6. WITH CHILD

The day was a dwindling orange when they reached the other village. Their mouths were dry – Violet had shared her water pouch with the villagers and all she had left was half a mouthful in her tankard. Despite her charity she felt guilt. The poor villagers were tired but Violet had no choice but to cut their breaks short and tell them when they were moving too slow. She felt like a taskmaster, still it was important they arrive before sundown and now they had. On seeing the settlement on the horizon they shifted course a little, and now they were close enough to see another village that was fortunately brimming with life. Testificates wandered about fulfilling duties, animals ate in their tiny paddocks and the houses were all in one piece.

"Thank Notch, we finally arrived," Berthar remarked.

Violet smiled and turned back, "We did it guys. Good job." It was said in apology for their troubles.

They entered between buildings and received some stares, but nobody troubled them. An iron golem trudged its way down an adjacent path. A farmer walked by with a bundle of carrots in his arms. Violet and her party walked on by and went right for the well. She let her slow, stooping comrades go first and they all lined up. Violet swigged her last mouthful, the water a nasty heated temperature. The day was only starting to cool, she realised.

Inside she was thinking through a dilemma: Should she tell the chief here about the pillagers?

They wouldn't be able to defend themselves. They'd have to abandon their village and travel far, then build new houses. That was quite the world-altering ordeal for their kind, and they were likely to share Violet's own stubbornness about leaving. What else could she do? Explain the danger in detail and throw them into a panic? If it didn't help for them to know, maybe she shouldn't say anything.

When it was Violet's turn at the well she decided she would simply tell the chief the other village was now abandoned. Let them contemplate the reason themselves. Ansel drank greedily from his canteen, moving aside for Violet who filled her canteen and drank that sweet heavenly fluid that was the stuff of life. She quite missed water now that it was sparse. Maybe her next assignment should be close to a beach. Violet filled her water pouch next and her fellows went after her to fill their canteens again.

"So the way I see it, we can rest and do trades until sundown. The chief here can organise for us a place to sleep until morning. Might cost some extra emeralds." As Violet said this they looked between each other.

They were all sitting on the hard surface of a gathering site that had a slightly different design than theirs.

"Violet, we should'st return straight to our home after our trades," Berthar said.

She was surprised that without discussing it all three were on the same page about this.

"I know that Herkel and the others would've expected us to be back by now," Violet tried to be diplomatic with her reasoning, "but if we just slept here we'll be back this time tomorrow and we won't need to waste our potions."

"Better we return at sunrise to not worry the others further," Sigrid pushed.

The three continued to stare at her, convinced of this. Violet pursed her lips as she thought. Maybe they didn't compute the value of the potions and their use at another date. Or perhaps it's just their cultural values to not leave the others in an added day's suspense. The travelling itself was hardest on the villagers, but they were the ones who wanted more continuous walking and a night without sleep, just to return faster. Violet couldn't begrudge them that, and after dragging them out further and pushing them to get here she was ready to fold on what they wanted. Still, if they were all invisible and dodging monsters they'd surely lose track of each other, but Violet had an idea for that.

"Okay. If that's what you all want. We can do our trades then spend the night walking back."

"That is most well," Ansel nodded.

Violet got up first to have a look around. Her feet were sore but she'd be able to handle the walk back and then have a rest day tomorrow. Hopefully it wouldn't be much of a challenge to get her sleep cycle back in order.

She glimpsed a pig pen and saw with delight: a caretaker throwing them potatoes. Violet went around talking and haggling with the locals. She got potatoes. No apples, but mangrove saplings which were invaluable as a renewable alternate building block to decorate the indoors of any new buildings. Other exotic finds included dried kelp, sweet berries, as well as various meats including plenty of rabbit. The village back home didn't have a butcher and Violet wondered if it'd be worth it to introduce their fellows to all these new foods.

There were some sacks of redstone and glowstone dust, and Violet had a mind to repay Wendiah for using up her ingredients. Alas, no compromise on price between Ansel and the village cleric was made. Since Violet didn't have emeralds of her own she had to advise the others on what she thought were good buys. She was glad they were convinced by the potatoes and saplings. Sigrid and Ansel ate rabbit stew for the first time, while Berthar was persuaded by a baked potato. While Ansel had been the most stringent with his spending, at the end of the day he was surprisingly tempted into paying full price for a bottle of honey.

Violet met with their village chief, a woman, and reported the abandonment of the near village. She told her that a wandering trader had already informed them of this one month ago, but Violet could tell it troubled her. She left looking for her fellows.

"There thou are, Violet. The night hath near fallen," Berthar said as she reunited with them in the middle of the main path.

"I have a solution for our journey," Violet appeared a sturdy rope in her hands, it was twenty feet and wound up. "We're going to have to tie this around our waists so we don't get separated. And I'll lead us."

"Yes, that is good thinking," Berthar scratched his round head.

Together they visited the well and refilled on water one last time. Stars were beginning to appear and villagers were shutting the doors to their homes and shops. It was cold now. The four of them went to the village's outskirts and Violet watched the moon as it rose, a little fuller and brighter than the sliver it'd been when she was last outside in the dark. After fastening the rope around her middle she saw to the other villagers, tightening their knots with hard tugs.

"Okay, time to drink our potions guys," Violet said and the glowing bottles appeared in their hands.

They pulled the corks, tilted their heads back and drank. The taste was sharp, like medicine, but it was also accompanied by a vanishing sensation. It hollowed out Violet's insides, seeping through her skin to her clothes, and the magic even travelled down their rope too. She turned back – now a floating point-of-view in an empty space of desert.

"Okay guys, let's go," Violet said.

She started walking and the rope pulled on the others and they followed.

The journey was confronting. Violet could feel the villagers trembling from the rope, but they were all so committed to getting home. Zombies staggered by and they carefully made their way around. Violet heard sharp intakes of breath and once Sigrid let out a little squeak. A skull clicked around at that but of course the skeleton couldn't see her. It merely rattled as it stepped on past them. Spiders scuttled, as indifferent as they were in the day. Creepers were ever-silent on their short legs, saggy and grotesquely green. Violet was grateful that they hadn't seen any witches.

The fear of the walk staved off Violet's sleepiness for a few hours, but soon she began to feel weary. Her compass appeared in her hand visible when she checked their direction. The moon had risen higher in the sky and her legs were aching from so much endless walking. Still, her suffering had to be less than her companions. They needed a lot of breaks and Violet could hear them drinking and snacking, but she was no longer in any rush.

Hours more passed in silent monotony. Then Violet noticed the dunes. All she could think about was collapsing into bed as she dragged her feet. They walked for another hour and the moon was behind them, and then they could make out the village along with the sounds of iron golems fighting the monsters and doors getting beaten. There was a significant difference in the numbers when comparing now and the night Violet was getting chased home. She led them around carefully. When an iron golem cleared out a footpath, and the way to a house, Violet went to the door and by chance it was unlocked. Violet led the others in and turned, none of them could see each other.

"We're here. How are you all?"

"Tired…." Sigrid replied. The men grunted in agreement.

Violet untied herself and the rope fell invisibly to the floor.

"I'm going home to sleep. You guys be careful and when we wake up the effects will have worn off."

More tired grunts of farewell.

Violet left them to go back outside. Before crossing the expanse to her house she noticed that despite what she'd said to the chief, the foundations of a new house were already being built for her. She thought again about her contemplations of leaving earlier and felt a sadness akin to guilt. She gave the spiders a wide berth, their heads turned at her footsteps but they saw nothing. Nothing was currently banging on her door; it seemed that most monsters that were close enough were lured away by the village torches. Violet got inside and didn't even have the energy to contemplate where she'd sleep. She just flopped onto her above-ground bed and within minutes she was under.

The heat of the morn wouldn't let her sleep in. Violet figured she ought to get up or risk being awake for most of the night. She swung her legs out and got a twinge in her thigh, and started giving the muscle a firm massage. Then she worked down both her legs which were still sore from virtually a full day's walking. She didn't have a choice, she would have to do something she usually never did: she'd have to take the day off. She wanted to even less than normal because she was so excited to start planting the potatoes and trees, and also to finish her new house that the villagers started building next to theirs. Before washing herself Violet removed her sheets and pillow case because her sweat had seeped in. She sat in her chair and scrubbed them together with water from her pail, and didn't even bother fixing her hair first which was like wool. After washing and readying herself she went outside at early midday.

When Violet reached the village proper, all who saw her wandered over to express how happy they were that she'd returned safe. It wasn't a big deal, but of course for them it was. Violet found the house the others had slept in last night and went in to see them. Ansel, Sigrid and Berthar were asleep on separate beds, the former had curiously been suckling his little bottle of honey, which lay by his lips. The heat didn't make them so much as stir under Violet's eyes, but the desert had always been their home, and brave as they were to get back they must still be exhausted. Satisfied that they seemed fine, Violet walked out.

"There thou are, Violet. We knocked on thy door and received no answer," Herkel found her up the path.

"I must've slept through it. Say, can I have that private meeting with just you and the elders?" Violet asked and he tilted his head curiously.

He went to gather his advisers and Violet thought to check that the animals were cared for. Surprisingly, Nicolai had made an effort in the day they were away. The water was running low and Violet gave them more food as well, but it seemed Nicolai hadn't neglected them completely. She saw him by his green top, lying on haystacks at the back of a building. He was napping in the shade. Violet moved slowly as she transported food and water, frowning from soreness. The animals drank gratefully when they saw their troughs filled. Then Herkel found Violet and led her away to one of the houses.

Dagorov and Arbell looked up from a wooden table, looking as dried out and wrinkled as husks. Herkel took a seat at the foot of the table and Violet lowered herself opposite the elders.

She cleared her throat to start, "I recently heard that all of you came here and built this village little more than a year ago."

"That is true," Herkel said and the elders hummed in agreement.

"The reason we didn't get back before sunset is because the village we went to was abandoned. They were attacked by pillagers."

That shocked them.

"Oh dear," Arbell remarked.

Dagorov wheezed, "It could hast befell no moe than a year hence."

"Instead of coming right back I talked the others into moving on to the next village, which the last wandering trader we saw told me about."

Herkel showed a set of brown keys on a string around his neck, "I used this to get 'i, and the others wouldn't wake up to talk such was their exhaustion," he leaned forward. "Thou art sure 'twere pillagers?"

Violet nodded, "I don't want to cause panic. But your people might've all migrated into really dangerous territory without realising. The pillagers might've not seen this village yet, and maybe the one I went to is also new." Violet frowned in thought, "Do you mind me asking… why you moved in the first place?"

Herkel took a careful breath and turned to her in his chair, "Violet, what thou want to understand is that this land is not without a certain wicked presence."

She gave a questioning look before saying, "There's no kingdoms here," Violet stopped herself with a head twist, "there's no… official ruler," she amended for their understanding.

"There be ones whom receive that there is."

"Who?"

"That I canst not say. Yet when mine people received strange visitors that ordered we pay 'em with much work and wares, I decided we had to leave far," Herkel explained and Violet became fascinated, "We bid our time and Wendiah brewed enough invisibility potions for all of us to last full nights, for a week. We tore down every block and filled chests we all carried across the desert, and then it took us time yet we didst rebuild here."

Violet considered that for a moment. A week's worth of villager travel, weighed down by carrying several chests between them, and towing their animals after. Their old settlement may have just been a few days from here.

"Which direction did you move from?" Violet asked.

"The south."

That talk wrapped up once Violet got everything useful she could from them. Maybe that other village was being extorted, Violet wished she'd thought to ask more questions.

Ansel, Sigrid and Berthar were awake and walking around by the evening. Violet refrained from any further labour, even when Gunther, Laria and Dunstan took extra time to work on the house that would be hers. Their progress was the typical lacklustre speed of testificates, so Violet felt sure she'd finish the bulk of that build tomorrow. She went to see Petra the cartographer to let her know about the abandoned village and she simply mumbled about having to adjust her maps and said nothing else. Violet spent the rest of that day in Meliora's library.

Over the rest of week two, Violet got a lot of building done:

That next day she finished her new house and moved all her stuff over. She was now living as a proper villager, something that typically took one to two months in her former expatriations. Her old house sat abandoned in the distance. Violet missed the panic room for its ability to stay cool for the first few hours in the day, but better for her to be up at sunrise with her fellows.

The day after that Violet built another farming square outward and planted the potatoes. She also started on a little oasis by the waterhole, planting the mangrove seedlings as well. She knew they thrived in swampy areas and wasn't sure how hard they'd be to grow here, even with a tiny waterhole nearby. Normally Violet would look up this information on her crystal ball, but away from Lan'Tim she couldn't. Out here its only working function was simple messaging to the one recipient. Violet had to simply hope the mangroves would start sprouting. Their wood was such a pretty shade of vermilion, redder than the jungle wood that made all the furniture out here. Maybe the next wandering trader who came would have bone meal.

The day after that yesterday's potatoes were ready so Violet dug them up, replanted and prepared a feast for everyone. She was excited - thrilled, actually - to prepare the potatoes in every way she knew how. She sliced them, boiled them and baked them. She made some into chips. There wasn't enough to eat purely potatoes so Violet prepared other foods as well. Then she talked everyone into sitting down together and eating. They were intrigued by the texture. Its versatility alone made it Violet's favourite vegetable. All the villagers took a liking to their new farmable food source. The pigs went crazy over them, their eyes bulged a fuller black after sniffing then scoffing them down, then they'd raised their snouts for more. Lunch that day was a delightful experience.

On day fifteen there was another rabble after breakfast. Thankfully another child wasn't missing, but an unexpected scandal had disturbed everyone. The chief went to Violet to see if she'd already known about it, but from the look of incredulity on her face he knew she'd had no idea.

"Meliora hath been keeping a secret from all of us. She is with child, and she won't name the father."

"Meliora's pregnant?" Violet was in disbelief.

"Aye. She hath been it for many moons already."

The bulky-looking sash she'd worn over her robes had been to hide her jutting stomach. If Violet had been living here before Meliora started wearing it she would've certainly suspected. But all this time they'd been spending together and Violet hadn't noticed. Suddenly her bouts of sickness and unwillingness to travel made sense.

Herkel added, "She is under Arbell's care now, yet we want her to name the father."

Violet went to her. She was in a house instead of the library, on a bed that was moved to the centre of the room. Violet entered to see what must be a sacred custom in this village: there was Meliora's bare belly, which seemed quite pronounced now it lay exposed, and it was being softly washed by the old Arbell who kept dipping a cloth into a bucket. Violet guessed that Wendiah had come to see her too, waving around herbs and leaves. Violet stood there and Meliora gave a sheepish smile.

"Arbell, could thou grant us the room please?"

The old woman conceded with a fervent nod and left her bucket. Violet saw she remained waiting outside the house. Violet stepped over and sat on Arbell's chair. Testificate pregnancies took half as long as human ones, Meliora was likely just a month away from her due date. She moved her hand over the bump. Meliora was so young, barely a woman herself.

"Do not regard ill of me, Violet. For many days I wished to tell thee…."

"Why didn't you? Herkel said you won't say who the father is."

Meliora gave half a smile and kept rubbing her tummy.

Violet asked, "...it isn't Nicolai?"

"By the nether!" Meliora cursed so loudly that Arbell peered in through the window with her protective hawk eyes. Meliora took a moment to recover from that before joining Violet in making an apologetic face for her. Slowly, Arbell receded from view again. Meliora heaved a sigh, "I should think thou wot me better than that, Violet…."

Violet conceded with a nod before thinking on it more. The answer came to her quickly enough, "The father is that wandering trader you're fond of."

Meliora gave a sad smile to show she'd been found out, "He knows not I be with child. I wanted to tell him first."

If he didn't know then he mustn't have been by in a while. Something might have happened to him on his journeying, or he decided not to come back. Violet processed that.

"Would it be so bad if the others knew?"

"I suppose they wouldn't like it. But they canst not doth aught about it now."

Violet was quiet for several seconds before asking the next question that came to her, "How do you feel about this?"

"At first I was frighted. And overwhelmed. Yet now I be excited, and I love the babe already."

Violet smiled a little, and she reached out to softly touch Meliora's stomach. It was firm. There was something aglow about Meliora that Violet hadn't placed before now. The calm significance of an expecting mother. They sat in silence until Arbell returned.

"I shall be brave. Nicolai hath been forbade to enter and Arbell shall watch over me till time does call us to deliver the child."

Violet nodded then got up to leave her in the elder's watchful care.

In the days that followed Violet spent a lot of time sitting with Meliora who was encouraged not to move. Violet wasn't around as much as Arbell, who seemed to always be with her and wiping her forehead with a wet cloth and drizzling it over her belly to keep her cool. Violet brought Meliora books from the library and they'd read together, Meliora always lying on the bed and Arbell busying about in the room, either getting food for Meliora, or cleaning, or in failing that simply pretending to busy herself by fussily turning objects in the room. Wendiah did visit at odd times for strange business, such as chanting or praying over the baby. The chief had been in to see her too and stood near the doorway. Everyone now knew about the father. They were disgruntled by it but like Meliora said, there wasn't anything they could do about it now.

Meliora said she missed her freedom but with grace she accepted the special cares she was instructed to have. Like with travelling this was also a big deal for the villagers, Meliora only had these four visitors. While Meliora was lying there and having her experience, Violet was sitting on the chair beside her and doing a lot of thinking about motherhood and all kinds of things.

At times Violet's mother had spoken derisively about men. A man will suffer a single heartbreak and use it to justify all his mistakes in relationships forever. Violet's mother had spoken to her so rarely that it was something that had stuck with her since. But Violet couldn't speak on romantic relationships because she'd never had one. Several times guys had been interested in her, and she'd always respond to their attention by throwing herself even harder into her studies. In time they'd leave her alone and she'd feel relief, but also a softly nagging voice in the back of her mind wondered if she was missing out on something. Violet needed structure to feel secure, and matters of love were much the same as the study of magic, which she felt lacked the faultless reliability of other subjects. It was what her mother was known for, being so talented in it, and Violet had been told many, many times that she'd likely inherited the same skills but she'd never so much as attempted magic, so strong was her aversion to it.

The passing days turned into a week, and Meliora grew more plump before their eyes. Violet spent less time with her so she could return to working, cleaning and building. She still spent hours a day reading with Meliora, and she knew all these observations were gold for her research paper. Still, she was too caught up in her introspective hollowness to be excited. That was probably why she wanted to go back to busying herself. When Violet tried to picture herself pregnant, she didn't feel aglow with love and significance. It was hard to picture at all, and she felt a cold strangeness.

More days went by and the baby started kicking. The birth was due any day now. Violet started to feel nervous on behalf of her friend, who seemed to calmly accept the coming risks. Violet would've wanted doctors and possibly mages around, but she couldn't call in Lan'Tim's support for that. She'd have to face the upcoming natural birth and borrow some of Meliora's courage, readying herself along with the village for the big day.

When it came, Violet was tilling the fields and Gisela called her. Violet didn't bother putting the hoe away, she dropped it and paced briskly to the house.

A wooden bath had been built and filled with pailfuls of water. Half a dozen villagers were in the house, rushing to fetch cloths or ingredients or complete any task they were shouted to do. Violet felt a rush of concern for her friend and took over calling the shots as much as Arbell, telling Meliora how to breathe and push, guiding her through the contractions. Meliora was afraid but handling it well. When it came time for the final push she shrieked in agony, long and hard, and then the tan baby emerged wet with blood and fluids. High-pitched wailing filled the room. Its head was just a little larger, it's nose a little longer, but it looked very similar to a human baby.

When it was done Violet put a hand on Meliora's tired face and laughed with her, their eyes wet from relief.

"'Tis a girl," Arbell said over the cries.

The umbilical cord was cut and the baby was passed to her weak but eager mother. She reached for her glasses and Violet went to put them on for her so she could see.

"I shall name her Allium. 'Tis a purple flower that grows far, much like the one mine friend hither is named after."

All seemed well with baby Allium and her new mother that day. Evening approached and Violet was sitting in the chair in the corner of the room while Meliora crooned at her daughter wrapped in the bundled sheet in her arms. Arbell was no longer with them, something that felt strange in and of itself.

"So now the village's population is twenty-one," Violet started.

"For one that is well-read thou forsooth hast trouble with counting," Meliora spoke up softly then looked over. "Our village hath twenty-two."

Violet frowned at realising she'd forgotten to count herself. She knew she would only stay until she was finished researching. She wondered if when the time came the villagers wouldn't want her to go. Deciding she'd deal with that in its time, she farewelled her friend and crossed the path to her nearby house for her final nightly tasks before bed.

。。。

【AN: I bring a spicy new chapter! Over a hundred views at the moment, but I'd say a lot of that is me fixing and editing and whatnot. Review?】