CHAPTER VIII
ETTER
I don’t think I’m breathing.
Or perhaps I am and just can’t tell. The basic function escapes me as I hold every breath in our slow ride, watching as the small path below us begins to widen into a larger main road that leads into a densely covered forest village.
My eyes widen even further.
Whatever I envisioned upon arriving in Etter, this was not it…
Tiny grey and white stone cottages line the road at each side, single family residences that look to be built hastily and without extra space.
The homes are small, too small for a family of three or more, but they’re not the brown and wood huts or hovels that I expected to greet us.
They’re all crowded next to each other and leave no room for privacy, the homes so pushed together that the shared walls look ready to fall down against the packed weight.
Some of the cottages have a few potted flowers in front of their doors, the colors adding a hint of vibrancy against the grey and discolored white stones they’re otherwise constructed out of.
There’s no room for courtyards, no picketed gates or areas for children to roam, just the drab and dreary homes lining the main road.
It’s an eyesore, but it’s livable.
We continue down the road quietly, each home still packed against the other as if trying to cram a full population into a small area.
A few curious glances follow us from the single windows in the walls, those eyes hiding behind slanted wood shutters as they quickly close their view of us.
I glance ahead, to the number of humans that start to now walk along the road.
Their attire is plain in simple greys and greens, some holding large satchels over their backs while others carry more heavy, unknown loads.
Every single one of them remains silent as we pass by, each of them keeping their eyes to the ground and never once looking up to our group.
Most have the same blonde hair and pale skin of the Woodlands Discerni, though every now and then I spot someone with a light or steady set of brown hair, the human keeping it hidden under a shawl or tying it away from their face as if in shame, not wanting to bring more attention to their features.
The village grows just a bit livelier when we ride into a town square of sorts, the small storefronts still drab in their dirty grey and white facades.
There’s nothing overly exciting about the village hub, but I do notice more humans walking around.
All of them are still choosing not to look at our group, their bodies moving about the town in an unknown purpose.
There’s only a few Discerni gracing this area, all of them standing in silent but indifferent attention as they stare at Keane with their cool eyes of blue or grey.
Ancients, what a sad, dull town.
I feel Keane eyeing me the whole time in our ride, the small village looking nothing like any other I’ve visited in Disce.
Not only are the people here okay in their dull and boring state, but for all I’ve heard of the beauty of Woodlands, there’s honestly nothing special to look at in this village.
There’s no open comradery. No smiles shared between people walking by each other or greeting their neighbors, only the too many humans who walk around quietly, their gazes never leaving the ground at their feet.
I try to catch their eyes, try to smile at the humans of Etter as we pass by them and move away from the town square into another set of crammed homes of grey and white stone.
But no one will look at us properly. No one save the handful of Discerni, and even they’ve barely acknowledged that we’re here.
I frown, feeling the hum again that graced me earlier. It moves throughout the air around us, the sound nearly hard to place, as if it isn’t really there. The small vibration that comes from it lends a steady beat, almost as if it’s swaddling the village under the small sound.
“Do you feel that?” I turn to Keane with a shiver.
My eyes dart up to the forest, watching as the few argents that are still awake glide about gracefully and over the silent patrons. A human man finally lifts his blue eyes at me in his walk next to Canon, the man seemingly surprised by my question.
Keane looks at me curiously, shaking his head.
“Feel what?” Desmond asks.
Stormfall takes a step into my neck, nipping it softly as I shiver again.
“I don’t know how to explain it…”
The man next to Canon is definitely looking at me now, his blue eyes widening before he stops completely in his walk with a frown. I turn in my seat as our group continues down the road, holding his eyes with mine until they disappear out of view.
“Where are all the Discerni?” I ask.
The cramped homes are starting to lessen now, allowing for the forest to take precedent around us.
“Coming up,” Keane says, his voice hard.
Coming up?
Do they not live in the village we just rode through?
My whole body stiffens as I stare at the forest ahead, spotting the road as it takes a small bend around the woods.
We move down it slowly, following under the thick canopy of sparkling trees until a vast meadow of lush green grass opens up in front of us.
I nearly groan in agony at the sight, recognizing now why Keane had such distaste behind his voice.
At the end of the road lies a massive, white marble residence, its building rising high and pointed to the forest as two ends spread wide across the open grassland.
It’s beautiful in its standing, shining so brightly in the night with the white of its walls glittering under the bottled moonslight.
Large courtyards of white rose gardens line the residence, while countless windows of crystal and glass cut high into the walls in sweeping arcs.
In full, the residence looks like it could fit into one wing of Castle Bardot, rising similarly as my home at about four stories tall.
It’s so proper and grand in its presence that it puts everything else to shame, the sight of it a pure mockery of the village we just left behind.
My head tilts high above the residence as something else catches my eyes. A soft gasp of sadness immediately leaves my lips, the feeling of anguish instantly deepening in my soul. I stare above, scowling at the sight before me, and feel my hand instinctively reach for the blade at my sleeve.
High above the massive residence are the largest homes I’ve ever seen fashioned within the trees.
They’re extravagant, building themselves along the heavy trunks, all of them sporting multiple rooms with high arching windows to see the forest beyond.
The homes are also made of the pristine white marble, the rock melding between the brown wood as vines and limbs surround it for support.
Large pathways jut from left to right made of perfectly cut wooden slats, connecting the homes to eachother as many Discerni move about.
The whole of the village above is disgustingly beautiful, and in any other setting, the sight of it would be a feat well accomplished.
Everything about it is extremely rich, from the elegant way the homes are crafted to the gorgeous white marble shining against the moonslight.
But the contrast is drastic here, flaunting such a different lifestyle from the crammed human village that rests just down the road.
At least the humans don’t live in squalor, my heart tries to reason.
That much is good.
I truly did envision dirty homes and streets, with the people just as dirty and ragged as the places they lived.
It could be worse…
Everything could be much worse.
Keane slows Ash to a stop as we approach the tall white doors in the middle of the manor, dismounting quietly. We all take his lead, getting off our own horses as I notice the hum in the air has disappeared, no longer gracing me with its calming vibrations.
I step to the side of Millie just as Keane, Desmond and Lord Alexander approach three blonde Discerni standing in front of the double doors.
The small Woodlands group eyes the men in their approach, their cool gazes narrowed and staring at the King without any emotion.
Canon takes a quiet step to my left, his shoulder brushing against mine in a protective closeness.
We stand with the rest of the group quietly, watching our delegation and the group from Woodlands interact.
The Discerni man in the middle of the three bows his head slightly to Keane.
I can only assume that this is Lord Kaven.
He wears a rich pale green tunic with long sleeves, the collar of it resting high against his chin and under his sharp jaw.
He’s tall and lean, nearly the same height as Keane, but he’s much skinnier and without any broadness to him.
His face is settled in cool indifference, turning to a Discerni woman at his side as he introduces her.
The blonde Discerni is simple in her looks and clothing, and although she has the same characteristics of all Discerni women from Woodlands, there’s nothing overly beautiful about her.
Her face is softer than the Lord’s, with her hair longer and sweeping along her back as she wears a simple long sleeve gown of grey and white.
She gives the men of our group a small curtsey, just as Lord Kaven turns again to his other side.