You guys have been so good to me, so congrats, have a surprise excerpt from Chapter 2. She’s still rough but getting better (There will probably be more polish in the final version but hey, a treat for you guys). If you need a reminder, you can find the pre-beta first chapter sample here.
Enjoy and comment away. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
from: Brother Finn Arrives
“Mum, Why is Brother Finn here?” Reimar asked once inside their longhouse.
“Do not worry about that, Honeycomb,” she said. “The sun is gone to bed, and that means it is time for you to sleep as well.” Reimar heard something in his mother’s voice. It was almost… yes, something was wrong. Why would that be with a monk? They were going to have Mass, and then back to hunting and scavenging. That meant more apple picking he supposed. Reimar took off his kyrtill, tunic and trousers and put on his nightshirt from his clothes basket. He then climbed up to the low loft where his sister and one of his older brothers slept. His eldest brother Bjorn slept on the other end of the longhouse with his mother and father, farthest from the hearth.
Below, his father came in and dragged his fingers against the loft, tapping the wood in his usual good-night ritual. Reimar, Katrin and Erik scooted to the edge of the little loft and stuck their heads over.
“Ha hah!” Anton said playfully and stood up on his tip toes to give each of them a kiss goodnight, saving the noisiest one for Katrin. She giggled the unique sound of little girls amused by their father.
“Da?” Erik began to ask.
“No,” Anton said in a voice that brooked no compromise. “This is not for you,”
“But how-?” His face surprised that he knew what he was going to ask.
“Because I am your father, and I know the minds of curious boys. I promise you, tomorrow you will know more. Be patient till then. For now, you just have to sleep. That should not be so hard.”
“Jah, but I am thirteen! I am old enough to be a man and part of these things,” he protested weakly.
“You are not yet enough of a man to be part of this, Erik. Do not vex me.”
“Yes, Da,” he obeyed.
Reimar and the rest rolled over onto their clover tick mattresses. A few minutes later, Bjorn came in.
“Anton, come. They are waiting,” Anette said after taking the cauldron off the fire, and banked the coals for night.
“Bjorn, stay here,” Anton ordered, hooking a thumb up to the loft where the three younger children pretended to sleep.
“Jah, Father!” Bjorn said with a disappointed sigh.
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