The Winter Sun

Chapter 8

"I am a knight!" a wood stick pointed to the sky. It was gripped tightly by a young boy with a decisive gaze. He stood on a rock but might as well stood on the top of a mountain. A high-pitched giggle escaped behind the hands of a young girl. "Do you dare mock me?" he pointed the wood stick towards the girl whose eyebrows went up before another giggle escaped. "I will show you then," the young boy jumped from the rock and landed on the grassy ground with a thud. He swished his stick from side to side, like a sword, attacking an invisible opponent under a litany of roars. He planted the stick on the ground in a final act. "You are dead," he cried to no one in particular. A thunder of applause rained. The girl's hands clapped together as if she was assisting the final act of a play, eyes shining with admiration. The boy's cheeks warmed up under her gaze.

Each time Lach would visit the castle he would go straight to the stables and play with his new unexpected friend who was eager for adventurous and playful game and who was pretty. Very pretty.

The boy's hands were deep into a hole, digging it as he removed handful dirt after dirt, gathering a mountain to his side. Not far away, under a pine tree, the little girl sat prettily, her pinkish dress folded nicely under her knees. Next to her laid a dozen of daisies which she wove into each other to form a circle.

"Which village are you from?" the boy asked, hands deep in the mud, looking at her from over his shoulder.

She paused her craft as her gaze wiped their surroundings. "I am from here."

The boy frowned, sitting on his butt. "Does your father work for the Castle?"

She nodded, and it spurred a grin on the boy's little face. "Like my dad."

She threw a puzzled glance at the hole. "What are you doing? You will get dirty." Lach raised his hands and winced. His fingernails were encrusted with brown dirt that would probably take a life-long time of bath to remove. He could already hear the irritated tone of his mother scolding him for getting so messy and already witness the sheer horror stretching her features. Lach shivered, the image sending a chill through his spine that quickly disappeared with a shrug as his fingers sank back inside the brownish paste. He would deal with that later, but now he was too busy digging a hole for monsters to care.

"I would be less dirty if you would help me," he said matter-of-factly. A little help would be appreciated so he could finish the hole before monsters attacked them again. "Besides, what are you doing?"

A beam bloomed on her face as she raised the circle of lilies. "A flower crown." Her expression turned sour upon seeing the stained sleeves of the boy's tunic, the cream color turning brown. "I can't help you. My father will get angry if I get dirty."

"My mom will get angry too. Well, she is always angry." Giggles flew in the soft breeze and settled warmly in the boy's chest. Something shifted, and a pinkish fabric appeared from the corner of his eyes before another pair of hands dove deep into the dirt. Lach gave her a grateful nod, and they dug until the sky colored orange and the piles of dirt were as big as their size. In the effort, something shiny slipped from her neck. A golden sun-shaped pendant that made the boy's eyes squint so much it shined.

The boy removed his hands from the hole, placing his stained palms on his pants, smudging the tissue even more. "What's this on your neck?"

She looked down at her pendant and grabbed it as if it was the first time she had seen it. "A gift from my mother."

The boy's brows angled high. "The only gift my mama gives me are spankings." The giggles couldn't be stopped. It tremored her whole body and rumbled the entire surrounding. He observed her for a while before it became contagious, and the boy's body started to tremor too. She wiped the wetness at the corners of her eyes, and he resumed, tone more serious. "But it's okay because when I become a knight, and my purse will flood with gold, I will be able to buy my mama a necklace like yours, and she will be happy." He threw another glance at the pendant before clawing back the dirt away.