by R J Kaldanis
"It's ok Sonny; it's not your fault at all. We're just being silly grownups, you know." Chastion said to her, to which Sonas slightly nodded her head in agreement.
"Sonas, have you ever seen any water blessed people that are skilled in the art of ice?" Queen Elin chimed in, reminding Aardriyah of her setting and snapping her back into the present.
"Like the guards?" Sonas excitedly asked.
"Yes, like the guards. They come from Queen Iber’s home of Sia and are gifted with water in a different way to those on Veros. Your brother is still learning it himself, but maybe, just maybe you can beat him to it!" Queen Elin enthusiastically responded, before standing from her chair and motioning the child to come with her. They exited through the large doors, likely to a more appropriate training area for the nights activities. Aardriyah decided it was her cue to leave, given there was nothing she could possibly participate in if they were going to start exercising their water blessing.
The remaining royal family rose from the table and the guests bowed politely, standing from their seats. Queen Iber announced everyone was welcome to join them in the training cells below ground for a night of entertainment, before departing the room with Princess Kibo.
Aardriyah broke the silence,
"I'm going to head home. I have work tomorrow early so…" She trailed off hoping these few small words were enough to excuse her from this dreadful night.
"I'll walk you out." Chastion offered.
"No, don't." Aardriyah responded a little too quickly. Seeing the hurt in her brothers face, she continued,
“It’s just that you've just got a little talented water maiden downstairs who I know is dying to beat you and I'd hate to be the reason you kept her waiting." She pressed her lips together in a forced smile.
Chastion gave a small smile and nodded in understanding, before exiting the room. As Aardriyah said goodbye to her father, Old Man Teme insisted he escort her home to ensure she reached her destination safely. The two friends across different generations strode into the cold Moons Exhalation night, arms linked as they were guided forth by the solitary light of his lantern.
CHAPTER FOUR
dreamer
The night was cooler outside than Aardriyah was prepared for, forgetting that the royal lodge was internally heated by the convoy of fire servants assigned to the household. It was considered an honour, for most, to be accepted into The Arcane Academy where your training would ensure you were placed in some of the highest occupations amongst the realm. A lucky handful were selected to serve the varying royal families and travel the world doing so.
Fire blessed were generally in charge of heating various elements, and commonly assisted in food preparation. Earth blessed were in charge of the gardens and livestock having a deep understanding of the land and how best to use it to their advantage. Water blessed were often utilised in sanitisation which meant they were generally in higher demand as their skills could be used for a multitude of purposes. Conversely, the Air blessed were not in high demand with their skills considered the least useful of all - at most, they were employed in hotter continents where they could keep the royal families cool from the hot Suns Inhalation days. Otherwise they were utilised in transport, offering wind in sails and behind carriages to hasten the speed of royal convoys.
The most prestigious of all roles, regardless of which element you were blessed by, was that of a medic. Every royal household had at least four medics, one blessed in each element given the range of skills that might be needed at any time. Fire blessed were largely considered useful for cauterization and burning unwanted growths, earth for herbs and concoctions, water for sanitization and purifying tainted blood, and air for providing the breath of life. Of course the royal households also employed the unblessed for menial tasks, but they were usually serving unpaid in lieu of time in prison for minor crimes against The Crystal Capital.
Without a fire servant in sight to keep her warm, Aardriyah quickly made her way towards the carriage her brother had graciously assigned to the family for the duration of his latest visit. During most of his visits she shunned using it, opting to walk instead, but on nights like tonight she was grateful for the quickened journey to her warm bed. Old Man Teme closed the door from the inside and sat his lantern beside Aardriyah to provide a little extra warmth. As the carriage pulled away from the lodge, he quietly asked,
"You've been having those dreams again?"
"Still, you mean. I didn't stop having them." Aardriyah responded, frustrated by the realisation that she was sure to have another one tonight. There was nothing worse than waking up early in the cold morning from a broken night’s sleep for a day full of cleaning and doing whatever she could to win favour with Miss Farrow. Old Man Teme reached inside his cloak and passed Aardriyah a dark leather-bound book, engraved with the symbol of the united elements of the realm. She was familiar with the symbol of four ellipses joined at the tip with an outer circle uniting them all. When she was younger, she joked that they looked like four olive tree leaves with a big orange underneath. Of course, as she got older she began to resent the symbol, as like everything in this world, it seemed to leave out the unblessed.
Her fingers now traced this symbol on the leather-bound book, and she looked up to her friend,
"What's this for?"
"Well, I thought perhaps if you start writing down your dreams, they might give you some solace. Maybe, they'll leave your head and stay within the pages of this book."
Aardriyah was never given gifts or presents, or at least so rarely that this small act of kindness made her heart sing with gratitude.
"Thank you. Thank you so much." Was all she could manage to say, lightly squeezing the old man's hand as she looked over the book; her book. The unblessed had little to offer the world but one thing they were able to provide were skills in writing and scribing; since the blessed were usually too busy to bother with quill and paper. Aardriyah loved writing, but had little money to buy new books to write in. Luckily ink was readily available in the island nations, extracted from the squids before they were cooked.
Just as she was about to open the book, the carriage stopped with a thud, as small commotion came from outside. Aardriyah tried to peer outside the carriage, but the cold wind quickly forced her head back in. The carriage didn't resume its course quickly, so Old Man Teme opened the door and instructed Aardriyah to stay inside. She hated being told to stay put particularly when there was obviously something much more exciting happening outside. After a few seconds she reasoned that she should join him because he took the lantern, the only source of light and heat, and it was beginning to get cold within the carriage.
As Aardriyah made her way down the two carriage stairs, she noticed a faint purple glow at about the same height as her eyes off the side of the road. She started to walk towards it oblivious to the world around her and entranced by its glow until Old Man Teme called out to her. He was leaned over a whimpering mass of fur, hushing it while stroking the animal gently. Aardriyah broke from the trance and hurriedly made her way to his side and bent over to inspect what the carriage had hit. It was a canine of some sort, a mess of red and white fur clearly in a severe amount of pain.
"Will it… will it be ok?" She asked, scared of the answer, she wasn’t sure she could bare the knowledge that their carriage had struck and killed a poor defenceless animal. Old Man Teme continued stroking the animal and responded,
"If it survives the night." He looked around, trying to find the house it came from to perhaps take it back. But there were none, they were on a barren stretch of road with a cliff side on one edge and a field of grapes on the other. Few people had pet dogs on the island given how hard it was to feed their own mouths, let alone an animal that couldn't be killed for meat. He spotted the faint purple glow in the distance, appearing to hover in space above the field of grapes. Without alerting Aardriyah to it, in one quick movement he lifted the canine from the road and told Aardriyah to get back into the carria
ge. The driver was given orders to continue to the agreed destination with haste.
"The lantern," he called back to Aardriyah, "Don't forget the lantern!"
The rest of the ride home seemed to take much longer than she anticipated, mainly because the poor animal continued to whimper in pain and she was sure the jerking motion of the carriage was only making it worse. When they arrived back at her house, Old Man Teme told her to take the canine inside, while he went back to his cottage and grabbed some herbs and medicinal supplies. She laid the animal down on a stash of hay and chicken feathers and brought a bowl of water to its mouth. It was parched and quickly lapped up the water in the bowl, requiring Aardriyah to pour more. Moments later, the door flung open and Old Man Teme sat down beside the canine, proceeding to pour several vials of liquid down it's throat. Aardriyah distracted herself by making a fire before the canine on the floor. It was no longer whimpering and began slowly drifting off to what she hoped was only sleep.
"Is it?" Aardriyah feared the worst, noticing it's slowed breathing.
"It is ok. A bruised paw or two, it needs a good feed, but nothing is broken that I can tell at least." Old Man Teme sighed before putting a hand on his knee and one on the ground to help him rise to his feet.
"Not so young anymore, everything aches when you get up." He said with a small laugh.
"Well they don't call you Young Man Teme."
"You don't call me Young Man Teme" he corrected her with a smile.
"There are others? What do they call you then? I didn't realise you had friends." She sarcastically responded helping him towards the table.
"Episteme" he said. She looked up at him confused by his words,
"That's my name, Episteme." He explained.
"Oh is it? Hmmm Episteme.” She thought to herself for a while, conjuring up new nicknames in her head. “Shall we call you Old Man Pist instead?" Aardriyah poked her tongue out, finding some simple fun in the night that was full of boring formalities and failed expectations. She did find it slightly bizarre that this was the first time she'd heard his full name. She couldn't remember ever calling him anything other than Old Man Teme.
"How old are you anyway?" She asked, not aware of the obnoxious nature of the question.
"Well, that depends who you ask, I suppose." He nonchalantly answered, seeming to take little notice of the question instead focusing on the lantern now placed on the table. It was flickering considerably, even though there was no draft inside. Aardriyah looked around to see if she had left any of the shutters open, before looking towards the fire in the hearth and noticing that it was a solid flame with no indication of being impacted by the same 'wind' the lantern was.
"You said you had work early?" Old Man Teme broke from his gaze at the lantern, looking into her eyes, determined to break her attention also.
"Ahh, yes, damn it, yes I do." She hung her head in exaggerated misery before getting up from the table to prepare her meals for the next day. She grabbed a piece of fruit and two slices of loaf and a slither of meat, wrapping them in a small canvas cloth and tying it with some twine. Just as she was ready to say goodnight to her old friend, the canine made a slight whimper which forced Aardriyah to rush to its side.
"What are we going to do with it?" She asked Old Man Teme in a concerned voice. Undina knew they couldn't afford to feed it, not in this Moons Exhalation. She also couldn't fathom turning it out to the cold where it would surely die, if it's protruding bones from malnutrition were anything to go by.
"Don't you worry about that. I'll have a chat to your father and we'll come to some kind of agreement." His smile re-assured her he'd do whatever he could to convince her father not to let the animal die; one way or another. She leaned down to give the small canine a kiss on its forehead, before making her way over to Old Man Teme, hugging him tightly. She knew she didn't need to say thankyou to him, but as always he had done so much for her. She wanted to say thank you for defending her at dinner, for getting her home safely, for looking after the poor animal, for the beautiful, leather bound book -
"The book!" She exclaimed, rushing to where she had placed her cape to search for it. It wasn't there, so she looked over to her boots and then scanned the kitchen and table.
"Undina damnit!" She said in frustration while holding her hair back with both hands,
"I must have left it in the carriage, I was just so distracted and worried about this little one that I -” she paused, feeling stupid and guilty for losing one of the few presents she had received in her life. “Oh I'm so sorry Old Man Teme, I really did love it. I didn't mean to-"
"It's perfectly fine. I'm sure the driver will give it to your brother or perhaps when your father and sister get the carriage, they will discover it. Either way, I'm sure it will find its way back to you." He reassured her, grabbing her hand and squeezing it a little.
"You need to get some rest now dear. I'll wait for your father and sister here, I wouldn't want them to get a fright with the little one over there welcoming them. I'll see you tomorrow; I'm sure of it." He kissed her forehead and she reluctantly made her way to her bedroom. This night had turned out worse than she anticipated and all she wanted to do was doze off into a sleep so deep that no dream could wake her.
Of course, Aardriyah wasn't that lucky.
Tonight, the dream was vastly different though and had none of the same trappings as the dreams of the past two weeks. She was standing on a wall, high and towering over the sea with several ships moored at the harbour. The breeze was warm and thick, making her feel exhausted before even taking a step. She turned to look back over a city amassed with tall sandstone buildings and orange terracotta roof tiles. A large mountain range towered over the city on the northern end, while desert dunes flanked the eastern and southern borders. Tall sandstone walls created a fortress of incredible height and strength. As she took it all in, someone rushed to her and started speaking a tongue she couldn't understand. The man looked worried, like he was begging her to come with him to understand what the issue was that had him so worked up. She raced off the fortress walls and realised she was wearing a dress that barely covered her modesty, white linen draping across her shoulders, to a cowl necked bodice, fastened by a golden belt across her waist. Her skin was dark and her hair black and straight, barely reaching her shoulders.
As the man led her into a grand hall, she noticed a woman sitting upon stairs before a throne, dressed in similar garments to her own - except she wore a crown of magnificent purple and silver. Several large amethyst crystals rose in a row along the crown, embellished with varying shapes and shades of purple flowers weaved in silver. The woman rose and grabbed her hands, speaking fast in the same unfamiliar tongue. She was crying and seemed to be explaining herself to Aardriyah - or whoever Aardriyah was. She looked down at her stomach, and rubbed it while sobbing, begging for something of her.
"What is it, what do you want? How can I help?" Aardryiyah tried to ask, but this body wasn't her own. She realised these choices were already made; she was simply re-watching a finished chapter in a history long before her own. As if understanding her realisation, the dreamscape shifted entirely in to what Aardriyah thought to be a healer’s room of some sort. She recognised the woman on the table in the process of giving birth. The queen who had just begged for her help, now looked to be in an immense amount of agony. She looked scared and alone and unsure of what her future held. There was only one other person in the room, a cloaked figure whose face was not clear. Aardriyah tried to get closer to the woman, wishing to hold her hand, to assure her it would be ok.
Then the woman let out a final wail before the first cry of her newborn baby announced its arrival into the world. If Aardriyah could joined the woman, now weeping tears of unrivalled joy and amazement, she would. The moment was almost perfect, a miracle to witness – a magic of its own kind. The woman smiled for what seemed like the first time in a long time, she reached out to grab her baby from the cloaked figure. The
cloaked figure grabbed a small satchel, unravelling it on the stone black slab. Then they held above the baby an amethyst amulet in the shape of an eye. It shone so brightly that it blinded Aardriyah, causing her to look away, to shield her eyes from the glow. The moment she looked back she wished she hadn't, as time seemed to have jumped again.
An almost perfect cast statue of the queen who had just given birth moments prior, was laid atop black slab in a large tomb like room. Besides the slab, the caste of the woman atop it, the room was empty.
Aardriyah tried to yell in defiance of the scene before her, how could this be happening? It didn't make any sense. She screamed and tried harder to let the words finally break free from her,
"NO!"
She roared the words into the empty tomb, exerting all her force and life into the word. It worked; everything stopped. Everything went dark and it seemed as though the world had completely halted. Aardriyah gasped and suddenly awoke in her small bed, in the tiny house on the island of Veros. Adjusting her eyes to the abrupt change in scenery, she tried to focus on the crescent moon outside in an effort to slow her breathing and calm herself down. As her breath slowed, she started to let her eyes droop once more. An amethyst glow seemed to hover just below each slow blink, slowly lulling her into slumber once more.
CHAPTER FIVE
best intentions
Aardriyah peered around the room noticing the sun was starting to rise. Sonas was fast asleep, surely exhausted from the night prior of water blessed battles. The small house was still in the rising sun, the only sound that echoed through was that of her father snoring in the lounge room. Aardriyah slowly crept out of bed and put on her clothes for work. As she made her way into the living area, she noticed Pateras was asleep across a few furs on top of some hay and feathers, a book rested upon his face while Old Man Teme’s lantern shone brightly in the chill of the morning. He must have fallen asleep reading again, as was quite a common occurrence for the aging single father.