Seated between Teddy and Doroly, who were both very kind to him, Mirgia still couldn’t help but feel out of place. The smallfolk village had been incredibly kind to him so far, even as he wandered through Redsan itself many of the people had approached him and given him something to snack on or shared some unprompted wisdom and stories with him. It was such an alien atmosphere compared to the tranquil distance he often experienced in Milinia as well as the harsh busyness he experienced during his short stay in Saphestan. There was a warmth to Redsan that he hadn’t yet experienced anywhere else and he had to constantly remind himself that he had things to do elsewhere and shouldn’t just stay here and relax. It’s not that Mirgia didn’t appreciate the tranquil distance he experienced in Milinia. It probably had his preference in the long haul, but spending even a day or two with the people here had completely changed his appreciation for camaraderie and togetherness. Earlier today he’d helped someone drag their half broken cart to the nearby repairman and by the time they reached the building, six other people were helping push the broken cart along while another had gone ahead to tell the man they were coming, so he could start fixing the wheel immediately. People would drop whatever they were doing if it meant they could help out someone else.
Teddy had procured him a chair that was a bit larger than the rest, but it was still a little bit uncomfortable. Not that Mirgia would ever complain about it. As he was drinking in the atmosphere, Teddy got up and stood on his chair, clinking a fork against his glass. The conversations turned into murmurs before it went quiet, save for the laughing of some of the children who were playing next to the dinner table, already bored of sitting down and talking.
“Friends, family.” Teddy started. “It’s a pleasure to once again have many of you gathered in one place.” He looked around, making sure to look at everyone of his visitors. “Today we celebrate nothing in particular. As is often the case. We shall therefore just celebrate each other’s company instead. We do have a guest today, Mirgia, who hails from Milinia.” He winked at Mirgia. “Before he travels back home, let’s show him some of our famous Redsan hospitality, shall we?” He raised his glass. “To family.”
Every glass at the table went up into the air, Mirgia joining in as well.
“Now a few words from our guest,” Teddy said. Mirgia froze for a second, not prepared for this, before Teddy slapped him on the back. “I’m just kidding, let’s eat.” And with rolling laughter, the silence returned back to a joyous atmosphere of conversations and laughter.
Teddy sat back down and proudly looked at Mirgia. “So, what do you think of our people?”
“What you lack in height, you make up for in kindness.”
“And we lack a lot of height,” Teddy chuckled. “Well, enjoy the food and the company, I’ll go make sure everyone else is doing the same. He grabbed a chicken leg and scooted his chair back before walking off to another part of the table.
“Teddy’s always been like that,” Doroly remarked. When Jason – my husband and his brother – first told him we were getting married, he immediately made sure a party was thrown in my honor before talking to the mayor of Redsan for permission to build us a home.” She pointed at an old man off at the far end of the table. “That’s the mayor of Resdan, by the way, old Darva we call him.”
“It’s a very different atmosphere than back home, that’s for sure.”
“What’s it like, in Milinia?” Doroly asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I can’t say I’m not curious either,” Jason added. He’d introduced himself to Mirgia earlier. The man was very similar to his brother in some ways, but seemed to be a little bit less extroverted than Teddy was. Despite that difference, he was friendly from the moment they met.
“Well, that’s hard to say, really. We’re a people that live very long. That means we prioritize bettering ourselves and mastering our personal craft a lot. In my case, I haven’t really found that yet, so I’ve spent most of my days as a woodman, guarding the edges of our lands and making sure travelers get to and from Milinia safely.”
“A noble occupation,” Jason said.
Mirgia shook his head. “It’s more for the safety of our own people than said travelers, if I’m being honest with you. We like to keep our city relatively hidden in the forest. It’s not a secret that we exist, nor will you struggle to find someone who can point you in the right direction, but keeping a veil of secrecy around things allows us to be aware of any visitors before they’re upon us.”
“So you’re quite isolated from other cultures then?” Doroly said.
Mirgia nodded. “I don’t think more than a dozen non-elves live in Milinia at a time, not counting visitors of course. Most people who do stay for a longer time, do so to study under one of our masters of their crafts. For example, I know that the blacksmith had a dwarven apprentice who stayed for three decades before returning home. From what I’ve understood, both learned a lot from each other, due to different techniques being passed down among dwarves and elves.”
“How about your friends and family?” Doroly asked, “are you close to them?”
“I wouldn’t say so, no. I’m close to my parents of course, living with them all my life, but beyond that I wouldn’t say I have many people in Milinia that I see as good friends.” he smiled. “Maybe one.”
“Tell me more.”
“Well, it might be a little bit presumptuous of me to call us friends, but after Cobal’s visit and before I left for Blueyerd, I did spend quite some time talking with Dionil.”
“The famed woodland sage?” Jason asked.
Mirgia nodded. “To us, he’s just the kindly old elf that lives outside of town. He left Milinia to teach magic to the previous hero, and returned back home after I was born. I would talk to him from time to time, considering I spent much time outside of the village as well, so we’d wander across each other’s paths. And when the hero and her companions visited, I was in charge of their safety for a while, so I had to keep an eye on the clearing and spoke with Dionil quite a bit.”
“What’s he like?” Doroly asked. Her eyes were sparkling and she was completely focused on what he was saying.
“He’s grumpy. Even considering his age, I’d say he’s grumpier than he should be. But he’s also wise and compassionate. He has both very little patience and a lot of patience at the same time. He will scold you for the smallest mistakes but forgive your biggest flaws. He’s earned the title of sage for good reason, after all.”
“I didn’t expect him to be grumpy.”
Mirgia chuckled. “You should have seen him when he was mad.”
“Oh?”
“This isn’t a story a lot of people have heard before, and I’m sure Cobal won’t be happy that I’m sharing an embarrassing moment with strangers, but don’t tell him you heard it from me.”
“Cobal?” Jason asked.
“Prince Cobal Blueyerd, third prince of the Blueyerd kingdom and companion of the hero Mana.”
“You know a prince?” Jason asked wide-eyed. He looked at Doroly, “why does he know a prince and a sage yet you only work with sweaty men and women who are missing several teeth?”
Mirgia couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the sudden remark.
“Well, it’s the sweaty people with missing several teeth who do the really hard work, so that’s something worthy of respect.”
Jason shrugged. “I guess.”
“Besides, Mirgia winked at him, “you wouldn’t want your wife to come home with a charming prince, would you?”
“You’ve got a point. Maybe stick to the sweaty men and women instead.”
“I’ll tell Davir that you called him sweaty,” Doroly said.
“I’ll tell him myself, that’s not a threat.”
They all laughed.
“Returning to the story, when Cobal first arrived in Milinia, I came across his party and brought them to Karnisal, our leader. They requested an audience with Dionil and were granted one. I brought them over to his clearing where Cobal and Dionil promptly got into a fight. I won’t go into the details, because that’s too private to divulge, but it ended in Dionil knocking the prince out cold without hesitation.”
Both smallfolk gasped. “What happened after?”
“Dionil sat him down and explained why Cobal’s behavior was childish and unfair, and taught him a wonderful life lesson about getting into fights with people much older and wiser than him. They’ve become good friends afterwards.”
“That is a crazy story,” Jason and Doroly agreed.
“It’s all true.” Mirgia reached for his glass and saw it was empty. “I’ll go get another drink, do either of you want anything?”
“I’ll have some wine as well if you’re walking anyway,” Doroly said.
He looked at Jason. “I’m good, thanks.”
Mirgia made his way to the drinks table, placed in the shade so the ale and wine would not get too warm. He poured two glasses when he noticed that the two women who he spoke to were also in the vicinity. He didn’t see them earlier, when the party started, but he saw them talking to Teddy so he decided to walk up. Teddy had his back turned to Mirgia, so he didn’t see the worried look on the smallfolk farmer’s face until he got closer.
“I appreciate y’all coming here to give me the warning, feel free to stay for some food, but this is something I need to think about.”
“Everything okay?” Mirgia asked.
“What? Oh, Mirgia, yes, everything is fine, I was just talking to some new guests.”
Mirgia smiled and nodded at the two. “We happened to meet the other day, I will assume there’s no trouble?”
The darkskinned woman nodded. “We’re not here to cause trouble, if that’s what you’re asking. We came here with a warning, that’s all.”
“What sort of warning?” Mirgia asked.
She shrugged. “You’ll have to ask your friend here, we only came to tell him since he lives here.” She gave a curt smile before the duo walked back into the direction of Redsan.
“What was that all about?” Mirgia asked Teddy.
“Nothing to worry yourself about,” Teddy replied, before attempting to walk off, but Mirgia wasn’t having any of it and he put his hand on the smallfolk shoulder. “Please, if there’s trouble let me help.”
Teddy thought for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. “Tomorrow, for now let’s enjoy the rest of the feast.”
Mirgia nodded. “Alright, if that’s what you want, but then you have to get that scowl off your face.”
Teddy forced a smile and smacked himself with both hands before shaking his head. “Good as new.”
“Tomorrow,” Mirgia reminded him, before returning to his spot at the table.
Opal Kaharis 