Prologue Part 5
It was now morning and Matteo, who was now five years old, had just woken up from his medium sized bed with red bedsheets, pillows and bed curtains. The bed was held up by a wooden bed frame that included four pillars on each corner. The walls were also made mostly of brown wood carved in intricate patterns, with a small circular portrait of a dragon embedded into the wall his bed was put up against. He got out of the bed and made his way out into the hallway, trying his best to remain as quiet as possible in case Sylvia or any of the other maids just so happened to discover him.
After a small amount of creeping around, he finally made it to his mother's room. The room was large with navy blue walls with dark gold engravings. It had a large bed with navy blue bed sheets and pillows, navy blue chairs and stools as well as velvet curtains around the windows that were also mixed with dark gold patterns. There was also a large circular mirror on the wall opposite the bed that sat above a small dresser that had all kinds of expensive perfume, jewelry and accessories. The room smelled lovely apart from the smell of burning incense that lingered in the air.
Matteo got inside the room and saw his mother on her knees on the floor on a corner of the room in front of a small stone sculpture of a shape that looked like two circles joined together at the edge. Her hands were joined together, eyes closed and head bowed. Matteo went up to her and poked at her shoulder. "Mama, what are you doing?" Isabella opened her eyes and turned her attention to Matteo. "Good morning, Matteo. I am praying."
Matteo wore a puzzled expression on his face. "Mama, what's praying?" Isabella smiled and said, "Praying is what we do when we speak to Nemarin." Matteo only got more questions from that explanation. "Who is Nemarin?" Isabella sighed and said, "Okay, do what I am doing now." Matteo complied and got on his knees before the small sculpture of the symbol, then brought his hands together.
"Nemarin is the god of time. He created everything, including us.." Then she pointed to the symbol. "That is his symbol. It's what we pray to, in order to talk to him." "Why?" Matteo asked. "Because we do not know what he looks like, and the Nemabak says that this is how we talk to him." Matteo still was not satisfied, "What is the Nemabak?" Isabella sighed again and let out a small giggle, "You know what, you can have all of those questions answered later today when we go to church. But right now, we are praying. We do this every day, in the morning when we wake up and at night before we go to sleep."
Matteo closed his eyes and Isabella bowed his head for him, then she began to pray for the both of them.
***
After the prayer session, Matteo took a bath, got dressed in his multi layered grey and black cross collar robe with a black and white sash , then met back with his mother who wore a pink and white robe that was wrapped more tightly around her body and was a lot simpler than the multi layered, free flowing robes she would normally wear. "Are you ready to go?" She asked Matteo one last time before leaving. Matteo replied with a nod, then they got into their family carriage and headed off to church.
A while later they reached the Nemarinitan church located in the capital city of Callistea, Solenne. The church was called the Callistean church of Nemarinity and it was the first church for Nemarinity in Callistea built over 200 years ago when Callistea was first formed. The building was a large and expansive temple that rose in elegant layers, each tier cascading upwards like an unfolding flower, its sweeping roofs curving in defiance of gravity. Red lacquered beams, worn smooth by centuries of worship, caught the last rays of the shining sun. Soft bells tinkled in the wind, their chimes mingling with the heavy scent of incense wafting from within.
Matteo and Isabella went up to the highest floor of the building, which was reserved only for the most high ranking nobles apart from the royal family. Matteo went towards the kids side of the building while Isabella went to the main service hall. Inside the kids room, Matteo had just entered and was looking around the room. He saw a lot of other kids that were around his age and they were busy drawing on either the pieces of paper handed to them, or the small tables placed around the small room which they were supposed to be using.
Not knowing what to do, Matteo opted to sit on the ground and just wait while observing everyone else in the room. Wow there's a lot of people here. Even girls! Mama told me that there are boy humans and girl humans. The boys are called male and the girls are called female. Sylvia told me that boys and girls get married when they spend a lot of time together. Those people over there are a boy and a girl… and they are spending a lot of time playing… Does that mean they're married? Matteo thought as he observed the kids playing. There's a lot of noise here. He thought as he covered his ears with his palms.
After a few more minutes of quiet observation, an adult entered the room. She was a young girl who wore a simple robe of white with dark blue flower patterns all over it. She sat at the center of the room and called all the children toward her. "All right kids, come. It is time to begin our lesson." Every child in the room put their stuff down and stopped what they were doing and all gathered around the lady then sat down. Matteo saw this and decided to do the same as he was the only one left to gather with the rest.
He sat down with his legs crossed and his hands on his lap like the other kids, and he looked at the teacher while waiting for her to begin. "Okay, good morning everyone," She said enthusiastically. "Good morning teacher" the kids all replied in unison. "Today's lesson is a very special lesson. Can somebody tell me why?" She asked. One of the kids raised their hand and the teacher called to them. "Okay, Shiro, tell us why today's lesson is so special"
The child, Shiro then began his explanation. "Today is the day of Hamathom." The teacher clapped her hands, "Well done, Shiro. Let's give him a round of applause everybody." All the kids gave Shiro a round of applause. "Well, does anybody know what we do on the day of Hamathom?" This time another child raised her hand. "Maya, please tell us what we do on the day of Hamathom." Maya stood up and answered confidently, "On the day of Hamathom, we have to stay awake for the entire day and the entire night until all 24 hours of the day have passed. We do this to appreciate the time that we have in our day and to use every second of it to spend more time with our loved ones and to praise Nemarin." The teacher and all the other students gave her an even louder round of applause. Wow, she is so smart. Matteo thought internally. "Excellent work, Maya. You can sit down now." The applause stopped and Maya sat back down. "So yes, today on the day of Hamathom, we spend the entire day and the entire night awake so that we can appreciate the time that Nemarin gave us by spending it with our mommies, daddies, aunties, grandparents, and friends." The teacher explained. "In the Nemabak, Nemarim tells us that we must love and appreciate our friends, family and community. And to treasure every second we spend on earth. And today, we are doing just that!" The class continued for another hour, and two hours after that the main service for the adults was over.
Isabella went to pick Matteo up from his classroom and the two of them got into their carriage. "So, how was your first day of church?" Isabella asked him. Matteo replied with a smile, "It was nice." Isabella's smile widened. "Did you learn what day it is today?" Matteo replied with a nod. "Today is the day of Hamathom. We have to stay awake for the whole day and the whole night." Matteo explained. Isabella clapped her hands. "What else did you learn today?" Matteo explained everything else he had learned and soon the carriage was on its way back to the Dumont house.
***
Later at night, Matteo and Isabella were sitting in the living room together after a prayer session. They had just exited the room and were enjoying their dinner. The both ate a bowl of Repitoran chilli. It was a soup like dish that contained moonshrimp, lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger,coconut milk and many more ingredients. Isabella had hers spicy the way she liked it while Matteo's one was more sweet. After dinner, the two of them went outside into the garden, this time to the cherry blossom section of the garden. The pink blossoms shone brightly under the bright night sky, right next to the small dam that was included in the garden.
Matteo and Isabella sat by the edge of the dam with their feet inside… or at least, Isabella did because Matteo couldn't reach the dam with his small feet. "I can't reach it Mama." "oh dear," Isabella said, then an idea sparked in her mind from an old memory, "I have an idea" she said as she cupped both her hands together and reached for the dam water. Once she got enough water in her hands she turned around and splashed Matteo all over his little body. "Hey!" Matteo shouted in protest. Isabella just laughed uncontrollably. Now with a thirst for revenge, Matteo got up and dipped his feet into the water after stabilizing himself. Then he kicked the water multiple times and splashed his mother all over her body, leaving her completely soaked by the end of his attack.
"Okay, Okay! Stop! I'm sorry!" Isabella wiped the water from her face then laughed some more. Matteo also laughed. Once they stopped, Matteo leaned closer towards her to her side and she wrapped one of her arms around him. Isabella looked up. "Look at the stars, Matteo." Matteo looked up and was immediately captivated by the sight of all the stars in the sky. So much so that he even tried to reach for one. Isabella chuckled at his failed attempts. "Aren't they pretty?" She asked. Matteo did not answer though. Instead he asked, "Mama, may you please get me a star for my birthday." Isabella's smile widened. "I should be he one asking you for a star. The last time the sky was this beautiful was when you were born." "When I was born?" He asked curiously. "Yes. When you were born, the sky was raining stars."
"Raining stars?" Matteo asked with a gasp. "Yes. You really like stars don't you?" Matteo nodded vigorously and replied, "Yes, yes I love stars!" Isabella then proposed, "Well then, why don't we buy you your own little toy star? But you have to promise not to break it okay?" She said as she brought her pinky to him. He brought his pinky towards her and the two made a pinky promise. "Okay, I promise!"
They then spent the rest of their remaining hours playing together and doing all sorts of activities. In the end, Matteo failed to stay up for the entire 24 hours and spent the entirety of the next day upset because of it. But after receiving his new star from Isabella as well as some sweets from the local bakery, Matteo's mood was restored without much difficulty.