Tercor's jaw literally dropped, his jawbone nearly unhinged -- he was utterly stupefied. He had long since known his mother had been Warrior Queen of Elledora, but not of the other revelations his uncle had just spoke of. Urik was silently pleased with himself, it was a rarity to see his nephew so astonished that he lost his natural born calmness. Even rarer to see him absolutely bewildered...
"Close your mouth boy, or a hwyfar will turn your tongue into a leech. Before you ask, no, you shall hear nothing further."
It was as if Urik had read Tercor's mind. He quickly did as his uncle said and returned to some modicum of stoicism. Internally, he was abuzz with questions and seeked any form of outlet. He didn't ask his uncle mind you, as Tercor knew exactly how he operated; any further questions would be met with harsher training in the evening. Not the kind of harsh training Tercor enjoyed either.
As Tercor calmed, a pair of people entered the Great Hall; one stocky and stout whilst the other was lithe and lanky. Like most who resided in the mountainscapes of Elledora, they were paler in complexion and golden in hair. Both were house laborers, coined as maids or stewards or servants in farther lands. As they approached the table, the shorter of the pair bowed whilst the taller curtsied; a relatively recent change in Elledoran culture.
Urik paid them both a slight nod with Tercor doing much the same, as they moved to clean the, now demolished, breakfast setting. Urik and Tercor thanked the pair, before Urik spoke to the shorter man.
"Gwellain, finally putting your youngest to work? Uh hah hah hie! If your wife were still with us, dēwos bless her, she'd have your ass mounted above your mantle!"
Like Urik, Tercor had seen the man nearly everyday of his life, at least as far back as he could remember. Despite being in service to his uncle, they were long time friends. Tercor himself being raised by Gwellain at times when Urik was away. To him, Gwellain was another father figure, albeit not to the extent of his uncle Urik.
As seamless as water down a river, Gwellain spoke and worked in tandem. He had long been an experienced hand at rebuffing Urik whilst in the midst of a job.
"Aye brother, my lady would've thrown me to the wolves by now, dēwos bless her. But if my memory serves me right, and it always has, no true women of Elledora has taken your hand at all, eh? Not too charming, are ya?"
It was a sharp jab, pointed directly for Urik's throat. Urik took it in stride however, for he and Gwellain spoke this way in and out of every day, and burst into a small fit of laughter as he commonly did. He then turned to the lanky girl, seemingly the youngest of Gwellain's ilk, and spoke with her as well.
"Uh hah hah hie! Lass, pay no heed to your old man and his blunt barbs -- he's still recovering from the last time I crushed him playing kubb. My word you've grown since a babe, last time I saw you was, what, a dozen years ago?"
Urik glanced at Gwellain as he finished speaking, an unspoken conversation on if the timeline was correct.
"Nay brother, that was at least sixteen years ago, and he was my second youngest; the same hellion I brought last year to the Senos Festival. This one here is Angharad, near abouts fifteen, youngest of eight brothers and three sisters and yet she may just be the brightest of my lot..."
Gwellain sighed heavily at his own statement, despite being in his mid-forties he looked to have aged a decade; the stresses of single-fatherhood over so many was apparent. He was still fair mind you, while faint scars cluttered his pale face they accented his long, braided golden mustache well. Despite being bald and wisened in his years, the resemblance between himself and Angharad was stark: both of them shared rounded faces with full cheeks, dense golden-blonde hair, and muted emerald eyes.
Tercor meanwhile, was focused entirely on Angharad. He spoke very occasionally with those of the fairer sex, and those he did speak with were all older house laborers, like Gwellain. A girl similar in age and highly attractive to Tercor was something he'd never experienced. The boy was only just entering the throes of puberty, but he was already much larger and more mature then peers his age. Despite this, the girl being tall and lanky amongst her same aged peers herself, stood a full head above the boy. This was his heart's first true bout of childs love, a crush, if you will; her being older and taller mattered not to Tercor.
Whilst Urik and Gwellain carried on with their numbing conversation, Tercor stood up and walked to where Angharad was cleaning. Although he was incapable of removing his eyes from the girl, he began to aid her in her work. Angharad obviously noticed this, and blush rose to her chubby cheeks. As the youngest in a large family, even favored as she was, it was seldom she received such attention. It was her first time working in the service of Tercor and his uncle after all, and nervousness came quickly to the girl. The pair remained silent as they worked, soon causing an air of odd tension between them. Angharad spoke first, the awkward silence feeling uncomfortable to her.
"Uhh... umm Y... Yo-Young Rīks, it is an honor to be in your presence. If it pleases you, I might clean the setting alone."
Angharad glanced at Tercor with a side eye, hoping the boy would accept, lest her father admonish her later. Yet she gathered nothing from him, even with her muted emerald eyes, trained on being observant of her elder siblings, she could find nothing. Outwardly, Tercor was stone-faced, his visage trained by his natural calm -- internally, Tercor was sweating bullets. His mind raced at all the differing thoughts on how to reply.
"'No, no, if it's with you, I enjoy this.' No, that sounds too forward. 'How's life like right now?' Hmm, that isn't even an answer to what she said. 'You and me are alike, neither of us have a mother you know!' That's bloody insane Tercor!"
Unknown to Tercor and his racing mind, his lips accidentally mimicked his thoughts. Although they came out as little more than a murmur, Angharad heard them. She heard them and halted her work, her hands quickly rose to her mouth, desperate to stop what was about to come out. Alas, she was too slow, and a loud snort followed by a bout of constrained laughter overtook her.
With wide doe eyes she looked at Tercor, wherein she prayed a foolish prayer: that the boy had not heard her raucous laughter that echoed in the Great Hall. So foolish a prayer mind you, that even Urik and Gwellain stopped speaking and looked to the pair in faint surprise. Gwellain had seldom heard his daughter laugh like that, and Urik knew Tercor was not nearly so comical as to elicit a laugh of such volume.
However, when Angharad had looked at Tercor with wide eyes, he looked back just the same. Whilst Angharad was embarrassed for her abrupt laughter, Tercor was embarrassed he had spoken his personal thoughts aloud.
Both were blush now, Angharad's grew deeper pink and Tercor's cheeks and throat grew hot. In a manner almost synchronized, both noticed each other's blush and gazed for a second too long into each other's eyes, before hurriedly looking away. It seemed they were in agreement: there was a better sight somewhere on the grey of the stone walls.
Urik and Gwellain looked at each other, then back to the kids, before looking back to each other once more. They immediately burst into deep laughter. Their fit of laughter so great in fact, that Urik tipped back slightly too far in his seat -- which for a man his size, meant only one thing -- the chair legs broke out from under him, and Urik collapsed to the floor. First the kids and now this, the men were almost choking on their laughter now. Gwellain, in almost a panic, grabbed the table for support. As unfortunate as Urik had been, it was worse for Gwellain. His hand just so happened to grip a spot on the table that had slick pork grease. He had yet to clean it whilst conversing, a fault of Urik no less; and then Gwellain took a tumble to the floor.
The other duo, Tercor and Angharad, witnessed it all: the initial laughter, Urik and the faulty chair, and Gwellain and the spot of grease, the men fighting for their lives, gasping for air in-between laughter. Laughter that seemed to have shifted to one another and their respectively dumb actions by now. Tercor and Angharad looked once more to each other, no longer any embarrasment in their eyes, and they too, burst out laughing.
After quite some time, five minutes or so, the men rose to their feet; still chuckling at the matter. Urik was the first to speak.
"By dēwos, it's been years since I've laughed like that. My word Tercor, what happened that caused all this? I can't imagine you turned into a western court jester for a single conversation."
Tercor cracked a faint smile, for a boy of 11 he grew slightly embarrassed once more. Angharad had too for that matter.
"Well uncle, if you must know, a few of my thoughts slipped out. Nothing more or less. No, I did not turn into a court jester, I am, in fact, naturally comedic!"
Angharad chuckled at this, it was her overhearing Tercor's mumbling that ignited the whole thing. Funnily enough, she agreed, and told both Urik and her father so.
"I am inclined to agree with the Young Rīks. High Chieftain Urik, father, he is indeed quite funny and I am grateful he could provide us all with such comedy."
Angharad resumed her cleaning, her voice slightly shaky as she spoke. Tercor was elated that the girl he enjoyed seemed to enjoy him as well. He followed suit and began clearing dishes and cutlery from the table.
Gwellain had also resumed his work, a heavy smile plastered on his face. Unlike Urik who always maintained a bit of brevity about himself, and similar to Tercor, Gwellain was naturally more impartial in his demeanor. It was obvious to the rest that he quite enjoyed the laughs.
"Haaa, Tercor certainly has his moments, I'll give him that. Reminds me of the time when he was only six or-"
"Please uncle Gwellain, not this story!"
The boy quickly tried to shut up Gwellain, he knew the story all to well; he was there after all. He knew just how much Gwellain liked to tell that story, except on other occasions it was the hundreth retelling to Urik or the other house laborers. Yet, for a girl like Angharad to hear of the embarrassing tale made Tercor's heart leap into his throat. He would do anything to stop her from hearing it.
"Ah, fine. I suppose Angharad can hear it from your lips herself. Which I'm glad to see the two of you get along so well, I was frankly nervous. To see two of the children I dote on so heavily, together and enjoying each other's company so joyously... it helps to assuage that nervousness."
Urik and Tercor stayed behind to help the father-daughter duo cleanup, a rarity for a man of Urik's station. Afterwards they parted ways in the Great Hall, with Tercor and Angharad glancing at each other one final time before they left.
Urik lead Tercor outside, the twins were still cresting the sky and the cool mountain breeze soothed against the now sweltering near-noon heat. They went up the path once more, the same one they took from where Tercor trained earlier that morning. Urik stopped part way, motioning to Tercor to follow him inside another building. It looked like some of the ruins further along the path.
This building, like the Great Hall, was built directly into the mountainside. Although it differed in that it was made of mighty timbers in the front half, and for the roof. The sigil of Elledora was carved above its door as well.
Having stepped inside, the chill from the back half of the building's mountain stone caused Tercor to shiver momentarily. As his body adjusted, he looked up and down. The inside was a multi-level library, and although it looked more quaint than the Great Hall from the outside, it made up for it inside. Great piercing light came from holes above, carved straight through the mountainside. They allowed for a far brighter interior than one may expect, the twins' light abound within the library.
The entrance was little more than the timber framed box as apparent outside, the floor was stone and cool to the touch. From there it lead into the library proper: a multi-floor behemoth of stone and timber, above and below the floors were circular with a gaping hole in each center -- allowing one to gaze at every other floor-- while twin spiral timber or stone stairs lead above and below. From what Tercor knew, it was only recently built, some 30 or 40 years past.
A sharp whistle broke Tercor's thoughts, as he noticed Urik ascending the steps to the next floor above. He followed in kind, bounding up after his uncle. First training, followed by breakfast, which lead into one of his favorite parts of the day: formal education.
While Tercor was most certainly active and deeply enjoyed his training, -- and most certainly enjoyed devouring his share of food -- it was the times he sat and studied where his most passionate side came out. Urik taught him many things in their time together, yet what he enjoyed most were the times he would learn of war stratgems, battle tactics, army doctrine, or historical records of all three.
Today however, was not one of those times. As Tercor jumped up the final stairs to the top floor, he saw it. Or more aptly, her: Lady Edda. His foremost tutor on all things not war related. Be it math, geography, literature, the epics and sagas, and beyond - Lady Edda knew them all well. Even in Tercor's mind, despite not particularly favoring her style of teaching to his uncle's, she was an incredible teacher.
Lady Edda was a woman of many years and was one of only three that spoke of Tercor's parents. According to his uncle Urik, when him and Tercor's father and their tribe of people migrated to Elledora, the woman was already ancient. Don't be fooled, the woman was sharp and didn't take "no" for an answer. Many times had Tercor attempted to escape her lessons, yet somehow as if magic, she was always around the next bend or door in front of him. Her switch soon became fast friends with Tercor's bottom; she held ungodly strength for her size and age.
"If it is not my favorite student."
Lady Edda had dry humor, as Tercor was in fact, her only student.
"Come hither boy. We shalt have you learned in the ways of literature today. With haste now."
Her voice was dry and raspy, matching her shorter, crone-like appearance. Perhaps due to always being in the library with it's mountain chill, she wore a massive bear-fur cloak. Aside from her head, and the occasional times she would reach out from underneath, her entire body was hidden within.
Urik, in a somewhat oblivious manner, told Tercor that he could finally enjoy his favorite activity of the day. Tercor sighed internally.
'These are going to be a long two hours... may as well learn something.'
As Tercor slowly waddled to his seat, Urik and Lady Edda spoke; more hushed than Tercor had ever heard from them. Even as he reached his chair, and was no more than an arm's reach from the both of them, their voices remained nothing more than a warbled hush. As Tercor fingered through some of the books Lady Edda had prepared for him, he heard a dull thud.
Upon turning he realized exactly what that sound was. Lady Edda had just slapped his uncle Urik, across his face. Tercor was shocked, he had never seen Lady Edda even raise a hand to Urik in times past. Let alone the fact that Urik was a High Chieftain, although Tercor didn't know the entirety of the role, he knew that nobody was ever allowed to do such a thing.
Urik said nothing further to Lady Edda in return to the slap he had just received. Instead, he turned to Tercor and planted a kiss on his forehead, before quickly turning and walking out of the library. Tercor didn't notice in the heat of the moment, but the future him wish he had -- there was a very, very concerning look on Urik's face.
"What just... what happe-"
"Silence boy, you know my rules. We shalt begin with a brief understanding of the few Elledoran poets that have hallowed our lands first, ask questions as they formulate, and only on the topic at hand. Now let's begin."
As Lady Edda spoke, Tercor sank deeply into his thoughts. A small portion, even now, was still on Angharad; she had unknowingly stolen his first love. Yet the remainder and majority of them were on what just happened. To see his uncle struck, and for Lady Edda to carry on as if nothing had just transpired, well, it simply boggled his mind.
'What in the ancestors name is going on right now?'