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"I don't wanna live at the expense of others," despite himself, Tarjun mellows down a little. "I mean, unless they're mean, maybe. I just wanna try and live something new."
"Do I really need to read books for that?! Urgh. None of the books helped me escape the pirates! Or whack evil dwarves in the face! It can't all be about books! You told me plenty of stuff that made sense and wasn't in books! Like, right now!"
He nearly stomps in frustration. "Know what I could do? Get out there and get some sense into people. Everybody understands a good song - or a club on the head!" He thinks about it. "I mean, only if they're really, really stupid. The rest of the time I can sell stuff."
Jewel considered her Father's words to Tarjun. She hadn't actually thought about what she would do to earn a living when she grew up. Farming? It was the family 'trade', and provided a lot of the food for their small community. Would she find a husband that would worship Erastil with her, and farm with her? She quickly thinks of the current lumberjacks and shakes her head slightly. None of those lunk-heads! But Dwayne changed them every couple of years. Some were lazy and got tired of working for their pay. Some were dishonest....
She realizes that Tarjun is replying so she listens to his reply.
"The books.... I'm sorry, but you know I love reading, and learning. Maybe in the evening I could read aloud and you could.... probably ignore me. But you'd be there and would hear it without actually listening."
She smiles at her brother, knowing that he is good. "You don't like hurting people anymore than I do. Whack them on the head with your club? Clara...." She glances at the door. "I mean. What I've read about Desna. Mrs. Jonson. The Grandmother. She was upset by my comparison with Calistria. And she was right. I know that Desna is one of the 'good' Gods. But she's much more about freedom and following 'your stars'. That may be good for, them. But without thinking things through. Planning. You may end up in danger. Stuck in a magical maze, or some lord's dungeon, or on a pirate ship. And sometimes, adventurers don't come back."
"I worry because Clara can fall off of a cliff and just float down. Or go underwater and still breath fine. She'll probably go adventuring with some group, hopefully not before she grows up a little. And you, and maybe me, we might go with her. But.... I. I do want to come back here. I like the town, and most of the people. I may farm, if I find a husband as good as Dad. Or I could work as a healer, and herbalist, and probably look after the forest and the animals."
"But that is still years away. We've got plenty of time for growing up. I've still gotta make my longbow. Maybe you can write some good songs so once you start performing you'll be hired by some clubs and get famous. You know you're already famous here.... Everybody in this town knows you!"
"Tarjun, smart people learn from books, half smart people learn from their own mistakes. Only dumb people learn nothing, because they think they already know everything."
"Don't be dumb. For the rest, you do what fits you best. I need to go back to bed." Will kisses Tarjun and Jewel on the forehead and goes back to his bed.
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" "You don't like hurting people anymore than I do. Whack them on the head with your club?"
"Depends on the kind of people," Tarjun objects. "I'd whack the aristocratic dude who threw us in a dungeon any time!"
"Maybe you can write some good songs so once you start performing you'll be hired by some clubs and get famous. You know you're already famous here.... Everybody in this town knows you!"
His face becomes clouded. "Not the right reasons, they ain't," his hand brushes his left thigh almost unconsciously. "But it's gonna change. I'm cooler than them anyhoo!"
"Tarjun, smart people learn from books, half smart people learn from their own mistakes. Only dumb people learn nothing, because they think they already know everything. Don't be dumb. For the rest, you do what fits you best. I need to go back to bed."
Tarjun smiles, but as his father walks away, his grin turns into a frown. "Wait. You saying I'm a half-wit?! DAD!!"
"Your decision, if you read the books and learn from other peoples mistakes, or if you insist on making those mistakes yourself. Like I did most of my life. So I guess it runs in the family."
"Good night." You hear the door of the parents bedroom close.
Jewel lays back down to sleep if she can, and quietly calls back to her brother. "You know Dad doesn't think that you're a half-wit. He just doesn't want you to act like one."
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"Your decision, if you read the books and learn from other peoples mistakes, or if you insist on making those mistakes yourself. Like I did most of my life. So I guess it runs in the family."
"Good night." You hear the door of the parents bedroom close.
Tarjun is left kind of shaken by his father's final words. It's the first time he gets the feeling that he might not be happy.
"Why did he mean by that?" he whispers back to Jewel. "Does he think being here is a mistake?"
Jewel chuckles quietly. "No Tarjun. Think about what he said in the order that he said it. Learn from other peoples mistakes, or make them yourself.... Like he did."
"He means that he made mistakes and learned from them when he was young. He means that he wants you to learn from other people's mistakes so you don't have to do it the hard way."
"Now he's here and happy but he still has the memories of those mistakes. We'll grow up and have the memories of whatever we do too. Good decisions, and bad." The last was whispered more to herself that to Tarjun. Something to think about as she drifts off to sleep.
...
"And even though no follower of Erastil comes forth to confirm it" she adds with a glare at Jewel "we slept together, so we are now married."
Gertrud ponders the last sentence for a moment and shakes her head. "No Clara. Sleeping together to get you married is not just lying in the same bed."
"But sneaking over at night to give Tarjun the scare of his life? High five!" Gertrud holds up her hand. "Just don't do it again. Now you know that it's not ok, and they know that you know it's not ok, and you won't get off that easy a second time. Now go to bed."
Clara joins the high five and then goes to bed as told. On the way up she ponders going back to ask what not just lying in the bed together means, but decides she is too tired for that now.
It still was night, it became morning - a new day.
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Tarjun basically leaps out of bed as soon as the sun shines through the bedroom window. He's had a fitful sleep after Clara's little escapade. He's never been a light sleeper, but the slightest noise in the house woke him up in a cold sweat throughout the night.
He doesn't have the heart to wake up Jewel, so he grabs his crutch and heads for the toolshed instead. There's nothing that calms him down quite like whittling, and today, he's woken up with a new idea.
He begins to make a flute, more elaborated than his own, and decorated with small decorative patterns of spirals and runes that he makes up as he goes.
Jewel wakes up fully restored from a good sleep, even after the interruption. Maybe it was a better viewpoint of the future with her family and God? Or maybe a better understanding of her brother, and his viewpoint of Erastil. Regardless she stretches and notices that Tarjun has already left. She's surprised that he left quietly enough to not wake her, but silently settles in for her morning prayers. She thanks Erastil for the opportunity to understand things about His worship better, and considers the spells that she has prepared. She decides to leave a couple spells open, in case something is needed later.
Once complete she heads downstairs and to the kitchen to help her mother with breakfast. "On that pirate ship I worked with the cook. He didn't have much available so the soup that he served, everyday, was terrible. I was able to help out, but I want to learn even more about how to cook things right. I don't ever want to be on a pirate ship again, but I might want to cook some more... Besides, when I grow up I'll probably have a family and need to be able to cook good meals!
Sheila drops the tools "Feel free to practice, I'll give you feedback. And I'm sure your father and brother will too."
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Maybe Tarjun's ears were burning? He comes in soon after that.
"Morning, mom! Jewie! Look what I'm making!" he proudly brandishes his work-in-progress. Even if it's not finished, it's ostensibly a flute - and a pretty well-made one at that, less coarse than his own willow flute. He's obviously improved. He's even begun to decorate it with the tip of a knife, covering it in pretty intricate patterns. It's not bad work.
"I was thinking, if I managed to make quite a lot of those, maybe I could sell 'em," he adds conversationally, and slumps on the nearest chair to continue his whittling. "On a market, or somethin'."
Jewel smiles as her mother's confidence. She moves in and picks things up, starting with what she knows from having watched her mother and from the little bit she had learned on the pirate ship....
Things start out OK, but she notices that the timing isn't really as easy as hoped. "Ah.... I think? I need help!?!"
Clara gets out of bed well rested and chipper. First she has some quality time with weasel over a dried saussage and a slice of hard bread found in her pockets.
Then she leaves the house informing the house "I'm leaving. I'll go see how my husband is doing!" She slams the door shut and runs off.
As the door to the Branston house isn't locked anymore she lets herself in. she calls into the house.
Finding almost everyone in the kitchen, she greets them again with a wide smile. "Hello."
Clara ponders teasing Tarjun a bit more, but as his mom proved to be a stick in the mud last night, she postpones that. "Are burnt offerings a thing with Erastil?"
Jewel turns a wicked smile to Clara and replies, "No. I was just finishing up with your serving for breakfast. Would you like to take over and make breakfast for your 'husband', like a good wife?"
"Sure." Clara replies with a smile, because she knows that this attempted offense from Jewel will hurt Tarjun more than her.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Clara inquires from Tarjun.
Quickly looking around she suggests "Scrambled eggs with slices of dried saussage and a side of toasted bread? With apple wedges?"
Shelly looks shockes at Jewel and Clara. At Jewel because she wouldn't have expected such backstabbing from her sweet little girl and at Clara, because she never played house or showed any girly behaviour.
Jewel sees Tarjun's glare and hangs her head. "I'm sorry Tarjun. You know I'm just kidding. And Dad already explained that last night's antics didn't mean anything. Now you need a decent breakfast, so I'll get back to it. Let me adjust the fire in the stove so it's not so hot."
She moves back to the stove looking at what can be salvaged and what she needs to do to 'fix' the meal. "OK Mom. I think this will work a lot better. What do you think?"
"You're acting like being married to me would be the end of the world." Clara grabs an apple and takes a bite.
Taking her time to chew and swallow it.
"But anyway, if you don't want to I'll find someone else."
Jewel giggles at Clara's words while she finishes the breakfast. She starts dishing the food on plates and takes the breakfast over to the table. "I wouldn't recommend looking through the lumberjacks, even if there was one with half a wit in his head. Dwayne wouldn't be happy if you lured one of them away from the job."
She sits down at the table with her plate and digs in to the food. So much better than what they had on the ship. Or was it better because they were home and free?
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"You're acting like being married to me would be the end of the world."
"It would be the end of the world," Tarjun says grumpily. "It would be the end of the universe."
"But anyway, if you don't want to I'll find someone else."
"I don't want to," he enunciates, slowly and pointedly. "Go find someone else!"
He goes back to whittling with extra spirit.
". "I wouldn't recommend looking through the lumberjacks, even if there was one with half a wit in his head. Dwayne wouldn't be happy if you lured one of them away from the job."
"Maybe it's what she needs," Tarjun suggests sarcastically. "A bit of a dumdum."
"Maybe it's what she needs," Tarjun suggests sarcastically. "A bit of a dumdum."
Jewel glances at Clara, wondering what she would think of Tarjun's comment. "Tarjun. She might magically charm one of them. And that would cause trouble with Dwayne."
She takes a sip of her milk and smiles at Clara. "They're too stupid for you Clara. You'd need someone that can at least understand some of what you say to him. I'm sure your Grandmother would be helpful in 8 or 9 years when you might actually want a husband, and children."
Clara is miffed by Tarjun's comment. "Why a dumdum? Are you guessing what kind of husband I want after you were my first choice, or what?" She blows him a raspberry.
"We'll see." Clara replies with her nose high and an attitude.
"So, what are we doing today?"
"Cleaning the house." Shelly answers, even though she wasn't the one asked.
Jewel looks up at her mother and nods. "OK Mom. I'll start with the kitchen once we're done eating. That's mostly my mess anyway."
Clara has a though on that, but keeps it to herself to not again be dragged over to her mom by Shelly.
She enjoys the breakfast with Jewel and Tarjun and leaves conveniently just before the work starts.
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Tarjun looks crestfallen. "Always fun things to do, eh, Ma?" He grumbles.
For once, he takes his sweet time eating his breakfast. He's against all chores as a matter of principle, but there's few things he loathes more than cleaning the house. At least farming work takes place outside.
"Are you sure Pa doesn't need any help with stuff?" he asks hopefully. It was worth a try.
"You're not getting out of this duty! First everything that is lying around goes back to its place. Then the cobwebs are cleaned up, the floor swept, the dust wiped, and last the floor mopped."
"You start upstairs and work your way down."
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"See, this is exactly why I want to leave," Tarjun grumbles between in his teeth. He very reluctantly complies.
If only there was a sort of spell that could make stuff move by itself. It would make life so much easier. He almost finds himself humming as he goes along.
"You don't have any magic that would make this quicker, don't ya?" he asks Jewel on their way upstairs. Everything that could result in less work was worth trying.
Jewel thinks about Tarjun's question for a bit. "Hmm.... Well, I can create clean water anytime we need it. But I don't know of any cantrips or anything to help with the rest of the cleaning."
She finishes with the kitchen, then happily moves along with the other cleaning chores. She joins Tarjun upstairs and whistles as she works.... "At least Mom doesn't use a whip like the Mate did on that pirate ship."
"If you think I like this task any better than you and would spare you to do it myself, you are vastly mistaken. I'll go grab your father and go with him playing in the woods."
She grabs her scarf and follows Tarjun outside.
"And the house better be clean when we come back this evening." she calls after him as she takes a different path with a swinging step.
Will is working on some tools next to the barn, but willingly drops everything to follow Shelly on the suggested stroll through the woods.
Jewel watches, a shocked look on her face as their parents head off for 'a stroll in the woods'. Slowly she starts to chuckle, then openly laugh. "Come on Tarjun. Lets get this cleaning done. Mom's just making a point of how much they work while we play. Do you really want to 'grow up' so quick?"
She gets right back to the work, scrubbing harder and faster than before, still feeling mirth when she lets herself think on it....
"How come they get to play?" Jewel giggles. "Tarjun, That's the point. They were kids just like us. I'm sure they played when they were our age just like us. When they could use their imagination to figure out fun games in the woods, with just trees and leaves and sticks. But they've grown up and have responsibilities, children and a farm. Don't you see? You complain about wanting to grow up and be free and have fun. Clara even goes so far as to do her silly marriage thing! Good things she didn't try that with Pierce! He doesn't have parents around to straighten her out and might have had to use that sword of his!"
She glances around. "We've only got a little more work here. Then, I think we need to build a swing by our play house. I think a swing would be fun, and it shouldn't be hard to build. Just some rope and a board to sit on."
Clara sticks her head into the door again. "I saw Will and Shelly leave. Is it safe here again?"
"I didn't ask her. And I try to stay out of her way telling her I'm bored to not give her funny ideas."