Chapter 1
“From the 26th to the 28th in the month on Vult, the days of Long Shadows hold those in Eberron in a grip of darkness and dread. The nights are long, the days short. The sun rays that peak through the wintery clouds hold no warmth, merely a torturous reminder that the months of spring are still long off. The crops lay dormant in the fields, the hunting becomes more treacherous and offers less bounty in each step, a penance for months of sunshine and abundance. Yet life goes on. People crowd together, filled by the presence of the warmth of company. This season is always a collective hallucination of cheer and merriment fueled by the chaotic shared suffering of a winter season. There are those that claim that Long Shadows hosts a peak in dark magics fueled by the Shadow's presence during this time of year. To stay indoors is to not tempt fate of being wrong. Superstition is safe. But one could argue that though the Shadow sits at odds with their Sovereign Nine siblings that this holiday may also be a deific coordination across the aisle with Boldrei herself. The Sovereign of Hall and Hearth, Boldrei is the goddess of community, home, and family. She represents everything good about communities and society, and watches over villages and homes. And what cleverness to get people indoors together than fear of the outside. Maybe the goddess of the hearth has more to say to us that we as congregants must hear…”
The high priest continued preaching to his congregation. A cold season in Fairhaven indeed. The Ayads split their unit into the half of two rows, the kids in front, wrapped in their warmest cloaks and dressed in the slightly nicer but wrinkled clothes and their parents behind them, Sabine having remembered to leave the rail station early enough to actually change into her seasonal wear and Bashir wearing a hand knit sweater made by one of his regular patrons. The youngest of them were tending the altar of the high cleric, bedecked in the hand-me-down robes that may have once been a vibrant blue but now had been bleached by time and over washing. They were struggling to stay awake as the cleric continued on with their sermon. Geez had it been 20 minutes already? The incense burned away in the thurible that swung on a steel chain from little Muhad Ayad’s hands. It was a mark of the resolute constitution that the boy hadn’t passed out from the fumes already.
“Do you think he’s even breathing?” His elder brother Kashaan, whispered to his sisters beside him in the pew. The elder Ayads had outgrown the duties of temple attendant when they turned sixteen and none of them had any desire to even be laughed down the street as an acolyte. So old fashioned.
“I think Haddie is asleep with his eyes open.” Dinah chided, a smile creeping up her face. Any conversation to distract them from this was a blessing from Boldrei herself.
“No way. Look, his eyes are moving. What is he looking at?” Mani cocked her eyebrow as she leaned over the edge of the pew to get a better angle.
“Ahem.” Their father cleared his throat behind them and Mani slowly returned to her position.
“I think you’re right Zah.” Kash gestured to the area above the giant crackling hearth.
Above the crackling hearth a large resplendent mosaic of the sovereign nine adorned the mantle before spilling up onto the domed ceiling. Arawai, sovereign of life and love, depicted as a faceless half-elven woman dancing through a field of wheat shaped in silhouette of a bronze dragon if you saw it from the right angle. Aureon, sovereign of law and lore, a gnome held a scale and tome beside a warm hearth beside his wife, Boldrei, a human who tended to a cauldron with her symbol emblazoned on it. Balinor, sovereign of horn and hunt, walked beside a great stag and other creatures of the woodlands; his orcish frame was imposing even in the light mosaics that made him. Dol Arrah, sovereign of Sun and sacrifice, stood in place of the sun, a silhouette hanging at the peak of day, the rays shining down on an ocean of gold coin that Kol Korran, sovereign of world and wealth, appeared to be swimming in a sea of gold with Olladra, sovereign of feast and fortune, as she strummed a tune that danced on notes in the air.
Wait. That was 7. Where were…
However it seemed that there were parts of the mosaic that were now moving as two of the sovereigns appeared to be fighting each other across the great golden plains of Arawai. Mani’s eyes trailed down to her little sister Luz, who sat on the altar across from her twin, her fingers dancing along the beads in her hands.
“That little-”
“My money is on Onatar.” A whisper danced into her ear from behind Mani. She smiled as she turned back to her mother for a moment who winked at her as Sabine slipped her hand into her husband’s. The illusion of Onatar flickered for a moment as Bashir stumbled over his concentration to continue the great battle above.
Onatar danced in a way that was very unlikely for a sovereign of the forge as he swung his mighty axe against Luz’s visage of Dol Dorn who caught the axe impossibly between their gauntleted hand before swinging a massive greatsword with his other. The battle was subtle but it soon became apparent as other congregants, also bored by the preaching, had cast their eyes up to the dance in the heavens.
“...And now we raise our hands to the sovereigns and profess our faith.” The high cleric finished as he regarded his admittedly distracted congregation. He smiled at Luz for a moment, his gaze of a thousand slowly annunciated words floating in the space between them as Luz turned her attention back to the high cleric. Dol Dorn was frozen in place as Onatar cut him in two with his ax before disintegrating into nothing, the magic dispelled. Luz sat in guilty silence for a moment before scurrying off her knees to ring the bells to finally end the service.
“How many days of laundry duty do you think she’ll have after this one?” Dinah snickered as the family began to collect their winter cloaks as the rest of the congregants exited.
“At least three. I’ve got to admit though she’s gotten much better.” their father sighed. “I’ll get her out of it. I brought High Cleric Navan some Eldeen Candied Turnips from your cousins.”
“You’re going to admit you encouraged her?”
“And give up the gambit that we’re the pious parents that encourage chaos on high feast days? I’m a man not a saint.” he chuckled, kissing her on the cheek before disappearing into the crowd leaving the temple.
“Okay sovereigns, any last stops before the railway that your father need not know about?” She always felt guilty about how much time she spent away. Sovereigns, they had all grown up so fast. Mani had joined a guild, Kashaan had was an apprentice to a cobbler, Dinah was a wizard in the kitchen, Saqib was blessed with the kindness of the horses for which he cared, and the twins were marvels with the arcana they had begun to manifest. Bashir had done such a fine job. Who was she? Just the woman who brought them into this world. She felt at times like a fun aunt. But the way they all looked at her, it swelled. No, she was here for them. When it mattered she was here.
“I’m running out of mint.”
“Dinah! Mum said something to do WITHOUT bubby. You can do that later.”
“Should we wander through Southie?”
“Stop it Mani…” Kash groaned.
“Why?”
“Kash just wants to stare at that baker’s daughter but he’s too shy to say anything.” Dinah rolled her eyes as Kash blushed as he elbowed her sister in the ribs.
“Well… that would give us an excuse to get those sugar cakes from Dornagog’s…” Sabine pondered and their temperment seemed to brighten even as they stepped into the blustery winter winds of Fairhaven. A healthy coating of snow blanketed the roofs of the homes and businesses, the streets were mostly cleared by the frequent foot traffic and the unlucky apprentice assigned to the area. Mani and Dinah walked arm in arm with their mother as Kash walked sullenly behind the girls with his hands in his pockets.
“Oh don’t be that way little king.” Sabine sighed and dropped back to walk alongside her son. He looked so much like Bashir now. He even hung his head in the same way.
“What’s her name?” Kashaan pouted for a moment longer but couldn’t help but smile as Sabine could see the boy paint his crush in his mind’s eye.
“Janea…”
“Is this thief a kind person?”
“A thief?”
“This girl who has stolen my son’s heart!” she tutted, Kashaan blushed even harder, the red lowlights in his hair brightening. Just like his father indeed. “Don’t worry I won’t tell your HORRIBLE SISTERS” she piped up as she squeezed his arm and the girls shook their heads.
“Whatever you say mother…” Mani called back, the eye roll in her tone painstakingly woven into every syllable.
“You’re one to talk Zahzah. Do you have any idea how many people have swung by the kitchen window looking for you?” Dinah prodded as they entered into the narrow alleys of Southern Fairhaven, Southie as the locals called it. Nicer than the section of Southwest where they lived, but mostly because less people lived there not because it was any safer. Warehouses workers and artisans clanged away in this urban quarter, holiday decorations welcomed those on the streets into warm storefronts.
“You’re just jealous.”
“Am not!”
“Are too!”
“Am-”
“Alright, alright girls. Maybe you can introduce your sister to some of your friends, Mani.”
“Fat chan-” Mani caught the look of her mother from the corner of her eye and shuddered. The smile a facade for a gaze that held the heat of an angry forge. “Y-yea. Sure next time they come through.”
“Wait really?”
“O-of course.” Mani stuttered as she weaseled her way into one of the stalls, her tail between her legs.
“Thanks mum. Meet you back at the Railway?” Dinah kissed her mother on the cheek before trailing after her sister.
“Don’t be too late! We’re hosting the Open Hearth Feast later.” Her girls vanished into the crowd and she shook her head. Those girls, always up to nonsense.
“Don’t worry mum. They’ll be on time. Mani is always on time.”
“I know. Now come on, I want to meet my future daughter in law.”
“Mum!”