It wasn’t that long after my fifteenth birthday that the world around me started to drastically change. At first they were subtle, or at least seemed to lack any sort of meaning or danger. Traveling merchants would appear less and less. The villagers would whisper about odd, claw-like scratches on houses that weren’t there the day before. In the early morning, an elegant whistling tune could be heard from the old church, yet nobody could find the source. But if you were to ask my fellow townspeople of the small village of Arelia, what seemed to be the worst was the bad harvest. All of these were small little events, seemingly separate from each other. We just lived our lives as normal, ignoring the oddities.
The mysteries piled on and on, till one day when all the villagers, young and old, were gathered in the center of town by the Elder’s call. The vast crowd was abuzz with murmurs and gossip. From “Did you see the one slinking around at night?” to “I heard the whistling church was actually built upon an old cave!”, very little of what I could hear was helpful. They cared more about their rumors and mysteries than whatever was happening at the moment. So I took matters into my own hands, and weaved through the crowd until I could see the reason behind the town meeting. Yet before I reached a good spot to watch from, a man’s voice rang out over the crowd, shushing their conversations in an instant.
“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my name is Ralph Fictor.” As I maneuvered through the townspeople, I listened closely to the man’s words. After all, it was honestly rare to ever see the entire town together like this, gathered at attention around the little well that keeps the modest fields of golden wheat from drying up in the summer heat. Save for an emergency or some other special occasion, the old men would be off at the tavern drinking, while the women prepared the day’s supper. The young kids would likely be off playing in some ditch at the edge of the road, secretly (or so the little ones believed) scouting to see if any traveling merchants were on their way. All the while, the village guards watched with tender smiles, ready to rescue them at the slightest threat. This is all without mentioning the strong and able out on the fields plowing or harvesting, all while Ol’ Rick forgets himself in his drunken stupor once more, and tries his hand at farm-work once more only to throw his hip or something. Oh, and can’t forget Michael the Huntsman, who only returns from the forest every other day with some elk or boar in tow! If he’s ever lucky (or unlucky if you ask him), he manages to bag some sort of monster!
“Beside me are my courageous son Edgar, my kind daughter Leona, and my beautiful wife Lillia.” The man’s voice was soft, yet resounded over the area easily. It had an air of authority to it, despite its almost self-deprecating tone. In more blunt terms, he sounded like someone weak appearing to be strong. Yet regardless, everyone in the crowd was listening intently. Suffice to say, something big was happening, to the point that even us kids could notice. Even James and his band of cronies were standing at attention, though it was pretty easy to notice why, especially after I had finally reached a good place to observe the family from.
Surrounded by this horde of dirt-coated, sun-burned, and greasy-with sweat villagers was that family of four in fine suits and dress. It honestly shocked me, as I couldn’t even see a single bare thread in their clothes. Not in the fluffy vermilion dresses of the mother and daughter, nor the ebony jackets of the father and son. Yet that only paled in comparison to their complexion. Just like their clothes, their skin was smooth, lacking any look of roughness. Like the shell of a freshly laid white egg, I couldn’t see any pores or wrinkles. It almost felt like I would be blinded by their brilliance, especially as the setting sun reflected off every strand of their golden hair.
“By the order of the righteous King of Cerin, Leopold Cerin, my family and I have been delegated the rank of Baron, and given this territory to rule under his name.” It wasn’t even that long ago that we learned of the fall of the Empire of Wick or whatever it was called. To be honest, I didn’t even know we were a part of an empire until then. But nevertheless, the Wick Empire was supposedly gigantic. From the Seral mountains to the far east, whose frosted peaks could be seen standing tall on the horizon during clear days, to the coastline of the Sea of Aver to the south that I’d only heard stories about from the traveling merchants, all of it was supposedly under control of that grand Empire. Then something happened.
“However, I am not an absolute buffoon. I understand that this system is new to you all; it’s new to me as well. That is why I am here before you all now, to introduce it to you all fairly.” Indeed, that was a lot better of an idea than whatever was happening previously. I still remember the look on Mom’s and Pop’s faces when the ‘army’ came ‘round. We didn’t even know we were part of this empire at all, since we were just a small farming village on the plains, nothing more. Sometimes our crops were harvested and sent to a bigger town to be sold, but that was handled by the merchants. So, the only people who seemed to have any clue what was going on were Rick, said merchants, and the Elder. Luckily, they had topped up on most of their supplies at a prior stop, but I at least felt the pain of nothing but cabbage soup for the next week; I couldn’t imagine how it was for the other villages around these parts, as the travelers said those places were in most parts devastated. In fact: Yulia, the village Apothecary, came from one of these villages. She wasn’t actually that far from me in the crowd too, from where I stood I could even see her amber eyes gleaming as she vacantly observed the noble quartet. It was kind of hard to tell what she was feeling.
“However, such an event would likely bore these already fidgeting youngsters half to death. As such, I will be postponing that town meeting to tomorrow. Anyone is welcome to join, as it will greatly impact your future.” The man known as Ralph Fictor bowed before us all, then led his wife to the front of the crowd. Even though his words bore a sense of finality, the aura the family was exuding implied the contrary. Pinching the cloth of the dress at her hips with her thin fingers, she bowed her head forward as well.
“It is a pleasure to meet you all, my name is Lillia Fictor, the wife of Ralph. Please wait, as I have a small announcement of my own.” Contrary to her husband’s weak voice, Lillia’s was captivating, pulling the listener along with every word. Even those dolts around James, normally lacking social awareness to the point that they were already leaving, had stopped in their tracks to listen. The children of the nobles seemed to be stifling their laughter all the while, though what was so funny was beyond me. No matter what it was, the lady pretended not to notice. “As an apology for taking all of your time this evening, we decided to throw a bit of a feast! Of course, we are providing the food and beverages, so help yourself!” With a snap of her fingers, servants seemed to appear from nowhere, causing a good few of the crowd to jump in shock. In a matter of seconds, tables were suddenly placed all around, with heaps of foods I had never seen before.
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“Now, to the prosperity of the village!” Not held back in the slightest by the stock still residents of the village, the woman raised forth her glass, only to then chug down the beverage. Meanwhile everyone else just seemed to be dazed, everything was happening at a breakneck pace after all. The older men were the first to join in, grabbing glasses from one of the plethora of tables, and sharing in the revelry. Soon after, the wives joined in, then the young men. More and more joined, until it seemed like I was the only one still thinking all of that was weird. It was weird, right? Well… it wasn’t like I could do anything about it. I just shrugged, and walked towards the closest table to grab something to sate my empty stomach.
“Well, well, if it isn’t scrawny ol’ Bella,” a snide voice welcomed me almost immediately after I made that decision. Unfortunately, it was the very same table as James and his cronies. “Sorry, but all the food here belongs to the Griffon Gang. Can’t let you have any! But maybe if you crawl on yo-”
“Don’t care, idiot,” My stomach had priority over whatever stupid idea he had in his head that day, so I just quickly slipped past him. He was way too focused on the theatrics, leaving him wide open to just, well, going around him. Anyway, back to the important stuff. In front of me was now a vast array of foods I had never seen before. Did I say that already? Well I don’t really care, some things are important to restate! There was a large hunk of meat coated in some sort of gravy, a basket of white and fluffy breads that were soft to the touch, and a plate of what looked to be small balls of meat. It was a weird smorgasbord of food items that didn’t even seem to fit together in the slightest, but they all went down the same regardless. And after ignoring the screaming fit behind me, I vanished back into the crowd again with my food in hand. Specifically I had grabbed a loaf of white bread and a piece of meat seasoned with some sort of herb. They were pretty good, and I slowly chewed away at them while I observed the noble family through the gaps of the crowd.
Yet as I gazed nonchalantly through the crowd at the Fictors, ignoring the revelry and antics of the crowd, I suddenly felt a chill down my spine, like when a handful of river water is suddenly poured down the back of your tunic. Someone was watching me. I couldn’t explain how I knew, but I just simply knew. It was pretty much impossible to find the source of the discomfort immediately however. The group around James had already given up the pursuit of me, and were back to gawking at the nobles. In fact, from where I stood it seemed like nearly everyone was entranced by them.. From the people-person Jenny to that old lonely grouch Rick, the Fictors were the center of everyone’s world at the moment. Even my parents were enraptured by the group, as they tried to weave through the crowd to get a closer look. And why wouldn’t they? The Fictors seemed to have this unique aura coming off them that I had never seen before, one that just made people gravitate towards them. So if the source of the feeling wasn’t Jame’s crew, the villagers, or even my parents, then…
My eyes turned forward, back to the new Baron and his family.. The father was smiling and making merry with Elder Theo. Already, alcohol had found itself into their hands, and a red flush to their faces. His wife stood surrounded by the old and young women of the village alike, introducing themselves one by one to the gorgeous lady. The son, Edgar I think his name was, was introducing himself to the village guard, showing off his swordplay and the like at a relatively empty area away from the party. While he was indeed looking in my general direction, I highly doubted the source was him with how intently he was showing off his skill with the blade. So I kept moving and looking around, checking every viewpoint. The hunt grew cold, as the almost threatening feeling dissipated, leaving me mentally alone to my thoughts.
But that’s when I finally noticed her. Unlike the rest of her family, nobody was crowding around her. She appeared as almost a sort of sole crimson and gold rose, walking in solitude amidst an empty field. It didn’t even seem like she was being avoided either, as not a single soul was looking in her direction. Well, none save me of course. By the time I noticed her, she was already a good distance from the venue, about to sneak away behind the Elder’s house. However, her head suddenly turned to face the crowd once more. I unintentionally gasped.
Even from that distance, I could see those verdant, gem-like eyes staring into mine, a slight smirk on her face. Once more, a shiver enveloped me, as if it wasn’t early autumn but deep into winter. I swear I could see my breath steaming in the air, but I honestly didn’t know how that was even possible. At that point, she had fully turned around and started to wait. I instinctively knew what she was waiting for, and walked briskly before her.
To her back was the setting sun, casting an almost heavenly glow across her that colored her vermillion dress almost crimson. Her face was shadowed, yet her eyes were almost shining regardless, staring into me. It was like my soul was being probed. I dared not breathe. I dared not blink. And just as I felt like my very being was about to be undone, she laughed. Immediately, the tension broke, her gleaming eyes fading to normalcy.
“Sorry, I didn’t expect anyone to find me so quickly…” she fiddled with the tips of her hair, while averting her eyes to mine. “I thought I’d play a bit of a prank, but it seemed to have backfired. So uh….” Her eyes flitted back to me, then back to looking away, before finally sighing. “Sorry about that.” After a moment of slightly awkward silence, she held out her hand, her other still twirling away at her long hair.
“My name is Leona, Leona Fictor. And you?”
I grabbed onto her hand in turn, grasping it firmly. It was smooth, far smoother than my rough skin calloused from working in the fields. Yet it didn’t feel weak in the slightest. On the contrary, it felt strong, far stronger than mine. “My name is Isabelle, though most just call me Bella…”
“Nice to meet you Bella!” She grinned, her gleaming smile reminiscent of when little kids got away with a prank of some sort. “Now say, would you like to be my first friend?”
My simple nod lit her smile even brighter than the sun at her back. She jumped with joy, her golden locks bouncing in the light of the fading sunset. Her joy was infectious, and I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit in return. Yet all the same, I couldn’t help but wonder what I had just agreed to.
