Chapter 5: Questions & Answers

A month had passed since the mysterious "Tax Day". Einar still didn't have a clue as to why this day was so important to the people of this city. To him, it seemed outright ludicrous to take someone's child for paying their taxes late. 

Even though he understood most of the language now, he hadn't been able to learn more about the strange day, no matter how hard he tried. His parents hadn't discussed the matter much after it happened. He was sure there was more to it than its name gave it credit for, but he just couldn't imagine why it was such a special day.

The door let out a squeak as it was pushed open. Einar sighed, that damned door interrupting his thoughts was becoming a way too common occurrence for his liking.

He glanced at the doorway and saw his father entering the room. The man looked strangely happy. Vedel was by no means a man shrouded in negativity, but the long days he spent at work usually numbed down his joyous and jovial personality quite a bit. Seeing him truly cheerful right after work was a rare phenomenon.

Einar wasn't the only one to discern Vedel's atypical joyfulness. His mother also quickly caught on to her husband's odd behavior.

"What's going on dear?" She asked, her eyes brimming with curiosity.

"Haven't you heard? The Emperor has summoned the entire city to the Grand Plaza for a parade!" He stated with a tinge of happiness in his eyes that wouldn't be misplaced in those of a toddler.

"Really?" Alicia asked, her face shrouded in a mix of surprise and disbelief.

"Yes, really!" Vedel continued. "There are even rumors of some sort of special announcement." His eyes shone brighter with each word he said.

"Special announcement? What do you think it is?" Alicia replied.

"Wouldn't know." Vedel shrugged. "Word on the street is that it's going to be something of enormous importance though."

"That's amazing honey!" Alicia said with an elated look in her eyes. "Although I wonder why the Emperor would host a parade now of all times." 

"Must have something to do with Tax Day." Vedel grunted. The memory of that accursed day still lived rent-free in the back of his mind. "Either we overshot the target or we didn't raise enough. Let's just pray it's the former."

Alicia shuddered as well. She too looked back on that day with fear of what could have happened. Just thinking about what would happen if they hadn't reached their Tax-goal for the year was enough to scare her senseless.

Whilst his parents were talking, Einar was utterly perplexed. On the one hand, his parents' conversation had shed some light on the importance of Tax day. They had just confirmed his suspicion of there being more to it than common sense would imply. On the flip side, it also raised more questions than it answered. Why was it so important that a certain amount of taxes were raised each year? Why would an Emperor personally host a parade for such a mundane thing? And most importantly: Why did his parents seem so scared at the idea of not having reached the goal? At first he had believed that the laws in this country must simply be absurdly strict, but everything he just learned pointed to a deeper lying answer.

Alicia scraped her throat. "When will the parade be held?"

"Next week, on the summer solstice." Vedel answered.

"By the Gods! That soon?" She gasped. "Give me some money dear, we most certainly cannot attend the parade looking like this!" She gestured at her clothes that were admittedly quite shabby. They were dull and gray and were riddled with small holes and patch marks all over.

"What's wrong with our clothes?" Vedel frowned. He knew he wasn't exactly a fashion icon, but he also felt undeserving of this blatant insult from his wife.

"I'll buy some glasses as well for you, because your eyesight has clearly seen better days." She sneered. "Only a blind man or a fool wouldn't notice what's wrong with them. Which one of them best describes you, Vedel?"

"No… I– you… That's preposterous!" He murmured.

Alicia gave him a look that could freeze over a volcano and slowly tapped the floor with her right foot. She stuck out her hand in front of her, clearly demanding he hand over the money.

"Fine" He grunted as he gave in to his wife's demands. "But don't spend too much! We still need some money to afford our commute to the Plaza."

Einar had trouble holding in his laughter again. To him the quarrel between his parents seemed silly. Their life was so incredibly difficult, yet they still had high enough morale to argue about topics like this.

Upon hearing the laughter of their baby, his parents quickly ceased their discussion and gave him a warm look.

"Look, even Ruen thinks you look ridiculous." His mother chuckled.

"As if! He probably thinks you're being laughably unreasonable." His father snickered. "It is strange though. I swear to the Gods sometimes it really does feel like he understands what we're saying."

"Don't be absurd, he's only 3 months old! How could he possibly understand us?" Alicia walked over to Ruen to coo him in her arms.

'If only they knew how right they were.'Einar inwardly grinned, barely containing his laughter this time. 

'I'm very interested in this parade though.' He pondered. 'It'll be a great opportunity to learn more about this strange country. Especially now that I understand the language to a certain degree.'

Alicia put him down on the bed. "Now stay here little Ruen, Mommy will be away for a few hours. Make sure Daddy doesn't embarrass himself any more than he already has."

Einar, not knowing how to respond, decided to just giggle some more.

Alicia smiled. "I'll be back soon!"