Thorne

Chapter One: Foundation

Growing up, Roland Aharo knew that he was different from all of the other boys in his village. Headstrong, well mannered, and educated, Roland was raised by his father the same way that his father before him had raised him. Roland lived with his father and his two older brothers on their farm that was considered to be the northern most cottage in the village of Ashtabar. The village is inhabited by crop farmers as well as some men looking to make a living by trading goods with farmers and selling them to towns and cities closer to the capital. Ashtabar was a bustling little village but Roland and his family were content living in the quiet near the forest. Roland's mother passed some time ago due to a plague that hit the same time that winter did. Roland has no true memories of his mother other than her bright smile and her waist-long brown hair that seemed to change as the seasons did. Roland came into this world with his mother's lighter features as well as her ever changing hair. From his father, Roland only inherited his bright green eyes with hints of brown blooming from the pupils. 

Without the company of his mother, Roland learned to work both in the cottage as well as on the farm doing whatever his father tells him to do. Unfortunately, Roland had a weak heart that made it hard for him to work for longer than half an hour. His brothers looked down on him for this because they both believed that Roland was not pulling his weight around the cottage. Roland was nearly forced to stay inside so he would not strain himself. He had become particularly skilled in preparing food for both himself and his family. Roland was not truly fond of the outdoors because he knew that going outside usually led to going down to the river to bathe in the cold water after getting sweaty. But Roland never disrespected his father because he knows of the hardships he faced with a being a wanted man and having to raise a family on his own. For years Roland worked inside cleaned the cottage and only went outside when his father needed him to go down to the village to fetch essentials and do whatever his father wanted him to which usually involved finding traders. Roland didn't know much about the world outside of the village and even then, he knew little since he spent his time inside the cottage. It was one of Roland's wishes to travel to the capital or even outside the limits of the Ashtaban but he knew that it would likely never happen because of his father's stern beliefs about Stohim. Only recently did Roland learn from his father that he was once part of the Stohim military forces before deserting when he met Roland's mother.

Roland's father was in the vanguard of the military while his mother was a apothecary that was treating wounds for both the Stohim military and the small rebelling forces that formed in the Northwest corner of Stohim when they were unsatisfied with their living conditions. His parents met during the siege of the town that held the leaders of the rebellion. The two of them met when Roland's father was stuck in the shoulder by and arrow. They grew close to each other while Roland's father was recovering and they ran away together to Ashtaban where they picked up farming and did nothing more significant than providing food for Stohim and making a family.

When Roland took the twelve mile carriage ride to the village market every week to buy and sell goods, he would always dream of life outside of the boundaries of Ashtaban but he would never get that far into thought because there were many other things on his mind. To make the trip to the market feelshorter, Roland would recite the list of supplies that his father had asked him to retrieve. Every so often, there would be several boys that were Roland's age that were curious to know who Roland was. He rarely interacts with the village boys or other people he meets except for those who he visits on his weekly trip.  Roland generally wanted to be left alone by others but to pass the time he would answer the many questions that he was bombarded with by the other boys.

"What is your name?" They would ask.

"Roland Aharo."

"Why don't we see you more often?"

"I have to work with my father all day."

"Why is your skin so light? Is it because you're a witch?" One boy would ask while the others snicker behind him.

"I tend to stay inside all day because I have a weak heart."

"Do you also eat mushrooms and cast spells on people since you're a witch?" The boys break out into laughter.

"No."

Roland gave short answers to all of their curiosities and then he would get everything his father told him to get before returning home. Roland was given the job of  make supper for himself and the rest of his family every night so Roland was in a rush to get home in order to have some well-deserved rest for another day of work.

One day Roland came home to his father without many of the things that he had requested. When asked why he had forgotten most of the things that he was required to get, Roland gave an answer that his father would understand but he tried his best to avoid the truth. Roland never felt good when he lied to his father because he knows that his father wouldn't do that to him.

"I was half way to the village market when a group of men asked me for direction to the capital, they were walking in the wrong direction so I told then that they could catch a ride to the village and then someone else could help them from there. Then when they got in the back of the carriage they asked me all these questions about the village and I must have forgotten many of the things you asked for. If it means anything to you I can easily go to the village market tomorrow."

Roland felt like he had stabbed his father in the back but Roland's father smiled and simply told Roland to that it looked like it was going to rain tomorrow so it would be best if he went to the village market the next day. Roland apologized to his father again before going to his room to slip into bed.

But the truth about the forgotten supplies was that there was a girl older than Roland who was with her grandmother and Roland couldn't stop thinking about her. The girl was fair skinned, pretty and had long, flowing brown hair. Roland thought that they were on the way to the village to trade their herbs to the doctor until he thought that they may be the apothecaries, a profession widely shunned upon by Aztellan leaders since it resembled Botany. Luckily the two of them were in the north of the country instead of closer to the capital. Roland then realized that the girl was looking over at him and the two exchanged embarrassed looks. The girl then asked Roland who he was and why she hadn't had the pleasure of meeting him before. Roland tried the best he could to answer her in the polite way that his father had taught him to.

"Does your name match the beauty of the face that smiles before me?" Both Roland and the old woman sitting next to the girl knew that the statement was made up on the spot but the girl was too busy blushing to notice their expressions.

"You will just have to find out farm boy," she managed to keep back a playful smile "you of all people should know that you need to work hard to get something you want."

The two of them talked since they were both heading to the village market. Roland found out that the girl was an apprentice apothecary under her teacher, the old woman, who was still cringing at Roland's attempts to impress her. The girl told Roland that she and her teacher were going to stay in the village for two days until they were done getting the information they were looking for. The girl wouldn't tell Roland what information they were looking for but she was willing to tell Roland that she would like to see him in the city before she left. Before the two of them parted ways when they reached the village, the girl turned to Roland and told him that she wouold like to see him soon. The girl then winked as a smile formed across both her and Roland's faces.

Throughout the day from that point on, Roland was distracted by the memory of her eyes because they were the darkest shade of blue he had ever seen in someone's eyes. Wherever he looked he was haunted by their mysterious glow in the evening sun.

In his bed, Roland was trying hard to remember all of the features of her face but it was starting to ebb away from his memory to where all that was left were her eyes. Roland signed as he pressed his head against his pillow and the sound of rain hitting the ground outside lulled him to sleep.