Chapter 1
She looked up at the twin suns and smiled. It was going to be another mild day and she hoped to get more planting done before the rains started in a few days. Harvast during high summer was always hard, but they needed to be ready. The cold months would follow and she wanted to make sure that the village was prepared for the harshness of the winter to come. She knew that they were lucky to have the lands they had and she also knew that they would protect it with their lives, as they have in the past.
She was more worried about Lex and the school children right now, though. The Spring Harvest had been hard and the harsh suns hadn't allowed them to plant as much as she wished. All the farms were rushing before the rainy season. She knew that the hunters were smoking meat and making jerky. They'd survived for almost two hundred years there on dried meat and perserved flora. One harsh season wasn't going to end them. She wouldn't let it. They would find a way. They always did.
She finished up the row and stood up. She wiped her brow with the back of her right hand before she reached for a canteen on her hip. In the distance, she heard the pogs and pats playing. The caballos were neighing in the distance at the Drover place.
"Palla," a man said as he came over the rise.
"Aye, what is it?" she asked him as she turned to face him more fully.
"Palla, the cattle are fattening well."
"Good. They'll be ready for the season, then? No worries?"
"No, Palla, we'll be ready for the snows."
"Good, Hrathgar," she replied.
She regarded her lead cattleman. He was a third generation cattleman and was now in charge of the cattle ranches in their little village. He had bleached out blond hair from the suns. His blue eyes missed very little around him. And, his large black pog, Odin, served him loyally. She watched as he pet Odin's head.
"How are Sprite and Ferre handling this heat?"
"Sprite is in schule with Lex and Ferre is checking the aqueducts."
"Has she seen something that should be brought to Council?"
"Not yet, Palla, she worries about a freeze though," Hrathgar answered.
"Is the reservoir near the square full?"
"Aye, Palla," he stated.
"Then, with some fire and covers we can make water from ice."
"Tis, true, Palla," Hrathgar replied.
"Is there more?"
"No, Palla, not now," he said as he leaned down and pet his pog again.
"Good, have the Rangers returned?"
"No, Palla, not yet."
She nodded. Hrathgar wasn't a Ranger, but he fought along side them in the wars. He'd kept them fed and watered, sometimes ay his own peril. He'd become a Scout and was as loyal to Palla and the people as his pog was to him.
"Send word to the farm when they do. I want to speak with Imper when they return. I want to make sure that the Northern wall will make it through the winter. If we need to reinforce it, we need to start plans to start work that can be done in the breaks of the rainy season."
"Yes, Palla."
"Hrathgar?"
"Don't worry about the Phara. If they were, they would have mounted by now. The pact still stands. They stay above the wall, we stay below. It has been that way since the end of the war."
"I know, Palla, but they still want our furtile lands. It wouldn't take much of a hard winter for them to be at the wall come spring. And, we wouldn't be ready for them," Hrathgar stated.
"Then, bring it up at council. We'll train during the Snows. We'll make sure to be fit."
"As you wish, Palla," he answered.
She watched as he snapped at his pog and they walked off over the rise. She knew that her people counted on her to keep them safe. She had proven herself many times, but she was still young. The old men knew that she was wise and formidable, but they liked to rely on brute strength. Brute strength would only get them so far. She knew that. She still had the scars to prove it. The peace and the wall were hard fought for and she wasn't willing to start something that she didn't know that they'd survive.
Shaking her head, she returned to planting. She pushed everything from her mond as her hands flew with the sais. Two rows at once were being planted. This it was her honor to grow the vine fruits and vegetables.
Tomorrow she'd pick up stakes and poles from the carpenters. She would set them for her crops as soon as the first leaves peeked through the soil, allowing the plants to ran as their called them to do so.
"THETOS!" a young girl's voice carried over the plain.
She looked down at the row. She huffed. She wouldn't get anymore planting done today in that field. She knew it. The other agros would be by later and would finish. They all knew the time table. They all chipped in and most of all they knew that Palla could only do so much as an agro. Her first job was to the people and then to Lex, who always thought she came first.
"LEXI, my girl," she called back.
"Thetos, Thetos, I passed my vegetation test."
"That's good, my darling," she replied with a genuine smile on her face.
"Sprite did as well. She said that you helped us remember all the names of the edible plants near the village with that silly song. It's true because I sang it during the test to myself like you said. Balt said that we would start learning the importance of proper farming next week. Will you come talk at the Schule again?" Lex asked her.
"Balt hasn't asked me, Lex. I am sure that he would rather have Lut'er discuss it. He is the lead agros for the village."
"But, Thetos," Lex started.
"I am the Palla, Lex. I have to make sure that the village is safe and runs smoothly. I can't always come to the Schule and talk. Let others help you kinder, learn."
"Yes, Thetos," Lex replied and hung her head.
Just then, a large dark animal came from the small house some feet away. It was like it knew that its owner was home. The strange sounding growling-bark only announced its approach. Its fur shook and waved.
She still didn't understand how something that big was so gentle with Lex. It was a hunter. The green cat eyes saw everything, always. The dark fur was shaggier than most, but even she knew that having pogs on their side would help in the winter snows.
"Careful or Skylos will topple you again," she warned Lex as the animal drew closer.
"SKY! SKY!" Lex called out as her pog came closer.
The pog was just a rambunctious as her owner. It's big, floppy ears were flapping as it ran to greet her. The pog bounded almost silently as it crossed the field to where its owner and child were. The goofy grin on its face was only broken by the licking of its tongue as it came to stop in from of the girl. He stopped and sat next to the girl, tail wagging. The girl reached down and pet his head.
"He is a good pog and it obvious he cares for you."
"He is my Sky," Lex responded.
"That he is, Lexi, my girl. That he is. I think when you're old enough, he'll hunt with you and the others," she told her.
"Do you think so?"
"I do."
"Thetos?"
"Yes, my girl?"
"Can I go stay with Sprite tonight since there is no Schule in the morning?"
"Let's walk over and see if Hrathgar wants to deal with both of you little hellions," she said as she reached for the the girl's hand.
The green-eyed girl took her hand willing and they began the short walk back towards the village. One thing about being the Palla meant that she got to live where she wanted. After all the blood shed, she wanted peace. So it only felt natural for her take a farm on the outskirts of town as it looked towards the Great Mountains to the west. It wasn't the greatest piece of land but it was more than enough for her and the orphaned kinder she'd taken in after the troubles.
Lex kept her on her toes, that's for sure, and she loved the girl like she was her own. The little blonde reminded her the the decisions she'd made on the battlefield kept her alive and the village survive. Lex was not only her penance but also her salvation.
No one knew who Lex's parents were, whether they were Phara or Helion. It didn't matter. They were all the same. They had all descended from the same Primas. They had similar experiences, stories and upbringing. Time and ideals had driven them apart.
She'd studied all the texts and literature of the Primas that she could. It didn't stop the war. It explained it and now she carried that burden of knowledge. Man was dangerous, not only to himself but to worlds.
At night, she would tell the stories of Odin and Achilles. She studied the stars and wondered when the shipments would start. The people had forgotten their lineages past the Primas. It no longer mattered. There were no gods to help them. They'd survived on their own and thrived. They continued to do so.
After a shared meal at Hrathgar and Ferre's, she left Lex to stay with Sprite. Just like any other night like this, she grabbed her daybag, kamas, knife and tomahawk. Hrathgar met her at the gate.
"Walking the line?" he asked her.
"Studying the stars," she replied.
"Don't lie, Palla. It doesn't suit you. No blames you for mourning her still."
She looked into his blue eyes and knew he spoke the truth. No one in the village blamed her for anyone's death in the war. They blamed Phara for it. She had become Palla and ended the war. But, not before her beloved was taken, raped, tortured, and sent back in pieces over the wall.
In all fairness, the Helions didn't understand how she didn't butcher the entire Phara Nation. She went over the wall every night and came back bloody, carrying scalps and ears. She did this for weeks before Phara sent word they wanted to talk. She refused. She raged o until their king came himself to broker peace.
Looking back on it now, she didn't care about her people. She wanted revenge. What she got in return was a title and command, and eventually a kinder. A year after the war, Lex wandered onto her farm. She was but a toddler. Word was sent but no family was found.
"Fate would have you send her to me on our anniversary, wouldn't it, Tamma? You sent her to me to calm my heart and stop my thirst for blood, didn't you my love?" Palla asked the stars near the monument of stones she'd erected for her lover. "I wish you could see the curiosity in her eyes. She definitely has your spirit."
Palla sat down on the earth and stared at the stones. One for every visit, at least one for every moon she'd come. She looked back at the stars and felt a pull to them.
"They are beautiful tonight, Tamma," she whispered.
But, something was off. There was a new star and it was close. She wondered... but it wasn't blinking. It moved in orbit around Terre Nova. Stars don't orbit.
She jumped to her feet and ran as fast as she could to her library. Stars don't orbit, but ships do. Could it be more from the Ark almost two hundred years later? And, if so, why?
It honestly didn't matter. She grabbed her star maps and went back to her fields. She started calculating and following the movement of the craft. She didn't know what it was but she wanted to be prepared for when who or whatever was in it decided to land. She needed to be ready. She was the Palla after all.
She would not fail the Helions again. She would not fail Lex. She kept her eyes on the sky and waited.