Dragons Are Demanding (Book 1)Complete

7.) A Rocky Relationship

The women In the room fussed and picked at their appearances. The fabric they would take with them to dry off with. And the gifts that they would later give as welcome gifts to the new couples.

My sister Laurel told me to strip outside to prevent water from getting on anything. And passed me a towel.

I did my best to scoot around all my relatives that were heaped in the floor. Before getting to the room that I shared with Ash.

"Out! I have to change!" I yelled at them.

Half a dozen kids were bouncing from bed to bed laughing. I had to say it two more times before I got the boys out. And even then one of the girls stayed in wanting to talk my ear off.

I love the kids.
They are great but I just really wished I had a place to myself.

Maybe I should have started planning for my union ceremony last year. At least I could have an excuse to start building a house. But three people were already getting married so building help was already spread thin. You had to have a home before you could welcome someone into the valley.

People never moved away at least not for long, well not anymore.

The girl talking to me while I'm half lost in thought is Fern. And she is brother hawthorns daughter. She is his first but hes got one more kid running around somewhere and another one on the way.

All the this time while I was thinking and rummaging for something to wear Fern was sitting on the nearest bed, chattering about how she really wants this new sibling to be a girl and asking if I would let her go herding with me tomorrow, and if I liked her hair the way her mom had braided it.

My replies were short but she didnt mind. I imagine she could hold entire conversations with the goats and be happy.

"A sister would be nice, ask your dad first, and yes." I replied intermittently.

I smelled myself, I feel like I smelt ok but when your around certain smells all the time you become nose blind to them.

"Fern, what do I smell like to you?" I asked getting really close.

"Goats!" She said excitedly.

I think she ment it as a compliment but It just made me depressed. There wasnt enough time to take another bath, three if you count the fall in the river. Plus a fourth later I'll just rub down with mint. Maybe itll be strong enough to fool my siblings noses.

So I went outside again and wiped my extremities with water. Then dug some mint up from the side of the house. Chewing it and wiping it on my hands, neck and feet. It was pretty strong so not really clean but clean enough.

By the time I wiped down, my relatives were already pouring out of the house. Towels in hand  and children in tow. Laurel grinning and leading the way.

My sisters and i all looked similiar in age, and face with just slight differences. The main difference between us was coloring and height.

Since dad is white and mom is brown the kids were a mix. most turned out to take after one or the other.

Tan or darker brown depending on how much time they spend in the sun. All of them have brown eyes, and either black or brown hair.

The ones in the group that had pale skin were obviously wives that had married into the family. They used to live in the same town my father was born in, around ninety years ago.

Ferns mother, Nilla was pale with a button nose dotted with freckles, her hair dark blond and her eyes blue. While there children mostly had hawthorns coloring they looked more like their mom in the face. The kids held the hands of their aunts while their pregnant mother waddled behind.

The group was walking towards the end of the valley. A small mouthed cave is near the end, you have to walk through water and duck your head to enter. The water seeps down the slope and eventually joins the main river in the valley.

Your eyes take a moment to adjust but stones have been stacked into pillars around the cave in order to place torches on for light.

I momentarily cringed at having to wear wet clothes again but they wouldnt have let me in to a sacred space if I was dirty. Once every one is Inside they sit in the shallow end of the water.
...

O'lan and Thistle stood infront of their large family. Both of them looked to be in their forties but they were much older having settled in the valley over seventy years ago.

Theres over a hundred of us, nearly all their descendants.  Counting all the kids, and great grand kids. Soft crys from some of the younger ones erupt occasionally followed by their mothers efforts to sooth them.

Thistle raises her hands in one was a bundle of long feathers.
" we who have been blessed by the breath come together again this year to thank the spirit for all we have been given."

I along with those sitting, raise both of my hands to lightly cover my mouth and nose. Then touch my heart with one hand and my stomach with the other.

"We thank the breath for continuing to reside in our bodies, that our hearts continue to beat, that our body and the land may be fertile." She finished saying, stepping back.

O'lan stepped forward and knelt down and cupped the water with his hands.

"We also offer thanks to the one who tested our worth, we owe our noble lord Pyros eternal gratitude." He said, and brought the water to his mouth and drank. Causing water to drop from his short brown beard.

The rest of the attendees followed suit. Mothers brought water up to their young children's mouths and some of the children unceremoniously stuck their entire face in the water.

blowing bubbles and splashing before being scolded.

"Now it is time for those who have decided they are ready for their partner to begin their search, those who are ready please step forward." O'lan commanded.

Three stepped forward.

Ceder who had turned twenty this year. The youngest of O'lans sons. He had his shoulder length brown hair tied back. Ceder was more slender than his father with less muscles. He didnt have the same worry lines or beard as his father but they smiled the same and their coloring was similiar.

  Oak, who was at least a decade older than Ceder, had straight black hair to his chest. his body was shorter than ceders but much more muscular, taking after their mother in his coloring.

and last was Laurel, who had spent more than eight years building her new home and furniture to get it just right before she brought a husband home. She is a taller carbon copy of Thistle. Straight black hair and brown skin and eyes. High cheek bones and a straight nose.

"You have built your homes and stated your intentions to grow this family. You may take your handkerchiefs and go down the passage way. But remember you may only take one crystal from the cave." Their father warned.    " They are the blessings we were given by the breath, to find what we need. They are not for power or financial gain."

The three nodded and headed deeper into the cave. Each to begin their search.

(Please ☆)