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Readers who enjoy the premise of a strong main character like Ei will definitely like my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.
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Astapor
211 YA
Gorzhak squinted his eyes, carefully drawing the letters shown on the board. Their teacher, a young blonde man with sharp green eyes, spoke clear Ghiscari with a slight accent. He and his wife had to learn how to read and write in the Common Tongue and numbers, as well as how the empire worked.
His children had to learn even more.
The tip of the wooden pencil in his hand broke again. He reached for the shaver, twisting the instrument until its tip was sharp again. He glanced at his wife. Her nimble hands, calloused from years of sewing and cleaning, held the pencil more elegantly.
He tried to repeat her grip, finding it was much easier to write.
—
Talla gazed around the room. It was filled with Ghiscari of her age. Both men and women were allowed inside. They were all learning their letters, something only reserved for the rich and the nobles back at Ghis.
She pinched her hand, but the room stayed.
Everyone was working hard to learn, knowing their future depended on it. She looked down at her notebook, erasing the squiggly lines she had written. She wrote again, slower and more deliberate.
There was still much to do.
—
212 YA
Mareza's throat bobbed.
She stood on the yard with her class, her husband next to her. There were other classes as well, all gathered together in their groups. Port Yhos, Qarkash, Qarth, and more she couldn't recognize. The year spent learning had passed incredibly fast. The day she left the ship with her family felt like yesterday.
"Your basic education might be over, but learning is a lifelong journey. Should any of you wish to learn more, we are always here for you. May the Divine Thunder light your path," the man in charge of the school said. The teachers applauded and so did the students after a moment.
They all had come a long way in learning the Common Tongue.
Once the clapping stopped, they were given a small, rolled-up parchment. It was a sign that they had graduated and could seek jobs.
She felt something well up in her heart. It wasn't a feeling she knew. As if a hole she had never seen before was filled and it was hungry for more. She wanted to chase that feeling.
—
Belis hung his head down.
Not only did his parents not have to go to school, his friends were sent to different classes. It was for the sake of integration, which meant bringing all the different people together. He didn't see why they had to do this.
A girl sat next to him, smiling. "Hey," she said, waving a hand before turning to the teacher.
"Hey," he muttered, barely above a breath, looking at the board.
The teacher was speaking about numbers and additions, his least favorite subject. He laid his head on the table, silently groaning.
—
He sat on the lunch table alone. All his friends had already made new friends. He stabbed his fork into the boneless chicken, taking a bite. Even the delicious food couldn't erase the scowl on his face.
"Can I sit here?" a familiar voice called, standing next to the table. It was the girl on the desk next to his. He nodded at her, turning back to his food. They ate in silence for a while, but eventually his curiosity won. He raised his head, getting a clear look at her.
Her skin was pale, her eyes brown, and her hair dark, and she was dressed in the summer uniform, even though winter was approaching. "Aren't you cold?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.
She shrugged. "I am from the Northern Prefecture. It's cold all the time there. This is warm for me actually."
"Northern Prefecture? The one with the undead?" he asked. Everyone knew how the White Walkers had marched on the Wall with an army of undead wights and were repelled. The details, however, got murky.
"Yeah. My father was at the Wall during the fighting."
His eyes shone. He had heard a lot about the battle, but no one knew anything for sure. "Is it true that the Thunder Dragon destroyed much of the lands beyond the Wall?"
She snorted. "Not really. It did destroy a valley, though. My father says it happened while the dragon was fighting the God of Night."
"Cool," he said, remembering several of his classmates using the word when talking about great battles.
"I am Lara." She held her hand out.
He took it. "Belis. Nice to meet you."
"Where are you from?" she asked. Most people in Astapor were from outside the Empire, having become citizens in the last few years.
"New Ghis. My father used to work on the docks. When business got bad, he decided to move us here."
"My dad was stationed here for city security, so we all followed him."
Suddenly, Belis didn't feel so lonely.
—
Zyra smiled at seeing her little brother finally speaking to someone. She was worried he would have a difficult time making new friends.
"What are you smiling at?" her new friend, Altor, asked. He was dressed in thicker clothing than everyone else, even though the weather was getting cold. She didn't want to imagine how hot Dorne was.
"Nothing, just checking on my little brother."
"Belis, right?" Argon's voice rumbled. She still had a hard time believing someone as tall and large as him was the same age as her. Food from the Storm Prefecture must be something else.
"Yeah."
He smiled, making his muscular frame look smaller. "I have a little sister at home. She is just the sweetest."
"Sounds like she has you wrapped around her finger," Yelan chuckled, nudging Argon with her elbow.
"We are having a study group after the classes end with people from other classes. Do you want to join?" Altor asked her.
"I'll take all the help I can get. I have no idea what I am doing half the time."
"Don't worry, girl, it'll get easier with time."
"I hope so."
—
Talla sat in front of the sewing machine. All that learning in the school was tiring to her. Working in this place, doing something with her hands—now that made her happy.
"Alright everyone, let's start with the most important part, safety and health," the instructor said. She was holding a mask and a pair of gloves. She requested everyone to put on their masks and began the lesson.
The machine was just one of the many wonders the empire provided.
Sewing fabric together was hard work. You had to be careful to not nick yourself and bloody the cloth and be quick enough to finish it in time but not so fast the stitches would be crooked. With the machine, every stitch was a copy of the previous one, and it did the work of a hundred, no, a thousand hands in a day by itself.
Once she had her certificate of mastery, she could work in any textile factory in the empire.
—
215 YA
The Hazzar family found their new lives in the empire to be a massive improvement. Conveniences that were only available to the rich and the nobles in New Ghis were a universal right in the Empire. Food, clothing, education, and what they called the basic rights.
There were courts. If one, whether a noble or a commoner, were accused of something, they would be given legal defense to protect themselves. No whipping, no immediate execution because a noble said so or a merchant paid the guards off.
They felt like humans, for the first time in their lives.
—
Gorzhak couldn't be sure if he was slacking off or not.
His new job at the dock was to make sure everything went to the correct place. In his over a decade of work, he had learned the importance of speed and precision. If a crate of black tea went into a warehouse that was supposed to have green tea, there would be trouble.
He had managed it without knowing how to read, engraving all the routes and the locations on his mind.
He had just expected to haul crates again or use one of the lumbering steel machines to do so. Instead of needing to know someone in an important place, they just gave him the job because he had the talent for it.
He had almost fallen on his knees in gratitude.
Taking the opportunity seriously, he put his new reading and writing skills to use. He drew a rough map of the docks and the warehouses, noting where each good was supposed to go and the best paths to move the crates.
He had always worshipped Marmon, the god of labor, yet it was the God of Eternity who gave him all these boons, without even asking for worship.
A change was in order.
—
Mareza knew what she wanted to do with her life. She had three children, and her years of bearing new life were behind her. Her husband bought many devices that made the housework and cooking easier. She had plenty of time on her hands.
Time she used to draw.
She had always seen the richer citizens of New Ghis dress in colorful dresses. All they could afford was dull, rough clothing, meant to endure. She too wanted to look pretty.
The Empire produced clothing on a scale that was available to everyone. She had long burned all their old clothes after using their second monthly stipend to buy garments for everyone. But she wanted more.
She had seen colors she had never known before. The stores sold everything except purple and its shades, which was the chosen color of Her Excellency. It wasn't forbidden, but the people simply refused to produce or wear it out of veneration. She wouldn't break that rule.
She finished her drawing, realizing how crude it was, and restarted again.
—
216 YA
She inspected the roll of green fabric, the exact color she wanted for her dress. She compared the price to her budget. Her husband had already managed to buy a second-hand sewing machine. She could afford to splurge a bit on fabric.
She bought the whole roll, along with smaller amounts of red, white, blue, and yellow.
—
Zyra buried her head in the pillow. Her mother and sister were working the sewing machine again. That cheap thing was far louder than it had any right to be. She had promised to buy a newer, more silent one once they had the coin for it. Until then, she gritted her teeth because it made her mother happy.
That and they mostly worked while everyone else was out.
She got up to see what it was that was so important they had to do this now.
By the time she trudged out of her room, the machine had fallen silent. Her mother inspected the green, flowing dress with a white sash and red accents. Her smile was more blinding than the morning sun itself.
She quickly disappeared to the bedroom.
"What's this in the morning?" she muttered under her breath, rubbing her eyes.
Talla rolled her eyes. "Morning? It's almost noon."
"I studied late," she shrugged, yawning towards the end.
"She just finished the dress and wants to try it."
Their mother came rushing out of the room, fixing the hems of her dress. "What do you girls think?"
Zyra rubbed her eyes. "Wow. I want one too." The flowing dress was simple but pretty, like a meadow in a spring.
"Me first," Talla said. She had already chosen hers from the many drawings her mother finished.
—
217 YA
Gorzhak stopped in front of the door, seeing the boxes being moved inside. He glanced at his wife, who was grinning from ear to ear. "What's happening?"
"All the neighbors that saw my dress want one."
"And the boxes?"
"They made downpayments. I bought a new machine and fabrics with it."
He blinked, eyes widening. The secondhand machine was expensive, even with his salary. Her dresses were pretty; he even had several in his wardrobe. He simply did not expect it to be so successful.
He took a box, carrying it inside.
—
Mareza, with her eldest daughter's help, was quick to fulfill the orders. After everything was done and gone, she had too much coin to know what to do with. The house didn't need anything, and they were taught better than to simply spend it because they had it.
It would come in handy when she received more orders. The neighbors had friends and families who were impressed by the dresses and wanted more, though this time for the approaching winter.
The number of orders was too much, however, and she didn't know what to do.
Zyra came to the rescue. She first wrote down the expenses and the profits, creating a clear and simple chart. She then took her mother to an imperial investment bureau. Once presented with the business plan and the amount she had earned in a short time, she earned a loan to open a small workshop.
The building would be leased by the government. They would have to buy the machines and find the workers. Talla, who knew people while training to get her certificate, knew who to call.
They also needed someone to handle the coin, taxes, and payments. Zyra had her school, and neither Talla nor Mareza had the head for it. She put out a notice, finding a young woman from the Riverlands Prefecture who had moved to Astapor with her husband.
They were surprised to learn she was a noble.
Her roots were from House Frey. However, she was so far removed from the main house and the line of succession that she was no different from a commoner. Within a month, she had five machines and workers, her daughter included. While the previous orders were met, Zyra suggested they send out samples.
Her husband, in his spare time, took to traveling the city, handing out a set of clothing to shops. The first few months, the orders were small, barely covering the costs. It discouraged Mareza, thinking she attempted something over her head.
Eventually, though, her little workshop was noticed. Her first order was a hundred new clothes, split in half for men and women, fit for the not-so-cold winters of Astapor. Then another two hundred for children.
Within a year, she had to increase the size of her workshop.
She began to earn so much coin she paid the loan earlier than planned, even going as far as to buy a new workshop rather than lease. She became the breadwinner of the house, much to her husband's embarrassment.
Eventually, she opened her little shop, leaving the workshop to her daughter. She spent her days drawing new clothes. Not satisfied with her own creations, she took inspiration from all over the empire, from the dark, winter clothing of the Northern Prefecture to the golden-colored desert clothing of the Dorne Prefecture.
—
In the next chapter:
His life as a mayor wasn't as glamorous as people thought it was. The endless meetings, paperwork, and overseeing the work on infrastructure—he had too much to do. It wasn't all bad. He finally felt he was doing more with his life when it came to working.
For the next five years, he endeavored to be a mayor the city would be proud of. He specifically focused on the matter of immigration. In the last five years, the numbers had been reduced dramatically. The surrounding nations and cities brought in tighter controls on who could leave the land and for what.
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