Crusaders of Sky

Chapter Two

I got out of bed that morning when the first ray of sun shot through the window. The floor wasn't too damp, so it couldn't have rained for too long. My bed creaked as I slowly rolled out of it. Dad and Edwyn were already in the kitchen, my father looking happy that I had slept in. He had commented on the walk back from the market that my face looked tired. I probably still looked just as tired, even though laying down in your bed for hours does give you some energy.

          "We can't miss a beat today! This week's market is in Westford, for the first time in months, so we can sell more items!"Dad's excitement was empowering. I actually felt slightly in the mood to work. Edwyn rested his head on the table. He must not have gotten any sleep last night either. I couldn't stop remembering about what had happened at the market. This week's market would be in Westford, so it would be less likely for any guards to show up. The market locations rotated so that it was fair to everyone in the western portion of Skyloom, so that everyone would have a chance to sell their best when the market came to their town.

          The markets weren't organized by the Emperor. If he had it his way, people would be selling the resources to him. But the markets had existed before his reign, and he probably couldn't stand up to the angry mobs of all of Skyloom with himself and his guards. The richest part of Skyloom is the north, where the Emperor has his palace. We had debated going to the northern market to sell things one time, but we could't afford a sheltered nights rest, so we decided against it.

          Plus, if Lochdale's market had guards on the prowl, I can only imagine how many would be at the northern market.

          Today was not an arborberry picking day. For all of the other markets, we only picked arborberries on the Saturday, as they would be the freshest if we got them the day before, and all we could carry. But when the market was in Westford, Dad would always try to work on one of his inventions. We would always abandon him and collect spare wood from the lumberjacks, spare metal from the town blacksmith, and spare wool from the weaver. We had a spinning wheel at our house, used much more often when mom was around to spin fabric, but Edwyn had figured it out. He would put the wool in and spin it, and I would pull the string at the other end to make it go faster. At the end of the day, we could make a sweaterful of string. Then, the next day, we would find what dad wanted weaved, and take it to Rosanne. A weaver, she had been friends with my mother, and would be happy to create whatever my father needed for his invention. Rosanne was the closest thing that Edwyn and I had to a mother, but we couldn't see her often, because she had to be busy all the time to make a living. This time, Dad needed a lot of cloth.

          When we delivered two days worth of string to Rosanne, and Dad's outline of what he needed made, she looked extremely bewildered. She playfully scolded us that she would barely be able to get it done for Sunday, but a trace of a smile was on her face. She always seemed happy to do projects for us. This would be the most demanding project we had ever given her, and she would need to postpone a lot of work in order to get it done, but she was still happy to help. 

          When we got home, Dad had a good supply of wire that he was fiddling with. He seemed to have put away the metal we had gotten for him. 

          "Dad, what are you going to sell this week?" Edwyn asked. I liked to keep it a surprise most of the time.

          "Nothing." Dad grinned, but it seemed to be a kind of grimace at the same time.

          "What?" Edwyn's face fell. "This is the biggest project you've ever given Rosanne, and you're not even going to sell it?"

          "Rosanne will be paid for this one." Dad still had the grin-masked grimace on his face.