The thin clouds scattered the morning light in luminous prismatic colors across the sky. The world below was still hazy, illuminated only by the scant pillars of light that found an opening through the clouds. It wasn’t especially cold, but enough so for breaths to come out as puffs of white vapor. Mit swung his hand around, fruitlessly trying to erase his lingering breaths.
“They don’t go away...”
Belgrieve laughed. “Ha ha... Strange, isn’t it? Now, let’s go home.”
The view from the hilltop was gradually getting colored in by the light of dawn. Belgrieve had always loved to see these changes happen at daybreak and in the moments that followed. With his morning patrol over, it was time for Belgrieve to return home. In the yard, he found Percival swinging his sword. Though the mornings were already getting chilly, Percival only wore a thin shirt up top, and his body was steaming.
“We’re back.”
“Oh, welcome. Nothing to report, I take it?”
“Same as always.”
“Percy, are you training?” Mit asked.
Percival grinned. “That’s right. Wanna join?”
“Yeah.” Mit puffed out his chest and rushed into the house to grab his wooden sword. Belgrieve followed in after him. It was much warmer inside, and Belgrieve hung up his cloak on the wall. The smoldering embers from last night’s fire had been replaced with a blazing fire, over which was hung a bubbling stewpot. Satie had been kneading the dough that had been left to rest all night when they came in, and she looked up from her work to greet him.
“Welcome back. The bread will take a while.”
“That’s fine. We’re going to go practice for a while. Where are Kasim and Graham?”
“They went out to meditate—Byaku too.”
Charlotte was sitting by the twins on the floor, where they seemed to be playing with their new dragon toy—a common sight in the mornings recently.
Belgrieve retrieved his sword and went out again to find Mit standing beside Percival and swinging his wooden sword like he did every day. Slowly, his form was beginning to come together. The three of them practiced their swings for some time. When they were done, they cooled down and washed their faces with the chilly, refreshing water from the well.
“You’re going to the mountain today, right?” Percival asked, drying his face with a towel.
“Things have mostly settled with the guild and field, for the time being at least. I’m going to gather some fruit and vines.”
“Is that part of preparing for the winter?”
“We’re stuck indoors all winter, after all. I generally keep busy with spinning yarn or basket weaving.”
“Things got pretty rowdy last winter. I wonder how it’ll be this year.”
“That depends on Ange... Well, they can’t just take off work every winter, so I don’t think they’ll be spending it here with us.”
Still, it was Angeline they were talking about—all bets were off. Even if she didn’t leave Orphen with that intention, it was easy to imagine her enjoying her life here so much that she’d forget herself all the way up to the first snowfall.
“Even if that does happen, the roads have been cleaned up, so she should still be able to get back in the snow...”
“What, you want her gone that badly?”
“Of course not. But there are people counting on her in Orphen. I can’t keep her held up here forever.” Belgrieve wryly twisted at his hair.
Percival burst out laughing. “What an earnest guy. Once she’s back, you will be the one who doesn’t want her to go back.”
“I...can’t really deny it...”
Mit tugged at Belgrieve’s sleeve. “I want to be with sis forever too.”
“Yeah...” Belgrieve smiled and patted the boy on the head.
After breakfast was over, everyone got to work on their own tasks. Charlotte took Mit and the twins with her to Kerry’s house, while Byaku went out to help with the farming. Kasim and Percival went to the river with fishing rods, Graham sat down with the orb and racked his brain over spell sequences, and Satie busied herself with cooking and cleaning. Belgrieve, for his part, left the house with a basket slung over his back and a packed lunch in hand.
The thin clouds from earlier had disappeared when the sun rose, leaving nothing but blue skies above. He crossed the plains and entered the forest. Some of the trees there were evergreen, but many had turned red and would scatter their leaves before long. Some of them were already bare, leaving a blue gap in the forest canopy. Forested land got a lot more sunlight now than it did in the summer. Mushrooms were growing wherever there was shade, but some were overripe and had already burst. A nearby bird flew from the thicket and took to the sky, loudly chirping. Looking up, Belgrieve noticed a branch wrapped in akebia vines, its fruit dangling tantalizingly below.
“Not happening,” he muttered, lightly kicking his peg leg against the ground. Tree climbing was not his forte. Collecting fruit from such high places had always been Angeline’s job. She was nimble and could swiftly clamber up any tree, and whenever she was around, they would always return with a basket heaping with mountain grapes and akebia fruit.
That’s right... It was just around this time of year that I first found her... It had been deep into the autumn season, just before the autumn festival. Back then, he had been searching for wild herbs at the behest of Old Caiya, the apothecary. But that was a long time ago—Caiya had passed on, and Angeline had grown up. Belgrieve heaved a deep sigh, wreathing his face in frost vapor. The fact that every little thing reminded him of Angeline made him smile wistfully. I guess I’m lonely after all... He could go on all he wanted about duty and responsibility, but if he was being honest with himself, he was always happier to have her around.
“I’m a hopeless father,” he murmured. He scratched his head before collecting himself and resuming his trek. The ground was gradually grading upward, and he meant to venture farther up the mountain today. Belgrieve had spent much of his time on desk work this year, and he yearned to be surrounded by trees for a while. From time to time, he would reach for low-hanging fruits and grapes or vines and put them in the basket. He continued his ascent, ever mindful of his surroundings. Foraging on his own was fun work, as far as he was concerned. When he led the children through the woods, he would always need to be attentive to them, so he could never allow himself to relax like this.
Finding a clearing, Belgrieve took the chance to catch his breath. He sat down on a nearby stone and drank a mouthful of water from his canteen. He could just see chimney smoke in the distance from this vantage.
“I’ve gathered a good amount of vines... And now...” When he had started, he’d meant to climb farther and look for cowberries too, but he thought better of it now. “No... I’ll wait.” It was a job best done when Angeline was around. Aside from wanting to actually get to eat some, she was especially looking forward to picking them herself. If he went on without her today and brought some back home, she’d end up eating them before she could look for them herself, and perhaps that would diminish the joy she felt.