16 Gossip about another Yeylin

Vardimann was sitting on the window sill again. He had relaxed and was completely absorbed in a book. The pale gold light from the low autumn sun highlighted his tanned face and rustic clothing. Tina was sitting at the loom, stitching the scene. The contrast between his farmer appearance and his scholarly demeanour was very interesting, far more interesting than plants struggling not to wilt in the face of winter. She had already used so many yards of green thread that she wanted to puke, so being able to use other colors was quite soothing.

Whitlow entered the room, a large plate in his hands. "How's it going?"

Vardimann smelled the food. "It's been great. Is that lunch?" He took the biggest slice of meat.

Whitlow offered the plate to Tina. "You two aren't interacting at all." He saw the cloth on the loom. A single browned hand held a book open. Black thread outlined the creases in the sleeve, and there was the beginning of a dark brown area. "What's that?"

Tina shushed him and quickly covered the loom. "Don't let him know!"

The other man walked over curiously. "Know what?"

"Nothing!" Tina stood in front of him. "Which book are you reading?"

Mouth full, Vardimann showed her the title. "The bible? I didn't think you'd be interested in religious texts."

Vardimann swallowed. "I wanted to see the difference between this one and my family's version."

Whitlow was curious. "I didn't know your family was christian. Aren't they from the far east? I've heard the people there tend to be atheists or follow their own local gods."

Vardi responded dryly. "I'm not sure it's possible for anyone to be more christian than my family."

"Hmm." The doctor took a bite of a sandwich.

After the plate had been cleaned, Whitlow volunteered to take it back down to the kitchens. Tina asked Vardimann, "what's your last name again? I've forgotten."

"Yeylin." He watched her expression. She seemed to be deep in thought. Did she...?

"I think I've heard that name before. A new priest showed up in a town to the south of here. You two might be related."

Vardimann smiled awkwardly. "I haven't heard of any relatives migrating this way. It's probably just a coincidence that we have the same name."

"I guess so." Tina privately decided to visit this priest in the future. The name Yeylin was so unusual, she couldn't believe they were completely unrelated.

The next day was fine and sunny, so the baron family decided to have a picnic. Their usual picnic spot was the lake, which hadn't completely receded yet, so they had it at a lookout on the tallest hill in the neighborhood.

Vardimann stood on the low stone wall, absorbing the view. He'd never been so high before. He could even see past the forest they had passed through a week ago. Granted, they had spent most of that week stalled by the river, but it was an incredible view nonetheless.

The baroness sat next to him, demurely keeping her legs on the inside of the wall. "You're going to fall if you stay there." The land below the wall was quite steep, almost vertical for a few meters. A fall might not be lethal, but it would certainly hurt like hell. Vardimann shrugged and sat down, dangling his feet over the drop. "I'm surprised you haven't made a tapestry of this."

Tina laughed. "Oh, I want to. The only problem is, there isn't a single piece of cloth wide enough to do it justice." She sipped her tea. "Also, we don't have the wall space. Elias likes his hunting scenes too much to take them down."

"Stupid Elias. He should give his wife a bit more freedom."

Tina smiled and shook her head. "I already have more freedom than most other women. He doesn't force me to stay trapped in the castle all day like a delicate flower. He also lets me learn weapons and participate in the hunt. I think there isn't a single other court lady who can do that."

She leaned over and rested her head on his broad shoulder. Mm, this one was much better than her husband's. "Elias doesn't go fooling around with other women, like most men do." Hey eyes followed her daughter, who was running around the damp grass with the servants' children. "I don't need to worry about bastard children showing up at our door."

The baroness's ladies and servants clucked over the romantic scene. They gravitated over, and Vardimann's peaceful view was disrupted by flapping skirts and loud voices.

"Mistress, you shouldn't be sitting on that dirty stone. Come and sit on this cloth."

"Mistress, have a sweet."

"Baroness Tina, what do you think of Baron Karl's son? He's around the same age as your daughter."

If it wasn't for the fact that Vardimann was sitting on the wall the wrong was around, they would have squeezed in between them. Unfortunately, the usual reputation-saving methods would send him over the edge. They could only try to entice Tina away.

Vardimann rolled his eyes. The nice quiet was gone now, so he took the proffered sweet and walked along the wall to get away from the noise.

avataravatar
Next chapter