Chapter 20: Act 1: Chapter 15

Twenty-eighth day, Eighth Moon, 236 AC

I saw Nyra out of the corner of my eye laughing, while Violet and I danced with the crowd.

"Twirl me! Twirl me again!" Violet said happily.

Of course, I obliged her, and I went back to looking at the crowd. It was the harvest festival, and everyone in the community had come out to celebrate.

It was a perfect day for a party, the sun was shining, it was hot but not stifling, there was a cool breeze coming off the ocean, and there was happiness in the air. Everyone was happy that there was finally food available and that nothing happened to the harvest. The harvest itself went well; I hired a few people to help bring mine in, and no one had any issues this harvest. There was a resurgence in rabbits and the like, but we all made do, though our cats did have a big litter because of so much food.

The harvest festival was a special day for everyone. It was a day where everyone brought their taxes to the tax barn and once everything was put away, we made a huge lunch for everyone and began to socialize. Then someone began to sing, and people began to dance. Some danced with their spouses, or in my case with their children, and some children just danced by themselves dancing to tunes only they could hear.

Eventually the music wound down, and people began to drift back to the food and drink. I brought one of my last casks of wine for everyone, since I knew that there would be no mead this harvest because of the flood. I was walking over to Nyra when Rick, one of the villagers, waved me over to him and a few other men.

"Michael! We was just talking about you!" he shouted.

I chuckled, "Oh? All good things I hope?"

Rick bobbed his head, "Aye, no worries there! Just saying t' the boys about the bridge. That she-ment of yours is mighty fine. The feet o' the bridge are all dried now 'n solid."

"Good, good. By the way, its cement not she-ment. But I'll come out tomorrow to make sure, then we can get the bricks going and finally be rid of that wooden bridge."

Rick waved off my correction, "Bah, new words always mess me. They are out t' get me I tell 'ya! How's about I and the boys come up in the morning with a cart and we can start bringing them bricks down?"

"Aye, we can do that. Load up my wagon too."

Rick nodded, "That'd be right nice of you. Looking forward t' working with the brick. Done some stonework me'self, but this looks to be right easy to work with."

"Yeah, it's much easier to work with, but weaker than stone. I figure it's worth it since that bridge doesn't hold much anyway."

He laughed, "I'm sure Lord Stark's men will be right surprised! We shouldn't be done for a long time if'n we used stone. Say, that is a nice hat you and Koryn got there! You pick them up from Deepwood?"

I assumed he was pointing to my new cowboy hats. "Nah, Koryn and I made them ourselves. Took long enough to get it right, but they're beautiful. Good quality too, and helpful in the sun."

One of the younger boys spoke up, "They look real fancy! Like a Lord's hat or somethin'."

"Aye, real nice like a Lord's hat," Rick said. "You gonna sell any?"

I nodded, "I planned to later, but I'm not really sure when. You all interested?"

They all gave their assent and I replied, "Well, I'll talk with Koryn and we'll figure something out." I saw my wife waving me over, "Well, are you all going to play in the game later?" Everyone around the table nodded. "Alright then, I'll see you on the field. I'm going to go talk with my wife for a bit, you all have fun now."

As I walked through the crowd, everyone was eating, drinking, and generally just having a good time. There were still the scars left by the flood if you looked close enough, but we were a pragmatic people. We put it behind us and moved forward.

I approached Nyra as she was seated on a bench with her mother, Jess, and they seemed to be in the middle of a discussion.

"No Mother, if Zane wants to, he can. It's his choice, not ours. We can only try to make him see reason." Nyra saw me approach and said to me, "Michael! What did Rick want with you?"

"Ah, just to talk about the bridge mostly. What's going on here?"

Jess gave a huff, "My fool boy! Wants to start breeding dogs. Ones for sleds, ones for guarding, ones for everything it seems!"

I glanced between Nyra and Jess, trying to determine what exactly I should say. Nyra spoke before I could, "Peace Mother. Zane's family is small and coming along nicely, with enough spare food for this task. He won't starve if it goes poorly."

I responded, "Err, I'm sure it will be fine Jess. Maybe just caution him to take it slowly? Quality over quantity." I wasn't really sure what Zane was trying to achieve, but I figured it was good advice regardless.

Jess seemed to chew that over for a minute before nodding, "Yes, yes. Quality over quantity. That'll work." She waved at us distractedly before going off to track down Zane.

I raised an eyebrow at Nyra, "What was that all about?"

She rolled her eyes, "Mother was just worried. Zane mentioned earlier that he was thinking about trying to breed dogs. It was an offhand comment too, so she is fretting over nothing."

I shrugged, "If he can pull it off, there'll probably be good coin in it. What was it you waved me over for?"

She snuggled up to me on the bench as I sat down. "Oh nothing, I just wanted you to rescue me from the conversation."

I laughed, "Ah, always happy to be your knight in shining armor."

We sat on the sun-warmed bench and watched the crowd mingle around. People seemed to be enjoying the food, and my attempts at hot dogs seemed pretty popular. Ketchup was beyond my capabilities, but my mustard was acceptable, though it wasn't quite like the classic mustard I was used to. I was sure I was missing a few ingredients, but for the life of me I couldn't remember them.

The setting reminded me of home. Hot dogs, football, bright sunny days, and good company.

It looked like people were starting to come together to start playing football. I gave Nyra a squeeze with my arm before I stood and said, "Looks like they are about to start playing. Are you and Violet going to cheer me on?"

Nyra laughed, "Of course. Violet wouldn't dream of cheering anyone else."

"And not yourself?"

She smiled, "Violet wouldn't let me. Just make sure you and my brothers are on the same team."

I put my hand to my heart and acted wounded, "What did I ever do to deserve such treatment?"

She snickered, "You almost made me the woman who married the madman with a sword-spear."

I could feel my face heating up, "Come on now! That was so long ago!"

She laughed again and waved me off, "I'll get some more use out of it yet. Go on now and go play. Send Violet over to me when you walk by."

I sighed and gave her a mock salute, "Yes ma'am!"

Ribbing aside, it was a good day.