Ta-Da! More Story!

Chapter the Second, in Which we learn Penryn Really is a Witch and a few Marriages are Arranged The whole town was as busy as I had ever seen it. New troops were arriving all the time and all my sisters were busy trying to choose the most handsome captains for their husbands. All the while I was just so excited to see Penryn again and to show her what I had done. What she had to show me, however was even more impressive: a garment made with a special yarn, not so fine as that for stockings, that the men were to wear under their armor. She told us that it was made with a special charm in it to protect them from harm. It was true, Penryn was a witch and we were very glad to have her on our side. The secret to this new garment was in the song. Do you remember how I told you Penryn taught me songs that contained the patterns so I would remember them? Well, that's not all the songs did. Each different song contained different charms, some would make the wearer more beautiful, others helped them find contentment, still others were for luck, or wealth. What Penryn had done was found a way to intergrate several of these charms together along with one of protection in a simply spendid tunic that the men could wear under their armour. I don't know how well they believed her that they would be protected but since these new garments fit better than their baggy tunics and the winter in the North where the would be fighting was quite harsh, they were happy to receive them. It was such an exciting season, there were weddings to prepare for. Several of the ladies in the court were getting married as well as two of my sisters. No, my oldest sister did not marry Durrow, she was too old for him according to my parents. She married another ally's son and was soon gone to have heirs or whatever it was that my sisters did when they married. My second sister was married to a man that provided horses to my father, as I remember she was completely in love with him and we were all very happy for her. "What about the handsome prince?! Prince Durrow?" Beatrix blurted out. "I'm getting to it, dear." Durrow was very upset at the loss of my sister. He really did fancy her and was not thrilled that my father thought he was too young for her. He vowed that he would not marry anyone from our court... But he didn't exactly announce it, he just became very withdrawn. When the troops were rallied and the war began he was more than ready to go and prove himself, in a tunic that I had knit, no less. I only finnished three tunics before the men left for the war: one for Durrow, one for my father, and one that I made first which was full of mistakes because of the intricacies of the pattern. That one I gave to one of the pages that was always goofing around and made us laugh, Bolan (first one, first column). I had no idea whether or not it would protect him but it was better than nothing and he was a nice guy so I gave it to him. After so long with all those extra people around it was mind numbingly dull when they all left, taking with them a good half of the men and boys from our own land. I didn't realize then that not all of them would come back. I thought they would go, fight their war, and all come home in a few weeks or maybe months. But they were fighting the savage Northerners and they were gone for eight months, home for one and then gone again. It was a long boring time that I likely don't need to go into detail about since that isn't the point of this story. "Beatrix, what did you want me to tell you about? You've got me reminicing now and I've lost my point." "You were going t tell me the story about how you learned to knit and how Grandpa slayed a dragon to build your house out of it's scales." "Ah, yes. Then I'll skip a bit." Penryn came and went teaching me not only knitting charms but some other useful things like medicines and how to find water with a pendulum on long journeys. My father and his armies subdued the Northerners, or at least beat them back to where they weren't a threat. All the men who wore the tunics Penryn and I had made came home no worse for the wear, and speaking our praises. By this time I think two years had gone by, maybe three. I'm too old now to remember. Anyhow, time had gone by and my mother was starting to fear that I was getting too old to be married off. I didn't really want to be married off but I wasn't thrilled with my current life either so I decided to wait and see who they'd chosen and if I didn't like the match I figured that I would go off with Penryn or something. I had no idea what the real world was like or what kind of crazy trouble I was in for. Or the kind of trouble that I was about to get others into, namely Durrow, Penryn, and Bolan. I wonder if I had known then what I know now, would I risk their lives to escape a life of boredom? It hardly seems fair. How selfish I was! I'm off track again, I'm sorry. Where was I? Oh, my father had decided I would marry one of his war buddies and I was about to bolt... More on Thursday! Sorry, if this one wasn't up to snuff but I was having trouble getting into it today. Plus, I'm hungry! I need breakfast! (Chapter One, Chapter Three)