Thalo's work at Pearmol was of two natures. Most important (and also least exciting) were his domestic obligations: the maintenance of house and hall, and any and all chores required therefor. He would also spend time now and then labouring on the local farms. This was not the usual work of a lord's personal retinue, but Karvalo would not let his thanes' pride outweigh the needs of his household.
Thalo's other duties were his military obligations, although this typically amounted to the odd visit to one of Karvalo's bondsfolk, those farmers with whom he had entered into legal bondage. He provided them with protection from thieves and arsonists, representation at his shrieval assemblies, and also assurance that he would provide any necessities they might provably lack, all in exchange for a portion of their crop yield, or other goods of equal value. Karvalo liked to send combative sorts to visit his farmers—some of them could be rather absent-minded sorts, often needing stern reminders of their dues, and he found sharp men with sharp swords to be very persuasive. Thalo took well to this.
When he was not bullying farmers, his work was warding the wall, or some other lesser post in town. Karvalo never put him at the front door of the hall, for such a distinguished spot was not fit for one as fresh and ill-bred as him, but he did spend some time at the gate, lugging it back and forth whenever those above demanded. In doing so, he came to know well mighty Amfredha, the tireless keeper of the gate. She was also in charge of seeing Thalo, who had only ever fought alone, trained to be useful in the event of a proper battle, drilling him alongside the youngsters of Karvalo's household. It was her task to make the scrapper a warrior, and a fine choice she was, hard of head and arm alike. Indeed, her comrades called her Sunder-spear, so-named because, attempting to woo some pretty lass from the south, she once hurled a spear at a tree, and she threw it with such tremendous force that it shattered on impact.
'See that, sweetie!' she shouted out, but the girl was looking the other way and wandered off with nary a glance for her burly suitor.
Amfredha and Thalo did not get along particularly well, one giddy with authority, the other subject to it, though neither let anything come of it.
Some weeks now passed, and as the new year approached, the whole of Pearmol was soon abustle; Karvalo was not known to dine in halves, and the spring festival was never any different. On the very last night of the year, Thalo lay aloof on his bench, when into the house came a young woman of sprightly demeanour. She was Ormana, Yorlayvo's daughter.
Yorlayvo's extraction has already been told. His wife, Ormana's mother, was a woman called Esleyna. She was fair of hair and face alike, but though she was not terribly old, she wore her age poorly, having weathered many hardships in her life, and just as many bereavements. For one, her mother, Ewssea, died during the birth of her younger brother, who himself did not survive long enough to be named. Then Esleyna's father, Ossyelo, drowned a few years later while he was swimming in the sea, dragged out to the depths by a strong current he had not the strength to overcome. Her elder brother, the eternally charming Fenlovo—he was the dearest companion of Enyalo, Karvalo's younger brother—was killed while fighting alongside Rogwalo Firebrand at Fevalnawl and flung into a hasty grave with thirty others. And lastly, her younger sister, Allea, left Pearmol as a young woman, seeking a wealthy spouse from some other lordly hall, only to be waylaid by reavers the day she left. Though Allea escaped her attackers, she fled in such a panic that she got trapped in a bog, and there she died.
Despite her many sorrows, it should not go unmentioned that Esleyna had also known plenty of joy. Like many of the young men of Pearmol at the time, Yorlayvo had gone north with Rogwalo to fight in Norlonn, and he was one of those fortunate enough to come home mostly intact. Shortly after his return, he and Esleyna married, and from this union were birthed two children. Ormana was the elder, and the younger was a largely unimportant lad called Kolmago.
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Thalonn Tayn
الخيال (فانتازيا)Hark ye and hear of heart and hate, of friends and foes, of feuds and fate, of he who strode with fitful mind to fame, to love, to glory find.
