April 18th, 2024
Part I - Meridian, the Manufactory
Standing before the loom, engaged in the mindlessly repetitive process of binding cloth into bolts, my thoughts drift off to the rhythmic chunk ka-chunk of the apparatus…to a time before my death and “rebirth,†before there was Swiftsure the Assassin…and there I am, a young Bahmi child standing before another loom, in another place and time. My father stands behind me, leaning over my shoulder and guiding my inexpert hands as I learn to weave the stubborn strands into a strong and workable fabric. He is a skilled artisan, my father, and I want more than anything to earn his approval. I wonder what he would say, now, if he were here? He would be happy to know I had honored my ancestors by becoming a trained outfitter myself, but what of the rest? I shake my head to clear away the thought, as in my mind I can begin to see the look of worried disapproval on his kind face. I force my attention once more to working the cloth, but soon my thoughts are carried off again…
I was born Shria Suren Bayaarbatjin, ‘Yellow Majesty daughter of Bayaarbat,’ so called, as my father delighted in telling anyone who’d listen, because the birth of his only child was marked by the most brilliant sunrise anyone in our village could remember before or since...
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