"Asthenosthene!"
A young girl opened her eyes as the voices of her name grew louder. She slowly listened to the moans of cows and rubbed her tired eyes from the sunlight peeking from her window. Slowly getting up, she stretched her limbs sloppily.
"Asthenosthene! Wake up!"
The young girl gets up, and sighed. "I am awake now, Mother."
"Asthenosthene!"
"I'm awake!" she yelled back and chuckled. "I am coming down now!"
"Alright, hurry up darling!"
The young woman called Asthenosthene stands up and made her way down to the first floor of their cabin. The floor creaked as her small feet make contact with the wooden floorboards.
"Mother?"
A beautiful woman with brown hair looked turned around to Asty's direction and chuckled. "There you are."
"I'm sorry, I slept late last night." Asty apologized.
Her mother smiled at her and showed her the baskets from her arms. "Let's have breakfast, shall we?"
The young girl nodded. She walked near her and took the baskets from her arms. She placed them above the wooden table and took the utensils from the cupboards near their sink.
"Oh, I will do this dear." her mother told her in a gentle voice.
"It is alright. I want to help."
The elderly woman smiled. She was lucky to have such a sweet and kind daughter. She was her only pride and joy.
She settled near the table and takes the knife from Asty's palm. She intends to cut the roots of the yam and let her dice the vegetables instead.
"Mother?"
"I will cut these. You are not good in handling sharp objects, dear."
"I can do it," she started. "I know your hands are tired."
"Oh no," she gives her daughter a side hug. "This is only what I can do. You do all the working in this house, I do not want to burden you further."
"Mother..." Asty replied in disagreement and continued. "I am alright."
"The reason why you were up last night was because of the deliveries, weren't you?" the mother heaved a sigh. "I told you not to overwork yourself."
"I am okay." Asty smiled brightly. "Besides, Farmer Roonie paid me extra for those."
"What exactly were you doing with the deliveries? Were you delivering them? You do not know how to ride a horse, dear."
"I wasn't." Asty continued to chop the onions. "I was making a letter to Farmer Roonie's customer. The crops came late and he wanted to relay a message, but he could not really write a good sentence, so I did it for him."
Her mother sighed but then smiled afterwards.
Asthenosthene was raised in a small village near the mountains. The Village of Erana. Along with her mother, they resided in a small, rickety cabin near the riverside among the borders of the woods.
Asty was raised alone by her mother. They had went through thick and thin and have suffered and endured through times together. But despite being penniless, both are rich in something else.
They were rich with love and generosity.
Asty grew up to be an amazing and wonderful person.
"Lady Rosellia's doctor, Mr. Curtis and I bumped each other at the market today. Turned out that Lady Rosellia is ill today and would like you to come and see her."
The young girl's eyes widened. "That's unfortunate. Lady Rosellia had told me that she was looking forward to the Ball today at the city."
"Lady Rosellia was invited to the King's ball?"
"Indeed she was, Mother!" the young girl then assisted her mother with the cooking. "She had told me that she wanted to talk with the Duke of Illum."
"She must be interested in him."
"Lady Rosellia is a noble. She would get invited even if it was a celebratory banquet."
"Asty, darling. I will finish these. Lady Rosellia needs you in her premises now. Go and clean up."
Asty sighed as she dropped the last of the vegetables in the pot. "Alright, Mother."
Her mother kissed her forehead and smiled. "Lady Rosellia helped us a lot during our hard times. We were fortunate to receive such graces from a noble. So make sure you would be there for her like how she was there for us before."
Asty nodded. "Yes, Mother."
The beautiful elderly woman smiled at her only daughter. Asty smiled gleefully at her mother and walked upstairs to get a piece of towel and a new set of clothes.
She walked back downstairs and then waved at her mother goodbye. She was to bathe at the nearby river. They had no pumps of water in the mountains. If there were, they could only be seen on the nobles' houses. Their cabin was rickety and damaged.
Asty walked slowly into the nearest river she used to bathe. Before taking off her clothes, she looked at her surroundings to see if anybody was there.
There was not a single person.
She took off her clothing and submerged herself into the cold streaming waters. She felt the heat of her body wash away as the chill soaked into her skin. She closed her eyes as she feels the cold breeze tickle her soft, pale skin.
When she was done, she slowly opened her eyes and covered herself with a cotton towel. Suddenly, out from the corner of her eyes, she sees a slight movement somewhere in the woods behind her. Thinking it was only an animal, she continued drying herself.
She glanced again in the same direction where the sound came from. She saw two gleaming eyes from the trees, staring at her. She looked away and grabbed her clothes and wore them.
She grabbed her boots and slipped her feet in them, and then made her way towards the woods to look for those gleaming eyes.
She was not scared, but she was worried.
"It could be an animal." she mumbled softly and then made her way to leave.
She glanced back, and saw nothing. She continued walking away.
Little did she know that something was watching her from above the trees.
There was not a single person in there.
The bells rang from the distance. The woman with the bright orange hair stood behind the huge doors of the church. Her eyes were closed and a smile was evident on the woman's lips. Everything that she dreamed of was finally before her eyes. The moment had finally come. She opened her eyes and the doors finally parted ways. Her eyes fell to the long golden aisle that she so dreamt of walking one day. Beside it, on the benches, for all the people she loved and cared for. She felt her heart start pounding and racing faster and faster, when her bright persimmon orbs reached the center of the long corridor. There he stood, the love of her life, the apple of her eye, the man who taught her how to love. He had a smirk on his face and she just wanted to get over with that aisle wipe that smug grin off his face with a kiss. The music started. The harmonious synchronization of chorale brought everyone to their tears. Her mother who was standing also, in the aisle— staring at her beautif
Asty was walking around the palace when she noticed something strange everywhere. The maids seem to be avoiding her and she did not seem to see a single sentry guarding the gates.Everyone seems to be very busy and every time she would greet them they would only turn away."That's odd." she told herself. "They don't really act like this to me before."She walked around and around and even brought herself into the garden. But there was not a single person around.What was going on, she thought.She couldn't even find her friends anywhere in the Palace. She had woken up with absolutely nothing but the chirping of birds. She looked around to see if there was someone she can talk to.Yvonne wasn't there, Chaol wasn't there. Even her brother was not there."Where could they all have gone to?"She noticed that the maids were stealing glances at her. She would look at them and wave but then they would only avoid her gaze. A little bit
After being able to speak with her mother, Asty led the group to a path in the woods that led to a field of dandelions.They looked around and saw how beautiful it was. The sun was before them, and they could feel it burning through their skin, but even so— their eyes were fixed on the blanket of flowers that seemed to flow against the wind."This is so beautiful." Lana commented.Asty smiled at her. "This is where my mistress is buried.""Why isn't she buried in a proper grave?""That is because this is what she requested. That is a part of her will to be buried under the field of dandelions, chrysanthemums, and daisies. She wanted to face the sun and the skies. She wanted to look at the blanket of stars as she rested. That is what she imagined."They smiled at her and walked towards the field."I think it is better if we leave you be." Chaol told Asty, Yvonne, and Robynn. "I think you guys need more of an alone time with this,
Asty and the others were sent in a carriage that was intended to traverse them into the village of Erana. Asty watched as the sea of trees ran across her vision. She stared at it for a long amount of time before wondering something in her head.Chaol reached out to her head and made it rest on his shoulders."Is something troubling you?" he asked her."No nothing at all." She told him. "I was just wondering a few things.""Like what?""They are not very pleasant things." She told him and smiled. "It's best if I keep it to myself.""You can always tell me about it. I won't mind." Chaol smiled at her. "Is it because of the battle?""Yeah." she nodded. "Polo was... in pain. I didn't know that he had to go through all that that's why he became the way he was. He went after so many painful things in his life that I cannot even imagine happening to me.""You saw his memories?""I did." she nodded at him. "They were not very go
TWO WEEKS AFTER THE ECLIPSE WAREverything was starting to get better and better. The castle was finally starting to have its exterior and interior repair. It was not an easy path for them to take. The villagers that survived the war still had fear lingering inside their hearts. But nevertheless, even if there were fear and there was uncertainty, villagers continued to place their trust in the king. The king provided them with all the construction materials that they will be able to use to fix their houses that were crushed and broken during the war. While the villagers were singing their songs as they hammered their walls, a man came and frantically told them about the good news."Everyone, everyone! King is holding a celebration in the square! We must all go and watch it! Everyone's heroes will be displayed! And the parents of those who had lost their lives will be given compensation and medals for the achievement of their
Asty walked within the flames of the ground as she approached the lifeless corpse of her beloved. she clenched her fists upon seeing his torn body and closed her eyes as the tears streamed down from her face. There is no greater pain in the world than to lose someone you love.It is a pain that will be permanent inside your heart and will linger around for so many years. And she was not sure if she was prepared for that. Everything was so sudden, so fast, so abrupt. Did not know what to do or what to expect. The betrayal, the revelations, and then suddenly turning back the tables to prove that the ones she thought were the criminals were actually the innocent ones.She crouched on the ground and reached out to his cold body. What else can she expect? He is gone and he will never come back to her. The eclipse was an unfair event. The people viewed it as equal, but to her, it was only another cruel event.