Of Love and Duty

The Traveller

Eimerado, 17th of 11th, 1392 ANS

Izzy was so excited that she woke up much earlier than usual.

At last, the quarantine was over! She would leave that island that same morning to reach the residence the Vernolian Church had provided to the Earthling Delegation! She could go out and explore the country as much as they liked—or almost.

In those forty days, Izzy and Maxi, along all the first-timer UNARNH Travellers, had to learn the local customs and the etiquette to avoid any diplomatic issue. Going out chaperoned was a pain in the arse: she got that, as a foreigner, she could get lost or in trouble because there were more rules that she could learn. But not because she was a girl, or because she wore her hair at about mid-back lenght! One of Papa's female colleagues had suggested to use a spell to make Izzy's tresses grow past her feet to make it look like she never cut them since the day she was born. Izzy had refused. Already she would have to do without shampoo, conditioner and washing her hair as frequently as she used to; it was out of the question that she would have to bear with Rapunzel-like hair!

Izzy turned and tossed in her bed, trying to fall asleep. She had gotten the last word about her hairstyle, but she hardly would concerning the clothes.

Up until the previous day, she had worn the modern, comfortable underwear, jeans and sweaters she had brought with her, but that would change as soon as the sun was up. Would she be forced into a tight-laced corset, one that crushed and misplaced all her internal organs and limited her rib cage for the sake of a fashionable silhouette? She was a little stupid not to look into the matter, especially since she couldn't trust the nuns and servant' clothing—they were obviously made to make the sacred virgins unattractive, and the maids' one was certainly a two or three decades out of fashion, if not more.

She sat up with a loud, frustrated groan. Then she checked her watch—it had taken her a little to adjust it to the local time, and it would still be approximate until the Spring Equinox.

"A quarter to seven! Well, I suppose it's useless to try catching some more sleep," she grumbled.

She got off the bed and wrapped her shoulders into a thick woollen shawl; then she took into her hands the hearten cup filled with cold water and whispered a heating spell. When the water got at the right temperature, she dipped into a tea bag—she'd rather die than go without her morning tea—and opened the window.

The sight of three moons hovering in the sky still took Izzy's breath away—a shame she had already packed her camera and lenses, except her Polaroid which wasn't the best choice for Astronomical Photography. The reddish Maintar was the closest one to the Earth's satellite in terms of phase length. Right then, it almost full and hung low on the west. The white one, Laitar, was a first quarter right then—it was also called the Seasons Moon, since it took about three months to go through its phases. The Yearly Moon or Uaitar, was a waning gibbous casting a golden glow. 

"A shame I won't see all three of them full ," Izzy whispered, sipping her tea.

The local scholar had said that the next "Brightest Night" was expected in six years. It would be considered an auspicious year, unlike the current one which had all new moons at the same time. The opposite, with all the moons new at the same time, was called the "Darkest Night". Both events were two nights of prayer, fast and abstinence; the first thanking the Vernolian deities for their benevolence, and the latter begging for it. Apparently, during the last Darkest Night a fire had ravaged the Capital, reason why Izzy, her family, and the UNARNH employees were quarantinated on a private villa.

The horizon turned a lighter hue of the East and, after about half an hour, bells tolled from the inky blotch that was Eimerado. It was the beginning of a new day—the beginning of the actual visit of this alien yet familial place.