The tables for the marriage of Mercer Nero and young Gloria Claws were put outside of the walls of Virtu. Technically, it was the Fall Equinox Feast, but as usual, people would combine celebrations. Most marriages were scheduled around those big festival times.

“Young” was a relative term, though. Gloria was a full five years older than Johanna, at 22 which felt ripe for the seventeen-year-old. That was years beyond her, and now her neighbor was getting married to a young man from Virtu.

“Lookie there,” Peter noted at her side.

She followed the diminutive boy’s finger toward another group of farmers whose convoy had probably arrived just before theirs.

“I saw him first,” she insisted, somewhat unconvincingly.

The truth was, she hadn’t spotted the big silhouette at the side of the various guests until Peter did. There might be almost sixty people coming from Avon… and Tom was of course there.

The two had hit off on the solstice last June in Anasta. She’d somehow missed him on previous occasions, but those traditional ribbon dances had been interesting. She’d quickly given up correcting his distaste for verbs.

“You didn’t seem to be looking,” Peter said sweetly.

“Well, keep looking yourself. Who knows, maybe some girl here will catch your eye. I’m sure one will overlook your size,” she shot back.

She smirked at the slight shrug. People kept waiting for him to do a last growth spurt, but even after Johanna had shot several inches over her childhood friend, he didn’t. After 15, even he gave up, and resigned to be a 5”1 boy for the rest of his life. Even most girls towered above him.

She still wasn’t sure how much to wait before aiming for the Avon group, so she went back to small talk.

“So, what do you think about the war?”

“The war? Which war?”

“Duh.”

“It’s been, what, 6 years now. Every year, you hear about how the tribals from beyond the Northern Barrier are coming down any day now, and every year, they fail to break through.”

Peter looked at her in all seriousness and added, “If you want to win a war, you have to attack. Like, right now.”

Seeing as Johanna looked indecisive, he hit her in the shoulder.

“Or it’s like the war, winter will be coming and no one will move.”

“Clothes first,” Tom said as she jumped him as the last wagon from Avon stopped next to Anasta’s palisade.

She startled, but he made a show of dusting himself and she shrugged.

“It’s been a year now, and mother noticed.”

“Mothers,” he simply answered.

“Said it was time I noticed boys. As if I didn’t. I just noticed the wrong ones until now.”

Johanna knew, in the abstract, why all those inter-farmplex feasts were a big thing. Mrs. Vanu, the school teacher for the children of Anasta had taught them way more than she needed to know about the perils of genetics, and why keeping gene flows was as crucial for people as it was for livestock. But people were not livestock and relied on social pressure instead.

“Peter not around?”

“I think Virtu came earlier, so… wait, don’t tell me you did not notice last September?”

“Was a bit distracted,” he replied with a shrug, and she planted a kiss on him as a reward.

“I should invite you now more often. Did your mother…”

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“Mothers,” he simply said again.

“Then let’s make it obvious. Shower and change, you said? I can get you that.”

She started dragging him along.

She was resting her burning calves on an outdoor bench, an upturned half log set there for the solstice festival. Tom was off goofing with other boys on some competition of strength, which he would obviously dominate, and as for herself, she was simply looking at the familiar expanse of farmland surrounding the walls of Anasta, taking in the setting sun’s lights playing on the growing fields.

That was interrupted by the other girl setting down next to her. She had a quick look and then smiled.

“Hello, if you don’t remember me, I’m…”

“Laura. Laura Anna Vogel, etcetera. Peter was slightly antsy these last weeks before the solstice.”

And so was she, but she wasn’t about to say it.

“Ah.”

“Where’s he by the way?”

“That competition of muscles.”

“Watching, I assume. There’s no way…” Johanna started.

“Nope, no way,” Laura confirmed.

“So you’re the one who can bear looking down at him?”

Laura Vogel laughed. She had to have three inches on Peter at least, Johanna guessed.

“Yes. Anasta looks… nice. Can you believe I never came here?”

“There’s usually at least one big feast every year.”

“Managed to miss most of them since I was old enough to come along.”

“Ah. Half of the time, I was roped in to do the small feast here. Part and parcel of being… well, a fifth. My sister’s married in Virtu, by the way. Come to think of it, that was probably the first time I was on a season change.”

“Everyone knows everyone anyway,” Laura said.

“Yeah.”

She fell silent, and both girls watched the light waning, the sounds of the feast distant to the side.

“So… is it serious?” Johanna finally asked.

“Probably,” the other girl answered. “At least I never know when he’s going to make a joke.”

“He’s so serious all the time, and then you wonder if that was intended as a joke?”

“He does that all the time?”

“Pretty much. He was already doing it when we were kids and still played hide-and-seek with the others. So… serious.”

“He’s fun.”

“Found Tom a year ago, and he is, too. But in a different way.”

“Hope he’s good then. I’m going to have to educate Peter a bit. He’s not that adventurous.”

“Wait, you already did?” Johanna startled. “The first time? I waited until the second time we met!”

“Any time is the right time to jump on men,” the girl replied with a smirk, and Johanna had to shake her head in disbelief, torn in half between tittering at the idea of Peter being grabbed by that Laura girl, or being shocked that she’d go straight for it. She definitively couldn’t see Peter being the one to go on the first feast.

“One year then,” Laura kept on. “Sounds very serious.”

“Yeah. Made me think about what we’ll do.”

“What do you mean, what you’ll do?”

“I’m… well, I’m fifth. Tom is fourth.”

“Ah. Fourth here too.”

“And Peter’s a fourth as well.”

“Said his brother was married last year.”

“That’s when I actually met Tom. When he came over for that solstice.”

“I missed out on that one. Or I might have met Peter earlier, then.”

“You really missed out, then.”

“So, what do you think you’ll do with yours?”

Johanna sighed.

“That’s a big question. Until last year, I hadn’t given it a thought. You always think you’ll catch the eye of an heir, get your own household. And then a fourth catches your eye.”

“It happens. I mean, I had to look because he’s smaller than the rest, but… at least he’s not too small where it counts.”

Johanna half choked.

“I did not want to hear that.”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t want to check at least once?”

“He’s a friend! We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

Laura raised her hands in the air, and Johanna had to sigh again.

“But working on my brother’s farm… or Tom’s sister’s? I mean, it’s work we all know how to do, but…”

“But it’s not the same, you mean. I’ve wondered if I could ever have my own farm. There are noises about making a new farmplex, since Valetta’s population is growing, and they always need more food,” Laura replied.

“But even then, that’s going to be second or thirds, not us fourths or fifths. We might as well migrate to the city.”

“And do what? I mean, we all know farm work. What else can we do? I mean, you and I can probably ride Peter and your man’s careers if they find good-paying jobs, but what kind of jobs could they find with our qualifications…”

Johanna thought about that.

“There are jobs that don’t require a long apprenticeship.”

“Like what?”

“I have an idea…”

The four of them were gathered within Anasta’s walls, not far from Johanna’s house.

“So that’s your plan?” Peter said.

“It can’t be that hard. I know Ardenworks’ smithy uses Alium for all kinds of special products, and I think they import a lot of it. A ruin like west should still have plenty of it.”

“If it was easy, people would be doing it,” he objected.

“People are fussies. Mana zone this, mana zone that. Everyone says mana zones are receding over time. Even beast attacks are rare these days.”

Peter looked unconvinced.

“Alium is pricy,” his girlfriend said and he looked at her.

“What? I know that. Everyone knows that. It’s horribly hard to make without the Ancients’ techniques, and none of these has worked since the Fall.”

“All we have to do is use the largest backpacks we can take, stuff them with all the Alium we can find, and sell that to Ardenworks. It’s even lighter than normal metals,” Johanna pushed.

Tom laughed, then winced. He’d stretched a muscle in that silly strongman competition, and would probably need massages later. Lots of massages. She would probably have to be on top, which worked out better anyway with his bulk.

“Just the four of us?” Peter asked, and she knew she had him sold on.