17 Rhoswen Solone

_Rhoswen Solone_

It was raining hard now, a storm rolling in incredibly fast as the bells rang hard in the air. She had been running to the closest wall to the bell tower, no one noticing her for the longest time. Some guards who knew her, shouted over the sound of the storm, yelling for her to get inside- to get somewhere safe. It seemed everyone was in a fright.

But what could they possibly be afraid of? Rhoswen wasn't sure. The Icaryian kingdom in the north wanted nothing to do with the southern kingdoms except trade. They were not strong enough to lead a war against the south, nor did they want to because they were so excluding. And south of Faun Gaia was more Midlind, so if the southern tribes wanted to attack then they would first hit large southern cities like Forn Elding.

Rhoswen thought of the two other places she knew of... The east wanted nothing to do with anyone- not even trade like the northern kingdom, so all she was left with was a chilling thought. Her eyes turned to the distant sea, the Long Sea, and looked out over the water. The west was in that direction. She had heard the west was highly aggressive- that once their civil wars came to an end that they would likely come here to the Midlind. She had took it for rumors and gossip at the time, never thinking that it might be true, but here now she saw what looked to be a ship in the far distance. It looked nothing like the ships of the Midlind that she had seen- surely it was a western boat.

Her breath felt like it caught in her chest as the sound of bells filled her ears. She was cold now, the heavy rain drenching her to the bone- but she hardly noticed as she watched the ship in the distance, half waiting for more to appear in the distance for an invasion. If they were invaded, would they be prepared? How many men did Faun Gaia have to protect against a maritime attack? And how many men would the west send?

Rhoswen frowned, anxiety making her shiver a bit- or was it the cold? She did not know, perhaps it was both. The next thing she knew, she was running down the stairs into a court yard- not one often visited by the lords of the castle but rather the soldier men and guards, yet welcome to the family for whatever occasion they found themselves in. She rushed past busy bodies ignoring their pleas for her to get somewhere safe.

This was not an invasion, she had realized as she watched the ship in the distance. It had slowly gotten smaller, meaning it was retreating back where it came from. They had gotten too close by accident- she could feel it. She had to get to shore. Why would a western ship come so close and then leave? More questions were filling her head and she had to answer them.

The girl knew her way around the castle grounds like the back of her hand- she had spent all her life here after all. She knew the guards would not simply let her through the gates, so she needed to take a secret way out. A vague feeling was building up inside of her, like there was something she knew right on the tip of her tongue. A vague idea that was just out of reach- a distant memory.

Rhoswen rushed through a castle hallway, crossing into another, and then prying open an old dusty door. They didn't use these rooms often, which was quite a shame because they would have truly opened the whole castle up. Nonetheless it allowed her the perfect chance to duck into a secret passage behind one of the old Solone banners, ones from fifty years ago, before they had updated their sigil. She ducked behind the marvelously embroidered depiction of a golden three pronged trident. Today it was a mermaid wielding a trident, which she thought was much more impressive.

Mermaids were beautiful women of the sea, who lured men to their death with ther looks and singing voice. They were not pretty once they were going to eat you though, which she wondered if that was a terrifying thing for a man to see before death. In any case, it was only a myth. She continued down the hidden hallway, on her own mission. Something inside of her kept repeating the beach. It wanted her to go to the beach.

From deep inside the walls of the castle, she could scarcely hear the bells but they did not mean anything to her now. It was a false alarm, she knew it. Soon she came to a stone wall, and rested her hands upon it for a moment as she took a deep breath. Then she proceeded to push as hard as she could and the wall began to give way, slowly scraping against the stone floor as it spun. She was just strong enough to push it enough to let her through, and just as she stepped to the other side, it snapped back in place and she winced, hoping that it hadn't been loud enough to draw attention from somewhere.

Continuing on, she ran through the rain of an abandoned balcony, one many just assumed was for show- an architectural aesthetic. There were years of dead leaves and dust up here, even a bird's nest in one corner, but she paid it no mind. She went through another door where she found herself in another hallway, but she was closer now, she rounded the hallway corner and came to a stop at the sudden drop before her.

It was completely dark and she couldn't see the bottom. But she had made the jump before- it was only ten feet till she was in a gutter. Her hands came to her dress and hiked the wet fabric up to her knees before she dropped below with little hesitation. The fear was there but the wonder she held for whatever reason she had to get to the beach was driving her now.

She landed with a thud in the mud- no doubt ruining her fancy slippers, but she did not care. She had others. She held her dress up as she ran messily through the mud until she reached the end of the musty hallway. There, she came across bars blocking the entryway of anyone who might attempt entry into the castle- but the bars were not close enough together to stop a petite little girl from squeezing through- and she did just that.

Once through the bars she ran the short length of shrubbery until she came across to the city streets.

She was not to be out here alone, she thought. Her family was loved by their people but that did not mean there were no enemies lurking about. Swiftly, she ran down a mostly empty street, avoiding any that were too busy. Luckily for her, the bells and the rain had driven most people inside, for fear of whatever it was they were ringing for.

"Girl!" A few guards shouted after her, but she lost them in the maze of streets quickly. Further still did she run to the beach, and once she reached it, she looked right then left, pushing the wet blond hairs that had fallen from their styling out of her face. The feeling inside of her beckoned her to the left and so there she ran, ignoring the cold that bit at her bare arms and sunk into her skin from her drenched dress. The sand was an odd thing to run on, but she paid it no mind just as she had to the mud. She did not know when it was, but at some point she had lost her slippers, and her dress was torn in a few places. Rhoswen could not remember being so careless.

The girl ran and ran, doubting the feeling she had in her chest, and soon her running slowed first to a jog, and then a walk until finally she stood there, looking confused around the beach. Her eyes went to the shore, where the ship was merely a speck in the distance- no doubt having trouble navigating back to the west with the season's tides flowing eastward. She knew many things about the water- after all her city was a coastal one, and if she did not marry away, her father did not want her to waste her life away doing nothing in the castle.

Her doubt caused a sickness inside of her, a nausea that sent her to her knees in the sand. Her hands slapped down in the sand, holding herself up as she breathed heavily. Next, her whole body tensed and her eyes rolled back in her head. Her visions were getting more frequent.

Before her appeared two men, both were westerners. Surprisingly, she saw their faces clearly, and it looked as if one was dying there in the sand. A soft voice whispered to her in the back of her head.

Find them. Find the seven.

When she came to, she was breathing heavily. Though the vision was very short, it took a lot out of her now. Her doubt was completely gone now, as she pushed herself up and continued running down the beach, using the back of her hand to wipe away the blood that crept from her nose. Normally she was entirely weakened from daytime visions- it seemed today she was very fortunate.

When Rhoswen saw two figures in the distant sand she felt her heart flutter in her chest. Her visions were real. This had to prove it.

She ran up closer, flinching at the thunder in the sky and the flash of lightning that came with it. When she was within several yards of the two men, one of them stood up. He was tall and had the dark skin she was expecting to see. The man gave her a critical look, but still seemed to ready himself for anything.

Suddenly, Rhoswen blushed. What would a twelve year old girl who appeared out of nowhere say to two foreign men? Did they even speak the same language, she wondered? "Do you speak the common tongue?" She asked the man now.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment before he nodded. "Yes," He said in an accent she was not used to hearing.

"Your friend- is he alright?" She asked this time, worried about the man on the ground who was not moving.

The man gave her a narrowed look, pursing his lips for a moment before he spoke up. "Who are you? What do you want?" he asked her in his thick accent.

"I am Lady Rhoswen of house Solone. I wanted to see you two- Who are you?" She asked in return, leaning to the side a little to pear around the man at his unconscious friend.

"Wanted to see us? How did you know that we were here? What business does a lady child have with western deserters?"

"You're western deserters? As in deserting the western military?" She asked him now, and his eyes seemed to widen in realization of the information he had leaked. Rhoswen's eyes widened too and she raised her hands innocently. "I am not here to tell anyone- I promise. I- uhm..." How was the girl supposed to explain her vision to them without seeming like a complete fool?

"What does the lady child want?" He asked her sternly now. "How did the lady child know? How am I to know you are who you say and not just a normal child who saw us wash ashore?"

Rhoswen took a step back, confliction falling over her. "The bells- do you hear them?" She mentioned. "I saw the bells in a vision not long ago- and I saw you two running through the shrubbery," She said now.

"I do not believe this," He said harshly.

"But it is true! Gods, I swear it!" She said desperately. "No one listens to me! No one believes me, but it is true! How else would a solone child, locked away in the castle, know that someone washed ashore this far away? I could not see you from the walls- but I saw that ship- and it has everyone in a panic. The city likely thinks it is going to be under invasion soon, but it is not so, is it?"

The man kept his eyes narrowed, listening to her with a face that indicated he did not believe. "No. You are right. It is not after the Midlind city- it is after us but they are not allowed here- not yet."

"Not yet?" She repeated.

"How did you know where to find us?" He changed the topic.

"I had a vision why looking for you- I saw you- and I saw him- he's dying!" She pointed out.

"Obviously. I do not believe these visions. What else did you see?"

Rhoswen, gave him a conflicted look. "They do not show me much, but I heard a voice," She told him in her best reassuring tone. "It said to find you both- to find the seven."

"The seven?"

"I know it is all confusing- it confuses me as well but-" Shouting in the distance caused her to whip around and catch sight of soldiers running down the beach. "Oh gods," She mumbled now, turning to face the now frightened man. "Tell me your name, I will try to stop them from executing you"

He gave her a disbelieving look before he sighed in a stressful way and gave her the answer. "I am Kehan, and that is Ryus, please, if i do not live, make sure he does- it is the only thing I ask- no. I beg."

"I will do my best to make it happen," Rhoswen promised Kehan seriously. She did not know if she could keep these promises but she would damn well try her hardest.