A couple of months can be a short time, or it could be a longer time than ever imagined. It depended on what happened, who one was with, and how hard they pushed themselves. For Erec, the couple of months following Hollow’s Eve went in rapid succession. Between the training and being forced to take time for himself, Erec found a small joy in the comfort of the Academy for the first time in a long time.
He eagerly awaited Enide’s return, often making a flurry of plans with her and the rest of their friends when she was back in the Kingdom.
Dame Robin put him through his paces, meeting more and more nobles.
This included meetings with Count Hastrifus. Who was, as Dame Robin liked to refer, ‘a useful idiot.’ The Count gave away information about the church that he knew that he and his friends talked about. But being such a willing person to talk to a stranger like Erec to court and start digging into points bordering on rebellion against the crown…
The point was that Count Hastrifus was an example of some of the nobility. A tool to practice information gathering on, and later, Dame Robin hoped, an option to expand his social circle to other like-minded counts as a source of better quality information.
Nothing the guy gave was anything that Dame Robin didn’t know, but for Erec, it was a direct resource for some points of key information.
The church has stepped up its efforts lately in visiting key figures in the nobility, making house calls, and coordinating groups and sermons with more directed effort than anyone was used to. They often preached of the core values of the Kingdom—the isolationist obeying of the Goddess.
…For Erec, focusing his efforts on training, friends, and preparing for the tournament was enough.
He saw a couple of gains.
Vigor: Rank C - Tier 5 → Rank C - Tier 6Agility: Rank C - Tier 3 → Rank C - Tier 4
Perception: Rank D - Tier 2 → Rank D - Tier 3
They were the result of hard work, without overworking himself. With the new year and the tournament, he’d be allowed to step up training a bit more. But three gains in lesser Virtues to shore up his body was well appreciated. Every bit counted.
As December rolled around, the Academy canceled classes for the second time that month in observance of Yule.
Luckily, Enide was back shortly before this break and had agreed to stay for the holidays.
Erec packed his things in the dorm—watching as Garin and Olivia did the same. Colin didn’t bother; he would spend the first half of their break in Erec’s manor instead of his own home. Opting to work in the laboratory until the actual day of the holidays, he’d be back home with his father.
Yule was a special time; even the Academy had been decorated in preparation. At the start of the month, it was like magic. Pine trees—real ones cultivated down in a deeper layer—were put up everywhere, decorated with magic ornaments and lights. Even just walking into the Verdant Oak building was accompanied by an enchanted sound of winter-time music.
At first, Enide was blown away by the change.
Out in the wastes, December was just cold. Vega did a big banger to celebrate the new year, but not this. It was a relic of the past. To the people of the Kingdom, it was a symbol of their connection to that which was. They were in a different world, yet the spirit of Yule transcended the fire.
Enide sat on his bed as he packed.
“We’re taking grumpy with us?” she said, meaning Colin.
“Yeah, he has a room. Though, on Yule morning, it’ll be you, me, Bedwyr, and Dad.” Erec said, folding a shirt and tucking it away.
“You picked out a gift already for me?” she said with a smirk.
“What do you think?”
“I think you did. I have something for you from the wastes. Didn’t pick it up for this… But hey, if it works, it works, doesn’t it?” There was a light in her eyes as she said it, a curl to her lips that set his heart on fire. Before he knew what he was doing, Erec laid a kiss on her lips and forgot about putting his clothes away at all.
It took a bit longer than they needed to leave the Academy.
All of them went back down into the caverns; for Erec and Enide, it was their first yule together, a fake tree in his manor, as the real things were expensive, and their budget for their cavern was dedicated to business and lab work for now.
When it came yule-morning, with all of them by their tree, Bedwyr was oddly absent.
Still, as Erec opened his present to find a ‘good luck charm’ in the form of a Vortex-Industries figure—some kind of weird robot, which VAL insisted was an outdated and discontinued relic of bad marketing—Erec couldn’t help but feel contentment.
Here, in his home, with his father and Enide, he’d never felt so much peace in his life.
It was a moment of relaxation before a storm, he knew, but with the people around him he’d cultivated, they would weather the storm together.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
When Enide opened her present to a key to their manor on the seventh layer… Well, he couldn’t defend himself when she attacked him with affection and love. It was an invitation to stay and live her life with him—when she wanted. Enide was the wind, she came and went as she pleased. But, he was happy to give her a house with him when she wished.
For the first time in many years, Yule felt right.
— - ☢ - — - ☼ - — - ☢ - —
Garin rubbed his nose as he sat outside of the Nitidus manor. He’d gotten a cold the last week, which sucked but, well, being back home and seeing everyone had maybe brought it on. The manor had taken down their trees already. He could still see the spots in the fake snow of their lawn, along with the multitude of footprints that showed what they’d been up to.
Leave it to the Nitidus household to not waste a single day to look out of order.
He waited.
And he waited a little longer.
Then he sneezed, and Munchy chattered on his shoulder—he’d left Fido back with his dad—the little coyote was growing quick, and the two animals didn’t much get along; today was better to have Munchy to be eyes and ears.
Finally, the guard came out; the man gave a deep bow.
“Apologies, Sir Honestus, I wasn’t aware of your connection to our young master.”
“It’s not a problem; it’s my fault for dropping by unannounced,” Garin said with a small smile, enough to placate the man. He’d just been doing his job.
Without further prompt, the guard took him deep into the manor. Garin held the present tight at his side. They wandered deep into the Nitidus household—a place that, as a kid, he’d have dreamed of making his way into. Everything was so ornate. The history here was crazy—all the times that the Nitidus house responded to the Kingdom or hosted grand events… To think of the conversations and relationships formed in these walls.
He was humbled.
And soon, they reached a minor study Colin had claimed all his own.
When he entered, he saw his friend hunched over the table, eyes golden as he poured over the spellbook gifted to him by Sir Boldwick, which had once belonged to Sir Able.
Colin didn’t even look at his entrance.
Garin gave a polite cough.
His not-so-polite friend either didn’t take the hint or was so absorbed in his work that he missed his arrival completely. Garin shook his head with a rueful smirk and moved on over, sitting right down in front of Colin. This earned him a glance but little more.
“Come on, man? I know you’re not that big on people, but it’s been a week or two. Did ya miss me?”
“It is not that I missed you or didn’t. I’m simply in the depths of work. I’ve come upon some applications for these glyphs that will prepare me to take on the Crown Prince. His dismissal is most absurd and—“
“Sheesh, you learned nothing from that week of training, did you?” Garin shook his head. Munchy jumped off his shoulder and launched himself at Colin’s book; there was a short fight between him and the fat—almost doubled-sized squirrel, in which Garin tried to brush aside the animal, only to find himself petting him.
In the end, Munchy was covering the words and Colin was scratching his chin with an annoyed expression.
“You’ve come to my home to tell me to work less? I would’ve thought a trip to rust bucket’s would’ve been a more prudent goal for such ambitions. If I am putting too much of myself into training, I shudder to think what he might be.”
“Erec’s taken his lesson to heart. He’s found a better balance now. You’re the one I’m worried about now.” Garin folded his arms.
“And you’re the arbiter of overwork? Do you not think I’ve noticed you waking up early in the mornings and going on runs with your litter of animals? Do you think that I’m not aware that you’re out there doing more than running?”
Garin shrugged.
“We’re in the same boat. I’m worried about the tournament. I’m putting in the work. So are you. But we have to enjoy the holidays.”
“The tournament begins next month.”
“At the end of next month.”
Colin frowned while petting Munchy; the big squirrel had crawled up past the book and into his friends arms, soaking in the attention. Garin took a long look at the room. The library was full of books on Mysticism—all of it looked new. Some of them were splayed out on tables; others were sorted or stacked near the bookcases. Even though his friend hadn’t spent his whole holidays here, it seemed he’d stepped it up in the learning department.
Colin would probably return to the dorms with a whole stack of books.
“Here. I have two presents.” Garin put the first on the table—a small letter. The second next to it was a wrapped-up thing with pretty dotted paper and a silver bow. Though, it only looked good because Olivia was the one who wrapped it. She had a talent for it after spending many Yules wrapping the presents of the Luculentus household.
Colin sprang onto the pretty present first. Inside was a spellbook much like the one he was currently pouring through.
He made a face.
“Another of Sir Able’s books.”
“Aye, I asked Boldwick if he could talk him into a second, given that you’ve become such a dedicated disciple,” Garin said with a straight face.
Colin sneered more. Though, in his eyes, he saw the glitter of excitement. He would be eager to get a crack at whatever magical theorems were within. The truth was that those two had a similar mind when it came to magic. Two sides of a coin. They might hate each other, but he had the feeling from talking with Sir Boldwick that Able had been impressed with Colin’s capability.
His friend tucked the book away, then moved to the letter.
As he read it, his eyes widened. His mouth narrowed. And he glanced at Garin a couple of times.
“He offered you this too?”
“Yes. Both you and me, buddy. Boldwick is giving us specialized training. We are not to tell Erec about it. Something about ‘catch up’ lessons. Now, I don’t know that we can catch up in raw strength or if this is a pity move—“
“Too critical of yourself,” Colin shook his head. “Stop it. He recognized that we also have latent talent and wanted to prepare us for a display to the kingdom. I will be accepting; you will be too.”
Garin kicked his feet up and studied the ceiling. “Yeah. We will. You know, seeing you grow so much and put it into yourself… I want to be like that. Erec feels out of reach, but you? Well, if you’re putting in this work and making these kinds of steps, then I could be, too.”
“There are few I consider an equal. Certainly not by blood, son of a baron,” Colin snorted.
“Hey.”
“I’m not done. I consider you an equal, Garin. We’ve seen battle with one another and been places I could’ve scarcely dreamed possible. You’ve been at my side. I consider you a brother. I’ll admit… I was wrong.”
There was a profound silence. Garin stared at his friend as he said something he would have never pictured.
“…I was wrong about both of you. You are… My friends. I’m thankful to have you in my life. When we face this tournament, I’d rather have no one by my side other than you two.”
Garin didn’t know what to say to that.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to. Munchy's loud squeaks at his lack of attention, and attacking Colin bought him enough space to be stunned.
Yule miracles were real, Garin supposed.