Chapter 2

The Hyyats were a strange mixture between the ancient Mardenians and the Hearthans, people that were physically somewhere in between of the two races. They lived near the sea, almost on Nirka’s Isthmus and enjoyed the two worlds, except now they lived more casually on the Hearthan side of things.

They had an affinity for water and most of the culture revolved around fishing, trapping lobsters and gathering clams and the like. They planted as well, but left that to the Hearthans and they would import most of their crops. (They didn’t know much about planting anyway).
They enjoyed living simply and serving others within their own species. They usually thought poorly of other cultures although gave a proper face to those outside if they ever met with them.

These people were a large supplier of sea food to the other towns and villages around them. The Hyyat people were actually very small in numbers compared to other species like the Hearthans, Mardenians or the others residing in northern Rhul. This did not matter to them because in their minds, the smaller numbers meant that they were a special race.

Fallen’s father, Harold, ran a small market on the outskirts of the Yaluno village. He was pretty popular with the families in the town, almost as popular as Fallen was with the men. She worked there on weekdays after school and usually worked the entire days on the weekends. Hyyats did not have a real religious background, other than Aille created the world so that they could live in it, not so they had to sit in an uncomfortable chair for a while day praising him.

Fallen met most of her male friends through this market place. It was very likely that she would flash them a sweet smile, or gently caress his hand whenever they handed her the money at the cash register. It was also very likely that the men would come back and slip their phone numbers into her hand or ask her to dinner while her father was not watching.

Her relationship with her father was strung tight, at best. Ever since her mother died when she was 6, he separated himself from his daughter and spent his time working in his market. The market flourished, but his home life suffered greatly.

Her mother died from a strange disease that first took her voice- her beautiful voice that would sing and laugh with others, the same one that put Fallen to bed at night and gently woke her in the morning. Soon, that voice was replaced by the coughing, the terrible coughing that would last long hours into the night that wheezed and spit blood into the bucket next to her bed. Until her mother couldn’t take anymore and took a knife to her own throat. Of course, she left words with Harold instructing him never to tell Fallen of her weakness, but he was mad at her for being so weak. And when Fallen asked, he told her the truth, she ended up crying for 10 hours straight. When she had stopped, she had grown cold and uncaring of anyone else but herself. When she received the beautiful pearl that her mother had left for her, the necklace reminded her of the weakness she possessed and swore to look out only for herself.

From what Fallen could remember of her mother, she was a strong woman, capable of entertaining dozens of people at a time. In fact, she remembered dinners that host for the neighbors until all hours of the night. Of course, the noise kept her up late at night and she would creep downstairs and peek through the banisters and watch all of the pretty ladies in their gorgeous gowns hold their husband’s hands and drink expensive wine. She dreamt that one day she would get to dance with the most handsome man and drink in the loveliest gown ever made in Yaluno.

After her mother died, she still wished these things, but there were no more parties. There were no more pretty ladies and certainly no handsome men holding their hands. Her father never bought her pretty dresses nor took her pretty places. Maybe one day, a man would love her enough to buy her these things and make her feel like a princess that she so desperately wanted to be.

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