𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟. 𝐈𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.
Humans reveled in the idea of immortality, but those who possessed it wer...
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Autumn 999 – Vinland
Elijah nervously paced at the tree line, watching as his brother chopped lumber nearby.
"You are utterly ridiculous," Astra laughed as she threw a berry at him from where she sat on the forest floor. "He is your little brother. Go speak with him."
Elijah didn't acknowledge Astra had spoken as he continued to pace. But he knew she was right. He was being ridiculous. And he felt ridiculous.
Yet he couldn't help but picture the devastation on his brother's face. He had never wanted to hurt his brother or take anything from him. At the same time, he couldn't help but smile slightly at the thought of the night before. And his recent visit to Tatia's hut.
"If you don't tell him," Astra stood up, brushing off her dress. "I will."
Elijah tried to grab her as she rushed past him but she anticipated his move and dove out of the way, skipping forward down the path to his home.
"Niklaus," she called out as he readied his ax to chop another block of wood. Hearing her, he turned around, a large smile on his face that dimmed slightly at the sight of her.
"Oh."He set the ax down but greeted Astra and Elijah anyway. "I thought you were someone else."
"Who?" Astra smiled brightly while Elijah elbowed her sharply, giving her a warning look.
"I kissed Tatia last night," he grinned. "I'm going to ask her to marry me."
Elijah's jaw dropped at the declaration and Astra's eyes went wide.
"Have you ever had a conversation with her?" Astra raises her eyebrow at the boy, surprised at his sudden decision.
"Of course," Niklaus said defensively, clearly upset by the lack of approval he was receiving. "We spoke about the weather for quite some time."
"And that's all you needed to know to form an attachment?" Astra held back her laugh. Niklaus had always been a sensitive boy who was led by his every emotion. While he had plenty of experience around women, Astra had never seen him so taken with a woman. She found it sweet that he was prepared to marry the first woman he was captivated with. However, it was very inconvenient considering Elijah and Tatia had entered into an understanding that very day.
"What more is there?" Niklaus shrugged, looking to his older brother for approval. "She's beautiful, she clearly is able to produce children, and she is pleasant to converse with. Marriages are often based on less."
He was right. Astra frowned at that. It was all they knew from marriage. Very few people in their village married for love. Many of the girls her age had been encouraged into marriages with men they barely knew.
"Do you have any notion if she returns your desire to marry?" Astra pushed forward with the conversation since Elijah clearly was not willing to say anything.
