A Child of Lapis

Act 1 Scene 2: The great Livarian castle

 As Ana opened the door we were hit with a wave of conversation. Knights, medics and servants alike were all participating in the lavish feast.

 After a long day of traveling, I was hoping for a more quiet and relaxing environment. But even so, I felt a twinge of excitement knowing this was all in my honour. I looked around, each face here was a potential friend. I'd be a fool to waste this opportunity!

 'There you go! You've got that familiar bounce to your step now,' Aalprah said.

 'Don't make me pay attention to it! I was building some positive momentum.' 

 Aalprah let out a breath of laughter. They always enjoyed my hopeless antics—much to my expense.

 We had barely sat down when a large burly knight took a gulp of beer and lifted his mug into the air: 'The az-vupu is here!' 

 Immediately, I could feel them all watching me. There was a brief moment of silence before everyone broke into applause. I winced in embarrassment, but I soon grappled ahold of myself. I can own this. I puffed out my chest with pride. 

'He's so cute,' I heard.

 Cute?! That isn't how I wanted to come across at all.

 'Can I shake your hand?' A nearby medic asked. 

 'Sure,' I said, trying to salvage the situation. I took their hand in mine.

 'Hot!' the medic yelped as they pulled their hand away.

 Huh?

 'He's so young, is he really gonna join the military?'

 'You should try some of this,' another soldier said as they handed me a plate, 'This stuff is to die for.'

 I felt dizzy.

 'Thank you very much.'

 The cooks anxiously observed from the doorway. I tried to ignore them. Everyone watched me take the first bite. I awkwardly gave them a thumbs up and the room loudly cheered.

 My stomach turned. I don't feel hungry anymore. I quietly attempted to escape.

 'Are you leaving already? You barely ate anything,' a soldier said. 

 'We'll just take something with us,' Ana said as she took two loaves from the bread basket. 'I need to give him a tour of the castle.'

 'Can I come?' a knight asked. 'I can show him all the good training spots.'

 'Thank you for the offer Sir Quartz. I'm sure he'd love you to show him at another time, but this will be a very brief tour. He has a strict schedule to follow,' Ana said.

 We quickly retreated into the courtyard. It had been a complete disaster. After letting out a long groan, I returned my attention to courtesy.

 'Thanks for saving me back there.'

 'No problem,' Ana said as she gave me one of the loaves of bread. 'They can definitely get carried away at times.'

 I took a bite of my bread and looked around. The courtyard was beautiful at night. The pond was a perfect circle with cut stone as its boarder. The stone alternated between a neutral grey and a clean white, resembling square tiles. The inner walls bellow the water were swayel (baby blue), which caused the water to share that colour as well. I peered inside to find an artificial reef, expertly crafted by a sculptor; exotic fish were swimming throughout the pseudo-ecosystem.

 I noticed something strange about my reflection: I was steaming. Small, pale puffs of steam were evaporating off my skin. Ana noticed too.

 'Did your clothes catch fire or something?'

 'No, I'm sure they haven't.'

 'If you're hot, then why not take a dip,' she snickered.

 'There are fish in there, I wouldn't dream of it.'

 'If you're not in pain, I'm inclined to believe it'll sort itself out. It's probably some harmless magic. Anyway, did you know I've planted some seeds here in the courtyard recently?'

 'I had no idea. Which area is yours?'

 She showed me a patch where the seeds were just starting to bud. The small leaves, barely poking out of the stems, were a pretty kaniga (beige-green). 'They're not much to look at now, but one day I'm sure they'll bloom into beautiful flowers. The seeds are from my hometown on Rockbel mountain.' 

 'I know that one! I'm fond of the story it's in. The one about the howling.'

 'Yes, I get that a lot. I like the story too.'

 I turned my gaze to some nearby bushes. They were covered in deep blue flowers, which had a subtle scent. 

 'I heard the king had to export the seeds for these flowers from Montlisle.'

 'The island from the newspaper?' I asked with a yawn. 

 'Yeah, the avians from Plume finally succeeded. "Land found off our shores for the first time in history!" makes for a pretty dramatic headline doesn't it? They sold flowers like these and other exclusive goods for obscene prices to a few wealthy nobles, including our king.'

 'Why would he purchase these if they were so expensive? We have plenty of local flowers that are just as beautiful.'

 'The royal bloodline has blue hair and eyes, so he wanted a flower with a matching colour, and I suppose he just enjoyed the novelty of it all.'

 Now that I'd calmed my nerves, my sleep deprivation started to catch up with me. 'Do you mind if I go to bed early? I was so worried about my meeting with the king that I barley got a wink of sleep last night.'

 'Of course, I'll show you to where you'll be staying.'

 With that, we began the trek back into the castle. 

 'I don't want to be a vupu,' I said drowsily. Ana nodded, however, she didn't seem too interested. 'Everyone's hopes and dreams are projected onto me. I don't want to let everyone down, but I don't want to be tied down either,' I explained as I droned on. 

 'I can understand that. However, you've lived your whole life in absolute comfort—as nobility. Isn't it selfish to live that way without giving up anything in return?' Ana asked. 

 'Shay doesn't owe this nation anything,' Aalprah said. 'The winter household was founded independently, before Livaria.'

 'No, she's right. It is a little selfish of me.'

 'It's not that I don't sympathise. Maybe you should talk to Beatrice of the autumn household. She's the lon-vupu, and she was much like you when she was first recruited—or so I hear. I obviously hadn't been born yet at the time of her recruitment.'

 'I'll be sure to pay her a visit then.' I opened the door. It was a small room. I was glad I didn't have to stay in the main sleeping quarters. This wasn't as luxurious as I was used to, but at least I could have my privacy. Although, the smell of musty paper certainly irritated me.

I kicked off my shoes and practically threw myself onto my mattress. At this point I didn't even have the energy to put on pyjamas. Darkness crept into my vision as sleep begun to embrace me.

'If we just discovered that island now, there's probably more land out there that we haven't seen,' I said with a half-whisper, half-yawn.

'Yeah, I suppose there must be,' Ana said.

'If I could find somewhere quiet and peaceful: a place with no fighting or expectations. If a place like that exists, I'd do anything to live somewhere like that.'

 Ana hesitated before speaking up. 'The place you're looking for is Rorletmory. But if you were to ask me, I think the existence of such a thing is mere wishful thinking.'

 She closed the door with a brief goodnight.

 Rorletmory: paradise on earth. If anyone's gonna find it, it's me.

I closed my eyes and was asleep in an instant.

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