Across the ocean Book 1: On the run

Chapter One : That Which Troubles the Night

Darkness covered the world in this summer night before the twenty-first of the summer month of Velli, but the sky was not a solid black as the glittering of countless stars formed a white trail in the heavens. Kastosians named it the Eternal Thread, dividing the heavens in two. Celestial bodies and constellations had a depth which made them appear as much out of time as they were out of reach. Innumerable, untouchable, mostly indistinguishable from one another... The darker it was, the brighter they shined. Names were given to constellations after heroes of stories, or heroes named after them. One could say obscurity brought to those in need of comfort the breathtaking mix of humbleness and of majesty.

Gimvault was a wayside village with a population in between two hundred fifty and three hundred, situated a few miles south of the Melti's Mountains, and located on the Great Road. The settlement was protected by a palisade made of wood, more to keep animals such as wolves out than people. Still, there was a watch tower at both entrances which were north and south along the road, in accordance with the regulations the Empire had for every wayside villages. For its size, Gimvault was well fortified, though not built for resisting sieges.

Most slept soundly, others lightly, but Mayen remained standing. From below, he could hear his father snoring. From the dormer window of his room, which was the attic of the family house, he gazed at the stars with his light-brown eyes. This boy was fifteen years old and was slightly shorter than the average for his age. His hair was a pale brown which, in sunlight, seemed almost blond at times. His nostrils smelled the fresh air of a summer night, which was quite refreshing after the hot weather of the day, despite the slightly ever-present smell of vinegar people used to keep mosquitoes away.

Within the Kastosian Empire, it was customary to have a separate bed, or bedroom when possible, for the firstborn and then have the rest of the children share the children's bed in the attic or on an upper floor. Merchants, nobles, peasants, all followed the tradition. Traditions... Mayen wished they were less invasive. On the bright side of things, being the cadet son meant he was not the first to offer his bed for travellers should his parents house fellow peasants. Sure, his brother Mewen would have to come in his room, but better share a bed with a sibling than someone you did not know. His home was close to the northern wall of the settlement, and that meant housing strangers happened less often to Mayen's family; generally, other fellow peasants came from the south and would find a hosting family in the first houses there. Those who came in from the north were often merchants and soldiers and these slept at the inn. But tomorrow would change it all; Mewen was his only sibling and was to marry Feya in the morning. Who would wake him up in the morning starting after tomorrow? Who would share his room when guests came? Mayen preferred sleeping alone, but there had been an intimacy which now was living its last hours. They would remain brothers, but each would live in a different house, albeit almost next door. Once the firstborn leaves, then there would be no first or cadet child here, only him.

Mewen and Feya were twenty-one, and that meant they were of age. For a while, the boy wondered what it was like in the past when adolescents like him got married at sixteen. The first image he had was of him and Ilyanna and that made him blush. "Good thing times have changed," he thought to push away the strange sensation he had. Mayen's left forearm stood like a pillar on the stool of the window, supporting the heavy weight of a head in its hand's palm. Crickets chirped and an owl hooted; normally, these noises would lull him to sleep, but not this time. Looking at the darkness was practically looking at nothing, and that meant the mind had to focus on something: traditions. He would have to fulfill the role of family witness, a role he was both proud and unsure about.

He wished he could have gone down the attic, but the ladder creaked and that would bring most unfortunate consequences for his brother Mewen was the light sleeper. Mayen chuckled at the thought of his brother yawning in the face of Feya. Not a romantic wedding for sure.