After what seemed like hours of listening to the gallop of the giant horses pulling the carriages and the scraping of the metal wheels getting jammed from the sand and dirt. Moira looked bored and stood from her seat, gazing out the window, the edge of The Domes were rapidly coming nearer into view. Jalla was fast asleep on the settee and Vyvian was wide awake, like usual, standing next to the guard that was in front of the door.
Moira frowned as the dust from the carriages ahead of her temporarily blinded the view of the outstretched domelands, she grew tired of this dusty scene and walked carefully over to Vyvian, trying not to fall over from the random bumps in the road tossing her around, placing a hand on the wall to steady herself. Moira noticed that Vyvian's eyes were no longer the blood red color she has gotten used to seeing, but now was light brown, and the guard, she could have sworn she saw him with bright red eyes, now had a baby blue color. Moira squinted suspiciously, forgetting that she was going to ask about the length of the trip.
"Your eyes?" Moira pointed out quizzically. "They change color."
The guard turned to meet Moira's gaze as Vyvian smiled. "Yes, Lady Moira, of course. We Vampire rarely reveal our True Eye among people. 'The eyes are the windows to the soul.' That is true for all creatures. Those born under the certain elements see our truth and sympathize, as some are immortal as well, but Man, they see only death. King Rejan is a-"
She thought for a moment, as if trying to decipher the words in her head, "-a short-sighted man, he wanted to see us far away and in a very noticeable manner." Vyvian's eyes widened while looking out the window and signaled to the guard, who immediately left to the front of the carriage and disappeared behind a heavy metal door. Moira looked out the window seeing the great wall of green trees and silver bushes coming closer. "No Matter, I suspect he will not have guests again in a very long time."
Moira felt the carriages slow, the horses coming to a trot. Looking out the window agaain , she saw one by one, each carriage disappearing behind the moving silverberry bushes, great shimmering thorny branches the width of an arm, engulfing each carriage. Each branch was like a giant thorn growing and reaching out with hundreds of other thorns growing in every direction. It was like they had a mind of their own, opening and closing, allowing each carriage in one at a time.
They drew nearer to the hedge and it was magnificent, the trees were such a vivid green they hurt Moira's eyes, every color of green, the wind rustled through its leaves, the forest swayed with the breeze. As they crossed the threshold, silver branches scratched the sides of the carriage, the sounds were like knives on glass plates. Lasting for only a few moments, the sound left her with a slight headache, but it was a relief to feel the dirt, which was softer than the dirt of the Domes, she was surprised Jalla did not wake up.
"So, how long are we to be traveling for?" Moira asked, rubbing her eyes, trying to get the sound of the scraping out of her head.
"Three days, two and a half to be exact. I received word an hour ago that we will not make it before the storm passes, we will have to stop before the passage of the valley for a night and proceed in the day." Vyvian caressed Moira's shoulder and gestures toward a door behind them. "You have a most comfortable cabin to rest in, I suggest you to sleep while you can, you have a very busy few seasons ahead of you."
"When will I-" She laughs and rubs her arm nervously, "...you know, get married?"
"Oh, not for a while. You'll see that we do not do things like other kingdoms, we do not wait a year until you see your betrothed. Two seasons must pass, in this case, you will meet on the Eve of Spring."
Moira looked at Vyvian concerned, it was hard to describe looking at Vyvian, it was like she wasn't there, she could obviously see her, but she felt alone, even looking at Vyvian now. "What do you mean? I won't be marrying him for a while?"
"Well, Odiovitian Royals have always been married to other royals around the world, Olvina, her daughters, her grand-daughters, the women will always be a pinnacle of the family born and bred to be queens, but the men are given, if you forgive the term, lesser woman of court."
Moira laughed lowly, "I'm a lesser woman of court, considering I'm marrying a bastard."
"Bastards don't exist to the Athaaric Family, where they came from, the idea of a bastard is unheard of, but the citizens of here in Odiovitae, they are not kind to unlawful children."
Moira laughed, "And where are bastards unheard of? Certainly not in North Ostram? North Ostram has always been a marriage bound country."
Vyvian smiled and shook her head. "No, no, of course not, we come from Scedryhiel."
Moira was taken aback by this knowledge, Scedryhiel was uninhabitable by humans, it was a ruinous land. All creatures began there, from the meek Human to the strong Elf, the smallest Dwarf to the Largest Dragon, all ever created was created in Scedryhiel. Soon after, the world was discovered and became smaller day after day with expeditioners, mappers, miners, slavers, and all the type of folk just looking for diamonds. Many immigrated to the new world, Ostram was a beacon of hope for those who could not defend themselves against dragons and giants and mutants. After over two hundred years old agriculture and architecture, Ostram was split in half by a massive volcano, the explosion was so massive it shook the continent and tore it apart, creating North Ostram and South Ostram. It was so massive, it sent tidal waves of volcanic ash to other parts of the world, creating new plant life and forming new islands from its settling lahar.
"Were you there when they migrated?" Moira asked, longing for any chance to be able to understand more of where all humans hail from.
Vyvian sighed boorishly, "No, unfortunately, I was born a few hundred years later on Boot Island."
Moira frowned again and turned toward the far door. Opening it she saw a perfect slice of her room placed on elsewhere: the white cotton sheets, the pale green drapes, tied over see through yellow curtains, attached to the canopy, they swayed subtly to the steady trot of the carriage, a small tea table with two wooden arm chairs covered in green chiffon covers, a large wood trimmed mirror in the other corner.
It even had a smaller version of her wardrobe, which was a huge cabinet with doors that held all her chiton and stola folded neatly on each shelf, whereas this was a knee-high sized wooden trunk that opened up with layers of shelves with clothing from home and some new pieces she did not recognize. She wondered what all Vyvian brought, the jewelry she chose, all in their own little brown boxes, all the sandals she chose, and many boots that looked to be the same as the ones she received at the Ceremony, all stacked neatly at the bottom of the trunk. Overwhelmed at the majority of the clothes being Moira took a himation and put it to her face, it smelled like her room.
Realizing more and more that this was like no carriage but like a miniature metal cabin on wheels, Moira plopped on the bed and swiped a hand at the canopy drapery. They were soft and reminded her of home. They were comforting to see, her eyes grew heavy, her mind drifted to the thoughts of home, or what she wanted to be her home, somewhere safe, somewhere she was never in fear of being sold off like a common cow, never having to worry about colorless dreams, rough roads, or a society of vampires. Her eyes grew heavy on the thought of the stresses of her mind. Moira pondered of the dark, ash chocolate that she wished she could eat to soothe herself to an eventual peaceful sleep, but instead was lulled to sleep by the rocking of the carriage.