The transition from winter to spring is one full of fanfare. However, if spring is busy, filled with creatures all raring to grow and find mates, summer is doubly active. In Adder’s little corner of forest, this couldn’t be more true. Scorching heat warms the earth, replacing cool springtime mornings. In the afternoon, the light of day lengthens, and in the evenings are no longer dominated by the sounds of the nightingales, but a trilling chorus of cicadas.
Their habits in turn, also shift. Farm work doubles as Eben and Adder take advantage of the season. This year they have a bountiful early summer harvest to enjoy: peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, cabbages, and leeks, to name a few. Previously, Merlyn preferred to bumble around the garden gathering pill bugs and chasing butterflies. However, seeing her caregivers hard at work, she makes it her task to mimic them any way possible. She follows Eben around with a basket, plucks eggplants off the stem with great effort, ferociously rips apart weeds, and nearly falls on her face attempting to lift the watering can.
Most of this occurs in the morning, after breakfast. Sometimes changes to the routine do happen though. This morning proves to be one of those times, as Adder is not awoken by the usual sounds of Merlyn playing with her doll. Instead, he wakes up to the upsetting sound of gagging and coughing. He sits up in a hurry, eyes wide, just in time to catch poor Merlyn look up with shivering wings, hair disheveled and tears running down her face.
“Gods!”
Quickly, he rushes to her side. His first instinct is to pick her up, but the heaving of her chest tells him that more is to come. He rubs her back as she coughs harder. The sound quickly rouses Eben, who sits up in the dark.
“Adder? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know—she’s sick, she was coughing and—Eben you need to go get a healer now!”
Eben comes closer, brushing his hand against Merlyn’s forehead. She leans into the touch, breathing heavy as she fights back another fit. “She feels a bit warm. Did you see any blood?”
“No. She’s just coughing.”
“Let’s wait a bit then. I don’t think a healer is necessary yet.”
“You must be joking, didn’t you hear her? She’s in pain!”
Eben smiles, picking up Merlyn. He rubs her back soothingly, rocking her back and forth. “Adder, I was sick all the time at her age. She just needs some rest and care to get back on her feet.”
“Really? Are you sure? ”
“Make something easy to eat. I’ll tidy her up.”
Adder frowns, but obeys the order. Into the kitchen he goes to fret over their supplies. He counts five pears, plenty of carrots and potatoes, some dried meat, and some fresh bundles of herbs. Stewed pears would be an easy enough breakfast, and he knew it was good for the lungs. However, she needed something better for her lunch if she was to recover soon.
Adder thinks back—what was it that Helia used to make when he got sick?.
After nearly biting his nails to the nubs, he finally remembers Helia’s remedy for coughs and runny noses. It was a spicy stew, filled with soft vegetables and meat in a savory broth. Immediately, he hurries to get it done. After slicing some pears and plopping them into a pot with spices and sugar, he moves onto the soup. He chops the carrots, potatoes, celery, onion, thyme, rosemary, and garlic first. Into the large cauldron the root vegetables and herbs go, while the celery, onion and garlic go into a sizzling pan. Adder sautes them in butter, mixing them around with a wooden spoon until they’re soft and translucent. Once that’s done, it’s time for the meat. Luckily, Eben had brought home a particularly large jackalope a few days ago. They had prepared the carcass together, skinning it before thoroughly covering it in salt and herbs. Adder goes now to utilize it. He quickly dices the meat into small bite-sized chunks before adding it in. He’s just about to close the lid and let it simmer, before he jolts, realizing he forgot the crucial ingredient: peppers! Adder looks up from the simmering pot, to where the peppers hang drying in bundles. Looking between them, he sees two varieties. A long rope of red peppers, and some short, squat, wrinkly orange ones. Figuring the orange ones to be more mild, he grabs four of them, dicing them up and adding them in.
A few minutes later, the pears are ready to eat. Adder observes them carefully as he spoons a small portion into a wooden bowl. The pears are soft now, covering in a glossy glaze of spiced syrup. He places down three bowls at the table, sitting down to eat just as Eben arrives with a bundled up Merlyn. He holds her in his lap, patiently spoon feeding her. Adder smiles at the domestic scene.
“I guess if she’s eating it must not be too bad. But you could heal her with your powers, right?”
“That’s not a good idea, Adder.”
“Why not? You’ve healed me plenty of times.”
Eben gives Merlyn another generous spoonful of pear. She looks up at him with sleepy eyes, sniffling. Eben smiles, kissing the top of her head. “Didn’t we have this discussion when she was born? Healing magic is tricky.”
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“So it would hurt her somehow?”
“Children get sick, Adder. It makes them stronger as adults to endure it now. She’s going to need to be strong.”
“Yes…you’re right, of course.”
Adder tries not to dwell on the deeper meaning of those words, eating his breakfast. Soon enough, all three bowls are empty, scraped clean. Without food to occupy her, though, Merlyn has nothing to occupy her thoughts but her misery. She begins to whine and fidget in Eben’s lap, her little body occasionally shaking with bouts of coughing.
Seeking to distract her, Adder starts thinking. “Merlyn, do you wanna play?”
Eben catches onto the plan. “Yeah Merlyn. Do you want your dolly?”
Merlyn looks up from behind her feathers. She frowns, wiping her nose. She makes a morose chirping noise.
“Okay little bird. I'll go get it for you. Okay?”
Eben gets up from the table, heading to their room. He returns a moment later, handing something to Adder and Merlyn. All three monsters are now equipped with a toy: Merlyn gets her doll, Adder gets a crudely carved wooden horse, and Eben gets a small, paper bird. Merlyn studies the toys intently, hugging her doll securely to her body.
“Look, Merlyn, here comes the birdy!”
Eben moves the paper bird through the air like it’s flying around. He makes it dive towards Merlyn, causing the paper beak to poke against her cheek. She squeals and flaps her wings, dodging the touch. She swings her doll, bouncing it in the air. Suddenly, before Adder has a chance to prepare, she makes her doll dive and squish into Adder’s horse.
“Ah! No! Merlyn, don’t eat my horse!”
Merlyn screeches, pushing the doll even harder into Adder’s horse. Adder somehow wrests it away, making it clip clop across the table.
“Run Adder, she's gone mad!”
Making the fatal mistake of drawing attention to himself, Merlyn switches her focus to Eben. She laughs as she attempts to grab the paper bird. Eben holds it up and away from her.
“Don't eat the bird, that's cannibalism!”
Merlyn laughs, jumping up on the table to grab the paper toy. In the process, she nearly knocks a bowl onto the ground. Adder lunges to grab it, leaving his toy vulnerable. Merlyn strikes out, grabbing the wooden horse with inhuman speed.
“My horse!”
Merlyn squeals and laughs, jumping off the table and running towards the hearth. The burrows under the blankets and furs piled up there, hiding from Adder and Eben. Adder laughs, watching the mound tremble as Merlyn giggles under the blankets.
Eben snorts, standing from the table. He collects the bowls, piling them with the other dirty dishes. “The nerve. The absolute nerve.”
“I’m just glad she's not crying anymore.”
“I told you she’d be okay.”
The rest of the day is spent in relative peace. Adder and Eben play with Merlyn, do household chores, and tend to the garden. As the sun starts to sink lower in the sky, the stew bubbling over the hearth begins to become more and more fragrant, filling their home with the scent of savory spices.
“Adder, that smells amazing. What is it?”
“Helia’s home remedy.”
Eben saunters up to the pot. He stirs the pot, inhaling the scent. “My dad used to make something just like this. He used chicken and noodles, though.”
“That sounds delicious. We should make that next.”
“Sounds like a plan. Now go get Merlyn, I'll make you a bowl.”
Adder finds Merlyn in the study, sleeping in a bookshelf for some reason. He picks her up, carrying her to the living room. He coils beside the table, setting her down on top of his scales. She gives sleepy peep, followed by a cough.
“Hold on, Adder. Let it cool a little. It’s still hot.”
Adder nods, pushing the bowl out of reach of Merlyn. “This was my favorite food as a child, but Helia only made it when I was very ill. I still remember the first time she made it.”
“Oh?”
“It was a very dry summer. I got stuck in a shed and could barely move. Then just when things couldn’t get worse, my head started pounding and I started coughing and sneezing.”
“Aww, that sounds horrible.”
“It was.”
“I think the last time my father made me soup, I caught the florid curse.”
“Oh my…really?”
“The whole of Crestholm was coughing up flowers everywhere. Even my father was coughing up forget-me-nots. Luckily, my crush on the neighbor was very much puppy love. It didn’t take long for me to recover from the curse.”
Merlyn has enough of the talking. She stands up from Adder’s lap, pulling the bowl forward. Adder checks the temperature before handing her a spoon. She begins to drink it happily, eating her way around the celery.
“What flowers were you coughing up?”
“Buttercups. Nobody tells you they’re poisonous.”
“Gods, I'm glad you recovered well.”
Eben nods, taking a sip of his soup. “Yes—ack!” His face turns red as he starts to chug the water beside his bowl.
“What's wrong?”
“Adder! Augh! How many peppers did you put in this?!”
“I only added three!”
“Which ones?”
“The…the orange ones?”
“Adder, those are the wyvern's breath peppers! Why didn’t you use the normal ones?”
“I didn’t know!”
Eben laughs, covering his face as he wipes his nose. “Gods, Merlyn doesn’t even care, look at her.”
Adder looks down. Sure enough, Merlyn is watching the turmoil unfold with a confused expression, spoon still in her mouth.
“Maybe I made hers less spicy, somehow?”
Eben leans over, stealing a spoonful of Merlyn’s soup.
“Eben, shes sick! Dont eat that!”
Eben ignores the warning, popping the spoon in his mouth. “Augh! It's even spicier, somehow!”
“I'm sorry, I didn't know…you don’t have to finish it.”
Eben sniffs, eyes still watering. He dips his spoon back in his bowl.
“Eben, don’t! You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“It's good. I like it.”
“Gods, Eben, don’t lie. You look like you’re turning into a tomato, Just put the spoon down!”
“No!” He stands up, chugging the soup directly from the bowl.
“Eben, you’re ridiculous.”
He slams the bowl down, coughing hard. “I did it.”
“You did something.”
Eben grins, swiping Adder’s bowl. “If you’re not going to eat this…”
He starts to drink a second bowl, coughing and crying all the while.
“Eben!” two voices cry in protest.
Adder freezes just as Eben does a spit take, soup trickling out his nose. He stares at Merlyn in shock. “Did she just—”
Merlyn climbs up on the table, trotting over to confiscate the bowl from Eben. “Nour! Nour!”
“She’s talking!” Adder gasps, “Is she saying no?”
“Yes I think—I think her first words were her scolding me.”
“You did it Merlyn! Good girl!”
Merlyn smiles, sitting down right in the middle of the table. She sips her soup merrily, swinging her legs off the side.