The Way Of The Caster

Chapter 14: To belong

Even after the storm had abated, the man or the woman continuously pushed them to stay one more night. The weather is not so good today, Wilok said. The couple was so sincere in their entreaties, Twisten allowed himself to relax into indifference. There was nowhere else to go; the brothers could not return across the Waste.

On the tenth day since they had left Stainborh, Wana announced that the Summer Solstice had come. People from other towns had begun pouring into Whitewater. Mikal welcomed the newcomers with his usual bubbly enthusiasm, but Twisten already knew he would dislike the festival. There were so many commotions, so many strangers – he could barely find a spot to be alone.

After preparing the morning meal, Wana told them she had to leave to begin preparing the celebratory foods with the other Whitewater women. Twisten found it odd that the women were doing all the housework while the men were merely standing around and talking, and said so to the adults. Wana smiled forbearingly at him, but apologizing profusely that she really had to go, followed her own remark.

"But shouldn't you be helping?" Twisten asked Wilok, now not only confused but also hot in the face. Darmo always made him wash the dirty bowls and follow along cleaning their home.

"Why housework," Wilok exclaimed, "is a woman's work!" Laughing, he continued in his throaty voice. "You two secretive souls refuse to tell us where you came from or where you were going...but I know. Oh yes I do – don't smoulder at me! It's obvious, really, with your accents an' comic ideas. No Mikal, let me guess. It's somewhere in the Empire, isn't it? I hear they pass down the family name from your mother's side...what a funny idea."

Twisten turned redder and peevishly slurped a spoonful of gruel down his throat. "Isn't funny," he maffled.

"Don't worry," Wilok said, winking. "We're not going to kick you out for it. But look at how much I've baffled on. I need to get going an' greet the newcomers. Boy two, don't eat so fast. You'll choke." He left through the doorway, and immediately, Mikal began swallowing even faster.

"Are you even chewing?" Twisten asked, disgruntled. "Seriously, Mika-boy, slow down."

"Why do oo need oo ew gool?"

Twisten rolled his eyes and tried to follow Mikal's speed of eating, but the younger brother still finished first.

"ooing oo play," Mikal explained, still chewing, and ran out before Twisten could say otherwise. Sighing again, Twisten finished as fast as he could and followed.

Other boys ran here and there, screaming with glee as their kites took flight. They accepted Mikal easily, tossing him a spare kite. Mikal excitedly accepted the brightly painted blue and orange dragon and followed the boys, all shrieking war cries together. One night's sleep seemed to have completely wiped the previous day's storm from his mind. Countless mothers gathered together in prattling circles, sharing their parenting stories. Twisten slid through another alley between the mound-shaped houses, watching silently.

The people here were unlike anything he had seen. Both men and women were tall and large, wearing the same grey fur garments. Marie's golden hair would have looked wrong here. For once, Twisten's black hair and eyes were not the rarity; everyone in Reonwyk had them.

Twisten liked this place. There were no servants, nor a Mistress' House at the top of the hill.

A group of men, Wilok among them, caught Twisten's attention. One of them was shouting and gesturing angrily. Although he would have been much taller than darmo, the man was shorter than the rest. Another tried to hush him, but Twisten could tell they agreed with whatever he had said.

Twisten crept closer. He had begun to understand the way they spoke. It was not extremely different from the tongue he knew – their words were simply jumbled out of order with occasional words he did not understand.