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Celebration
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Tova's Four Kingdoms Dangerous Traditions
TOVAThe days of the celebration passed. It took a week for the castle to become back to normal. Our guests spent a day or two recovering from the merriment of the day before heading back to their lives. Birgir and Ulka stayed a few more days, working out some of the details of their new acquisition. “I’m too old to have kids,” Ulka said, abruptly one night at dinner. Erik choked on his soup and Birgir had to pound him on his back. I started laughing and couldn’t stop.“What on earth brought on this conversation?” Erik asked, horrified. “What are we going to do about an heir?” Ulka said. “Birgir and I aren’t exactly young. We probably have fifteen to twenty good years left to rule, but what will be do after that?”I tipped my head to the side. “Exactly how old are you, my lady?” I asked, curious. Erik gave a shout of laughter. “Good luck getting that information from her. It’s a closely guarded secret.” I threw my wadded up napkin at his head and he ducked. Birgir grinn
Tova's Four Kingdoms Dining Room
ERIKI rode Troi into the stable at a run. It had been a long time since she got to go out and ride hard like that. Tova was too large and too far along in her pregnancy to ride, but she still came down to the stable to pet and talk to Bo. He wouldn’t allow anyone else to ride him, including me, so he had to stay when I went out with Troi. I gave the reins to one of the stable boys and then went into Bo’s stall, patting him. “She’s doing okay, boy,” I murmured to him. “It’s just too cold for her to come down and see you.” The new year had come in with a bang, the snow falling enough to cover the first story windows in the castle. After the snow came the winds, biting and freezing everything into a glossy, slippery mess. Tova was large with child and clumsy, so venturing outside wasn’t a good idea. She was going stir-crazy inside the castle. She recently began rearranging the baby’s room for the third time.I dropped a handful of oats into Bo’s feed bucket and carefully made
Tova's Four Kingdoms Baby
TOVAI woke up in the middle of the night with a start, unsure what had woken me. I felt achy all over and decided to take a bath in the morning. I would ask the medicine man for some herbs to put into the water to soothe my muscles.I rolled over and snuggled into Erik. He rolled slightly in his sleep, pressing further into me. I dozed back to sleep when I woke again. This time I knew what had caused it.I carefully rolled away, hoping not to wake Erik. I felt a horrific pressure in my low back and sharp pains were shooting down my leg. I got up and carefully put on a dressing gown over my hugely swollen body, tying the straps in the front. I began pacing up and down the room, hoping to alleviate some of the pressure in my low back. I was in labor.I knew from my lessons with the midwives that the baby could take hours, or even days to come. I wasn’t prepared for this amount of pain, though. The pressure made me feel like my body was going to drop out of my bottom and the
Tova's Four Kingdoms Prophesies
TEN YEARS LATERTOVAI was on my knees in the nursery trying to finish braiding six-year-old Greta’s curly red hair. It was normally a mess and I normally let it be a mess, but today was the day she was going to get her prophesy. Her brother, Leif, had gotten his years ago and the seers were finally back in the area. It was a tradition that all the children of the realm participated in. Even Erik had gotten a prophesy at one time.I clumsily climbed to my feet, again big with child. The midwives were convinced I was carrying twins this time. I had another easy birth when I birthed Greta and I was hoping this pregnancy would not be any different. “My lady, can I help?” One of the maids came forward to help me with Greta’s hair. I smiled at her. “Please try, Berta. I can not do a thing with it.” I handed over the brush and ribbons and then looked for my son. I found Leif sitting in the rocking chair near the window, reading a book. I smiled at him. At age ten he looked
Tova's Four Kingdoms Greatest Warriors
TOVALater that night Erik was helping me take off my ornate dress. I had my back to him, my hair lifted up and he was untying the lacing.“Why do they tie these so tightly when you’re obviously with child? Of course you won’t have a waist,” Erik complained, picking at the knots. I shrugged.“Fashion, I guess,” I replied. He finally got the knot untied and spun me around, lifting the heavy dress off from me. I gave a sigh of relief and collapsed on the couch. He sat beside me and lifted my feet into his lap, idly rubbing them.“She will tame the Lion,” Erik mused. “You know who the Lion is, right?”I sighed again. “Yes. And I hope HE isn’t who that prophesy is about.”“The king of the Minot Realm does have a fearsome reputation,” Erik acknowledged. “But so did I.”“She is only six,” I commented. “That’s the same age I was when Birgir came and got me from my parents. I’m not letting Greta go if he comes knocking.”Erik nodded. “I agree. I will fight to keep Greta here unti
Tova's Four Kingdoms Tova
TOVAThere was a sharp rap on the door and my mother opened it with shaking hands to reveal a very tall, very large imposing man who had to duck to get through our doorway. I was sitting at the kitchen table dressed in my Sunday outfit, even though it was only Tuesday. There was a small fur cloak that was laying out on the table that my mother had painstakingly made, the fur cut out from her very own coat, making it unusable for her. My father stood, rigid, back to the door, staring into the fireplace.“Is she ready?” the man asked. His voice was gruff, but not unkind.“He won’t hurt her?” my mother asked in a begging voice. The man answer, the gruffness dropped from his voice and replaced with sympathy.“No. She is his bride. It has been foretold.”“She is only six!” my mother cried out. “How can she be someone’s bride? She is too young!”“He will not mate her until she turns of age,” the man reassured her. “But he wants her with him to train as future queen and to keep her
Tova's Four Kingdoms Oremgoth
TOVAI turned nineteen years old today. I’ve been living in the castle for thirteen years, learning what it takes to be Queen, wife of the High King. My teachers have not all been kind; I have scars across my shoulders from one of the harsher teachers who believed children needed to have information beaten into them. My favorite teacher is Lady Ulka, the current Queen of Oremgoth. She teaches me about her duties, how to be a high bred lady and how to support my husband in politics. I also have history and geography lessons which I hate. The teacher is a mean wizard who has no patience with my stumbling over the pronunciation of towns and villages I will probably never visit. He stands over me and shouts, his foul breath making it hard for me to breathe. I study hard so that these lessons are not overly long.My favorite classes are the ones outside. I take riding lessons from Olf, the groom. The castle keeps horses, but also keeps a dozen Sleipner beasts, the eight legged ho
Tova's Four Kingdoms Bo
TOVAAfter an entirely enjoyable breakfast with Lady Ulka, I was escorted down to the stables where I began to saddle Bo. Bo was being naughty today, nuzzling my hair and pushing me, not allowing me to cinch the straps. I giggled and braced my feet and he pushed against me harder. Then he growled.I turned my head to see Gunhild, another one of the King’s children, standing outside the stable and making faces at me. She was only thirteen but was born without an ounce of kindness. She was rude to the servants and cruel to the animals. I hated that she was allowed in the stables. “Go back to the castle, child. Bo is not amused by your presence,” I warned. Bo stomped his feet. With eight hooves, it is impressive.She stuck her tongue out at me and flung a horse apple at me, a hardened ball of horse shit. It hit me on the side of my leg. I sighed and patted Bo.“Sorry, Buddy. I’m not going to let this one go.” I dropped the saddle tool on the ground and took off after Gunhil
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