Gerald said, “She is indeed. Indeed she is.”
They both laughed. This was going well. The girls were happy, and they accepted Gerald and I as family, and we were having a good time. Gerald and I had the girls sit in their own seats again, and we enjoyed more lemonade together. Eventually, Gerald went back to the farm to oversee more of the work there.
The work at the farm was going very well. The fields were plowed and planted. The skinners were finished with the hides and bodies. And the only people at the farms were the actual farm workers, not their families and everyone else from the village. Things were returning to normal. It would be a while before they could harvest any food, but it seemed assured that there would be food when the time came. And more than normal. Gerald had planted about fifty percent more land than normal. He expected to sell the extra food very quickly to merchants from other villages. He also knew that they had been planting more than usual for themselves, not counting on being able to buy from Gerald because of the troubles. It would all work out in the end somehow.
The children and I went home after a while. The house was busy. And I wasn’t really part of it. I could have been, but I didn’t need to be. The ladies arranged the house and disposed of the remainder of Alice and Brenda’s belongings, clearing out their old house and bad memories.
That night, I slept with Val and Dawn. In the morning, it was more of the same. And I felt out of place. I felt bored, frankly. But so did Jack and Harmony. The three of us became playmates.
Chapter 28 - With Jack and Harmony
After breakfast, the three of us headed out to the meadows. We took our weapons and a picnic. When we were away from the village, about three quarters of the way to the orchards, we stopped and I began training Jack and Harmony with the wooden swords. The ones that I had were both too big for Jack, but I told him that I would help him make one the right size as soon as we could.
He tried to convince me that we could get the woodworker to make one for him, but I explained that a warrior apprentice needed to make his own. Jack understood that immediately and agreed to work hard. I gave Harmony a look, and she smiled and agreed to make her own sword as well. I told them that the first ones might be a bit rough, but that as their sword skills got better, they would work on better weapons as well. I showed hem the differences between the one that I had made and the one that I had received from the man here in the village. It had been made by one of my ancestors, and was finer than my workmanship by far. It was difficult for them to see how, but it was very apparent to me.
I showed them the five basic strikes and we practiced for an hour. Jack was more patient and more diligent than I had expected. Both of them learned quickly. When I told Jack how proud I was of him, he smiled and told me that it was because he was part elf and so it was easy for him.
I said, “Jack, tell me more about being part elf.”
He said, “You know. So does Harmony.”
Harmony said, “But how do you know about it? Do your sisters and mothers know?”
We sat together on the grass and he said, “I told them, but they think it’s a story.”
Harmony said again, “But how do you know about it?”
Jack said, “Well, if I squint just right, and kind of quit thinking, then I can see elves. Like this.” Jack squinted his eyes and said, “See, Ronin looks like a kind of orange cotton ghost. And so do you. And you both are really strong, like each other. Like even more than Grandma Lucy. The other ones, besides our family, is just Lucy and Grandma Jean. Oh, and that old lady who lives by herself. Some of the others, the ones my age, say that she’s a witch, but that’s not true. She’s a strange kind of one like us. Not like Delilah was. Like more fuzzy when I look at her. I like her. She knows me. We don’t talk about it, but sometimes she winks at me and says, ‘Hello elf boy’, but no one pays any attention. And I say, ‘Hello elf lady’. She’s three hundred years old.”
I laughed and said, “Jack, don’t say that. She can’t be that old.”
Harmony cleared her throat and said, “Well, actually, she probably is. When I was young, she treated me the same way. She’d wink and say, ‘Hey little elf girl’. She told me that she was about three hundred years old. There’s no reason not to believe her.”
I said, “We should get to know her.”
After that, we ran for a while to strengthen our legs and lungs. Harmony could outrun me, but I might have been able to keep going longer. Jack was in good shape, but wasn’t as fast and couldn’t go as far. He probably wouldn’t until he grew up a bit more.”
The next time we stopped he said, “You can’t marry your sister. And I wouldn’t want to anyway.”
I said, “Jack, why do you say that? You’re right, you can’t, but why do you mention it?”
He said, “Because there’s no elf girls my age. So, who will be my wives? I know it’s a long time away, and now Harmony is your wife, so she can’t marry me, but who will I marry? It has to be an elf girl.”
I said, “Jack, that’s a good question. But, I don’t think that we’ll have any trouble finding a nice girl for you. I think that where I am from, there must have been more elf girls than I knew about. And your mothers came from somewhere. There must be more elf girls there, too. When you are older, you and I will travel around and find one to fall in love with you. We will try my home village first. I bet that I have a cousin who would be just right for you.”
He said, “OK, good. What about the rest?”
I said, “The rest?”
He said, “Yeah, the other two. You can’t have just one because you have to go to Adventures, and she would get lonely. And you can’t have just two because then they compare themselves and argue. Like April and Tanya. That’s why we had Harmony with us. You need three, at least. That way, they all feel the same and nobody can be unhappy. That’s why you had to have Harmony. Because you had Lady Valeera and Lady Dawn already. And you can have more, like my moms, but you have to have three, at least. Where will we find the other two for me?”
I said, “I’m sure we won’t have to worry about that. I didn’t even look for Dawn and Valeera and all of them. They just came to me. Remember how you told me that your mothers had to be with me because no one else would do? I bet that if you and I go traveling, the right elf girls will run up to you and say that you are the right one for them and you won’t even have to look.”
Harmony said, “Jack, he’s right. I knew that he was coming before he ever got here. And I knew that he was meant to be my husband. It will be the same for you. I’m sure of it.”
Jack said, “But when do I get to kill a monster? Not a big one, but one my size. Like one of the little giant rats at the farm? I have to become a hero before the elf girls find me.”
I said, “Jack, I’m going to teach you everything I can. But I want you to promise me very solemnly. Promise me that you will only look for adventures when I am with you. You are my apprentice, and you have to follow orders. Even if they don’t seem fair sometimes. I know what I’m doing, and you have to trust me.”
Jack smiled and said, “I’m eight. I’m not stupid. Only stinky stupid trolls don’t listen to their master. Duh.”
Harmony laughed and said, “Yeah, duh.”
After our break, we practiced some more, working on the five basic strikes, and then how to block each one of them. Then we practiced together, beginning to very carefully work as partners.
When we got back to the house, later in the day, we were met by the women, and three workmen.
Alice came to us and said, “The furniture maker suggested that instead of making new beds and furniture, that we use items from the empty homes nearby. The property agent for the village opened up two houses for us and told us to take what we wanted. These men offered to move all of it for us.”
I held out my hand and greeted each of the men. I had met all of them before, either in the market, or at the farm. I thanked them, but told them that I would have done the work, or at least
helped them.
One of them smiled and pointed at me and said, “Uh, monster hunter,” and he winked at me.
The others pointed at themselves and said, “Uh, furniture mover,” and we all laughed.
The first said, “Seriously, Sir Ronin, let us do these things for you. It’s no trouble. We work here, or at the farm, or somewhere else for the good of the village. Getting you settled, and our friends and their children into a new house with a husband, is a pleasure for all of us. If you needed it, you could have a hundred of us here, just like you did at the farm. And the three of us are builders as well. Nordren, the housing agent, told us that you will have one of these other houses soon, and will need some work done. He said something about secret passages, and secret tunnels?” and he man grinned at Jack.
Jack said, “Well, we have to keep our voices down if we talk about that.”
The man, Josef, said, “Well, there will be plenty of work. The three of us are at your disposal. Once the house is chosen, we will go over it with a careful eye and make sure that it is all in good shape. And trap doors, passages, and tunnels won’t be problem. I think I understand entirely.”
I said, “Well, if it isn’t too much trouble.”
He said, “It will be no trouble at all. None at all. If the houses are next to each other, a false wall near each of the stairways, on the upper and lower floors. Tunnels underground. If the house is across the street, we could do a flying walkway between them above the street.”
I said, “The secret walls sound easy enough, but tunnels might be too much work, Jack.”
Josef smiled and said, “Naw, Jack knows what he’s talking about. He’s been there, haven’t ya, Jack?”
Jack said, “Sure, lots.”
Josef said, “The whole village has an underground for plumbing and sewage and such. It’s hardly used at all. There’s a trap door, probably more than one, in most houses. There’s a bolt and everybody keeps them locked. In fact, most folks probably don’t even know about them. So, we can do a bit of cleaning and sprucing up and make sure you got a good stairway up and down, Maybe put in a door or two to keep others out of your section, and there you go. Not so much work at all.”
It seemed like the men had everything handled, and they went back to work.
Alice said, “Have you three been having a good time?”
Jack said, “We’ve been training hard. Ronin is better than even my Captain of the Guards. So is Harmony. We just started learning, but she’s better already. The old woman who’s an elf is three hundred years old, right?”
Alice smiled and said, “Well, I don’t thinks she’s that old. And she isn’t really an elf. That’s just a game she plays with you.”
Jack said to me, “See, they don’t believe it at all. How can they be elf princesses if they don’t even know that they are ones? It’s so frustrating.”
I smiled and said, “I bet it is. We’ll straighten it out soon.”
Jack said, “I know there’s still time, but we have to make them understand. Otherwise, Tanya and April could be fooled by a man. One who isn’t right for them. Then he’d have to get killed by kobolds in the orchard. Our moms are safe now, because you made us all safe but Tanya and April have to know about making sure that they wait for a prince.”
I said, “Jack, you are absolutely right. We’ll take care of it very soon, I promise.”
He said, “It’s frustrating.”
Alice said, “Jack, what are you upset about? April and Tanya aren’t in any danger.”
Jack sighed and gave me a look of exasperation.
I said, “We were talking earlier about who we will find for Jack to marry someday. She, I mean they, have to be elf princesses or it won’t work. I told him that it would all work out OK, and that he would be as happy as we are.”
Alice said, “Oh Jack, of course it will.”
Jack said, “Ronin, they believe you even when they don’t believe you. You have to teach me how to be a man and let people know what is what. So that they believe me even if they don’t know what I’m talking about.”
I said, “Jack, I’ll teach you everything I can. Hey, it’s OK with me, if one of the workers isn’t busy, if you and Harmony want to have him show you where the trap doors are. You can even go down them, if Harmony says it’s OK. But let her be the leader.”
Harmony smiled and said, “Come on, Jack! Let’s do it,” and the two of them ran off.
I didn’t mention the thing about being elves again, and Alice didn’t even notice. I wanted to talk to Lucy about it before we talked to Alice, Brenda, and the girls. The rest of the family was busy, either getting new clothes or arranging bedrooms, or making sure that we had enough food for all of us. Food would be a bit scarce, but we would be OK. We wouldn’t plan any big banquet's though.
I would have wanted company, and maybe some time for ‘wifely things’ with at least one of the girls, but this wasn’t really the right time for it. I wandered round the house for a while, not finding anything to do, and eventually, I asked if April could be spared to go to the market with me. She jumped at the chance, and we hurried off. I didn’t really want anything, and we went straight to the inn and I ordered us both lemonade.
We sat and chatted, getting to know each other, and after an hour or so, we headed home. We got here just in time for April to help get dinner ready. Alice took me by the arm and led me upstairs to the big bedroom.
Inside, she closed the door behind us and said softly, “Ronin, before diner, you can relax and let the day fall away.” She began to undress me. She said, “It hasn’t been a hard day, but nonetheless, you need to prepare for the evening. It will be dinner time soon, and as the master of the house, you will set the tone for all of us. Relax and be at peace for a while. And when you go to dinner, bring peace to all of us.”
Alice and I ended up making love for a little while, and I was very relaxed when I went down to dinner.
The following day was much like the previous, except that even less happened that involved me.
The land agent caught me as I walked around the village and showed me the map that he was proposing for my land at the kobold cave. The boundary started half way between the orchard and the cave opening. It was delineated on each side by natural creeks and gullies that flowed down from the hills. The boundary at the back was the base of the hill itself. It turned out to be roughly two square miles. The size wasn’t important to me, just that it contained the caves and most of what was above them. And right now, all we knew about them was that there was an opening at the front, near the orchards. The two of us sat at the inn for a little while discussing things, but there wasn’t much to really do.
The other matter was with the housing agent. He had worked out a complicated trade, involving three other parties, and he wanted to get an approval from me before he proceeded. He found me at the inn, but we went to meet at our house, where the women could give their input as well. One option, the one that we settled on, involved us taking over the front wing of both houses adjacent to us, as well as the one across the street. For some reason, it also involved moving another resident from a different spot in the village to allow one of my neighbors to move to that house. It seemed like too much to inconvenience so many people, especially someone who wasn’t even directly involved, but he assured me that everyone was happy with the results. The person who was not a neighbor had actually approached him and said that they would be moving very soon anyway and offered to give up their house to make it all work for me. I decided that I would have to thank them in person and see if I could do something for them.
This arrangement doubled the size of our house. We decided that offices and work rooms would be across the street. The children’s rooms were to the left of the front door, and additional guest rooms or other rooms that we had no purpose for yet, on the other side, on the right. The builders would come the next day and start on doors between the main house and the children’s wing first thing in the morning. Al
ice and Brenda said that it would take at least a week or more to get things mostly settled, but that they would take care of all of it.
That night at dinner, Lucy was with us. I took her aside for a talk, and then announced to everyone that we would be going on a picnic for a few hours the following day. They could get everything sorted out with the workmen, and we would leave an hour before lunch and go to the pools to play and see a surprise for them. I told April that she would stay with Tanya and Jack for the day. I explained that I would take them and show them the surprise later, but that I needed to talk to the women about it first.
None of the children seemed very disappointed. Jack was planning to make sure that the builders put the secret passages in the right places, and the girls wanted to keep working on the decorations. They could start arranging their own bedrooms, even if the doors between the main house and the new wing wasn’t done yet. The other wings wouldn’t be ready until the current occupants were moved out.
But that was tomorrow. After dinner, Brenda and Alice cleaned up and got the children off to bed.
Chapter 29 - Morning with Widow-Wives
I woke up early. Brenda and Alice were both with me. The children had insisted that that Brenda and Alice get to sleep with me, and the others had readily agreed. We had gone to bed tired; at least the women were tired. But this morning, I was raring to go.
The girls were lying on each side of me, wearing short nightgowns. I turned to my right, to Brenda, and rolled half on top of her and kissed her gently.
She stirred and said, “Oh, good morning,” and she smiled and stretched.
I reached down and gently began caressing her lovely breast with my left hand, and grinned at her and gave her a questioning look.
Brenda smiled back at me and I rolled her onto her stomach.
Lying on top of her, I said, “Shush, let’s don’t wake Alice yet.”
Brenda spread her legs wide and pushed her rear into my groin. She was immediately met the head of my stiff erection, and we shifted our bodies slightly so that I was lined up with our target between her lovely thighs. Reaching under her chest with both hands, I took hold of her breasts and squeezed gently. Brenda pushed back against me again, and I pressed forward.
The Edge of Harmony: The Guardian Maidens Book 2 Page 26
