aesthyr.

chapter nine.

September 1st:

Rhiannon and Ivale walked down the busy streets of the bustling city, the beautiful lamps dotting the side of the cobblestone road, the flames flickering as a light breeze brushed over them. The two girls made their way down a smaller stretch of road until they ended up at a large strawberry farm. They walked down the pathway lining the side of the farm, and ended up at a beautiful cottage, with flowery vines growing up its brick walls. They walked inside and were greeted by Charlie and Stella, who had just come back to the house after shopping in the next village over from Basik, along with a young woman, about 27 or so. "Welcome back. Darlings, Stella and I prepared dinner." She said, smiling at her. "Thank you, Auntie," Rhia replied, smelling the hot air, scented of fresh bread and hot soup. They sat down at a polished old wooden table, glass plates and silver utensils already set, filling in five spots.

When Rhia and her friends reached Janak and the city of Basik, they encountered her father's younger sister, who was named Katia.

Page 89, Fathers Journal, August 15th

I am writing in this journal to fill in the pages of my father's journal, writing of new adventures. My friends and I met with my Auntie Katia today in one of the city's many marketplaces. She took us back to her home. Auntie Katia lived in the home she was raised in, which was built after the first war. Janakalah Bella, who was famous for founding the Janak Grasslands, built that house with her wife, and planted herbs and a giant strawberry farm on the side of a dirt road outside of the city of Basik. She welcomed us warmly to her home, offering us each an individual room to stay in, but Charlie and Ivale decided to share a room. Thank gods this cottage is huge, or else we'd have to find another place to stay unless we slept on the floor. Earlier this evening, we baked pastries together in her beautiful kitchen, chatting about how my mother was doing, stories about my father, and adventures she'd accompany him on back when he was still alive. I haven't seen her since his funeral, but she frequently wrote to us. We are about to rest now, after all, we had long days of traveling from Heni to Basik, and it felt great to finally have reached our goal.

"Ivale and I bought some nice fabrics for you Auntie, we saw your patterns and designs you had sketched for your clothing shop," Rhia told her. "Aw, well thank you, love, did you pick up the mail from the posting lobby as I asked?" Katia questioned, sipping a small mouthful of hot rose petal tea. "Yes, there was only one package, sent from the Sonak Coast," Ivale said, handing her the small package from the front pocket of her coat. It had been cold for the past couple of days in Basik, but the priestess from the temple of Aquana announced that the god would no longer blow winds to Janak, as he had shifted them to the Starlands. "Do me a favor and set it in the parlor, on the tea table, after dinner," Katia asked her. Ivale nodded and set the package back into her coat pocket and continued eating. "A young fellow stopped by earlier today while all of you were running errands. He told me to give you this," She said to Rhiannon, handing her an envelope sealed with a waxed symbol of a Lotus flower. "Did he mention his name, Auntie? Who was he?" "I don't recall him mentioning his name, no, all he asked was of me to give this to you, and he thanked me and walked off without another word," Katia told her.

After they had finished dinner and cleaned up, Rhiannon walked up the spiral staircase and into her room. She sat on the velvety cushions of a small sofa in the corner of the room. She took the envelope from her pocket and opened it, revealing a letter in beautiful handwriting. She began to read:

Rhiannon,

The reason we came to Kalnar was that a couple of months ago, a man came up to me and asked me to complete a job for him. He instructed me to travel to Kalnar and bring Maria with me to look less suspicious. The job was to kill you, Rhia. I had no other way to get food on the table for my little sister, except for taking care of the Basik Pub, but that place holds bad memories for me. He never told me why, except that your family had done something horrible to him, and you deserved it. I never wanted to kill someone, and when I first saw you, I knew I would never be able to do it. I later found out that the man wanted you dead to get closer to your family, using your death as an excuse to make them more vulnerable. He wanted Katia's money and the inheritance Janakalah left for her descendants. When I watched you kill that man in the alleyway, I was so relieved to know he was gone, and that I wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. But a few nights ago, another man came after the money. We met in the middle of the night and he gave me a knife, telling me to kill you and Stella, since Ivale and Charlie were younger, he didn't see them as a threat to the work. I had no other choice but to leave Heni because I didn't want to hurt you or anyone else. If I didn't leave, they threatened to hurt Maria, and I couldn't let that happen. I'm so sorry.

-Voidin

Tears fell from her face as she read the letter, slowly understanding Voidin more with every word that was written on the page. Charlie and Ivale hadn't randomly asked him to escort her and Stella home the first night they came to Kalnar, but he had been waiting, watching their every move, but he never even touched them. He even distanced himself out of guilt. She ran down the stairs and out the front door later that night when everyone was asleep, determined to find Voidin, wherever he was. She sped down the overgrown path and came into the clearing in which the strawberry field grew. Why would he stay in Basik if he knew I was here? She wondered as she looked up into the sky. She decided she would search everywhere in the area until she could find him, she was desperate to talk to him just one more time before they parted ways forever. She raced down the dirt road leading up to the city, the grounding slowly turning into cobblestone as she got closer to the flickering street lamps. She stopped suddenly, seeing a figure in the window of an old library. She recognized Voidins face as she squinted to get a better look inside. She walked through the door, and they looked at each other, but Rhiannon saw no emotion on his face, except for sadness. He placed his book down before coming over to her. "I'm sorry." was all he managed to say, and they stood in silence for a while. "I forgive you," Rhia told him, looking into his eyes, and she meant it. She really did forgive him. Not because she pitied him, but because she understood why he agreed to kill her in the first place. But the thing was, he didn't kill her, not because he pitied her, but because he realized that he loved her. He loved everything about her, but he couldn't bring himself to admit it. Instead, he brought her into his arms. Rhiannon closed her eyes, trying to keep this memory forever. He pulled her away, and took her face in his hand, brushing away the soft tears that Rhia hadn't noticed fell in the first place. She loved him too.