Hello people! Here's another chapter of this story. I really have little to say here, except that I'm currently in a double period of math. I totally did not spend two hours writing. Of course not.
So read, review, and favourite. I'm continuing to try and get stories out asap. If anyone specifically wants a particular story updated, PM me.
Even before my father came to this land, the Quila village had resided by the hills. They were as different from Royale as Aruthi's. Instead of wood-and-stone buildings, they lived in houses made from mud brick. They adored the material, even though the process to make them was long.
And boring.
"Aha!" I muttered, jumping at a suddenly dried brick, knocking it from the ground with my pick. The brick kiln, or Inta bhatta, was a square area floored by yet more mud brick. Villagers formed wet brick, leaving them to dry under summer's burning sun. I had accepted the job of grabbing the dried ones, taking them to Jyoti.
"Ekra!" Cried a child's voice, and a young girl ran at me.
"Ishwarya!" I barely got her name out before she ran into me, causing me to fall onto a block of wet mud.
"Oh! Sorry! My brakes ar-ar-" she shook her head, frowning.
"It's ok Ish," I smiled as I switched to the Hindi dialect.
Ish looked up, smirking at my odd accent. "Now I can tease you!"
"Yeah. Once you get off me," I muttered, pushing her up. I winced as I felt through my hair, mud coming off in clumps.
"Now you have an excuse to swim!" I rolled my eyes.
"When do you need one?" Ish left me, giggling as she ran into the pool. A few meters from the kiln, a beautiful shallow pool was fed from underground; shrouded from the morning sun by long reeds. I followed the little girl, watching her as she barreled into the water. Following her, I waded in, pushing my hands together at my fingertips and splashing the girl, thoroughly soaking her.
I received an enormous splash of water in return, the spray getting into my eyes. I heard giggling from the shore and ignored it, rinsing off my hair.
Finally clean, I waded to the shore then clambered out of the water. Still laughing, Ish ran off, sprinting past the fort to her home. Hiding a chuckle, I returned to my task, the girl's happiness infectious.
Lifting the small pile of dried bricks and staggering under their weight, I made my way to the fort.
"Do you need some help?"
I froze, half blind behind my pile of bricks. The voice was new, comfortably speaking in accented english, certainly not Hindi.
"I'm fine," I muttered, hiding my surprise. Despite my reassurance, I felt the weight in my arms lift as more than half of the blocks were taken from me.
Standing before me was a boy about my age. Dark black hair bordered pale skin, masking one of his sea-blue eyes. He wore a simple black shirt and dull jeans and the sheath of a sword rested on his hip.
"Where are you taking these?" He asked, easily holding the bricks.
"Umm..." I squeezed my eyes shut, remembering. "The fort. They're upgrading it."
Nodding, he looked around. Realising he had no idea where it was, I rushed forward, striding quickly to the modestly sized white fort.
Kamal, a middle-aged builder, grinned at me. "More blocks!" He cried, graciously taking the load from my hands. "And who's this?" he asked, peering at the blue-eyes stranger.
"Sicomba," he answered as he lay the mud bricks down. "My people are staying up on the hill."
"The stone circle?" I blushed as Sicomba stared at me with a raised eyebrow. "I- I used to explore the area around Royale as a child."
Kamal chuckled. "I remember that. Little kid running around the streets, never closing her mouth."
By then, I was pretty sure my face was redder than my hair. Sicomba and Kamal burst into laughter. Mumbling something about helping a farmer in Port Royale, I walked back.
When I arrived back at Royale, I remembered my oath to build some beds for citizens who lived in the hall, whether due to upgrading houses or creeper attacks.
By irritating memory, I knew there was no wool stored in the attic. I stalked over to a small house on the corner of the town, hunched against the hill that marked one edge of the settlement.
"William! I need wool!" My builder sat in his house, his eyes flickering open.
"I-I may have some, miss. Just let me check." He shuffled over to a chest, flicking it open. Finally, he triumphantly grabbed an armful of wool. I snatched it from him and walked back to the hall, placing the wool in my bag in order to climb the ladder.
Once I had obtained some planks, I make nine beds, using up all but two wool. Thanks to the in-built magic of this time, the beds became small rectangles of wood in arms. Once I placed them on the first floor, they grew into two metre long beds, the wool morphed into blankets and mattresses.
"Good to see you're actually doing something."
I turned around, only to see Robert, my deliveryman, glaring at me.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"All you ever do," he hissed, "is play with your horses and run off to other villages. You never do anything here, for us!"
The last sentence was raised, attracting attention. A couple of women walked in and froze at the door. I looked at them, silently asking for their help.
"He's right, Ekra. We've had to fend for ourselves, despite the large amount of big cats coming here for the summer. We're struggling to get enough to eat, and nightly monsters growl at our doors. You're young, I know. But your father would not have neglected us like this."
I stared at her, my shoulders shaking. I bit my lips, seeing the world mix in a haze of tears.
"I... I'm sorry" I whispered, before sprinting up to the attic and curling up on the bed.
I miss you, father.
Oh! Now I remember. I have a DA account, as the same name as FFN. I don't have any Fanfic related art yet, but I may :P