The wind was biting cold.
Tallon was thankful for his thick gloves and heavy, woollen cloak as he wound his way around Daston's crowded market square. The snow season was starting soon and everyone was rushing to stock up on the remnants of the leaf fall season's supplies. Even though it would not snow around Daston's region, the farming areas would be suffer terribly and future supplies would be drastically affected.
As Tallon walked he passed stalls that sold spice, fabrics, seafood, fruit and vegetables, meat, jewellery and even oddities like-
“Monkey's ears! Come and get some lucky monkey ears! Straight from Kandahar!”
Tallon pushed past the shouting man and many others along the way. It was very hard to be polite in Daston's market square. Everyone was always pushing past you, pushing against you or pushing away from you. Tallon followed suit and soon learned to do some pushing himself.
The smoked beef stall. Where is that blasted smoked beef stall?
A gust of wind blew against his face and pushed off his cap exposing his wavy, brown hair. He had worn it long ever since they had arrived in Daston, and now it flopped in front of his eyes. Tallon groaned in frustration. In a crowd like this he would never find his cap. Instead he continued his search for the-
Smoked beef stall! I've found it!
Then Tallon realised that he had also found the very long queue that came with the smoked beef stall. He groaned again.
Markus will be annoyed, he hates it when I take too long.
Tallon sighed as he joined the queue and stood behind a portly lady who was blocking the view of everything happening in front of him. He turned away from his view of her ample posterior and caught sight of Daston's tower clock. Tower clocks were massive structures similar to a windmill. The difference was that at the top resided a giant open clock face. Protruding from the clock face was a platform that the time keeper would use to clean the clock or fix any problems. A wave of homesickness washed over him. It had been a month since Tallon and his sister Alitha had left Clocktower, their ancestral family home. He missed it badly and he knew that it was worse for Alitha.
This was all his fathers fault, thought Tallon angrily.
If he had listened to the Emperor, then their family wouldn't have been in danger and they wouldn't be hiding here in some peasant hole. Tallon wondered what his mother was doing. He knew that she was hiding with her family in Rissen. Probably in a comfortable house with a nice fireplace and proper food. Not that she had wanted to go. His mother had been loathe to leave her children behind but the man had said it was safer that was. The man who their father had sent to escort them said that the emperor was looking for a woman and two children. All of them all staying together would have been far too obvious. Their mother painfully consented and left for Rissen while the man took them to Daston and left them with Markus.
Markus is a good man, he had said, I trust him to look after you.
Before he left he handed Tallon a jar of strange cream.
Darkening cream for her hair. He had said, nodding in Alitha's direction. Can't do much about the eyes though.
Yes, thought Tallon, there isn't much we can do about pink eyes.
Six years seperated Tallon and his sister. After he had been born there had been three miscarriages and a still birth. Then on the fifth time came Alitha. Alitha the albino. Her white hair, porcelain skin and pink eyes had given her every appearance of a fragile doll.
When Tallon put the darkening cream in her hair, turning it a dark brown Alitha had nearly cried.
I'm so sorry Ali, he had said, but I have to.
He had to cut her hair too. The Emperor was looking for a brother and sister, not two brothers .
A chime from the tower clock brought Tallon back to the present.
Smoked beef.
Another chime.
The line is shorter but the lady mountain is still in front of me.
Another chime. Panic suddenly swept through Tallon. Three chimes had sounded and three chimes of a tower clock could mean only one thing.
The death of the Averence.
No. Please no.
Tallon watched as the hands of the giant clock face turned backwards from 2:42 to 12:56, recording the time of death. The time keeper stood on the clock face platform. He cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed, “ The Averence is dead!”
No, it can't be!
“The Architect of the Clock and Keeper of Time is dead!” he bellowed. The crowd had stopped what they were doing and were watching him in silence.
Father. No, please father, no!
“Tallon Carlisle Darr the Fourth has died!” the man's voice was breaking with grief, “And with his death, time will stop!”
With his last words the man threw himself off the the clock face, straight to his death. Chaos ensued. People were screaming, running or frozen in shock. Everyone was trying to make sense of what had just happened. No one noticed the seventeen year old boy standing alone with tears running down his face.
Tallon dashed the tears away with the back of his hand. He was now Tallon Carlisle Jeven Darr the Fifth. Which meant that Alitha was-
Alitha!
His sister must have heard, the time keeper was too loud for her not to have. Tallon began to run. He had to get back to Alitha. She must be crying by now. Tallon ran as fast as his legs could carry him, shoving aside anyone who got in his way.
By the time he got back to the little house they were staying at Tallon was gasping for air. He threw open their front door and strode inside. Markus was sitting on a chair whittling a piece of wood. He looked up at Tallon.
“I heard what happened.”
Tallon nodded dumbly, before remembering the-
“Smoked beef. I-I forgot, I-I-”
“Don't worry, I'll go get it,” said Markus, “just go and see your sister. She needs you more than the beef does.” He got up and left the house.
Tallon hesitantly made his way toward the room that he and his sister shared. He gently pushed open the door and saw her crouched down in a corner with her arms wrapped around her knees.
“Did you hear?” he asked softly.
She nodded slowly. Tallon made his way over to her, crouched down and opened his arms. “Come here,” he whispered.
She flew into his arms and he hugged her tightly. He stroked her short hair gently.
“Tallon, what will happen now?” she asked quietly. “What's going to happen to us?”
Tallon pulled back slightly so that he could study her face. Her eyes were red but dry. His eleven year old sister hadn't shed a tear while he had cried freely in front of an entire market place. He gently held her by the shoulders.
“You have to brave now Ali, do you understand?” His sister nodded. “You have to be strong now because you are Alitha Marianna the First. Alitha... you are the Averence now.”
I didn't review the first couple of chapters because you had some lovely reviews, and I didn't have anything to add. I have to say, this story is very good. Everything has started to tie in with each other, also the story with Lia. I wonder if they'll all be united, and what will happen to them all now. I am also curious to know what the father did that was disobeying the Emperor, and made him wanted for death. They all believe time will stop without him, so why did they kill him? Or do they want time to stop? I am a little confused here but I think that is my own brain being silly and missing something important >.> It would be nice if you could explain 
Also, is Lia Ali's mother, or are they sisters? I think they must be connected someway, because of that cream 
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