12

Over the next few weeks, they prepared for the wedding. The village tried to build a house for Tiny, but he didn’t want one. He said he was only staying long enough to see Rosamund and Jared married, then he would be off on a journey to find his own family. Jared didn’t want Tiny to go but he insisted he needed to be with his own kind. In the end, Jared understood. In the mean time, Tiny slept outside with a leather tarp strung between buildings for cover. He didn’t get cold. While he was still with them, Tiny helped with new building projects, hauling stone from the mountains and stacking them into sturdy walls and he put new slate on roofs and mended chimneys. He also helped fell trees for furniture projects, easily striping bark and branches. People loved having him around and by the time the wedding arrived he was speaking in full sentences.

Sparky spent most of his time with the children. He would be invited to sleep over at different houses each night. He delighted in every thing he saw and was so happy to be with other people that his happiness was infectious. Whenever he was around people were laughing and even dancing. They found out one day that he knew how to play music. One of the villagers had a wooden flute and a lyre. Sparky would play the flute and make people weep and laugh. He played the lyre while others sang. Rosamund asked him to play some special music for their wedding.

The village made lots of extra candles for the wedding. They gathered evergreen branches and wove them into wreaths and garlands that were strung around the village square. They decorated the bows with holly berries, mistletoe and pinecones. In the morning before sunrise, venison and wild pig that had been caught over the past week were spitted over big pits and roasted. Fresh fish caught from the lake were layered around the pit and covered with rocks. Crab apples were brought up from cellars and baked into tarts and fresh wheat loaves were baked in the coals.

At noon everyone gathered in the village for the big wedding feast. They all ate together sharing food and ale. Sparky played his flute while they ate and during breaks in the eating some people sang while he played. When everyone had eaten their fill, Jared stood by the village wise woman with his parents on one side and Rosamund’s adopted mother, Sossa, on the other. He stood tall and clean, his black hair tied back from his face. He wore a new tunic in a pale blue cloth made by his mother. She had embroidered it around the neck in dark greens and blues. It was mid-day and the sun still shone bright.

Harolt, Rosamund’s adopted father, walked her down the village street with rays of sun shining on them. Sparky played a low powerful music on the lyre as they walked to Jared. Rosamund had on an uncolored dress which she had made herself and she had embroidered at hem, neck and sleeves in dark blues and greens. They reached Jared and Harolt placed Rosamund’s hand in Jared’s. They promised themselves and the village that they would work together for a better life, take care of each other and love each other. Rosamund handed the wise woman a cloth Rosamund had embroider with special symbols. They wise woman tied this cloth around Jared’s and Rosamund’s clasped hands. They were now married and they lived happily ever after.”

Everyone in the room clapped and cheered when Greydere finished his story. He bowed slightly to their acclaim. He bowed to Alena.

“An excellent story with a very happy ending. You have done wonders to take our minds off of our recent troubles.” Alena waved Marta over with a bowl of beer for Greydere. He took it from Marta with a nod of thanks and drained the dish in one gulp.

“Where did you hear such a story?” asked Alena.

“It is an old story of this very village and these very mountains,” said Greydere.

“Ah, Lady, we recognized it immediately when he began, but he told it better than most,” said Marta.

“I had not heard it before,” said Alena.
“Perhaps that is because you did not grow up in this town.” Greydere held out his bowl to Marta and she refilled it. He drank from it more slowly now that his thirst had been satisfied. He looked around the room. Everyone was still watching him. His eyes passed by the door and there he saw three people who had not been there when he had begun his story.

“It seems that Georg arrived while I was entertaining you madam. I will go now.” Greydere bowed to Alena. He bowed to the room. He walked over to Georg, whispered something in his ear. Georg smiled and nodded his head. Greydere nodded to Balder the Druid and Tomas the Magistrate and passed through the door to the outside.

Tomas came into the room and sat at the table. He joined the men already sitting there. Someone poured him a bowl of beer.

Balder the Druid took Georg to meet Alena. He took her hand and brought her fingers to his lips. She gestured for him to take the chair across from her. Balder joined Tomas and the other men at the table.

“Greydere is an interesting slave,” said Alena.

A puzzled looked passed across Georg’s face briefly then he smiled a brilliant big white smile. “Yes, interesting slave.” Georg chuckled.

“From where did you get him?” Alena looked at Georg with anticipation.

“Do you wish to speak of slaves in our brief time together today?” Georg was still smiling.

Alena looked away in embarrassment, pink blushing her cheeks. She changed the subject by asking Georg what he liked to do during his days when he was home and not traveling looking for brides.

Georg laughed. His laugh was hearty without be excessive. When he laughed, he smiled, showing perfect white teeth in a tanned and healthy complexion. Hi laugh and his smile were infectious. Alena could feel the spirit of the room lift from the one of peaceful relaxation left by Greydere when he had finished his story to one of jovial conviviality. People in the room laughed out loud with one another in a boisterous way that distracted them from their work. Leni was looking back at one of the groomsmen while she carried a large kettle of stew. He was telling her a joke and she looked at him, smiling and laughing at the punch line. She tripped on the hem of her skirt, bumping into Marta, her mother, sloshing hot soup down both their aprons. Luckily only a little spilled and the groomsman rushed to help. Georg laughed as if it was a play on a stage and this forestalled Marta boxing Leni’s ears for her clumsiness.

Georg smiled and laughed at everything. Alena found herself telling him the most mundane events of her day and he smiled as if her darning was the most interesting thing he had ever heard. While she had asked him questions about himself, he never really seemed to answer her questions. He managed to turn her questions back on her and getting her to talk at length about herself, her life and her people. She found this very disconcerting and got the feeling that he was lying about something but since he never really said anything she couldn’t figure out what he might be lying about.

She decided to ask very specific questions about his age, his family and things he might like to do. She very consciously asked her questions and kept answering until she got a definite answer. If she did not get a satisfactory answer, she made a mental note of the question he evaded and how he didn’t answer it. He was very spotty on personal information. He was born in the town of Neumarkt. He currently lived in the town of Haye and his rooms were in the hall called Stagmere. He was twenty five years old. He was the second son in his family and looking for a way to make his fortune. He spent most of his days hunting, practicing his swordsmanship and touring the region. He was not much of a drinker as he found he couldn’t get up the next day for a hunt if his head was fuzzy. His favorite color was green.
Questions, for which he did not give clear answers or any answers at all, included how many brothers and sisters he had, the season of his birth and the name of his mother. He also could not give clear answers as to what he required in a wife, whether he liked children or how he planned to help run her holdings if she chose to marry him. She could not put her finger on what the problem was with his answers. He seemed to respond to her questions but they were never quite right. For instance, when asked if he had any sisters he said that sisters were a brother’s greatest joy and then changed the subject quickly by asking her a totally unrelated question. When asked his mother’s name he responded with a poetic litany of the family tree, saying the name of the mother of the second son of Stagmere was Wilamina, the most beautiful mother and woman in the entire world. When she asked him which season he had been born in, he told her that he had always liked the fall the best, with its clear sky and air and the gold leaves. It season invigorated him and he could ride all day. When she asked him how he would help her run her estates, he smiled winningly and waxed eloquent on her intelligence and abilities. Weren’t the last few months proof that she was capable and knew what she was doing, and any man would be wise to defer to her knowledge and experience?

She could not come right out and say he was lying to her or somehow evading the truth. That would have been too rude. But she would tell Balder the Druid about their entire conversation. Perhaps Balder would understand why this man would not give her straight answers.

He was charming in all ways, though. She really liked him and thought he would be a happy, easy addition to their town. He was a big man, well muscled and his physique gave proof to his assertions that he spent much of his time at physical pursuits. He would be able to help in so many ways and his affable personality would help in dealing with the people and possibly even outsiders such as traders and the Roman government.

She thought she could also stand him for herself. He was a ruggedly handsome man and she thought they could easily be partners in life, if it weren’t for the nagging questions she had about him hiding something. She like his laughing blue eyes and while he had shaved his head completely smooth, an usual thing for a man in this area to do, his beard and mustache were a very light blonde that sparkled in the fire’s light. He had a gold hoop earring in his left ear and heavy golden bands around his thick with muscle wrists. His clothes were of the moss green color he favored, in an expensive close weave that appeared to be of the softest wool. His tunic was plain without any embroidery but it was obvious that much care went into it. His leggings looked new and barely worn. When she commented on this fact, he said he liked nice things and did his best to see that everything he owned was of the highest quality possible. During the time that he sat with Alena, almost two hours, he never looked at anyone else. He rose to leave, took her hand and briefly kissed her fingers. He turned and strode out of the hall without looking at or speaking to anyone else.

So far out of the thirteen possible men that she had to choose from for a husband, seven were account for and only two of those seven, Georg and Dierk, were possibilities. Two of the seven were now dead, murdered in their lovers’ bed and three were unsuitable for several reasons. She still had another six men to interview in the coming two or three days. She hoped that several more of these would be eliminated quickly and easily.

That evening, over a roast of venison, Alena told Balder the Druid about her conversation with Georg and how he seemed to be avoiding answering certain questions in a straight forward manner. Balder the Druid said he would speak with Georg at length to see if Balder could see what Alena was referring to. Balder thought that perhaps Alena was getting tired and restless with all of the interviews. It was not after all normal for her to spend her days inside sitting all of the time. She was an active woman who liked to be out and about the town helping people where she could with their ailments or just generally overseeing things and making suggestions or asking questions. Balder the Druid decided that the next day there would be no interviews and Alena could have a free day to do as she pleased. She was very grateful for his thoughtful kindness and said so.

Alena looked forward to the morrow, thinking about what she would like to do with her day. She got ready for bed, planning different things she might do with her day. No one had come seeking her herbs or her healing help, but she could check in on a few households with small children to see how they faired in this weather. Springtime brought on some colds that could quickly turn into flu which could easily take the life of a young child or even the very old. It had been several days, almost more than a week in fact, since she had checked on the records for the mines. That was something she needed to do too but the running of the salt mines went very smoothly and if she missed even a month or two, it would not really matter. She could inspect the village stores. They had communal warehousing for imported items such as wine and spices and a certain wares like cloth and pottery, but they never changed much either and unless a thief came through totally unnoticed by every town member, there really was no need for her to do that either. In the end, just before falling asleep in her big cozy bed, she decided to wait to see what the weather brought in the morning before deciding what to do. Maybe she would spend the entire day alone. That settled she thought about the two men who could possibly end up being her new husband, Dierk and Georg. She spent a few moments comparing the two in looks, visualizing them in her mind, only to have the face of Greydere intrude upon the pictures. She shook her head, wondering why he had pop into her mind and then fell sound asleep.