Disclaimer:
Hello everybody!
Having now the opportunity to introduce the 10th story in this category, I would like to thank my co-author Valdhery for her many comments and suggestions. You really made my day sometimes, Val!!! This is our joint project and we appreciate very much every kind of review and comment you might want to let us know. Please bear with us in case any (grammatical) errors occur, English isn't our mother tongue. We also don't own most of the characters mentioned here, although some are our own invention. And now: Have fun reading!
Greenie
Chapter 1
1109 AD, somewhere deep in the heart of Wales…
Anwen sighed. Gwalchmai, her husband, had just gone to work in the fields with their neighbour, but he departed not with a smile on his lips as usual. He had left with a weariness she had not noticed in him these last days and, although there could be many explanations to such slackness, Anwen was worried. Warmth lingered outside, though the leaves already turned into a dark, yet gentle red with a hue of yellow. Autumn began slowly there, deep in Welsh land and the couple every now and then enjoyed spending time in the woods. Far away from their house, on their own, which gave them a certain privacy. They were not blessed with children yet, and Anwen had quickly learned to keep quiet about it. But she was still curious as to the reason behind her husband's suppressed anger, which had been combined with a deep sadness in his eyes, when they had first spoken of the matter.
Tirion, Gwalchmai's mother, lived with them in their small hut. Small and poor, yet clean and tidy. They were not wealthy, rather far from it, but they had each other and that was enough. Still, Anwen couldn't help but wonder about her husband's mood today. She was sitting at the small table in the middle of the house; Tirion huddled close to the window as if to catch the last beams of the sun to have some warmth in her old bones during winter. In the first time of their marriage, Anwen had been frightened by her mother-in-law but when she learnt how the old woman had acquired the many scars on her face, all she felt was pity.
At the moment, Tirion's face was vacant, as usual. Staring into space, she hardly seemed to be aware that she was not alone. But then she began to speak, her voice unsteady and rasping.
"You have to understand him, daughter", she said slowly, carefully pronouncing each word as though she feared Anwen might not understand her, or listen with sufficient care.
"What do you mean?" Anwen asked, puzzled. Of late, Tirion had seldom addressed her, and her surprise made her speak more softly than she intended. Perhaps too softly, for her mother-in-law did not seem to hear her and went on, unfazed.
"Yes, you have to understand my son", she repeated, having perhaps already forgotten that she had just said those words a moment ago. "He suffered much, in his childhood and youth, and his pain still gnaws at him, even in adulthood."
Her curiosity now aroused, Anwen lent her mother-in-law an attentive ear, and when it seemed she was finished urged her to continue. "What made him suffer?" Or should she ask who?
For the first time, Tirion appeared to realize she was not alone, and looked up to meet Anwen's gaze. "Ah, daughter..." she murmured. "You have the luck of having never before met this fiend. Like all evil, he first appeared friendly, but he was the end of our family. He destroyed us, and if my son lives to find him, this vile man shall be punished at last."