Chapter 17: The food fest

A few days passed. The training only took part of their mornings while the rest of the day was unoccupied. With curfews set before sundown, they got permission to leave their homes and explore and visit the village. A rule was set on top of the curfew. Mikaela and Lucien would only practice swords and magic at home, anywhere else, they would keep their abilities a secret. 

It was a rule they had long known about. Lucien and Mikaela had witnessed their parents use abilities at home very often long before they could walk. They knew not to tell strangers and non-family members about their parents' powers. Now it applied to them, in that aspect, they had come far.

"Lu, look after Kaela. Don't let him slip his tongue outside," requested Anette.

She was dressed in a simple fabric dress and had her dark hair tied up in a bun. There were distinct dark circles under her cold eyes. Her voice was slightly hoarse as well. Mikaela was worried but he knew she would not overdo it. Or, maybe he didn't.

"Yes, Auntie. You can count on me. I will keep a close eye on him," said Lucien with a smug smile and irritating thumbs up.

He could not help but form hawk eyes with his fingers at Mikaela. Mikaela just stuck out his tongue in retort. They were dressed in slightly warm clothes as the winter breeze was ever so often. 

"Have fun children!" said Anette as she got back into the house. 

Bianca who was standing beside her stuck around to see the children off. She gazed upon them with a warm motherly smile filled with love. Mikaela ran off to the gate and waved back.

"Bye Auntie!" He shouted.

"Bye Mom!" exclaimed Lucien.

They then ran as quickly as their short feet could take them toward the village. It was an important day today. The children would gather this day to sing, dance, and play at the village square. But not all, there was free food served by different villagers. They would get to taste all kinds of foods and drink as much juice and milk as they wanted.

It was a food fest arranged after the final yield of the year and in celebration of another winter. It was also in the hope of blessing in the next year as well. As the adults were always busy, the children were the main participants of the fest.

This was a tempting offer for older kids much less four-year-olds. 

"Hurry, Lu! We are late." 

Mikaela was anxious he would miss it because of today's training. His father would not compromise on just a day's break. Not to make things worse, he took forever convincing Lucien to go with him. Only then would his parents even consider letting him leave home at all. 

Lucien was as naggy as ever. Don't do this, Don't do that. Only after making several promises not to wander off did Lucien agree. Mikaela found it annoying that Lucien had his parents' trust but it was better than nothing. 

"The food won't disappear just because we are a bit late, Kaela." Lu tried to speak sense to the anxious Mikaela. 

"We don't know that!" said Mikaela. 

He slowed down and tried to keep pace with Lucien. He believed a little bit of what Lucien had said. As it stood, Lucien was always right.

Soon, they got to the outskirts of the village. The main path leading to the town square was in between the village and had several kiosks and shops on either side of the street. 

The majority were adults on the streets. They were either going into clothing shops, grain shops, or kiosks selling several things like butter, milk, spices, and snacks. Kiosks had a little of everything. 

The currency of exchange was simple. They didn't use gold or silver coins but bartering. One would only take what the others needed and use it in the exchange of goods. Money was useless in a very communal place like the village. Much less important when the village was cut off from the rest of the world.

Bartering became the best form of trade. This was because to survive, one needed to interact with others and exchange things one needed for their household. Farmers sold their yield to buy meat while hunters exchanged their game for farm yields. It was a win-win situation.

Mikaela was used to this sight, so he ignored it and they squeezed through the crowd to the other side. After difficult navigation in the sea of people, they arrived at the town square.

"Lucy, Mika!" A voice called out to them. 

It was a familiar voice.

Only a few would address them as such within the village. They turned around to see a taller boy with bright brown hair and deep brown eyes walk towards them. His face had traces of food seasoning and oils. He was waving excitedly at the two.

"There you are. I was starting to think you wouldn't come. Hurry this way, Nora and Jamie are waiting," said the boy.

His name was Gustav. He was the youngest son of the chief's eldest child. In other words, the chief's grandson. Gustav was especially doted on by many in the village. He was good at interactions and was very filial to his parents. He was respectful to elders and helped out as much as he could within the village. One could even call him a social butterfly despite his young age.

"Phew~! I thought we missed you guys," replied Mikaela.

He beamed a smile. If one studied him carefully, they would see the difference. That his iris was deep black. His ruby eyes are nowhere to be seen. This was a spell cast to blind anyone besides his parents, and Lucien's family of his real features. 

They followed along running deeper into the square. The street opened up to a bigger space. In all directions, food stalls were filled with children queued up to get their servings. Some were more crowded than others while some were closing up after emptying their potions. Smiling children of all ages run around. The youngest was three years old while the oldest could be fourteen. Older than that, once would be considered of age. Or rather, they were of marriageable age, it seemed. 

^_^