New Novestr

Spring was the best time on the island of Aneuf. The clear skies allowed for a sun with just enough warmth to scare the remnants of the winter away.

Food from all over the island was plentiful, and the lush green scenery served as background for the multiple flowers on the island, which had, for several years, been allowed to grow undisturbed by the fighting that it had once experienced.

It was a time for festivals, traveling, and enjoying.

But while many vacationed, a lone mage patrolled over the skies of the island, from the mountains, to the plains, and through the forests. He flew over a clearing in the forest where the first battle occurred between the Udari and Umans, long ago. Due to an event in years past, flowers grew there year round, unnaturally defying the seasons that swept through the island.

The years and seasons numbed his memory of what happened there, but the flying mage couldn’t help but sigh when he saw the out-of-place field of flowers, still shining their colors bright enough for him to see from the skies.

Several years had passed since the Battle for Novestr, in which mages, and songmages, clashed to determine the future of the island. They didn’t know what their fight would yield, or what kind of future would remain.

But they hoped. They hoped for a better future in which Udari and Umans could share the island. And they were right to do so.

The lone mage flew towards the districts of the capital where formerly only nobles lived. Instead of nobles, there were now many families that had settled there. Most of the mansions of the former nobles had been transformed into buildings that could house more people, or other facilities for everyone to enjoy.

The skyline was different too. Gone were the monotonous, monochrome stone buildings, and the colorful Udari clay was slowly starting to become a popular building material. The whole city had become a canvas full of possibilities.

That part of town brought many memories to the mage. It didn’t matter if it was a sad or happy place anymore—time and nostalgia blended everything into something unique, something he could only describe as beautiful.

He landed, gracefully and without making any noise, right in front of where Odoe used to sell her goods. She wasn’t there anymore. The lone Udari, dyeing the entrance to the garden with colorful berries, mushrooms, and sauces, was nowhere to be seen. Her voice, offering her childhood dishes, couldn’t be heard there anymore.

Others had taken her place, but it was never the same. No one could replace that one Udari breaking through everything by herself. Just like Ui had done.

He looked at the formal Royal Gardens, now called the Songmage’s Gardens. He still wondered why they’d chosen that name. Everyone who’d been around at the time knew it should’ve been Ui’s garden. But of course, she would’ve never wanted something that represented the island to have her name only.

It had everything she loved from the island within its walls. It was a small version of the island of Aneuf, full of life and color, for everyone to enjoy. They had even dug a cave, to show the underground flora from Aure. Many tourists walked through those gardens every day, with guided tours often overfilling them.

Some unofficially called it Lullaby’s Garden, and some, thinking they knew better, called it Yula’s garden.

He walked a few steps towards it before stopping. It didn’t feel right to walk into that place alone. It never felt right.

His uniform was no longer the monochrome tones that the Kingdom had imposed in the past. Gone was the white shirt that they were forced to keep unreasonably clean. Instead, they wore a more colorful, dark purple coat, with slacks of his choosing, even if he preferred darker tones most of the time. There were rumors that the color of the coat was chosen to honor the former Duke Bourin, but something made him feel like the Udari had been involved in the color selection. He didn’t really care. The past was the past.

Instead of the gardens, he walked towards the former Royal Mansion. The atmosphere inside had changed since the island freed itself from the King’s influence years before.

What used to be a lavish residence was now the house of the government of New Novestr. The gaudy decorations and carpets were gone, and in their place were historical paintings, objects, and their corresponding explanatory texts. It was in a way a museum—a testament to a past that the workers of the city didn’t want to, and must not forget. It was a reminder of what they had to keep doing to avoid the mistakes of the past.

The tall ceilings remained, but instead of only having foreign art deemed worthy by the dukes of the past, they were full of art created by both Udari and Umans.

On a wall there was a series of letters, in chronological order, between Lullaby and former Duke Bourin. They weaved a tale of sorrow, beauty, independence, cooperation, and eventually, unity. That’s what the mage had heard, at least. He had never read past the “Dear Lullaby” or the “Dear Duke Bourin” that in the later letters, was simply “Dear Bourin”.

He wasn’t one for spectacle. He walked past, uninterested in the “Wall of Letters” that so many tourists seemingly fawned over. He often picked an alternate, slower route, to avoid the groups of people looking at the letters from blocking his way. He was too respectful to fly directly into the second story of his workplace.

But still, he was not immune to the past, he was a result of it. The dream that Ui, Bourin, and many that supported them believed in had come to life in those very hallways that used to be the symbol of Uman Royalty, the hallways that Ui slowly broke open with her songs, echoing from the auditorium, once upon a time.

The building had several offices and employees. The halls that only servants and nobility walked through before were now bustling with workers that were hard at work to maintain their new future.

“Good morning, Captain.” The mage walked by, commanding the respect of the construction workers, still working to fully reclaim those hallways years later.

“Good morning.” The mage saluted them back. He noticed the branding on the construction workers uniform: AroRuPri Re-construction Company. Even if the siblings who founded it were nowhere to be seen, the work from their company kept going. It had to. Like everything else.

The floors had changed too. What were once carpets of dazzling colors were now surfaces of meticulously polished wood and stones—no doubt comfortable for several of the Udari that worked there daily.

He kept going without pause, having a mission in mind. He walked up the stairs and through the hallways that used to belong exclusively to the former Duke Bourin. Outside of the windows, he noticed lush patches of flowers in the adjacent garden: the Songmage’s Flower Garden.

It stirred many feelings inside of him, but he couldn’t afford to pause, neither for his objective, nor himself.

He arrived at the former office of Duke Bourin, and opened the door. “Governor.” He stood near the door, and saluted two men sitting at the desk.

“Ah, so you’re back from patrolling, Captain Lront… Croivtat.” Bourin was having tea at his desk, working incessantly like he usually did, barely lifting his eyes to say hello.

“You can call me Cro, remember.”

“Right… I just feel bad calling someone who deserves so much respect like you by your childhood nickname.”

Cro stared at him blankly, not understanding Bourin’s feelings.

“You’re late,” said Miront, sitting in front of Bourin’s desk. “Just as expected…”

Cro looked at the clock on the walls. Apparently, fifteen minutes early was not enough for Miront.

“According to ambassador Adari, Yula’s been busy with her teaching lately, and they need her in case Aure is attacked from the west. Seems like we’re going to have to send your squad to fend off the invasion. Would it be too much to ask for you to take care of it without Yula?”

They’d been expecting the Kingdom to try to invade again, once the pleasant spring waters allowed their ships to reach the island in large numbers safely. It seemed like they never learned their lesson. Yet Cro knew he had to address the threat, again. “They’re early this time. What are their numbers?” Cro asked.

Miront reviewed some documents in front of him. “Our spies said fifty, if we’re making a safe guess. We should let the elders know, just in case.” It didn’t take long for Cro to identify the threat as minor.

“I’ll send Prishu to Aure once we’re done,” said Cro.

“After the battle?” asked Bourin.

Cro didn’t reply. He could tell that everyone in the room quickly realized Prishu had the strength for the task.

Bourin seemed a lot less concerned about the battle than Miront. “Tell me Cro, have you thought about marrying someone?”

“It’s never really crossed my mind.” Cro looked straight at Bourin, not even blinking. “Have you?”

“Ah.” Bourin looked downward, sulking. “I haven’t really thought about relationships since… what happened, either.”

Cro understood what Bourin meant. In some ways, he felt the same way, but in others…

“Cro…” Bourin stopped reading his documents, and almost looked like he was sulking. “Did you know… all those years, what Ui’s songs were doing to her body? I didn’t realize that—”

“I did.”

Bourin was startled briefly. “Then why?”

“Do you think I could’ve done anything to stop Ui?”

“Still, to use her own lifeforce like that—”

“That’s what she chose.”

Bourin looked at Cro, confused.

“That’s what she chose. That’s what I tell myself. She might’ve not had a choice when she was a young girl, but the Ui that you met was already making her own choices. She decided.”

Bourin let out a quiet, nostalgic, almost melancholic laugh. “Right, right. That does sound like Ui… At least nobody will have to go through that anymore, thanks to her, and everyone.”

Miront looked at both of them and shook his head. “If you don’t get going, you’re going to be late.”

Before Bourin could say anything, Cro had already opened a window and flown outside at maximum speed.