aesthyr.

chapter six

August 10th

The following morning, the three girls got up and dressed, walked down the road towards the marketplace, and met with Voidin and Maria. Rhiannon and Voidin exchanged glances, but said nothing. Isn't he going to say anything about last night?

But she knew it wouldn't be smart to tell anyone what he saw. Murder isn't something to be shared with anyone in Aesthyr. Maria led the group up a cliffed road and they started going uphill towards the upper part of Kalnar. For the whole day, Rhia and Voidin didn't say a word to each other. When they came across an old bookstore, Ivale took Charlie's hand and led her inside, Maria at their heels. Voidin, Rhiannon and Stella followed them and sat down at a small table at the corner of the bookstore. An old woman with beautiful silver hair and gleaming green eyes welcomed them inside, and she watched as Maria, Charlie and Ivale browsed through the shelves of a thousand books. Rhiannon got up from the table, noticing a small book lying on a table in the corner of the shop. She picked it up and her eyes widened as she recognized the old dusty cover; Golden branches outlined the sides of the book, and in the middle of the cover, inked hand-written words spelled out "Maxwell Bella". The book had been her fathers, who had been Janakalah Bellas grandson. Her eyes filled with tears at the memory of him. She closed his eyes and pictured his dark brown hair, his hazel eyes glistening back at her. Her eyes snapped open as Voidins hand rested on her shoulder. "Are you ok?" He asked from behind her. "I'm fine." Rhia said, walking towards the woman that owned the book shop. "Where did you get this?" She demanded, a slight bit of anger in her voice. "That belonged to my daughters husband, why do you ask?" The woman said quietly, a look of concern washed over her face. "Your... daughter's husband?" Rhiannon thought out loud, a million questions bubbling up in her throat. "But, that's my father?" She said quietly. "Maxwell Bella." She whispered. Surely the name could belong to only someone of the Bella family, and there was no way that her grandmother was still alive, her mother told her that she died of an illness. "Rhiannon?" The old woman said, it barely even being a question but more of a statement. "Grandmother Opal." She returned another name back at the woman, and she nodded. "Mother said you were dead. She told me you died of an illness."

"She told you that because I disappeared after you were born, she told you I was dead to protect you from a dangerous scandal I was dealing with about 17 years ago. I haven't seen your mother since." Opal said to her, a sad look on her face. The woman did look very similar to Rhiannon's mother, and she spoke like her too,with a soft yet slightly rough voice. Rhiannon left the book shop without another word, leaving the rest of the group behind, along with her grandmother. She walked down the steep roads of the city, finding her way back to the Inn. She heard footsteps behind her, getting closer and closer. When she was sure the person following her was only inches away, she swung around and pushed them against the wall and held them there with her forearm. She was surprised to see that it was only Voidin. Her face just inches away from his. She let go of him and stepped back. "Sorry for scaring you, I was just making sure you were alright." He told her with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm fine." She said as she turned around to walk into the Inn. He quickly grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. "I said I'm fine." She repeated, shaking his hand off of her arm. "Stella and I agreed to travel to Janak as a group. Just thought I'd let you know." He called after her, his soft voice filling the air. She didn't say anything and walked through the doorway of the Inn. When she walked into the room, she sat on her bed and thought about why that black-cloaked man had followed her all the way from the Starlands to Kalnar- and why he had tried to kill her. Is he part of my grandmother's "dangerous scandal"? She wondered as she stared out the window, watching Voidin walk down the street and back up the hill, most likely back to the bookshop to retrieve his little sister. What was he even doing in Kalnar, anyway? She thought after he turned the corner back up the hill of the street. She then thought of her father's journal, about the things he studied and the adventures he had with his band of the most interesting people Rhiannon had ever met. There was a tough criminal named Jolyah that really had a soft personality, a cartographer named Thomas that mapped out Rhias' father's expeditions, and swordsmen named Ursa and Lolitah. They were like family to Rhia and her mother. Unfortunately, her father had died when she was about nine years old in a shipwreck. The only survivor was Thomas, who had managed to find a piece of floating wood in the water and stay afloat until he was washed ashore six days after the accident on Fishtail Island. Rhiannon hadn't seen Thomas in years, after he had an affair with her mother. She got up to use the washroom to clean her face before bed. She pumped the water into a small wooden bowl and used a rag to wash. She then slipped into her white lace nightgown and walked outside onto the terrace that was through a glass door in the corner of her room, the papery curtains falling behind her. The wind picked up and turned into a cool breeze flowing past her dark curls. Rhiannon closed her eyes softly, listening to the wind. Her nightgown began swaying gently behind her, the white lace glowing in the moonlight. She looked down to the cobblestone road below her and saw Voidin studying her from a fruit stand, Maria browsing through the fresh foods. He waved at her to come down, and she walked back inside and quickly got dressed. She walked down the stairs of the Inn and walked out the door and strode over to where Maria and Voidin were waiting for her. He then pulled a book out of his coat and handed it to Rhia. She studied the cover, the golden branches outlining the ocean colored cardboard, and the bold ink spelling out the name 'Maxwell Bella'. "It belonged to your father, right?" Voidin asked her, studying her face. "Yes, but how did you get this?" "I asked the woman at the bookshop, Opal, if I could give it to you." He told her, still watching her examine the journal. "Did it cost anything? I could pay you-" She said, starting to pull out her copper purse. "Only seventy-five coppers, nothing much, you don't need to pay me." He answered. "Was that lady your grandma?" Maria said, joining in on the conversation. "Mhmm." "Why did you leave-" Maria continued to ask, but Voidin elbowed her in the side and she stopped. "Thank you. Goodnight." Rhiannon said to him and started to walk back to the Inn. When she returned to her room, she saw that Ivale, Charlie and Stella were already sitting on their beds, reading books that they must have bought from the book shop. Rhia slipped her nightgown back on, picked up her father's journal and climbed in bed. She opened it to the first page, and written at the top of the page in slightly smudged ink was 'Creatures of Aesthyr' And a line of creatures, hand-drawn illustrations of them and a small box of information about them was written all the way down the page. Rhiannon read the first entry; 'Lanaps~ deer-like spirits that come out at night to roam Aesthyr. Light blue soft fur, both female and male Lanaps have deep blue antlers, silver and gold patterns slither across their fur, which helps them tell each other apart.' She looked at the bottom of the entry, and a small drawing of the spirit sat on the piece of parchment, its beautiful color filled her eyes. She turned the pages, scanning each of them briefly before turning to the next; 'Map Of Aesthyr; Deities of Aesthyr; History of Aesthyr; Lands of Aesthyr' She read as she flipped through the journal, each page telling a story, a piece of history, a legend or truth, all about the land of Aesthyr. She stopped as she read one heading of the journal. 'My Adventures' It read in her father's familiar handwriting, the letters dancing across the rough piece of parchment.

May 24th

We arrived at the ship docks of the Northwestern Sea Traders Territory at sun-up. The wind started picking up as we boarded the ship. 'The Priestess' is a fine ship, her sails shining a bright white as the sun starts to fill the sky. We are starting our journey to the legendary undersea temple of Aqana, which was abandoned in the First Century War after a large tidal wave swept across the sea and hit part of Iszlama. Right now it is sunset and we probably won't reach the temple until tomorrow night. Thomas predicted a storm that may hit the ship in the middle of the night, so we must prepare for the dangerous journey ahead. I will store this journal in the dry-cabin of the ship in fear of rainwater flooding the sleeping quarters until the storm settles down and we bucket out the water. I promised Rhia and My darling Catalya I would be back safe and sound, so here I must discontinue writing and prepare the ship for the storm.

Rhiannon shed a single tear, realizing that this was the last thing her father had written in the journal, as the rest of the pages were blank. He had written about the night his ship, The Priestess, had sunk down to its watery grave. She also felt proud that she was somewhat like her father, exploring Aesthyr, and forming a group to go along with her. She set the book down on the small wooden nightstand beside her bed. The room grew loud of silence as darkness befell it, and Rhia drew the covers up and over her body, warmth sending a comforting feeling around her body, and she fell asleep.