“Chapter Two of Andy’s Break from a Blog”
Have I mentioned before how Andy Weir’s The Martian starring Matt Damon started as an online book, released in segments? And how it was eventually picked up by mainstream publishers and released to the public in a new, cleaned, expanded edition? I probably have, since this whole Spectral Crown thing is a cross between a wattpad fanfiction and a page from the Andy Weir playbook. I don’t know if it’s still worth posting, as I haven’t gotten any feedback on it through this site, but hey, I’ve got to start somewhere, right? Nowhere to go but up, as they say.
Here’s the next chapter of Spectral Crown. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for a chance to win free robux and a gently-used copy of Dante’s Inferno.
Previous chapter here! Hopefully that link works!
Spectral Crown, by Andy Sima: Chapter Six
Whether by bird or on the wind, Iacob received a response within two days. His home country had instructed the Uradel family to bring as much as they wanted, and however many individuals they desired. There was more than enough room for all at Castle Blestem, the center of the Blestemat family holdings. They could reach Umbra by traveling east, in carriages, and Iacob would lead them. As he explained, it would take at least a few days to reach his castle and country.
Upon hearing the news, the entire chateau was aflutter with activity for the first time in years. Servants and maids moved back and forth from their quarters below and the royal’s quarters above, preparing carriages with all the necessary provisions, readying the nobility for their trek, and deciding which among them would travel to Umbra. It was a rare chance indeed to leave Stalpert valley.
Naturally, Simon, my mother, and myself were among the first servants chosen to go. The royalty needed us to complete menial tasks for them, and they would likely fall apart without our assistance. So it was that we gained passage to Umbra. It was my first time leaving the valley.
A number of other servants were also chosen to travel with us, mostly as valets and helpers to carry the great deal of trunks and cases that the Uradel family was bringing along. They were mostly older servants and maids whom the nobility knew and trusted, but an equal number of trusted servants were left behind to take care of the castle. And, of course, a great deal of soldiers were enlisted as traveling companions, too. The thought of leaving Stalpert valley and crossing the borders of Uradel without an armed guard was terrifying to the entirety of the court.
And it was, indeed, the entire court that was to travel to Umbra, from King Adalbert, Queen Annalise, and Prince Maynard down through the ranks to the lowliest court member, Richter Reinhard. That being said, the court was not very large to begin with. They all geared up to travel except the old tactician, trainer of soldiers, who chose to remain in the valley and watch over matters at home. One of the soldiers confided in me that the tactician didn’t trust his heart to hold out for the strenuous journey and did not want to chance a fatality. So Reinhard, the vile mayor and executioner of Stalpert’s village, took the tactician’s place as commanding officer of the troops. He was tasked with protecting the caravan with his life and the lives of the soldiers. He was to regard the lives of the King, Queen, Prince, and court above his own. There could not have been a more poorly-suited individual for that position.
Between the servants, soldiers, and court, there were about fifty people traveling to witness this mysterious nation of Umbra. We loaded up provisions into leather bound trunks, which were in turn loaded up into six wooden carriages. These, of course, were hooked up to horses, and the soldiers followed on foot.
We left at dawn a few days after Iacob received his response, once we had finished packing the carriages. And then we waved goodbye, out the windows of those dark wooden carts, to those unlucky souls who were forced to remain in the chateau. Or perhaps they were to become the lucky ones.
The mountain path that I usually traveled down to reach the village was unfit for carriages and was dropped in favor of an old stone road that I had not even known existed. It wound from the back of the castle up to the mountain’s crest, and then back down into the unknown lands beyond. It seemed to me that even the court was unaware of this constructed road, as it was Iacob who suggested it. The court had been trying to figure out the best way to get the carriages down the mountain when Iacob entered and explained. Had I known that this road out of the valley existed, I might have long ago traveled to some other land.
At any rate, the road was in surprisingly well-kept condition for being virtually forgotten by the entire populace of Uradel. It was less over-grown than the mountain path that my mother and I traveled by, and easier to navigate. The forest floor had been replaced by a stone river, constructed out of the mountain itself, winding and flowing up and over the hills and back down into the forests beyond.
Iacob Blestemat, in his shadow cloak, became the driver of the front carriage, and all other carriages followed suit, over the mountain and to the east. We traveled for the entire first day without incident, horses clopping through valleys and in between the trees of vast forests. Pine needles fell from the forest’s roof and hid in the cracks between the stones. We heard neither head nor tail of man or beast on that stone road. The forests and valleys were quiet.
After traveling for a number of hours, the King called for a rest stop to make lunch and to relieve himself. The soldiers appreciated it, too, I was sure. So, once we came to a clearing off the side of the road, we pulled the carriages away and stopped there.
From the first carriage, old wood hemmed with gold and silver, stepped the King, Queen, Prince, and to my surprise, Reinhard. Upon stepping down, Reinhard directed the soldiers to construct a fire, retrieve water for the court, and to prepare food. In turn, he came to the carriages holding the servants and instructed us to do likewise. So we worked in that silent clearing, making a fire and stretching our legs as the royalty discussed matters among themselves.
At one point, while the royalty were eating, I had a free moment to myself, and broke away from the soldiers and servants and moved towards Iacob, who had remained seated in the driver’s chair of the King’s carriage for most of the stop. He perched himself behind the horses, knees pulled up to his chest, hood drawn over his head, and stared straight ahead at the trees.
“Afternoon, sir,” I addressed the Blestemat prince.
“Afternoon, Saelac,” he said to me. I was surprised, and secretly pleased, that he had remembered my name. “How goes it with the servants?”
“It goes well, sir,” I said. “But a few of us were wondering how far east it is to Umbra. We’re aware of our eastern neighbors, and they are quite a large territory. So we just weren’t sure of how far we would have to travel to reach your homeland.”
Iacob’s eyes scanned the clearing’s edge, where grassland met trees, and did not once look at me. “Do you want to know something, Saelac Bergmann?”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
“We will reach Umbra by tomorrow morning, if we are allowed by your Uradel rulers to travel through the night,” he said.
“I do not understand, sir,” I said. “How far east is Umbra? We cannot cross our neighbors in a day and a night.”
“Oh, we are eastern enough,” Iacob said. “We lie just over the horizon, beyond the shadows of the setting sun. But we must travel through the night if we are to reach Castle Blestem by tomorrow morning.”
“I see, sir. Thank you,” I said. As I turned around, Iacob jumped down from his place atop the carriage’s driver seat.
“That is actually a matter I must discuss with the royalty,” Iacob said. “Thank you for reminding me, Saelac.”
“My pleasure, sir,” I said, and Iacob walked past me, not meeting my eyes, and made his way towards the ring of royalty around their small fire. He exchanged words with the king, though I could not hear what was said. One member of the court exclaimed in outrage, presumably at the thought of traveling through the night, but Iacob must have convinced them, for we did not stop again until we reached Castle Blestem.
Once the royalty had eaten their fill, and once the servants and soldiers had eaten what was left, we put out our fires and packed ourselves back into the carriages. With a crack of a whip from Iacob, the King’s carriages began to move once again.
It was a long, rather boring ride, although I did entertain myself by looking out the window and discussing matters with my mother, Simon, and the other servant who was in our carriage. The only matter of nature that we passed through was pine forest, very similar to the ones in the valley of Stalpert. We traveled for many long hours of the afternoon before the sun began to set. And then, as the sun did finally set, with the shadows of the mountains behind us stretching long, we reached what I can only describe as a barrier. There was no physical change in the world around us, save a slight bump that I felt as we passed over it, but in the bottom of my chest, I felt us cross the border into Umbra. I cannot quite explain the sensation, but it was much like having my lungs frozen from the inside out in a matter of seconds. And then it was gone.
We all felt it. I saw it in the faces of my fellow travelers. They too had felt the crossing of a threshold. I could not understand how we got there so quickly, but there we were. I looked out the window, and as the sun finally set into darkness behind us, the trees seemed to grow thicker and closer together. I turned my attention inward.
Traveling in the darkness of night, the drivers used lanterns to guide their tired horses, and we traveled down what seemed to be the same pine path. The soldiers must have been exhausted. I wasn’t sure when I fell asleep, or for how long I slept, but it was light outside when my mother woke me up. I glanced out the windows, seeing nothing but the same trees as I had seen since we left Uradel, and grey clouds overhead. But I could tell we were close. We had traveled without ceasing for hours. I could not imagine the exhaustion the soldiers and drivers surely felt.
It was only a few minutes after I had been awakened that I heard Iacob’s voice call out from the front of the caravan.
“Drivers,” he called. “Members of the Uradel court, and guests. We are about to reach Castle Blestem. Prepare yourselves.” It seemed an odd phrase for reaching a castle, but as soon as the horses stopped and I looked out of the carriage, I understood why.
No manner of warning could have possibly prepared me for my first views of Castle Blestem and the capital of the nation of Umbra.
No manner of warning could possibly prepare you for the next two weeks of more chapters of Spectral Crown…
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