Gavin sat by the window at a small, square oak table. He sighed, dropping the worn quill pen back into the ink bottle, and gazed out of the window. It was early morning, and he had already been up an hour due to a sleepless night. He was using his work as a way to escape from his thoughts. And it wasn’t helping.
Gavin stood, stretched, and went into the kitchen. His mother was already gone at work. She was the head cook for some rich family that Gavin knew nothing about in the fairly large village they lived in. The job paid well – at least well enough to pay off taxes and get an education for her two children. As far as Gavin could tell, his family lived a completely normal life, and he hoped it would stay that way. It was considered “strange” for anyone to travel much or have adventures. Everyone in the small country of Elindin was laid-back and comfortable with whatever they had. Well, not everyone.
Ellyn came running down the stairs - running as usual. She always seemed to be running. The only way she and Gavin could relate to each other was the fact that they were twins, nothing more than that. In everything else they were strictly opposite. While Gavin was laid-back and never wanting anything more than a quiet life and a suitable home, Ellyn was never content with one thing. She was always moving, and would start things and never finish them. Their mother was constantly asking Gavin to come and finish something his sister had left out, and he would silently go and do it. He did not mind doing things for people when they asked, even if they were bossy, since he didn’t really see the difference so long as it got done.
Seventeen year-old Ellyn came rushing into the room. In her haste she had not bothered with her long, deep red hair. The only similarity in looks for Gavin and Ellyn were their soft grey eyes. Ellyn had taken after their father with her red hair, and Gavin’s dark brown hair had come from their mother. But Ellyn did look like their mother in some ways. She was slim and pretty, with fair skin.
“Did I miss mother?” Ellyn asked, breathing heavily.
“By two hours,” Gavin replied.
“Oh!” her tone was more than annoyed. “I wanted to ask her about father.”
“I do not think your strategy will work,” Gavin commented.
“But it has to! If I ask her every morning how he died, she will have to tell me sometime.” Ellyn took out fresh, homemade bread and began to butter a thick slice furiously.
“Face it,” Gavin looked over at her. “You have been asking her every single morning for over a year now.”
“I have not been able to ask her for a month!”
“Which is only because she has been gone so early.”
“Exactly.”
Gavin turned to Ellyn. “Why do you think she has taken to leaving before you are up?” he asked in a “you should know this by now – take the hint” voice.
Ellyn sighed. “I just don’t understand why she will not explain how father died. It happened when we were six! Surely she must have gotten over it by now.”
“It probably was not a very respectable then,” said Gavin.
“I still think we have the right to know,” Ellyn retorted grumpily.
Gavin shrugged and went back to the window, sitting down and looking out at the street. Ellyn came over and sat down across from him. She propped her head up and stared at her twin with intense grey eyes. Finally Gavin turned to her. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to read your mind. I paid some guy a fortune to predict my fate at the market. All he did was stare at me for five minutes without blinking and then say he saw a hermit and a horse in my future.”
Gavin shook his head. “Did you get your money back?”
“No. And I did not tell mother, either," her mood switched from upset to frusterated. "But I cannot understand it! I tried all my persuasive tactics on him to get back my money, and none of them worked.”
Gavin was surprised. Ellyn could always get what she wanted. He sighed and stood. Ellyn was not helping to lessen his headache. She only acted this crazy and random when she got up late – which meant it would be a trying day.
“Are you still thinking about leaving?” Ellyn asked. Her tone was softer.
Gavin shrugged. “It is hard not to,” he said.
“I cannot understand why you are so reluctant about going. We can finally get away from this boring place!”
“Ellyn, you know me. I changes.”
“Well I think we could both use some changes right now – like it or not. What can you do with your life here anyway? If we go, we can actually learn a new trade and make money!”
“We?” Gavin asked.
“You know what I mean. And you wouldn’t dare tell mother. She will be worrying enough about us.”
Gavin sighed again. He had never planned on telling their mother, not because Ellyn had bullied him into it, but because he knew just like she did that their mother would be worrying.
The situation was simple. Gavin’s uncle was very rich, and his mother felt it was time that Gavin learned a trade. So she was sending him to a different country where his uncle lived so that he could learn the trade and make good money. And, not wanting Ellyn to be alone in the house all day, his mother decided to send Ellyn with him to live in her uncle’s house so she could get an idea of proper life.
Ellyn’s hopes were opposed to this. She was glad to leave, but her plans were to somehow learn the trade with Gavin without their mother knowing. Gavin knew that was what Ellyn wanted – and he also knew that telling their mother probably would not change anything due to Ellyn’s strong will.
The worst of it was they were leaving the next day, and Gavin was not prepared for it. He d traveling, and wouldn’t know what to do if anything dangerous came up. True, he was a quick thinker, but not quick to defend himself.
“Will you stop sighing?” Ellyn brought Gavin back to reality.
“Sorry.” He went over to the fireplace and took a book from the shelf beside it. Orien – Gavin’s hero. It was all about a man who won battles without fighting – only trickery and wit. He and Gavin were alike in that way.
The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Gavin read, and went with his sister to the marketplace to get food for the journey. The rest of his time was spent packing. By suppertime, he had finished deciding what few things he would bring to put on the packhorse. Ellyn, surprisingly, had finished much faster than he had. She prided herself in traveling lightly. Their mother had been let off work to be able to spend time with them that night, although supper went by quietly.
Gavin was silent, still having trouble taking his mind off of the next day. Ellyn, on the other hand, was so excited about it that she could barely even talk. And their mother was so tired that she had trouble starting up a conversation.
“Have you told many people about the journey?” asked Gavin dejectedly.
His mother shook her head. “You know what people would think if I told them,” she brushed straight brown hair out of her eyes and began clearing the plates. “You would be the talk of the town for a month.”
Gavin groaned, and Ellyn smiled.
“I am sure you will both be fine,” she said encouragingly, though nothing would change Gavin’s view of things.
“Mother, how did -” Ellyn began.
“No,” her mother cut her off firmly. She then sighed. “I hope your going to Nathaniel’s will teach you to act more like a lady.”
“I could care less,” Ellyn murmured.
“Anyway,” Serena changed the subject. “I will give you a map, although you should not have much trouble getting there. There are inns every night along the way up until you reach the border. From there there is a fairly long trail, with different villages every few days,” Gavin had heard this at least one hundred times.
“Your Uncle Nathaniel lives in a wealthy city,” Serena continued, “called Tiras. His house will be easy to locate if you ask the people there.” That was another thing Gavin d: talking with strangers. He was sure Ellyn would have no trouble with it though.
“Now to bed with you both. You must get an early start tomorrow.”
Gavin and Ellyn got up, kissed their mother goodnight, and went to their rooms. Neither one could sleep.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
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10 comments:
I'll see what I can do to help you out Amber. Otherwise, it's great. I love how you are already endearing Gavin ... sigh ...
yeah...Gavin's awesome...Ellyn's slightly less awesome...but Gavin is SO cool.
Don't worry, Ellyn will get better ...
are you kidding?! Ellyn cracks me up! I love her! She sounds just like you too Amber!
yeah, she is kind of like me ... sometimes.
hahaha... Amber's computer cut out the word H A T E twice. :P I like it... sounds good! Gavin's cool... his personality and his name.
:) rach
Oh wow... so cool! I love the names! (I know I'm weird like that, but sometimes the character's name effects how I look at the story. Dunno why...)
I'm with Shae... Ellyn rocks! I'd never actually do that myself, but I've always liked the spunky characters better than the ones with brains. :D
Could I add something to that? Sorry if I'm being nit-picky, and it's just a thought, so feel free to discard it if you like.
Could we get a description of the house? I'm groping, and my mind has come up with something, but I'm not sure if it's what you had in mind. (Again, most of the things I notice are things that I do myself, which is probably why they jump out at me.)
I think the reason I didn't go into great detail about the house was because I didn't want to distract from the plot of the story ... trust me, if I let myself go too far I can get way carried away!!
Well, not to sound like a woodworker, but it's better sometimes to get too much, then cut off the bits you don't need, than to have too little. (Not sure about "better," but probably easier). Just a thought. (I'm a Tolkien fan, big time, so description and I get along rather well.)
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