Up there (Là haut english version)

Chapter 1

The castle was more animated than usual, the restless steps of the servants and guards and the cries of the organizers did not fail to reach my ears despite the fact that the floor of the rooms was isolated. I turned under my sheets and passed my head under the pillow to suffocate the noise, in vain, I was indeed awake. I pushed back my blanket before I set foot in the cloud. I walked slowly towards the largest window in my room and opened the shutters, letting in the soft warmth of the sun. Outside too the atmosphere was restless. A large part of the people of Nués-Arm had come to work, it was rare to see so many inhabitants of the mercantile city in the kingdom, but for that special day, it had been decided that we would need a maximum of help to Nués-Royal, and no one refused a job in the capital, where a day's work was worth a dozen in the rest of the country. The spectacle offered by the workers was fascinating, and I often asked Father to take me out of the capital just to observe them. Some of them took pieces of the sun to redistribute them in the fireplaces while others pressed the clouds and collected their rains to fill the bottles.

A few knocks at my door pulled me out of my contemplation and I turned around as Allie entered my room.

"Did you juste get up ?" she shaid, surprised, "I thought the excitement and the anxiety would push you to get up sooner. "

"They make me wanna go back to my bed and never come out", I answered under the inquisitive look of my little sister.

"Don't be stupid. It's your day, Freya ! You should be happier, everyone's attention will be on you !" she declared, overexcited, "Orga will be here soon, you should come down and eat someting first", she added before going out without giving me time to say anything.

I suspected Allie was a little jealous. After all, the Ceremony was only for the eldest daughter, she wouldn't have one, which I tought was stupid. Why do we have to do a flurry of activity for the 18-year-olds of one but not the other? How did being born three years earlier make me more special than Allie?

I sighed slightly and began to trade my big sweater for a thinner t-shirt before going down. I crossed my reflection in the long mirror that decorated my wardrobe and noticed my dark circles. Despite what I wanted to make believe, I hadn't slept much and I had spend the night imagining everything that could screw up today. After developing all the worst possible scenarios, I had finally fallen asleep, but far from being serene, I had woken up several times. As I went into the great hall, I had a thought for Orga and her assistants, who should gather together to hide the signs of tiredness on my face.

For the first time in a long time, pratically all the chairs around the main table were occupied. A large part of the family didn't live at the castle, so, they were normally only used by my parents, my little sister and myself. As Allie and Grandma were shooting Karn with questions about his life in Nués-Vegas and tried to find out if he was dating anyone, Nysson had cleared a part of the table to lay down his sword and quietly polis hit under Grandpa's approval eyes. Mother and Father, for their part, were discussing at the other end of the buffet, and if they did not raise their voice, their faces were guessed to disagree.

"Dron, will you stop bothering my sister on the morning of such a great day?" said the oldest of my uncles as I entered the room, "Freya ! Go in", he continued, noticing me as the embrace of the door.

"Freya !" cried the youngest of my brothers, while rising to take me in his arms, "You would not have grown since the last time?"

"Let her breathe a little, Karn. Come and sit with us", said Nysson.

Karn released me, and put his blond hair back in place that was now reaching his shoulders, mumbling something like Nysson would be a buzzkill who didn't even take the time to kiss his sister that he hadn't seen for a long time. I smiled, happy to see that the family atmosphere was always the same. I had spent a large part of my childhood with Karn, Allie being too young and Nysson having left the castle very quickly to join the army. Seeing him again took a weight from my heart, and suddenly I felt much more ready to face the rest of the day.

"If you want Freya to take her place, you might want to put your sword away. She takes up too much space", Mother said in a tone that made it clear that it was not a request but an order. "What do you want to eat, honey?" she asked me while Nysson complied.

"I'll juste have some juice and bread, I'm not really hungry."

"It's okay to be anxious, but it's going to be okay", whispered Karn, winking at me.

After gaining strenght, I began to join Allie to find out if the youngest of my brothers had the heart taken, but he didn't blink and refused to confide anything to us. To avoid the conversation, he began to tickle Allie who tried to reciprocate. The room then became their playground, they ran after each other laughing, under the benevolent look of our parents. As they both wiped their eyes full of tears, I noticed that they had exactly the same, small sparkling green eyes, while Nysson and I had deep hazel eyes. As if the mere thought of him had invoked him, he appeared to my right, with a serious look.

"All and Karn are lucky. They're not the elders, they can choose the life they want. You and I, Freya, it's different", he mumbles as he rubs his eyes in a tired way. As first boy and first girl, we have duties. I'm not trying to scare you, I just hope you're ready ", he ends up lowering his voice.

I knew that as the first boy, Nysson was obliged to join the army and even to be at the head of this one, while the first girl had to manage the economy and the people. It was like this all along in the royal family, until the boy became king and relegated these duties to his own children. But this was only a superficial contract, the peace reigning for a long time, the army was only there for the form, and the economy was perfectly managed, avoiding the revolts of the people. However, Nysson had needed to polish his weapon, he looked exhausted, and the argument of Father and Mother this morning...

"Is there a problem, Nys? It is the inhabitants of the merchant city who are revolting? That's weird, we always got along with them... "

"There is no problem with them", he cut me off.

"So with whom?" I tried, "the ceremony takes place in just a few hours, I am already 18 years old, you can tell me", I added, seeing his hesitation.

"With the people of Tenebris", he gave up gravely.

I hadn't heard this name for years, and shuddered at its mere evocation. I was about to answer when, all of a sudden, Orga came into the room, reminding me that we should have started fitting a good hour ago, tearing me away from Nys, with whom I couldn't finish my conversation.