Chapter CLXXXIII – Those who humble themselves will be welcomed.

57th of Summer 5860
Yellowclover, State of Casamonu

The actual march of the Army of the Republic had been delayed for a day, to give time for a few more men to mobilize and make their way to Libertycave. It was obviously impossible for five thousand plus men to be mobilized at all times, especially in a pre-industrial agricultural economy like Gemeinplatz where all hands were needed to ensure the harvest, so they had been dispersed all across the Republic until the summons came in. The summons being in the form of announcements of mobilization nailed across the major settlements of the Republic, and news carried across to the rural areas by the town criers. With the harvest of wheat and other summer crops complete in most of Gemeinplatz, now was the perfect time for plowshares to be beaten into swords.

The first stop, between Libertycave and Casamonu, was Yellowclover. “Home sweet home!” declared one certain Shinasi, being thankful that he didn’t have to set up a tent for tonight. He threw his hands up in gratitude. His hands which were holding the reins to the horse he was riding, and poor Shinasi almost fell off as the horse did not like the sudden movement.

“Oh, careful- careful!” Ayomide, following right next to him, breathed a sigh of relief upon Shinasi’s safe return.

“Don’t worry, my Lady Orange, no puny horse can defeat your brave knight!” said the man who had almost been defeated by said puny horse.

“Alas, it cannot, but it was a close fight. The brave knight better be careful.” With that, they had arrived at the brave knight’s castle. Or, more accurately, the village home of one Shinasi of Yellowclover, son of Shinasi. Shinasi hopped off his horse first, swiftly so that he could give Ayomide a hand down before she got down by herself. Usually, Ayomide was swift enough to be the first one down, but she let him win this time.

It was home, at least for Shinasi, but it did look quite different. “Oh, they must have renovated the roof. The windows too, and the walls, and…”

“Is it the same house at this point?” Ayomide certainly couldn’t recognize it compared to how it was last time. Copper rooves from Libertycave, plus some paint on the walls, and glass windows of dwarven manufacture.

“It must be. I had been sending them whatever I can, so it’s not surprising that they made something of it.” Shinasi approached the wall of his house and ran his fingers against the wall, feeling the paint. He even leaned forward to have a sniff of the paint, for all the good that’d do. It obviously didn’t smell like much. Ayomide could only scratch her head, questioning her life decisions as she watched Shinasi do it. “Hm. Smells like fresh paint” concluded Shinasi.

Ayomide couldn’t help but ask “What else were you expecting it to smell like?”

“…I dunno.” Shinasi shrugged, and that was that. They both stared at each other for a few seconds, before bursting into laughter in unison. Neither of them found the situation particularly funny, but the lack of humor in the situation is what made it funny to them. Or maybe the paint fumes had done something funny to Shinasi’s brain, who could tell the difference?

Somebody who could probably tell the difference was his sister, who had been summoned by the laughter right outside her front door. She peeked from behind the doorframe, before calling out “Brother!”

“Aha-hah? Oh, Shirin!” Shinasi almost fell over, again, as his sister tackled him. “Be, be careful there, you’ve grown a lot since I last saw you!”

“Really?” It had only been a few months, so realistically not a whole lot, but Shinasi gave a nod anyways. “Yay! I’ll be taller than Miss Ayomide soon!”

“Hahah, sure, sure.” Ayomide rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t exactly dismiss it considering the kid was reaching her height. If she was to grow close to her brother’s height, Ayomide would be defeated handily. Her sarcastic “sure” got less certain by the minute. For now, she sufficed by looking down at the kid and giving her a pat on the head while she could.

Shirin opened her arms wide. “Then I’ll be big and strong and able to march alongside you and do cool things!”

“I appreciate the enthusiasm kiddo, but we’ll get this whole thing sorted out before you grow up.” At least Ayomide hoped so, she’d have quite liked to retire and enjoy some peace. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really any choice but to fight for her peace. “We’ll take Ancoire in no time and come back for dinner, hm?”

“You can come for dinner now. Papa is with the other adults tonight, so you have the house all to yourself!” Shirin had already stepped aside to let the couple in.

“We have the house all to ourselves you say? Ladies first.” Shinasi too stepped aside, to let Ayomide in first.

“Thank you, o’ one who is so eager to have a moment with the lady.” Ayomide stepped inside, to an indoors that wasn’t too different. Other than the paint and new flooring, the furniture was still the same. It seemed that they hadn’t been able to bear replacing everything. Still, Ayomide found the air around the house to feel quite different. She had first come here as a fugitive, marching towards Casamonu with her fellow fugitives. Now she was truly a woman of the Republic, and even if she had again come under military circumstances, the circumstances felt a bit less desperate than the struggle for basic survival of the old Libertycave days.

Now they were truly on the counter-attack, against such a great target as Ancoire nonetheless, no longer the rats trapped in a corner of the mountain. She had seen a few soldiers be welcomed inside the houses of the other villagers. People willingly welcoming armed men into their house! Times were strange indeed.

“Wait a bit, I’ll make something for you and Miss Ayomide!” With that, Shirin was off to… wherever. Shinasi guessed that she’d either take a look at the pantry or ask the neighbors for help.

Shinasi and Ayomide were left alone once more, seated on cushions in the corner of the room They had plenty of time back in Libertycave, but Ayomide couldn’t deny that this place felt more like home. It was an old place, lived-in, full of memories from Shinasi and his family. She wondered if their home back in Libertycave would eventually feel the same. With time, it surely would, she thought. When the furniture got as old, when the house had more than two people in it, when years passed together… she wrapped her arm around Shinas, dragging him in without a word.

They’d be back for dinner.