Duty

Chapter 46 Life and death

Iason's family lived in a nameless village in the hills of Valais. It consisted of no more than a handful of houses and lots of goats. She must have passed it numerous times on her way to Iolaus' family.

It was smaller than Dalós, but with the same calm and peaceful atmosphere. She loved it. And she loved the way Iason's eyes lit up at seeing his family home.

They had been staying with Iason's brother Dimitris and his wife Channah. They had an extra room available. Vara couldn't remember how many times Channah had apologized for their humble home, but she would never forget the look on the woman's face when she had found Vara tending to the goats that morning.

Channah stared at the scene wide-eyed and placed a hand over her mouth in shock. Vara was spreading out grain and greens for the animals. Pieces of straw were all across her hair, one of the goats had managed to snatch the hem of her dress and was happily chewing on it. The rest of the goats were impatiently pressing against her and each other trying to snatch the food from Vara's hands.

From a distance, Iason was watching it all amused.

Channah approached him, still looking shocked. "Iason! Do something! Her dress! But how she looks! Why are you smirking like that!"

Iason grinned at her. "Don't worry so much. I assure you, she is in her element. You should see her at home. You wouldn't know the difference between her and the servants." He watched fondly as Vara lifted one of the young goats in her arms and fed it a leaf of lettuce. With one free hand, she tugged her dress free from the teeth of another goat and scolded the animal.

Channah blinked stunned at her brother-in-law's words. "I didn't know ladies did that sort of thing."

Iason chuckled. "Only this one."

Vara had placed the animal she was holding down again and now walked over to the two of them. Her smile was filled with joy. "Good morning."

Iason shook his head amused and plucked a piece of straw from her hair. "What would the court say if they saw you now?"

Vara huffed. "What do I care about the court?"

Another chuckle sounded and Zinon, Iason's younger brother joined them. "Lady Vara," he smirked widely and made a bow, "queen of the pen."

Channah slapped his arm. "Show some respect!"

But Vara answered his smirk. She lifted the edges of her skirt high and made a deep curtsy. "My lord."

Zinon grinned and kissed the back of her hand. "You look lovely, my lady."

"Such flattery," Vara said amused.

"No flattery," Zinon denied, "I speak only the truth."

Channah rolled her eyes. "Such a charmer you are. Don't you have chores to do? I believe Dimitris mentioned a fence that needed repairing yesterday."

Zinon sighed heavily. "Why do you have to ruin my fun, dear sister?"

"Because if I didn't, your fun would last all day and no work would ever be done."

"I see not much has changed since I left," Iason commented dryly.

Vara laughed softly. "Let's go then, so your brother won't get scolded again. We should prepare for our visit to Valais anyway. They are expecting us."

Iason wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. "We will. But perhaps you should bathe first. The way you look now they might not let us in."