A young man stood in a dark cellar, holding a small candle for light. This was Belissar, a man well past his second decade, dressed in the well-worn tunic and pants of any other frontier peasant. He was surrounded by barrels. He opened the top of one barrel and scooped out some of the liquid contents into a jar. Then he closed the barrel and walked towards the rickety stairs leading out of the cellar. He extinguished the candle and then climbed back up.
He made his way across his apiary, where wooden boxes stood in rows. Bees buzzed all around, climbing in and out of holes in the boxes. Belissar smiled and watched them work for a second, before making his way to his house.
Once inside, Belissar poured a bit of the golden liquid from the jar and took a drink. He held it in his mouth, tilting his head before he swallowed and smacked his lips.
“Hm, a bit too many juniper berries, I think. I’ll have to tone it down for the next batch.”
He heaved a sigh as he put away the jar. That was the last jar of the batch, so it would take some time before the next attempt. Apparently, the local Tower Lord’s son was coming to visit their little village, and every household was required to Keep reading on NovelHub - where stories come alive! Losing entire barrels of mead for free would not help him survive the winter, so he’d have to stick to tried and true recipes he knew he could sell for the foreseeable future.
And, of course, the date for the visit had come and gone a week ago, and the Tower Lord’s son was nowhere to be seen. And, of course, the village chief hadn’t returned any of the tribute, just in case the noble scion decided to show up at his own convenience. Some of the villagers had raised eyebrows at that, but Belissar just kept his head down. It wouldn’t help for him to complain; it never did. So, he just sighed and shook his head.
He stretched and walked over to the window, where he had a few flowers growing in pots. A bee was hovering around the pots and flew to him when he walked over. He held out a finger, the bee obliged and landed on it. Belissar smiled as he noted the bee’s lost antenna.
“Working hard, huh? Great job today.”
The bee buzzed and spun around. Belissar had saved a bee with a lost antenna once, freeing her from a spider’s web. He knew it was silly, but he liked to imagine it was the same bee that visited him, and that they were friends, even. Well, he knew the bees landed on him because he had coaxed them by dipping his finger in honey, but it didn’t hurt anyone to pretend.
Just then, an old man to his side began to frown. This was one of the augurs, dressed in fine robes and carrying all sorts of tomes and crystals on his person.
“My Lord, the mana stirs, and the gods are on the move. We must hurry if we are to prepare the bindings.”
“Captain, what is taking so long? Do not tell me that my own guard cannot handle some dirty peasants?”
His captain bowed his head.
“My apologies, My Lord. We should be finished up shortly. My men will be sweeping the perimeter, but I believe you should be able to proceed shortly.”
“You had better. This is the moment of my ascension, Captain. Nothing shall be permitted to go wrong…”
It was then that the augur gasped. Before Ruckanos could react to the interruption, a bright column of light shot into the sky from behind one of the houses.
“We are too late, it has already begun!”
Ruckanos dug his heels into his horse.
“Move, you fools! Whatever’s happening there, stop it!”
Ruckanos and his guard rushed towards the house in question. His horse galloped around back. Ruckanos arrived just in time to see a dirty peasant lying on the ground with an arrow in his back…and surrounded by the column of light.
Then there was a crack of thunder, and a bright flash of light that blinded the Tower Lord to be.
When it faded and his eyes could see again, the peasant was gone, and the column of light with him. The augur turned pale.
“We…were too late, My Lord. The Tower has been born…and the bindings were not prepared.”
Ruckanos narrowed his eyes.
“What are you saying?”
“If the bindings are not in place for the Tower’s birth…then we cannot adjust its course. We…have failed, for the first time in my career. For the first time since my grandfather’s grandfather…”
Ruckanos’s eyes widened as he processed those statements.