"That day started peacefully." Nathan sat atop the roof of the stone house, reminiscing about the past.
Almost twenty years ago, in a tranquil countryside village, two little girls were picking herbs under a tree. Both girls were crouching, digging herbs with root pullers, and placing them into their own straw-made baskets. The shade of the tree protected them from the midday sun, keeping them cool. The elder girl, Arielle, was around eight years old with golden blonde hair, curious big Emerald eyes and baby-like fair skin. If not for having black hair and being 2-3 years younger, the sisters could have been mistaken for twins.
"Arielle, Ashley, it's time for lunch!" from 20 meters away, a ten-year-old boy with black hair and bright Emerald eyes shouted and waved at them. His light brown skin was the accolade of his work in the farm. All three siblings wore cotton white shirt and brown pants. Arielle and Ashley had long sleeve yellow woolen jackets tied on their waist. They wore them this morning when it was cooler.
A gentle breeze swept around them. Arielle’s long blonde hair flowed with the wind as she energetically jogged toward her brother. "Ok, Nathan!" Arielle replied as her younger sister calmly picked up her herb basket. Nathan walked past Arielle, took Ashley’s hand and followed behind Arielle.
Their home was only five minutes walk away. It was a one story wooden house. The zestful middle sister walked like a rabbit in the front; and so Nathan felt like he needed to drag Ashley's hand in order to help her little feet keep up. Once Arielle reached the house, she put down her basket of herbs outside and ran towards her mother with excitement "What are we having for lunch?" she exclaimed.
"Rice. Go wash your hands first!" Yelled their Mother, Ana, as she finished up pan frying some vegetable and put them on a plate. She was carrying a one-year-old toddler on her back, who was looking at Arielle.
After Arielle washed her hands, it was Ashley's turn. However, seeing that Arielle had already ran outside, she tried to finish washing before her hands were thoroughly cleaned. Nathan caught her and washed them for her. "They’re clean already!" complained Ashley to Nathan. "Ok, dry your hands." answered Nathan as he gave her a towel. After they dried their hands, Nathan and Ashley went to the dining table.
Since their father was a farmer, the children always enjoyed fresh and delectable meals. After enjoying pan-fried tofu, vegetables and steamed fish for lunch, Ana took Ashley and the toddler into her room to put them to sleep. Nathan and Arielle washed the dishes before leaving for school, where they learned reading, writing, arithmetic and basic martial arts.
After school, Nathan walked home with Arielle beside him. Ana was preparing dinner when they got home.
"Nathan! Arielle! Let’s play!" Ashley ran toward them with a big smile on her face as they walked home.
"Ok, let’s play hide and seek! Nathan, you’re it!" Arielle said with unlimited energy.
"Don’t go outside if you’re playing hide and seek! Stay inside the backyard, ok?" Ana shouted at the children from the kitchen.
"Okay!" answered the 3 siblings.
"Bye Bye Henry, I am going to play Hide and Seek." said Ashley to the crawling toddler playing, or rather, biting blocks and toy cars in the living room. She was playing with him earlier.
A man in his thirties arrived at the house after a while.
"Daddy!" The children called out as they heard the front door open from the backyard.
"I am back! Let me take a shower first." The man was dirty and sweaty after working in the farm all day.
"Welcome back, honey. Dinner is almost ready. Are your parents coming tonight?" Ana asked.
"Yes, they’ll come in a bit." Jonathan answered. The children’s grandparents lived in a house right next to them.
After Jonathan took a shower, everyone sat down at the dinner table. At this moment, the grandparents also arrived.
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"Grandpa, Grandma." the children greeted them.
"Hello, Nathan, Arielle, Ashley. Hello Jonathan and Ana." said their Grandma.
"Hello all." Their Grandpa also greeted them.
Then, the family sat down for dinner and enjoyed cheese pizza, BBQ ribs and vegetable soup.
"How is the harvest?" Ana asked as the family ate.
"Not good. This upcoming winter will be tough." Jonathan said with discontentment. "As we talked last time, there is no need to cook meat for us three." He was referring to himself and his parents. He still tried to keep meat on the menu for his children and his wife. "I will go get a job as a mercenary this winter. That should keep us afloat."
"Isn’t that dangerous?" asked Ana looking concerned. "Let me teach Arielle and Ashley weaving and tailoring. That should help."
"Let the girls focus on school. Skipping school will harm their future. We can send Ashley to school starting in January. No problem." Jonathan's tone suddenly became positive to reassure his wife. "I am strong. Don’t worry, I will be fine."
Ana stopped talking and focused on chewing some vegetable with her lips slightly puckered. Apparently, she was still worried.
"How was your day at school, Nathan?" Grandma asked, changing the subject.
"Good, lots of homework today. There will be a test on Wednesday too." Nathan answered.
"I got a 100 on my Math test today!" Arielle said, elated.
"I played blocks with Henry today. And I was able to stack them taller than myself!" Ashley added joyfully.
"Good job both of you. Would you show me after dinner?" Grandma smiled as she enjoyed the happy faces of her grandchildren.
"Yes!" answered the girls.
As their conversation ended, Grandpa chimed in. "By the way, the village chief told us that there have been a lot of bandit attacks recently. The capital sent some knights, but they wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow morning." He attended the village meeting in the afternoon when the family was busy. "I will stay up and watch the night." Ana noticed her parents in law had brought their luggage with them, so she was not surprised.
"The recent flood destroyed a lot of farmlands, but the Kingdom was not able to provide emergency supplies again. Some people are bound to become bandits, there is no helping it." Jonathan commented with some dissatisfaction in the Kingdom. "Without bandits, I can’t earn good money as a mercenary though. Ironic."
"Hopefully, by next year, the bandits will be gone." Ana said.
"Where do they go? They don't just disappear, right?" Arielle asked with curiosity.
"They go back to farming and living as model citizens." Jonathan explained.
"Wait, aren't they criminals? Wouldn't the knights catch them all? How?" Arielle bombarded her father with questions.
"They are only criminals if they get caught; and of course, the knights can't catch them all." Jonathan continued to answer patiently.
After dinner, Nathan and Arielle returned to their rooms to work on their homework. Ashley played with Henry in the living room. Meanwhile, Ana cleaned up the kitchen and washed the dishes, while Jonathan, Grandpa, and Grandma enjoyed herbal tea in the front yard.
Later at night, after everyone took a shower, the family went to sleep. Grandpa stayed up to watch the night.
"Dong! Dong! Dong!" Nathan was woken up by the village’s bell in the middle of the night.
"Mommy!" Nathan heard Ashley crying outside of his room, having been woken up by the bell.
Nathan walked into the living room and saw his parents equipped with leather armor, a light iron shield and a long sword. His grandparents were also armored, but were unarmed. It looked like Grandpa woke them up before the villagers rang the alarm.
"Nathan, Arielle, go get changed." said Ana as she carried Ashley to her room to change her clothes.
"You carry Henry. He is too heavy." Grandma told Grandpa as she handed him a baby carrier made of cloth. Henry was then carried by his grandfather on his back.
After changing into his daily clothes and putting on an extra woolen jacket, Nathan returned to the living room and asked, "Where is dad?" as he noticed his father's absence.
"He went to join the village’s defense. Once your Dad defeats the bandits, he’ll be back." Grandma reassured him.
"Let’s go. We should follow the drill and head to the town hall." Grandpa said. The family started walking toward the town hall in the center of the village.
Nathan lived in a village called Urie Village. It was not the village closest to the boarder of the Kingdom, but was near. Bandit attacks used to happen frequently decades ago according to the elderly, but rarely occurred nowadays. So, it was the first time for many villagers to experience a bandit raid. The village was surrounded by walls to protect the villagers from bandits. Despite the younger generation voted not to maintain it for the last 10 years, the elderly and the more mature villagers had voted to maintain it. Therefore, it was well maintained and in good condition. Common bandits would not be able to enter the village unless they could break through the gates with siege weapons.
Nathan's family reached the village’s town hall in around 10 minutes. Well-equipped elderly and women stood guard around its vicinity. The stronger men were mainly stationed at the walls.
"Nathan, Arielle, Ashley and Henry, Mom is going to fight and protect all of you. I will be back before you know it." Ana gave each of them a kiss, and then she joined the village guards as her children waved goodbye to her.
Grandpa and Grandma led the children into the hall, where they noticed disabled adults stationed as archers at the windows.