Cover for chapter 2 of Stories from Talsweil - Calamity [https://emrasathedeadpan.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/chapter-2-cover-1.jpg?w=776]
Afternoon
“There they are!” Erica exclaimed upon seeing Symphy, Kellja and Jonno waving with differing levels of enthusiasm next to their carriage. Herself, Tserjil and Anja had wandered around the stable-area for a few minutes while trying to find the rest of their group through the crowds. During this time of the celebration’s last day, many were preparing to return home. Merchants and travellers from far off places, however, usually wait until the day after before they leave in caravans, some also hire mercenaries for protection.
Once the three came closer to their ride home, Kellja entered the carriage with haste to take the best seat. Jonno was about to enter after her but couldn’t before Symphy stopped him.
“Wait for the others” she said, which had him frowning. Erica, Tserjil and Anja were close enough to hear them.
“It is fine Symphy, there is no need for him to wait” Erica intervened.
The maid looked at her and slightly bowed, “I am sorry miss Erica. However, I think it is important that my son learns proper manners for his position.”
Not interested in waiting for the adult’s permission, Tserjil and Anja entered the carriage. Watching them, Erica was thinking about whether such strict rules should be imposed on children.
‘I suppose Symphy knows these things better than me, no need to question it…’
She turned her attention back to Symphy, “I will sit in the front with you, so…”
The maid nodded, “You may take a seat Jonno.”
Annoyed, Jonno slowly entered the carriage in a poor attempt to elongate the time. Symphy just stared him down, unfazed, and closed the carriage-door behind him.
Inside the carriage, Kellja was sat furthest in by the window on the back-side with Anja glued to the window on the seat right across her on the front-side. Tserjil sat next to Anja, reading the book he had put away earlier in the store. Annoyed, Jonno sat down next to Tserjil, making the front-side of the carriage somewhat cramped.
“There is more space next to Kellja, Jonno. Or are you interested in reading with me?” the boy asked without looking up from his book.
Jonno crossed his arms, “It’s easier to look out the window from this side…”
‘Kellja will start to bother me if I sit next to her…’ he thought to himself, the incident from earlier still fresh in his mind.
A small sigh escaped Tserjil, “… well, I have a book on mana-theory if you happen to become bored of watching the scenery.”
“Thanks…”
Outside the carriage, Symphy climbed up on the driver-seat. Before sitting down, she helped the high-heels wearing Erica up. Once the two of them were sat down comfortably, Symphy turned to knock the carriage wall. Tserjil knocking back from the other side, signalling that they were ready. She grabbed the reins connected to two Kohou deer, one of the larger deer-breeds, and whistled.
Thus, they were off.
Erica took a deep breath and gave Symphy a smile “I’m looking forward to see what Humla will make with all these groceries.”
The maid smiled, “Something that will surely fit your taste, that much is certain.”
“Indeed” Erica thought quietly for a moment, “By the way, you two can still go on a break. Have you considered it?”
Symphy shook her head, “There is no need for that, both of us are happy to work. Also, Jonno needs to learn now when he is still young.”
‘He’s still only 3½ cycles old though…’ Erica forcefully kept her smile up while thinking, ‘Maybe that’s normal among commo-…’
“Did young miss Anja cause any trouble at the store?” Symphy interrupted Erica’s trail of thought.
Erica giggled anxiously, “No trouble at all, luckily.”
“That is good, miss Erica, that last incident must have taught her” Symphy’s calm expression seemed to twitch just remembering. Erica became tense.
Symphy noticed, “I am very sorry miss Erica. I should not have brought that up…”
“Salsana is too kind for this world” she mumbled.
…
After getting quite a distance away from Terefyu, Anja could no longer see the town from the window next to her. Dissatisfied, the girl stood up and went over to the carriage-door’s window which didn’t have a glass cover. Anja stuck her head out, looking oh so longingly back at the town.
Find me…
“Get out of the way Anja!” an annoyed Jonno shouted to the young girl. With a sad expression, she went back to her seat.
Tserjil gave Anja a nudge, “We will return to town the next moon, so don’t be sad.” She pouted and crossed her arms in response.
“Freaking weirdo…” Kellja sneered. Anja looked at her, still pouting. Tserjil and Jonno said nothing, even acting as if they never heard her say that.
Angry when she didn’t get any sort of response, Kellja instead shouted, “Anja is a freak!”
“Come on Kellja, we’re trying to rel-…” Tserjil started speaking until Jonno interrupted.
“You’re the freak.”
A knock came from the front of the carriage, “Do not fight in there, kids!” Erica shouted with a strange tone, “If we hear any of you causing trouble back there, none of you will receive sweets!”
Kellja clicked her tongue.
“Stop causing trouble now…” Tserjil said to his rowdy sibling.
“Me? Anja is the one that causes trouble” Kellja said, her face contorted in disgust.
The now annoyed Tserjil sighed, “Stop being such a bully. Unlike you, Anja clearly never meant to cause others harm.”
“… may Tahwoi take you” Kellja mumbled. Tserjil couldn’t care less about the hurtful remark, being leagues more interested in reading his book.
While the kids settled down, Erica, in frustration, had her hands pressed to her face.
“Miss Erica…” Symphy looked at her, worried.
“I can’t believe her… how did it come to this… where did I go wrong… she used to be so sweet…” the horrified mother mumbled.
Symphy cleared her throat, “She… if you don’t mind me saying this…”
Erica calmed slightly and turned to look at the maid, “Huh?”
“I was thinking that she reminds me of you, when you were that young…” Symphy said while avoiding her friend’s eyes.
Hearing that, Erica thought for a few seconds, “True… I was not that pleasant myself.”
The maid took a deep breath and said, “I’m sure she will come around and become as sweet a lady as yourself” then smiled.
Erica giggled, “Thank you, we can hope.”
…
Over an hour had passed since they left Terefyu. Erica and Symphy were happily chatting with each other, while the kids stayed relatively quiet inside the carriage. Kellja had picked down a pillow from above the seats and rested, which had the other three quite relieved.
Jonno was still looking at the scenery outside, his eyes barely stayed open as he grew tired. Tserjil still read his book with Anja leaning in next to him, seemingly also trying to read.
The carriage was passing by one of the many fields where farmers were getting as much work in for the day as possible, when Jonno eyes went wide.
He pointed at something flying above the forest across the field, “Is that a Hippogryph!?”
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“Fern hell teh fuhrei” Tserjil mumbled without looking up from his book, “It’s a common gryphon unfortunately. There’s a scar across its left eye, I recon it was attacked by a stronger male since it’s mating-season.”
“That’s cruel…” Jonno frowned.
“Not the cruellest out there though” Tserjil added, “but I won’t tell you about that now…”
‘Crueller than fighting over something dumb like that?’ Jonno thought to himself. He was pondering the question for a bit, then realized something else entirely.
“Was that a new spell you used? I don’t recall us learning it at home yet…” Jonno asked Tserjil.
He was quiet for a while before answering, “Yeah… I… I learned it from a book…”
Unsatisfied with the answer, Jonno continued with another question, “Which book?”
“Actually, I forgot which book it was.”
Jonno frowned, “You never forget about your books… at least” he held his hands in a begging position, “teach me that spell when we get home please!”
Tserjil sighed, “You know I don’t have that authority, ask mother or sir Jorwen.”
Anja interrupted by tugging at Tserjil’s arm and put her finger on the book he was reading, wiggling the page.
“Ah- sorry I’ll turn it” he turned over to the next page. Jonno looked at them, ‘Can’t even share his discoveries… damn genius!’ then leaned back on the seat and turned his gaze back to the scenery outside. One landmark caught his attention, a tall hill topped by an old tree.
“Oh, we’re entering Fader-territory now” he mumbled. ‘Almost home, I’ll ask Jorwen then.’
Anja looked out the window and smiled, then reached her hand over to Jonno.
He wondered what thought might be on her mind, “You’re happy to be getting home? But you were so sad about leaving…” She nodded vigorously. Jonno frowned, “You… you really don’t make sense at all.”
Tserjil took Anja’s hand and asked, “You’re looking forward to dinner?” which made her smile even more while shaking her brother’s hand.
Jonno frowned, “So that’s all she wants…” then turned to look out the window to hide the smile he held back.
The carriage was nearing a crossroad, one road went left while the other continued straight for only a bit before it ended by a gate made of Wolberrian felbroth-steel.
Atop the gate was a sign, Fader manor, the carriages destination.
Before they even passed the crossroad, the gate began to open.
Erica stared in the gate’s direction, “How perceptive… is Ukoan on duty right now?”
“Yes…” Symphy was quiet for a moment before adding, ”miss Erica.”
The gate was open for them to pass through when they reached it.
A man with a short beard stood by the road, he nodded at Symphy when their eyes met. Unlike any of the carriage’s passengers, the man had antennas atop his head. Next to him stood a dog, it also with antennas that swayed while the tail waved excitedly.
“Anything new since we left, Ukoan?” Symphy asked.
He nodded again, “Sir Jorwen was summoned to a meeting in the capital, supposedly urgent. Other than that, nothing much” he said and shrugged.
“Did he mention how long he will be away?” Erica asked with a troubled expression.
Ukoan shook his head, “Ask back at the mansion, I only spoke with Sir Jorwen as he passed through here.”
“Well…” Erica was about to say something but stopped.
When Erica didn’t finish up a sentence Symphy nodded at Ukoan, wished him good luck for the rest of his shift then signalled the deer to continue forward.
As the carriage began to move, Anja was waving at Ukoan from behind the carriage-window. When he turned around without noticing her, she sat down with her arms crossed while pouting.
“Jonno” Tserjil said, “I think I can help you learn that spell later, if you’re still interested.”
The younger boy looked at his peer, his eyes lit with excitement, “Of course I am! Thank you!”
Tserjil smiled, ‘It’s better that I help than let him wait for Jorwen to return’.
Anja leaned forward, no longer sulking over Ukoan, and smiled at Jonno. He starred back at her, “Huh, what now?” he asked before she leaned back and excitedly swung her feet back and forth.
“Uh, hm... are you still reading, or should I turn the page?” Tserjil asked her, she shook her head, “Okay.”
…
The mansion stood tall before them as they parked the carriage.
“Welcome home miss Erica” a maid said as she bowed, her curly and long golden hair almost reaching the ground. Another maid took Erica‘s hand and helped her to the ground.
“Thank you Seyi” she said with a smile to the maid, then looked at the one bowing and gave her a nod towards the carriage-door. The maid acted quickly and walked over to let the kids out. Symphy got off the carriage by herself and walked over to Seyi.
“Go and un-pack the meats and greens to their respective storages, and then move the carriage to the stable when you are done” she instructed her
“I will handle it” Seyi said before she went to work.
“Welcome home young master Tserjil, young miss Kellja, young miss Anja and Jonno” the other maid said as she helped the kids out.
Tserjil was the first to exit, “Thanks” he said while she gave an appreciative nod. Anja jumped out and waved before walking up to Tserjil.
“Wake up Kellja...” Jonno said with an annoyed tone.
“No“ she murmured.
He turned to the maid by the carriage-exit and gave her a pleading look. She smiled sympathetically, then waved for him to come.
“Thank you Lelitte!” he smiled.
“We can’t always follow the rules” she whispered with a smile.
As Jonno ran after the other two, the maid waited before asking Kellja “Young miss, do you want to head to the stable?”
She was quiet for a moment, “Yeah...“
“I will tell Seyi then” Lelitte said before closing the carriage-door.
Symphy picked some bags filled with dresses and jewellery, then followed Erica and the kids who had already entered the mansion. The lobby had been lit up with crystals, as the sun and its child had begun to set. The crystals had three differently coloured glows to them, suggesting three people had helped lighting them up.
While Erica was walking to the right towards the kitchen, likely to meet Humla, the kids and Symphy walked up the wide staircase in the centre of the lobby. The maid walked to the left down the hallway on the second floor while the kids continued up another staircase to the third floor.
“Do you have time to teach me now?“ Jonno asked Tserjil.
He was quiet for a moment, then answered “I think we have some time before dinner, should probably be enough...”
“It’s a simple one?”
“I think so...“ he said, uncertainty haunting his tone.
The three of them walked to the furthest corner of the third floor left-wing, where a smaller staircase led them to the fourth floor. That floor was mostly filled with furniture used by older generations which no one wanted to throw away nor put where others could see them. A good place for some peace and quiet.
They sat down on a mountain of pillows near one of the few windows, a place where they had relaxed many times before. Anja reached into an old cupboard next to her and picked out a book, which she went on to read.
Tserjil took out a notebook and pen from the same cupboard, then wrote down some words.
Tserjil explaining a spell to Jonno [https://emrasathedeadpan.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/a-moment-of-study.jpg?w=776]
“So, you know ‘hell’ and ‘teh’ right?“ he asked Jonno. The younger boy nodded.
Tserjil continued, “The word ‘fern’ means something like... to point out, more or focus” he wrote down what he explained while talking, “and ‘fuhrei’ means eyes or sight. Got it?”
“Yeah, so you just focus in on one thing far away?”
“Exactly” Tserjil ripped the page he wrote on from the notebook and handed it to Jonno, “Focus far and see is what I would translate the spell to.”
Jonno thought for a moment, “Sounds simple...”
“Yeah, it really is now that I think about it” Tserjil said as he massaged his neck, “and it should be easy to practice up here.”
“Right! I’ll master it here and now!” Jonno almost yelled, barely containing his excitement.
“Good luck” Tserjil smiled before again picking up the book he had been reading all day.
...
Symphy rang a bell out in the courtyard. After a while, Erica’s three kids all gathered in the dining-room. The table was set with four plates and chairs ready for the family. Erica was already present in the room, ready to take her seat. Tserjil and Anja arrived not long after the bell rang, while Kellja took some time.
When all four of them sat down, Symphy rung a small bell. A few trays carrying dinner were rolled in by a chubby woman, followed by Jonno who carried a single plate with pastries. He put the plate down on the table where everyone could reach it, while the chubby woman started serving from the tray. Each person received a different sized portion, Tserjil and Anja’s being similar while Erica’s was slightly smaller and Kellja had the smallest.
Working or waiting; they were all quiet, adhering to proper dinner-etiquette.
The chubby woman finished by filling up everyone’s glasses, then her and Jonno both walked back to the kitchen. Symphy rung the small bell again before walking out from the room herself, and so the family started eating.
“Tomorrow we’ll get to try Belanda mammoth” Erica said, breaking the silence. Anja looked up at her, seemingly wondering what manner of thing she spoke of.
“Would be interesting to see one of those someday” Tserjil said.
Erica looked at him, “That’s quite the journey...“
“Yeah” he said, “I had some ideas of maybe travelling there while passing the Wolberrian marshes.“
The mother thought for a few seconds then made a displeased expression, “You would have to pass through Tahwoi-worshipping territories then...”
“That’s why I’ve decided against it” he quickly said.
“Good” Erica smiled.
Anja was the first to finish her portion, while Kellja was first to leave the dining room. And once the other two finished, Anja left the table and entered the kitchen where Jonno and the chubby woman were.
Inside the kitchen stood another, smaller dinner table which Jonno was cleaning. The chubby woman stood by a desk and wrote some notes. Two antennas atop her head twitched, and she turned around to look at the youngster approaching.
“Did you enjoy the food Anja?” she asked with a smile. The girl nodded.
Tserjil came into the kitchen, “Thank you Humla for the food” he said while approaching Jonno.
“You’re very welcome young master!”
The younger boy looked up at his peer and frowned, “I have to help out down here” he whispered once Tserjil was close enough.
“Oh… I see” Tserjil said while scratching his neck. Since his plans of teaching Jonno more had been postponed, he turned and walked over to Humla and Anja. The young girl was watching him with a smile.
“Shall we go out into the garden and read?” he asked her. She looked at him for a few seconds before nodding, “Okay, let’s go then.”
Before they walked off, Humla pat Anja on the shoulder, “Here“ then handed an extra pastry to the youngster. The two smiled at each other before Anja went after Tserjil.
...
The sun and its child had already set beyond the horizon, so naturally only the night sky and its pale orb was out to shine. To make reading easier however, Tserjil brought with them a bag of crystal, which he began filling with mana when they reached a cosy place to sit in the garden. The crystals gave off a bright pink glow, which worked well enough for reading, but Tserjil did not look content.
He looked at Anja while holding an empty crystal in his hand, “Are you sure you still don’t want to try and fill one of these?”
She frowned and shook her head in an exaggerated manner.
“Too bad, I really like purple, much better than pink...”
The two of them opened their respective books while reading quietly, with no distractions.
From the second floor of the mansion, Erica watched the them. The grin on her mouth would suggest that she’s content, but her wrinkled forehead instead showed concern. Even though their conversation at dinner had been brief, she couldn’t help but think of it.
‘Neither he or Anja would safely be able to pass through Tahwoi-worshiping territories, they stand out too easily. I hope they realise that...‘
Symphy came walking down the hallway towards her, “Miss Erica, I’ve asked around and it seems no one knows how long Sir Jorwen will be gone…”
“Huh…” was Erica’s reaction, not even bothering to look at the maid.
“Miss Erica...” Symphy got concerned, “Are you feeling well?”
She turned to the maid, “I’m fine, just getting tired I guess.“
Symphy was quiet for a moment, “If you need help tucking in, I can go and ask any of the other maids to come.”
Erica smiled, “That sounds like a good idea” she was about to walk past the maid before turning around, “I’d prefer if you send Lelitte.”
The maid bowed, “Understood.”