Silver Winds

Chapter 2

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” 
― Confucius

After a long night like that, Astra deserved a long night’s sleep.

And she had one.

On most mornings, Astra was the first one in the house awake. She was the only one up and about for about two hours, the majority of the time. But not this morning. This morning she was the last to wake, even Volos was awake an hour before she was.

When she did wake up, her hair was frizzy, her eyes were bloodshot and puffed, and every muscle in her body screamed as she sat up in bed. She flinched as the sunlight streaming through the window hit her sensitive eyes. Groaning, Astra stood from her bed and walked to her mirror. After running a quick look over herself, she undid her braid, then pushed it all into a frizzy bun. She had decided that frizzy buns looked better than frizzy braids long ago.

As for her face, well, nothing could be done for that except a cold scrub and a day in the woods, alone. Perhaps her father would like her to hunt this afternoon, then to clean it, so they would have a little extra meat for dinner. Her mouth started watering as she thought of all the different tastes- venison, rabbit, mountain cat, squirrel-

A knock sounded on her door. Astra looked down, to make sure she was dressed, then vocalized a quiet ‘come in.’

The door swung open at the slowest pace Astra had ever seen. It reminded her of a snail she had once watched in the garden, before she got too bored and went to go do something more productive. Once it was open, however, it revealed something much better than a snail.

Astra’s mother strode into the room, scanning for just a moment before her dull brown eyes found Astra. Heather Oleswife had no problem undoing Astra’s bun, brushing out the tangles while Astra squirmed and clenched her fists, and redoing it perfectly so there wasn’t a single stray hair. When she was finished, Astra turned and showed her mother her face, which held a scowl, and her eyes had a wicked glint in them. Heather batted her hand in the air while managing to look indifferent, as if Astra’s anger was nothing more than an annoying fly she couldn’t get rid of.

“Your father wishes to speak with you,” she said with distaste. “You must look presentable. Especially after last night. He is considering allowing you to attend this year’s training.”

“He is?” Astra blurted, then covered her mouth with her hands, but she couldn’t stop the enormous grin that spread over her face, exposing all of her teeth in an almost frightening way. She felt like doing a cartwheel, right in the middle of her room. This was the reason she had tried so hard to beat Volos in the past few months. For this moment, right here. If her father let her go, then she would become a vinr of her own ship’s crew. Nevermind where she would get the ship. That plan could come later.

“He is,” Heather confirmed. “You gave quite a show last night, I’ve heard.”

Astra patted at her cheeks, causing the color to return to them. She turned to her mother, knowing she needed water for her eyes to look normal again.

“A little water would be nice, if you could, Mother,” she said. Heather nodded, turned sharply, and left the room.

Astra likened her mother to a pole quite often, but she was closer to a marble column. Her pin-straight, chocolate brown strands of hair hung far past her waist, they lasted until her hair brushed the ground if she bent over even the slightest bit. That was the reason for her immaculate buns, and why she expected her daughter to look the same.

She was also taller than Astra, and the same height as the massive Volos. In her home country, she was considered a giant. Here, she was merely tall. Her back was slim and graceful, like a proper lady, and it was always straight. Her legs were long and shapely, and her arms were delicate even to her wrists. A far cry from Astra, which was the reason Heather was so cold toward her daughter. Astra would never make a lady, she knew. Her mother had told her that, several times. Until it hurt to hear it again.