A walk about Hilltown

Rebe

Rebe awoke late. Given the choice, she tended to sleep in, but she had meant to rise early today. She had fallen asleep still wearing the petticoat of her gown. The gown was worn on the dress form. It looked more like a mannequin to Rebe, with its arms and head for placing accessories. She remembered awaking in the night and mistaking it for a person only briefly. She had gotten up and turned it to face away and fallen right back asleep. The gown looked like something a girl from the fairy tales of her youth would wear. A princess. The word left a bad taste in the mouth. It turned her off it. 

Rebe grabbed for her normal clothes but found them absent. She remembered leaving them on a pile on the floor, for the sake of efficiency, of course. Adelaide had quickly collected and folded them and left them on her bureau. Instead, in the place they had been, she found a simple yet elegant green dress. Certainly not what she would elect to wear. Rebe tried it on but felt wrong in it. She looked in her looking glass and found no relief. She signed and accepted the uniform, begrudgingly. 

Rebe looked about her room, more thoroughly than she had the chance to last night. It was circular in shape. The room was constructed entirely of stone, save for the floor and roof, which were planks. There was a fireplace dead west, most likely adjoining that of Sato's room. Or did his fireplace adjoin one in Daniel's? She would have to find out later. The large bay window consumed the entire northern portion of the room. There was a red cushion placed on the seat. It would be a perfect place to read a book. The view was beautiful. The sea of grain, dancing in the wind, stretched out for miles. She thought she spotted the ocean at its edge, but it blended together with the grain so well she wasn't sure. The only thing that stood out was the dark forest in the distance. It irradiated gloom. The remainder of her room was filled with the form, the looking glass, the powder table, the wardrobe, the bureau, the door, and the bed in clockwise order. The middle of the room was covered in a bright red circular rug. 

Rebe put on her warpaint, and she made her way through the door of her turret and down the spiraling grand stairs to where Adelaide had told her the servant quarters could be found. As she made her way in that direction, she passed by a laundry and poked her head in. A large older woman in a brown dress was there washing clothes. 

"Do you happen to have my clothes? I'm one of the... Hero's companions." Rebe asked politely. The word felt weird as it left her tongue. She felt foolish.

"Still drying, I'm afraid... What's wrong with what you are wearing?" The old woman curtly questioned.

"Nothing at all, it's a lovely dress, only, I wish rather more to blend in than stand out," Rebe gestured down the dress. There was truth in her words. Perhaps even more than she intended. Still, the women missed her meaning.

"There are some folded commoners' clothes over on that shelf," the woman gestured towards a large shelf in the room full of linens. "Don't be surprised if you aren't met with bows and courtesies," The woman cautioned.

"I won't. I would like that anyway. Thank you, ma'am," Rebe curtsied slightly, forcibly. It felt almost mocking. The woman glowered and returned to her work. Rebe searched the shelf and came across some large brown pants with a rope for a belt and an off-white tunic. These would have to do. She thanked the woman again, who didn't respond, and made her way back towards her room. 

Daniel was clearly still asleep, based on the snoring, so she didn't bother him. She stopped in front of Sato's door and knocked on it. It opened, having not been properly latched. He must already be training. She considered entering to check the fireplace, but thought better of it. He could show her later.

Rebe entered her room and quickly changed into the common clothes. They were rough, scratchy, and definitely too big, but she still felt much better in them than in the dress. The dress was the right armor for the castle, but she didn't mean to remain in the castle today. She meant to go out and meet the people. She was ready to head out. She set out for the town along the way, seeing the sights of Hilltown. That is what Leo called the town beyond the castle walls. Not exactly inventive, but it was accurate enough. She once again left her room, descended the grand stairs, and this time headed straight for the front door. The guards opened it for her with cold faces and without a bow. Her disguise was already working. They thought her a servant. She curtsied and exited into the courtyard, quickly making her way out towards the inner castle gate. 

Leo had told her that the also unoriginally named Castle Hill consisted of two rings of curtain walls surrounding the keep. The first ring surrounded just the keep, courtyard, and the structures there within. The second ring encompassed most of Hilltown, save for some newest structures and residences, including most of Hilltown's farmers and foresters. The guards let her through with little trouble. She had seen much of Hilltown during Earl's tour on her first visit to Æurea. The blacksmithy, the bakery, and the inn. She had met many of the villagers as well.

Rebe made her way through the town, past a patrol of guards with large polearms dressed in mail and red and blue quartered surcoats. She passed children playing some strange game with a stick and a rock. She passed a pair of women, both wearing dresses, talking loudly about a strange well while carrying pails of water. She passed an odd horse-like creature that was scaled and reptilian. It was basking in the sunlight. It looked at her, blinked, and stuck out its deeply forked tongue. She passed a merchant dressed richly dyed yellow and purple robes. She passed a cleric with a radiant sun. It looked sort of like those wood carvings in the war room. She noted that to share later. She passed a boy who was dragging a cart filled to the brim with golden and purple grain. She stopped.

"Are you from the little farming village outside the wall?" Rebe questioned. 

"Yes, ma'am, my father works a farm," The boy said proudly with a big smile. He was missing a few of his baby teeth. He had sun-kissed skin and hair as blond as the grains he peddled. He was short and looked to be no older than ten. 

"I would love to come see it if you'd have me," Rebe returned his warm smile.

"Sure, there's always plenty of room at the farm. I'm heading back home now. Follow me." Odd considering his cart was full. The boy had pep in his step and made his way quickly down the angled streets of the hill and towards the front gate. She strained to keep up with him, even dragging the cart. He spoke to the guards, who called up to open the gate. A portcullis rose slowly, and the drawbridge fell. 

The boy skipped along out of the gate. Rebe once again was outside the city walls. She hadn't spent any time outside the wall, except in passage, since she first came to this strange place more than a week prior. Looking down from the hill, she saw the vast sea of grain as far as the eye could see. It danced in the wind as it passed down the hill and over the fields.

The town, like the castle, had no sort of moat. A few rivers flowed down the hill and out of the walls, but nothing voluminous. Instead, there was more of a rocky ditch below. It had some moss from the riverfront, but certainly no moat.

There was a winding dirt and gravel path and a small hut village right in the middle of it. It was truly serene. Rebe closed her eyes and let the wind wash across her face. Her hair flowed like ribbon. She felt free. They made their way down the steep hill. The boy, who named himself Samuel, was singing what seemed to be a nursery rhyme. 

"Wind o' wind, I sail o' wind. Through the Sea of Chaff and grain. I hope it rains 'onother day, for today is for the wind." It had that slightly haunting cadence that some nursery rhymes have. "The barley braces. The amar blushes. The wind dances through their way."

Rebe just listened and smiled as the freckled boy sang and danced about. They reached the bottom of the hill and not long after arrived in a village that had no official name. Most called it Farmtown. Some called it Chaffield, which she much preferred. They made their way from the center of town towards Samuel's family's plot.

"The Chaff Sea is older than my pops and his pops, too. It's even older than Pax Æure itself. The Sea has been cultivated for generations. We take as needed and replant. It sustains itself mostly. We just fill in the gaps." 

They came to the hut, one of the simple wooden structures with a thatched roof. Samuel opened the door. Inside was a family of Samuel look-alikes. His father, also Samuel, was a larger, more exaggerated version of his son. He was missing teeth, even more sun-kissed and freckly, golden of hair and beard, and big and strong. His mother, Rita, was a slight thing, terribly kind, and terribly golden of hair. His baby sister was just now growing her golden hair. A cousin, a brunette, also seemed to live with them and helped out as he could. Samuel greeted his parents, introduced them to Rebe, and then went over to play with his baby sister, who was delighted to see him.

"Welcome to our humble home," Big Sam greeted. "Can we get you something to eat? Corn, bread, cornbread? I bake it meself." Rebe was hungry. She hadn't eaten before she left the castle.

"I'd love some of your bread. Thank you." Big Sam got up from the bench to fix it. There was a simple wooden table with benches in the center of the room. The room that was also the entire house was tiny. There were cots made of grain in every corner, along with a broken trunk, all on the dirt floor. The fireplace was built of loose, unmortared stone. The kitchen consisted of a simple table and some clay pots and jars. Quiant would be putting it nicely.

"So, where are you from? What brings you to our little community?" Rita's sweetness hid her extreme curiosity and caution.

"...I'm not from around here, well, I'm not from Æurea at all, I mean. I came here with The Hero of Otherworld. He's my friend, and rather than letting him come to this dangerous place alone, my other friend, Daniel, and I figured he would be a lot safer if he had us looking out for him as well." Rebe decided to hold nothing back from these people. She felt she could trust them.

"I see. We heard the tale of your Hero. They say he is going to save us from the blight of the Rotten, digging out of their graves, and coming to take our farms and food."

"Rotten? Are you talking about the walking corpses?"

"So we have heard. Haven't seen them myself, but I hear that they have no skin, they travel in packs, and they slaughter anyone standing in their path. The Duke has been fighting with them for months now, and it seems the battle is not going well. There seems to be an infinite number of them. They have already taken several farming villages and forts inland, and no doubt they will come for us before Doubling. They seem to avoid the cities mostly." The fear in Rita's eyes was apparent. "They follow a false prophet, a Rotten Hero"

"Who is this Rotten Hero?"

"I hear he wields a scythe sharper than most swords, and that he sacrifices babies to summon his power. He never grows tired, never sleeps, never eats. He hides himself in a cloak of death and vanishes before any real soldiers can arrive." Rebe was so captivated by the story she hardly noticed when Big Sam planted a plate of bread, butter, jam, and corn down in front of her. She thanked him.

"Don't go filling this poor girl's head with faerie stories. Next, you'll tell her how the Dire Wolves stole our horses."

"What horses? I'm more worried about the Dire Wolves stealing Little Samuel," Rita shot back. Rebe was shocked to realize the dire wolves weren't the odd part of that comparison. Rebe ate the bread slathered in jam and butter greedily. The bread was fresh and delicious, and each of the compliments only made it better. 

Big Sam explained how all of the Chaff Sea was owned by the Duke. Well, technically, it was owned by Princess Leo, but the Duke ran it in his name.  The farmers worked it communally. They paid the Duke his tax and lived off what was left over, split amongst them. They all worked together to cultivate these rich hills and valleys. He said it was one of the most productive farms on the entire island, despite having fewer than 80 full-time farmers. Rebe had stayed and talked with them for several hours when she noticed the sun setting. She decided she should head back into town before it grew dark. 

"Please feel free to come again and visit us. And bring that Hero of yours," Rita added.

"Oh well, he's not mine," Rebe blushed, realizing she misunderstood.

"I'll walk you to the gate," Big Sam offered, and Rebe gratefully accepted. Big Sam grabbed an old straw hat. They set out. Big Sam greeted everyone they passed. Many had pitchforks. They seemed tense and on guard. Rebe noticed the watchtowers breaching through the surface,  all across the Chaff Sea. Five in total, four of which were lit up and manned. They seemed to bring little comfort to the farmers outside the walls. The walls of the town and castle that ate and profited from the work of the farmers of the Chaff Sea.

"No signal, Frank," Big Sam called out to one tense farmer who was staring at the tower nearest the village.

"No, Sam, no signal. But I don't trust Castle's watchmen. We know the Chaff Sea. Not them. They don't keep us safe." The farmer was gritting his teeth angrily. Big Sam just waved and kept walking. 

"A lot of the folk are real riled up and worried about these Undien folk. The Rotten, as me wife calls them. Frank calls them worse. I just don't know. Can't judge someone I haven't yet met," Big Sam pondered. She wondered what Frank called them. 

They arrived at the edge of the village. Rebe managed to convince Big Sam she would be fine from here, said goodbye, and continued on alone. Up the steep and winding hill road. She thought hard about these Rotten... these Undien people? Who were they? Why do they avoid cities? If they don't eat, why do they want farms? And who is this Rotten Hero? She would have to tell Sato and Daniel all she had learned. 

She made it back to the gate just before the sun set. The guards let her through, though they were dubious that she was who she claimed. No bow. They must have thought her harmless. She walked through the streets of Hilltown until she reached the walls of the keep. There, the guards called for her. She answered. These guards she recognized, and they recognized her as well. They said Prince Leo and the Hero were waiting for her in the parlor. She went where she was bid.