Evenfall

Maria was almost finished preparing supper by the time Isa returned to the caravan. Isa noticed her mother had managed to pull together a few fayanite stones to make the campfire. The fire flickered white every now and then – most likely a side-effect of the fayanite once being covered by the same water that had been in the lake. Isa didn’t know why it would catch fire, however, as there were no Tai’en tree leaves present. When she stepped closer, however, she saw that her mother was using the powdered leaves as a spice.

“Where have you been?” Her mother asked. There was no hard tone to her voice, no underlying recrimination to show that she was in a bad mood. This was the longest she’d been in a good mood in ages. Years, even. Isa smiled.

“You would never believe who I ran into,” she said, coming to sit beside her mother as she began dishing the thin broth into bowls. Maria cocked an eyebrow. “Nikolas, from last night!” Isa chuckled.

She paused, however, when she saw her mother’s expression darken. Her previously mirthful features turned hard and cold as a quiet anger filled the air around her.

“Mother?” Isa asked carefully. “Is something the matter?”

“Yes,” her mother hissed, whipping her head towards her. “I don’t want you seeing that boy again. Not now, not ever. I don’t care if he stands right in front of you – you will act as if he isn’t there. Am I understood?”

Isa frowned. Why was her mother suddenly acting like this? She knew her mother had harboured a blatant dislike for Nikolas ever since Isa had first brought him to their camp, but she could never imagine it escalating so quickly. Maria hardly knew him at all. Isa felt an anger akin to her mother’s begin to build. Maria had no right to forbid her from meeting with Nikolas, and by Archen Isa would not bow to the unreasonable demand that she never see him again.

“No.” She said quietly.

“No?” Maria looked taken aback. “Do I need to repeat myself?”

“No,” Isa said, seething. “I refuse to obey such an imprudent demand.”

A flame began burning in her mother’s eyes. “Foolish girl. How dare you disrespect an elder – your mother – like that?”

“I will respect you once you regain your senses! You have no right to –”

Isa started when her mother’s hand flew across her cheek, faster than she could comprehend. The sting came a second after, a sharp burn spreading across her left cheek and lingering, like a malevolent flame.

Her mother’s anger turned quiet. “How dare you speak to me like that? How dare you disrespect me so as to blatantly deny obedience? I honestly believed I raised you so much better than that, Isabelle. But in the end, you are your father’s daughter.”

Isa’s anger immediately diminished, and in its place grew confusion. Maria stood and began walking away.

“My father?” She frowned, holding a hand to her cheek. Her mother offered no reply, stalking silently towards the caravan and then up its steps. Isa watched quietly as her mother disappeared behind the walls of the caravan and then slammed the door.

“I wish you’d tell me who he was…” Isa whispered into the night. “Then maybe I’d understand why I disappoint you so…”

-

After her fight with Maria, Isa lost her appetite. She didn’t fancy being in the caravan whilst her mother was likely still awake and seething, so she decided to go for a walk to clear her head. It was very late at night, and the stars were glittering above her head, guiding her footsteps.

Eventually she found herself in the village of Kova. Despite the late hour, the streets were bustling with activity. She had somehow found herself in the market hub of the town, surrounded by shouting merchants and throngs of eager customers cluttering the roads.

She looked around in awe at the difference between Tarren and Kova. The Kovans were evidently nocturnal, while Tarren’s populace was not. She also came to realize that the Kovans held no reservations, as they shouted and screamed at the tops of their lungs. There was none of the quiet disassociation of Tarren’s people, always rushing to get where they were needed and trying their best not to make contact – physical or otherwise – with anybody else.

Kova was full of life, and everybody who lived there seemed to realize and want cultivate it. Everybody seemed to know each other – Isa had been blocked twice by seemingly-strangers pausing to converse. She allowed a small smile to grow every time a Kovan shouted a greeting to her. It seemed they believed that even though they had never seen her before, she was no less worthy of a greeting than a dear friend.

She returned each greeting with a smile and a nod, wandering past the shopkeepers that tried to draw her in with colorful fabrics and trinkets. Not all the stalls escaped her attention, though. Every now and then she would pause to look over the various products displayed invitingly.

She was looking over bunches of beautiful flowers – most that she had never seen before – when a familiar voice startled her.

“See anything you like?” Nikolas’s deep voice made her jump. She whipped her head around to find him standing behind her – almost too close for comfort – and looking over her shoulder.

“I’m not sure,” she smiled, going back to observing the flowers.

“Well, what a lovely couple ye two make!” The shopkeeper exclaimed, her old and weathered face appearing from behind a particularly large bouquet of assorted flora. “I’ll give ye any flow’r ’ere for ’alf price!” She smiled kindly. Her thick accent almost drowned out her words, but Isa and Nikolas seemed to understand her just fine. Isa’s cheeks burned with embarrassment.

“Oh, you’re very kind, but –” She started to protest, but Nikolas interrupted her.

“I’ll have that one, for the lovely lady,” he pointed towards the back of the stall, a charming grin sitting on his face. Isa squinted at him as the shopkeeper retrieved the flower he had pointed at.

“Thank you.” He smiled.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Isa hissed as he handed the kindly lady a few coins.

“Buying a rose for my dear, of course,” he smirked mockingly. Isa glared, but took the flower as he handed it to her.

“A white rose,” she noted, turning to walk away. “Interesting choice.”

“How so?” He cocked an eyebrow as they walked on.

“It has very contradictory symbolisms. Well, in my mother’s opinion.” Isa twirled the flower between her fingers.

“And what might those be?” Nikolas prodded, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“For one, it symbolizes innocence.” She said. Nikolas nodded thoughtfully, waiting for her to continue. “But it also symbolizes secrecy. My mother believes that a secret could never be innocent, and thus the rose is a paradox.” Isa finished.

“This the same mother that glared dragon fire at me the other night?” Nikolas chuckled nervously, making Isa join in.

“That would be her,” she sighed, suddenly remembering the fight. Nikolas noticed her change in demeanor.

“Something the matter?” He asked gently. Isa shook her head, as if to scatter her thoughts. She hoped they would never regroup.

“Nothing important,” she smiled tightly. Nikolas gave her a funny look, but he thankfully dropped it.

“So, have you found a place to stay yet?” Isa asked as the silence between them became suffocating.

Nikolas frowned and shook his head. He seemed hesitant somehow.

“Would you like me to help? We could look now, if you want.” Isa offered, noticing that the crowds were thinning, the road they were on bringing them closer to the town’s edge.

“No, it’s quite alright, thank you,” he smiled thinly. If Isa didn’t know any better, she’d say he didn’t want to find a place to stay the night. She didn’t understand this man. He was hiding something, and she was hell-bent on finding out what it was.

She simply nodded and didn’t push the subject further. They reached the perimeter of the town, standing on the fine line that separated the perimeter buildings from the dark trees of the forest.

“Would you like me to escort you back to your caravan?” Nikolas asked politely, hands clasped behind his back. Isa smiled at him and shook her head.

“No, I’ll be fine. Thank you.” They stood awkwardly for a moment, before Isa chuckled. “Must it always be this awkward between us when we part?” She asked.

Nikolas smiled ruefully and let out a small chuckle of his own. “I suppose so. Good night, Isa. Again.”

She laughed and returned the greeting, bidding him a good night’s rest for the second time that evening. They parted, her going into the forest and him retreating back into the throngs of people within Kova.

She spent the walk back to the caravan in quiet thought, absentmindedly twisting the rose between her fingers. When she arrived back, her mother was nowhere to be found. Isa crept quietly to bed, clutching the rose tightly as she fell into a restless sleep.