does he?”
The giant was silent for a moment, then shifted a little. It was odd that I could hear him do so, since normally he was silent. “No, he just normally has better things to do. He didn't want to bother you as you slept, though, so came here,” the normally silent giant said.
I looked upward, and studied the giant man's face. He was calmly studying the scene before him, but didn't seem to be focused on any one thing in particular.
So... it was because I had fallen asleep in his office.
“Can I ask why you follow him?” I asked the giant man.
“Noth?”
I nodded.
“Why wouldn't I?” he asked back, and I noted a small unfamiliar rumble in his voice. Had he laughed a little?
“Well...” I stepped away from him, and got near the other side of the wall. Although such a distance would normally have been enough to fully separate myself from the person I was talking to, it wasn'
t nearly enough in this case.
Yevin was huge, and I could tell that even from the other wall he could reach out and grab me if he wanted. Even without having to take a step towards me.
Gesturing to him, I was unsure of how to say it. How could it not already be clear as a summer day?
He looked down at himself, and thanks to his stone of a face it was impossible to tell if he was simply playing along or really didn't understand my meaning.
“You're obviously an amazing warrior!” I stated.
His face received the tiniest crack thanks to a smile as he understood, then nodded. “So I've been told,” he said.
“Yet you obey him? Or serve him? Why not um...”
“Usurp him?” he asked with that smile.
“Yeah.”
Yevin studied me for a moment, and then looked out towards Noth. “Because he's my friend,” the great man said.
It was my turn to study him, and I found that even with his demeanor and emotionless expression... I still could see he meant it.
“I see,” I said.
“Don't watch from a distance too long. It gets boring, trust me,” Yevin said, then stepped out of the hallway and towards his friend.
While the giant man made his way across the room, I noticed that those he passed had mixed reactions. Some greeted him with smiles as big as he was, while others only nodded and passed him by quietly.
Maybe others were unnerved by his large body as well.
Yevin strolled straight up to Noth, and I could tell by the way Noth acted that Yevin didn't even announce his presence. The large man simply stood there.
When Noth finally noticed his large friend, he said something that caused everyone around them to laugh. Everyone except Yevin of course.
The two men spoke for awhile, and I wondered if Yevin was telling him about me... or rather, that I was over here watching him.
Not that it mattered, but it was a little rude for a man to reveal a woman's secrets.
“Oh my! Noth's wife! How you doing?” a young man greeted me as he passed, entering the hallway.
“Fine,” I said to him, and he looked troubled as he walked past. “Wish we could talk, but I got to work,” he groaned.
“Maybe another time...”
As the young man left, I wondered just how many times such people would tease me like so.
Or at least, how many more times I'd get away with it.
After all, not even my ancestor got away with it more than once.
Chapter Twenty Eight – His Guest
Least this was going smoothly.
For now.
“Boss, this one's full of diamonds!”
Walking over to the mid-sized crate, that had taken half a dozen men to carry in; I smiled at the sight of the contents.
“Raw ones,” I commented.
I wanted to reach in and grab one, but they were all too big to comfortably pick up.
“Load it with the rest,” I said.
Turning around to see the next crate, I had to come to an abrupt stop lest I ran into a brick wall.
“Yevin,” I groaned as I stepped away from the man.
“So close,” Yevin said with a hint of regret in his voice.
“You don't need to wait for me to walk into you to make me fall over, you mountain. Just walk into me, the result would be the same,” I said.
“I'd pay to see that!” one of the men behind me said.
“Load it!” I groaned.
“Load the Line to load our pockets,” another said as I heard them finally lift up the crate of diamonds.
“Crate?” Yevin asked with a point.
“Diamonds. Raw ones, big as your head,” I said.
He smiled as he nodded. “Nice.”
“What's wrong then? You should be overseeing the unloading,” I asked as I kept an eye on the next crate entering the compartment. It was a big one.
“Unloading is done,” Yevin said.
“Already...?” It hadn't even begun but a few hours ago...
“Crew's quick.”
Glancing to the large man, I studied his appearance for a moment. The man sounded way too happy, or rather, the fact I had heard him say enough words in close enough succession to notice his current mood worried me.
“Well? What's up?” I furthered, hoping it wasn't anything too serious.
Yevin's huge head made a little bobbing motion to the left, and I followed it with my eyes. At first I didn't see anything, but then I saw what was wrong.
“Oh. She bothering you? Sorry about that,” I said, and meant it. Yevin was the last person I needed to be bothered. He had an important job, and I couldn't afford him being taken from it.
“Not at all. But you might if you don't go talk to her,” he said.
“What's that supposed to mean?” I asked as the large crate was plopped down next to us.
“Huge one boss! Twice as heavy as the Line herself!” a stocky man said with a grin.
“And you guys were able to bring it down here? I'll have to rig you all up and have you pull the Front-Line then, maybe we’ll make good time this trip if we do,” I said.
The other men groaned, and the man who had made the joke flinched. Walked right into that one.
“Only way to open it is on the side Commander,” the oldest of the men said as he tapped the side of the crate.
“Yevin,” I ordered, and the giant man stepped past me and towards the crate.
The other men helped Yevin crack open the side of it, but they really didn't need to. He got it open with ease, and pulled the wooden frame off enough for us all to get a look inside.
“Those bones?” someone asked.
Half a dozen teeth looking objects filled the large crate and they were twice as long as Yevin and nearly as wide at their thickest part.
They had no ridges, or points, but...
“Could be tusks. Of some big animal,” another suggested.
Yevin reached in and tapped one of the bones, and the dull sound that resonated from them told me they were real... whatever they were at least.
“Pack it in, I guess,” I said with a shrug.
Wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with a bunch of bones, but no point leaving them behind. Maybe there was a purpose to them... or maybe I could find some wealthy extravagant noble who wanted to hang them on their wall or something.
“Diamonds and bones... Quite a difference,” Yevin said after putting the crate back together.
While they carried it away and the next crate was brought in, I nodded. “Been a lot of weird stuff. Luckily most of it is just gold and jewels, so we're fine,” I said.
“I like jewels,” the giant man said, and I tried to imagine him decorated in them.
“Want some?”
“No,” he simply stated.
Course he didn't.
Yevin never wanted anything...
“I'll handle the rest. You go handle her,” Yevin said, dismissing me.
“Excuse me?”
Yevin didn't say anything more, and simply stood and waited for the next crate to be brought before him.
I was half tempted to walk around Yevin, and keep working, but I knew better.
Part of dealing with Yevin was to accept his strange quietness. Which meant sometimes he just... didn't say a lot.
Which meant, on occasion, like now, he'd tell me I needed to do something without saying why.
Sometimes he'd not even say the when or what.
Maybe there was a problem with her, and I needed to deal with it...
I sighed, deciding to just accept defeat and left.
The Derri girl hadn't moved from her spot from one of the entrance halls, and stood there silently and patiently as I approached her.
“I'm surprised he told you I was here,” she said once I was finally close enough.
“What's wrong?” I asked her.
She blinked, and the way she tilted her head at me told me everything I needed to know.
Yevin had just set me up.
“Giant jerk,” I mumbled, and nodded in defeat again.
“He told you something had been wrong?” she asked, noticing my confusion.
“No... not really. I just had interpreted it that way, but that's how he acts when something is normally wrong. So he kind of did, in a way, somewhat,” I said.
“It's kind of scary that I kind of understand what you mean,” she said.
“So? What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I... I need nothing, husband. I'm simply staying nearby, in case you need me. Or rather, in case I need to be seen next to you by the right people,” she said.
“Not needed. I don't plan on leaving the Front-Line today, and I doubt anyone will come aboard either. While you were asleep the woman from Hombil came back to apologize, and to begin trade. You missed her groveling, it was amusing,” I said.
“Nervi? Really? I mean I expected it, but... Did Bormor not come back?” she asked.
“The one who got all heated yesterday? No. I've not seen him.”
Such knowledge silenced her, and I wondered if it meant something. Had she expected that man to do something different...?
Although she herself was not of his House, and by the sounds of didn't really know them, I had no reason to doubt that she did have at least somewhat of an understanding of their personalities.
After all, they were her people. And famous ones at that.
“They seem to fully believe in this wedding thing. I guess they're preparing gifts and everything,” I said.
“Gifts?” she brightened at the thought, and I wondered if she thought she'd actually receive them.
Why would she? They'd be given to me, and then I'd take them when I left.
“So she said. So, you can do whatever you want today. Tomorrow I plan on inviting in a few more Houses to start trading with, so you and I can act out our play then,” I said.
“I look forward to it. Do you have plans on inviting the House of Markith?” she asked.
“I do. They'll probably be one of the next ones,” I said, glancing to the stack of crates nearby. It was growing even larger. Soon it'd be full.
Good.
“So what are you doing then? Manual labor?” she asked.