Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
The sound of the doorbell at the monastery rang through the main hall, prompting one of the junior priests to go check on who was outside ringing the bell. It was close to dark, and not many people were walking outside.
The junior priest, on peeping through the door, opened it after realizing it was Moze their buddy who regularly visited the monastery with Zera, Lelvin, and Walda.
They let him in, and one of the junior priests walked off to go inform the head priest that Moze had arrived.
The head priest was in his prayer room. He usually spent the evening there praying or reading something from the Bible.
Du du du du.
He heard a knock on his door.
"Who is there?" the priest asked, his eyes staring at the door as the lamp on his table cast a warm glow across the room.
"It is me, Aanya. Moze is here to see you," the young priest answered, his hands folded neatly in front of him.
The priest startled upon hearing that Moze was there to see him. His eyes widened, and his lips parted. He placed the prayer beads between the pages of the Bible he had been reading that day and closed the book.
"Let me come shortly," the priest replied, his voice shaking. The young priest walked away.
The priest stood up and sighed, holding his chest as his heart pounded fast. He followed the young priest and walked calmly to where Moze was waiting for him.
It had become dark, and it was not safe for Moze to travel back to the school. The priest asked one of the young priests to prepare bedding for him.
"My son, you're welcome. It's been a while since I saw you," the priest said to Moze, a thin smile escaping from the corner of his lips as he extended his hand in greeting.
"Father, I am happy to see you again. Mother(Zera) sent me here with a message for you," Moze replied as he shook hands with the priest, kneeling down on one knee as a sign of respect.
The priest guided him to a private room so they could chat for a while.
"What message did your mother, Zera, send you with?" the priest asked Moze, his hand under the table, holding the prayer beads.
"Lode came to my school last night with news from Mother (Zera) that Aunt Lelvin had passed away in a horse-riding accident."
The priest's face froze, tears welling up in his eyes. He had spent weeks fasting and praying against it.
"Who brought the news to Zera?" the priest asked, looking across the room as he wiped away the tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Atur's men."
A moment of silence hung between the two for a few seconds before the priest asked Moze to go and rest.
As soon as Zera had settled in the living room at Atur's residence and had seen the body of Lelvin in its casket, she proceeded to sign the papers permitting the transportation of the body out of Bale. The officials present recorded the documents and then left the premises. The body was prepared for travel to Laoni early the next morning.
Atur wished Zera goodnight after dinner. He wouldn't be able to accompany her, as he had a work order to fulfill in the next region of the country. If he didn't, thousands of people in Bale could lose their jobs and income—and possibly face invasion from the neighboring border.
Bale was close to the border of Daram, a country constantly under attack from both internal and external rebel forces.
There had been multiple coup attempts, but all had been neutralized within hours by forces from Sesay, the home country of Bale.
The next morning, Walda, waking up earlier than usual, went around the house packing some items into small baskets that were used to visit relatives.
After ensuring the sun was up, she went to wake Yara. That day, they had allowed Yara to rest longer than usual.
"Yara…" Walda called while standing at the door.
Yara, hearing the voice, woke up with a smile on her face. She stretched out her arms and answered:
"Yes, Aunty. Let me come."
Yara changed into her day dress and rushed to open the door.
"Good morning, Aunty!" Yara greeted, a bright smile flashing across her face.
"Dear, I hope you slept well. We forgot to send our design copies to Madam Salome, and you know she is one of our big customers."
"I can take them to her house," Yara replied.
"Alright. I'll place them on the table, and you can go there in the afternoon after Egen comes in for the evening shift.
"Oh, by the way, if you reach late or feel uncomfortable returning because it's dark, please sleep at the guesthouse. We can always pay Mr. Shimali double as long as he gets you a place to sleep. Your safety comes first," Walda said, her eyes warmly looking at Yara.
Walda walked back to the living room, arranged everything into the baskets, and placed them on the table with extra money beside them. She then reminded Yara that everything was ready and walked out to continue her errands, while Egen kept an eye on Yara around the house.