Good morning all. I think because last Monday was a holiday, this felt like it should have been a three day weekend as well. Or maybe I just didn’t want to get out of bed. For me this is a frequent winter problem. There are those first few moments when you wake up but are still so cozy that I just hate to let go of. It doesn’t help that as soon as I get out of bed I go directly to the bathroom where cold tiles assault the feet, not to mention the cold commode. Heavy may be the head that wears the crown, but in the winter, cold is the tush upon the throne. It does wake me up though. Which is probably more than you needed to know, so let’s just press on with the morning prompt. Timers set? Excellent. Then Let’s go.
I like this. It feels like it could go places. Where, I’m not sure. But I wouldn’t mind resetting the time to find out. Although I would change the names.
Monday, January 24th: Champagne corks were being popped all over town.
Champagne corks were being popped all over town. On everyone’s faces was a sense of relief. It was over. It was finally over. Galin walked to his window and looked out over the city. Even in his distant tower he could hear the revelry echoing through the streets of the capitol city. Drifts of laughter and old victory songs floated through the air. Overhead fireworks blossomed in the sky.
There weren’t many. In part the limited use was due to the expense. Fireworks had to be imported from a long distance, at least the good ones did. While their alchemists figured out how to assemble the devices and knew the ingredients and could, get the mixture right, the ingredients needed were a rare commodity in this part of the world and as the fireworks they created were simple straightforward things, for a celebration it was still an imported item that everyone was willing to pay for.
At the moment the supply was lacking as well. Trade had been severely restricted during the war. Once the blockade was in place then supplies dwindled to what they could produce themselves. It wasn’t until they defeated the blockade that imported fireworks were even a possibility.
Galin suspected the third reason for the limited use had to do with people not really wanting to see fire explode over their city very much. During the war fire bombs were all too common. As the last of the fireworks exploded over head and the crowds cheered, Galin was amused to notice that the colors used for the fireworks were green, blue and purple. Anything resembling natural fire was left out of the mix.
“It proves our new king is thinking at least,” Galin muttered to himself.
“So this is where you’ve hidden yourself.” A voice caused him to turn away from the window and study the new arrival.
“They are my quarters Marlo,” Galin replied. He smiled. “Can that really be considered hiding?” He took in the appearance of his old friend. The clothes were clean and neat and he was dressed for court rather than the battlefield which was a change for both of them. In fact, Marlo’s court clothes came with a whiff of herbs about them that he knew came from the herbs folded in to keep garments safe in storage. Since neither of them had any use for anything other than battle gear for the past eight years, he suspected the scent of storage would linger on all of their clothing for a while. Galin too knew that his garments wafted the scent around even after he hung them in the fresh air and sunshine for the better part of the day.
“It is considered hiding when the rest of the castle is feasting and celebrating in the hall and listening to the peasants sing in the streets.”
“I heard them. It sounds like the victory song for the Dovgan Wars repurposed for current times.”
“That’s because it is,” Marlo replied. He grinned. “Have you heard the change in lyrics yet?”
Ten til Midnight 