008 -Traditions of Old

The family of four traveled the path, in a tranquil silence.

The only sounds came from the klip-kloping of the horse's hooves and the wagon wheels that rolled across the dry road.

Cassandra sat with her mother on the wagon watching the back of Uriel with a drumming heart but also guilt.

He was only wearing the blindfold for her sake, but it was too late to tell him that he could take it off, he might not have looked much like the men of Old Meadow, but he could rival them in stubbornness.

As she looked at him she couldn't help but wish that he was just one year older than this night celebration of Cair-Andriel, which was the night of 'new fate', would be the night that she could take him as her husband.

She could only lament in regret, the sun soon touched the horizon and a moment later they reached the main part of the road where the many paths that led to the various farms met.

Just up ahead were two large windmills still turning with the cold breeze, as the old folks would say 'the sun takes a break, but the winds are ever restless'.

As they made it onto the main road they started to notice many people already on the road to the village, the various farmhands moved together in groups with a certain degree of cheer, but she quickly noticed something odd, all the men had their quarter staffs on their backs or hatchets and hammers tucked into their belts.

Cassandra couldn't help but pale as she looked at her mother who wore an equally worried expression, things were worse than they had thought.

As they moved and caught up with some of the other farmers who traveled with their wagons, they started to share some conversation.

Everything was all good until one of their neighbors, Sean Jolter one of the more hot-headed men of Old Meadow, came up next to them, "Zek ye' not really going to give all that to those focken buggers are ya?" he asked pointing at the wagon.

"We'll talk about this with Mayor Jonah," he replied with a sigh.

"Urgh," the fiery-tempered Sean ground his throat in dissatisfaction, he took Zek's reply as his willingness to abide by the whims of the soldiers.

"Fine then ya give them ya hard-earned food but I ain't giving them shite, the first one that comes knocking on my door I'll be pitching his throat with my fork," Sean declared strongly for everyone to hear.

"We've all got families ta feed, and I don't give two shite's about some self-righteous bitch of a queen's war," he said and pulled his wagon ahead, since it was mostly empty it didn't take him long to pull ahead.

His words sparked a lot of conversation, only the previous cheeriness that everyone had was gone as now the topics turned darker, carrying a stifling gloom.

As the sun sunk below the horizon the groups continued with a strange silence coming over them as darkness took the road.

It wasn't until they reached the village and saw the fire from the small bonfires that the gloom started to leave everyone's eyes, and they moved with reinvigorated steps.

Uriel held onto Zeresha's harness as they moved through the crowded village, it was a lot harder to be careful, now that people were stepping all over the place to speak with their friends and family it made things a little more precarious for one wearing a blindfold.

They made slow progress towards the Mayor's Inn.

When they arrived at the Inn Uriel waited until he was given the go-ahead to take off the blindfold, he heard Cassandra telling him that she'd wait for him at the dance before she slipped off to go practice with the other girls who had come of age this year.

When she left he reached up and pulled the blindfold down and took in the sight of the decorated village.

Strings with paper confetti and origami extended across the rooftops tied to the chimneys, the torches on all the streets were lit and so were a few small bonfires.

In the main square of the village, a large stack of wood was put together which was going to be the main fire for the night, the festivities would begin when the fire was lit, and the festivities would end once the pyre was ash.

Uriel looked past the decorations and to the mayor's inn, a board hung on the outside reading 'The Thirsty Tooth Inn', it was one of two inns in the village, but it was undoubtedly the best.

It was one of the few buildings that were made entirely out of stone, according to his dad once every generation one of the buildings in the village would be rebuilt with stone.

The Mayor of Old Meadow, Jonah Burton was standing at the door leaning on his walking cane, he was the oldest person in Old Meadow, having reached his sixties a rare age for common folk like them, his long white hair was tied into a knot and his short white beard was neatly trimmed.

He came out in stride showing surprising vigor for a man of his age, he came straight to Zek, and gave him a hug, "Good ta see ya lad," he said giving Zek's short hair a ruffle.

Uriel chuckled as he enjoyed the treat of seeing mayor Jonah treath his dad like a boy, it wasn't every day that he got to witness such a sight.

Then he turned to Uriel and gave him a vigorous handshake that tested his strength.

"Good lad, good lad," the mayor murmured in approval after his vigorous greeting,

"Ye' friends are all helping out in the shed take ye' wagon and go help em' lad," he instructed.

"Yes Mr. Burton," Uriel replied with a smile and led the horses around the inn to the shed.

The shed was a large structure behind the inn where the horses could rest and where supplies could be stored, it was much like the barn only a bit more cramped since it was inside the village.

There was a line of wagons waiting to get into the shed, each one was stacked with sacks of the various foods that they grew in Old Meadow.

Uriel left Zeresha and Lopper in line and entered the shed, he found a dozen of the village boys busy packing the sacks in neat piles, though none of them looked all too happy.

Uriel quickly spotted Alec the Miller's son and Kia the Blacksmith's son, they were his best friends, so he quickly went up to them and started to help.

They gave light greetings to each other but there seemed to be an unspoken rule between them as they packed the food, a rule of silence, it was evident from their eyes that none of them wanted to be doing this.

They were tired of giving the soldiers all their food, it was the thought on all of their minds and if anyone mentioned it now they would snap and fall into a rage and it would just spoil the festivities for everyone.

Time passed by in silence as the boys packed everything then they put the horses into the stalls to rest before they headed back out.

When they returned to the square a large number of men were walking out of the Mayor's inn with angry frowns.

Uriel walked with Alec and Kai and waited until they saw their dads coming out at the end of the line, they heard some of the men whispering, "…can't believe old Jonah would suggest we stop the festival,"

The trio all looked at each other with wide eyes, as they raced to their dads to find out what happened but there didn't seem to be a need because a moment later they heard Sean Jolter's heated voice stirring up in the square.

"There ain't no focken way we are stopping this festival on account of some filthy soldiers!" he shouted with his spittle flying across the face of Mr. Archie, he and his wife were the bakers of the village.

Noticing the attention on him Sean paused and took a breath, "This day is sacred to the gods, and has been part of our traditions since our ancestors settled in these lands,"

"We will not be stopping on account of some focken soldiers, cause if we do then we have betrayed our ancestors and our children who have become fine men and fine women,"

"This is the night on which our families expand and we with daughters who have come of age take new sons, and we with sons who have come of age take new daughters,"

"It is our duty to ensure that they can take their partners tonight so that they can have children of their own and so that they can continue our lineage,"

"And if we do not allow them that opportunity then we have failed them as parents, even if I drop dead tonight I will see our children marry under the eyes of the gods,"

"And I will not force them to wait another second longer than they want to, much less a year," Sean's speech reached across every ear in the village, and by the end, an explosion of cheers rang out as the villagers felt their every thought reflected in it.

The end of his speech marked the lighting of the great pyre and with it, the festivities began.

---