Chapter One:

Scattered Chains

Part 1

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The harsh fiend many call a Sun glared intensely down at the people scurrying underneath its long rule. Sweat from people’s brows and armpits glistened down, falling to the ground only to be instantly sucked up by the thirsty earth. Beggars called from street corners, while merchants hassled citizens walking by until they bought their goods or slapped them. In the mess of it all, soldiers stood, “keeping watch” when they were really wondering why the hell they were posted where they were, bullying peasants to lighten their moods. All in all, it was your average day in Kliro.

And, as usual, the boy stood leaning against one of the crumbling brick walls, grinding his teeth as the heat from the stone spread onto his back, burning it. But he ignored it, wanting to appear natural. Trickles of sweat crept down his forehead, some making a desperate attempt to fly off his chin, but were swept away by his hand. His light blonde hair was floppy and stuck to his face, annoying the boy out of his mind. Light blue eyes flickered back and forth, silently searching for an easy victim. A man here with coins literally falling from his pocket, a child there holding up a few pieces to tempt his friends with, a lady over there who fumbled with her purse strings clumsily. But those weren’t all as easy as they seemed. The man never really looked forward, but to the side, secretly watching the bustling crowd. An older brother or friend lurked in an alleyway as the child played, and the lady dropped her purse just a bit too much. Everyone knew to be cautious nowadays.

“Ashen!” A female voice called, and the boy jumped, looking around for the familiar sound. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Ashen mumbled in reply, turning to meet the forest green eyes of the speaker. “What do you want, Ava?”

“I want to know why you’re trying to steal again. You know you shouldn’t do that.”

“Look, you don’t understand! We need to steal to survive.”

“We get along well enough without you taking food from people who need it too!”

“No.” Ashen said, still mumbling. “No we don’t. Even with what I take and what you guys earn, we’re still starving after we eat. We go to bed thirsty every night, lucky enough to get even a sip of water during the day. Me, and Jamay, and Micen, we’re all skinny enough as it is, b-but what about you? You eat less than any of us; you’re skinnier than the rest of us, but you still insist that we have enough?”

“I’ve told you before, don’t worry about me. Worry about the people you’re taking from. What if they earn less than we do in a day? You’re slowly starving people to death, Ashen, and you need to realize that.”

“Ava...” he stopped, and turned away. “I’m just worried about all of you. I couldn’t take it if anything happened to you.” He opened his mouth to say more, but couldn’t find his voice. Tears were filling his eyes, mixing with the beads of sweat on his face.

“I’m sorry Ashen...” Ava started, walking closer to comfort her friend.

“N-no. You don’t need to apologize. It’s my fault.” His voice had cracked.

“What happened to your family wasn’t your fault...”

“It could very well have been.” His voice was harsh, shielding the pain he felt inside. “I could’ve begged Jri not to go. I could’ve waited for Juet, or told her not to come. Mum and dad...” He stopped. “I was part of what weakened mum and dad.”

“Stop it, Ashen. All that happened years ago. Please, focus on earning your keep—the legal way.”

“I’ll try, Ava. I really will. But working takes a time, while stealing—“

“Takes more time if you get caught and go to jail. How’re you going to take care of us if you’re locked up?”

Ashen closed his mouth; suddenly interested in how the sand looked where it swirled around his feet.

“Never thought of that, did you?”

“I haven’t gotten caught yet. I’ve been stealing since I was ten.”

“doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to never get caught.” She grew quieter, casting looks around at the crowd, including the soldiers who were fierce enough to throw someone in the dungeon for standing still too long. “Look. People are beginning to listen in on us. We should head some place else.”

“Right.” Ashen nodded, his tears dried but his eyes still blurry, and began to trot quickly through the crowd.

Ava sighed as she watched her closest friend’s disappearing back, cursing herself for unintentionally hurting him, yet frustrated that he still stole. Slowly, she began walking after him

Shielding her eyes from the blinding light of the sun, Talia looked up at her very first memory that could be recalled: a tiny wooden shack just on the outskirts of Kliro, better known as the capital of Mistyu. It seemed a little worse for wear and smaller than when she was six, but then again, she had grown in the past ten years.

Stepping forward, leaving shallow footprints in the sand behind her, Talia entered the hut.

It was small, one room with a run-down fireplace to cook meals, and a broken bed in the corner. Sand trailed into the niche from years ago, spiders made their home everywhere around the place, and a thick layer of dust covered everything. It appeared that the last thing visiting this place, besides tiny bugs, might’ve been a wolf, which roamed these areas at night.

She dropped to her knees, a crushing pain in her heart weakening her. All that time, all those moon-cycles, wasted for nothing? She had had her hopes set on this place, her dreams of being free after all these years. But now that was all dashed against the sharpened rocks at the bottom of the steep cliff that her soul had been pushed over. And she could never go back to how she lived before.

Mostly because that life had been horrible. Even if she stood on the brink of death, teetering slowly towards the never-ending sleep, she would refuse to go back. Abuse, day after day. Give me a drink, give me another drink, stupid girl, lazy girl, Another drink, useless bitch, ugly bitch, ungrateful bitch, slap, slap, punch, punch, pain, pain. She still had scars from that experience, ones that wouldn’t disappear for years.

The second reason was because the man that did all that to her...was dead

She smiled softly, remembering her joy as she had put the sleeping drug in his drink, the anxiety with which she had approached the evil man. Her smile wavered a bit when she recalled the iron grip that had latched around her wrist when she discovered, too late, that Fredric hadn’t been in a deep enough sleep. Ah, but that grip had soon loosened after a bash to the head with the sharpened end of a dagger, and the deathly realization that steel had plunged into his heart. Oh, he would not be hurting her ever again.

These wonderful fantasies didn’t help her current position any better, though it did give her a warm fuzzy feeling on the inside. Sighing, she heaved herself up, and then counted the meager amount of coins on her palm. Perhaps she’d be able to afford a room in Kliro. It’d be better than staying out in the wild desert, and surely word of the man’s...questionable suicide hadn’t reached every guard in Mistyu and Yuevga. Besides, as long as it wasn’t anyone important (important being somebody of Yuevgan birth who held a rank of high stature) no one would care. That’s how things ran in Yuevga, so that’s how things would be run in Mistyu.

Clutching the few coins in her fist, Talia twirled around and walked out of the shack, back into the intolerable heat of the desert.

It took her no more than an hour to reach the closest Kliro gate that was open to public use. She had passed quite a few smaller gates, but when approaching these, a soldier would always sneer at her and turn her away, the repeated response being, “Peasants can’t use this gate.” When she would ask which gate she could use, the speaker would spit at her. So the people here weren’t any nicer than those in Leara. That surprised her, but not much. She trudged closer to the gate, her feet getting harder and harder to lift. A nice soft bed, or any bed at all, would be paradise to her. The thought of falling forward into something stable and above the ground thrilled her, and she closed her eyes, thinking of the delicate designs on the side, of how the pillow would be stuffed with goose feathers, how...

A cough woke her from her daydream, and Talia embarrassingly shuffled forward, kicking up sand behind her.

“Name.” A guard grunted. He was short and stubby, and looked so shabby that simpletons would think something smashed into him several times over.

“Ta-Tamony.” She stammered, summoning a stray name from the top of her head. Using her real name wasn’t the brightest thing to do.

The guard nodded, grunted something indistinctively, and then waved her through. She heard him grunt, “Name,” in the same monotone voice as she passed through the gate. Now, about that inn...

She walked slowly through the town, examining everything around her with her green-flecked golden eyes, trying not to miss anything that might be important later on. In her awed state-for she hadn’t seen this many buildings and people for a full year-Talia walked into the bazaar part of the town. Soon, people were yelling at her just as Fredric had during her childhood, though slightly nicer. Just slightly. “Pretty necklace for a pretty lady?” “Rug to match your hair?” “Decorated bells!”

People screamed at children, at merchants, at husbands and wives. Soldiers screamed at peasants, a girl screamed at her boyfriend, a cat yowled at a mouse. This was more chaos than Talia had seen at the many gypsy camps she’d stayed in while traveling the desert. She squeezed her way through the crowd, and actually found a store that had not been built by one person within two hours.

She entered the shop, taking a deep breath of fresh air, relieved to be out of the flood of people. After a short rest, she looked up, examining the environment. Not much credit was due their. The place was dark and musky, with cobwebs in the corner that hung above broken pieces of glass. Three people were in the store: a skinny boy over her age that was talking to a wizened old man, and a skinnier girl about her age, who was busy arranging some of their stock on the shelves. While examining these people, Talia saw the old man point at her. The boy huffed, then walked wearily towards her.

“Hello, welcome. Need any help?” He asked boringly, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else but his current location.

“A place to stay.” Talia said, not wanting to talk. Abuse did that to her. “Know one?”

The young man glanced over at the old man with an expression that clearly stated, “Okay, I did what you said, now can I leave and you take over?” The man did nothing but give a smile and shrug before shuffling away, leaving him groaning.

“Ashen.” Spoke the girl, coming up to the lad and laying a hand on his shoulder.

She turned to Talia and smiled, “There are a few places, but most of them are expensive, or are reserved for the Yuevgan troops. I can ask Mr. Qilta if he’d allow you to work for a room around here, though. By the way, I’m Ava.”

“Fine.” Talia replied, pinching her lips as her eyes slide sideways.

Ava faltered for a second, waiting to see if Talia had more to say. After an awkward silence, she spoke again, “Okay, I’ll be right back.” Then skipped away.

Another awkward silence filled the store as Ashen and Talia stood, not looking or speaking to one another. Talia expected the boy to speak up, to try and engage her in some form of conversation, asking maybe where she was from, or her name. But apparently this Ashen was content to just stew in the quiet, and Talia didn’t feel like talking much either, so all was okay with her as well. Things went on like this for a while until Ava came back.

“He said it was alright, ma’am.” She said, smiling. “Now let me show you what to do.” She walked off, and Talia followed her rather reluctantly. Ashen stood in the background, staring at Ava for a few seconds before going back to what he was doing before.

The sun had fallen, and Talia trudged sleepily upstairs to her rented room. Half the day walking, the other half working had taken a toll on her. She stumbled through the doorway and collapsed on the comfy mattress, which compared to what she had slept on before felt like something royalty would rest on. After pulling the light covers up to her chin, Talia fell asleep almost instantly.

A/N: If you read this before, then you’ll know this is different. I’ve separated the chapters into two parts because no one would read it. And because, between you and me, it’d get bumped up because of it.

Okay, same thing. Be honest with your criticism, and thank you for reading. And thanks to my friend, and one reviewer, for helping me out.