The Hill-King's Bride: an Allegory for the Modern Church

Belonging

"Please Cade," Rowen begged in a softer voice. "Sleep on it. For now, let us look to our lamb?"

Cade offered a sheepish, affectionate grin at both Howe and his wife. "Quite right," he agreed, pacified at least for the time being. "Come on, Little Lamb, let's get you settled so your cousins can greet you properly. Rowan, I sent them over to stay with Wynd for a few hours."

Rowan nodded, obviously pleased with her husband's action. "He will have them drilling with short staves, if I know our friend. By the time we call for them, they'll be tame indeed!" She and her husband shared a chuckle before Rowan explained.

Opening the cottage door, she ushered Howe and her husband inside as she spoke. "Wynd the Traveler is known for his restlessness. He patrols our lands far more than most and loves to hunt the creatures of the night. When he's home, he assists the king in training the youngsters, so our children are well-acquainted with him. He's become a good friend as well."

"You'll meet him at dinner," Cade agreed. "He lost his wife some time ago, so my dear wife has taken to seeing him fed as often as he cares to eat here."

"He has a family on every hill," chuckled Rowen. "I think he'd have been high elder after Gwyn, had Bryn Ma'ar not come."

Howe nodded but didn't say anything, absorbed in studying her new surroundings. The cottage was large, by valley standards. The main room took up half of the cottage, with windows set into three walls. Heavy curtains hung on either side of each window, hanging nearly to the smooth, board floor.

The fireplace at the far end was obviously used for both heat and cooking, though it was set close to the windowless wall. Boards mounted on the wall beside the fireplace spoke of workspace for whoever was preparing meals. A sturdy table had been placed nearby, to the far side of the fireplace. Along the windowless wall, two doors had been set, one near the main doorway, the other nearer the fireplace.

"That doorway leads to the pantry and cold storage," Cade explained, pointing to the first doorway. "The other is our bedroom." He winked at his wife. "Though sometimes, it feels more storage than bedchamber."

Rowen emphasized a long-suffering sigh, obviously teasing her husband in return. "I store our spinning wheel, the loom and a few other things in there when I'm not using them so the great room isn't cluttered."

She pointed to a ladder that was of the same wood as the wall, that rose up between the two doorways and disappeared through a hole in the wooden ceiling. "Your room is up there, along with the others. Since our Caron wedded last summer, you'll have her room. It's the first door to the right of the ladder hole. Olwyn and Bronwyn share the other room." Howe hoped she hadn't put either of the girls out of their room.

"Don't worry," Cade added with a laugh. "They're twins, neither one could decide who wanted Caron's room, so they left it empty. The boys share the far side of the loft. There are four of them, so there wasn't really any point in dividing the room. Besides that, they like to stand guard from the window up there."

"The girls have to come down to stand guard," Rowen added with a grin. "If they see anything, they're to wake Cade and I, where the boys may safely shoot from the window if need be."

Feeling overwhelmed, Howe didn't know what to do or say. "May I go up?" she asked. Rowen handed her the bundle of her things. "There's a chest at the foot of your bed for your things, Dear. Come on down when you're ready."

"Yes'm." Howe headed up the ladder, her head spinning. Not even the high elder in the valley had such a huge house, yet Cade and Rowen's cottage was one of the smaller she'd seen. At the top of the ladder, there was a bit of floor space on either side of the ladder, obviously meant for the climber to access the rungs more easily.