Snow woke up with the sound of loud voices. He felt surprisingly good and rested, but he immediately realized he was all alone, in that bedroom.
Sliding out of bed, he searched for his clothes, only to realize that they had been replaced by clean ones, including a new, warm-looking cloak. Quickly dressing up, he washed his face on the clean water filling the basin placed on the border of the water tank, and finally made his way out of the bedroom and down the narrow stairs.
The moment he opened the gray curtain the white light of the day forced him to squint. As he'd suspected, it was much later than normal. Having woken up in the middle of the night, he had had trouble falling asleep again, which had led him to oversleep, especially taking into account ZaiWin's early schedule.
"Oh! There you are!" a cheerful voice greeted him and he quickly turned around, still blinking, to see Rain standing by the kitchen door, a welcoming smile on her face. "I bet you're hungry. How would you like to have some bread and cheese?" she asked and he simply nodded, feeling a bit intimidated by the older woman's warm presence.
Accepting his silent nod as an agreement to her suggestion, Rain didn't lose time, stepping into the kitchen again and returning not long after with what would be his breakfast.
"These are all made right here, in the village," she told him in a proud tone, placing a plate and a cup of water on the table.
Snow followed her and sat on the chair she offered him.
"I know it's not much, but at least no one starves around here."
Snow nodded again, the delicious smell of freshly baked bread reaching his nose. She didn't have to explain herself to him, he thought. As far as he was concerned the plate of fresh bread and white cheese in front of him was nothing short of an invaluable treasure. Taking a bite of the soft loaf of bread, he couldn't help closing his eyes and sighing in contentment.
"You like it?" she asked, sounding doubtful, and he quickly nodded, chewing eagerly.
It was truly delicious. Even better than what they had served at VinWei's house.
"Wheat doesn't grow around here, so every week or so one of us goes down the mountain to purchase it. The cheese, however, we make from the milk of our own goats. It has taken us a long time, but we're finally able to feed ourselves."
Snow tasted the cheese, its creamy texture and soft flavor going perfectly with his bread.
Rain smiled, obviously happy that he seemed to be enjoying his simple meal so much.
"The little lord is outside, helping the men," she offered, her gaze going to the open window.
Snow knew. It had been his voice that had woken him up.
"He was worried that you might wake up while he was away, and feel a bit lost all by yourself. He went with the other men to fetch water, since there are no springs around here either. So every morning a handful of men must go to the ridge and fill our barrels. It is a strenuous, hard task, and so I tried to convince him to stay, since he looks so tired. But he wouldn't listen to any of that!" she grunted, now sounding angry, and Snow looked at the water filling his cup.
Throughout his life there had been many occasions when he hadn't had what to eat, but he had never lacked drinking water. It was strange how one person's abundance could be another's lacking. And suddenly he could understand why ZaiWin had tried to contest the fact that she'd went to the trouble of reading a bath for them. It hadn't been for the work itself, but for how much water had been spent. Reason why he was outside, right now, trying to repay them the only way he could.
Finishing his meal, Snow bowed to Rain in silent gratitude, which left her blushing all the way to her ears, and stepped outside, blinking a few more times until he got used to the bright light of the day again.
Last night ZaiWin hadn't minded that the men and women that had met them at the village's entrance saw his strange hair. And so, for once, Snow didn't go to the trouble of trying to cover his head.
Larger than it had seemed the night before, the stone village was surprisingly as busy as his hometown had been, people walking up and down, carrying large bundles under their arms or on top of their heads, greeting one another as they crossed paths. Although he hadn't seen any the night before, right across the street in front of him, a group of children was playing happily, laughing and running around, their cheerful voices filling the air. Everyone looked very busy, he concluded, looking from side to side. But, unlike Woodbridge, there were no rich lords, or fancy-dressed ladies roaming around. The people here all dressed in plain, warm clothes, like the ones he now wore, some having been repeatedly mended and reused, reminding him of his own clothes when he'd been a child, and of how Sand had tried to mend them the best she could. And yet, like Rain had told him, no one looked actually poor, or sick, or famished. They all looked healthy, smiling openly, their eyes bright and alert.
Walking down the street, he crossed paths with a few of the men he had frozen to the ground the day before. A large man was a top of a ladder, a large chisel and hammer in his hands, as he vigorously tried to carve the rock wall. Another passed right by him, pushing a large wheelbarrow filled with yellow straw. At first he feared some kind of retaliation, but the man simply nodded his head and went on his way.
Turning a corner, Snow finally found what he had been looking for.
The loud voices of the men that had awaken him came from there, where a larger group of people was trying to roll a good dozen large, heavy-looking barrels up a sloping stone path. Some pushing, others pulling them with the help of thick ropes, they were all huffing, their foreheads glistening, covered in sweat. Some of the men had even taken off their tunics, their large, muscular chests flexing and bulking under the obvious weight. As he had already guessed, ZaiWin was amongst them, pushing the heavy barrel, his expression strained, the veins on his forehead visible from the effort. He had tied his ponytail in a long braid and, even though he wore only simple pants and tunic, same as the others, he apparently had no intention of mimicking some of the other men, and get rid of the top part as well.
Looking up the path, Snow saw what looked like the edge of a huge water tank, one several feet high, he noticed, moving to take a look from the other side. Like a hollow tower, he thought, its base planted at ground level, probably somewhere in the village.
They were probably filling it with water, he guessed, so that the people may use it throughout the day as needed. A man-made, man-fed fountain of sorts. Which explained the need to push those huge barrels all the way up the slanted path.
Couldn't ZaiWin just fly them up there like he usually did?, Snow wondered, watching the way he panted, all his cold, detached, noble figure unexpectedly shattered. As sweaty as the rest, his cheeks flustered from the effort, right now Nox ZaiWin only stood out from the rest of them because he was clearly leaner, which actually made him look weaker. That and his long, black braid, Snow concluded, following his every move, still feeling a bit bewildered.
Wasn't he supposed to be of noble blood? Wasn't he supposed to be their Governor, someone they should bow to and serve? Wasn't he supposed to be a fearsome Calzai whose name instilled instant fear in the hearts of those who heard it? So what was that, really? The more he got to know him the more baffled he felt.
Once they reached the top, they all did their best to turn the barrel around, and then someone opened it, allowing the clear water to fall into the tank. When it was finally empty, they took a few moments to stretch their backs and flex their tired arms, before they rolled the now empty barrel down the path, ready to start pushing the next one.
Since he was standing at the base of the path, his presence was inevitably noticed but, like the man before, these too simply nodded their heads in a silent greeting, before they went on with their task, uniting the ropes from the empty barrel and securely fastening them to a full one.
Wiping his sweaty brow on his sleeve, ZaiWin took that brief pause to approach him.
"Hey!" he greeted him, still short of breath, and Snow could clearly feel the waves of heat emanating from his body. "Managed to get some rest?"
Snow nodded and ZaiWin flexed his head from one side to the other, trying to relax his tense neck.
"I still have work to do here, so I won't be able to show you around. But you're free to wander about if you want, as long as you don't leave the village. Also, don't go into any of the caverns. Some are true labyrinths, and you'd probably get lost. Otherwise I believe you'll be fairly safe," he added and Snow looked at the men, still tying ropes around the new barrel they were to carry up the path.
It was as if he was telling him to be a good boy and go out and play, he thought with a bit of annoyance. On the other hand Snow held no illusions, as far as being of any use to them.
"Why don't you just …" The words had already left his mouth when Snow realized what he was saying. He had had no intention to speak his thoughts out loud.
"Why don't a just whoosh them up the path?" ZaiWin completed his question. And Snow looked at him to find him smiling, one of those ZanTar-like fake smiles. "If I did that the water wouldn't be drinkable any more," he simply stated, making him frown in confusion.
"Hey little lord! We're ready when you are!" one of the men called and ZaiWin waved at him.
"Going!" he shouted back and turned to Snow one last time. "Will you be all right on your own?"
Snow immediately nodded, and then ZaiWin was running back to the other men, taking his position as they restarted the hard task of pushing the new full barrel up the path.
Watching them, Snow couldn't help frown again. What had he meant by that? The water wouldn't be drinkable anymore? How come?
Having nothing better to do, and having been unexpectedly given the freedom to do as he pleased, Snow took his time to wander about the village, watching the people go about their daily lives.
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Ah, I actually enjoyed seeing ZaiWin do some manual labor. 😻 (Bad, bad author!! 😋)