Terra, Frontier Village in the Kingdom of Stilyra- Autumn 10 years AR

Jon, Erin, and Andrew stood with mouths agape, Aethred did the same on the floor rubbing the back of his head. The news was out that Hild and Kaden were planning on getting married. To Jon, she was just ma or mother, who’d want to marry her except his late father. He forgot that other people saw her as a woman with means, her status as a healer kept her family fed and warm on its own. They also saw her as kind, intelligent, and attractive. She was only 19 when Jon and Erin were born, so she was still quite young. People saw curly shoulder-length flowing blonde hair kept in a ponytail with a bit of twine, blue eyes, a pleasing face, and a bright warming smile. She was also healthy, fit, and, as Aethred liked to point out, well endowed.

“I thank you, milord and madam,” Hild finally recovered. The tense moment for the most part disappeared as a guard returned carrying the crossbow. Jon was called up to demonstrate the device with all eyes watching carefully. After the second time dry firing it, he was given one of his wooden arrows and told to loose at a shield. The result was a little lackluster but the crossbow in question was built by and to be used by, a kid.

Even then it had been enough to put down a juvenile shadowcat. It was passed to Magistrate Ellis to examine, he was surprised to learn his son Leofrith was already familiar with the operation of the weapon having been shown how to in the cave, along with a handful of wooden bolts shot at the wall.

“It’s far from a fine piece of craftsmanship but an intriguing design, I don’t see the point over a normal bow though. Why did you build it?” the Elvanni woman, who was no other than Lady Kyanna asked. She seemed genuinely intrigued but seemed to prefer her the yew recurve bow she had leaning against the wall.

“I built the bow first but my arm got tired trying to line up on the target, so I made it to hol’ the string for me after I drew it back,” Jon slowly lied, luckily everyone seemed to take his stop and go explanation as nervousness.

He’d actually had a mysterious picture in his head without even thinking about it but he wasn’t about to tell even his own family about having visions, “that way I could have it ready all the while, and my arm wouldn’t shake from pulling it back right before I loosed the arrow.”

“I see…” Magistrate Ellis said, passing the device off to Lady Kyanna, “It’s a remarkable piece of work, and-”

“Father, that’s not all he’s been building in that cave,” Leofrith said out of turn but his father didn’t seem to care. Jon couldn’t help but stare daggers at Leo for just a moment, those were his things.

“Really?” Lady Kyanna looked up from the crossbow’s release mechanism.

“Um... Yes, my lady but they would be little worth to you, trinkets and toys,” Leofrith said, seeming to realize his mistake, it would have been a better conversation for later. From the side, Jaesmin held up a set of wooden disks connected by an axle. She was still on her knees hiding her face. Eva stared at the toy being offered with confusion, it was a lump of wood and string.

“Show us, dear,” Eva said, gesturing Jaesmin to get up. As she did, Eva didn’t notice the slight cringe that spread through the room or the glare she received from the foreign guests. Jon could have sworn he heard a low growl.

Jaesmin had injuries the night prior but none to her face. Even with the powdered makeup, dark bruises could be seen on Jaesmin’s face, her right eye was nearly swollen shut and her lower lip was indeed swollen and split. Leofrith just stared at the floor, unlike his sister, his features were unmarred.

Jaesmin slipped the twine over her finger and demonstrated its single function, to drop down and continue up on its own. The children looked around for a moment, having gotten used to the toy but the adults followed it as it went up and down for a moment. Jaesmin caught it and removed the twine before resuming her position on the floor, again clutching the toy no one had known she’d been holding the entire time.

“Hm. A simple toy,” Eva said while snapping her fingers at her daughter, who reluctantly handed it over, “but something the children of Terra would like to play with. Question is, did you steal this or did the heathen boy give it to you?” She stared at her daughter, now even more intense glares targeted the side and back of her head, including one from her husband.

“M-madam,” Andrew stepped forward before anyone else could interject, and despite Kaden trying to stop him, “the toy were mine… I mean Jon made it but-but he owed me one for helping his sister. I gave it to Jaesmin… I mean Miss Jaesmin last night because she were scared. She didn’t steal it. She can keep it! Jon’ll make me another one,” Eva gave Andrew a contemplative look but ended up giving him a slight nod.

“Thank you for your kindness young man,” Ellis clapped before anyone else could say anything, his voice a faux cheerful. It wasn’t lost on any adult present that beating a child for so-called heresy or calling people heathens when armed and highly dangerous representatives of those very same people stood in the room was playing with fire. Even Eva seemed to know but she reveled in it; she just handed the toy back and smiled. “With that said, I will thank you again for helping clear this matter up and the service your families have done for my children. Please go in peace.”

The group bowed and turned for the door, while the Magistrate stood and tried to follow Ser Erik and Lady Kyanna to apologize but quickly turned around to follow his wife who was forcefully ushering his daughter towards the stairs. Leofrith stood in indecision before parting ways as well, heading for the rear of the manor. Only the men at arm’s remained by the door stayed until all had exited. They then retook their posts by the entrance. Jon and his family were halfway down the hill when someone ran after them.

“Wait, please.” the knight who’d just left the manor jogged up in long strides. His helmet tucked under one arm and a sheet of parchment and a small pouch in his other hand. He held the pouch out to Jon before handing the parchment to Hild, “Ser Erik... Your crossbow design, we all saw its workings and I’m sure all present will be reporting this to their superiors in hopes we can recreate it… Maybe scale it up a little to make it a proper weapon. Your payment from Ederath and the Elvan,” He smiled at them indicating the pouch, that held silver coins was from Ederath, while the Elvan had given the parchment.

“This is too much,” Hild said as she beheld what was on the parchment. She tried to hand it back. The knight simply held his hands up showing he wasn’t going to accept it back.

“A village this far removed should have someone with that talent,” he said, “These people may not be ours but our gods require all of us, even nonbelievers to progress. Charge fairly and help even those who can’t pay and that is enough.” With that, he ruffled Jon’s hair and turned away.

“Thank you!” Hild called out, tears in her eyes, “May the light always prevail and courage never waver!” A few waves returned her words of appreciation, most however stared toward the mansion, some discretely others far less so. Even Jon could hear the yelling coming from within.

“My thanks Ser knight,” Jon added, his attention fully on the pouch in his hand. The parchment was technically his too but he wasn't sure what it was.

They returned home, and all five gathered inside at Hild’s beckon. She started lighting candle after candle and placing them on the ground before spreading out the sheet of parchment in the light. Everyone looked at it, forgetting the day's events. Even the wedding and pouch full of coins weighed on their minds less than Hild’s actions and the strange paper. It would seem trivial but she had nearly RAN back to their small hut.

Hild sat staring at it, only Kaden seemed to have a vague idea of what it was and quickly stopped any of the kids if they tried to speak or look too closely at it. From what Jon could see it was blank, it only had three lines marked on the upper right corner. No letters or pictures at all.

That changed as strange shifting runes started to rise from the paper and glow. Hild stared at the golden light emitted by the paper until her eyes started to glow the same hue. The light grew brighter and brighter until both the paper and Hild’s eyes were too bright to look towards. It may have started gradually but it ended abruptly. After it was done Hild just continued to stare, tears in her eyes either from emotions or the lack of blinking, perhaps both. Jon noticed there were only two lines in the corner as his mother picked up the parchment and carefully put it away in a leather bag before hiding it in the straw of her bed.

“Ma, what was that?” Erin spoke up, just as confused as the rest.

“It was a spellsheet, I think?” Kaden looked at Hild in awe, confused, but in awe.

“It was,” Hild walked over to Kaden and pulled him down into a kiss. Far beyond just a peck that one might give a friend when they're overly happy, something you only saw young couples and the occasional weird elder spouses in the village do.

“I fucking forgot about that,” Jon blurted out, remember the bit about a wedding.

“Language!” Hild shot out breaking away from Kaden, she looked at her kids that still had revolted looks on their faces, Erin’s less so and mixed with confusion. Andrew didn’t seem to care one way or another about the kiss. His eyes were on the mattress, “Okay… Okay… Easy part first, sit down.”

The children looked at each other and Jon unconsciously rubbed his still bruised backside. Sitting on a hard floor made of packed dirt was already uncomfortable but in his state, he’d rather not. The thought was universal between the three. Hild caught on but just got a smile that only grew bigger as she walked across the room, staring at Erin’s butt, which she tried to keep turned away.

“Hold still, this shouldn’t hurt at all,” Hild said in a very cheerful voice full of emotion. She hugged Erin tightly with her left and let her right hover over Erin’s rear. A soft golden glow spread from Hild’s hand and dozens of tendrils of golden light stretched across the few inches before lighting up Erin like an oversized glow bug. The light only lasted for a few seconds as everyone watched and Erin squirmed. When it ended Hild just prodded Erin’s cheeks with her finger, “Does it still hurt?”

“Ah… No?” Erin joined in with the prodding herself before her eyebrows nearly shot off her head, “MA! You learned a healing spell! That’s what the parchment was!”

Hild just laughed and nodded, she looked at the boys who looked back still unsure. Jon’s eyes flicked between his mother and his sister. The former was just gesturing to turn around while the latter was busy poking herself repeatedly and trying to twist to get a view of her own ass.

Jon swallowed and turned around, his mother held her hand over his bruises and repeated the process. Jon wasn’t sure what to expect but it actually gave off a warm, comforting sensation but also tickled slightly. After it was done, he tried to resist doing the same as his sister but didn’t make it very long before poking and prodding himself as well. The pain and bruises were gone as they’d never been there, even the scrape from sliding into the passage to the cave was gone.

The last one was Andrew, he didn’t say a word but wouldn’t turn around either, he just kept backing away from Hild until he backed right into Kaden, who held him in place until the deed was done. He scrambled away and sat down next to Erin, who was busy sitting on the floor squirming back in forth, both reveling in her mother’s new magic and unintentionally undoing it at the same time.

“Ok, done! Yes, that was a healing spell, it’s just [Heal], nothing special…” She had to stop there for a moment and giggle a bit to herself. To Jon his mom seemed to act younger and suddenly lighter in a sense, “You can’t tell anyone about the parchment though, understood?”

“How’d you learn it from staring at a blank sheet of paper? And how’d you know it was a healing spell?” Jon asked.

“What if it was a fire spell, you could have burned Erin’s butt off,” Andrew added, Erin stopped twisting around and looked at her mother as if to ask, the same question again, ‘how’d you know?’

“It wasn’t blank, it’s a spellsheet. They can only be seen by the person touching the parchment. My father, your grandfather, managed to purchase a [Light] spellsheet once in Everlight, he only made a small profit when he sold it but he told me about them. All you have to do is look at them in the light while touching them and keep looking as it teaches you how to cast the magic. As for how I knew, it says [Heal] right at the top.” She said, the three looked confused still. Jon was scratching his head, he didn’t see anything unless those marks were some secret language. He guessed it really was invisible unless he touched it just as she said.

“Nevermind all that, the point is, it’s valuable and not for children. Don’t tell anyone, don’t touch it without your mother… er Hild's permission,” Kaden added, losing a noticeable amount of confidence as the sentence went on. Jon knew he’d have no problem getting after them normally but he seemed to fall short on the parental tone now that he was addressing them after the news broke. That brought the other issue back into the light.

“You’re getting married?!” Erin shot out, bringing Andrew back into the conversation. He’d had nothing to add but he’d been daydreaming, about what was anyone's guess.

“Eh... Yes, Kaden and I are getting married. We planned on having the ceremony late next spring and were trying to find the right way to tell you three,” Hild flatly stated, not sure what else to say.

“Okay, you three. It’s like this…” Kaden stepped in carefully and began to explain. They both lost their first spouses, one to a bandit raid, the other to childbirth, lived next to each other for years, close in age, and their children were friends.

That all led to becoming friends as well, over time things changed between them and they started having tea together or going on walks, meeting up in the north grove while he hunted and she picked medicinal herbs to share a midday meal. Kaden had only proposed a few weeks prior but they decided to ease the children into the idea of them being in a relationship because they’d kept it secret for so long. They both looked relieved when it was done but it was doubtful either would ever thank Madam Eva for forcing it into the open.

Jon was at a loss on what to say. He wasn’t mad, just weirded out about the idea. Erin of course thought it was sweet but didn’t like the idea of getting another brother in the deal. Which Jon thought was dumb, she was around Andrew constantly anyways. Andrew however, was the only one that was happy about it. He started laughing when it was all over.

“Think about it, we’re already close as brothers and sister. We get to live together and hang out all the time! And best of all I can give Jon backup when Aethred says something dumb,” He answered with a grin on his face, “Just think, the next time he mentions your ma, he’s making fun of my new ma. I can hit him too and she can heal him after.”

That turned into a lecture about NOT hitting Aethred and if they ever went too far, Hild promised to heal Aethred before grabbing a spoon to enact justice. They would not be getting healed, period. Jon had to admit to himself that it wouldn’t be that bad, his best friend becoming his brother. Andrew already slept over a lot anyway, it would just mean he’d have his own bed instead of laying next to Jon. That night Kaden and Andrew went home and Jon laid in bed, even if things were weird, he had one thing going for him. He was basically rich, 16 silver coins went a very long way in a small village.

*********

The following days saw the company of knights and Rangers leave, heading south into the Forest of Dain and the border to the country it was named after. An announcement was spread through the village detailing the reason for their visit, it was some sort of monster or powerful beast they were after, and everyone was told to be careful and travel in groups if going into the forest or north grove. The people were assured that the true threat lie to the south and the northerners would take care of it but the shadowcats were proof enough that dangerous animals had been forced out of the forest by whatever was lurking there.

That affected Jon and his friends as their hideout was now completely off-limits. If what Kaden had told them it wouldn’t be their hideout anymore regardless. The hunters had decided to dig out the entrance and install a secure hatch so they could use it as a safe house and place to sleep on overnight hunts.

He also lost his silver, his mother had taken it for safekeeping. He had been allowed to have it but when the smith informed her Jon had stopped by and wanted to buy a dagger, she put an end to his spending plans. She promised he could buy whatever he wanted, as long as he told her and she would use his money to buy it for him if she approved.

It wasn’t all bad, before the knights left they brought over a sack that contained the bones, meat, and pelts of the badger and shadowcat along with his crossbow. His mother forbade him from using it in the village, which would technically be a crime but after some prompting bought him some proper tools for carving wood and bone so he could improve it; and make more string toys and tops. Jon had also gotten her to commission a cloak out of the shadowcat pelt. When he eventually got it back he gave it to Erin, they’d cut it too short for him. He didn’t like that. Erin thought it was the best thing ever though, strutting around the village sporting a new cloak where the front paws and claws reached over her back and clasped in the front. Jon did get a warm pair of fingerless gloves and a necklace made from the monster's teeth. The badger pelt he gave to Aethred, it was his idea to hunt it.

Piers also stopped by to speak with Hild and Kaden, he was concerned about Aethred’s behavior, the way he spoke about women, calling his friends heathens, and of course swearing in front of the Magistrate. It’d grown too much. He wanted help finding him a hobby or craft he could pick up. Being a woodsman's apprentice was out of the question after the shadowcat incident and his mother was a seamstress’ apprentice, pulling teeth from a shadowcat would be easier than trying to get Aethred to learn how to weave or sew. Luckily for Piers, Kaden knew a bit about bow craft and was willing to teach both Aethred and Jon. He’d already been thinking about offering lessons to Jon after seeing the crossbow, why not both?

The lessons turned out to be enjoyable for Jon and soon evolved into tinkering sessions with Kaden and Aethred with the occasional Andrew and Erin joining. Jon, with Kaden’s help, built the first true adult-sized crossbow during the sessions. Even though he knicked himself plenty, thanks to his mother's newfound magic any minor cuts and scratches were quickly healed.

She couldn’t heal all day, every day there was a limit to her magic but the common injuries in the village, she could treat them all without issue. There were a few other part-time herbalists and healers in the village but Hild’s practice grew quickly as word spread that she could heal a cut in seconds or a minor break in a few minutes. Major breaks and injuries still required longer care and multiple follow-ups. She’d even worked alongside the others so there weren’t any hard feelings, she couldn’t use her magic to take care of illnesses anyways.

The only hiccup in her new healer practice was less than a week after she began. Erin of all people had snuck the parchment out of its hiding place and tried to teach herself the spell as well. His mother was furious but to Jon, seemed baffled when Erin told her that she couldn’t see anything. Even doing it the exact same way ma had done it. Erin was told she was too young to make it work but Jon had overheard his mother telling Kaden that it really shouldn’t matter, the spellsheet should have activated and tried to teach her the spell regardless of age but nothing happened.

Like that the weeks went on, Kaden and Andrew both slept in the same hut as the rest of them while workers built a modest 4 room, single-story cabin. Jon walked in a few times to see how it was built. It turned out not to be too exciting but he noticed it looked like it was going to be three times the size of his family's hut, which was already larger than Andrew’s.

He also couldn’t help but think and laugh about the news that was spreading around the village, Kaden had agreed to go through with a northern wedding ceremony. The village was getting more heathens and, to some folk's disdain, they were doing pretty well for themselves.

**********

Late spring had finally arrived and only two days before the start of the week-long solstice festival, Hild and Kaden had gathered with friends and family near the lake west of town. They were joined by the kids, Aethred’s parents, other hunters, the healer, the herbalist, the baker's wife, and more than a few others that looked on from a distance. Jon noticed them when they got there, they weren't guests, just there to see their first heathen wedding ceremony.

Jon didn’t really know what they expected but he had a feeling some didn’t know while others were probably thinking they were going to stand in the lake and chant or ritually slaughter the white goat that Piers owned and for whatever reason Aethred had brought. Jon recognized the joke when he saw it but didn’t care.

‘A prick's going to be a prick but at least he’s going with that joke and not something about ma’s clothing,’ Jon thought as he looked on.

He admitted that his mother looked happy and beautiful, she wore sandals that wrapped up her calf, a knee-length skirt made of goat leather, and a top that held tightly to her chest while exposing her midriff. It rose and wrapped around her neck, exposing her shoulders. Her hair was up in long braids that worked their way back from the front, crisscrossing against her scalp in a wavy pattern.

The most striking thing that anyone could see of her was the blue paint. Jon had actually been ordered to sit there with his shirt off so that his mother could show Erin how to draw the runes. They of course asked what they meant and she pointed them out in turn, even though Jon couldn’t see the ones on the back of his shoulders. Most of them were just traditional symbols of their culture and their gods that anyone could wear at any time for any occasion. A few though could be translated into words like ‘unity' and ‘trust’, which ran down both her upper arms now. Those runes, along with a couple others, represented what was needed for a successful marriage.

The only part she had done herself was her facepaint. She dipped three fingers into the paint before tracing them slightly spread, and with just the tips of her fingers, down her forehead. Jon had watched as she did it slowly, lifting the outside two from her skin before the last one leaving a line leading down to just above her eyebrows while the other two stopped mid-forehead. She then dipped her finger in again and ran a line from her lower lip to her chin. Two streaks followed from the outer corners of her eyes going straight down nearly to her jawline, adjusting her fingers to allow the streaks to tapper to a point. The final part came with her smearing some more blue paint on the inside of her fists and rubbing both eyes with it at the same time, leaving a blue chaotic smear that surrounded her eyes and connected with the streaks.

She’d explained that it was her personal mark, while everything else was symbols of the gods, their culture, or the ceremony, the marks on her face were hers and hers alone. She’d chosen the pattern when she had gotten married to their father and once chosen they should never be altered because that was how she’d chosen to depict herself to everyone, gods included, and to willfully change it wasn’t blasphemous as the southerners may call it but it was disrespectful.

That’s what Jon and the others looked on at the wedding. Kaden was well dressed in his finest clothes of course but Jon thought it looked like a well-off commoner was marrying a barbarian princess. With emphasis on the princess.

They held all for hands together and recited their vows. They promised to love and cherish one another, to support each other in all things and all challenges, including challenging fate itself. They promised they would be faithful until death and if they should meet in the realms of the dead, or heaven, despite no longer being wed they would embrace like old friends so they could cherish each other into eternity. Once done, Erin wrapped their hands in two braids made from different colors of fine linens. Once done they stepped in to kiss.

Jon felt tears well up in his eyes but didn’t cry, he glanced around as the newlyweds came apart and people started to clap. As he clapped and looked around he noticed a larger crowd than the last time he looked. Some of the people who’d come out of curiosity had moved up and clapped alongside invited guests. Jon realized that it was probably the first time any of them had ever seen a northern, so-called heathen, ceremony. His parents had wed before they moved to Terra.

They’d had two small shrines set up in their home, as simple as you could make them. One of the Northern Pantheon and one of the Southern Pantheon for Andrew and Kaden. With it being the only Northern shrine, as small as it was, and them being the only followers... they’d always celebrated their religious holidays and paid homage to the gods behind closed doors. Only a few Like Aethred, Andrew, and Kaden had ever bothered to see it. It was hardly the blood sacrifices, warcries, and public consummation of the marriage that he’d heard people joke about for the past few weeks. Jon wasn’t really sure what the last one meant but his mother refused to tell him which gave him a revolting idea.

Erin stepped forward as the applause and cheers died down to unwrap the braids. His mother and Kaden turned so that she could place them over their necks and drape down their front. With that his mother took her new husband's hand and walked towards the waiting crowd with her arm around Erin, thanking her for doing wedding them with a kiss on the head. They walked up to Jon and Andrew, who were standing at the front, and gave them hugs and kisses. Andrew was blubbering like a fool but it was literally the first time since the day of his birth that he’d had a mom, so Jon didn’t plan on giving him crap for it.

Hild looked up and grabbed each of the boys by the shoulder and spun them. Magistrate Ellis, Madam Eva, and both of their children were walking up through a parting crowd. The wedding party bowed as they approached.

“A beautiful ceremony, rise, rise. This is your day,” Magistrate Ellis said with a smile on his face, his wife had the exact opposite and glared not just at Hild but her exposed skin specifically, “I must apologize for attending without invitation, curiosity had gotten the better of me.”

“That’s quite alright milord. Had we thought you wished to attend we would have gladly extended an invitation,” Hild said, Jon thought it was well planned out but realized she must have noticed their arrival earlier, “as it stands, you honor us with your presence.”

“Thank you for your kind words miss, oops, no… That’d be Misses Hild now wouldn’t it,” Ellis said, “I just wish to congratulate you and bid our farewell so you can celebrate with your guests.”

While they were talking Jon glanced at Leo and Jaes. Leo quickly looked away and it took Jon a moment to realize Leo too was looking at his mother's exposed skin. That made Jon feel more embarrassed than mad though because of the awkwardness. Leo did turn his head back to Jon and nodded to him with rosy cheeks.

‘Well least he’s embarrassed by it, Aethred’s probably around here with his eyes glued at mother's legs,” Jon thought and nodded back.

Jon then set his eyes on Jaesmin, she too was looking at his mother, but unlike with Eva’s disdain or whatever was going through Leofrith’s mind, Jaes was misty-eyed and the corner of her mouth upturned. She turned her head and looked at Jon and actually smiled at him. It only happened for half a second before she dropped it to look over at her mother but it made Jon smile like a goofy weirdo. When she glanced back in his direction straight-faced, the corner of her mouth shot up as his icy blue eyes met her emerald green.

As they turned to leave Leofrith stepped forward to congratulate the newlyweds himself. Shaking Kaden and his mother’s hands and a moment later shifted to shake Jon, Andrew, and Erin’s. He turned to follow his parents, who’d waited for him. Jaesmin didn’t speak but did curtsy while glancing straight into Jon’s eyes a second time and turning to leave.

His mother had spotted the glance from Jaesmin and turned to give Jon a look once they’d left, he was of course confusedly smiling like an idiot. He wasn’t sure why. She just snorted with laughter, Kaden joined in after she’d whispered something in his ear. She didn’t press any further and Kaden announced for everyone that’d actually been invited to head to their garden for the celebration.

As they walked away, Jon carefully opened the note Leo had slipped him when they shook hands. He made sure no one was near or paying attention when he opened it.

Jon,

In two days' time, meet me here at midday. I need to discuss something with you, tell no one. Bring fishing gear.

“Umm… Okay???” Jon muttered before stuffing the clandestine note away and catching up to the growingly loud wedding party. As they made it into the village Jon couldn’t help but get a little angry at some of the men that turned to watch his mother walk past, the only silver lining was what happened to those men when their wives noticed them looking. More than one man was slapped and had to chase after an angry wife that was muttering about ‘bastards' and 'heathens’. Jon got to the party and walked up to his friends. His mother also did, along with Kaden and Piers.

“Umm… Aethred, why did you bring a goat to my wedding?” Hild asked, a smirk that Jon knew well, it was the 'I already know, try to lie to me' look. He learned the hard way just like his friend was about to...

“Ahhhh, In case I got lonely,” Aethred lied, badly. His father nearly shot ale out of his nose as he started laughing so suddenly and let out barking laughter a moment later, along with any others that’d heard. It took Aethred a moment to realize the implications of what he’d said, “wait, what?…”

Jon had thought Aethred was going to dig himself deeper but that was better. He already knew it was going to be a fun evening. Although emerald eyes kept popping into his head, he thought he must be getting sick.

**********

Leofrith had a free week now that the Solstice festival had started. No studying, no practice, nothing. It wasn’t just for him, the entire village shut down. Only a few, such people prepared or sold food, guards, and anyone whose job revolved around leisure activities such as barmaids and the barkeep in the new tavern were allowed to work during the festival. Even Jaesmin could stop studying scripture on this week every year because it was written in the scripture that it was a time to rest, recuperate, and celebrate the start of summer and the new year. Something he thought his sister dearly needed.

Leo walked down to the market and quickly found a young farmer's son selling worms, people did fish for a living but it was still a leisure activity for the masses. Leo bought a handful of worms that he placed in his bucket and left after he noticed the numerous people with stands that normally sold nonfood items each had a single pear for sale at 1 silver. He wanted to smile at that but kept his straight face. His mother would be furious at the attempt to circumvent Temple doctrine but he wasn’t going to tell her.

Nope, he was going fishing and had a meeting to attend. He walked out of the gate with his bucket of worms and two fishing poles before glancing behind him at his ward for the day. Jaesmin trotted up next to him. It wasn’t his intent to bring her as he planned to meet up with Jon but when he notified his father of his intent to go to the lake, he’d insisted that Jaesmin went with, to relax as the gods intended. His mother, who’d been in the room couldn’t argue but made Jaesmin change out from her dress before leaving.

“Bet I’m going to catch one before you,” Jaesmin said in a rare moment of brevity, Leo could only smile. She always acted differently around the Solstice, like it was the one time of year she could actually be herself.

“Okay, you’re on. First one to catch one gets to boast but… you have to pull it ashore yourself,” He looked at her expecting a retort but she just flexed her arm as if she had it all worked out. That caused Leo to laugh, which only got her going.

They approached the spot he’d told Jon to meet him but he wasn’t there. Instead, Leo saw the words ‘by the boat docks’ written in the dirt.

‘Making me find him? No, he must have a reason.’

He scrubbed the message with his foot before Jaes noticed. If they got caught meeting up he wanted to make sure she had plausible deniability. His story would be they just happened upon Jon where they planned on fishing.

“Let’s try over by the docks,” Leo said turning to move around the lake to the south, away from the road and the river that flowed out of it.

“But it’s so nice here,” Jaesmin said looking out over the water.

“It’s the same as at the docks,” Leo said and quickly thought of a valid reason to compel her to follow without questions, “Besides, we can sit on the docks and if you take your shoes and stockings off you can put your feet in the water while we fish!”

She didn’t say a word and just turned away from the view to head towards the docks. Now that he said it, that did sound refreshing on such a warm day. The docks weren’t far off and as they walked they passed other children and adults swimming, fishing, and picnicking. They passed a group of young adults who were just laying out on the grass near the water's edge talking. One girl around 17 laid with her shirt pulled up to expose her stomach. One of the boys noticed them and smacked her foot and she quickly pulled it down before they all started getting up but Leofrith just waved them off.

“The girl back there reminded me, did you see how pretty Misses Hild looked at the wedding,” Jaesmin said before adding “I mean not the… I meant her hair, how pretty her hair looked. Of course not the dreadful heathen attire. Far too inappropriate.”

Leo knew what she was doing by now, same as his plant in not letting her know where they were going, she had learned to give herself a righteous escape in anything she liked if it concerned the heathen family in town.

Such as, after they left the wedding his mother had asked her what she thought of the ceremony. After just a moment, she answered, only commenting on Kaden’s attire as a proper man and the beautiful braids they bound their hands with. Both were accepted as Kaden wasn’t dressed to match Hild and Both Pantheons shared the braided bonding of hands. It was a risk even saying anything positive but his mother couldn’t get angry over either subject.

To Leofrith, and he was pretty sure his father as well, that translated to ‘she loved it and thought it was interesting’. Leo did too but ended up flushed thinking about the ceremony, both taking in the bride's attire and Jon catching him in the act. Southern women rarely showed more than their arms. Seeing a beautiful woman, scantily dressed... even his father had made the regrettable decision to comment on it when they got home.

They walked around a tall group of reeds and could see the boat docks, there were only three short wooden docks and a variety of different boats pulled up onshore. There was a group of kids sitting on the dock fishing, Leo recognized them immediately.

‘I said not to tell anyone… how hard is it,’ Leo thought before Jaesmin rushed past him to take the unoccupied dock in the middle. ‘Alright, calm down. Maybe they followed him the same as Jaes is following me.’

The group on the dock noticed him and they started to stand up as a shirtless Aethred pulled himself onto the dock, Leofrith waved them off.

“Have you caught many fish?” Jaesmin asked sitting on the dock before pulling off her shoes and socks and rolling up her pant legs a bit before sticking her toes in the water.

“Ummm… three miss, only two of them were too little, we done tossed them back,” Andrew answered, pulling a smallmouthed bass out of a bucket by the gills to show her, “Haven’t been here long tho… we might even caught more if Aethred weren’t swimming.” Aethred was out of the water now and skirted past Leo to go get his tunic, his pants dripping wet.

Leo pulled out some worms and baited the two hooks before he sat down on the dock passing one fishing pole to his sister who flicked it slightly to get the worm a few feet away from the dock. He removed his shoes and socks as well and soon placed his feet in the cool water. It wasn’t a noble thing to do but it felt nice.

As they sat and waited for a bite Leo caught Jon’s eye who responded by rolling his and purposely looking at Andrew and Erin. He’d had the same issue as Leo, siblings tagging along. Leo clicked his tongue thought but it couldn't be helped. If they wanted to be discrete, Jon couldn't tell the others they couldn't come any more than Leo could have told Jaes after their father insisted.

“Jon, out of curiosity have you-” Leo had about to touch on the subject he was there for. He’d intended to set up a system so he and his sister could buy some of Jon’s creations. Either by having Jon sell them to a vendor at a time when Leo happened to be in the market. That way he could buy them from the same vendor before someone else had the chance to. Jon’s toys had started to gain quite a bit of attraction with the children in the village.

Yet he stopped as he noticed two things. The first being Jon’s siblings were moving different colored wooden pieces around a piece of wood painted in a checkered pattern, and second, that Jon had an oversized wheeled string-toy attached to his fishing pole.

“Ummm… yes milord?” Jon asked after Leo didn’t continue for a few seconds. Before Leo could speak though he saw the tip of Jon’s pole dip down and Jon yanked the rod back and up while grabbing a small knob on one of the wheels.

A moment later, he stood and started spinning the nob around. Everyone had stopped what they were doing and watched as Jon would pull back hard and hold it for a moment before pushing the tip of the rod forward and spinning rapidly. Jon realized that as he spun, the line was getting wrapped around the wheeled contraption.

“Must be bigger than the last one,” Aethred watched excitedly and grabbed what looked like a burlap sack held open by a two-pronged wooden pitchfork. Erin and Andrew carefully moved whatever they were playing with so Aethred could stand next to Jon. A few minutes later a large trout jumped out of the water five feet away from the dock.

‘How far out was his hook?’ Leo thought looking at his own sitting only 10 feet away from the dock. He’d have to drag the fish along the dock and pull it up on shore if he caught anything but Jon was pulling it in standing still while from a much further distance.

Jon spun the wheel a minute longer when Aethred swooped in with the burlap sack and stuck it in the water, moving it around with the pitchfork it was attached to.

A moment later he started lifting it back out and it thrashed around inside the sack. Jon dropped to his knee and snatched the side of the sack and helped pull it up onto the dock. The two then fought the struggling fish as they carried it down the dock to the shore.

Leo turned and noticed he wasn’t the only one watching, a couple of actual fishermen were watching slack-jawed as the two young boys lifted a 15-20 pound trout out of the burlap sack and held it up triumphantly with their weird inventions.

“Hah, told ya I’d eventually win one!” Andrew exclaimed, catching Leofrith's attention. They'd gone back to their game as soon as the others had passed, “wanna go again?”

“I’m tired of this, want to play chess? King's table?” Erin asked.

“I’m fine with King's table,” Andrew finished putting the round wooden coins away and flipped the plank over to show a different grid pattern. Leo watched as Erin grabbed a bag and started pulling out pieces of two different materials. One was fired clay and the other carved bone. Shed pass them off to Andrew who placed them on the plank of wood in two distinct patterns.

“Can I see?” Jaes pulled her line on the dock and got up to go see the massive lake trout Jon and his friends had just caught, ignoring the game for the moment.

‘Okay, one of whatever that thing is on his fishing pole first, hopefully before the solstice.’ Leo said, a little jealous. There was too much attention around so he would have to work out a new plan later. Noble or not he was still a young boy and was excited about the new things, so he joined the rest checking out the new fishing equipment. He'd look into buying the games later, he'd have to figure out the rules.