The Dragon King and the servants of Eludam

1. The Farm and the Palace

     It was the first day of the week, but it was an average day on the farm for Isabel. She got up before the dawn, before the sun had risen and made its arrival over the land. It usually rose around 6 in the morning, and she had risen at 5 in the morning, while the sky was still dark and the moon could still be seen hanging in the sky. It was cool that morning as she rolled out of bed in her pajamas, and shed her clothing to wrap herself in a robe. Then once wrapped she made her way behind the house, to a large basin which she filled with lukewarm water to bathe in. Father farmer had not been up yet; he slept in the first day of the week and allowed his adopted daughter Isabelle to begin the farm day before him- but only on the first day of the week. So she, being in the backyard, slipped out of her robe and into the basin. She sponged the dirt and sweat and grime off herself quickly, even washing her face and combing her hair, before she got out of the basin to slip back into her robe and return to her bedroom. The water she had boiled the night before and allowed it to steep, so she would  not freeze when she had gotten out into the dark morning air.

     Once back in her room she slipped into her farm clothes in which she worked, and brushed her hair one last time before she braided it down her back, and slips into her work shoes. Braiding her hair was tedious seeing as it flowed down to the base of her spine, but it was much easier to work with braided hair than it was to work with looser hair. So, she watched herself in the mirror as she braided her hair to the side as quickly as she could as not to waste her valuable time that she could have been working.
     Once her hair was braided she pulled a light coat over herself and headed outside to accomplish her first goal, which was to draw water from the well and bring it inside for boiling and cooking and drinking. The well was in front of the house and she lowered the bucket into the water, then began to draw it up where she could bring it inside on to the animals that also required watering. For herself and father she needed about four buckets, which she proceeded to fill water jugs with in the house. Though tedious she enjoyed the work, and carrying jugs about the house to their designated areas. She had filled the cabinets with full jugs of water and set back out to the well to water the animals which would take much longer than it was to fill the jars for their day.

     She took several trips from the well to the troughs, to fill for the horses and the sheep, the cows and the roosters and the pigs. this work she continued until the sun begin to peak on the horizon and the day had officially begun. For after she had finished the watering, she would also have to continue to the feeding but every day's work was the same; it was the usual to start off with hard work and to end the day with hard work. It familiar to go to bed completely exhausted even after eating a chicken and rice meal.

     It seemed pointless to bathe just to become dirty but that was the custom for Isabel, to also wash in the evening before dinner, which she shared along with Father farmer and the family Collie that was used to herd the sheep. Isabella was already dirty as she began her feeding and it was as if she had not even taking a bath; she was covered in hay and dirt In her shoes covered in horse manure. But it wasn't no consequence to her. So she went about tossing hay to the horses and the cows, and slap to the pigs and corn to the chickens and the roosters. And she continued until she had fully completed her task.

    Once the animals are fed she moved on to milking the cows, and now the sun was up and father farmer was awake. He had come out to join her in milking, so he grabbed a stool and picked the most profitable cow. Side by side they began the milking, an engaged in conversation as they went along.

     "What do you think the fall will be like father?" She asked.

     "I suspect we will have an Indian summer since this summer has been so warm so consistently." He replied busily.

     "I sure hope we have an Indian summer. The crops do better when is warmer longer." Isabel replied.

     "Yes indeed we need to get this farm work taken care of because they are expecting much harvest from us at the festival this year."