58A New Beginning
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o'er her face,
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek and o'er that brow
So soft, so calm yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.
-Lord Byron
"Bryaanwin Bluddowydd get down here this instant!" A harsh voice rang up to the tall tower to reach the ears of a slim girl. She sat atop the roof of a small manor with her knees tucked underneath her and her chin upon her knees. She looked across the kingdom as the sun rose to brilliance behind the castle. It brought a rosy pearl colour to the stone walls and brought a warm feel to the rest of the town. She sighed as she watched the activity below in the streets. All of those people, and barely any knew of the joys of Glass. Would she? Not even knowing what the joys of Glass entailed, she only knew that she wanted to be a part of it.
"Bryaanwin I won't say it again, now get down here!" Nana was most insistent on this, knowing that the girl was dreaming again and ignoring her.
She was of course correct, Brynn didn't hear the call and proceeded to mope on the roof. Today was the day and who knew if she would be accepted. Oh how badly she wanted to be.
"Bryaanwin!" A grey-haired woman stuck her head out of the window underneath where her young ward sat. Sighing, the girl slid down from the roof and into the room below. She wanted to stay up on that roof forever because she knew that today might be the last day that she actually sat on it. Spending as much time up there as possible, she often slept up there on hot summer nights though she didn't tell Nana. If she ever found out, Brynn would have been forbidden to ever do it again and Nana would make sure that she didn't.
"Nana I've told you before, don't call me that. Even mother and father call me Brynn so why can't you?"
"You were given the name Bryaanwin the day you were born and that is what I will call you until the day I die."
"May it be many years from now," Brynn replied formally to this, knowing that Nana was in failing health.
"You know I don't like that name. Mother only uses it when I'm in trouble, and then when you use it, I assume that I've done something wrong."
"Well, knowing your mother she uses your formal name to remind you of your place. In my day things were different though, in my day we went by our formal names and that was that."
Brynn giggled at this. Nana was continually reminding her that people were too informal these days and that everything was changing too rapidly for her. "Is mother coming to see me off?"
"She's far too busy to be bothered with talking to you at the moment, sweet. Now I know that today is Acceptance Day and that you're very worried but she's out with your father trying to get the Merchant Guilds to sign a treaty of some sort. She left early this morning before sunup."
"Sounds typical of mother. Never there for the important parts. At least it happenes on a regular basis, nothing to be disappointed about," tears welled up in her eyes as Nana helped her into the uniform stating which House she belonged to. A blue wolf was displayed as a crest across her chest and the rest of her attire drew attention to this.
"Now, now, I don't want to see any tears," she wiped Brynn's eyes and tied a white and blue sash about her waist, indicating house colours.
"I'm not crying, I've… got something in my eye. Besides, this is a big moment; I might never come back here. I might never see you again." She tried to laugh, tried to smile but failed miserably. Nana had been like a mother to her and had taught her everything she held dear. Now she had to leave this wonderful person who had made life so meaningful and she was finding that she didn't want to leave.
"That's nothing to get upset about. If you do pass the Initiation, than I'm sure we'll see each other again, right? They won't be able to keep you cooped up in that place for long," she pointed towards the castle.
"Don't worry, I won't let you down. What would mother say if I didn't uphold the family name anyway?" She grinned as she felt apprehensive about leaving. She had walked towards the castle often enough so she didn't need to worry about getting lost. There was something else, that she couldn't quite put her finger on but she didn't feel safe about leaving.
Author's Note: Well I updated this and added some stuff. I also took out some stuff that totally didn't jive at all with the plot. You would not believe how many plot holes I made with this first chapter but then again I wasn't sure where this story was going when I wrote this chapter so... Anyway, enjoy!