The Wiekts HART

- A Beginning -

Hart Wiekt lay there, unmoving and barely breathing. There was a distant something at the back of his mind. As if he missed something extremely important but he didn't know what. Then he started to hear it. It started as a small sound which then grew louder and louder until it overcame his hearing. Noises. There were so many noises. He tried to listen to those sounds and noises to better understand where they came from. No avail. They were muffled and unclear. A clang of metals here and there then barks of orders followed by cries of pain and agony. Clang. Clang. Clang. The noise was so loud, harsh and rude, but it reminded him of a time where the same loud noise was a noise of celebration instead.

***

Festivities were in the air. Laughter could be heard from every corner of the beautifully decorated house. The music was playing non-stop and the townspeople were standing around the tables containing numerous kinds of food and drinks. Garlands and ribbons placed hanging on the roof adding more fun to the already festive mood. The men were talking and barking laughter on one side of the room, while the women were on the other side, giggling and telling tales of the town.

Soon, the front door burst opened and two people entered the house. The crowd loudly cheered while raising their glasses. The two people - a man and a woman - entered the house with a small and slightly bashful smile plastered on their face. The man was tall, with broad shoulders and strong arms. His eyes were as dark as the night's sky. His posture was stiff and straight, which gave him the advantage of appearing even taller than he actually was. It was such a beautiful contrast to look at for the woman beside him was small and delicate. She was wearing a small but nervous smile on her beautiful and petite face. She was always felt a bit sad thinking about her height, because she was rather short compared to the other women her age. However, now standing beside her soon-to-be husband, she didn't even think about it any longer, because her height put her just right to be in the man's embrace. She flushes a bit thinking about that, and the blush adorning her face made the people around her smiled and laughed. She really was a lovely creature. Then they looked at each other briefly with a bit of an awkward air surrounding them, before they started to walk towards the other end of the house. As they walked, the townspeople gathered around them. They exchanged brief nods and pats on the back as the man passed by, while the women gave a slight touch of encouragement and congratulation on the woman's arm or hand. During their walk, the mood did not dwindle a bit. If possible, it even grew more and more excited as the couple walked along their way. When the couple reached the end of the house, they sat on the two chairs already provided for them, and only then the crowd's cheer started to diminish to a cheerful hum.

A man rose from the crowd and went to stand in between the two chairs. This man was a bit shorter than the groom, but he was bigger. His jaw was strong, his shoulders broad, and his posture ramrod straight. It was easy to see some similarities between the groom and this man. He started, "My fellow friends, I welcome you all to this house to celebrate the union of these two young people, Hart and Elydite."

Another loud cheer erupted from the crowd after he finished his speech. He motioned for the crowd to be silent once more and continued his speech. "I, Arn Wiekt from the House of Wiekt, thank you for your good wishes. It will be the best gift to this young couple. With all your wishes, their union will forever be blessed by the gods. Now, let us start with the main event of the day. The dance!" Arn bellowed while gesturing the musician to start playing. Then, he motioned for the wedded couple to start the dance as in the tradition.

Now, Hart Wiekt was a quiet man. He usually kept to himself and barely spoke to anyone other than his closes friends and family members. Even amongst the small circle of his trusted fellows, he was often seen to stand alone and outside the crowd. He rarely joined in any kind of conversation except if it was about the craft that he learned and studied, blacksmithing. So, it was understandable that a very private man like Hart Wiekt would get a difficulty in performing a very public dance in front of all the townspeople. Therefore, it was also understandable that right after his father, Arn Wiekt, motioned him to start the dance, he tensed and hesitated a bit. Arn, sensing his hesitation, looked at his son and gave him a stern nod. Hart looked at his wife, Elydite, and then back at his father. He was not comfortable with the idea of dancing in front of a lot of people, but this is a part of his duty as a man of House Wiekt. This was something that he must do. If not, then the honor of his family would surely get affected. That would lead to a very difficult and upsetting conversation with his father. So, he did what he must do. He stood up straight, turned to his wife, and asked her to dance.