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Mira had finally completed embroidering the work that she had designed on Tuesday. This was her first completed design. She did a copy of the pattern on a small coarse linen cloth and kept as a keepsake. She giggled as she thought of a name for her design ‘garden of love’. She started her next work seeing there was plenty of time for Jack to come home. As per her agreement with Almera, she looked at the watch and started marking the time on her cloth. She had to get a small parchment on her next trip to the city. Time went quickly without any incidents till the next day. Mira had got up to take a break from her morning work. She didn’t know why, but she felt like she had to lock her work room. She locked the door as she always followed her intuition. She went to the kitchen to bake bread and some pork soup for Jack's supper. She hummed a little song to herself as she worked. A low thud was heard from the direction of the side gate. Mira’s heart skipped a beat. The dogs or rather pu
“I need space.” The minute Mira thought about it, she was pulled in. She looked around. Even though it was dark outside, the space here was well lit up, bright as day. She walked around calling out “Anybody here?” “Anyone home?” “Does this place belong to anyone?” “Does anyone know how I got here?” Only silence greeted her; Mira sat down pouting. “This is your space.” She heard a faint whisper once she quieted down. Mira raised her head and looked up. She was an apparition of an elderly woman. “You…. you… a ghost?” Mira asked in fear. “Ghost??” The elderly woman laughed “I wouldn’t know.” “Who are you?” Mira asked once her heart calmed. “I am one of the guardians of time and space.” “How?? I???” Mira lowered her head. She knew but she didn’t know… “You are not meant to be here. You and I know that.” The old lady chuckled. “Are you here to take me back?” Mira asked in a low voice; sadness clouding her heart. She didn’t live long with Jack… she wanted to grow old with him…
They ate the buns that Almera packed for them as they rode back. This had become their norm. Almera didn’t bother her to eat. She understood that Mira wanted to hurry back home. They returned the cart early and walked to the supply shop. Mira told Jack about Aldrin’s request. Jack nodded. Mira had only 3 gold coins and 20 silver pieces in loose change but that was plenty for them. They had shopped with just 50 silver pieces. Mira stocked up on all the vegetables, a barrel of ale, 2 lots of herb pouches and even treated themselves to two small barrels of wine. She did feel a heartache as she gave Joe a gold coin and received 50 silver pieces. She muttered to herself “It’s alright. We are working hard to live a good life.” Jack chuckled. How could he not understand his money grubber wife? Once they reached home, Mira followed Jack into the woods after they kept the 2 gold sheets in the locker. She wanted to look for mushrooms. Jack started chopping after asking her not to go far. Mir
They rushed back; Mira washed the furs clean while Jack watered the plants. Just like before, Mira flung it into space. “Husband, would the supply shop have alum?” Mira asked as they walked to go to her parents’ place. “What’s alum?” Jack had never heard of it. “It’s like a white powder that is used for …” Mira thought for a while before saying, “cleaning fur.” She pouted and muttered “That the only use I know.” “Don’t know.” Jack shrugged “Joe usually has a bit everything.” “Can we take a quick look?” “Um” Strangely, Joe did have it. She bought a small bag of salt and alum. Each cost 10 silver pieces each. Joe only had a bag of Alum; Let’s just say it was not a popular item in their countryside. They set off to Mira’s parents place as soon as they finished at Joe’s. This time, they took a carriage ride as they were both tired. 10 silver pieces poorer! “Mom, dad, we are here” Mira announced as they entered. “Come… come…” Matthew was always happy to see his little girl. “Dad,
Jack and Oden chopped the remaining wood that he had bought back from the woods while Martin stacked them to the side of the house. “So, what happened?” Oden asked; the haze in his heart had disappeared as he saw Jack and Mira interacting. “You remember that bastard Mira used to like” Jack kept his eyes on the kitchen door as he spoke in a low voice. “What about him?” Martin asked in annoyance. “He came here three days ago.” Jack told them everything and how he found Mira hiding in a corner shivering with fear “The bastard wanted to use her to create a scandal so that I will lose my selection at that court position.” “He has some skill. You should have seen the crowd here when I got home.” Jack’s voice was filled with disdain. “No wonder, Mira wouldn’t open today.” Oden nodded thoughtfully. “Bastard, he dares to scheme against us brothers?” Martin was furious “We should teach this bastard a lesson.” “Someone already did.” Oden smirked; He was the apprentice of the Slegh’s man o
Mira finished mixing and started to rub the furs in the water mixed with powders. “Can you bring the wooden spoon you made?” Jack bought it out for her to look. Mira touched the edges to make sure it was smooth without a single bristle sticking out. “Here, stir the one we did in the morning.” Mira handed him the spoon. “Hubby make a small cage for them so that they can untie and store the rabbits.” Mira felt sorry for the little guys that were staring at her. “Um” Mira went inside to prepare the meat. She smeared it spices and butter like she did yesterday. Looking at the rabbit, she had an idea. She quickly boiled some potatoes. While the potato was getting boiled, she quickly cut some onions and put them in the spider pan to fry; She looked around and entered space after confirming no one was around. She quickly picked some of the mushrooms she stored earlier and came out after carefully looking around. She chopped the mushrooms and fried it. She mixed this with some of the nut
“We will leave the cage here.” Oden spoke after being silent for a while. “Huh?” Mira looked at him in confusion. “We will be troubling cousin as we will come and get one or two for supper or dinner every day.” Oden smiled. “If we take the cage and one of the other tenants see them, we have to give it to the Sleghs if they come looking.” Oden explained seeing Mira’s confused gaze. “Everything we have is a loan. We are servants of the Sleghs.” Oden had a helpless expression. “If we take this and we have to hand it over to the Sleghs, then we will be disrespecting cousins’ good intention.” “This way, they can’t find fault with us.” Oden was prudent in his thoughts and actions. “In that case, no problem. Come and take whenever you please.” Mira smiled as she leaned on Jack. “We better get going or mom’s going to worry.” “Um” Jack and Mira walked them to the edge of the road and waved goodbye. Mira went stirred both sets of furs again before putting the pails in the outer shed and
“Mom, make something you and dad like. We had a really big meal at cousins.” Martin had a satisfied smile as he spoke. “Mom, I think I should have a light soup.” Oden touched his paunch with a sheepish smile. They truly were pigs today. “Mom, they ate a whole rabbit all by themself.” Anne-Marie whispered in Beth’s ears before giggling “I tried too… but who asked my stomach to be small?” Beth shook her head helplessly “Oden’s father, what do you want?” “I want to roast it on fire…” John’s eyes showed a rare twinkle, but he soon suppressed it “But the neighbors will know for sure. Let’s just do something simple." “Tell ‘em to go to hell.” Martin was a rebel; he never cared what others thought. If he thought it was right, that was good enough for him. “I will set the fire.” He walked out arrogantly. “I will make sure he doesn’t burn this cottage down.” Oden chuckled as he followed his brother. For once, he agreed. He threw caution in the air and walked out to help Martin build the
Once the king and the supreme rulers had taken the seats in the chamber of secrets, the chiefs of each governing body in the country entered for their private meeting with the king once their names were called out by the royal messenger. This solemn ceremony was the rite of passage where the new king is entrusted as the keeper of ancient secrets of the country from its inception, things that were for the king’s ears only. The other curious thing was no two chiefs entered at the same time. Each had only knowledge of the matter they were entrusted with. The only living person in the entire kingdom who had knowledge of all the secrets was the king and the supreme rulers.The rite passage ceremony went on till late through the night. No matter how anxious Cornelius was to get to his godson and blast the hell out of the household of Southamberston, he had to wait for the next day.The next day, Jack called everyone to the study very early in the morning. No one thought much of it till they
“What wrong?” Jack asked as he smoothed the frown adorning his wife’s beautiful face as they sat in the carriage on their way back to the Southamberston estate.Mira shook her head to indicate it was nothing although the confusion on her face didn’t disappear.“What is it that troubles my wife?” Jack tilted her chin to face him “Something is bothering you from the time of the crowning ceremony.”Mira raised her eyebrows in surprise. She never expected Jack to notice. She thought he was distracted by everything around them and that she had covered it well.“Nothing can distract me from you.” Jack chuckled looking at his wife’s silly expression.“Smooth talker.” Mira pouted as she rested back in his embrace although her heart felt it was dipped in honey. It was a blissful feeling to know that the person you loved also had only you in their eyes.“What is it?” Jack wasn’t going to give up without an answer.“Nothing… it’s just…” Mira bit her lips hesitating whether to speak but decided to
Thomas and Jack looked at their wives who were giggling foolishly and shook their heads helplessly. Thomas introduced Jack to the other gentry helping him build connections while the ladies gossiped. The hot topic for the ladies was of course, the fabulous gown that Mira and Almera were wearing. Everyone wanted to know where the materials were purchased and how long it would take to get them made.Matthew and Harry mingled with old acquaintances introducing their wives and John. Martin and Oden stood politely by their side. Both felt extremely awkward and overwhelmed as they had never attended such an affair in their lifetime although Oden kept a calm façade given his training at Slegh’s.Joan stood in the periphery of the hall with Emma staring viciously at their family that was dressed like the nobles, enjoying everyone’s admiration. Joan couldn’t understand why she had to stand in a corner forgotten even though she carefully planned for herself to rise to prominence. She couldn’t st
Cornelius’s eyes narrowed as he spotted Harrison behind Jack before sighing in a whisper “Kids! Didn’t we tell them to keep it quiet?”He turned to signal Parker as he realized that there was only Harrison following Jack. Of course, he knew Harrison represented the Hariebot’s and thereby Jack’s maternal home.“Wasn’t the edict awarding the dukedom passed on to Southamberston?”“Yes, your royal supreme majesty.” Parker bowed respectfully.“Then why isn’t the butler here to receive and guide the lord?” Cornelius’s temper rose “I need an explanation for this arrogance. I will visit the duchy after the feast. I want to see who dares?”“There…. There….” Aglaya gently tapped on Cornelius hand “Let’s deal with it later. Don’t spoil the festivities with your temper.”“Haiiii” Cornelius sighed before sitting back.Orseus hooked his eyebrows towards Bernard as he noted the change in his parents’ expression. Bernard shrugged before turning to look at his father for an explanation. Parker blinked
Similar to the sacred hall, everyone gathered in the grand hall according to their status. However, unlike the ceremony in the sacred hall not everyone attended. It was attended only by those who had an invitation among the freemen and servants.Jack and his entourage walked into the hall under the lead of Harrison and Lazarus to the section reserved for the Southamberston. Joan and Emma watched as they saw their family walking through the crowd unhindered under the protection of the Southamberston guards first with wide open mouths and then slowly gritted their teeth in resentment as they thought of their plight where they were waiting in the crowd.Emma clenched her fists as she threw a resentful glare at Joan whom she decided was the cause of all her misery; if it were not for Joan, she would be the one wearing that beautiful gown and walking through the crowd with her head held high, attracting the envy of the crowd. Joan did not notice the resentment in Emma’s gaze as she wasn’t i
“By this holy oil and the power bestowed on me by the ancestors and your Royal father, I anoint you as king of Hal from this moment forth” The chief of the elder priests poured the holy oil using the ceremonial spoon on Orseus’s head.The elders of each adorned him with golden spurs and armills. The grand dukes along with Knight commander Parker Hemmington knelt on the ground raising the four swords above the heads pledging their allegiance once the Elders finished and stepped aside. Each of the elders, blessed the sword and passed it finally to the chief elder; each time the chief elder would raise the sword and present it to Orseus who was seated on the high throne proclaiming-“With the swords of righteousness, do justice, protect the faith of the ancestors, help and defend widows and orphans, restore the things that are perishing due to our negligence, maintain that which have been restored by the life force of your ancestors, punish and reform what is unjust all the while upholdin
Jack and his team made their way to their position in the procession. Everyone was excited. This was their first time participating in the procession. Anne-Marie could help but keep looking at the bear within the sun printed on the smock. This was the only differentiating factor in the smocks. Every smock had the insignia of the duchy printed within the country flag which was painted on the front and back of the smock. Not even Matthew and Harry had attended one of these events.The previous king didn’t have a coronation, he upsurged the throne in anger. The coronation before that was more than 50 years ago and the ones who could remember the event could be counted on fingers as the event was not open to everyone. In the past, the coronation was only attended by the nobility. This was one of Cornelius’s reforms even though he never had a coronation; Everyone citizen, noble, freeman or slave could attend the coronation.In line with the past traditions, the bells at the clock tower rang
The arrangement for the coronation ceremony was slightly different from previous years to increase efficiency. In the previous years, the elite of the society met in the palace hall and joined the procession after breakfast. This year, the palace guards formed 20 parking stations and associated tents for the nobility and 20 parking stations with tents for commoners although the facilities in the tent were not comparable to that of nobility; Each carriage that would park at any one of these stations where the palace guards would provide the smocks in the color identifying their social status.The concept of wearing this head-to-toe smock was to represent the flag which was the rising sun. The royal family and their household would be wearing golden smocks; similarly, the grand dukes and their household would be wearing orange, the dukes and their household would be amber, the lords would be yellow mixed with amber, nobles, scholars, merchants of high status in bright yellow, commoners i
“I am afraid I have to disappoint you.” Thomas’s lips curled up as he remembered his banter with Mira. “Your Grace is being modest.” Ecky shook his head in denial as he thought ‘No one would be able to match his master’. Thomas chuckled as he let Ecky help him dress. Although he was no longer in a panic to rush to Almera’s side, he still got ready hurriedly. He had figured out the reason for her scream, now it was more out of curiosity… curious what shock Mira had given his wife. Almera had just finished dressing and walked into the main lounge when she saw Thomas staring at her in a daze like a fool. “Who stole my husband’s soul?” Almera giggled as she walked up to him. Who didn’t like to see undisguised admiration and infatuation in their lover’s eye? “The enchantress is before me…” Thomas whispered as he hugged Almera’s waist claiming sovereignty “But I will be gladly held captive by her for all eternity.” “Someone’s got their mouth in the honey jar... Tsk…. tsk…” Almera feign