As part of the original town, our house is somewhat near the castle. Dad says he bought the place with money he made selling off one of his magical weapons from his mercenary days. He 'kept the good stuff' and is waiting for me to do something to earn it he says.
The smell of the garden in bloom greets me as I enter the yard, another nice thing about being in the area of the original town is that they didn't reapportion it at all. The city grew around it, but we still have plenty of space around our homes.
The garden is beautiful in the midday sun. I don't often get to see it until the sun is low in the sky. Near the door are the tulips, each one 'broken' as Melanie calls it, into two colors. Then roses outward from there. At the corner of the house are the sunflowers, truly massive flowers. I was worried that she had fallen for a con when she bought them, promised 'flowers taller than a man' by a trader from far to the southeast.
One thing I learned quickly about Melanie, is that she loves flowers and gardening. Much to my chagrin, I also quickly learned that she does not appreciate cut flowers, she loves them as a living thing. It would always amuse my father that while I was courting her I would leave the house, not with a bouquet of flowers, but with a handful of seeds.
The door creaks loudly as I enter. No matter what I do, nothing seems to fix that. This, of course alerts all of them to my presence, I'd better get ready.
“Dads back!'
“Papa!”
Both Samuel and Diane come running from their room. I gently place the pot of honey on the floor next to me and the bread on top of it. Just in time to catch both of them and hoist them up onto my shoulders. Oof, Sam is starting to get a little big for this.
“How are my kids doing? I bet you've been good enough to deserve some honey loaves with dinner today.”
“Well, I guess we'll leave the rest of that story for next time then!” Dad's gruff voice comes down the hall after them.
“Grampa was tellin' us a story 'bout a wizard that tried to turn a whole army into statues!”
Both of them love it when dad starts telling tales. Some of them are even true, usually the ones where he's talking about his mercenary days.
“That's a good one, I'd better not ruin the end for you.”
I put them back down and tousle the auburn hair they inherited from their mother. Picking up the bread and honey, I head toward the kitchen where I can already smell lunch being prepared.
Melanie stands near the large fireplace a pot of thick beef stew cooking over the fire. Every time I see her, it feels like the first time all over again. Long auburn hair draped along smooth shoulders. Her slender figure still curving perfectly all the way down, Dad still doesn't understand what I see in a woman lacking 'huge tracts of land.'
“Welcome back, Dear.”
“Sorry, I couldn't be back sooner.”
And when she turns to look at me, those eyes. Beautiful deep green eyes that I feel I could get lost in for hours on end if I let myself. Always calming and refreshing to see after even the hardest days. A knock at the door interrupts me this time, sadly.
I open the door to find Lord Hawkins. I salute and he returns it. What is he doing here?
“Hello, Watchman Nivar. I came by to give you this, you could call it 'hazard pay.' Despite how quickly we managed to take that thing down, it was quite dangerous. I'm off to give the rest of the men their shares, spend it wisely.”
With that, he hands me a large pouch full of coins, and heads back to a wagon with a chest on it with a few of his men and rides deeper into the town.
I place the bag on the kitchen table. Everyone gathers around after I say who was at the door. I empty the bag onto the table.
That's a lot of money, after stacking them in tens I find that it comes to two hundred Platinum Sovereigns. That's the kind of money that could buy decent magical arms and armor, or a house, depending on your priorities. I had heard of Lord Hawkins' bouts of generosity. But this...
Melanie asks, “Why did he give us so much money.”
“It was an interesting two days of work.”
'Interesting' is a code word I use when a routine workday becomes suddenly dangerous, but turns out alright in the end. It lets Dad know that there's more to the story for him to hear after I can get him alone. I don't want to worry my wife, and the kids wouldn't believe me if I said I got hurt. If it doesn't turn out all right in the end it's a 'debacle.'
I tell them how the last two days went, lightening the story. The stew is ready before the story is over. We eat lunch, I prepare for a peaceful day at home.
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