Bayani and Eunae worked diligently in the garden and around the house. While Eunae would tend to the toonips (a plant very similar to our own turnip), Bayani would fix things in an orderly fashion inside the house. And while Eunae prepared the dinner, Bayani would be setting the dishes onto the table. Neither said much to each other, mostly for the fact that they needed to concentrate and not stray off onto tangents. Though they had two days ahead of them before Talfryn finally visited, it seemed like two days would never be enough time. When Bayani had set the last plate onto the table, Eunae walked into the room and shook her head in a displeasing manner.
"Bayani," she started, glancing between him and the table. "There is no use for those now." An extended finger pointed towards the plates. "If we were to leave them for Talfryn's visit in two days, dust would accumulate and where would that leave us? Eating off of dirty plates." Bayani kept quiet, an overwhelming feeling coming over him. He felt like he had disappointed his mother, something that he hated to do. He glanced over to the table wistfully. Eunae noticed the change in Bayani's mood and suddenly felt responsible for it. She let out a gentle sigh and placed a slender hand on his shoulder. "I do not mean to scold, Bayani. Only teach. Now, collect the plates and place them back into the cupboard. We still have much to do before the sun sets."
Bayani nodded as his mother took her hand off of his shoulder. He did as he was told, collecting plate by plate, stacking them in his arms. After retrieving all of them, he shuffled back into the kitchen and replaced them in their spot in the cupboard. He let out a frustrated huff as he leaned against the counter, pressing the heels of his palms into the surface. His uncle would only be with them for a matter of days, yet it felt like years went into preparing the house for him. Bayani also rued the fact that he would never receive such treatment.
Eunae had met Bayani's father fifteen years ago. She had been traveling down a gravel road by horse when a spake (similar to our snake) crawled out of the grass and began to hiss at Eunae's horse. Like any horse, it reared up on its back legs, throwing Eunae off and onto the ground. It sprinted as far away as it could from that spake. As Eunae shook her head and realized what had happened, it was then that she noticed the spake staring at her. It's scarlet eyes burned into her skin, saw through her as if she was translucent. As the spake went to strike, Malachi had thrown his sword into the ground, slicing the spake in two. Both halves crawled away in retreat, back into the reeds and grass. Malachi descended his horse, helping Eunae to her feet.
His kindness did not stop there, however. He had tended to her wounds that she had suffered after Hakan, her horse, had thrown her to the ground. She befriended his entire family, each of them growing fond of Eunae and her fateful encounter with Malachi. It was not long after that Eunae and Malachi began to realize they were starting to fall in love. Though neither of them would admit it, they did little things to remind the other that their feelings were true and that they would always stay that way.
Two years passed and Eunae and Malachi finally wed. It was an enormous, jubilant celebration full of colorful lights, thousands of attendees, and a dancing fire of all colors. Eunae and Malachi both knew that fate had brought them together and fate would keep them together for as long as they allowed.
It was two years after their wedding day that Eunae discovered she had become pregnant with a baby boy. After much deliberation, Malachi and Eunae decided to name their future son Bayani, which meant "hero." Malachi was elated after Bayani's birth. He spent every moment could with him, raising him and teaching him all the ways of the Xuyen men. Eunae knew that she had been very auspicious in meeting Malachi and to have him be Bayani's father.
When Bayani was five years old, Malachi had been called in to serve in the Xuyen Army. A dark, black force was beginning to spread across Xuyen from the east, destroying town by town. While he did not know what he was up against, Malachi proudly accepted his duties in the XA, promising his return to both Eunae and to their son, Bayani. After collecting what things he needed, Malachi spared one last kiss to both his wife and his son and rode into the horizon. Even then Eunae knew that Malachi would never return.
The evil force had been defeated but with the sacrifice of thousands of military lives. When word reached Eunae that Malachi had been one of those who had died with honor, she could not help but feel unsurprised. She had known from that very day that Malachi had ventured from their home that his return was all but promised. She had said her final good-byes to him after his figure had disappeared into the morning fog in the sanctity of their room.
Bayani, on the other hand, did not quite understand what this meant. He had known his father and had loved him in all the ways that a five year-old boy can love his father, yet he was not coming back? Didn't Malachi promise to love Bayani? And to always be there for him? And for his mother? Why had he left? Eunae could see Bayani struggling with the loss of his father, even at such a tender age. There was not much that she could say to him that would unravel the convoluted thoughts Bayani filled his head with. So, rather than try to explain, she merely held Bayani, hoping that it could drive away whatever doubt and fear he held inside of him.
While five years is merely a trifle in human life, it is even less in Xuyen years. Most residents of Xuyen, who are their own race unto themselves, have lived since the creation of the world. They have the gift of immortality, however not all choose to accept it. It is a gift that can be returned at any point in a Xuyen's life. They may wish to live to see their grandchildren but find that there is not much else, and can choose to lose their immortality. When a person of Xuyen chooses to sacrifice their immortality, their life will continue for another year before they finally do expire.
The only difference between a human's five years and a Xuyen's five years is that a Xuyen, at the age of five, is fully capable of reasoning and thinking logically. Unlike a five year old in human terms, who is still learning the rights and wrongs of the world, how to write, how to count, and so on, a Xuyen is born with this knowledge. The only thing that a Xuyen really needs to be taught is their family's traditions and the traditions of Xuyen.
But, returning back to the story at hand, Bayani had loathed the fact that he would never receive the treatment that his Uncle Talfryn did. And this was because after Malachi's death, Eunae had refused to wed or even date those men whom her parents had tried to match her with. 'I have promised my heart to Malachi,' she would say in protest, 'And to Malachi will it always stay.' Her parents, though tried as they as might, could not undo what Malachi had already done to their daughter's heart. She loved him with her entire existence. They could not condemn that. And because of this, Eunae had never carried another child, let alone tried. To her, Bayani was all that was left of Malachi and to devote herself to yet another, who did not resemble whom she loved, seemed foolish and bothersome. While Bayani found the sentiment in this thought very endearing, he had made his opinion known on many an occasion; the one of dismay towards his mother's refusal to bear another child. He would never be an uncle, and this caused him anger. Eunae had considered learning to love again, the way she had loved Malachi, but each time she thought long and hard about it, the more she found it irrational. And rather than try to fight it, Bayani eventually gave in, like his grandparents had done.