He spotted his friend Gena right away as he entered the square, she was standing next to the old Village Well with a crowd of people. Gena Barrow had been Ren’s friend since childhood, there wasn’t many children in the village, Ren liked to roughhouse and get dirty, and Gena was very girly. She always wore dresses and presented herself in a delicate way. Ren and Gena had gotten into many fights over the past year about what Gena thought of Ren working at the lumber yard. She seemed too concerned about him getting hurt at work and bothered him endlessly about it. Gena always had fantasies about a white knight coming to the village to sweep her off her feet and take her to live in a big city, and she thought that they wouldn’t want a “Dirty Girl”, so she busied herself with housework. Ren thought that was a ridiculous fantasy, why would a fancy Knight even be in Kilead, and why would they marry someone from a village when they could a princess? As he approached the crowd it appeared as if they were discussing something important, it sounded like the village had an unexpected visitor.

When Gena saw Ren, she waved him over, “Morning Ren, have you heard the news yet? It’s got the entire village talking.” The look on Gena’s face was excited, she lived for the village gossip.

“Nope. Honestly, I just woke up a little while ago. I helped my mom with something before I left the house.”

“Oh, is your family throwing another feast this year? Everyone in the village looks forward to your birthday feast every year!”

“Ah… no… we won’t be doing that anymore… When my grandfather would come for my birthday, he would stuff our root cellar with too much food before he left. So, we would host a feast afterwards to get rid of it.”

Gena grimaced, “Oh, I’m sorry… I didn’t know… I thought that it was just your family’s way of celebrating your birthday.”

“It’s fine… Anyways what’s everyone so excited about?”

“Oh… Right… Um… A representative from Throperous showed up.” Gena shook herself to try and get rid of the tension.

“What’s so weird about that? They come every month to collect the taxes, right?”

Gena sighed exasperated, “Yes Ren, but they come at the end of the month, which was 2 weeks ago. So, no one knows why they are here now. Oh, look Sky’s coming over.” She gestured towards the tavern.

Ren turned to see Skylynn Castle walking towards them. Skylynn was quite a few years older than Gena and Ren, but they grew up together and where pretty good friends. She was a very friendly girl who loved to talk to new people, which is why she absolutely loved her job at the tavern. She was very well liked and could always be relied on to know the goings on around the village. She was wearing what she always did when she went to work, a White Tunic and Brown Skirt. Both of which hugged her frame a bit too closely.

“Are you on your break Sky?” said Gena initiating the conversation.

“Yep,” replied Skylynn with a curt nod. “I wanted to try and get some fresh air for a bit before I head back in. I think the oven’s chimney is partially blocked again. It was getting hard to breathe. Anyways have you heard about the representative? The entire tavern won’t stop talking about it.”

“Yea that’s what we were just talking about. Did anyone get a good look at him?” asked Ren.

“Apparently Mr. Smithson greeted him, and from what I’ve heard no its not a Noble, well at least not a high noble,” Skylynn said.

Ren blinked in surprise, “What was Corbett doing near the manor at this time of day? He should have been down at the lumber yard.”

“I don’t know, maybe he knew he was coming,” Skylynn shrugged. “Speaking of, shouldn’t you be down at the lumber yard Ren? Gena I understand, but you are normally such a hard worker.”

Gena mumbled in protest, but Ren laughed, “Brett is taking over my shift at the yard today so I could have the day off.”

“Ah that makes sense. I thought that he said something about that the last time I saw him,” Skylynn responded. “Sorry I can’t talk for long though; I want to get a walk in and clear my head before I head back to work.”

“Alright, hey when is your next day off? We should get together and hang out again.” said Ren as Skylynn was turning to leave.

Skylynn put her finger to her lips as if lost in thought, “I think I have the day after tomorrow off. Yea that would be Saturday, right? Want to meet up at Silver’s around noon?”

Gena and Ren nodded their agreement and waved goodbye to Skylynn as she walked away. Ren turned to Gena and asked, “Want to walk around the village with me for a bit? I don’t really have any plans for today since I thought I would be working.”

Gena gestured for Ren to lead the way and off they went. Mostly making small talk but sometimes they just walked in silence. The village where they lived was a small forestry village known as Kilead, apparently it was a relatively small village by all accounts, but Ren didn’t really have a frame of reference for anything larger. It was really only known for exporting lumber and water from the lake, which apparently was used to keep bugs off of crops in other villages. Ren’s favorite pastime was just walking around the village, visiting the different notable landmarks, and talking with people around town. The village temple was an imposing building that according to legend was here even before the village was founded. Markus Terang, the head priest of the temple, lived there with his eight apostilles.

“Morning Mr. Terang!” Ren and Gena said in unison.

“Morning Kids, what are you two up to today?” Markus said, standing up from where he was sitting on the steps of the temple.

“We are just out for a walk. Wasting time really.” Replied Ren.

“I hear it was your birthday yesterday Mr. Voland. Sorry I couldn’t make it… but you know, I’m bound to the temple. Couldn’t leave even if I wanted to.” He said has he rapped his knuckles against the nearby pillar.

“It’s alright sir, I know your duty is important to you.”

“Sir is it true that you have lived in that temple longer than anyone has lived in the village? I even heard that the temple was here before the village was founded.” Gena cut in.

Markus laughed and replied, “do you know when this village was founded? … but it’s not too bad. People are always around, and my apostles and I have never gone hungry. Plus, I have all the books I could ever ask for.”

Ren was especially jealous of the temple’s library, it was massive, the bookshelves alone were about 30 ft tall, but no one was allowed to read them or touch them, except the head priest. “Is it true that none of your Apostles can talk?” he questioned.

“They have taken a vow of silence, so they choose not to. I think that’s enough questions for the day kids. I’m feeling a little tired. I think I’ll go lie down.” And with that he turned and walked away, waving over his shoulder.

It did not take long after that, but they eventually ended up around the Lumberyard a little before midday, and they noticed a large group of people surrounding a triangle stack of logs. Corbett Smithson was standing on top of the logs waiting. He appeared to be staring out into the woods, and when Ren followed his gaze, he saw a small number of Woodcutters jogging towards the crowd. Wanting to hear what Corbett was going to say he started towards the crowd, but Gena stayed behind. She didn’t think too highly of the lumber yard or the people that worked there. It didn’t help that Gena was forbidden by her father from leaving the village.

“Wait here I’m just going to go and see what he has to say, since he greeted the representative maybe he has a message from him.” Ren told Gena as he continued forward.

Gena grimaced but waited just inside the fence that denoted the village exit, “don’t make me wait for long Ren!”

Ren arrived just in time for him to hear the beginning of Corbett’s speech. “Sorry I called you all back here after you made it out to your worksites,” he started but waited for the last of the murmurs to die down. “Viscount McBride has sent a representative with a message. And no before you start asking me stupid questions it’s not a high noble. Just a man like you and me.” There was a small sigh that reflected the disappointment and relief that everyone felt. “He would like to give a message to everyone in the village at dusk, so I was going to stop work for today.” There was a grunt of alarm from someone in the crowd. “Don’t worry Alex I’m still going to pay everyone for the full day. I just want everyone to go home to get ready to see him. Best to give a good first impression.”

Ren saw his father step forward with a question, “Do you know what the message is about Corbett? Surely tensions haven’t risen so high between the Nations as to impose a draft.”

“He wouldn’t say Davin, but from his attitude I don’t think it is anything to be especially worried about.”

Jacob Sterling stepped forward then, “Do you think it could have to do with our last taxes? Like maybe they don’t think we paid enough?”

Corbett threw up his hands annoyed, “I just said that he wouldn’t say Jacob! He will tell us at dusk! Now everyone get out of here and get cleaned up. You lot smell like month old night soil!” And with that he jumped down off his improvised stage and began walking towards Ren’s Father.

Ren attempted to move closer to the two of them, however with the woodcutters dispersing it was difficult to make his way through them. The woodcutters were talking amongst themselves and combined with their heavy footfalls it was impossible to hear the question that Corbett asked his father. All she could make out was the grimace on his father’s face following the question. It looked like his mouth formed his name, but he couldn’t tell for certain. Just as he finished answering Corbett he spotted him, smiled, and waved him over. They waited for Ren to make his way over to them before they continued talking, and when they did, they gestured for him to join them as they made their way out of the lumberyard.