Chapter One

Ket Thompson squinted up into the heavy summer sky, trying to gauge the time from the sun. He shaded his eyes with his hand, simultaneously wiping sweat from his brow with a disheveled, white towel. A cooling breeze alighted upon his skin, soothing his aching joints.

“There’s time before dinner to take baths,” commented his best friend lightly. Jadro Lackey drew up next to him, grinning mischievously. “Unless, of course, Kekasmai thinks sweat is an appropriate substitute for cologne.”

“Shut up,” growled Ket, whacking Jadro with his towel. The height of summer was upon them in the sweltering heat of late July; the girl Jadro was referring to, Kekasmai Aner, was their friend and was currently being courted by Ket. “What does Dolores like, then? Oh, you must not know, because you two aren’t involved…”

A face of mock pain crossed Jadro. “Ouch, Ket! That was cold.” The two are them began heading towards the baths, where the masculine population of those training to battle bathed. The girls had a separate building for their baths.

There were separate, assigned rooms for each boy to bathe, so Jadro and Ket parted. As Ket eased his bruised body into the steamy water, he thought back to the last time he was at his home – the small house on welcoming Winterberry Island.

He had returned in early June of last year, and when he arrived, he was bemused to find his home empty. He knew that Jason Larkin, his adoptive mother’s husband, would be absent at work, but he figured that Kyara Larkin would be there, maybe with her son, Adriano. He waited around for an hour before growing impatient and heading over to the house of Gabriel and Evelyn Breckenridge. Evelyn, maiden name of Cambridge, was the daughter of Ket’s late father’s cousin, Cathair Cambridge.

He knocked soundly on the door, which was answered a moment later by Gabriel. He had always been Kyara’s best friend, and had even introduced her to Jason.

“Ah! Ket! You’ve returned!” He beamed. “That’s wonderful. I have something to show you.”

Before Ket could get a word in otherwise, he found himself being pulled into the house.

“Evelyn! Ket’s here!” called Gabriel joyously. “Let him meet Merella!”

“Who’s – ” began Ket, but Gabriel cut him off.

“You’ll like Merella, she’s awfully sweet,” he assured him.

“Who is she?”

“You’ll see!”

Ket was pulled into a small room. Evelyn was sitting on the ground, with a blanket in front of her. A very young baby was on the blanket, looking at the newcomers with interest. She recognized her father and smiled toothlessly, spouting a few nonsense words.

“See, Ket?” pointed Gabriel excitedly. “This is Merella!” He turned to the boy. “Er, now, why’d you come here?”

“Do you know where mother is?” asked Ket keenly. “Oh, congratulations on the baby, by the way…”

“Kyara? Oh, you wouldn’t know, you just arrived home, didn’t you?” He grinned. “She’s actually at the hospital right now; I could take you, if you want.”

“What?!” exclaimed Ket. “What happened to her?”

“Nothing, Ket, nothing; calm down. She had her baby a few days ago. A beautiful girl, Vera. Evelyn and I were actually going to visit in a while. Come along, will you?”

That had been over a year ago; now Adriano was four-years-old, Vera was fourteen-months-old, and Ket was fifteen. Jadro and Kekasmai were both sixteen-years-old, and the three were close friends.

Several others of Ket's friends had enrolled in the special training class: Dolores Cushing, who Jadro was forever infatuated with; Irving Salt, Ket’s peer; Henry Recro, an older boy whom Ket had befriended. Despite how some reacted towards Ket’s parentage, those Miringa were now becoming the minority quite swiftly. After proving his worth through several trials, Ket was finally given the respect he deserved, and more Miringa than ever had joined the training program in the town of Compre. Some doubted Ket because of his age, but he was surprisingly mature for a fifteen-year-old.

Ket washed away the mud, cleaning out his reddish-brown hair in the process. He sincerely wanted to remain in the morning until the morning, but hunger is a powerful motive and it was urging him to hurry up. He quickly finished and changed into clean but worn clothes: a faded dark purple tunic and black breeches. He did not put on new socks or boots, but instead slipped his freshly clean feet into sandals. He gathered his dirty clothes, placing them in a laundry basket labeled “KETAKANO SAEVYER”. Long ago, Ket had taken a piece of charcoal and corrected his name – “KET THOMPSON” – but the very next day the label had been returned to its previous statement. Ket could do nothing about him being registered under the wrong name; his grandmother had filled out the forms.

Ket could smell the lingering perfume on his outfit, which Jadro amiably and aptly called “Ket-Ket’s comfort clothes”. In the early days of Ket and Kekasmai’s courtship, the girl had been horrified by Ket’s lack of color coordination, and quickly bought him several outfits. Dolores Cushing, who completed their quartet of friends, came to Ket’s defense: “Kekasmai, he does have color coordination; he’s just lacking the creativity to put it to use!” Ket was slightly insulted by their argument over what skills he did not have, but it caused Jadro to roar with laughter.

This blue tunic and black breeches were what she had first bought, and they were made of a very soft material. When Ket went by Kekasmai’s dorm – she roomed with Dolores, because Dolores’ other best friend, Cecilia Set, refused to associate with Ket – Kekasmai handed him the clothes, and then dashed inside, grabbed her perfume, and sprayed the sleeves and collar of his shirt. She smiled devilishly, “For days when I’m not there”, and closed the door.

Ket raised the sleeve to his nose; the scent was fading. He quickly dropped his arm as he exited the baths, making sure that Jadro wasn’t around. The two may be best friends, but they were extremely different. Jadro would delight in poking fun at Ket. Jadro may be older, but Ket was definitely more mature.

---

I'm trying something different with this book: I've started it with a huge "time gap". It takes place over a year later from The Autumn. That's because, basically, nothing happened during that time! Ket trained and dated Kekasmai. That's about it.

Anyways, here's book six, The Rise. The Manumo get harsher, random slaughterings...you know, the works. I can definitely see an improvement in my writing in this one from the previous book; it might just be that my patience has extended and I'm more willing to give details that make all the difference, without going into overwriting. Who knows?

I hope you like it.