The rest of the village soon headed home. Our large party was led to the main hall by Granny.
"It will take at least five to six hours per trip. They should be back just before the moons appear," she said, looking behind and addressing the ladies closest to her. "In the meantime, we too, will observe a time-honored tradition of women."
Demelza, Mother, Lucian's mother, Eleanor, the kids, and I were leading a bunch of others whose husbands—mostly students of my Zephyr—had gone up that mountain. We went inside the spacious hall and got comfortable.
Granny asked something of Dilip and Menir, two of Zephyr's students, and then sat down herself. "The boys will bring us something to toast with."
Oh, I had forgotten that particular tradition.
For each year their husbands attended and survived, women used to drink a glass of wine or spirits to give themselves courage. It hadn't been done much these years, and Granny rarely drank. Also, my father never went up that mountain when he was alive, so my own mother never partook.
"Oh boy... my Alex is on his fourth time this year," Demelza said, hugging her son, who was wiggling in her arms. "I'm going to need all of you to look after Arnold."
We laughed with her, and others voiced their concerns about getting drunk, while the children of the ladies here used the space to play around. I didn't want to say it, but the way I was feeling? I was going to finish that bottle, and then some. Forget glasses.
Soon, the two young men returned with a few cases of wine. Granny wanted to pay, but they refused the coins from our family. Soon, they left us alone.
"Lylly, your man sure is respected by his students... and the entire village." Liz was already reaching for a bottle and struggling to pull out the cork. "I need to thank him for how he dissuaded my Norman from fighting this year. You sure found gold in that river."
I blushed from Lizzy's words and the ensuing howls of women already tearing into the wine themselves. My back was patted, almost too much. They hadn't even drunk a drop. With that, I took a bottle already opened.
"Sweetheart, you only drink one glass for a start," Mother took the bottle from me, spilling some on the rug. "Don't forget your plan for tonight."
Mother's last words sent everyone around us into a frenzy of laughter and unsolicited advice. The atmosphere quickly turned nice and light. The women were relieved their husbands wouldn't foolishly engage in a fight, and what little worry they did have washed away with the wine.
"Listen, Lylly, your first time is very special..." I felt an arm around my shoulder.
Here we go.
Demelza started telling all sorts of warnings and advice. Others injected words and anecdotes here and there. I honestly barely heard them. I finished my 'traditional' one glass and kept thinking about tonight. Mother was right... but I was also very excited and nervous, so let's do one more.
We spent only Ehlite knew how long just chatting and drinking, but soon enough, some started to sing, and others joined in with dancing. I ended up in a conversation with Liz, talking about our past.
"I remember this time last year, you told me," she gestured with her glass hand—thank goodness it was empty, "that you might never marry... and maybe even runnin' away, hehe."
At this point, I'd had a few myself. I rarely drank, so it hit me like a tornado.
"That was a different life... a shitty one!!" I got up, grabbed the nearly empty bottle, and addressed the room. "Now look at me! This winter festival, I'll have the biggest wedding this village has ever seen!!"
Lizzy and the others erupted in cheers. Boy, drinking was fun. My head felt very light, and my face was flushed. I had to close my eyes as some of them started spinning around, and it made me feel sick. I felt someone sitting next to me and hugging my shoulders.
"Look at you, big sister... do you feel okay? Want to go get some air?"
"Hmm..." I walked outside a little wobbly, using her hand as support. Liz followed close behind.
The afternoon air felt nice and warm. I looked around and saw the River Sen afar. I wanted to go there.
"Come... come on. I want to see a place."
Without waiting for their answers, I stumbled ahead. Some of Zephyr's students saw me and politely waved. Ah, he raised them so well... hmhmhm.
"Lylly, where are we going?" Liz needed an answer after being dragged too far.
"...Where my future husband and I first made out. I want to swim. I feel all sweaty."
"Let's all do it! I don't want my husband to hug a sweaty woman tonight."
Liz came by my side, joining Eli, and walked down to the shallow waters.
"We found Zephyr not far from here. Just up a half a mile or so... there." Eleanor pointed into the distance.
Indeed, all this area, this river, was special to me in one way or another. I looked behind and saw where we were lying on the ground last night; it made me hot just thinking about it.
I took my dress off and walked into the cool water. It felt calming. The familiar feelings... this river gives me him.
"Your face is like the sun, Lylly... tonight is going to be very special."
"How was yours? I never asked." I turned to her and washed my hair.
Liz turned as red as I had been. But her smile was a very happy one. She joined me with a satisfied expression in the waters.
"A lady never tells... but let's just say it was pretty magical." She sat down, submerged neck-deep, and gave a suggestive smile. "Ehlite can bless a woman more ways than one..."
Eli was so embarrassed that it reminded me of myself not too long ago. She laughed with us when I splashed some water at her. Ironically, today was a very happy one. We spent a few more minutes in the water and then went and rejoined the women. My hair and dress were still dripping on the way.
The women had somewhat calmed down. Some were laughing, others just crying on each other's shoulders. Someone had brought a long table full of food, and I spotted Ilianna sitting in the corner with a sad expression.
How could I forget about her? I went and picked her up.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" I removed some hair from her little face.
We had gotten a lot closer. She would obviously prefer Zephyr, but who wouldn't?
"Some of the others told me about some monster in the mountain..." She looked at the kids near the food table, eating with their mother. "...where Dad left this morning."
Damn kids. They had undone all of Zephyr's hard work. Although I should have seen this coming. It was hard to keep something so deeply embedded in this and many other villages' history a secret.
Maybe it's time to tell her? No. I couldn't, without talking to Zephyr first. Maybe not the full story.
"Listen, Anna... it is true. But... your father did not go to fight him. You see, Emet lives deep in the mountains surrounding our village. He is always hungry," I adjusted her in my arms and did my best to explain something complex to a five-year-old while avoiding the gory details. "So we bring him food every year to help him. Zephyr just went to help."
"So, he's just hungry, and we feed him? Why?"
Ugh, kids and their innocent questions.
"I'm going to let your father take this one, sweetheart. Soon, he will be back with everyone else, just like he promised. Now... let's eat all that food."
Yep. I was getting better at this. She was clinging to my neck, just like she did with her father. Sometimes, it was still insane to think I skipped the hard part and jumped straight into being a mother.
I was also looking forward to the hard part later. It was late afternoon... just a few more hours.