Prolog
In the middle of the Dry Season, people are always agitated and worried. But not in the Underfalling Kingdom , which hasn't had a drought since the Black Age. For them, the Dry Season means that the water is only good for bathing, the crops are ripening and it's the best time to sit and tell stories until late at night. After all, the day is much longer, so there is enough time for work.
Uzuri loved the Dry Season of Underfalling. He loved to sneak among adults and listen to their stories. Her mother only brought her to Underfalling once a year, during the Dry Season, because it was more bearable. Her father preferred to stay at home in the Kingdom of Aysu , he liked the scorching heat of his home kingdom but her mother couldn't stand it .
They had just arrived at the inn when people were already gathering around an old man who was preparing to tell a story. Uzuri who is only 8 years old jumps happily and asks her mother with looks to let her go so as not to miss the beginning of the story. Her mother drops to her knees and smooths the unruly strands of hair that have fallen out of her braided ponytail.
"Go . Mommy loves you very much. Do you forgive mommy? " Her mother had the sweetest, calmest voice she had ever heard.
" I love you too . But why should I forgive you? " Her mother kisses her on the forehead and hugs her tightly.
" Just say it. Say you forgive mommy. And tell Daddy that Mommy loves him, too. "
" I forgive you, mommy. We'll tell dad together when we get back. When do you think they will send us the next letter? "
" Yes ... When we return ... Now go, go and listen to the story. "
Uzuri quickly kisses her mother on the cheek and hops up to the narrator. Her mother watched as she disappeared through the crowd and then went out the door. A tear rolled down her cheek as she removed the lid of the fountain in front of the inn and gazed at the still and alluring water. She will forgive her, maybe not now but one day he will.
In the inn, the little girl remembers that she forgot to tell her mother if her teddy bear is in the luggage. She manages to see her mother going out the door and now tries to go back to her. She reaches the doorframe and freezes as she watches her mother dive headfirst into the well. Uzuri's scream had alerted the villagers and when they saw the well lid lifted they realized what had happened.
But it was too late, by the time they managed to get her out of the well she was already dead. The villagers managed to send a letter to her father with help from the little girl, but after a few days they received a reply from the village priest. Uzuri's father had hanged himself at the news that his wife had died. Cruel world ...
Uzuri sold all the things she had and managed to bury her mother and stay for a few more days at the inn. But after that, left an orphan and without anyone to take care of her, she had to learn to survive alone, to adapt.
She was 13 years old when she visited her mother's grave for the first time. She kicked the wooden cross and howled at the grave until she had no voice. She screamed that she would never forgive her for leaving her alone .
She was 15 years old when she had enough money to go and visit her father's grave. She spat on the grave and screamed at it too that she would never forgive him for leaving her alone in the world.
These were the only times she visited her parents' graves. The last times Uzuri was seen. She left the village where her mother died and vowed to leave behind something that would live forever, even if it meant she had to die .
Little Uzuri died the same evening as her mother. The one from now will make its name known to everyone. All she had to do was learn more and more about her talent. She will handle it as a writer handles his pen, as a poet handles his lines. How a thief wields his desire...
