It had once been a grand house, with a beautiful archway covered in intricate carvings of the long-legged cranes that inhabited the wetland areas of the prairie. Worshipped as creatures of grace and resilience by the tribes, they featured heavily in much of the borderland artwork. Eirian had even seen them on several of the tapestries hanging in the main castle of the Camelia.
The rest of the buildings were half the size of the manor and in much worse shape, even though they'd been abandoned for less time.
Eirian poked at a black wooden beam and frowned when her finger left an indent in the burnt wood. When she pulled it back, the tip of her finger was black, and she pinched a piece of the wood between her fingers to smell it.
Besides the scent of smoke, it had the slightest hint of something fishy. Oil made from animal fat was used to fuel lamps in much of Sorrow, and the cheaper oils always gave off a slightly fishy odor. "When the tribes attack, how do they start fires?"
Chenzhou and Li looked over, but it was Fox who answered. "Arrows wrapped in soaked cloth or torches."
"It's not a common tactic," Chenzhou added. "The risk of a wildfire is too big, and the tribes have no way to combat it."
"But they burned this place?" There was fire damage everywhere, and all of it looked the same shade, the same age.
"It's always been assumed it was an accident. That they were trying to take the village and accidentally started a fire that they couldn't contain. Lanterns broke, unattended cooking fires spread. A lot happens in the chaos of a fight."
Eirian leaned over what was left of the wall to peer into the house. A few pieces of furniture were still recognizable; a few rags of cloth were still clinging to existence. A few clay pots remained, the only things that had made it through.
Clay bricks had been used for the foundations of the houses, she realized. When she looked at the buildings nearby, she saw a couple more with a similar foundation, but more without. They must have been from different eras of building. It wasn't surprising given how long the village had existed before its destruction.
The detritus of everyday life had been left where it fell during the attack, and Eirian stepped around several jagged pieces of clay pottery as she made her way over to the orchard.
"This is where they hung themselves?" Fox followed her and nodded.
Finn wandered over, looking a little spooked. "This place is creepy."
Eirian studied the trees. Plum trees could produce fruit for over twenty years if they were cared for properly, and stumps between the grown trees suggested the orchard had been well tended while the village was occupied. The trees were barren now, and signs of root rot had set in.
They were beyond even the most skilled gardener's ability to save.
She stepped further into the orchard, eyes trailing over the spindly branches. Plum trees were celebrated in Song and Snow for their ability to blossom in winter. Symbols of resilience and strength and beauty. The brewers in the northern reaches of Song and Snow made a delicious snow plum wine that they fermented and aged in ice caves high in the mountains that made up the Spine of the World. Eirian had only gotten to have it once, but she still remembered the deliciously cold, sweet flavor.
Maybe Chenzhou could get some?
If he had all that money to buy her, he could afford to throw a few thousand pieces of gold at a couple of bottles.
The thought made her smile, but it disappeared when Finn suddenly shrieked, and her heart nearly burst from her chest.
She spun around, her hand falling to Ardain, but the blade didn't vary from its low hum as the others came running.
"What? What's wrong?" Li and several of his guards had their swords drawn. Chenzhou and Yuze rushed to Eirian's side as Finn darted behind her.
"What happened?" Eirian tried to twist around to see Finn, but he followed her turn, determined to keep her between him and whatever had startled him. "For fuck's sake! Stop!" She caught his arm and wrenched him around. Finn yelped but stopped struggling when it only made her grip tighter. "What's wrong?"
Gulping for air, Finn pointed at a tree one row over. "Look! She's just hanging there!"
Eirian darted between the trees with everyone else but no matter what direction they looked, there was no one hanging from a tree.
"Finn, are you sure-"
"I saw her! I swear. She was hanging from that branch right there." He pointed again, and Eirian froze when she saw the rope hanging down from a thick middle branch. "She was wearing purple robes. Where did she go? She was right there!" He was getting more frantic with every word. His eyes wide, face pale.
"I see a rope, but no girl." Chenzhou cautiously approached the tree only to get yanked back by Yuze and Anna.
Li approached instead, sword at the ready. "That rope doesn't look old at all."
"Sir!" One of Li's guards pointed at another tree.
And then Fox pointed at yet another. "Look here."
"And here." Lady Yang announced.
They were all pointing up into the trees, because there were ropes hanging from all of them.
And not just regular, cheap work rope.
"Are those silk?" Lord Zhao squinted through the branches.
"Silk hanging ropes." One of Li's soldiers murmured, and he followed it was a prayer.
Silk hanging ropes were expensive and typically, only nobles ordered to kill themselves for some dishonor used them. The ropes were made with expensive silk dyed and braided together with magic. It was believed that the use of a hanging rope protected the soul from descending into the Underworld, a last salvation for the dying.
A mercy, some called it.
Yuze kept a firm grip on Chenzhou's arm as he looked up at the rope. "Maybe she was a ghost?"
~ tbc