Across the ocean Book 1: On the run

Chapter Thirteen : Daughters of Mildoyest

Mayen was returning from the Chicken Troubadour tavern in the company of Eliadoriss and his father. It was too bad that both Amaley and Molvendraft had to leave, or rather he would have liked to experience a meal with them and Soren in same time. Part of being a wayside peasant meant that everybody knew each other and socializing at a meal often made invitations wider. One could invite you, and then you would offer to invite a friend while visiting the one expecting you. People did not lock doors at home, every single person was trustworthy. Sure, strangers did pass through the village often, and theft was not unheard off, but it was not as frequent as one living in the city would have believed.

-"Never would I trust for trust's sake alone and leave my door unlocked at night," had said Amaley, "not knowing who could intrude. I wish Mildoyest could be more like Gimvault in that regard, but I myself would not dare it."

Locking doors felt like unhospitable to the adolescent and his father, but they knew very well Amaley had the right of it when inhabiting amongst just too many people to know them all. Part of refusing to steal was to be known by anyone already and not wanting everyone within the same village to look differently at you. Here, one could rob and be still some simple inhabitant of the city for more than half of the population. Of course, some thefts were of higher consequence and made the evildoer's name known from the northern gate to the southern one.

Looking over his shoulder, he could still see the tavern, but not the son of the local lord anymore, nor his wife. He was unsure if he would see them again. Part of him felt so, relying on family ties which on one hand linked him and his father to Soren and Eliadoriss, and them to the local lord's family. He wondered if eating with the son of a lord could mean he had actually shared the same table with the old nobility.

-"A pity my dear husband had to be at the castle." Eliadoriss was showing sympathy for her husband. "Knowing him, he will most likely try to invite many others for supper to make up for it."

-"Your other daughters, I assume?" Rowen asked.

-"Oh, they sadly cannot today. Would you believe it? Only Amaley is married to a man with much duty and yet she is the freest with her time. The others will come, for sure, but tomorrow or the days after. No, those my husband will try to invite are master craftsmen." She sighed. "It would be maybe better for now to restrain him, surely you already are exhausted and require some time of peace."

-"I totally agree Eliadoriss! Me and my son need to plan after all how to search for a future wife. And there are other things we also need to discuss with you two." The smile he had faded, making obvious what topic he was referring to. "As things stands, I need to know when I will leave with Mayen for Gimvault and the when is crucial in knowing how much time we have to search for a bride. If a battalion is willing to let us travel with them, I would definitely wait for them."

-"Then may the God of our ancestors delay such a departure long enough for both our families. That being said," she brushed some black hair behind her ear before resuming what she had started to say to Mayen, "how do you feel about finding a bridal arrangement sweetheart? I daresay you will have a good impression upon the daughters of Mildoyest with some help from me and my maids."

-"Wait—what?" Mayen felt his face slowly turning red and, had it been winter, surely his cheeks would have been sufficient to melt the snow without having to shovel it out of the doorway afterwards. "What kind of help?"

A complicity between Rowen and Eliadoriss struck him

-"Father?"

***

Claörgh sat in front of the brigade guard, one who only saw in front of him an old man with a cloak and a hood on as if to warm himself despite the season.