Fractured Earth

Chapter 4

Oleipha left early for her rendezvous with Warden Isen that morning. She kissed her parents goodbye and slipped from their hut just as Siyol was cresting the horizon and painting the distant sky with lighter shades of blue. The village was quiet and she passed through without being noticed. It would be a while before Warden Isen would be at their meeting point, but Oleipha had to leave when no-one would notice her and question where she was going. She hated leaving without saying goodbye to Ranal but his closeness to the Missionaries meant that as much as it hurt her, she could not trust him to know she was leaving with the Commensurate.

The cold earth crunched lightly beneath her sandalled feet as she worked her way along the beach-side trail in relative darkness. Now that she had left the village the landscape had opened up to her, and over to her left, to the east, she could sometimes see a little ball of light snaking its way down the mountain. That would be Warden Isen, she presumed. She wasn't sure how long it took to travel between the monastery and the village, but the dot of light was making quick progress and Oleipha wondered if the Warden had left early too.

Her parents had of course been supportive. Sad, and worried for their daughter's safety, but supportive nonetheless. Her mother had filled a wicker box with food and made room for it in her pack; Oleipha assured her that the Commensurate would have plenty of food at their camp but her mother insisted. Her father had given her his quill and demanded that she keep in touch. She and her father were two of only a few people in the village who could write; everyone could read, mostly, but only a few chose to learn to write. Their professions did not demand it of them, and so it often went unlearned.

Now the only hurdle in her way was to explain the situation to Warden Isen and hope that the Commensurate would be willing to take her in. She felt somewhat like a fugitive. Although she hadn't been exiled from Nyis, or anything of the sort, she felt that life there would no longer be suitable for her if the Missionaries were making a more permanent home there. If Warden Isen and the Commensurate had no place for her, then perhaps she'd go wandering and try to find her own truth. Even now, at such a short distance from her home village, she could not imagine returning.

She reached the rock at the edge of the path, where the other path to the east broke away from the main trail, and unslung her pack and sat down. Siyol had risen fully now and Tassis, or at least her part of it, was cast in an eerie pale cerulean. Oleipha hadn't been sitting long when the bobbing light from the east appeared through the trees and came racing towards her. She stood, reached for her pack, but then thought better of it and let her pack rest at her feet until she had talked through the situation with the Warden.

Warden Isen slowed the velo as it neared her and brought it to a gradual stop, powering it down so that the hum of the motor died.

"How be?" Oleipha smiled at her new friend.

"Well. Surprisingly awake for this time of morning. And you?"

Oleipha frowned with the weight of her burden. "Not so well. I have something to discuss before we leave."

"Oh? Is that why you're here as early as I am? I just came down because I was awake and couldn't get back to sleep. Figured I'd head out anyway and watch the sunrise while I waited for you." Warden Isen hopped from the velo and leaned against it, folding her arms casually across her chest.

Oleipha took a seat on the stone again and brushed the loose curls of her hair back from her face. "As you know, the Missionaries have had a presence in Nyis for a while now; they have been engaged in open trade with our village since before you, the Commensurate, appeared."