[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions]

[Tess’s Almanac: 70th day of Winter! 21 days until the Winter Festival! Looking like heavy snow today, and bitterly cold weather. The perfect day for… Another set of tryouts! Anyone who attempted to complete the previous course is more than welcome to come try again, though be advised that a handful of out-of-towners will also be competing for the prize!]

Jason chuckled as he rolled out of bed. Chance jumped up and licked his face, and he frowned down at the dog. This time, he was sure that he had locked the door to his bedroom before laying down. Oh, well. Not that he minded the dog, but how did it keep getting inside? Unfortunately, there was no time to figure that out, as Tess had once again requested that he be present for the tryouts for the position of Guildmaster. He walked up to the window and gazed out at the snowy landscape, shivering as he watched the thick snow falling down.

The air of the house was warmed by the fire below, but even still, he could feel the chill as he approached the window. It almost hurt to touch the glass, and he winced slightly.

“I’m sorry, boy.” He petted Chance’s head. “You’re going to have to stay home today, I’m afraid. Too cold even for you, and I don’t think the warriors will appreciate you slinking around the Guild Hall eating all their meat.”

Chance whimpered and put his ears flat against his head, and Jason gave him a few more pats. “I’ll fix up your bed right in front of the fireplace, though, and maybe give you a few treats to hold you over?”

Chance yelped at the word “treat,” and Jason chuckled. He quickly dressed in a tunic and bundled himself up, then made his way down to the kitchen. The cookbook flapped it pages expectantly, and he dropped into the chair.

“Make me something warm.” He ordered. “Something that’ll stick with me for awhile.”

There was a pause as the cookbook flipped it pages back and forth, and then an omelet appeared in front of him. It wasn’t exactly what he had been hoping for, but then, he supposed that if he had actually wanted something specific, he should have asked for it. He ate quickly, then rose, prepared Chance’s bed and food for the day, and strode out into the weather.

The snow was falling so heavily that he could hardly see more than a hundred feet in front of himself. It wasn’t a warm snow, either. The wind wasn’t blowing too hard, but it was cold. His face began to sting, even more than from the ice several weeks earlier, and he blew out a puff of fog. Pulling his cloak a bit tighter around himself, he ran across the drive, got Lady ready, and then set off.

Along the way into town, he thought he caught a glimpse of Jeremiah making his way along, but the distant carriage was too far in front of him to tell for sure. He shivered, then tapped his feet lightly against Lady’s flanks. She pushed onward a bit faster, but still didn’t move too hard. He imagined that she didn’t want to be out in the cold weather any more than he did, though he had to admit that he was excited to see Tess.

When he came into town, a thick layer of snow lay across the ground, though it was churned up quite a great deal from the intense foot traffic moving back and forth across it. Villagers bustled about, several of which were dressed in makeshift armor and strapping rusty swords to their sides. Jason chuckled at the effort, as well as the effort that all the town mothers were making to try to dissuade their children from entering such a dangerous competition.

Jason soon rode up to the stable, where he allowed Lady to be taken into the warm building, and started walking around to the course. As he came within sight of it, his eyes opened wide in surprise. It had been changed up quite a lot, and he chuckled a bit at just what Tess had dreamed up.

The starting and ending platform were in the same place as before. Stretching out from the starting line was a slick pool of ice, standing where the mud pit had been before. The barbed wire had been removed, thankfully, while a small wall had been built at the far end.

On the other side of the ice pit was a trellis that stretched about fifty feet, with rings dangling on the end of ropes that hung from the wooden frame. The rings were spaced further and further out, until there was almost a fifteen foot gap between the last two.

Beyond the rings was a climbing wall, though this one seemed to have handholds that were spaced much closer together than the previous time. At the top of the wall, a tightrope had been stretched between that small platform and the ending platform, where a small white flag was barely visible through the snow. Tess paced back and forth in front of it, a feigned smile upon her face.

Meanwhile, sitting between the course and the buildings, Jeremiah and his hired hands had kindled a large fire, which now roared up into the sky with a ferocity that made Jason wince. Delilah had set up a table nearby that was covered in hot dogs and marshmallows, while a cauldron of hot chocolate bubbled on the edge of the bonfire. Jason chuckled when he saw the setup, and walked over to stand next to Jeremiah.

“Like it?” Jeremiah gestured proudly at the fire. “Figured we’d get a few more people to show up if they could stay warm.”

“You’re going to make the budding guildmasters soft.” Jason nodded at several of the armored youth, who were warming themselves by the fire and gazing in apprehension at the obstacles. A handful of warriors that Jason didn’t recognize walked around the course, studying it intently, seeming to ignore the frigid weather.

“Let’s be real, no one here is getting that position.” Jeremiah took a sip of his chocolate. “I’m not saying that one or two of them couldn’t do a good job, but Tess is too extreme. She’s not going to settle for anything less than the best.”

“You think she’ll go with one of the out-of-towners?”

Jeremiah shook his head. “She’s too protective for that, too. No, she’s got a very specific person in mind, and I don’t think she’s likely to find it here.”

“Then what do you think will happen?” Jason glanced at him with growing concern. “Do you think-”

“Oh, don’t worry your head. She isn’t going to call off the wedding or anything.” Jeremiah waved his hand, dismissing Jason’s concerns. “I do think she’ll get a lot more desperate as spring sets on, though, but we’ll just have to see.”

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Tess called out, interrupting their conversation. “Thank you for coming out here today!”

Everyone turned to face her, and the prospective guildmasters made their way forward to stand just in front of her in the thick snow. Daniel stepped up just next to her, crossing his enormous arms and making pretty much all of them flinch back.

“By now, I’m sure everyone knows the name of the game. This time, your performance will be evaluated based on how far you get, not simply if you succeed. My brother, Daniel, will now demonstrate.”

Daniel flexed his arms, then turned and marched up onto the platform.

“You know, these guns once harvested an entire eighty acres in a single swing of a scythe!” He grinned at the newcomers. “This shouldn’t be a problem to handle!”

Jason rolled his eyes. Though it was a little spiteful of him, he rather hoped that Daniel would fall flat on his face just to knock his arrogance down a few pegs.

That did not happen.

Daniel launched himself forward, using a flash of magic to create a pair of skates made out of ice. He sailed across the frozen pool, hopped the wall at the far end as if it were a molehill, and launched into the rings. Jason rather thought that he looked a bit like a monkey as he sailed across the ropes, though he was so tall that his feet nearly touched the ground. He leapt off the final ring and landed on the climbing wall, clinging like a gecko, and quickly launched himself to the top.

“Alright, now.” He paused for a moment. “Gotta turn off my inertia skills. Wouldn’t do to snap this halfway across!”

Jason rolled his eyes again, and watched as Daniel rather delicately tottered across the rope and leapt nimbly onto the final platform. He plucked the flag and held it high above his head, and Jeremiah glanced at Delilah, who had just walked up next to him.

“There are no rocks this time.”

“No.”

“They’re not even throwing snowballs!” Jeremiah protested. “Please? Just one try, after everyone else has gone through.”

Delilah whacked him with the spoon she had been using to stir the chocolate, then went back to her work. Jason chuckled, and Jeremiah crossed his arms and scowled good-naturedly.

Jason’s attention was drawn back to the course, though, as the first of the local farmhands stepped up to the starting platform. Two of them stood there, shivering in the cold, and boldly leapt out onto the ice. Both of them slipped and landed flat on their backs, and Jason groaned in sympathy.

It was several minutes of frantic slipping and sliding before the two of them made it to the wall, as Tess called out informing them that they could not touch the edges for support. As they climbed up and flopped over the wall, one of them took a deep breath, then launched himself into the air at the closest ring. His hand closed over the metal ring, his body swung forward, and his hand slipped free. He fell flat on his back in the powdery snow, and sat up groaning. He quickly slipped off the course, and the second man launched himself at the rings as well. The result was nearly identical, and he too slunk off and out of the way rubbing the back of his head.

The next three contestants were quite similar. Finally, a particularly tall lad, the brother to the shepherdess who had done so well on the previous course, came up and rubbed his hands together. Mimicking Daniel, though without the magic skate, he launched himself across the ice, leapt nimbly over the wall, and made it all the way across the loops before he slipped on the climbing wall and came crashing down. Tess nodded thoughtfully as he smiled and walked off to the side, and she nodded at the warriors who were still standing at the ready.

Jason winced slightly as they climbed the platform and took their stand. They were all heavily armored, and didn’t look as though the cold bothered them one single bit. First one, then then next launched themselves across the ice and dove into the obstacles. Only one of them, a particularly heavyset man who looked more like a mountain than a human, wasn’t able to complete the obstacles. One by one, they snatched the flag and dropped back down to Tess, who continued to nod and think to herself. At least, Jason could tell that she was thinking, by the way her face was puckered. Most people wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but he was getting to know more than a few of her gestures, which made him feel rather well about himself.

When the last contestant made it through, most of the farmers had slunk back to their homes, but a few of them remained. Tess clapped her hands to draw attention to herself again, then smiled and crossed her arms.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming out! Would everyone who feels themselves to be in the running for the position please head over to my office?”

The warriors, save the one who had fallen, all turned and marched toward the Guild Hall. The lone shepherd followed, but the rest of the farmers turned and walked away. Tess sighed, then walked up to Jason and Jeremiah.

“Thanks for coming.” She muttered as she helped herself to a cup of hot chocolate. “At least one ray of light in the midst of this storm.”

“Someone’s poetic.” Jeremiah quipped. “Didn’t like any of them? Those warriors looked plenty good.”

“They made it through the course.” Tess countered. “Their technique was sloppier than you could imagine, though.”

“Did you see him trying out the course last time?” Delilah jabbed a spoon at Jeremiah. “After that, I can imagine technics that are pretty sloppy.”

Tess laughed, and for a moment, color came back to her cheeks. It faded away, though, as a gust of wind swept across the area.

“You know what I mean. They only decided to try out because they were already here. No one has responded to the summons I hung up in the Guild Hall after the last contest. Being guildmaster here in Summer Shandy just doesn’t really seem to be a high priority for most people.”

Jason flashed her a reassuring smile. “If there’s anyone who can find the right person, it’ll be you.”

Tess puffed out her cheeks, then nodded. “I hope you’re right.”

“Of course I am!” Jason grinned. “You’re doing a great job.”

She exchanged a few more pleasantries with Jeremiah and Jason, then turned and walked back through the snow toward the Guild Hall. Jason watched after her, then sighed and crossed his arms.

“You think she’ll be okay?” He glanced at Jeremiah.

“If there’s anyone in this town who could land on her feet no matter the situation, it would be Tess.” Jeremiah shrugged. “She’ll be fine. That said, if you hopped over to Paulina’s store and had a fine lunch ready for when she rejects everyone and is super bummed-out, it might just help things.”

Jason nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll do that. Thanks.”

“Anything!” Jeremiah grinned as Jason started to walk away. “Just know that I expect your help in return if Delilah ever locks me up!”

Jason waved over his shoulder, and Delilah whacked him on the head with a spoon. He turned and tackled her into the snow, and a moment later, they were engaged in a hearty snowball fight. After a moment, the hired men started to join in as well, with Jeremiah forming an army on one side and Delilah leading troops on the other side. Jason watched it for a moment, laughing softly at their antics.

In so many ways, Jeremiah and Delilah seemed to have the perfect relationship, handling strife with the easy care that came from years of time spent together. He sighed deeply, then turned away and started marching after Tess. He only hoped that, as time progressed, he and Tess could wind up with a fraction of that same ease with each other.