Rayd and the hunter's moon - Book 1 The Awakening

CHAPTER 18 - THE PROPOSAL

The ride home was agonizing for me. I couldn't exchange a single word with my uncle, who didn't seem to care, as his own company was enough for him. Still drunk, he boasted of the excellent business deals he had made, the good relationships he had at the Citadel, and last but not least, his great negotiating skills. The small fortune earned was only a consequence of this.

I, on the other hand, was the biggest disappointment.

"That woman stirred me, full of attitude, not allowing herself to surrender to the pain of loss, and especially that look. Unforgettable. I should have done something else to get her attention, should have been more daring. But now the opportunity was gone!" I thought.

Resigned, I decided to concentrate on the road and especially on the detail that had caught my attention on the way to Balga. It seemed that my nose was playing tricks on me, but the waters of that river had a very peculiar smell. Near the bridge and with Master Aldo less euphoric, I asked him to tell me more about the region where we lived. He went on to explain to me, with a sincere didacticism and pleasure. The first village after the Citadel was the great Kreuzbork, or Kreuzburg as the Teutons renamed it. More developed, with blacksmiths, woodcutters, lumberjacks, tailors, pig, sheep and goat farmers, and even cheese and wine producers. After, several other autonomous villages supplied Balga with everything.

- Vistotempil was the nicest and most welcoming of them all! Said the uncle with a twinge of nostalgia.

- Moreover, what is the river we are crossing? I asked.

- Ah this is the Alle river, it starts in Nadruvia and flows all over Warmia until it dies somewhere in Galindia. On the way, it forms the region called the Alle-Aschwone Valley, joining Bartia and Warmia!

- And why he has such a pungent, yet hard to define smell! I asked.

Uncle looked at me strangely and then stopped the wagon in the middle of the bridge, pulled the brake lever, and stood sniffing the air.

- I don't smell anything, my boy; I think you might be stirring too much in that forge. The smell of metal has already gotten into your nostrils; don't you think it's better to do other things? Maybe help your aunt in the garden or in the kitchen? And with that, he let out a laugh that could be heard throughout the valley.

- Okay, Uncle, let's go, Auntie must be worried by now. We should have arrived a long time ago!I said, quickly cutting the subject. I had discovered on that trip, that my dear uncle, animated by alcohol, was overcome with unbridled joy.

The wagon left in a jolt, taking the way home. I turned my eyes to the river and followed its course, more precisely to the east side. Far away, covered by a fine mist, I could glimpse a small mountain range. Perhaps it was the region of the Nadruvian springs mentioned by the uncle. That's where I was supposed to go. This unrestrained certainty settled in me, as did the unpleasant feeling that had come over me when I glimpsed Honeda Castle. A certainty that somehow, my destiny was connected to those people, to that land.

Dinner that night was hearty and lively. The menu consisted of roast lamb ribs, sorghum paste with blood sauce, accompanied by potatoes and cherovias. The rustic bread that accompanied everything was baked in the oven in the back of the house next to the blacksmith shop. Uncle Aldo tasted everything, while telling his exploits at the Market Square fair. He spoke between laughs of the baptism of fire I had with the owner of the one-eyed boar, Tynus Kulym. Auntie was laughing all over with happiness, and I joined her, as I was finally enjoying memories. Good or bad, they were like little gems that accumulated in the chest of my memories, forming my treasure of life.

Five days had already passed since the deliveries to the Citadel. I returned to the daily routine in the smithy helping Master Aldo and distracting myself from the ever-stronger call of the Alle River springs. The feeling grew day by day into an obsession that sometimes kept me awake at night.