Fates Unbound: Across The All-Realm

Chapter 1: A Child's Fate

Northern Kingdom, Acklesburg
Peak of Harvest

The Breach is a new start for the All-Realm. For most living under the eye of one of the Five Kingdoms, there would come the time to serve their duty, whether it be apprenticeship, military service, or marital contract to secure some benefit for the greater good of one wealthy family in some high city. Some like to think they held a positive attitude toward their uncertain fate. Those passed over during the culling season would be spared for another year. While this may afford you more freedom, it is known that the longer you waited, the more likely you would end up one of the residents who's never left the confines of their birthlands.

"We need your house to provide two for the Culling this year," the gruff voice echoed down the vacant hallway. Jessa pressed herself into a dark corner, calming her breath, praying not to be caught eavesdropping. "Your boy ran off from the service, for gods' sake. I haven't the slightest clue why he'd do something that idiotic and fuck over his kin. Greta, you owe the Kingdom double contributions from your house or two tributes".

    Greta Umbrys drew in a shaky breath at the thought of losing two children in one year. It was shocking to learn her eldest son had failed to serve the five years of military service he'd been charged with by the king. She could remember the day he'd chosen to register for the Culling; he was smiling ear to ear. What could have happened on those foreign lands to turn her beloved son a traitor to the crown?
"But I cannot afford to pay double. We just lost Alwin this winter. Then, Palis ran off with the ship. We haven't even been able to leave port. We can barely keep our stomachs from aching. Mother forgive me, but damn her bounty. I'm feeding my children scraps," her ranting whisper grew louder as little cries slipped between her words.

    "Which is precisely why you have been asked of this. And his grace is not just asking, as I'm sure you know. You've paid no port taxes this year, nor have you paid a single river toll. When the King sees you have his land but have given nothing back, what do you expect-" Before the man's tone hardened to the point of no return, he took pause, his hand stroking his auburn beard, silver hairs shimmering in the dim light. "Look at it this way, Greta, all the more reason to relieve yourself of two mouths to feed. Please do not be foolish, I know you to be smarter than that." The man spoke harshly but rather honestly.

    The Umbrys were no longer the wealthy traders they once were. A mix of poor planning and even poorer spending landed them in worse financial standing than Alwin Umbrys two and fifty years ago when he'd arrived from the Northern Kingdom.

    "I'd already planned to send Alden.  He's just turned twenty and is  no longer of any use here without the ship. I can't send Freda, she's half-witted, and gods know what they'll decide for her. They don't treat her kind fairly," Jess peeked into the fire-lit kitchen. Her mother sat clutching a glass, her warm, salt and pepper curls casting wild shadows across a distraught expression. Her blue eyes looked like the glass eyes one would find on a child's doll.

    "It'll have to be Jessa, then. She's old enough, and you've got to stop coddling her," Now that she was closer, the voice was recognizable. It was her Uncle Sammon. He stood not far from her mother, his glass sitting pensively below his lip before he took another sip. "Not to mention you were younger when you started your apprenticeship. Five and ten years, if I remember. Yet you hold onto the girl as though she's incapable of pulling her weight for this family. For your family." Her mother stayed silent in thought for a moment, the crackling of the fire the only thing filling in the gap in conversation.
    
    "But I just can't let her go, Sammon. You know what we went through to have her, to keep her-"

    "And raise her in the right way, yes, and you have the gods to thank. Greta, she is a beautiful, smart, kind girl; All of that is because of you. You've done your job; now it's time to do hers." By the defeated look on Greta's face, Jess could tell it was decided, a fate sealed. A small lump formed in the back of her throat. "I'll be back to get them tomorrow by midday. Please tell her before then; I don't want to have her wailing the whole way out."
    
    With that final statement and an emptying gulp, he placed down the glass on the table and walked to the door, the thumping of his boots like some sign of impending danger. Like the rhythmic pounding of war drums. Jessa used this opportunity to slink back down the hall and into the room she shared with Freda. The quiet of the room was almost smothering; she cracked a window.
    
    "Sissy, are you awake?" Freda's gentle voice asked in the darkness.
    
    "Yes, birdie," Jessa confirmed quietly as she slipped beneath her bed linen.
    
    "Is Mommy in trouble?"

    "No, birdie."

    "Is Jessa going goodbye like Charlie?"

    Jessa sighed and nodded as though her sister's eyes had the ability to see her in the dark; maybe they did. As Jess shut her eyes and allowed the warm tears to creep past her lashes, she felt the bed dip beside her. Freda climbed beneath the covers and curled up with her sister. "It's okay, Sissy. Mommy says Papa can still feel my love in the Beyond. If he can feel it, you'll feel it too, no matter how far you go." Freda squeezed her sister firmly and rested her head in the crook of her neck.

    For a moment, it felt like they were six and three once more. Like their father once again sat on the bottom of the bed retelling grand tales of sailing the seas, fighting off bandits, spotting mysterious creatures in foreign lands. As Jessa listened to the breeze whistling through the open window, she decided that no matter what, she would take her charge with grace and dignity. She wouldn't let Freda worry about her. Somehow, she would come home.