Magic and Destiny: Fate

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Dominic opened his eyes to the scene of the villagers running about, beginning to prepare for the autumn festival. The trip had actually taken a bit longer than he had expected. A full month longer to be exact. He chuckled to himself as he looked about. The festival would be a month away, but the autumn festival was a time for the full creativity to come to the surface, and for that, every autumn festival he had been to since being in this village had taken a month of steady planning.

He took a deep breath of the cooling autumn air, and exhaled the sweet scent of the pines and the forest. He stepped from the shadows of the trees, and walked down the street towards his home. He greeted those he passed, and waved at those in the distance. Curt nods were given to those of his woodsman that he saw. The guild was on his way to his house so he stopped in for a quick second to look over the reports and read his mail. There were a lot of things happening it had seemed. Thirteen envelopes with varying information gathered over the last two months.

After he had read the mail, he scanned over the books, looking at the progress of his wood-cutters. What he saw slightly dismayed him. It seemed that in the last two months he had been gone, three people had quit, and revenue had dropped by fifteen percent. Scanning over the requisition forms he soon discovered the problem, and shook his head. With the first of the information out of the way he pulled over the payroll and scanned the sheets, seeing that there were some unusual payments to some of his workers.

He left a note for his second in command, and left the papers alone. He took out his keys, and opened the pay drawer, looking at the coffer. What he saw shocked him. It was full to the brim, and there had been a few other things other than gold in there as well. "Whew," he whistled to himself. He closed and locked the pay drawer, and stood up, walking from the Guild building.

He continued his walk home to turn the corner to find Maya tending to the garden outside his home. He smiled, and walked down the lane as quietly as possible. He stopped at the edge of his yard and spoke. "You can stop tending the garden. I'm back now."

She had jumped at the sound of his voice, dirt flying through the air as she clutched her fist to her chest, looking behind her. "You scared me!" She squealed, standing up and walking over to him to give him a big hug. "I missed you. You said you'd be back a month ago."

"I know. Things got a little complicated and I had to stay a little longer." He hugged her close to him and walked towards the door, wanting to sit down. He had a lot to tell her, and he wanted to do it inside. He also wanted to unpack Avery and her siblings. He set his bag down on the floor next to his stool, and opened the top. He began to take Avery and her siblings from the bag, setting them out on the table. He opened Avery's case, and left her to take care of the rest.

He took Maya by the hand and led her from the table and into the bedroom, beginning to tell her all that had transpired on his journey. When he was finished, she simply smiled at him, and hugged him again. "I have taken care of your house for a while, but now I must return home. Father will insist once he learns you're back anyway. I will see you tomorrow. Welcome back. I love you." She stood, gathered her things from around the house and went home. She could not stay in the same house as him until they were married.

He smiled as she walked from the house and went home. He knew her reasons, and he wasn't going to stop her. It was nice to watch her walk away. He closed the door, and turned about, leaning against it with his back. He slid down the door to sit on the floor, and watched Avery and her siblings.