As we worked, I reflected on my relationship with Lia and how comfortable I had become with her. I counted her as one of the few people I had ever known that I could spend hours with in complete silence, without ever feeling the awkward urge to force a conversation. When we did talk, I spoke happily and without restraint. As we broke for lunch on our third day of work, sitting on our half-finished porch with our legs swinging off the side, we held a spirited half-hour-long argument about which flavor of jam was best on toast; we failed to reach a resolution on the topic, but the memory of the conversation kept us laughing quietly to ourselves for the rest of the day.
On the fourth day of construction, as the morning sun crested the treeline, Lia and I stood at the edge of the clearing hand in hand and marveled at what we had built. “It’s...done,” she said quietly, sounding a bit like she didn’t believe the words.
“It’s done,” I confirmed. “Now comes the fun part: filling it with stuff. Our stuff.”
“We don’t have much stuff,” she giggled.
“Well then, I guess we’ll have to get some, won’t we?”
She hugged my arm tightly and stared at our new home. “Can we show my parents now?”
“That’s probably a good idea. I’m sure they’ve been worried about us ever since the first night we didn’t come back to sleep,” I laughed.
“Ooh...right. I sort of forgot about that,” she replied, pursing her lips. “I’m sure we’ll hear about that when we get back.”
Despite the potential scolding waiting for us, we began our trip through the forest to meet Lia’s parents. She led the way at a brisk pace, dashing down the path we had already walked dozens of times before. Luckily for us, a quick scan ahead revealed that Marten, Hana, and Marin were all gathered around the dining room table, enjoying a late breakfast. The house came into view after a comfortable ten-minute jog, and Lia sprinted ahead excitedly. “We’re back!” she shouted as she popped out of the treeline.
Marin appeared in the doorway as Lia climbed the steps, and the girls shared a tight hug. “Oh, Lia, thank the Primes you’re back!” Marin exclaimed, shaking Lia back and forth. “I’ve been so bored since you left! Nothing but paperwork and bookkeeping all day.” She stuck her tongue out and made a retching noise. Our eyes met as she finished the gesture, and she smiled. “Hi, Lux. How’s the house coming along?”
“Hi Marin,” I waved as I caught up to Lia. “We were just stopping by to see if you’d like to come visit.”
She dropped Lia and leapt down onto the grass beside me. “Yes, please! Which way is it?” she asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet as her head swiveled to scan the surrounding trees.
I shook my head and laughed. “You’re going to need shoes, Marin. It’s a bit of a walk.” She sighed loudly before running back up the steps and slipping between Marten and Hana, who had appeared in the doorway. “Good morning!” I waved to them.
“Hello, Lux,” Hana greeted me warmly as she leaned down to plant a kiss on Lia’s head. “Hello, dear. How’ve you been?”
“I’m, uh, good,” Lia answered, giving her mother a quick hug. “Sorry we didn’t come back.”
“No need to apologize, darling,” Marten laughed, “we know you’re busy.”
She took a step back in shock. “Wait, really? You aren’t mad?”
He shook his head. “Marlia, you’re a grown woman. We know you can take care of yourself now.” He glanced side to side, then leaned into her ear to whisper. “Besides, Marin is more than capable of occupying our time. That girl is...something else.” The trio shared a laugh as they stepped out of the door and down onto the grass. Marten turned to me and clapped me roughly on the shoulder. “So, Lux, how’s the build going? I trust you’ve been keeping my daughter busy for the past four days.”
“She’s been excellent company, and a fantastic building partner,” I answered with a smile. “We were hoping you’d all like to come see the place, now that it’s finished.”
He scoffed. “Finished, he says.” He turned back to Hana, chuckling to himself. “We’d love to see where you’ve chosen to build, wouldn’t we, dear?”
“Of course,” Hana nodded. “It’ll be nice to get out of the house for the afternoon.”
Marin reappeared from inside the house, sporting a comfortable pair of shoes and a light jacket. “What are we waiting for?” she asked, waving her hand over her head as she made her way towards the forest. “Let’s go!”
“It’s this way, Marin,” Lia yelled across the clearing as the rest of us entered the woods on the northern side of the house, opposite of where Marin had charged off. She caught up to us a moment later with a sheepish grin, and we made our way north through the unmarked forest. After an uneventful hour of walking, the telltale sound of our nearby stream told us we had arrived. “We’re here!” Lia announced as the clearing slowly came into view.
Marten stopped at the treeline and stared at the completed structure in complete awe. “That’s...you couldn’t have...but, you just…” he babbled, looking between Lia and myself for an explanation. “That’s a house! A whole house!”
Hana patted him gently on the back as he continued to sputter. “He’ll be fine,” she assured us with a smile. “Go on ahead.”
Marin took the suggestion to heart and ran ahead across the lawn. “It’s so beautiful!” she shouted as she circled the house, disappearing around the back corner.
As Lia and I approached, I couldn’t help but bask in the beauty of what we had built. The building stood two stories tall with a rough wood exterior and red slate shingles that matched the leaves of the surrounding trees. A deck sprouted out midway along the front face of the house and ran around the left edge, bordered with a thick railing and partially covered by a slanted wooden awning. A simple red door and a stone staircase stood at the right corner of the house, positioned only a few yards away from a thin path through the trees that led towards the stream.
When Marten had recovered from his initial amazement, we all entered the house together. Although it was entirely empty of furnishings, it was still a sight to behold. The first floor was entirely open apart from a staircase near the center of the house, which bisected the space into two distinct rooms. The front door deposited us into what would eventually be a dining room, adjacent to a kitchen space with counters and cabinets and a door that led to a small pantry room. Large emberwood timbers stood at equal intervals throughout the space, supporting the second story above our heads.
As we moved down the length of the house, the ceiling disappeared as we passed the staircase, leaving the space open up to the roof two stories above us. Long windows lined the outside wall to our left, which looked out onto the deck and let copious amounts of natural light into the living area. A large stone fireplace sat in the middle of the far wall, and a door led out onto the sitting area of the deck. Behind us, the staircase led up to a second-floor balcony that ran the width of the house. The lofted space was split into three rooms that would eventually become bedrooms once we began the process of furnishing.
Lia and I leaned against the fireplace mantle with wide grins as our guests explored the house. Marin dashed up and down the stairs several times, examining every room on the second floor and the empty basement in an excited fervor. Marten moved at a significantly slower pace, stopping to examine various aspects of our craftsmanship every few feet; Hana consistently ushered him along when he dawdled for too long, nodding patiently as he admired and explained various techniques we had used. It became clear that his inspection would outlast our patience, so we waved Marin over and moved outside to the deck.
“This place is really amazing, you two,” she said once we were outside. “I still don’t know how you built it yourselves. And so quickly, too!” She spun and leaned back against the railing as she stared at the structure. “I wouldn’t believe it if I weren’t standing right here, staring at it.”
“It took over a full journal of planning, plenty of studying, four days of hard wo
rk...and some magic,” I said. “To be fair, I still can’t believe how well it went myself.”
“Magic,” she murmured, ignoring the rest of my statement. “Are we still doing that? The combat and magic training?”
“As soon as you’re ready,” I nodded.
The fuzzy ears that were usually folded atop her head perked up at the offer. “I’m ready now!”
“Okay, maybe not as soon as you’re ready,” I laughed. “How is your business with Marten going?”
She sighed. “We’re meeting with various businesses every morning for the next...forever. Elise set us up with all of the companies that don’t work with her for various reasons, to see if we ‘can meet their needs in a more effectual, personalized manner than a larger organization could provide,’” she said, mimicking Elise’s voice.
“That wasn’t half bad,” Lia giggled. “If you’re going to be busy every morning, how about this? We’ll meet you at my parent’s house at noon, bring you here for training, and take you back at sundown? That should give you plenty of time for your business meetings, and it gives us time for our own work back here.”
“Yes!” Marin answered hurriedly. “I’m ready! Can we start tomorrow?” she asked me with large, excited eyes.
“That’s up to your teacher,” I said with a grin, nodding towards Lia.
Marin gasped. “You’re going to be teaching me?!” She grabbed Lia by the shoulders and hugged her briefly, then shook her side to side. “Can we start tomorrow? Please? Please!”
“Okay, okay!” Lia laughed, fighting for control of her own body. “We can start tomorrow.” Marin leapt up with a victorious warcry, but Lia stepped forward and put a hand on her arm. “This isn’t going to be all fun and games, Marin. It’s hard work. You’ll be more sore and more tired than you ever have been before. Do you think you can handle that?”
“I can do it, I promise! I won’t let you down.” She hugged Lia again, then hopped over and hugged me as well. “Thank you, both of you. You won’t regret this!”
I smirked as I patted her head, thinking back to Lia’s first few days of training. We won’t regret this, but you might. With our important conversation out of the way, we showed Marin around the property, leading her out to the stream and up to the spring that fed it. Her exuberance was on full display as she immediately kicked off her shoes and splashed out into the stream, wading around the shallow areas and drinking deeply from the crystal-clear water. To my great relief, she was perfectly content with entertaining herself and didn’t attempt to draw us into the water along with her.
When our excursion was finished, we returned to find Marten and Hana leaning against the deck railing, quietly staring up at the house. “You’ve built something special here, you two,” he said as we came into view. “You should be proud. We certainly are.”
“Awww,” Lia said, catching her parents in a group hug. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
“Yes, thank you,” I echoed. “I’d invite you in for some supper, but we’re a bit light on food at the moment. And on furniture.”
Hana laughed. “It all comes with time. Until then, we’d love to have you visit for dinner as much as you’d like.”
“I think we’ll take you up on that,” I answered. “Until we really get ourselves established out here, we might be over to visit quite a bit. Not that I’ll complain; I’ll take any excuse to keep eating your cooking.”
“In that case, why don’t we head back now for lunch?” she suggested. The idea garnered unanimous support, and we all filed down from the deck toward the woods.
I rested my arm around Lia’s shoulders, grinning, as we walked at the back of the party. “Apart from eating your food, I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot of us, regardless. We’ll be by every day at noon to pick up Lia’s new student.”
Marten and Hana stopped and looked between the two girls with amusement, which brought a blush to Lia’s cheeks as she looked away. “You’ll be teaching her, Marlia?” Marten asked. He let out a sharp bark of laughter. “Oh dear, Marin. You’re in for it now.”
“What’s THAT supposed to mean?” Lia yelled defensively.
“I still remember when you tried to teach me letters,” he said through a toothy grin. “It was...not a gentle experience.” Lia sulked at the accusation but offered no rebuttal.
Marin laughed. “It’s going to be great! We’re starting tomorrow, as soon as I’m back from our meetings.” Her statement reminded Marten of their impending business ventures, and the conversation quickly shifted away from Marin’s training as we made the trip south to the Corells’ house. Lia was quiet, but her face softened over the course of our walk, and her mood seemed much improved by the time we arrived.
The remainder of our day was filled with food, conversation, and multiple rounds of cards. Compared to the last time we had seen it, the Corells’ house was nearly overflowing with their belongings, both old and new. The hallways were lined with bureaus, chairs, and other large pieces of furniture, all part of a matching set crafted from emberwood and upholstered with thick green and blue fabric. Crates from Marten’s business sat in the corners of every room, still packed with the belongings we had been able to save before fleeing Kaldan. When the sun had set, Lia and I quickly moved the larger pieces of furniture to their intended destinations before preparing to leave. With her parents’ blessing, we said our goodbyes and left with a crate full of Lia’s clothes and keepsakes and the mattress from their guest room.
The night sky was overcast and dark, but I required neither Detection nor my enhancements to find our well-traveled path. Our trip started in silence, but a growing look of concern on Lia’s face soon culminated in a question.
“Do you think I’m going to be a good teacher?”
“Of course I do,” I answered matter-of-factly. “You have a fantastic teacher, so I’m sure some of that will trickle down.”
“I’m being serious, Lux.”
“I am, too! At least, with the part where I believe you’ll do well.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. What if I’m too mean, and Marin quits training just like my father did?”
“Lia, you don’t have a mean bone in your body,” I answered. “Well...maybe one of the tiny ones, like a finger bone, but that’s all.” I nudged her with the corner of the mattress until a small smile lit up on her face. “In all seriousness, I think the best way to prepare to be a teacher is to be a good student. You’ve already got that down, so I’m sure you’ll do great.”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it this way. Marin is going to be in the same position you were a few months ago; she has no prior combat training and absolutely no idea of what she’s getting herself into. When you were in that position, what did I do that helped you the most? What did I do that made you frustrated? With all of the knowledge you’ve gained since then, what would you go back and tell that version of you to help you through it?” I let the thought linger as our house came into view through the trees. “If you can answer those questions, you’ll be an even better teacher than I was.”
We paused our conversation for a moment as we fought the mattress through the front door and up to our empty master bedroom. “Also, don’t forget what you did on your very first day of training,” I laughed as I tossed the mattress to the floor and began to disrobe. “Fifty repetitions of each of the basic swings I taught you. Not a very complicated lesson.”
“I don’t think I’m going to start like that,” she chuckled as she fished through her crate, retrieving a blanket and her nightgown.
“Oh, already changing things on the first day?” I walked around behind her and grabbed her around the waist, catching her midway through changing for bed. “Tell me, professor,” I said, speaking softly into her ear, “what could I have done better?”
She spun me around and shoved me backwards onto the mattress, then followed up by throwing a pillow into my face. “You could have not started with
fifty repetitions of every basic swing.”
I put a hand to my chin and considered her statement with exaggerated care. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” I concluded with a laugh.
After slipping into her nightgown, she joined me on the mattress and spread a heavy blanket over us. “Thanks for the advice, Lux,” she said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I feel a lot better about tomorrow now.”
“Anytime, love,” I said, pulling her close. “If you’re ever feeling overwhelmed and need some help, I’ll be right here. We’re in this together.”
“Together, forever,” she murmured, curling up against my chest.
I smiled, but I felt a heavy pang of longing deep in my heart as I heard the promise echo in Amaya’s voice a thousand times in my memories. Forever, I thought sadly. I don’t think I know what that means anymore.
***
9. CURRICULUM
“Lux, where did you get that?” Lia asked groggily, nibbling on a piece of hardtack with jam. She sat down at the bottom of the stairs and watched me as I worked on my new project in the center of the empty living room.
“I made it this morning,” I answered, not looking away from my work, “after you decided to sleep in. An hour ago.” I spun to shoot an amused glance in her direction. “That gave me plenty of time.”
“I was tired!” she whined, waving me off. “I need to be in top form for my first lesson with Marin this afternoon.” After another bite of breakfast, she hopped up and walked to my side. “So...what is all this?”
“This,” I said, stepping back to admire my work, “will be our curriculum for the foreseeable future.” Before us stood two newly constructed pieces of furniture: a large wooden signboard with blank sheets of paper nailed to its face in five organized columns, and a long table that held a small assortment of my personal effects.
Restart Again: Volume 3 Page 18
