Woman of Sorrows-The Black-Veiled Woman

Homelife

The following morning was his day off. Together, they mounted their horses after a quick breakfast, which Thane had made for her. They rode only with a bridle, as usual. After the short journey through town and up the mountainside, they stood on their land. It was theirs, but there was so much to be done to it. Unlike the other plots inside the town, it was vast, large and full of fertile land. A stream, fed by snow runoff, trickled through it. Through lands that were theirs. The lush, green grass would soon feed their herds of sheep, horses, and cows. The stream would give them water. The trees would give them shade and protection. The mountainside was to be their home.

Several fields would be ploughed and sown behind their house, and to the right of it. They would produce wheat, corn, oats, barley, tomatoes, apples, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, strawberries, and blueberries, in time. Many of them were to be less of crops, and more of a small garden for Chalandra to keep. The main crops would be wheat, oats, and barely, while the others were merely for their own use.

A stable was soon to be built, once they had finished building the house. It was nearly half done now, but still lacked a roof, a wall, and all inside walls. Eventually, they would have enough time to complete it, but it was a slow and difficult process. The first time she had seen that land again, it had brought her great sorrow. That was where her woes had begun, in the ashes of her childhood home. Now, it was a symbol of strength to her. After all she had survived, she was home. She and her husband would not forget the pain that it had led to, but they would rejoice in the greatness of their new home. This was where they belonged, and Thane understood that. Together, they had triumphed over all evil, to return to the place of her birth.

Already, Thane had hitched Aearion up to the fallen tree. In just a few moments, he had felled a tree and began to have his great stallion drag it to the worksite. They had agreed that only a few more of the great old oaks would be cut down, and the rest of the timber would be brought up from the town in order to preserve their forest. Also, every time they cut one down, they would plant a sapling in its stead. Though Aearion was a fine, elegant stallion, he did his work without a fuss. He would gladly haul wood up the mountain, and Avaleth might even help if necessary. Always, they did their masters' bidding without any kind of protest other horses or animals might give. They did it to the best of their strength, and would work until they dropped if it was their masters' will.

Ever since Chalandra had returned, Thane had realized he would need a better job. For so long, he had lived week to week, not caring if he had the money to adequately feed and clothe himself. He had taken odd work, and did not care for the salary, so long as he knew it would be enough to put him up at an inn for the night and fill his belly with ale in a hopeless venture of forgetting his past. Now that they had married, he had felt the desperation ever more. They had taken up to renting their modest home and needed a better income for it. Additionally, he desperately wanted to finish the home he had started for her, which he needed money for supplies. Because of this, he had taken a job as a currier with Charles, the owner of the lumberyard for which he had worked, in addition to having taken over the blacksmith shop.

Instead of being gone for the day, and he was often gone for the night as well, for between his job as a smithy and his currier position on days off, he was gone for days at a time. Chalandra had fought him, wanting desperately for him to decline the job, but he had refused, knowing it needed to be done. She wanted him to stay, though she knew they needed the money. Finally, she had consented, and allowed him to take the job. It was modest work, but brought in a fair bit of money. Once a week, he was gone for two days minimum, but up to four days, depending on where he was hauling the logs. Charles provided the horses and the wagon was always loaded for his journey there. He simply had to drive the team and navigate his way there. Likewise, Charles paid for him to stay at whatever inn was in the particular town when he was there for the night, and therefor paid his living expenses, leaving more money for them to build their home. When they were able to move into that home, they would live off the land, and sell whatever goods they did not need back to the village. It would be more than enough for them, living a quiet life away from the lands that scorned them.