Winds to Light up the World

Chapter 9

The next morning Tanora woke up to the sound of breakfast being made. Rane and Cove were already awake, packing their things.

"Morning sleepy-head," Rane said after noticing she was awake.

Tanora just grumbled and threw a pillow at him.

They went down to the kitchen where they found Emmy making some wonderful looking pancakes. Tanora wanted to take her along so that they'd always have delicious meals. They sat down and made some small talk with Emmy about the weather, the food and of course also her neighbors. When the steaming plate of pancakes was served, they each took one and put heaps of fresh fruit on it. Rane, as usual, wolfed his food down and was done before Tanora had even eaten a half of hers. Cove, despite being away from the palace for several weeks, still ate with a surprising amount of manners.

The boat seller was easy to find. He lived in a small building bordering the Great River. Several little boats were moored to a dock. Rane knocked on the door and an old man with practically no hair opened the door. He was short, even shorter than herself.

"We were hoping you'd sell us a – ," Rane started but the old man interrupted.

"A boat. Of course." He led them to the dock and showed them his small variety of boat, naming each price. This is going to be a lot more expensive than we expected, Tanora thought. And indeed, the purchase took a big chunk of money out of their rapidly dwindling reserve. They chose a rather dilapidated looking boat with an engine and a small, covered part in the middle.

Soon they were off, tuckering slowly upriver. Rane was manning the engine while Cove was sleeping. Tanora sat down next to Rane. He started talking at once, commenting on this and that. He did shut up at some point and Tanora was content just sitting there, enjoying Rane's company. It felt like a normal day in Riva. She voiced her thought and Rane laughed. Agreeing he lay his arm around her shoulder, tucking her closer.

Later that day it started raining. At first a little drizzle but soon it came pouring down. They all stood under the covered part in the middle of the boat, avoiding getting wet but also having to dock because no one wanted to stand out in the rain and steer. Tanora packed out the meal Emmy had given along.

She started thinking about their trip. It had been more than a week since they had left Riva and Cove had taken even longer to get there. Something inside told her they were running out of time, wasting it by staying out of the rain, instead of completing their task.

"Guys," she addressed the boys, "I think after it stops raining, we should really hurry up. Because I have the feeling, we took way too long for just getting as far as we did. Or is that just me?"

They both nodded though Tanora noticed Rane more reluctantly than Cove, who suggested they don't stop until the next major town or even city. They could take turns on steering the boat while the other two rested or whatever else they wanted to do on a small boat.

After that meal Tanora asked Cove about the other people at the palace. They had talked about it before but mostly about what Cove did, and not so much about the other people, except of course his family and the prince.

Cove took a deep breath and started, "Well, I can tell you about the seven Families and their magic."

Tanora nodded and Rane did the same. He had dropped out of their little town school at round ten, so he missed quite a lot about how their society was built. Tanora herself had stayed a little bit longer in school but after Rane left it wasn't that fun anymore, so she skipped half the lessons, spending her day with Rane. Cove went on, "Let me start with my Family. We're Lights, as you already figured out, when I try to scare you and earned an elbow in my gut for it. My father is one of the most trusted advisers of the king. And the prince and I grew up together. The royal family are Greenies; they control plants, making the plants move or grow at will of the royals. Then there is the water-controlling Family, the Nymphs. Along with the Burners, who can control fire, they helped extinguish the Great Fire of Twover nine years ago. One Family can control all the metals under the earth, like gold, of if they are especially powerful the ground itself, making it crack and buckle. They are also called Searchers and not very important or powerful. The Seers can see the future and make prophecies. I'm not sure if the prophecy we're following is from them or not, because there are a few Seers that are not of noble blood, living among common people. Similar to the Healers. There is the Family that lives at the palace but also some less powerful ones that mostly reside in larger cities. Now how many did I mention?" He counted the Families off his fingers. "Greenies, Lights, Nymphs, Burners, Searchers, Seers and Healers. Right, I forgot the Perroquets, they can talk to, or if you put it in a different way, control animals. They make really good spies, so watch out for them."

Tanora interrupted him, "But that was eight Families. I thought there were only seven. And what about truth finders?"

"The royal family does not count as a Family actually. So, it's really the seven Families plus the royal family. And truth finders, they aren't noble, but they still have magic. It's a fairly weak and rather common branch of magic. That doesn't mean they aren't useful," Cove finished his lecture.

After a few moments of silence Rane shook his head and said, "I'm amazed, really. I can't see how you can remember all that."

"Oh, it's actually really easy if you spend practically all your life around the palace," Cove laughed.

The rain had finally stopped, and Cove offered to steer first, while Rane and Tanora could sleep.

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Just FYI, I changed the chapter titles, starting with "Prologue" instead of "Chapter 1".  Hope you enjoyed.

Have a nice day!