Ishvi’s anger was beginning to fade. He had accepted this job, regardless of the consequences, and he would follow it through. He looked around. Everyone was practically cowering from him. And he felt he needed something else −food; food and his wife. It was that time of day, she would be ready for him to come down anyway.
He walked down the stairs, and over toward his room, their room.
Women peered at him from windows, and hastily cleared the courtyard. Foolish women, thinking that he would train them. He got to his door and opened it.
He stopped dead, surveying the tableau. Met was standing, looking very nervous, beside the table. On the table was a meal, for one; but a cold meal, one that could obviously wait if he had other plans. And Met herself was dressed not, as she usually was, for dinner and bed, but in a simple dress − as if she expected him to drag her all over the walls.
Suddenly he laughed, and closed the door behind him. Truly he had a wonderful Wife! He walked slowly over to the table and picked up a chair.
//Chair,// he said, and looked at her expectantly.
//Shair,// she attempted. Having just a few months ago spent a considerable time in this exact kind of language game, she knew how to respond.
//Chair,// he insisted.
//Chair,// she managed.
Soon, in a ritual familiar to both of them, she was going around the room chasing one object after another, as he called them out. Eventually, though, Ishvi ran out of ideas and sat down to eat. Met came over and sat down too, but, didn’t eat, instead she studied him intensely. And then she stopped his hand on the way to the loaf.
//Bread,// she said. It was a word he hadn’t used. He looked at her, his eyes widened, he grinned, and he said, //Bread.//
And now she began. Choosing items he hadn’t named, items which fell more within her purview than his, she continued around the room. //Milk, butter, meat, plate…// the list continued. Finally pointing she said, //bed//. At least, that is what he’d thought she meant.
Sometime later they got up and repeated the whole process.
Thank you for reading Von’s Substack. I would love it if you commented! I love hearing from readers, especially critical comments. I would love to start more letter exchanges, so if there’s a subject you’re interested in, get writing and tag me!
Being ‘restacked’ and mentioned in ‘notes’ is very important for lesser-known stacks so… feel free! I’m semi-retired and write as a ministry (and for fun) so you don’t need to feel guilty you aren’t paying for anything, but if you enjoy my writing (even if you dramatically disagree with it), then restack, please! Or mention me in one of your own posts.
If I don’t write you back it is almost certain that I didn’t see it, so please feel free to comment and link to your post. Or if you just think I would be interested in your post!
If you get lost, check out my ‘Table of Contents’ which I try to keep up to date.
Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von
Warrior Wednesday
This story is about several warriors, so I recommend it to the ‘Warrior Wednesday’ crowd. If there is anyone that is linked below that does NOT wish to be part of the Warrior Wednesday group, or wishes to be and isn’t on there, please leave a comment.
Garhom, Tenkage, K’s Substack, Fullscreen Bossfight, L.P. Koch, The Lord Otter, The Man Behind the Screen, Kathrine Elaine, Tom Hyland, Eric Lindquist, Erik Waag, Alexander Semenyuk, Alexander Ipfelkofer, Andrew Smith, maryh10000, maribel, Bridget Riley, Dan O'Donnell, Harold Ember, Marcus Malesela, M. B. Heywood, Jean Marie Bauhaus, A.C. Cargill, Author, Scoot, S.E. Reid, Joseph Wiess, Josh Tatter, Jon T, Joyce, Donn Harper The Apocaloptimist, Redd Oscar, Michaela McKuen, Michael P. Marpaung, Michael B. Morgan, Sam Rake
Made in DNA, Robin George, Monte St Aubyn, Yakubian Ape, Jolan Hildebrandt, Joshua T Calkins-Treworgy, Tactless, Ethan Sabatella, Matthew R. Bowns, Patricia J.L. 👻🧶🖊️, Kemptea, The Chronicler, Ben Woestenburg, radicaledward, R. H. Snow, Kay Moulton, Dr. TMR beste, Brother Alexander, The Brothers Krynn, David Perlmutter, Carl Brown, Sharron Bassano, Cole Noble, SDG Lemaître, Siva Narayanan, Von, J.Q. Graziano, Cedar Flyte, The Rake, Eric Falden, A. C. Pritchard, Joshua L. Mazur, Emily Woodhouse, Niccolò Hilgendorf,
Vulkan, Victoria Jensen, Edmund Muller, The Ramen Bowl, The Rewind, Wordsmith Wentworth, Maximilian P Siddell, Marco Fioretti , Cynthia Silveri, Dwina Murphy-Gibb, David W Runyan II, J. Sebastian King, Odds Bodkin, Jacob Calta, Thérèse Judeana
Links
Island People is a young adult fantasy book centring on a young prince. The book starts with his kidnapping and follows his adventures as he not only escapes from his kidnapper but gains critical allies and friends.
The entire book is scheduled on Substack, and there are several sequels. This is a book I wrote years ago, so it is in a bit of a rough form. Critiques and comments are more than welcome, they are requested.