The carriage pulled to a stop outside a large inn. It was getting late in the day, and there were lanterns in the windows and smoke drifting busily from the chimneys. There were horses in the stable and people in the town square chatting with their neighbours or walking with their sweethearts. The mountain pass was a bustle of activity during summertime. A lot of trade goods moved through here, and a lot of traders took the opportunity for a good meal and a mug of pale summer ale with the taste of blossoms and sun in it.
There were beds free, though, since most of the traders liked to sleep with their wagons or their horses to ensure their security. Or so said the stable boy who was cheerfully unhitching their horses, to their carriage driver, while they gathered the things they needed for the night from their traveling bags. Fai was shocked at the implication that the residents of this village were dishonest, but Ashura assured him that the traders were only worried about the other traders—they weren’t all citizens of Celes, so who knew about them?
The innkeeper was more than necessarily delighted to accommodate them, getting himself into something of an overexcited state and causing him to snap at one of his serving girls who wasn’t moving with the proper amount of bustle for the king’s visit. Fai could tell Ashura was unhappy about that, but he didn’t say anything.
“How come you didn’t tell the innkeeper to be nicer to that girl?” Fai inquired, once they were established in their room and spreading out the clothes they’d don the next day.
“Well,” Ashura said thoughtfully. He paused what he was doing and turned to Fai, as he always did because he said it was important to give people your full attention when you were speaking. “It’s not my inn.”
“You’re the king, though.”
“That’s true. But I didn’t build these walls, or buy the hay for the horses. I don’t wake up before dawn to check the fires and start the bread rising. It’s the innkeeper’s business, and he’s the one who should say how it’s to be run. If his choice is to mistreat his employees, I think he’ll find out that his employees won’t stay. And I think he’ll find out that he won’t get business or money from decent folks. And he’ll find out that the king doesn’t like his way of doing business and told everybody he knows,” Ashura added with a sparkle in his eyes.
Fai smiled, a little bubble of some strange feeling he couldn’t name in his chest and stomach.
“That’s why you have to ask her, later when she brings dinner to us, if she’s happy working here.”
“Me?” Fai blurted in dismay.
“Of course,” Ashura grinned. “She’d hardly tell me the truth. But a darling young boy with a face like a saint and hair the colour of spun gold . . . you, I think she’ll like very much.”
Fai had no idea what to say to that, so he just hid his apparently saintly face behind a book.
“Now, shall we go for a walk around the village to stretch our legs?” Ashura asked.
Fai threw his book down onto the bed. “Yes!”
“Well, if you’re tired we could just rest a while.”
“I’m not tired, I’m not, I want to— oh.”
He still wasn’t always sure what teasing was all about, so sometimes he missed it. “Don’t we need an escort or something?”
Fai was never allowed to go anywhere in Ruval without an escort. He’d been told that being adopted by the king came with certain risks, and required men gifted in martial skills to trail after him. It seemed even more important for the king himself to be guarded.
Ashura gave him a rare look of naked pride. “I hardly think so. I’m more than capable of defending us against any threat, and I am in deep doubt that we’ll encounter one.”
Ashura was one of the most powerful and learned magicians in all of Celes. He said Fai had at least as much raw talent as he did, if not more, but Ashura had been studying much longer than Fai had. Of course it was silly to think some fool with a knife in his boot could lay a finger on a man like Ashura.
So they went out, with Ashura urging Fai to roam ahead as much as he liked while he strolled and received the many greetings and good wishes of the villagers. Fai chose to stay close to his side, though. He really didn’t want to get lost or have to talk to a bunch of strangers.
“Ahhh, I remember you, lad,” a matron said to him, smiling so that her eyes crinkled. “You saved us this past winter. I always hoped to see you again so we could thank you properly.”
There had been only a few minutes for him here before Ashura’s spell would take him back to Ruval, back to the castle, and he’d been entirely grateful to escape their enthusiasm. He’d only paused because of Rabbit.
“It was nothing,” Fai said softly.
“Nothing? It was a very great something to us!”
“I was thanked,” he insisted.
“Oh, yes, I remember. Little Lucia stopped you, didn’t she?”
Lucia must be her name. And instead of instantly rebelling, Fai found himself oddly happy. It seemed to fit her. He wanted to call her Rabbit, still. But Lucia was a nice name.
“Does she still live in the village?” Ashura asked politely, casually, as though it wasn’t the whole reason they’d come here. “I think Fai would like to say hello to her.”
“Lucy!” the matron called over her shoulder. “Lucia Shoemaker, you stop that this instant and come here!”
Their attention had been focused on the woman they were speaking to, but in the background a few children had been playing outside one of the houses. A young boy had started shrieking just as the woman raised her voice, and Fai zeroed in on the problem. The boy was being pelted with gobs of mud. The culprit immediately bounded over, mud all over her hands and dress, laughter written all over her face and her eyes nearly squeezed shut with the force of her smile.
“What?”
“This is our king, Ashura-ou.”
Rabbit’s eyes flew wide open and she hastily made a curtsy, going low and frantically trying to wipe the mud from her hands onto the back of her dress. “Your Highness,” she squeaked.
“The king has stopped in our village for the night while traveling. And you remember—”
“Wizard Fluorite!” the girl cried out happily.
“Hello,” Fai said, his smile genuine and full enough to make his face feel stretched. “I’m happy to see you again,” he said politely.
“Oh, me, too!” she said, and launched herself forward. Ashura was as startled as Fai, and made an abortive attempt to grab her. She threw her arms around Fai and gave him an unbridled hug. “You saved my house last year! Did you come back to see the new room we built for my baby sister?”
“Ah,” Fai said, startled. “I— if you want me to see it, I—”
“Come with me!” she said, and grabbed his hand, and dragged him away. Fai stumbled after her, marveling at how tight she was holding onto him. She was awfully strong. She was also leaving streaks of mud all over his clothes and on his hand. “My house is just this way.”
“I never got to see it before,” Fai said politely. “You’ll have to show me which part is the new addition.”
“Oh, don’t worry, you can tell,” she said, rolling her eyes. “My father built it himself and you can tell.”
Fai felt that bubbling sensation under his ribs again, and suddenly a giggle popped out of him. He was so startled that he clapped his hand over his mouth and stared at Lucia.
“Oh, how lovely!” she said. “Is that your very first laugh?”
He nodded.
“Wasn’t it your very first smile the last time you were here?”
“I think so. I wasn’t any good at it yet.”
“But you’ve gotten practice. Next, you’ll have to practice laughing, I guess. I could help! I think our village is good for you, Wizard Fluorite.”
“You can . . . You can call me Fai. If you want.”
“Ohhh, can I?” she asked in delight.
“You’re the reason I laughed, you know. I came back to see you again. I didn’t even know your name so I didn’t know how I was going to find you.”
“My mummy tells me I’m not hard to find,” Lucia said.
Fai let out a very brief giggle again. “I was calling you Rabbit.”
“Rabbit?” she wailed. “But that’s horrible. Don’t call me that.”
“I like it,” Fai said, suddenly feeling breathless. “It’s my special name for you.”
“If you have to have a special name,” she muttered grudgingly. “But you could have picked something prettier.”
“You’re not pretty, though!” Fai protested. “You’re just really cute, like a bunny, and you do that thing with your nose, so I—”
He was saying so much, saying much too much. His face flamed with embarrassment and he stopped talking. Lucia was shrieking that she did not do that thing with her nose, and he nearly ran back to Ashura to hide. But then suddenly she cut off her own rant to say,
“Oh, here’s my house!”
It was indeed rather obvious where the addition was. It leaned rather conspicuously.
“Mummy says it’s going to cave in on my baby sister’s head some night,” Lucia told him cheerfully.
Fai frowned, and walked closer. He inspected the foundation as best he could, and ran a hand along the joining wall. He had to step carefully to avoid crushing some posies growing in a little row under the window.
“I could fix it, if you want me to.”
“Oh, please,” Lucia said, giving an excited little hop. “It was so exciting to see you do magic before! And I don’t really want the house to fall on my sister, even if she does cry all night.”
Re: Flowers in Winter, Part 2 of ?
There were beds free, though, since most of the traders liked to sleep with their wagons or their horses to ensure their security. Or so said the stable boy who was cheerfully unhitching their horses, to their carriage driver, while they gathered the things they needed for the night from their traveling bags. Fai was shocked at the implication that the residents of this village were dishonest, but Ashura assured him that the traders were only worried about the other traders—they weren’t all citizens of Celes, so who knew about them?
The innkeeper was more than necessarily delighted to accommodate them, getting himself into something of an overexcited state and causing him to snap at one of his serving girls who wasn’t moving with the proper amount of bustle for the king’s visit. Fai could tell Ashura was unhappy about that, but he didn’t say anything.
“How come you didn’t tell the innkeeper to be nicer to that girl?” Fai inquired, once they were established in their room and spreading out the clothes they’d don the next day.
“Well,” Ashura said thoughtfully. He paused what he was doing and turned to Fai, as he always did because he said it was important to give people your full attention when you were speaking. “It’s not my inn.”
“You’re the king, though.”
“That’s true. But I didn’t build these walls, or buy the hay for the horses. I don’t wake up before dawn to check the fires and start the bread rising. It’s the innkeeper’s business, and he’s the one who should say how it’s to be run. If his choice is to mistreat his employees, I think he’ll find out that his employees won’t stay. And I think he’ll find out that he won’t get business or money from decent folks. And he’ll find out that the king doesn’t like his way of doing business and told everybody he knows,” Ashura added with a sparkle in his eyes.
Fai smiled, a little bubble of some strange feeling he couldn’t name in his chest and stomach.
“That’s why you have to ask her, later when she brings dinner to us, if she’s happy working here.”
“Me?” Fai blurted in dismay.
“Of course,” Ashura grinned. “She’d hardly tell me the truth. But a darling young boy with a face like a saint and hair the colour of spun gold . . . you, I think she’ll like very much.”
Fai had no idea what to say to that, so he just hid his apparently saintly face behind a book.
“Now, shall we go for a walk around the village to stretch our legs?” Ashura asked.
Fai threw his book down onto the bed. “Yes!”
“Well, if you’re tired we could just rest a while.”
“I’m not tired, I’m not, I want to— oh.”
He still wasn’t always sure what teasing was all about, so sometimes he missed it. “Don’t we need an escort or something?”
Fai was never allowed to go anywhere in Ruval without an escort. He’d been told that being adopted by the king came with certain risks, and required men gifted in martial skills to trail after him. It seemed even more important for the king himself to be guarded.
Ashura gave him a rare look of naked pride. “I hardly think so. I’m more than capable of defending us against any threat, and I am in deep doubt that we’ll encounter one.”
Ashura was one of the most powerful and learned magicians in all of Celes. He said Fai had at least as much raw talent as he did, if not more, but Ashura had been studying much longer than Fai had. Of course it was silly to think some fool with a knife in his boot could lay a finger on a man like Ashura.
So they went out, with Ashura urging Fai to roam ahead as much as he liked while he strolled and received the many greetings and good wishes of the villagers. Fai chose to stay close to his side, though. He really didn’t want to get lost or have to talk to a bunch of strangers.
“Ahhh, I remember you, lad,” a matron said to him, smiling so that her eyes crinkled. “You saved us this past winter. I always hoped to see you again so we could thank you properly.”
There had been only a few minutes for him here before Ashura’s spell would take him back to Ruval, back to the castle, and he’d been entirely grateful to escape their enthusiasm. He’d only paused because of Rabbit.
“It was nothing,” Fai said softly.
“Nothing? It was a very great something to us!”
“I was thanked,” he insisted.
“Oh, yes, I remember. Little Lucia stopped you, didn’t she?”
Lucia must be her name. And instead of instantly rebelling, Fai found himself oddly happy. It seemed to fit her. He wanted to call her Rabbit, still. But Lucia was a nice name.
“Does she still live in the village?” Ashura asked politely, casually, as though it wasn’t the whole reason they’d come here. “I think Fai would like to say hello to her.”
“Lucy!” the matron called over her shoulder. “Lucia Shoemaker, you stop that this instant and come here!”
Their attention had been focused on the woman they were speaking to, but in the background a few children had been playing outside one of the houses. A young boy had started shrieking just as the woman raised her voice, and Fai zeroed in on the problem. The boy was being pelted with gobs of mud. The culprit immediately bounded over, mud all over her hands and dress, laughter written all over her face and her eyes nearly squeezed shut with the force of her smile.
“What?”
“This is our king, Ashura-ou.”
Rabbit’s eyes flew wide open and she hastily made a curtsy, going low and frantically trying to wipe the mud from her hands onto the back of her dress. “Your Highness,” she squeaked.
“The king has stopped in our village for the night while traveling. And you remember—”
“Wizard Fluorite!” the girl cried out happily.
“Hello,” Fai said, his smile genuine and full enough to make his face feel stretched. “I’m happy to see you again,” he said politely.
“Oh, me, too!” she said, and launched herself forward. Ashura was as startled as Fai, and made an abortive attempt to grab her. She threw her arms around Fai and gave him an unbridled hug. “You saved my house last year! Did you come back to see the new room we built for my baby sister?”
“Ah,” Fai said, startled. “I— if you want me to see it, I—”
“Come with me!” she said, and grabbed his hand, and dragged him away. Fai stumbled after her, marveling at how tight she was holding onto him. She was awfully strong. She was also leaving streaks of mud all over his clothes and on his hand. “My house is just this way.”
“I never got to see it before,” Fai said politely. “You’ll have to show me which part is the new addition.”
“Oh, don’t worry, you can tell,” she said, rolling her eyes. “My father built it himself and you can tell.”
Fai felt that bubbling sensation under his ribs again, and suddenly a giggle popped out of him. He was so startled that he clapped his hand over his mouth and stared at Lucia.
“Oh, how lovely!” she said. “Is that your very first laugh?”
He nodded.
“Wasn’t it your very first smile the last time you were here?”
“I think so. I wasn’t any good at it yet.”
“But you’ve gotten practice. Next, you’ll have to practice laughing, I guess. I could help! I think our village is good for you, Wizard Fluorite.”
“You can . . . You can call me Fai. If you want.”
“Ohhh, can I?” she asked in delight.
“You’re the reason I laughed, you know. I came back to see you again. I didn’t even know your name so I didn’t know how I was going to find you.”
“My mummy tells me I’m not hard to find,” Lucia said.
Fai let out a very brief giggle again. “I was calling you Rabbit.”
“Rabbit?” she wailed. “But that’s horrible. Don’t call me that.”
“I like it,” Fai said, suddenly feeling breathless. “It’s my special name for you.”
“If you have to have a special name,” she muttered grudgingly. “But you could have picked something prettier.”
“You’re not pretty, though!” Fai protested. “You’re just really cute, like a bunny, and you do that thing with your nose, so I—”
He was saying so much, saying much too much. His face flamed with embarrassment and he stopped talking. Lucia was shrieking that she did not do that thing with her nose, and he nearly ran back to Ashura to hide. But then suddenly she cut off her own rant to say,
“Oh, here’s my house!”
It was indeed rather obvious where the addition was. It leaned rather conspicuously.
“Mummy says it’s going to cave in on my baby sister’s head some night,” Lucia told him cheerfully.
Fai frowned, and walked closer. He inspected the foundation as best he could, and ran a hand along the joining wall. He had to step carefully to avoid crushing some posies growing in a little row under the window.
“I could fix it, if you want me to.”
“Oh, please,” Lucia said, giving an excited little hop. “It was so exciting to see you do magic before! And I don’t really want the house to fall on my sister, even if she does cry all night.”