Page 19 of A Winter Romance
“Well, how lovely that you can celebrate the Solstice with us. Solstice is a time to meet new friends.” The children ran on ahead. “I’d love to stay and speak to you more, Aryn, but the younglings don’t want to wait for me.” She laughed, hiked up her skirt, and ran after them.
As they continued through the village, Sero greeted every single person they passed before introducing Aryn. Aryn met quite a few individuals, including the village doctor, a blacksmith, and a botanist named Edwin.
“Heading into the forest again, Edwin?” Sero asked.
Edwin nodded, pushing his glasses up his nose.
“Edwin goes into the forest every day, no matter the weather, to collect plant samples,” Sero said, smiling at Edwin.
“Yes, well, there are lots of plants in the Norend Mountains,” Edwin said, looking towards the forest. A blush stained his cheeks.
“He sends the samples to his mentor in Bordertown,” Sero said.
“Really? I’m from Bordertown,” Aryn said.
“I gathered.” Edwin gave him a small smile.
“And why do you send the plants to Bordertown?” Aryn asked.
“Well, you’ve no doubt noticed that the plants in Bordertown are incredibly different from the plants that grow here. The climate and environment are completely distinct from each other and thus create different flora.” Edwin’s voice grew stronger and more animated as he spoke. “There is a chance that some of the plants that grow in these mountains don’t exist anywhere else throughout the kingdoms. So cataloguing and documenting them is very important work.”
“I imagine it is,” Aryn said. Edwin clearly cared a lot about plants.
Edwin cleared his throat, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Anyway, I should continue to the forest. Happy Solstice,” Edwin said as he walked off.
“Happy Solstice,” Sero and Aryn said.
“Do you know everyone in the village?” Aryn asked as they continued walking.
Sero waved at a woman entering one of the cabins. “Ores isn’t very big, and I’ve lived here my whole life.”
“I don’t even know all the people who live in my building.”
“Really?” Sero asked, clearly surprised.
Before Aryn had a chance to comment, a cry rent the air. “Sero!” A second later, two girls ran out of one of the cabins, straight towards Sero.
Laughing, Sero knelt and opened his arms to the two girls sprinting towards him and scooped them up. The girls looked to be about the same age, perhaps five. Then again, they could be ten. Maybe older. Aryn was not a good judge of children’s ages.
But other than their age, they didn’t appear to have much else in common. One had light-brown hair and brown eyes. The other had dark-grey skin, white hair, and silver eyes. Were these Sero’s sisters? It was hard to imagine they were. They looked very different from each other.
One of them, the girl with the white hair, noticed him first. She tapped Sero on the shoulder, then leaned forward, whispering into his ear.
“Ila, Ethred, this is Aryn,” Sero said. “Aryn, these are my sisters.”
Unsure how he should greet the girls, Aryn waved. “Pleasure to meet you.” He wasn’t particularly good with children. He’d never had had much to do with them, not since he was a child himself, and that had been quite a few years ago. He had nephews and nieces, but they spent more time with the nannies than with the family. Usually, they appeared briefly at family dinners before disappearing to wherever it was they went.
“Aryn will be staying with me for a few days,” Sero said.
Ila and Ethred stared at him with wide eyes.
“He is from Bordertown,” Sero said.
“Is he sick?” Ila asked.
Aryn frowned at the question. Why would she assume he was sick? Did he look that bad? He touched his hair. Then he remembered Sero’s mother.
“No, he is not sick. He just lives there.”
