“So what have you been doing with yourself all these years?”
***
Cormin gave a roguish grin, “I’ve done much since I left this place. None of it terribly interesting—”
“Ha!” Daela snorted in disbelief.
“Daela, mind yourself!” Gran interjected.
Daela paid her no heed, “He was telling us yesterday that he’s been all over the Kingdom, and he’s sailed to Ruith and the Crescent Isle!” she explained excitedly.
“Doing what?” Meredith asked, though she thought she knew the answer already.
“Trading goods, mostly, among other things,” Cormin responded vaguely. “Lace and silk from Ruith, wool from Astquary, potions and medicine from the Repository—”
“You trade with the wizards?” Meredith asked, surprised. If Dienna knew she would likely denounce Cormin on the spot for taking the money of such ‘unnatural blasphemers’ as she was inclined to call the wizards.
“Their potions are in high demand in the Port Cities,” Cormin replied with a shrug. “One time, I was docking my ship after a long voyage on the Dezhartan Sea when I saw this green smoke rising off in the distance, and I…”
Meredith only half-listened to Cormin’s tale about the time he had almost been mistaken for a pirate by a group of irate wizards who had mistaken the color of his sails due to the noxious smoke produced by one of their spells. Her attention was captured by the appearance of, coincidentally enough, the only wizard within one hundred miles of the Godskeep. There amongst a throng of nobles, priests, and peasants stood Lady Artima, dressed in plain black robes.
She was not picnicking like most of the others gathered that morning, but rather, was in the middle of an urgent, hushed conversation. A Dartonian and Seltonian priest spoke with her. Meredith recognized the female priest, the Seltonian, as one of her instructors. She thought the woman seemed a bit disturbed, her face dour. After a few more words from Artima, the two priests nodded and walked away, and Artima turned her attention to a noblewoman and her husband, both dressed in purple silk and lace. They gave askew glances to the peasants in their company as they listened to the wizardess speak. Their faces were attentive, and they nodded periodically. It was almost as if Lady Artima were giving them orders…
“Hey Mer,” Daela’s voice broke her concentration. “I said do you want to walk with us to the orchards?”
“Hm?” Meredith responded. Daela, Cormin, and Gran were all staring at her. “Yes, that sounds fine. Let’s go,” she said hastily.
They bid farewell to Gran’s friends and the other nearby picnickers and set an easy pace around the base of the Holy Hill and into the orchards beyond. It was a pleasant day, and Meredith enjoyed the company. It was especially nice to see Cormin again after so long.
“So there I was, collecting the bounty for the Ruithan girl,” he was saying as they strolled through the orchard, but Daela cut him off.
“Ruithan girl?”
“Yes,” Cormin responded, picking an under-ripe apple from the tree next to him and palming it idly. “Some rebel fighter or other from the Rungushi Islands. She was apparently responsible for the raiding of villages all along the Ruithan coast.” He laughed, “I didn't believe it. The girl couldn't have been more than ten years old. Still, a bounty is a bounty.” He bit into the apple, and, apparently satisfied with the taste, continued to devour it.
Meredith raised her eyebrow, “Even for a child?”
“I treated her well, mind you.” He grumbled between bites.
“Before you handed her over to the Ruithans?” Meredith frowned. They had stopped walking, letting Gran rest under one of the many trees in the orchard. “To their terrifying King?”
“No,” Cormin scoffed, tossing away the apple core. “Not to the Ruithan King, thank the gods. To some small time lord in Running's Cape who was looking for her,” he continued speaking even though Meredith had been about to interject, “and I had no qualms about leaving her in that man's safety.”
Meredith would have said more, but for the look of pain that crossed Gran's face just then. Meredith sat down next to her, under the apple tree, as Daela demanded Cormin tell more stories of his time at sea.
“I'm fine, child,” Gran said before Meredith could ask. The old woman smiled weakly,“It's only my knees.”
Meredith nodded, though she was certain that she could guess what was truly troubling Gran. Her son, Meredith's father, was also out there, somewhere, sailing the seas and collecting bounties.
Janquar and Umitha had married for love at a young age and had had Meredith not long after. They loved their daughter, but Meredith supposed they must have loved each other more, for they could only bring themselves to raise their girl until she reached age six. Longing to return to the life of adventure they had led before becoming parents, they brought Meredith to Janquar’s mother in the Golden Valley for the rest of her upbringing. They had said they might visit, one day, but Meredith had known, in that way that children know, that they never would. She used to hope that she was wrong, that they would show up at her door one morning, as young and beautiful as when they had left, sorry they had left their girl behind, and pledging never to leave her side again.
Now almost twenty years had gone by, and Meredith had long since given up this hope.
After spending some time in the orchard, the four of them returned to the Godskeep for the Zenith Ceremony. This time, the ceremony was held outside the Godskeep’s walls. Dienna, her father, and the three Prominents all gathered on a pavilion, raised high in front of an even larger crowd than the one that morning. It was a similar ceremony to the Sunrise. Dienna said a few words of thanks for the sun, now at its highest point in the sky, asked the Gods to show them the Way, and Lord Varent sang a song of praise to conclude it all. Meredith watched this Ceremony with her family, anxious for it be over so that the real festivities could begin, for the Zenith Ceremony was always followed by feasting and dancing.
Maypoles had been erected in their absence, and now all the children ran to the gaudy things eagerly. Each child grabbed hold of their ribbon and began skipping around to the music taken up by a troupe of musicians that now occupied the pavilion. The adults, or at least, the peasant adults, formed two lines, one of men and one of women. They faced each other and danced, sometimes doing jigs, sometimes clasping hands, twirling, and shuffling. All were laughing, and smiling—many of them having broken their fast with wine to celebrate. The nobles in attendance kept near the pavilion and, for the most part, did not dance. They seemed to be content sipping wine and talking amongst themselves. Meredith noticed that many of the noblewomen had changed gowns since the Sunrise Ceremony, and she did not doubt they would make another costume change before the Sunset Ceremony came around.
Meredith longed to join the dancers. It had been years since she had last stood in that line and danced to her favorite songs. The Way was not against dancing, but priests were expected to maintain a certain level of decorum. Typically, the clergy only participated in liturgical dances—boring things designed to tell some religious story or other through the steps of the dance. Gran had always loved watching those, but Meredith hated them. Dienna had always insisted, though, that they leave the common dancing to the common folk—but Dienna wasn't here. Meredith grinned.
“Come on,” she said to Cormin as a new song was starting up. They, Daela, and Gran had lunched well over an hour ago, and Meredith was growing increasingly bored with the conversations held by Gran and her friends. “Dance with me.”
“Certainly,” he took Meredith’s hand and the two entered the dance right as the troupe started to play The Elfmaid of Barrellton, a vigorous dance that left Meredith breathless and giddy.
“You dance well, Mer,” said a voice to Meredith’s left just as the song was ending. It was Sonder, who stood a few couples down from them in line, dancing across from a tall, freckled girl. He smirked, “Though you seem a little rusty to me.”
“You can blame your sister for that,” Meredith said, still trying to catch her breath.
Sonder nodded knowingly, then turned to his dancing partner, “Aleese, I’m going to take a rest. You can dance with…” He gestured to Cormin.
“Cormin,” he said charmingly to the tall girl. He turned back to Sonder. “You don’t remember me?”
Sonder regarded the dark man with a confused expression, “Vaguely. No, wait, I know. You’re Meredith’s cousin, right? My gods you’ve grown!”
“That tends to happen after a certain age, yes,” Cormin replied curtly. He then offered his arm to the freckled girl, who blushed. “Come my dear, the dance is starting up again.” The two hurriedly rejoined the dancers as the musicians began to play The Ogre’s Trail Trot, while Meredith and Sonder wandered away from the dancing line.
They ended up standing far from Gran and Daela, near one of the abandoned maypoles one the other side of the pavilion. It was silly, but Meredith hadn't noticed until that moment how absolutely wonderful the day had been—sure there had been the small hiccup with Cormin's sordid stories and Dienna's nervousness earlier in the morning, but Meredith hadn't felt so content in, she was embarrassed to think it, years. Perhaps it was because she had the day off from her studies, which she both loved and despised. Meredith had always prided herself on her academic abilities, but she had begun to find studying the Way to be both repetitious and uninspiring. She dared not share these feelings with Dienna, or Gran for that matter. Gran was the reason she was at the Godskeep in the first place, and Dienna was, well, Dienna—both women would be horrified if Meredith ever gave voice to the doubts that she had about the profession that had been chosen for her. So, Meredith said nothing, and had felt herself becoming more and more distant from her friends and family, more lonely. Now, standing under the nebulous summer sky with a man who had cast off the life that had similarly been chosen for him, Meredith could almost taste the need for change on her tongue.
Meredith looked at Sonder expectantly, but his eyes were fixed in the other direction. She cleared her throat politely—yet he still made no response.
“Why did you pull me away from the dance?” Meredith asked impatiently, unable to contain herself any longer. “I was having a great time for once and I'd like to get back—”
“She was really great today, wasn’t she?” Sonder interrupted, his voice bitter.
“Who?” Meredith responded, puzzled. “Dienna?”
Sonder nodded, “She always takes things so seriously, like she was put on this earth to serve the gods.” He paused, still looking away. “What if she really was?”
Meredith frowned, “What are you talking about?” She had known Sonder a long time; they had been happy playmates along with Dee since Meredith had first started at the Godskeep. She had never seen him this grave.
“I used to think that was my purpose,” he continued, now looking at her, his honey-brown eyes dull. “Until one day I realized that that couldn’t be; that I didn't want to devote my life to gods that never answered my prayers, and kept me from my true desires.”
Meredith was silent. Did Sonder sound jealous?
Sonder looked pained, “Now what do I do though? I want to see this world. I want to be a warrior and leave this place. But what if the gods have decided something else for me?”
“Why would you say that?” Meredith replied, concerned. “You’re training in the Holy Guard aren’t you? You’ll have the skills to leave the Valley soon—be a sell-sword if that’s what you want to do.” She thought of Cormin, of her parents, and how they earned their keep, and secretly thought that Sonder was better than that.
“For all that’s worth, yes,” Sonder replied, still bitter. “I just have a...a feeling that the gods want something else of me. Not a feeling, more of a premonition.”
“Premonition? Why would—” Meredith started, but she was cut off by the sudden arrival of a large young man who was shouting excitedly for Sonder.
“Milord!” the lad was exclaiming, “The boys from the Guard are saying you cheated them last night at dice and they’re out looking for you! They don’t look very happy.”
Sonder sighed. “They wouldn’t be, Connal, they wouldn’t be,” he said, suddenly back to his normal self. He smirked, “Let’s you and me find a place to lie low until the next ceremony. Preferably somewhere with ale.”
He gave a quick salute to Meredith before he and the lad Connal took off at a mad pace back to the Godskeep grounds.
“Wait, Sonder!” Meredith said as they left, but he paid her no heed. Above her head, the clouds began to gather.
Meredith refrained from dancing the rest of the evening. Instead, she watched as Cormin took turns dancing with a new partner every song—Sonder did not return to the dancing ground. Eventually, Cormin exclaimed that he was exhausted, and he left with Meredith to find Gran and Daela. Not long after beginning their search, Cormin spotted them under one of the large tents, surrounded by Gran's friends from the Golden Village. Daela looked bored, and brightened when she saw Meredith and Cormin approach. The teenager chided them for leaving her behind to look after Gran while they had fun without her. Cormin laughed at this, but Meredith flushed.
“I'm sorry Daela,” she said with feeling. “We lost track of the time.”
“And we are now famished,” Cormin interjected. He smiled sweetly at Daela, “So won't you please fetch us something to eat? And some wine?”
Daela was unmoved, “Fetch it yourself. And watch after Gran.” She flounced away into the westering evening, Meredith presumed, to go meet with some of her own friends. Now Meredith truly did feel guilty. She hadn't meant to leave Daela behind with Gran—not that she truly needed looking after, but there was an unspoken agreement between the cousins that one of them must always be near her, just in case.
“I'll get us something,” Meredith said.
“Good girl,” Cormin responded, as he made himself comfortable, sprawling out on the lawn next to where Gran was seated, deep in conversation with her friends. “I'll be waiting.”
Meredith scowled and went further into the large tent to one of the feasting tables that had been set up for the luncheon. The remaining selection was more than picked-over, but Meredith was able to scrape together a meal for the two of them—some bread, with cured meats and cheese—and brought it back to Cormin in one of the small wooden bowls that was passed around during feasts. He took the bowl with a sniff, and proceeded to eat more than his share of the plate. Not wanting to upset Gran, Meredith said nothing, and the two ate in an uncomfortable silence until it was time to leave the tent and head once more to the pavilion.
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