Last Light keeper by Ovini Seniyaro

The Morning rain

It was a cold winter morning as Ruben was walking toward the rugged hill to fetch water. It was early dawn before the first light. He felt so exhausted as the cool breeze blew across his face, with the warm sticky sweat trending down his bare chest. He was wearing a long brown pants with his bare feet . He scratched his curly brown hair twice and stood still for some fresh air.

Looking towards the foggy mountains in front of him and created a vivid picture of the olden days war with the far away kingdom where he lost both his parents. He stood still glancing at a gracing area for cattles on the far side of the hill. “Two more hills before home,” he sighed. This was his normal routine every morning as he fetches water from the village well.

He stood still as he was listening to the silent breeze whispering in the trees and birds that singing a sweet melody at the nearby branch. Suddenly he felt something was wrong. The wind swoosh like galloping horses swiftly pushing three clouds from the east across the sky. In the next minute he no longer sees the morning ray as the sky was filled with darkness, and the heavens began to outpouring, blessing the soil with cold icy rain. He want up the slippery path and after the second hill he had a glance of his old stone cottage from the distance. “Home,” he sighed. It was surrounded by bushes and a few trees on the side of the hill. He could see the fading smoke rising from the chimney. Walking toward the front door he can’t take his eyes off from the hole on the roof made by the branch from a nearby tree.

He swung the door open and saw his aunt by the fire place fixing some meal. She was the only family he had at that time. There was not a lot of furniture in his house. It was just a old dinning table in the middle of the house, a bed on the far right of the house and small fire place on the left with cooking pots hanging on the walls. They’ve a small got shelves of books and a whole wall filled with jars of herbs and portions on the far corner. Ruben join her aunt by the fire place as they were trying to warm themselves. There were few thunderstorms before the rain slows down. Glancing through the window they could see the smoke coming from the village on the other side of the hill. They could also see the palace guard marching toward the palace gate on top of the highest hill. They sat silently for the next couple of minutes with the cup of herbal tea on their hands. “the king is out again,” said the aunt. “Hurry up Ruben, the royal stable is waiting for you!”

The twelve year old boy stood up and took his coat from the back of the door. He went toward the bed and saw the hole on the roof has made a pool of water beside the bed. “ aunt, I will have to fix this hole when I’m back from the palace in the afternoon.” He went towards the bed and saw the pile of grain that his aunt has stored for the whole season were wet. He picked up one grain, looked at it and told his aunt to dry them in the sun that day. The sun was out, Ruben dash toward the door and he made his way out of the house.

Ruben made his way across a small daisy meadow before he went onto the rocky path that lead him directly to the palace. The path lead him through the village, passing small markets in front of houses where you can find anything ranging from a clay pot, to the rotten portion. There were also stalls with red clothes surrounding it and it use to serve as the stall for olden days gypsies. He came across the last stalls which are the stalls of the wise old elf who is known that can predict the future. The elf only bow to two people in the whole entire Kingdom which is the king and Ruben. No one really knows why. He came across the last lines of houses build with red woods and stones which belong to the nobles of the land also known as the mighty wizards.

At last he was at the Palace gates. He greeted the royal guard as a usual manner and he mentioned that he was on his was to the royal stable. The palace gates was surrounded by high stone walls that are protecting the whole entire palace. It has only one gate so it can monitor people moving in and out of the palace. The palace was build in red ancient bricks that give out a dim glow every moonless night. At the back of the back of the castle lies the royal stable. It takes around half and hour to walk from the main gate, around the palace to the royal stables at the back. The stable was divided into few small sections that consist of the horses used by the royal family; the ones for the nobles as well as the one used for wars. It also have donkeys and mule that are used for transportation of goods but there was also something in the royal stable used to be cherished the previous kings which is the great white bear.

The great white bear was gifted by the far away kingdom to their forefathers. There was a total of four bears were given to them and they use to live in the palace. From the descendant of the four bears they’ve got only one left, a young female one who was named Livia because of her opal blue eyes. These bears are one of the kind and they are known for their special powers. They have a strong connection with the nature and they have power to summon the trees and all the natural environment, but young Livia know nothing about this since she was still a child when both her parents were slaughtered in the war and she was the only one of her kind surviving. The legends says that the bears understand the language of all animals and when they are old enough they could also speak human language. So everyone that is assigned to look after Livia is being paid a four golden coins a month. A single golden coin is equivalent to four silver coins or hundred of copper coins. The legend is fore told that the bear always selects it Keeper but now most of the people are just letting Livia to live in the stable because they thought she was a curse since she was only one left. Her favorite place everyday is the moat outside the palace wall. They contains golden fish and in summer Livia will spend time there watching the gold fish as if she was speaking to them.

Ruben is one of the stable keeper and he has to ensure the cleanliness of the royal stable. He fetches water for the animals, rakes out the old hays and replaced them with new one. He has to look through the hairs of the animals to ensure that there is no lice. He to was and bathe the animals twice a week during summer and only once a month in winter. This was the direction of the king to avoid sickness in the animals. He also has to fetch wild herbs is one of the animals got sick.

After all his work was done, he grab a old rag from his pocket to wipe off the sweat that was tricking down his chest. It was already passing the mid day and it was eight hours after sunrise. He normally head home an hour before sunset but that day he has to go home early to fix the roof damaged by the storm that was damaged by the early morning storms. He say good bye to the guard in charge and other five royal stable keepers before he head home. He grab his coat from its hanging place, put it on and made his way toward the palace gate. He walked pass the chicken and duck shed which was beside the royal stable, also passing the king’s well, through the royal flower garden which was filled with varieties of roses and directly to the palace gate.

As he was right beside the palace gate, the gate keeper shouted “ Make way for the king,”. Everyone around the palace yard knelt with one knees, with their head bowing. The king was riding a black carriage with the golden bindings on it’s windows and its doors including all the edges. The king was about six feet tall and he has a grayish white hair. He was living in the fifth decade of his life. He was dressed in his royal plum purple cloak and was wearing his golden crown. He was named Nero since he was a fierce fighter and he was filled with wisdom. Sitting beside him was his wife the queen and who is the moon goddess named Boudicca. She was also in her royal robes and her diamond tiara on. She was known for her beauty and her powers throughout the entire kingdom. She was the daughter of the moon king and her marriage with king Nero brought peace to his neighboring kingdom and there was no war for a decade now.

As soon as the king carriage went pass, Ruben stood up and continued his way home. He want through the village, passing the market place, he followed the track back home, went through the meadow and his backyard garden and into his house. There was nothing in the backyard garden since it was in the middle of the winter season. All the grain and the clothing that were wet due to the storm was dried by the aunt. Ruben hung his coat at the back of the door and he was looking for the hammer when his aunt stopped him and say “how about we look through the books of spells and see if we can fix it in few minutes.” Ruben gave his aunt a long look and replied “ that sounds interesting!” they went through the books of spell and they’ve found the right one. The aunt push the table to side of house and pull aside the rug beneath it. She chants few words before flicking her finger, and a door appeared on the floor. Ruben speechlessly looked at it in wonder and amazement. The aunt opened the doors on the floor and she pulled out a big heavy chest. “this was papa's treasure” she murmured. So she open the chest and she pulled out a wand. This was a white one and it’s one of it’s kind. “ Those are completely rare! I’ve heard legends about them and I’ve never seen one in my life before,” Ruben said. “ Well let’s find out if it works,” the aunt replied