A Tale of Crown and Country

Tavin

Tavin got used to the chores. In the morning he mopped the deck and in the afternoon he washed dishes for the cook. In the evenings he joined the rest of the passengers huddled inside the frame of the ship or sat on the deck, leaning over the railings to watch the waters rush by. He liked the cold wind on his cheeks. Once they entered the Teblaus Mountains the views changed again. Peaks reaching the clouds split down the middle by the river they travelled on, and for the first time Tavin could truly understand the effect the gods had on his ancestors, and his friends and family today. It wasn't difficult to conceive Rukta, Loitrand, and Nasfurt sitting atop thrones of stone high above them in the clouds, and yet still on earth. He wondered if anyone had ever made it to the top of the peaks, or if Rukta had struck them down before anyone could achieve such a feat. That was a question for grandfather and his library.

At one point they had passed so close on both sides to the rocky cliffs that Tavin had feared for the safety of the ship. The river had narrowed to the point where he was sure all he had to do was reach out over the railings and he would be able to touch the stone.

The journey took two days, and only because the captain had slowed the ship to almost a stop at some points as to better manoeuvre between the tight rocks. He had overheard the sailors sharing stories of ships that had gone to fast, sailed too swiftly, and crashed into the unforgiving rocks. It wasn't the water he needed to be scared of, Tavin realized: it was the mountains themselves. The Teblaus Mountains had always seemed so strange and foreign, so impassive. Contrary to what he had expected, the mountains had possibly grown more impressive as Tavin got closer to them. There was a reason the Allriyans had never managed to take Brekka: despite their superior weaponry, they had been stopped by the mountains (Nasta would say Rukta and Loitrand planned it that way) and their soldiers had been no match for Reightneir's when vacated of their additional supports.

Tavin thanked the captain for allowing him aboard before he disembarked with the other passengers. From here on his journey was more uncertain and the good luck he earned from the captain gave him confidence in his abilities. Who knew, maybe the mopping had helped prepare him for his journey as so many mythos heroes had done in the stories Grandfather shared with him.

From here the majority of the travellers would make their way to Villus, only a day's walk north. Tavin recalled from the map he had consulted before leaving home that a watchtower lay half a day's journey south near the border, and that it would be best for him to stop there before journeying on to Allriya.

And so Tavin adjusted his bag and made sure his coat was shut tight. It was still cold here in the forest and at the foot of the mountains, despite being much further south than Revdellen and Brekka. But in the forest the sun didn't reach the ground, as he had learned in his journey from Revdellen to Brekka. He took a deep breath, nodded to himself, and set off into the forest. If he stayed on the deer trails he wouldn't get lost. Tavin stepped into the forest and didn't look back.