Dawn broke, early morning light seeping through the curtains into a small, almost empty room.
Rune's eyes were wide open. He couldn't sleep, his mind conjuring every possible thing that could go wrong. It didn't help that the men of a dead woman were looking for him.
Beside him, Elsie lay on her back asleep. They shared a cot tucked in the corner of the room that had their two crates of clothes beneath it.
It was all they had, as the Madam forbade them from possessing anything else.
"A person shouldn't own much." She had said when she first showed Rune the room he would be staying in.
Getting up, Rune walked to the basin by the side of the window and splashed his face with the cool water he had poured for the two of them for the morning.
Grabbing the cup by the basin to wash his hair, he paused. He saw his reflection peering back at him, his bloodshot eyes and dark circles evidence of his lack of sleep. His physical appearance mirrored the turbulence in his mind, a fact that wouldn't be left unnoticed.
Using the bar of soap, he began to viciously scrub his scalp as he tried to get rid of the months' worth of dirt and grime from his hair. As he rinsed his hair in another bucket by the side, the dirt-looking water accumulated.
Drying his hair with a clean shirt from the crate, Rune instantly felt lighter from the heavily overdue wash needed.
After tending to himself, he went to wake his sister, who heavily protested the interruption of her sleep. He had her sit on the floor with her head bent over the bucket as Rune began to wash her short black hair that matched the length of his own.
Despite living with the Madam, a roof over their heads and a few coins of compensation from his delivery runs were all that she provided. She had told Rune that he would earn his keep and that his survival depended solely on his efforts. She had stayed true to her word. Nothing the Madam decided on or gave was free of charge. No matter how loyal or committed a person was, she treated them as she would every other person who was working beneath her. There was no favouritism, a policy that kept most of her workers from betraying her or ignoring her calls. They understood the full scope of their commitment upon signing the lifelong contracts she required.
Rumours held that the ink used for the contracts came from the forbidden Seers, who were said to carry great power within their blood. Following the aftermath of Nythos's civil war, Western Nythians took it upon themselves to hunt and kill all Seers as they believed them heretics who brought ill towards all Nythians regardless of origin. Many of the Seers were Eastern Nythians, as most Western Nythian Seers faced extermination before the Civil War.
In Alta and many other Eastern cities, according to Mavrik, Seers and their families were taken to Central Square, where the guards would read out their crimes of heresy for all to hear before they would hang. Their killings involved babies and children, so many families with familial blood ties to the Seers fled to Alathan, a nation that shared a border with Nythos.
Rune didn't know where the rumour about the Madam's contract had originated, but he found it strange that the gossip hadn't reached the guards.
Finished washing Elsie's hair, Rune walked to their door, where two long bands of black fabric and shades lay neatly by the entrance.
He brought the band to his forehead and secured a knot at the back of his head, doing the same for his sister.
As he gave Elsie the shades, she looked up at him in confusion.
"Why are we wearing dark spectacles?"
"They're called shades. It's something we wear at a funeral."
Elsie, who had been quiet for most of the morning, turned her head to look up at him as she picked up the situation.
"Someone died then."
"Yes."
She waited, looking at him expectantly.
Death was not common in Driftwood, so news of death was not uncommon for the children. It was a regular occurrence many had come to terms with. If hunger failed to kill you as an orphan, a scrimmage with the Reapers or merchants would kill most of the strays who managed to stay alive past their 13th birthday.
"It's Frendil."
"The one that made Madam angry with you."
"Yes, her."
Elsie looked back to the shades, then placed them on the bridge of her nose. Rune followed suit, flicking soot-looking ash off his cotton shirt, which had started to appear on his clothes often, although he had failed to trace back the source, causing his clothing to appear dirty.
Rune picked up a black sling instead of the usual dark grey he used to carry Elsie and helped his sister settle on his back. Then, picking up the bucket of dirty water to dump before they left, Rune closed their room and headed out toward the awaiting carriage.
*****
The carriage ride to the graveyard located on the outskirts of Alta was anything but comfortable.
The Madam, Scar, and her maid Uma sat on one side of the carriage, while Rune, Elsie, and a ghostly pale-looking man who claimed to be a merchant sat on the other.
The man had introduced himself as Hector, who had come from Bryonia, a nation that mostly kept to itself in the far corner of Terra.
No questions were raised about his joining, indicating the Madam's intentions for him to tag along.
On a personal note, Rune didn't like Hector. He felt the man was up to no good by the way he eyed the blue crystals decorating the carriage's interior or the curious looks he gave them as he examined their black bands and shades.
Rune thought the ride would end in silence, but halfway to their destination, Hector decided to speak up.
"Are the shades and bands ceremonial?" He asked, gesturing at the same black band and shades the Madam wore.
Rune and Elsie stared Hector down for his blatant disrespect and boldness, causing them to openly gape at his candour in addressing the Madam directly without her permission.
The Madam gave no notice of his blunder and responded while her gaze remained fixed on the window. "It is a custom adopted by the East. The black bands are a way to tell the bereaved that you recognize their loss and you grieve with them. We tie them around our heads to show that we carry the loss and pain they are experiencing. A symbol of solidarity, if you will. Quite the contrary, the shades were a more recent adaptation following the creation of the glass spectacle. It was more of a means to hide the eyes of those in mourning, to hide welled-up tears and bloodshot eyes."
Rune scoffed internally. No one would cry for the bat-like woman. She had swindled many to reach her position, causing the deaths of numerous street children who worked to purify the blue Rye crystals. Many exposed to the Rye gas from crushing and melting the crystals suffocated, their lungs coated in blue glittering shards that formed when moisture and Rye gas combined and solidified back into crystals.
From what he'd heard from some orphans under her care, they lived their lives in constant pain. Once, a girl barely Elsie's age had told him it felt like a knife was stabbing her from the inside out each time she tried to take a breath.
The bodies of victims of the deadly gas would often have blue crystals at the back of their throats when the guards found them.
"Why, a truly unique custom."
At Hector's astonishment, the Madam looked to stare the merchant down.
"It is not the only custom we practice. We are distinct from the Nythians of the West, who have chosen to neglect tradition and follow a Fellorian deity."
"Is that the reason behind the civil war?"
"That, among other—differences, didn't bode well with those heathens."
"I heard the West won the war. Is the East not ruled by the West? From what I've seen, the patrols seem to all be from the West."
"You've observed correctly, but their ruling is that only in name. After staying for some time in Alta, what do you have to say about who controls whom?"
"It seems the East is self-sufficient."
"That is correct. We let the West think they have a hold over us, and in return, we live in peace, away from their heathen ideologies and strange practices they have inherited from the Fellorians."
Hector then decided to raise a question that caused the Madam to look at him with suspicion.
"I heard the main dispute was due to the emerald and ruby dimes that reside mostly in the East."
"If it were so, why would we go to war with one another given that we are of one nation? I've seen the maps of Bryonia. You're the only one who's separated East from West Nythos with a line that isn't close to accurate. Did you know many Eastern Nythian cities reside in the area you've bordered off as West?"
At the Madam's mention of his home nation, Hector's face became sheepish.
"You merchants love to think the war was over land skirmishes. I've come across many merchants, land often being the topic of dispute and disagreement in the business. Did you know we consider you fools? Where you see land, we see people as valuable commodities. Land is the least of our problems. Our traditions and beliefs hold more weight to our daily life."
The Madam tipped her head in Scar's direction while her eyes remained unflinching on the merchant.
"He carries scars along his arms, a sign to all that both of his parents have passed, an honour the men of the East wear on their arms to keep those who have raised and brought them into the world a memory. It is not only a custom but a mark that some women choose to bear as a sign of respect for their dead."
The Madam turned back towards the window.
"Although we hate one another, know that we are not like the traitors of the West. We may bicker and express our hostility openly amongst each other, but we are the last to betray our own. It is why we are attending a funeral despite my strained connection with the deceased."
"Per the tradition you mentioned, I assume the Reapers will be in attendance."
"You are correct."
Hector nodded and quietly sunk into the cushioned seat as he stared into his hands.
The Madam stopped talking, having conveyed what needed to be said to the stranger.
Rune watched as Hector patted his legs, searching for something. Finding it, Hector pulled out a small notebook and pen and began scribbling frantically. His blue eyes scrunched in deep concentration, emitting an eerie light-blue glow.
Rune turned toward the Madam and Scar to see if they also noticed the abnormality he observed in the merchant, but they behaved as if nothing was amiss.
Hector turned his way, catching Rune staring at him. Quickly looking away from the blond-haired man, Rune looked out the window alongside his sister.
His lack of sleep was starting to show the most likely explanation for the cause of his hallucination.
Looking back to confirm his undersupply of rest, Rune peaked from beneath his dark curls to look at the merchant but found Hector no longer writing in his notebook but observing Scar with an unnatural interest. Hector's new curiosity didn't seem to notice as he was busy sharpening a knife with a whetstone.
Rune averted his eyes.
Yes, you were hallucinating. The Madam told you to get some sleep, but look what not listening does.
A sudden jolt had Rune look outside as he saw lush trees surrounding the carriage, a stark change in landscape compared to the city. The carriage came to a stop, and its door opened as the coachman announced their arrival.
The Madam was the first to step out, her boots clicking against the carriage's steps before they all followed suit, with Elsie being last as Rune had her climb on his back to secure her.
The Madam dismissed the coachman and held on to a black satchel in her hand as she turned toward a small clearing that already had some people gathered.
"Rune, at my side."
He obliged, hurriedly standing at her right while Scar took her left, with Hector at her back.
"Now, let's see what mess our departed business partner has left us, shall we?"