A Dynasty of Gold and Ivory

Two: Lyra of House Astraea

Leashes and Bridles

Cygnus had raised the belts to her thighs then locked the metal buckles in place at her hips. The last belt was fastened to a leather strap that went around her chest in an x-styled fashion. With a quick tug and a drop of his weight, his handiwork fared well. His sister smiled as she found herself only about a couple of inches off the ground suspended as her brother had matching straps.

"Alright, now," Cygnus said and took a lever in his hand attached to the rope just about eye-level to the girl, "Hold this piece with your right hand and put your left foot in this loop, here." It was another lever-like pulley that could fit her foot easily. "When you raise your hand-lever up, lock it then raise your leg." He tapped the corresponding limbs. "When you straighten your leg, make sure you then extend your arm upward in that motion. I will be helping you, but make sure you keep doing those motions."

Lyra, his dear sister younger by five years, was promised the view from the highest point. She stripped her dress and wore her brother's older jackets and trousers. Cygnus once more, showing her how to work the harness and again reassuring her that there was no way for her to fall. Both harnesses were tightened and with each tug, she reached a higher stone.

The late autumn breeze felt good against her skin. Most of her life was spent in the high stone walls away from all the people from the southern cities. No one was allowed to leave the castle sans for their father. He only told bits of pieces of what he saw beyond the stones of their home in the mountains.

A sickness swept through the Warmlands of Terrera and took farms and families with it. There was no discrimination between the nobles and farmers. Those who grew sick suffocated in their beds and were buried by their father, brother, or neighbor. When there was no one else left in the village, the livestock would starve or fight between themselves for survival.

Lyra inhaled the crisp air and had she have fallen ill she never would have been able to fill her lungs much less have the stamina to climb the tall stone tower. Despite the cramping in her leg and the winds beating her into the rock, she fought the mountain wind and as she climbed higher it got colder and harder to breathe. She took air through her nose and shut her mouth. She wanted to feel the stone on her hands, though as a child she always ran her hands against the walls inside her home. Her father seldom allowed her and her younger brothers outside. They were the ones to catch colds when the snow fell and sneeze themselves bloody when the leaves fell. He refused for them to go outside the castle walls for any reason.

A messenger at the gates. Stay inside.

The guards brought back the horses after an excursion. Stay inside.

A message has come from their grandparents. Stay inside.

There was always a reason that they were to stay inside. Her older brothers, Cygnus, Draco, and Corvus were allowed to go out, but with precautions: No physical contact with anyone but family; No leaving the castle walls unless it was dire. No reason was ever dire. They were yelled at if any of them were seen outside the walls.

To her back were the natural defenses of the Forbidden Forest and the Pyre mountains; a mountain range that were claws that reached for the heavens and froze any person that dared cross them. The irony, the mountain where many men froze trying to cross was also where the rumored Mountain Men burned their dead in ceremonial pyres. As men froze just as many men burned. Smoke could occasionally be seen at what would be the foot of the Pyre Mountains but it was blocked by the thick trees of the Forbidden Forest.

Everything seemed so small from atop of the tower and Lyra didn't want to come down. From the top, she could see all below her. The courtyard and the trail were perfectly laid out with only an iron gate, operated by a pulley to separate the two. What may have been less than half a mile down there was a train of horses and... men ... along with a carriage and a few smaller quadrupeds.