A Tale of Crown and Country

Tavin

"I never would have expected this from you," Nasta commented.

They were trudging past endless trees, each one identical to the next. The ground was nearly frozen beneath their feet but the trees blocked the wind and so it was warmer here than anywhere Tavin had been in Reightneir.

"You're still on that?"

"You're my little brother, Tavin, I know you. I know you avoid fights like a case of the veyulls, you have that strange little rock collection, and you're doing this to prove to Atryada that you're worth her love."

"Hold on a minute," Tavin's mind caught on her last comment. That so isn't why I'm doing this, he thought to himself. But proving something to yourself is a lot easier than proving it to someone else. "This isn't for Atryada," he protested. "This is about the prophecy."

"You're just using that as an excuse."

"The prophecy's real! Ask Grandfather!" Tavin was aware he was raising his voice, but he generally avoided confrontation and so wasn't very good at it whenever it came his way.

"Woah, Tavin, I'm just teasing, Calm down.," his sister apologized.

He sucked in some cold forest air to do just that. Tavin realized he was a little biased having never been anywhere but Reightneir, but he thought that the air here was much better than in Allriya. From what he'd read and heard from travelling merchants, Allriya was a busy place full of budy people with places to be and no time to waste. He imagined crowded market squares and shouting shopkeepers and small children running underfoot. He would be lying if he didn't admit that a part of him had always longed to see Allriya. From what he'd heard, the capital, Aldira, was a gateway to the rest of the world. Ships came into its harbour from miles around. Allriya was the key to everything. From Allriya one could access the entirety of Jayakan, and even Vastran. Someone had once told him that all roads led to Aldira, and so that was where Tavin planned to go. Someone in Aldira had to know about the prophecy, or could point him in the right direction.

Tavin took in the tall pines around him, the solid earth covered in needles and icy patches from last week's rain that had resisted melting. Reightneir's forests were soothing, and though Tavin was excited to see Allriya, there was no doubt in his mind that it would be very different from his homeland.

"You coming?" Nasta chided. Tavin had fallen behind in his moment of reflection. If they were to reach Brekka by nightfall they would have to hurry. Tavin didn't find the notion of sleeping in a cave for a second night in a row all too appealing.

The great northern city of Brekka wasn't actually that far north, Tavin thought as they came up on the main road. In fact, it was one of the most southern cities in Reightneir. Although to be fair, there weren't all too many cities in the country to begin with.

Brekka was impressive, to Tavin. Its defensive walls of solid stone had been built to protect from the cold winds from the north, but visiting Allriyans had interpreted them as defensive walls against invaders, and it was a common sight for Brekkians to be indulging visiting foreigners with stories of great battles for the ancient city that had never really happened. Brekka was an old city, as it were. It was said to be the first city in Reightneir. Tavin wasn't sure of the specifics, seeing as history wasn't an important topic at school, but he recalled something he'd read in Grandfather's library about the first settlers of Brekka resting here before travelling through the Teblaus Mountains.

But that wasn't important right now, Tavin reminded himself. He ran after his sister who had stormed ahead as if she had visited the city a hundred times before. Tavin marvelled at the stone pillars lining the road. It was a city of rock, just like its people. It had withstood wind, weather, and time. It was hardened with age and beaten back into the mountains.