“Swont’s are harmless to humans, for the most part. Technically, they’re poisonous, so I wouldn’t recommend eating one. If you see a group of swonts relaxing in a pool of mud, turn around and go the other way. There is one Beast that regularly preys on swonts and they most certainly are not harmless to humans.”

~Unknown

Tulos looked between myself and the larger, crying boy clinging to his mother like a beige koala. His movements were slow and deliberate, as if the time it took him to crane his neck back and forth might somehow be sufficient to deescalate the situation. Jusep’s father swiftly made it clear he was beyond the sobriety necessary for that.

“Tulos! I asked you a-”

“You can not possibly be implying Will hurt your son on purpose, Costa.” It was Tina, not Tulos who interjected on my behalf. I caught the unveiled irritation in her tone. The unspoken ‘fuck all the way off’ had been filtered down to a child-friendly objection. I admired her self-restraint. Tulos placed a supporting hand on her shoulder and went to add his own input.

“I-”

“With all due respect, Tina, I was talking to Tulos. This was an incident between sons, so we, the fathers, will sort it out.” Jusep’s father - Costa - only slurred like two words while pissing off the woman with a giant metal dog and interrupting her husband. Brave. Foolish, but brave. If the man had any redeeming qualities, I wasn’t seeing them.

I mean… he’s looking out for his son, albeit in a misguided way. That’s something admirable, I suppose.

Surprisingly, Tina begrudgingly ceded Costa’s point and stepped slightly behind Tulos, mirroring the position of Jusep’s mother. As far as local customs went, it wasn’t the most extreme I’d heard of. I felt Tina practically bristle at her compliance, so I suspected she wasn’t thrilled by the situation either. Watching her back down still felt weird, though.

“Costa, why are you accusing Will of doing something to your son?” Taking the cue, Tulos spoke with his usual, rumbling bass. I’d grown familiar enough with his tells to know that he was just as annoyed as Tina; the whole exchange was feeling more intense than it should have. Since when did a minor conflict between children escalate to aggressive posturing?

“Because Jusep says he did. Are you suggesting my son is a liar?” There was a slight pause on his face, like he had to remain perfectly still while a thought floated to the surface of his alcohol soaked brain. “Or are you saying your son is incapable of violence, just like his father?” His mocking tone made the goading intent of the question painfully transparent. Yet another villager seemed to hold some kind of disdain for my father.

What did he mean by ‘incapable of violence’ though?

More questions for later. Thankfully, Tulos didn’t rise to the obvious bait, but I heard Tina mutter a curse under her breath. I looked over to Bella’s mother, wondering why she hadn’t chimed in to settle the dispute. She was still soothing her daughter by gently stroking her hair. Bella’s cries had dulled to sniffles, so it was clear to me that the woman could have spared a moment to clear the air, especially given that she’d witnessed the whole affair. It was vexing.

Tulos took a deep breath and turned towards me. “Will, did you hurt young Jusep?” There was a flatness to the question, like he was going through the motions to appease Captain Fuck Monkey. I got the impression Tulos wanted to avoid allowing whatever village drama he seemed to be at the center of to infect the issue.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

… Relative age or not, Tulos is more mature than I am. It was hard to be the bigger man, but Tulos seemed to be nailing the concept on all possible fronts.

In hindsight, I doubt Tulos was expecting to receive a coherent answer from me. He’d heard my growing, if curated vocabulary. A smile would crack his stoic facade whenever I called him ‘Dada’, but there was a difference between baby talk and actual comprehension. The rational part of my mind knew it would be unwise to give an answer, but I’d grown fond of Tulos and was tired of people talking down to him.

“No. I had toy. He-” I pointed at Jusep. “-wanted it. I said no. He take. I let go. He fall.” I was still working out some syntax kinks so I kept the language as basic as I could and fudged my use of tense, but I got my point across. My squeaky baby voice wouldn’t have carried through conversation but, thankfully, I had everyone’s attention for that brief moment.

Tulos’ eyes widened in surprise and a crease of concern marred his forehead. Everyone else I could see also looked suitably stunned by my contribution. After a beat, Tulos recovered enough to turn his attention back to Costa. “So, that settles it then,” he said evenly and made to escort Tina and I out of the room.

I heard Costa’s heavy footfalls as he quickly closed the distance and grabbed Tulos’ shoulder to stop him. “What do you mean it is settled?” Costa practically spat the words. “I still say your son was at fault, and if you do not like that, we can step outside.” It was becoming clear to everyone that this was no longer about the incident.

“Shut your boarish face, Costa,” Tina snapped icily. I couldn’t see her expression, but I knew the glare Costa received was venomous enough to drop an elephant. “If you insist on acting the buffoon I will gladly step outside with you.”

Costa scoffed, too drunk to realize he was treading dangerous ground. It’s true I didn’t necessarily know enough about Costa to say with certainty that his apparent confidence was misplaced, but Tina had Vigil backing her up. I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to deal with that without being bolstered by liquid stupidity. “This is still business between fath-” Costa began to spew his rebuttal, but Tina cut him off.

“No. Tulos said that the matter was settled. I am saying that if you do not accept that then I will be inviting you outside.” She moved me to her hip to free up a hand for gesticulating. Every word was accompanied by a sharp gesture, like she intended to stab Costa with her diatribe.

Before the man could respond, the door to the room opened to reveal a forehead-soaked Hwan. It was starting to get crowded at that point, and the older man wore a look of mild concern. “Tina, could you please explain to me why your … has left their allocated location and is now prowling around the building? It is scaring some of the younger- it is scaring some folk.” He had to be talking about Vigil, but I didn’t recognize the word he used to describe him.

“There is no issue,” she replied. “We were just getting ready to leave.” I spared a glance at Costa who was glaring at my parents and noticed that Jusep’s mother had placed a hand on his arm. It was an awkward arrangement, given that Jusep was still clinging to her, but her touch was keeping the moron restrained for the time being.

Hwan frowned, clearly not convinced, but he didn’t pry any further. Tulos, Tina and I moved by him, Tulos once again having to duck his head through the doorway. “Amy, Lianda, it was lovely to see you two,” Tina said sweetly to the other two mothers in the room before we stepped back into the festivities. She didn’t wait for their reply. As the door closed, I heard Hwan begin asking about what happened which made my face sour.

I get that we wanted to stop the conflict from escalating, but I’m still annoyed we aren’t going to be present to…

I let the thought trail off. I wouldn’t be defending my actions in either case, Tulos and Tina would. They decided the best call was to leave and I needed to trust their judgment. A wall of complex festival odors slammed into me as we left the building so I let myself indulge in the spectacle. We wove through the groups of celebrating adults, tables laden with food, and barrels of fermented alcohol. Someone had started playing a musical instrument that reminded me of a cross between a guitar and a banjo and a handful of couples were dancing to the upbeat jig. Occasionally, we paused to say goodbye to someone. Zetta made a rude gesture in the direction of the central building when Tina gave her the short version of what happened and offered to do something to the brain of Costa’s sheep… I think it was some kind of idiom.

If that means what I think it does, Zetta just earned major ride-or-die points in my book.

We ended up leaving on the wrong end of the village and having to circle around, passing by a pair of large silos. A man armed with a club, much like the one Rual had, was seated on a log nearby and nodded to us as we passed.

I felt bad that my stupid decision was responsible for our early departure. I needed to figure out what the deal with Tulos was. Not that I’d be able to ask about it any time soon… On the plus side, it would hopefully be a while before I had to endure ‘socializing’ with children again. Small victories.