Aeric

“You’ve been beyond the Great Wall?”

“That’s right, Aeric,” Lord Embervane says, and ruffles my hair good-naturedly. “There’s a whole world out there, outside this bubble the High Elves would keep us trapped in. Perhaps one day you’d like to see it?”

I continue to stare wide-eyed. Leaving the safety of the city? I couldn’t even imagine such a thing. Why, the Deadlands, the acid clouds that billow from the gemenite mines—it’s true some daring traders risk crossing that space to gain access to the riches of Alderosh, but everyone knows they lay their very lives on the line to do it. How can this man speak so casually of stepping outside the dome? Is he mad?

He doesn’t seem mad…

“Come along,” he calls over his shoulder. “It’s too late to catch a cab, and it’s a long walk back to the Noble District.”

I don’t really hesitate, but follow Lord Embervane solemnly through the unfamiliar darkness. He seems perfectly at home, never hesitating, cutting across streets and through back alleys, traveling northwards till we come to a bridge that crosses the wide Isalis river. Then he turns west, and we press on, ever closer to the great mountain that looms over the city.

It’s the closest I’ve ever been to Mount Gadran, I observe, looking with new eyes upon the twinkling mountain’s face where the immortal High Elves make their home. This side of it that faces the coast is glittering and ethereal, but the west side of it that faces away from the city is supposedly stripped and rotten from all the mining. If I’d gone with those men at the orphanage today, I’d be seeing it for myself, perhaps this very minute.

Instead, I follow Lord Embervane northwest through the night, past the ancient looking First Wall that used to mark the boundaries of Alderosh, before the population exploded and necessity pushed the walls and the poor of the city further and further east.

“The Noble District,” Lord Embervane explains when he catches me gawking at the sprawling green vista that’s suddenly opened up before me, and the great mansions that sit in the middle of them with so much space on every side.

What am I looking at? I can’t even put it into words.

“I’ve never seen…” I begin, then trail off, my eyes going to a patch of green just beyond the sidewalk beneath my feet. I walk to it as though hypnotized, and crouch to view the delicate green blades. Hundreds of them, thousands. More than anyone could ever count. It smells…strange. But I don’t dislike it. Rather, I—

Leaning in, I inhale deeply, and I feel something deep within me start to ache with longing. I don’t know why, but tears spring to my eyes and fall silently to the sidewalk.

“I forget they don’t have grass in your part of town. The High Elves are generous enough to let it grow here, for those in their favor. The trees are aluminum, though,” he says, and pats an unfamiliar looking branching structure beside him to the tune of a metallic rattle.

“Grass?” I ask, overcome with emotion I can’t explain as my hand reverently brushes the lush green carpet. It tickles my palm and raises the hairs along my arms and the back of my neck. “Is it…alive?”

“It’s alive. Look, I’ll answer your questions while we walk, alright? We’re nearly home.”

I start to protest, but Lord Embervane pulls me up by the collar and hauls me on wearily.

“It’s alright. There’s lots more grass at the estate. You can run on it, roll in it, sleep in it, whatever you like. Right now, I’m so tired I think I could sleep in the yard myself.”

My footsteps quicken at his words. Though I’m exhausted from our sleepless night of travel, I can hardly keep myself from running as the sun crests the eastern horizon and dawn sheds its light upon this strange new world.

How can this place be real? We’re still under the dome, but I never imagined Alderosh could be so enormous, or that the city could change so much in the space of just a single night’s travel. It’s like a dream, and I’m bursting with wonder and excitement to see it all.

We walk another twenty minutes, until we come to a wrought iron gate. Over it large black letters I cannot read stand out starkly against the pale pink sky.

“Embervane estate. At last,” Lord Embervane sighs as he pushes the great creaking gate open. I follow him, my enthusiasm traded suddenly for timidity as he leads me up a wide gravel pathway to a white mansion with marble columns rising in the distance. And beyond it, stretching left and right, as far as my eyes can see—grass.

I really do want to roll in it!

“I’ll introduce you to Don, the house steward. He’s in charge of the male staff and he’ll see to all your—”

“Papa!”

An excited young voice interrupts, and my eyes travel to a small figure practically flying down the road in a flurry of lilac colored skirts.

She is perhaps my age, or a little younger, and as she races toward us I recognize with a growing kind of certainty she is the single most beautiful child I’ve ever seen in my life. The morning sun glints off the ends of her jet black twintails that float in the air behind her. Dressed all in new ribbons and lace, her skin isn’t grime streaked like the children I’m used to seeing. It’s sparkling white, even whiter than Lord Embervane’s, if that were possible, pale and flawless like porcelain. Her face is dainty with full pink lips and sparkling, mischievous eyes the color of twilight.

She’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before in my life. Even a doll could not be this perfect…

“Papa!”

“Talia!”

Lord Embervane catches the girl easily as she leaps into his arms and she plants a happy kiss on his cheek.

I look on wearily, dazedly, feeling as though I were watching through the cloud of a dream. Odd details captivate me. Her shoes. Little white shoes with ruffled socks that stop just above her ankles. I’ve never seen such pretty shoes…

Then I realize she’s staring at me. At first I think I’ll be ashamed beneath this human child’s gaze, but there is no malice in it, no cruelty. Only curiosity.

“Who’s that, Papa?”

“I’ve brought a friend for you,” says Lord Embervane, and deposits her neatly back on the ground. He looks between us at my stupefied expression and her questioning gaze, eyes twinkling with some secret joke only he knows.

“Mortalia, this is Aeric. Aeric, this is my daughter and heir to my legacy, Mortalia Embervane.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Aeric,” she says, and she makes a funny little bobbing gesture, spreading her skirts prettily.

I don’t really know what to say to that, don’t know quite what to do with my body, or my gaze. Except to stare.

“Yes, well be a dear and take him to see Don about a room and a bed, will you, Mortalia? The boy’s had a long night. Me too,” he adds, yawning behind his hand. He waves over his shoulder as he makes for the house, entrusting me to his daughter without another word.

We stand facing each other in the driveway; for a moment neither of us speaks. Then, still without speaking, Mortalia takes me impulsively by the hand and pulls me to her side. Still dazed as though in a dream, without the least resistance, I follow. Her grip tightens over me almost possessively, and she flashes me a smile so beautiful it makes my head cock faintly.

Am I sure this isn’t a dream?

“You’re not really tired, are you Aeric?”

It takes a few seconds for me to process she’s addressing me directly. A few seconds more to realize I’m meant to answer her.

“Wouldn’t you rather play with me, instead?” she prompts, and pouts a little when I hesitate. Though everything about this tiny heiress is unfamiliar and alien, somehow the sight of her sad expression makes me think of my little sisters at the orphanage, and I find myself giving in almost immediately, pushing past all my weariness to nod at her. Her face lights up at once.

“Come on, then!” she says excitedly, pulling me after her as she runs into the soft, springy grass.

“Let’s play!”