The Long Way 'Round (working title?)

Long, long ago,

A great and powerful empire emerged from the mountainous lands to the North, with an ambition to conquer everything the starlight touched.

And conquer they did. For hundreds of years, all peoples who lived between the Mountains and the Southern Sea would bend the knee under their banner. And all who refused were razed to the ground.

But five-hundred years ago did a hero arise, brave, compassionate, charming, Berezina. Full of love for her people and fury for their oppressors.

With her help, the nations and tribes all throughout the land formed the Forty Armies and followed her into battle, and fought the Empire out of their homes.

Though superior in numbers and in magic the Empire was, they were outwitted by the strategic genius of their opponent.

Her people now freed, the nation-state of Berezina was founded, named in her honor.

But the nation of Berezina is no longer what it once was.

The rulers of the current age, brothers Cyril and Imil, dreamt of vastly different futures for their kingdom.

Though they had lead in harmony before, their differences grew wider, their resentments stronger. Until neither could stand for the other's ambitions.

And Berezina was plunged into war with itself. There was no resolution. There was no victor. The kingdom has split in two.

Now a great wall separates the East from the West. Families are torn apart. Lives are uprooted.

The people have cried out for their leaders to come to an agreement, but the distrust between both rulers only grows with each passing day.

Yet there are those who are determined to cross to the other side, no matter what it takes...


Chapter 1

"Your papers, please?"

The Customs Office official gestures impatiently towards the loosely bound bundle of pages under Evelina's arm. "Some time today?"

Evelina nods awkwardly, uttering a quiet "Yes, of course ma'am" as she sets it on the desk. The official moves aside the flimsy cover page to reveal the stack of fibrous documents underneath. Large print at the top reads "LEAVE OF VISITATION PERMIT". The rest of the page is in much smaller print, with handwritten responses to various personal queries. She flips through page after page, scanning them down with unfeeling eyes while mouthing something to herself. No page is contemplated longer than a few seconds. When she reaches the end she flips the entire thing back to the front cover with a light thump and slides it in Evelina's direction.

"I'm sorry, but we cannot grant your leave at this time."
"But I submitted my first request months ago."
"Please try again later."
"That's what you said last time!"
"Please. try again. later. Preferably when you can be someone else's problem."
"I... I... Ma'am please just listen to me. The only family I have is on-"
"Spare me the sob story, I have to do my job."
"But royal decree promised that everyone would have the right to-"
"Thank you for your time, and long live the Great Protectorate of Berezina. Next!"

Anything she could possibly think to say in protest has already been stolen right out of her mouth. All she can do is scramble for words helplessly, before uttering a barely audible "yes ma'am" and take her papers back and slump out the door.

From the outside, the Customs Office is a small building protruding out from the Wall. The Wall itself is a towering eyesore, a featureless stone monolith that stretches higher than any of the nearby apartment buildings, and as far as the eye can see to the left or the right. The only evidence that anyone has ever considered valuing its appearance are the giant renditons of the Protectorate coat of arms painted onto it, looming above either side of the Office. The most adjacent line of city blocks, mostly full of old apartment buildings and small textile factories, are already dark and cold from the Wall imposing itself between them and the sun at this hour.

The girl glares up at the coat of arms painted onto the Wall. Clenching her fist and gritting her teeth on the verge of tears, she wails out and hurls her paperwork at the painted crest. It never hits its target; stacks of paper aren't known for doing so. The cover instead flaps open in the wind like a butterfly leaving its coccoon with its new wet wings that it doesn't quite know what to do with yet, while all the papers it once protected are violently flung out and scattered across the ground. Deep breaths, deep breaths, she eventually calms herself back down and kneels on the ground to pick up after herself.

"Hey there miss. Have a moment?"

She jumps in shock at the realization that her outburst had an audience, and stares wide eyed in the direction of the voice. An older man with a thick black beard is bundled up in a commoner's winter coat, leaned against the Wall right in the path of the papers. "Oh I'm- I'm sorry, I, err, didn't see you there."

He gives a warm smile "No need to worry about any o' that now. It sounds like you've got bigger problems. Need a hand with all o' that?" "Er, please. Thanks."

Together they make quick work of restoring the mess of papers into some semblance of a neat stack.

"Thank you again stranger. I really appreciate it, even if none of this junk is any good to me anymore."
"Oho, but of course, anytime. ...I reckon Customs didn't let you through?"
"...yes, for the fourth time."
"Want to hear a secret?"
"Secret?"
"They're not letting anyone through anymore. No one like you or me anyway. It's nothin' but gov'ment or folks really buddy-buddy with someone important who get through."
"So there's nothing I can do then?"
"Well, there is one thing, but-"

The man is abruptly interrupted by the Customs Office door swinging open and clanging shut. Two men in Protectorate guard uniforms have stepped outside for a smoke and idle banter, both of the two terrible habits one forms working for the guard. The helpful man lowers his voice. "Not in their earshot. Let's move." The guards pay them little more than a passing glance as they walk away as casually as they can manage to appear.

They stop about two blocks away in a small park spanning the block. It's not a remarkable park; besides the bronze statue depicting St. Berezina triumphantly raising a sword while the horse she rode in on is reared up dramatically, there's nothing but a few trees, benches, flat ground, and an elderly couple feeding pigeons. The mysterious man clears his throat.

"This'll be far enough I s'pose."
"What were you going to tell me before?"
"They don't want folks knowin' 'bout this, but some people who'll do anythin' to get across found a way. An oversight on botha gov'ment's parts, you could call it. But it's not easy."
"I'm willing to do anything at this point. Whatever it is, you have my ear."
"So for the past year or two, folksa been goin' around by way of the south sea. The trick's not to go straight there or someone'll know what's up. Ride the ships to one city, get to another port, ride to the next one, repeat, repeat. The whole thing takes about three weeks."
"That... sounds so simple."
"Don't get too excited. It's risky business. Can't let anyone know where yer really headed. Can't talk to police, even in other kingdoms, and somma the stops 'long the way aren't savory places. If yer make it there, yer may not be so lucky on the way back. May be best to treat it like a one way ticket."
"I see."
"It's a little more for the migrant than the visitor, I admit. I'm sorry if that's t'yer dis'pointment."
"No it's... fine. I'll have to think about whether I want to do this, knowing I might not be coming back."
"Of course, big decision an' all. That's the kinda thing yer should be sleeping on, naturally."

She says nothing for a moment. The sun is starting to go down and the city noise is quieting. The old couple have grown bored of the company of pigeons and are crossing the street away. This side of the city has always been known for its stillness outside of its busiest hours. A V-formation of airships flying overhead and stirring up the wind momentarily is the only interruption to this urban peace. When their engines are nothing but a distant echo, she tilts her head at him.

"When are you making the journey, though?"
"Me? What makes yer think I had any such plans?"
"Oh, I figured from the way you know so much about this special route, and seemed so eager to risk arrest to tell me, that it's an ambition you had yourself. Was I wrong to assume?"
"Well no, not at all, it's just, I- yes, yer right. I dreamed of it since the day the Wall came up. Damn that hideous thing, I tell yer. I just never had the courage. But I decided, I'm leavin' the East behind for good soon."
"If that is so, and if I decide to go... Do you think I could come with you?"
"You? Come with me? As in, make a long and dang'rous journey with an old codger yer just met?"
"I know it sounds irrational. But I have no one else who would do that for me and I don't want to go alone. Besides, you sound like you know your way around sea travel."
"Well, that's one way t'put it. Alright then lass, fine. Think it over for a week. And if yer decide to go with me, meet me at the teahouse by Kvetna Station. Kvetna station, got it? We'll take the train south to the harbor. Try not to keep me waitin' too long, y'hear?"
She nods.
"If yer comin', see you there. Otherwise, farewell miss."
"Wait, I never caught your name?"
"Name's Jarek. Yers?"
"Evelina. I'd best be getting home now. Goodbye, Jarek. And thank you."
The week-long wait begins. To tell the truth, she'd already made up her mind by the 3rd day, bought a suitcase by the 4th, and spent the next few days shuffling about antsily. There's not much that feels worth doing when you have plans incoming, you think "Oh, my appointment's at 4, that's still hours away. Maybe a few rounds of tiles with my friends will be a good way to pass the time until then." But then 3:30 comes 'round in the middle of a round you're winning, and you're too engrossed in imminent victory to even consider calling it here. And the high of winning the table is short lived when you're late to your appointment and you have to wait another week to find out what's wrong with your left knee. On the day of your next one, you take no chances. 5 hours away has in equal measure the urgency of 5 minutes away and the tedium of 10 hours. All you can do is pace about your home in anticipation until it's time to catch your train. One might imagine, for a young girl with few other obligations about to embark on a life-changing journey, that this feeling could be stretched over days.

On the 6th day, Klara, her host and caregiver, had taken notice of her odd behavior and dared to pry. Evelina presumes that it's best that she answers honestly, after all, who has a right to know more than the woman who'd given her food and shelter for the past several years? So tell the truth she does.

"Are you MAD??"
"No. maybe. I don't know. What I do know is I haven't been happy here since the day the wall came up."
"Haven't been happy? Have I not been doing good enough to take care of you? Has all my work for you meant nothing?"
"No, it's not that at all. You've been good to me and I'm really grateful. But you're the only good thing I have in this lonely city. I just want to see my home again."
"What happened to applying to visit legally?"
"I tried that 4 times. They're never letting me through."
"Then you should learn to take no for an answer and stay in your lane, young lady. I don't like the split either. It's done nothing good for us. But the Lord-Protector is trying his best to make our side of the Wall a better place! At least he's not a crazed tyrant like his rotten brother! He's poisoned all their minds, Evelina. They'll not be kind to you there."
"On the other side there are probably two people having this very discussion about us."
"As they should be. Cyril and Imil will settle their differences eventually, when that "King" steps down, and everyone will be much happier if they just wait patiently and don't try to do anything stupid that sparks another war in the meantime."
"Maybe it is stupid, maybe I'm risking everything and I'm going to pay the price. But I'd rather die at sea trying to get back where I belong than spend the rest of my life wondering what could've been. It's the same leap of faith that brought me here to begin with."
"I just don't see how you could throw your life away so soon. You're nearly of age, you finished school early, you have your whole life ahead of you!"

Now the girl can't even maintain eye contact. Her focus instead goes straight to a specific knot on the grainy wood floor below her, then to various objects in the room. The flickering blue lantern on the wall, the pearlescent plate set hanging in the dish hutch (presumably all made of a Bledymine ceramic), the old portrait of a younger Klara, anything besides Klara herself.

"I just... can't."
"Can't what?"
"I... can't just learn that there's a chance I could go home again, and simply go on without acting on that."
"Look, Evelina. I hold no true authority over you. You can walk out tomorrow and I'd have no say on the matter. But listen to me, please rethink this. What you're planning? It's madness."
...
...
"I have four more days. I need rest, so I'm off to bed. Goodnight."
"...Goodnight."
The remaining days carry on uneventfully, Klara isn't being confrontational; it's like she doesn't want to address that she's leaving soon at all, but the tension is all but palpable. By the 8th day, Evelina has already packed. She hardly had much to bring. Money, clothes, a comb and toothswab, bandages for emergencies. It's not like she exactly had very many valuables to bring. Besides, well, sure, she decides to pack that family photograph as well.

One day left. This time, Evelina is the one to break the silence.

"Hey."
"Mm?"
"I never properly thanked you for taking me in and taking care of me for all this time. I would have been sleeping in the streets without you. But you really didn't have to do any of this."
"You're all too kind, but in my eyes, I did have to. Hospitality is the greatest point of pride of our kind. We're but fell beasts without it. ...Besides, I never got to have a daughter of my own."
"In any case, Thank you, Klara."
"...I'm sorry for the other day. To be truthful I was afraid that all I'd done for you was for nothing, that I'd just pushed you away and lead you to die at sea. I still don't approve of what you're trying to do, but perhaps you know what is best for yourself better than I."
"You never pushed me away. You raised me into someone capable of making this journey. You don't have to worry about me."
"Though please, Evelina, heed my warning: it's a dangerous world out there. Don't trust too quickly, especially not attractive men who always have the most flattering thing to say; they either want your money or your flesh. Don't let anyone back you into a corner, don't anger guards or soldiers, and absolutely do not mess with odd circles in the woods."
"I know all that, it's okay."
"Please just be careful, alright?"

The two of them hug and exchange their last goodbyes, knowing they likely won't cross paths on the way out the door in the morning.
The next morning, she wakes up to find something left atop her suitcase: a dagger and a note tied to it. "For your protection. Try not to have to use it. ~Klara"