The Living And the Dead - Part One

i.

Etna belonged to no one, not even herself. She was a well traveled daughter of chiefs and kings- in rags or chains. Her exploits were numerous and notorious. Some sealed in stone, breathed to life only by the dead, while others took flight.

They would always find their way home- and so would she. Down winding roads and across raging seas- Etna was never more on edge than when her feet hit the salt kissed sands of Delris.

Delris- home to whispers in floating pavilions and behind thick curtains. To children crowding around mothers’ skirts and longing got the sea. It was a home to customs she didn’t believe in, and people who didn’t believe in her.

She was a well traveled, well versed child of chiefs and kings, unable and unwilling to let her place in society seal her fate and clip her wings.

ii.

Etna was to be a joy- in thought. After surviving three boys in a row, the smooth delivery of a girl was an unexpected and welcome surprise in the birthing chamber. Midwives moved to clean the child, shooing the occasional dirty face from peering behind the curtains.

Only the first born boys were salient, as heir and soon to be king. Any additional sons were purely insurance, in case of the worst, and hungry mouths to feed- nothing more. Girls- girls were so very different. Precious like the spices they grew, Dion saw her as no more important than trade goods.

He was met with no argument. She would be important to her home and family- by giving up familiarity and marrying a son of nobility from the island of Lohiti, to the west. She would provide Delris with a powerful ally, and Lohiti with its next king

.

The agreement was signed, and the dowry paid in full before Etna had to begun to walk. She would trade one island home for another the summer following her first bleeding- and there would be nothing she could do to stop it.

iii.

She knew what was expected of her, from the beginning. There was to be no secrets, Dion had instructed his staff. Kimi, Chief of the collective tribes in the northern part of the island and her mother alive, would tell her so with each moon that passed.

Etna did not see her mother much. Instead, it was Neib who woke her each morning, before the sun rose. Neib, one of the last of her kind, would teach her how to wash and dress, and instruct her on the ways and traditions of the Em’is.

She did not care for lessons, and there was often punishment earned for ditching Neib to catch up with her brothers. They were to be kept separate, as were the rules of the house, but Neib often indulged her fancy for the boys’ work. Later, by candle light, Etna and Neib would sit in one of the quiet floating pavilions and make up time. Then, with no distractions, she would learn.

They would munch on dried mangos and Neib would tell her of the Hepinu, her people from across the water. How they were a strong people, colored like the sun itself and strong as mountains. About how they fell under the Er’ryn’s might, and how the earth had drug them down together. Etna didn’t learn about Neib’s escape, no- instead, Neib told her about an elderly man and his offer for her to stay.

She would teach the braids of their people, the Em’is, and what she would be expected to know in the Nysvor’s capital of Lehiti. About how their people were divided and how she would have the chance to change that, to bring them together and make them strong again.

Once Etna had been put to bed, Neib would return to retire in rich chambers for the night, in the arms of a king. And later, the cycle would begin again.

iv.

She had counted down the summers she can remember, and the ones she’d been told about. Etna is eleven, and that summer was probably the warmest on record. She dressed in thin silks, with long slits on either side all the way to her hip. The belt keeping the everything together was taut around her stomach, the beads leaving noticeable indentations after a full day of wear. Bangles on her ankles jingled as she walked, and a cuff on her upper arm showed her statuses.

Neib frowned at her attire, but said nothing. For the last year or so, relations between Etna and her parents, or even Neib had become strained. It hadn’t escaped her notice of Neib’s sleeping quarters, or how they usually remained untouched on nights her mother was away. The palace was full of eyes, and they were all in her direction. Etna could not risk being involved. Adultery was a crime, punishable by death.

Etna took to the shorelines. She walked among the waves, collecting shells and trying to stay far away from any of her father’s court. They were waiting, restless, for her curves to come in. From confirmation that she has bled, and is therefore ready to ship off to strangers.

Keyn, son of Draum, specifically. That was the name kept under wraps for so long- and the name of her betrothed. Etna knew nothing of this stranger from the west, but she knew of his father. Draum was known to be the commander of a strong Navy, and if Etna was to believe the whispers of sailors near the port, he was dangerous. She did not like her odds.

Lucifer had, more recently, secured his entry into the newly created Heavenly Academy. Their father had been livid, and forbade him from attending. Etna and Wisdom were the only ones unsurprised by the empty bed found the following morning, a handful of missing slaves and provisions.

He had rightfully paid a merchant for the ship, and in Dion’s anger, he ordered the merchant hung. Wisdom, her dear brother Wisdom, was to inherit the fortune and the crown, much to Yuuda’s anger. Her brothers bickered and fought more often than not, sometimes even with swords. Tensions were high and tempers ran hot.

Everything came to a head a fortnight before the Summer Solstice. A fever had Yuuda bedridden, and word was sent to her mother. It wasn’t known if Kimi would show up or not, but absolutely no one expected her to come alone. It was due to this unfortunate timing that Dion was caught- red handed by his wife, with his arms wrapped around another.

Kimi called for enactment of the law, in front of the guards that had escorted her into the establishment. With such witnesses, Dion had little choice- either he followed the laws of his people, that he was supposed to uphold, or risk revolt.

With a nod of Dion’s head, Neib was removed from his arms and his bed, and escorted down the walkway. Etna guessed she was to be detained and await trial, like the law required, but she didn’t dare move from her hiding place to follow- lest she be caught.

v.

There was no trial.

Etna was roused early, and instructed to dress by a strange maid. The woman kept a dagger on her hip, and bore the insignia of her mother’s people. She followed the orders issued, out of fear of what would happen if she didn’t. Etna was escorted down to the pier, where she had expected a gathered crowd for a trial. Instead, she found the same crowd gathered around a noose. From the few whispers she could gather, Etna finally understood. Neib was to be hung, and everyone was in attendance- including the remaining royal family.

Dion was without his crown, and stony faced. He refused to look anywhere but the noose, and did nothing to acknowledge his wife beside him. Yuuda was disheveled with unbrushed hair, digging his way through a half filled bowl of dried fruit. Wisdom frowned at his brother’s state of dress, and stifled a yawn when he thought no one was looking. Etna pulled her cloak tighter against the early morning wind, and took a seat beside him.

In the face of tradition, it was the king to give the orders in such an affair. But no one batted an eye when Kimi stood to read the charges against the prisoner. To Kimi, Etna thought, Neib was nothing more than a slave that her husband had decorated his bed with, not an affair that had begun closer to Etna’s infancy than anything else. True to her position, Kimi gave no ground to the accused, and denied all requests to allow last words. The priests were quickly sent away. Instead the rope was wound around Neib’s neck once, twice, thrice- and then the ground beneath her fell away.

Death was not swift. Much to Etna’s dismay, Neib’s neck did not break. Instead, she struggled for several long minutes before movement ceased. Kimi ordered that the body be left on display for several more minutes- and this caused mixed responses from her three children. Etna was sure it was a warning to her father, of the fate of any other affairs he may ever have.

Dion took his leave long before the order to cut the corpse down was issued. By that time, Yuuda had lost the contents of his belly, and Wisdom was stony faced with shallow breathing. She reached and took his hand. It was little comfort, but it was all she had to offer.

Wisdom squeezed her hand when their mother gave the order for the deceased to be burned. Etna clung to it like a lifeline, and tried her best to keep her emotions from her face. Neib would be unable to return to them without a body- her soul would be forced to cross over, and she was sure her mother had known that.

The day proceeded slowly, silently.