The Forbidden Quest

Chapter 2- Friends

A/N: I'm sorry I took forever to get this out here. I had exams and family stuff, so my editing just kept getting delayed. I've only got 3 days of school left, though, so I'll be writing a lot more soon! The picture is what Nazza looks like. She's a bit less pretty than that, but almost all the pictures online are of models, soooo....

It only takes a few minutes to get ready for the Amor's arrival. After that, I have nothing to do but wait. Father withdraws into his and Mother's room, and Mother sweeps the floor over and over, brushing invisible dust from every surface. I think she's only doing it to keep herself busy, so I don't point this out to her. I settle myself on a chair in the main room, playing with my hair absentmindedly. It glimmers like gold in the dim candlelight.

The main room contains our cooking and living space. I watch as my mother dusts the chest that she inherited from her grandmother. It is made out of dark wood, and painted on the top in silver ink is an elaborate design depicting the Sahar Mountains. They curve gracefully, their tips pointing towards the centerpiece: the Wizard, flowing robes billowing around him, a long braided beard adorning his face, his head framed in a circle of runes.

The Wizard has always held a place of high honor in our village. He founded it hundreds of years ago, bestowing it upon twelve common men, the first Council. He built our Meeting Place, the great building where the council gathers, with his magic, and created the accord with the first Head Councilman, Quirin Maywise, that we follow to this day. By that agreement, if our village, which he named Alsos after the trees that surrounded it, ever was in desperate need of help, we could call for him. In order to gain his assistance, two youth between the ages of fourteen and seventeen, called the Maywise Chosen Two, must travel to his home in the mountains to deliver the official plea. This has never been needed in Alsos's entire history. Now, however, Father speaks of whispers heard from neighbors. Whispers that say the Council is very near to resorting to the Two.

If the Two are to be Chosen, the Council will have to speak to every eligible youth in the village. They must decide who is the most loyal, the smartest, the strongest. It is their responsibility to make sure that the Two are capable of reaching the Wizard.

"Did you hear that the Council is making their decision?" I look up. Mother hasn't spoken to me all morning. Now, she stares at me expectantly. Perhaps the silence became unbearable to her. I don't mind it.

"Father told me. Do you know when the Amors should be arriving?"

"Soon, I hope." Mother offers me a small smile. "Some company would be good for our sanity."

We chat idly for a minute, until our conversation fizzles out when we both decide we don't feel like talking. We sit awkwardly until the silence is broken by a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" I rush to the door, but before I can open it, Mother blocks me with her arm. Oh yeah. The fog.

She pulls a curtain over the doorway. Then she reaches behind the curtain, pulling the door open. Alyx, his parents, and his older brother, Henree, stumble in, their mouths covered with scarves. Mother shuts the door behind them quickly before much of the fog can enter the house.

Our guests find seats at the table and, in the boys' case, on the floor, and begin taking off the layers of scarves and shawls they had been wearing to shield themselves from the conditions outside. I sit down next to Alyx, watching as he struggles with the buttons on the hat he is still half-wearing. It has a flap that wraps around the mouth, which is perfect for protection from the fog, but is apparently very difficult to get off.

"Would you mind helping?" Alyx's voice is muffled by the thick wool of the hat, which he has somehow managed to pull off of his head and over his mouth and nose completely.