Derelicta

Débuts-

It was an early morning that the soldiers came.  They went to each door within the town and had questioned each resident they deemed fit for their 'crusade' to take back what was once ours.  Last year, they took most of the men over to the front lines, just arming them with nothing but some leather armor and a iron sword with just a wooden shield.  It made me sick.  Only a handful of them came back, bringing back only parts of the corpses left behind.

I got up out of bed when they came to my door.  I heard my mother exit her room and go downstairs to answer the men.  Listening to their conversation might've sounded improper, even for a young boy like me.  My name is Aluin.  I am a 16 year old boy who is currently being taught at the town's military school to prepare me for the war.  I went downstairs to meet my sister at the dining table, reading her boring old books again.  Like me, she goes to the military school as well, though, under the guise of a man.  Women are not allowed to fight in wars so, if she was caught by the Holy See they would've probably hung her or even burned her at the stake.

You may think I am exaggerating, or even just trying to give you a little scare of the reality of the worlds order.  But I am not.  Just as I was about to take a seat, my mother closed the door once the questioning was done and headed to the kitchen.  I was compelled to ask her what the soldiers asked about, but I already had the feeling that it might not be good.  Of course, my sister, Celica, just had to blow it.  "Mother, what were those soldiers here for?"  My sister had asked, a polite tone in her voice which was usual.  Mother sighed and looked at us, wearing a worried expression. 

I knew what that expression was, and it wasn't good news.  Either it was probably about my father, who had recently been sent to the front lines, or that blasted rat plague that's been terrorizing the countryside.  The words that we're going to spew out of my mouth had simply vanished, when mother had brought us some bowls of soup.  Celica had just put her book down and began to let her food cool down.  "It seems we may have to move further to the capital.  The war is bringing the rats closer to us, and the towns deeper in the countryside have already been contaminated."  Mother had said.  I began to eat my food when it was hot and looked outside through the window, gazing at the sky that was in view.  I could already see the burning clouds that stood out in the distance.  

As I finished, Celica had finished with me and tied her hair back so she would look like a young male.  It was common for young males with long hair to tie their hair back to keep it from hindering their fighting, though Celica had to use some 'extra' caution when it came to fighting.  She often had to use bandages to keep her breasts flat as possible to she could go in as a man.  Though only the headmaster and I know she is a woman.  I soon went for my practice sword which had been carved out of a strong branch of wood, and headed for the school.

Chapter End.