It was getting much closer to the time of the sword-fighting competition, and Henry's nerves were at an all-time high.
His mother's constant fussing over him now that he was coming home more and more exhausted wasn't helping him feel confident in his abilities.
On more than one occasion, he had come home in the evening with bruises on him from training with the knights, who refused to hold back on him. These instances made Henry's mother swear she was going to give the knights a piece of her mind if she ever crossed paths with them.
No matter how old he got, his mother's overprotective nature would always embarrass him.
During training, Trenton figured that the best way for Henry to get stronger was to give him everything he had until he figured out how to protect himself. The knight justified his actions by saying Henry's natural talent would develop better this way.
Being so worn out after a morning of sword fighting and the rest of the day at the stable, Henry often missed dinner at his aunt's house. It had become a habit for him to wait for his mother to bring him a meal later at night.
After Henry stopped visiting Aunt Sylvia's house, she would occasionally come to their small house so she could see Henry for herself.
Whenever his aunt arrived, she would force him to drink a potion saying it would make him feel better by the morning.
As much as he tried to refuse, his aunt insisted and he was too tired to argue otherwise.
Henry sat at the table in his small house with his back towards the open flame where they cooked their meals. It soothed his sore back after getting beaten down earlier in the morning.
As he tried to relax, he watched his mom fuss over him and his aunt send him a barrage of questions.
This was his impression of women and he wondered if they were all so fussy. Maybe he would like it better if it were a woman his age worrying themselves over him.
Henry sighed, thinking of it being a princess.
When Celia and Sylvia realized they had lost Henry, his mom snapped in front of his face.
"Are you listening, dear?" she asked. "You're too tired again! I'll tell those knights you're not showing up tomorrow."
Henry waved the suggestion away.
"Your life is going to be better if I get knighted, mother."
Celia knew her son only said mother instead of mom when he was irritated with her. She had to sit down to calm herself. She was getting too excited over the thought of facing knights on her own.
As the conversation shifted, Sylvia became interested in her sister's writing.
She had gone out of her way to bring more ink and more paper so her sister could continue writing without having to worry about the price of materials.
Henry thought her behavior was strange considering she had never shown interest in his mother's writing before now. He remembered a time when Aunt Sylvia told her it might be better for her to get a more consistent job.
Sylvia then asked her sister what she thought would happen if Henry were to win the sword-fighting competition and Celia went off on a long rant about true love and riches.
However, she started talking about going away to war and Sylvia's eyes widened.
"Don't you think that's a little bit dark for a romance story, sister?" Her face grimaced as if it were a ridiculous idea. "You always stick with love stories and let the love story play the largest role in your work."
"Trust the artist!" Celia shot back. "It always ties up in the end."
Sylvia looked more stressed at her sister's words, but she didn't press any further.
Henry listened to their conversation and wondered if he ever sounded that crazy. He was heavily influenced by his mother's writing and became a daydreamer all because of her.
At the beginning of his training with the knights, he had to figure out a way to stop daydreaming whenever there was a sword in his hands. It was probably a good exercise for his focus, but he would keep his shameful thoughts to the grave and never tell a soul.
Soon he excused himself, hardly being able to hold his eyes open any longer.
He tried to be polite but seeing his aunt and mother interact wiped the energy out of him completely. They had too much energy and were completely relentless with their questions.
As he removed his clothing and settled into bed, he rested his head in his hands and stared at the ceiling above him.
Henry wondered if the knights that were training him had saved a princess before or other women from the nobility. Growing up he always heard about how beautiful women of the high class were.
As he drifted off, he worried that he would never be able to impress a woman like that with his scrawny body and awkward personality.
+++
As Aunt Sylvia returned to her house on the cliff, she quickly locked her door behind her so she could resume what she was doing before her sister interrupted her with dinner.
She walked through her house and opened one of the back doors. There was one on the left for her bedroom and one on the right where she did most of her experiments.
She entered the door on the right and lit a candle in the room so she could continue working.
On the fire in her room was a smaller pot that was bubbling with some kind of clear, thick liquid.
There was a stack of paper on a shelf similar to what she had brought her sister earlier.
She grabbed tongs to pick up individual pieces of paper and started dipping them in the liquid one by one. When they were fully coated in the liquid, she hung them on a clothesline for them to dry and out and give to her sister.
Afterward, she put some of the hot liquid into a jar containing ink and corked it closed as tightly as she could.
As she observed her work, a smile spread over her face and she clasped her hands together.
"It's only a matter of time," she said to herself.
Sylvia unlit the fire in the other room and carried the candle to her bedroom so it could light her way as she moved.
Being alone most of the time, she was used to talking out loud to keep herself company.
As she settled into her bed and unlit the candle, she closed her eyes.
"Henry ought to feel much better tomorrow morning," she mumbled.
She had given him a healing potion, hoping it would help him get stronger more quickly.
Sylvia wondered if Henry could really win a sword fighting competition or if it would be too unbelievable.
It would be up to her sister to allow that to happen.