14-
"Why did you run away, Mark?" Miriel asked.
Moonlight poured through the windows, parting the shadows that enveloped the room. A lighted lamp stood on the table, casting a dim light on the room and their faces.
Mark sat across from her, playing with his hands.
"Hmm? What'd you say?" He faced her with his head tilted.
"Do you think they hate you? Or do you hate them?" Miriel narrowed her eyes.
"Don't make it a big deal. It's not even a problem." Mark shrugged
"Then why did you run? Was it merely that you found it awkward? Was that alone enough to make a merited soldier run away from a farmer?"
"Yes. People have things they don't like. You don't like tomatoes. It's not any different." He turned his head down and clasped his hands.
"They are people, Mark. Your people. Our people. If we are to be married, you cannot avoid them."
"You can just handle them. Isn't it enough that I deal with the nobles? I already have to learn these stupid manners and things. You hated it so much and you learn faster than I do."
"We can discuss that when Uncle Yorn is back, Mark. Stop evading and tell me why you keep avoiding them. Do you think they hate you?"
"They do!" Mark raised his head and glared at Miriel. He clenched his hands as his voice rose.
"There's no way they wouldn't. They didn't stop at the flooded ones, they blamed me for the whole harvest failing. Even the ones the water didn't touch. They didn't even care about my dad." He said.
"They didn't know that then. They only knew that you closed the sluice and the water overflowed. You only told them after about your father. And they apologised when you did." Miriel clenched the armrests as she raised her voice.
"Yeah. And then he died, and the crops died, and they put it all on me. They said I was cursed and shoved me away."
"They know now why the crops died.Two years back we found a silver mine. That was the reason why the crops died, not you. And even back then, only few of them pinned the blame on you."
"What would you know! You weren't there!" Mark stood and shouted. "They all gathered at night to decide how to kick me out! That's why I had to leave! That's why I became a soldier! That's why I went to the stupid barricade!"
"I was there at the stables!" Miriel rose and shouted back. "I was there when you stole the horse! I asked you to stay! I pleaded and begged but you still left! You left them, and me, Mark! You! Left! Me!"
Her clenched fists hurt. Her throat burned. Her eyes threatened to tear.
"And you know what?" She continued, "The people who gathered that night? They wanted to help you! They were persuading those that wanted you gone!"
Miriel's chest heaved, and so did Mark's, Their breaths filled the looming silence as the lamp-fire flickered and toiled.
"Do you hate them Mark?" Miriel asked, her voice soft and shaky. She stared at the floor with her head bowed.
"I don't know." Mark shook his head. "I only know I want to stay away from them." Mark replied, his voice lowered.
"Please Mark, if not for yourself, at least for me." She raised her head and stared at him, her eyes damp.
He grit his teeth, then replied, "I'll think about it."
He made for the door, opened it and left.
Miriel covered her eyes with her sleeve for a moment, then turned to the windows. The sky was dark and bereft of stars.
She carried the lamp and left the room.
-
There was a boy crouched on the street. He was crying and wiping his eyes with his hands. He sniffed and choked but kept crying.
A girl approached him and crouched in front of him. She peered at him until her face was right in front of his.
"Why are you crying?" She asked.
The boy kept crying and did not respond to the girl.
"Hey, stop crying for a moment and tell me why you are crying."
She held his hands and pried them from his face, but tears kept streaming down his cheeks.
"Waahhhhh." He only cried louder.
The girl frowned as she kept staring at the boy's crying face. Then she hit his forehead with hers.
"Ow, that hurt." The boy said.
She let go of the boy's hands and he rubbed his head.
"There, you finally stopped crying."
The boy did stop crying, but he was now glaring at the girl though his cheeks were still wet and so were his eyes.
"Here, wipe your years with this." She pulled a handkerchief out of her pouch and gave it to the boy.
He took the handkerchief and wiped his eyes and cheeks. Then he blew his nose with it.
After he finished, he handed it to the girl.
"Erm, you can keep that. I'll give it to you." She shook her head fervently. "Just make sure to wash it."
The boy nodded and stuffed the handkerchief inside his pocket. The girl winced as she watched.
With his eyes dry, the girl could now see the boy's brown irises, though his eyes were still red. His cheeks were round and his hair was short.
"So, why were you crying?" She asked the boy again.
"I miss my mom." This time he answered. He stared at the ground with his head bowed.
"Where is she?" The girl asked.
"My dad says she's gone. He said she's passed on and won't be back anymore." The boy's eyes squinted as he spoke. Tears were brimming at the corner of his eyes.
"So you are sad that she's gone?" The girl asked again.
"Mmm." The boy nodded his head.
"My mother has passed on as well." The girl said.
"Yours too?" The boy asked.
"Mm." The girl nodded.
"Where did they go?" The boy asked.
"Up there, far up in the sky. Someplace where they are very happy." The girl said. She pointed at the sky and they both turned their heads upward.
"My mother said instead of being too sad about her passing on, I should be enjoying my time with my aunts and be happy instead. Like with Aunt Helen, or Aunt Dudriell, or Aunt Risley, or Aunt Carilla or Aunt…" The girl extended a finger with each name she spoke. She had seven fingers extended when she was finished.
The boy keenly watched the girl's hands as she spoke.
"Wow, you have so many aunts. I don't even have one. Only my dad. Can my dad be my aunt?" The boy said.
"No, your dad can only be your dad." The girl shook her head.
"But I can't be happy then because I have no aunts." Tears brimmed in the boy's eyes as they threatened to cry again.
"I know, let's go ask my aunts to be your aunts too." The girl stood and extended her hand to the boy.
"Can your aunts be my aunts too?" The boy asked.
He held the girl's hand and got up. He almost fell but the girl held him steady.
"Mmm." The girl nodded. "We will ask them to be your aunts. They are all very nice so they will definitely say yes. Then they will be my aunts and your aunts too." She bobbed her head.
"Really?" The boy said.
"Really. We can even make a promise." The girl replied.
"Promise?" The boy tilted his head.
"Here give me your pinky finger."
The girl took the boy's hand and locked her pinky finger around his pinky finger.
"Now we made a promise. That means it's definitely going to happen now."
The girl released her pinky. The boy beamed as he stared at his pinky finger.
"Let's go. They are at my house so we can go there right now." The girl clutched the boy's hand.
"Mmm." The boy nodded.
They ran off together.