The Eye of The Storm

Chapter 2

Moving westward  

They had been keeping a steady pace on horseback for several days now, only stopping for a few minutes at a time to rest or eat quickly. They lived off of the land, eating roots, berries and leaves that they collected as they moved. It was a special occasion when the soldiers would catch a rabbit or some other small game as they did not often have the pleasure of eating meat. Aella was exhausted and would alternate between clenching her eyes shut during the day and staring at the black sky at night, her arms still wrapped around her father as they rode on one horse. Her mother rode on another horse beside them and the soldiers both led the way and followed in suit. When she finally fell asleep she usually had the same kind of dream or didn't dream at all. It was on the nights when she didn't dream that she found the most peace.

When she did dream, she was dressed in a lavish gown. This contrasted the set of dark navy and brown gowns with overlaying tunics made of woolen cloth that she was accustomed to. The gown was made of a softer gleaming pink material that spread out from her waist to her feet. There was a sheer bodice, covered in delicately sewn gold leaves, white jewels and pink fluffy flowers. Her hair was kept up with pearl pins and she wore a thin gold crown upon her head. Her shoulders felt bare as she was used to having a thick piece of cloth wrapped around them as well as her head in order to help keep her warm. Missing from her waist was the belt that had special keepsakes attached to it such as the raven pin her mother had given to her and of course a small dagger for protection, though she couldn't imagine that there were many things more dangerous than the storm.

Her body and her life had never felt so foreign because in the dream she was queen of Thrace and the storm had never happened. Her father's beard was darker, the grey hairs from worrying about keeping his wife and daughter safe, removed. And her mother had a slight smile, some of the wrinkles around her eyes had disappeared, like the grey from her father's beard. Thaumas and Electra were sitting on two thrones set back from the larger throne that Aella was standing in front of, in a large hall with stone pillars at each side.

At this time in the dream, Kreios would come running in grinning deviously, his dark curls falling in his face and he would pick up Aella in an embrace, their laughter echoing throughout the hall. There was also a woman in the dream, though Aella couldn't recognize her face. Usually, Aella would forget about the woman upon waking to the thumping of the horse's hoof beats, too overwhelmed with seeing the brother she had never met.

"Where are we father?" Aella said sleepily, rubbing at her eyes. Thaumas was especially adept at reading the land and the skies, though this was not his supernatural gift from the gods. Many times Aella had asked this question and Thaumas always replied in a confident and sure voice, pointing out certain landmarks and rock formations to help explain their current location. It always helped to know where one was in times like these, even though where one was didn't really matter.

"I suspect we are nearing the west border of Thrace," spoke Thaumas in a raspy voice. Then he cleared his voice and continued, " We are following the Arda river. In the distance are the Rhodope Mountains, though you cannot see them because of the storm." Thaumas signaled to a group of three soldiers and when they came he said, " Take the water jugs and collect drinking water from the Arda." They always carried many extra jugs of water with them when they came across a river or stream. It was a preventative measure, in case the eye of the storm led them where there was no water.

"Will we have to go to the mountains?" Aella asked curiously. In all of the time that the storm had existed, it had never once led them out of Thrace and thus Thrace was the only land that Aella was familiar with. Because they were constantly moving, the storm itself moving in a more convoluted rather than rational manner, the map of Thrace that Aella had constructed in her head was somewhat off. From the west to east borders Thrace was cut in half by Mount Haemus. Below the west to east border are the plains of Danube, which are drained by the largest river in Thrace called the Hebrus. The Danube plains consisted of hilly land that rises higher the farther one goes east. Near the east border was the Bosphorus strait, which connects the Black Sea on the east to the Sea of Marmara to the south. Thrace had a typical Mediterranean climate with warm, wet winters and hot, dry summers.