Seekers of Nazar

Chapter Six

Elleric had been listening to the sounds of the hearth for the past hour. The crackling had kept pace with his troubled thoughts. Now that it was dying, his mind was growing quiet too. Sleep was finally approaching. The others had spent the night talking, but Elleric had not joined them. Instead, he watched from afar, lying in his clothes on top of the covers. They had stayed up into the late hours, discussing their homelands and childhoods. Leilandri was the first to retire, moving through the room like a ghost in her white robes. She smiled when she saw he was still awake. Tori and Tol-Aka took much longer. They talked in hushed whispers, interrupted every so often by Tol-Aka's laughter or a passionate declaration from Tori. He heard enough to know they were talking about mountains and mining, and other things. When Tol-Aka arose, his eyes locked with Elleric's for a moment before he left.

It was late but, for Elleric, the night was just beginning. Sleep was not his friend. His mind drifted over many things but settled on the council meeting. He had detected a hint of pride in the eyes of Tol-Aka's father. He understood that look, having seen it on his own father's face. A faint memory arose in Elleric's mind. His father was clasping him on the back after he had chopped wood with uncanny precision.

The men in Elleric's family lived by a code that was written in actions, not words. His father had lived by it day after hard day. Elleric had seen it written in the calluses of his father's hands as he worked the farm and in the lines on his face.

Elleric also felt the code written into his own loneliness. When the Kings called for recruits to fight their battles, his father had answered. He set out to do a year as a soldier. A young Elleric was left to provide for his sister and mother. His father never returned from the front lines. Farmers rarely did.

The loss of his father felt like losing the ground he walked on. He would sit in the field behind his house, the same one his father had plowed, thinking about how to be the man that his mother and sister needed. He tried hard to do everything around the house for them, but it felt pale in comparison to his father.

His mother and sister weren't like the other women in his village. They were tall like men. What they lacked in warmth and expression, they made up for in serene beauty. They were his entire world. Everything they did was exemplary. They cooked meals to perfection, and their etiquette was impeccable. Their knitting and cross-stitching were highly sought after in the surrounding villages. Their crowning glory came when the queen commissioned a baby blanket for her niece. They created a piece that even Elleric admired. The golden threads lit up when the sun hit the fabric.

His mother never remarried. Instead, she devoted herself to her children. His sister had many suitors whom she turned down. One man, the town's blacksmith, showed up every evening to take her on a walk. He always held his hat in his hand and was very polite. As they walked, the man would help his sister over puddles and debris in the road, touching her hand lightly and then gently letting it go. Once, before Elleric left home, he asked his sister why she wouldn't consent to marry such an honorable man. She had walked out of the room without answering.

He had left home shortly after the blanket was commissioned to follow in his father's footsteps. He headed south to join the Kings' Army. His mother and sister had a steady stream of commissions from the capitol, and Elleric was restless. He still ached for his father and was searching for something out in the world.

That was many years ago. Elleric hadn't found much in the life of a soldier to ease his restlessness.

His mind returned to the present, to the Zul-Li. They were not like his family, or like his fellow soldiers. The Zul-Li did not hide their feelings. In a strange way, he seemed to understand them. He admired how they lived and worked together. It reminded him of when he was young, when his father was alive to care for his family. The Zul-Li lived by their own code of hard work and honesty, but also of kindness towards each other.