Chapter 5.

"There! All dressed up!" - A woman observed her work. She twisted and turned her child to see if she had missed anything.

The child only sighed and let the Mother do as she pleased. Fighting back was futile anyway.

"Are you ready yet?!" - A man's impatient voice rang at the doorsteps.

"Yes! We're coming!" - She took the child's hand and they left the house. - "You could've worn something fancier today, you know?" - She squinted her green eyes.

"I'm going to my friend's house to see his baby, not to a Vaimicop! Leave me alone, woman!" - He grunted jokingly, causing her to smile.

"Yes, that's true. I'm glad we can finally see the girl. Still, it's a big event for our village, you could've worn an ornamented sash at least..."

"Mom, so the baby is really out of Auntie's belly now?" - The boy spoke as his green eyes shone with excitement. He could still remember how Auntie Amelia would come with a very fat stomach and claim that she had a baby in it, not food. Of course, he didn't believe her! Yet, she would come again and as time passed, he started to hear someone moving inside.

"Yes, Afald. The baby is now big enough to meet all of us!" - His mother nodded, as her delight was almost physical. She waited to see baby Mirta for so long! Elia also missed her bestie who, due to the tradition, wasn't allowed out of the house's premises. She was glad that at least Kelm was out and served as an informant, talking about his daughter all the time.

The family of three quickly made their way to the house, greeting others on the path. Many were invited and now moved, rushing to get there in time.

***

'It's unexpectedly noisy here.' - Mirta thought as she sat on her Mother's laps, eating her first food that wasn't milk. Some kind of veggie porridge, which tasted really sweet and refreshing was fed to her, as her hands were too weak to do that themselves.

The morning started as usual. She woke up, got fed and then washed. Then Mother got a new baby-dress and hairpins she was made, and while putting them on, saw a very happy girl playing with frills on her hem. The fabric was soft to the touch and had some knitted flowers sewed on by the collar. Mirta loved the present and its design. She was also thankful to her Mom for putting away the hair in tiny ponytails. They grew really fast and now came to be almost shoulder-length, getting in her way all the time!

Mother savoured the results of her hard work for a short while and moved one, serving food on the table and feeding the rest of the family. As soon as the two parents had finished with their breakfast, the preparations for the arrival of the quests.

Cooking, cleaning and meeting newly arrived people were all done by her, while Father was taking over from that moment. He would engage in conversation with men and play with other children who came with their parents. All this while, Mirta was tide down with a cloth to her Mother's back and for some reason, her Mana-core felt a lot more active today. She could feel that it sending waves of energy as well as consuming Mana from the outside.

Since she was getting bored with monitoring the chores, she slipped into her Mind-space and observed her pretty sphere rotate and glitter with many colours and sparkling effects! As time passed, the core had gradually slowed down a bit and was no longer resembling a rainbow. Now it had only two transparent shades of colour twirling in the centre.

The Reddish piece was intertwining with a silver one forming different funny pictures. Hopping rabbits, smiling toys, talking flowers. Everything that could make Mirta entertained or intrigued was appearing there, captivating the mind of the child.

However, everything good has a tendency to finish.

As Mirta was watching her magic theatre, she felt that someone was waking her up, cancelling the remainder of the show. With a sorrowful sigh, she left her tiny world and opened her ruby orbs that overflowed with tears.

"Shhhh, shhhh, everything is fine, dear. Your mommy is here. Calm down." - Her Mother was swinging Mirta in the arms and stroking golden locks on the head of her sleepy daughter, calming the child. - "Wake up. Your guests and new friends are already here and are waiting for my little star to appear!" - She whispered gently.

"U-u-ugn..." - As unwilling as she was, Mirta decided to wake up. She rubbed her eyes and made up her mind to meet all of those new people!

"There you are!" - Father walked into the bedroom and snitched his tiny angel away from his Goddess. - "Let's go! Everyone is excited to finally meet you!"

He carried her inside of the guest room and as soon as he set a foot past the doorframe, the room turned silent. Mirta saw many men and women staring at her and couldn't help, but feel a bit out of place. She hid her face in her Father's shirt and grubbed him tightly asking for shelter.

Keim playfully furrowed his dark eyebrows and glared at their visitors.

"Who made my little Sun shy away?! Show me that man!"

The room remained silent, only to be filled with hearty laughter a second later.

"They are good people, don't worry." - He suddenly whispered to Mirta's ear and continued loudly, - "So?! Who was it?! Show your shameful self!"

"Me!" - A huge man with azure hair and black eyes stood up, pointing his thumb to his chest, - "I couldn't resist her cuteness and shamelessly stared at her baby face! No regrets!"

"Oh, really, Vun!?" - Kelm raised an eyebrow, - "I will make you pay for what you've done! Come here and face me like a man!"

The adults continued to drown in laughter and were unable to stop even if their stomachs couldn't bear it anymore. The children watch the show and laughed even if they didn't fully understand the reason.

"Calm down, idiots!" - A woman in an embroidered dress and charcoal hair stood up and fiercely glared at the two clowns with her emerald eyes. - "How dare you make a show at of this occasion?! Look at poor Mirta, she is frozen from shock!"

Everyone's attention was shifted back to the heroin of the event who was trying her best not to cry from all of the funny and ridiculous stunts before her.

"But, Elia! Look, she's having fun!"

"No, she doesn't!" - unexpectedly, another woman sided with Elia and berated them.

"Of course, she does!" - One by one, the room was divided into two groups. Most of the woman and some men were claiming the child to be shocked, while the other half was defending and counterattacking their opponents. The rest of the children were assembled into a tight circle and were standing on guard around a big cushion on which Mirta was seated. They were her castle and knights and were even repositioning themselves like true worriers with the help of older children.

"Let the war end!" - Suddenly, Mother's voice rang in the hall and everyone froze on spot. - "I, the great priestess, came to deliver a blessing upon the princess. Let me through!"

Mirta was still trying to wipe tears from the previous activity when she heard ger Mom and searched for her in the crowd. Everyone was slowly separating into two rows and lowered their heads in acknowledgement of the 'Priestess's holy presence', creating a straight path to the baby in the 'castle'. When everyone was fully dispersed, Mirta saw her Mother in a white, long gown and a golden sceptre in her hands walking towards her.

One of the older kids, who was playing a gate of the castle, moved to the side letting Amelia inside. She gently picked up the 'princess' and gave her a kiss on a cheek with words 'May you always be protected'.

As soon as she'd done that, everybody stopped their play and thanked Mirta for being born.

"Finally!" - a voice of an elderly woman resounded from the back, - "Let me through. I want to see my granddaughter already!"

Mirta glanced at her Mother and saw that she was happily smiling at the woman that came out of the crowd. She had beige hair and fiery-red eyes, just like Father had, but wasn't as tall as him though...

'Is she my Grandma?'

"Mother.' - Amelia lowered her head and flashed a grateful smile towards the woman, - "Thank you for helping us with setting up the play. I bet it was one of the best I saw!"

"Un. The play for your child will always remain the best in the hearts of parents. Trust me, I know." - Grandmother nodded in agreement and turned towards Mirta, - "Hello. My name is Gunya and I'm your Granny. nice to finally meet you, dear.

After the whole play-thingy was done, Grandma Gunya took Mirta away from her parents and headed to the backyard with all of the other children to let them play while mothers were setting up a table. She entertained her with baby games and when it was time to eat, reluctantly gave Mirta back to Amelia.

***

After the feast, most of the adults left but allowed children to stay and play for a bit longer. Kelm was busy looking after them and Mother left to clean the dishes.

Mirta was sitting in the corner on a pile of different cushions and playing with her toys alone. Since she was the youngest, she couldn't join others in their games. Come one, she couldn't even talk yet! occasionally, she would steal a glance at her Father, but the later was too preoccupied to notice it, causing Mirta to feel wronged.

'He is my Dad. He is my Dad, you can play with your own! He is my Dad!'

She started hitting her plushy toy with annoyance and just before she was about to start crying, a boy approached her with some other toys in his hands.

She instantly forgot about her previous worry and concentrated all of her attention on him. He had beautiful, silky indigo hair and bright jade eyes.

"I'm Afald!" - He stated proudly, - "I want to play with you, ok?"

Mirta thought for a second and solemnly nodded, meaning, 'Yes, I do welcome you in my territory.'

They played with dolls, horses, flowers and other toys. In the end, Afald built a fortress for the 'princess' and both of them fell asleep inside.

Amelia returned soon after and was overwhelmed by their cuteness and anger at her husband. How could he leave Mirta alone! Needless to say, he got an earful from her later that day.