Not only was I alone, but the room was somewhat dark.

Spending a few moments to stretch and relax, I let out a decent yawn before standing.

The moment I stood from the couch, the room became brighter. Returning to the same level of brightness I remembered it as.

“Hello?” I asked, looking around for the cause of it. But there really wasn't anyone else in the room. The office was empty, except for me.

Had I just been sleepy, or was it some kind of strange magic?

“Noth...?”

Walking around the room for a moment, I wasn't too surprised to find it was still empty. I didn't know why, but I really hadn't expected to wake up alone...

“Granted, I didn't expect to be allowed to sleep too long either,” I said to myself as I walked along the shelves.

Although I had somewhat examined them before, I had done so while trying to get the bottle of spirits. I hadn't actually examined them.

So I was happy to get the chance to spend my time looking into every cupboard and examining each shelf.

It was regrettable I wasn't as tall as Sarley or that giant of a man, since they went all the way to the ceiling. I was missing out on examining nearly half the amusement thanks to the lack of visibility.

Though...

Pulling a chair over, I got up onto it and was able to look into the next few levels of shelves. Like the ones below, they were mostly full of books. Occasionally there were other things, like glowing crystals or strange artifacts, but it seemed that the higher the shelves went the more books they held.

Getting off the chair, I decided to try and open them again. This time I tried another wall, in case it had only been that wall that was magically sealed.

Picking a random one, I grabbed the small handle and tried to open it. Just like before, it felt like I was pulling on the wall itself.

It didn't even budge... not even the tiniest of nudges. It was almost as if they weren't even doors at all, but were simple decorations.

No, even a decoration would move a little when pulled roughly. Yet this...

“Magic,” I said with a sigh.

Giving up trying to open any of them, I decided to walk over to the large desk.

It had been cleaned, somewhat. Most of the papers and books I had knocked over earlier were now simply stacked in random places. Someone had cleaned it up, but had done so quickly.

Smiling at myself, I went ahead and took a seat behind the desk.

Noth's chair was a little larger than the rest in the room, but I immediately noticed it wasn't anywhere near as comfortable.

Rearranging myself a little, and trying to get comfortable, I wondered why it felt so... disagreeable with me.

The chair had cushioning, and was made from some kind of soft leather, but at the same time it felt... hard.

“He should get a new one,” I said, thinking of all the chairs that were probably available to him. You'd think someone as powerful and wealthy as he would have only the finest.

Even though I was only playing the part of his wife, it still made me somewhat offended.

Looking over the desk, I saw many papers that I wanted to look at, but instead I focused on the drawers of the desk.

Or more specifically, the one that was cracked open a little.

With a little bit of excitement I opened the drawer all the way, and peered in. I found a surprisingly large recess area, but only a few things within.

A small box and a few bundles of paper.

I ignored the papers, since I probably couldn't read them anyway, but the box looked promising.

Mostly because it looked familiar.

Putting the box on the desk, I was surprised to feel the familiar sand-stone.

It was old, and cracking in places, but the box had definitely been made by my people... I didn't even need to see the House of Derri's symbol etched onto the surface of the lid to know this.

At first I couldn't understand why it was here, but chances were he had simply acquired it with trade... or it had been given to him by Rivini, or one of the other elders.

Maybe it held the formal agreement between them, concerning their trade.

Although it had a small lock upon it, the box lid easily slid open. The lock seemed broken, maybe from time.

If they had given it to him, then they were even more audacious than I had thought... Usually they would have wanted to keep up their appearances as well as possible.

They could have ordered one of us to give them a better box if...

Staring into the small box, I was surprised to find rolls of paper. Old paper. Dirty paper.

Pulling them out, I quickly noticed that the words written upon them were of my people. They weren't like the words written on the rest of the things here.

Carefully unfolding the paper that was now naturally curled thanks to time and wear, I quickly read the small and mess handwriting.

“My people need seeds. They need water. They need your Line,” I read aloud.

Cold understanding dawned on me as I realized what these were. This wasn't the agreement Noth had just made with my House or the others... but our ancestor.

The one who had sent him our way. The one who he made the original promise with.

Most of the papers seemed to be hastily written, and not because it had been written by someone who didn't know how to write.

Whoever had written these had done so with urgency...

Several of them were actually saying the same thing. What we needed. What the House of Derri needed.

How we needed food, and sustainability. How we lacked the proper resources to even defend ourselves, or to stop the very sand from burying us alive.

Why had he written several pages saying the same thing...?

It felt similar to reading an old broken person’s rambling. Usually I heard such things by those with horrid wounds, with their last grains of sand pouring from their body.

My eyes stopped on one of the papers, and I noticed strange writing on the bottom of it. One that wasn't our language.

Noth's writing maybe?

A few other papers had similar symbols, but none were the same... in fact they were decidedly different.

It didn't take long for me to scan most of the papers, and decide that there was little there. Just endless lists of what my ancestor thought we needed, and a brief guide to our location.

“Follow the sand,” I said, and I wondered if that was why it had taken them so long to find us.

What a horrible way to lead someone to a destination.

Sand was everywhere, after all.

Going to put the papers back, I noticed there was a small book within the box. It like the papers was raggedy and torn, but the string that bound it together looked new and fresh.

Noth must have had it repaired, to keep it from falling apart.

The book was small, especially compared to some of the very large ones scattered around me, but was oddly heavy.

Within I found the same type of writing as what had been on the papers, but in much cleaner fashion.

This had been written calmly, and with precision. The penmanship was still beautiful, even with the pages having been damaged by time and wear.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

At first I had only planned to skim through it, just to see what the contents possibly could be... but surprisingly, I ended up reading each and every word.

When the moment finally came that I turned the last page, and saw my ancestors signature, I felt both relief and exhaustion.

It was a good thing the book itself wasn't that long, else I would have been stuck reading it for much longer than I wanted to.

Putting the book down onto the desk, I released a long sigh and wondered if this was why Noth was so patient with the elders and the rest.

Or rather... how much farther he was willing to go.

Staring at the small journal, and the knowledge it had brought me, I quickly tried to plan my next step.

The knowledge could be used. But how well? And in what way?

Enough to bring down the House of Derri?

Enough to bring down the Front-Line?

It was hard to tell, since even though it revealed a lot... not just about my House, and the circumstances around it, but also revealed very little of Noth.

Such a small journal gave me a peak into my ancestors mind, but not into the mind that mattered the most.

For all I knew the truth changed nothing. After all... he was the owner of a Line.

He was one of the most powerful men in the world.

What would a small truth being revealed do to him?

Speaking of him where was he...

Looking around the office, I partly hoped that I'd see him somewhere... sitting in a corner, waiting for me to notice him. It wouldn't have been that surprising, since I had been so engrossed in the small book, after all.

But not even I would have been so oblivious. I was still alone in the room.

Tapping my fingers along the chair's armrest, I wondered how much longer I was going to wait here.

It could be a long time until someone comes back to this room...

By the sands, for all I knew he was sleeping or something. I wasn't in the mood to wait here for half a day before someone came.

Deciding, I hurriedly put the small journal and papers back into the decrepit box, and then carefully returned it to its proper place. I even made sure to close the drawer to the same point, making it look as if I'd never touched it.

Though I didn't mind if he knew I had snooped around or not. What was he going to do about it anyway, kill me? Punish the House of Derri?

Cease all trade?

Threaten me with a good thing...

Going to the door, I was glad to find that the door was already propped ajar. Not enough for me to squeeze through, but I only had to pull on it a little bit.

The door wasn't as heavy as I had assumed it to be, but it was still hard to open.

Grunting a little as I opened it, I breathed a sigh of relief that I was able to open it enough.

The relief was not just because I able to exit the office, but also that I found people down the hallway.

A part of me had worried that the whole Line had gone to sleep or something, and I'd have been forced to sit alone and unsure of what to do.

Heading down the hallway, I tried to remember the path that Sarley had taken when she had guided me around. It was hard when most of the hallways looked exactly the same.

She had mentioned that her office, and Jamthi's, had been near Noth's... but I wasn't entirely sure if I should just randomly open doors looking for them.

More importantly, there was a strange sense of excitement in wandering around on my own without any supposed guides.

It reminded me of the times when I was young when I'd sneak out of the Derri compounds, out into the city beyond... it was both exhilarating and terrifying.

Rounding a corner, I startled when it came to an abrupt end. Only a few doors were down the hall, and it didn't continue on.

“Could have sworn...” I mumbled, heading down another hallway.

Seems I was lost already...

Not a good testament to my sense of direction, but I more so blamed this place. It was practically a maze.

Even though I could have sworn I had a good idea where certain things were located, thanks to the tour from Sarley, I still ended up finding myself lost. Wandering mindlessly through the brightly lit hallways, I began to worry when I started to realize that I no longer passed people. Or even saw any at a distance.

“Did I really get lost?”

No one answered, and I headed down a new hallway.

There were fewer and fewer doors appearing and they all looked a little too difficult for me to open. They were many times larger than the one for Noth's office, and looked several times heavier.

Though maybe I should just start banging on doors until someone opened one for me...

When I was about to randomly pick a door, I heard the sound of people talking coming from behind me.

I couldn't see them, but I quickly hurried to find them. Rounding more corners, I eventually saw a group of people walking down a hallway some distance away.

Hurrying after them, I felt relieved when the sound of more and more commotion could be heard. I had found not just people, but many of them.

Proud of myself for getting my own self out of my own mess, I rounded a corner and found a very large room with lots of people.

The room was loud, and very bright. It reminded me of the entrance to the Front-Line, since there was a lot of random boxes and crates scattered everywhere.

Staying in the hallway that led to the room, I stood there and watched for awhile as people carried and arranged crates of all sizes. They were stacking them in the center and tying them down with massive ropes.

“Looking for your husband are ya?”

I startled a little at the sudden question, and looked to my right to find a woman smiling down at me. Her large smile was a little dirty, as were her clothes. She also had some sand on her legs, indicating she'd been outside recently. She pointed to one side of the room upon our eyes meeting.

“Over there,” she said, and then promptly returned to work.

I ignored the kind woman, and ran my eyes along the men off in the distance. Sure enough, I eventually found Noth.

Huh... not only did I find people, I found my husband too.

I'm pretty good at this.

“You alright, little miss?”

I jumped at the voice, and spun on a heel. The act had been done so quickly I nearly fell over in the process.

Before I even fully turned around, and looked up to see who had spoken... I knew who I would find. That deep, rumbling voice could only come from one man.

“I was. Nearly stopped my heart,” I said to Yevin after a few moments. Actually he had nearly made me throw it up. It felt like it was thumping away in my throat even now.

A tiny crack of a smile appeared, as if amused, but he said nothing more.

My heart thumped wildly, but eventually went back down my throat and calmed down.

“Why'd you do that? Where'd you come from?” I asked, peering past him and down the very long hallway.

How had I not noticed him? I looked behind me not too long ago, and he was so massive...

The giant shoulders of the man made tiny little shrugs, and he looked away from me.

Following his eyes, I noticed Noth had walked over to the other crate, and was looking into it.

“You can go to him. He won't mind,” the deep voice said from above.

“I just wanted to watch him a little,” I said honestly.

“Hm.”

For a short time, me and the giant watched Noth as he worked.

We watched as he inspected every crate that was brought in, and even went so far as to assist occasionally. The sight of him picking up a crate, or helping others lift a large one, was an odd sight to see.

“Does he always participate in such labors?” I asked.

“Not always,” Yevin said.

“So he's helping now to make it go as fast as possible? He wants to get this over with that much does he?”

The giant was silent for a moment, then shifted a little. It was odd that I could hear him do so, since normally he was silent. “No, he just normally has better things to do. He didn't want to bother you as you slept, though, so came here,” the normally silent giant said.

I looked upward, and studied the giant man's face. He was calmly studying the scene before him, but didn't seem to be focused on any one thing in particular.

So... it was because I had fallen asleep in his office.

“Can I ask why you follow him?” I asked the giant man.

“Noth?”

I nodded.

“Why wouldn't I?” he asked back, and I noted a small unfamiliar rumble in his voice. Had he laughed a little?

“Well...” I stepped away from him, and got near the other side of the wall. Although such a distance would normally have been enough to fully separate myself from the person I was talking to, it wasn't nearly enough in this case.

Yevin was huge, and I could tell that even from the other wall he could reach out and grab me if he wanted. Even without having to take a step towards me.

Gesturing to him, I was unsure of how to say it. How could it not already be clear as a summer day?

He looked down at himself, and thanks to his stone of a face it was impossible to tell if he was simply playing along or really didn't understand my meaning.

“You're obviously an amazing warrior!” I stated.

His face received the tiniest crack thanks to a smile as he understood, then nodded. “So I've been told,” he said.

“Yet you obey him? Or serve him? Why not um...”

“Usurp him?” he asked with that smile.

“Yeah.”

Yevin studied me for a moment, and then looked out towards Noth. “Because he's my friend,” the great man said.

It was my turn to study him, and I found that even with his demeanor and emotionless expression... I still could see he meant it.

“I see,” I said.

“Don't watch from a distance too long. It gets boring, trust me,” Yevin said, then stepped out of the hallway and towards his friend.

While the giant man made his way across the room, I noticed that those he passed had mixed reactions. Some greeted him with smiles as big as he was, while others only nodded and passed him by quietly.

Maybe others were unnerved by his large body as well.

Yevin strolled straight up to Noth, and I could tell by the way Noth acted that Yevin didn't even announce his presence. The large man simply stood there.

When Noth finally noticed his large friend, he said something that caused everyone around them to laugh. Everyone except Yevin of course.

The two men spoke for awhile, and I wondered if Yevin was telling him about me... or rather, that I was over here watching him.

Not that it mattered, but it was a little rude for a man to reveal a woman's secrets.

“Oh my! Noth's wife! How you doing?” a young man greeted me as he passed, entering the hallway.

“Fine,” I said to him, and he looked troubled as he walked past. “Wish we could talk, but I got to work,” he groaned.

“Maybe another time...”

As the young man left, I wondered just how many times such people would tease me like so.

Or at least, how many more times I'd get away with it.

After all, not even my ancestor got away with it more than once.