Ash, Acre, Alywick, Bellitra and Yon, these were the names of my new siblings after I died and was reborn.
The world I was reborn into had a medieval feel to it. We lived in a cottage along with our mother and our father who were peasant farmers. My fathers name was Rickhart Herodson, which made us the Herodson family. My mother was Lilicia Herodson, a rather beautiful woman who married a peasent for reasons unknown.
the shorter version of my new story, we were poor. Our livelihood depended on how good the produce from fathers farm sold, some years it was good, others not so good, but we still managed to get by.
I was Alywick by the way, the third son of Herodson. I grew up well regardless of my new poor background, however times such as these do not last for long. It happened when I was just 7 years old, the worst harvest the kingdom had ever seen. The rains that year were unrelenting and fierce, and they either drowned or destroyed crops. The winter was no better, it was so harsh that even crops suited to cold were frozen.
In short, the situation was bad. With no food, the only thing getting us by as a family was milk from our horse-sheep. We ate some meat once in a while which managed to sustain us for a while but I knew that was never going to last long.
The time came for us to finally admit that poverty had won.
"Boys, your father is back."
Our mother sat on the porch of our small cottage while breastfeeding the youngest child, Yon. At this time, she was the only one actually getting something to eat, as for the rest of us our stomachs could not stop growling. Ash was the oldest, being 14 years old and all so he managed to fight off his hunger. Acre, 11 years old, was the second oldest, and he had a tendency to mimic Ash so he was fine. As for me, I was an adult male inside, despite the immense hunger from the food that I desperately needed as a growing boy, I fought off the urge to cry.
The boys were fine, but the girls not so much. My younger sister, Bellitra, was bowling her eyes out from hunger, it was even saddening to watch what with me being a father as well, or atleast I was. She cried and screamed, screamed and cried for that release from the thorns that stabbed her innards. When father returned, her crying eased. Acre and Ash also got up from the porch in anticipation, but as Rickharts figure drew closer, all our expectations were shattered.
Bellitra noticed it too, and she resumed her screetching, this time a little bit mor intence than before. Fathers hands were empty and there wasn't a sign of anything food related on him. In fact, his skin had gotten paler and his cheeks swollen from all the times he skipped meals just so his children could have more to eat. Ash knew what was happening and so did I, but the others were unaware of what was happening.
"There there Bellitra its fine, ill give you my share tonight if you keep quiet."
I started to pat my sister on her back and rubbing her head in the hopes that I could calm her down, but that was to aveil.
"Don't waist your energy Aly, shes not going to stop. She needs to eat, it's the only thing that will shut her up. We all do."
Ash, the oldest, was as pessimistic as ever. However, he was also right because Bell did not stop crying. I sighed and stood up so that I could greet father, as was required of all boys to do when an older male arrived.
"Any luck?"
My mother asked as soon as father closed the wooden gate behind him. His face was that of a man who was at the brink of resignation. That morning, Rickhart had left for the capital due to a rumour going around that the royal family would be handing out rations to people. I remembered him getting up very early even when the sun was not yet out.
"No, the rations were for the Knights and their families. There were some leftovers but the Royal Guard all drove away with the cart, damn cunts didn't even think twice. Their probably going to distribute it among themselves."
"Rick language please, the kids."
Mother corrected Ricky who had just cursed. His voice was full of anger and frustration, and he simply looked at mother without uttering a word. He wasn't going to apologise, but he did turn to us. His eyes were lifeless, their brown light turned pale from despair and exhaustion. He did no utter a word to us, but proceeded to walk into the cottage. We cleared the path for him as he did. He brushed bells hair with his big rough hands and then entered the house.
I could only assume he was going to sleep, he did get up early after all. Ou mother sighed after him, and proceeded to feed the baby, but she too was also starting to cry. It seemed the teat had run dry, but that was to be expected. Mother too was also rationing her food and feeding some of it to us. Her skin was as dry and pale and her cheeks as swollen as fathers.
"Come on boys, you best clean up for tonight."
She said wile trying to calm the baby. We did as we were told and headed for the river.