The night was still, yet the wind carried strange sounds from the northern road: the tread of many feet on gravel, and the creak of a cart echoing in broken rhythm.
Kaizlan Valric opened his narrow window, gazing across the shadowed fields. All he saw were black lines swaying with the wind.
By morning, scattered rumors spread through the town:
A trade caravan ambushed near Stone Pass.
A soldier who lost his arm in a night raid.
Strangers sighted around the northern woods.
The stories were unclear, but their repetition let unease seep into every heart.
⸻
In the market, people moved with more caution than usual.
The cloth merchant cut the measure of his goods, claiming "the road has grown dangerous."
The timber trader doubled his prices within a week.
Even the fisherman who sold his catch by the southern gate disappeared for two days, then returned pale-faced with a short tale:
"The river is no longer what it was… the trees hide more than they show."
Deril stood at his usual stall, flipping through his small ledger, marking new signs beside the prices.
He muttered as he wrote:
"Fear raises prices faster than need."
Kaizlan, watching the anxious faces around them, replied:
"But fear also kills the market… if it lasts too long."
Deril closed the ledger slowly.
"And that's why I prepare the accounts… before the stone falls."
⸻
By afternoon, the blare of a horn rang out at the eastern gate.
People gathered in the square as Commander Raun appeared on a short brown horse, flanked by two soldiers bearing the banner of the province.
One of them read aloud:
"By order of the Provincial Governor, the sons of minor noble houses are to register their names in preparation for the defense of the northern road.
This is a preliminary call—it does not mean immediate departure, but it is a sign that peace can no longer be assured."
For a moment, silence held the square. Then murmurs rose:
Some dismissed it as yet another rumor.
Others looked uneasily at their sons.
The lesser nobles wore faces divided between tension and forced pride.
Kaizlan felt eyes turning toward him more than most.
He was the only son of House Valric—and his old dreams were no secret.
⸻
That evening, he sat with his father by the fire.
His father spoke in a calm, weighted tone:
"I know you still see meaning in knighthood. But remember… every meaning vanishes before blood, if a man is not ready for it."
Kaizlan answered plainly:
"I fear I am beginning to understand that. But I cannot close my eyes. If they call me… I will go."
His father was silent for a moment, then said:
"Then let your going be with awareness, not with passion."
⸻
At midnight, Kaizlan wrote in his notebook:
"The town is no longer as I knew it.
The voices in the market have changed, the prices have changed, even the eyes have changed.
I feel the road is calling us—not to travel, but to defend.
And I do not know if I am ready for what is coming."