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She was back in the General's Order, in her tent in Ayrith, a place largely dedicated to the training of what would become soldiers or Kingdom officials. Sheets of paper lay around her, the ink on them still drying. The seal sat nearby quietly waiting to be used. Ailen had been in a bad mood that day and she'd taken it out on Nia. Her hand was cramping and her eyes could hardly stay open. She needed sleep but not yet. She had to go to the evening briefing first, eat dinner, and make an appearance at the midnight bonfires. Nia was a writer, but not in the sense she always wanted to be. She had trained in writing perfectly scripted diplomatic letters and had been recently appointed as an official Auctor - people in charge of communicating in means other than knives and weapons, though just as sharp. Nia liked to think of her training as a diamond being mined and carved to perfection. The promotion was fixing the glimmering stone into the wall of Caraca holding it steady, shining bright enough to hide the cement beneath from prying eyes. She was allowed to directly confer with Asmia and Eyrinth which made her feel important even if for pointless reasons. No amount of letters could ever properly settle the disputes between the three countries. Caraca was still a young nation, a chick born into a world of ancient snakes eager to pounce and conquer. It had a strong economy, perhaps the strongest in the world with its healthy diamond mines and busy trade routes that to the other countries looked like shiny coins in need to be stolen with constant attacks from the East and South which Nia knew all too well. Every two weeks or so, Asmia would send a spy to steal confidential information about the army or any trades happening, desperate to find how Caraca wore a crown of diamonds when all the world gave them was glass. Every two weeks or so would come a desperate little girl who had been promised a brighter future at the camp of Ayrith and was later caught sneaking around in the General's tent. It was like watching children fight, Asmia would try to steal just to get caught by Caraca who would hit it for stealing and then Asmia would cry and the cycle happened all over again. Meanwhile, Eyrinth sat quietly in the corner, occasionally snapping at Caraca and then disappearing again.
Today, Nia had written a letter to the Governor of Is'Beya, a town surrounding a massive plain dedicated only to farming and thus the mother producer of all the crop trades coming out of Eyrinth. Her letter had simply asked the Governor to focus more on the safety of the shipments since their last consignment had been intercepted by rogues out on the waters. The letter politely warned that if this were to happen again and the cargo was less than what was promised, Caraca might close off trades from Is'Beya. Eyrinth would suffer more if this happened than Caraca, so the threat would be well received and acted upon.
"Are you sure? I feel it is far too aggressive," Nia had said when Ailen had told her the contents of the letter she was to draft.
"Success cannot be achieved with kindness and faerie wings," Alien had sternly replied. That was her: strict, rude, and to the point. I never said anything about faerie wings, thought Nia stubbornly.
"No matter how small there will be a dent in the economy if Is'Beya pulls out," Nia had argued.
"They won't. Now, write."
Nia had shrugged and drafted the letter and stamped it with the letter seal of a tree which stood for the ever-growing reach of the trade of Caraca - a small reminder of a powerful country. Of course, Ailen had been right. The next shipment had been perfectly delivered, not only completely but without even a single ant in the grains. Nia felt somewhat powerful knowing she could elicit such fear and obedience through her words but that had been no shock. She'd been exploiting that power ever since she was a kid. She got up and drafted another letter, her fingers angrily complaining as she forced a pen through them. This letter wasn't for the General or Caraca's well-being that she had been sworn to keep first in her life but had secretly kept second. This letter was to the thing she actually kept first in her life - her brother. He wasn't an Auctor. He was a Felis, a thief. Trained to steal, exercised in sin. She was extremely proud of him. He had recently come back from his mission at a camp at the western border of Asmia that if the excited whispering and whooping at dinner last night had been any indication, had been a successful one. The boy lived in a different part of Ayrinth, one that was too far away from where Nia stayed to walk to each time they wanted to talk, so they wrote letters.
She dipped her pen in ink and thought of what she was going to write. She moved the pen to write about her promotion and fuss him with questions about his health, but she wrote something entirely out of her accord.
Wake up. Esterham is calling.
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Esterham was calling. Nia woke up to blinding light filtering in through the window and right onto her face. She groaned as she stood up and walked to the window. Her back hurt and her limbs were stiff from having slept right onto the bare floor. Outside, the water had changed colors, swapping its deep blue for a lighter, shinier one. Memories of Ayrith still swirled around in her head like pieces of dust flying in the air. The bay opened out before her and she saw other ships dotting the horizons, their sails billowed. They had reached Esterham a lot faster than expected. Nia suspected it was the grace of the obedient weather they'd seen out on the sea. Humidity seeped through the walls and the sunlight was fierce even through the window urging her to leave her cloak. She opened the door and stepped right into a fresh pile of clothes, leaving a slight imprint of the dirty sole of her boot. She withdrew back into her room with the pile and stepped out again with crisp clothes lending her the illusion of a clean person even if she smelt like sweat and forgotten blood. Today, she was wearing a dress that reached to her knees. It was white and flowy and the sleeves ran down to her wrists. She wore the same boots as yesterday that picked up from where the dress left off, covering her skin as well as possible. The dress had embroidered flowers and vines on its hem in shades of blue that matched her eyes. It had a layered high neck that she had to pull her hair out of. Finally, she marched onto the deck and instantly covered her eyes with her hand to protect them from the sun which seemed not to beam light, but throw it on them instead. The boy stood by the rails looking out into the water. From here she could see the distant docks of Esterham that grew closer with each wave they trampled upon. Already, she could feel the bustle and the hustle and the mere power that emanated from Esterham. She was scared but at the same time, she had never been more ready.
By midday, the docks became a visible location and she could already see tiny people hustling in the distance. There were more ships around them and she could see nets of fish on them or massive cargo boxes. The two men of the ship were moving up and down and all around, collecting rigging or tying up the masts or making knots and pulling at strings that Nia didn't understand the use of. She felt hot though now it was less from excitement and more from the molten heat pouring down from the skies. A mysterious meal had shown up for breakfast the same as it had yesterday except this time it had been porridge and a single apple. She'd saved the apple for later but now she could feel the porridge move around her stomach queasily. Her dress was no longer flowing in the wind, instead, it was clinging to her, splotched with sweat. Her toes perspired under her leather boots from which she had ended up cutting a strip off of to tie her hair with. Gradually, performers from underneath the deck showed up, each ready to earn money in Esterham. A rich merchant named Leltikin had invited them to the capital to come and perform for his clients. Nia suspected they were important clients and he desperately needed to impress them. The Joker had immediately taken up the offer and set them walking a week later. It felt like treason to be in this city, but it paid well since luckily, Leltikin had offered a generous sum that would pay for half of Nia's and the boy's life. The rest of Esterham that was ready to be mesmerized with flying girls and glitter and strong men was willing to pay for the other half. The Joker had told them that if they were lucky, the Kingdom would call them as well to entertain their "esteemed guests" at the Apertum Ball. Sure it would be an honor for the performers but for Nia, it was quite literally a death threat. She would be ready to run with the boy if it ever came to that, at even the slightest hint of an invitation. It was safer to have just the Joker at their back than the entire Kingdom.
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Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed reading this part as much as I enjoyed writing it (which was A LOT) COME BACK SOON FOR THE NEXT PART! VOTE AND COMMENT!! thank you for reading (:
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unraveled
Fantasy"I've seen rats with better attention spans than you," she said onto his face. And then the boy was there pulling her onto her feet and off of him. "But have you seen them with such beautiful faces?" he asked, standing up, brushing off th...
