The evening of the next day, the Foch of the village, the local spirits, plus Samuel and Aria Fredericka, were all found on the forest floor with all manner of things set up for the New Year’s Festival. Befitting a festival was a large helping of food sprawled over some of the tables.. The spirits of the area gathered as well, with torches lighting the scene. Cooperative weather also graced the festival, as the night was clear and without wind.

Standing near the food tables were Elenora, Lianna, and Aria. They were looking outward in the direction of one of the great trees of the Wildwood, where Samuel was chasing around Mai and a few other spirits.

“He’s having quite a lot of fun, isn’t he?” said Elenora.

“I’m just glad we got him away from Freyja. I didn’t want him holding up the food,” added Lianna.

Aria chuckled, and watched as her son chased after the spirits. It seemed like a fruitless task, given the spirits could simply fly up and escape his reach.

“Hey, Elenora told me that you weren’t going to restart relations until the spring,” Lianna asked.

Aria turned to face Lianna.

“To be precise, I’m not going to restart trade relations until the spring. But just because we don’t have things on our end ready doesn’t mean we can’t open travel relations.” Aria said.

“Why differentiate?”

“Well, Lianna, I know from memory what you Foch can provide, but we at the Fredericka convoy are still straightening out what we actually trade. The Schism was a terrible thing to happen… but it gave us new opportunities for trade as a result.”

“And you want to show us what those new things are before fully resuming trade?”

“Precisely. Besides, I’ve sent the erstwhile captain of the caravan outside your borders for a stern talking to by his father; and after that, I’m hoping he can return to his post,”

Lianna furrowed her brow. She’d heard enough about him from Samuel to know that he was being an awful person to Samuel. Lianna didn’t quite get why Aria would take someone like him off-task only to put him back on.

“Why? I thought you disapproved of what he was doing,” Lianna asked.

“Oh no, I do. But he’s not the worst at managing a caravan, as much as I might not like to admit right now. He just wanted to do something really dumb, and he needs to know that. I want to know if he’s learned the lesson, that’s all.”

“And how are you going to check that?”

“I’ll have him try to negotiate trade, that’s how.”

Aria gave her answer with a smug grin.

“...oh. You’re a mean woman, you know that?” Lianna said.

“That’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”

Next to the two, Elenora stifled a chuckle. Beyond them towards the tree Samuel stopped chasing the spirits, clearly out of breath from running in the snow. Mai was next to him, the two chatting.

“You know, when he was growing up,” Aria began.

Elenora and Lianna looked at Aria, who had dropped from a business tone of voice to a less formal one.

“He kinda got bad luck. When he’d normally be learning about how to do things in the convoy, we were all tied up in the Schism. So he never really understood what those things really meant. By the time that’s done, his father dies,” Aria continued.

She let out a sigh, looking out towards her son.

“Hang on, there’s something I need to do.”

Aria walked over to where her son was sitting. Lianna and Elenora chose to let the two have space, and stayed put. Samuel looked up when he saw his mother approach.

“...Mother?” he asked.

“Your birthday is coming up in a few weeks. Normally, I’d be asking you to try your hand at something in the convoy, but…”

Aria looked at Mai next to him.

“But I think we’ve long left what normally happens, haven’t we? And I’m not even gonna be able to be there for it. So instead, here’s my request, both as your mother and the head of the Fredericka convoy,”

Aria looked at Samuel, with an almost melancholic smile.

“Samuel, stay here, at least until spring. Decide who you want to be, yourself,” she said.

Samuel looked up at his mother.

“There are no wrong answers, Samuel. I just want you to do what you feel is right… though, I suppose maybe you’ve already found an answer,” she said.

She knelt down and ruffled his hair.

“I love you, Samuel. And that’s not going to change anytime soon,”

She stood up and returned to Lianna and Elenora.

“What did you tell him?” Lianna asked.

“I told him that I want him to stay here and figure out who he wants to be, that’s all. Members of the convoy when they turn fifteen choose something to work at. Think of it as a coming-of-age thing.”

Aria turned around to face Samuel, who was chatting with Mai again.

“Besides, if my intuition as his mother is anything, Samuel’s already found his answer,” Aria said.

“What do you mean?” Lianna asked.

“What do I mean? What do I mean?...”

Aria stared off into space, forlorn.

“I guess this is me accepting the hand I’ve been dealt,” Aria said, walking off to grab some more food.