Shelter From The Storm

Étude in A Major, 'winter wind'

♤Sendra♤
The wind whips my face and caresses my hair. As if he had the right to touch me.
Stop it.
But he continues.
He does not belong to anything or anybody, but to himself.
Sink that ship. He demanded.
And the sea did.
Shatter it. He hissed.
And the storm did.
The sea.
The storm.
Both of them are whimsical bodies, with cold and ruthless minds. Too big, too
powerful to worry about someone insignificant who has lost everything.
I'm just one more person crying.

Hatred grows in my chest, devouring everything in its path. Meanwhile, the waves gently swing, they know anything about my suffering.
Or maybe they do.
Maybe they are laughing at me.
It is a gray day, like all the month of Mysotis. Clouds are reflected in the water giving it an almost depressing aspect.
Or without the almost.
I have to go back to the tavern, but I can't move. Memories are flowing out like endless rain. It's too much.
I'm stupid.
I had to come.
I had to come right here.
If I do not return to work in less than six grains, I would lose my job. My family will die in a few months if I lose that job.
If I return now, I will break everything in my way.
I shake my head violently.
How weak.
How selfish.
The wind accompanies me on my return.
This time, I don't try to stop it.

A smell of alcohol and broken dreams comes to me when I open the door.
''Sendra!''Buddan's husky voice brings me back to reality. ''You've at the right moment.'' I stare at Micel, the gorgeous waitress, looking for answers. She just smiles (to herself) and looks back to Buddan. ''I've got a task for you '' I raise an eyebrow, for him that means: I've got an order for you . ''Against all odds, the counts of Monroir have offered to contribute to the tavern.'" I grimace. It's difficult to believe, Buddan, the one that negotiates (talks) like an analphabet donkey. I am surprised that he has achieved some kind of contribution. And much less from a stolon noble.
''What kind of contribution? Monetary...?'' Please make up my salary, please ...
''In species. They'll give us some instruments from their musical company.''
''For what? You know, medins do not know music, much less how to play instruments.''
''It mustn't be very difficult, if you can do it.'' A thunder resounds within me. A storm is coming.
''It's not that simple ... if I learned, was by necessity.'' It's true.I had nothing that anyother candidate did not have for this employment; neither charisma, nor good physique or skill with numbers ... When Buddan asked why would he have to hire me, and not anyone else, I had to improvise. I can play that. I said pointing to the old piano that looked more like a decorative item than anything else.
''That's easy to fix, my darling, It will become a necessity. I'll make it happen' He gives me a feline smile.'Or playing, or starving to death, you decide''.
You.
Me.
The air around us is loaded. The storm, dangerously close.
''Give me just one reason that makes sense.''
''Come on Sendra, the problem isn't that we want the instruments, but we want to show that we deserve them. As you may have noticed, for them we are little more than a wild beasts."
''Why would they spend time and money on a wild beasts, then?"
His laugh takes my breath.
''Politics, of course. Tomorrow, when half of the grains have fallen. Don't be late.'' No need to say anything more. He wants to poke fun at me.
The rain begins to fall.
''Sendra, stop asking silly questions.'' Micel clicks her tongue in disapproval. ''Don't forget who you depend on.''

The sun has long been hidden behind the mountains. Buddan gives me the keys. The message is clear: 'practice all night.'
I sit down at the old piano. I step one finger across the rotten wood and put my hands on the keys, sunk by the passage of time.
Musical instruments are the invention of a race called "Earthling", one of their few legacies before extinction, or rather, persecution and hunting.
The musical signature system (I think it's called that) is also their invention. And no, I don't know how to read it.
The storm that has been raging inside me explodes over the keys.
I lose control.

♧Julian♧
''Go out? Where?'' I go into ecstasy. Father smiles.
''To the village.'' Ecstasy goes by where it came from.
'The village? You said it was dangerous, that Im could get an infection, or worse.''
''You do not have to worry about a thing, son.''I Relax a bit. Father will take care of me.
''What do we have to do? Maybe attend some sort of ceremony ...?"
''I would rather call it a 'public act'."
''Public act''.It sounds like pubic hair, something that, much to my regret, I lack.
But ... something does not fit (apart from not having pubic hair at all).
''Why should I go...?" Father notices the concern in my voice. He puts a hand on my shoulder.
"When you inherit my title you'll have to do this sort of things." He goes to the door, but not before devoting a mysterious smile and saying: "Plus ... I think you'll enjoy.

♤Sendra ♤
My hands hurt as hell as I make my way back home. Passing through the town square I divert the gaze to the large hourglass placed on the facade of the main building, looking like a gilded cage. Just a few grains of sand are left in the top half. Soon, the sun will rise.
I look down to watch my father's present.It is an old clock with needles, also invented by earthlings, models that were used before the war of Estolonia and the Empire of the West. I shudder and instinctively take a hand to the patch covering the empty socket of my left eye.
I shake my head.
The weak are the first to fall.
I take the clock, which still works, to my ear, and let ticking calm me down gradually.
I won't look back.
In war, if you look back, you're dead.
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OK, so that was the first chapter. A little much short, maybe?
But I prefer short chapters, anyways.
I hope you liked it💞💞💞
P.s. I recomend you to listen to the songs in the videos, I think each one of them describes the chapter with their name.
Luvv🤓