Today, fifteen years ago, Mage Tarik died. And it was the 8001st day since I came to this world. That time would soon come to an end. The body which Tarik made for me, was failing. 15 local years, almost 22 Earth years. That was more than twice the lifespan of either goat, cat or squirrel that my lower body was composed of. And I had used it much, relentlessly, the growing pain of my knees and ankles was an expected price for it. But now it was more than just tear and wear, I could no longer deny it. I just did not expect it to happen so quickly. It started furthest away with the tail tip, where I lost control a week ago. And since yesterday, I could no longer retract the claws of the left hind paw.

I had fabulous 15 extra years in this nice world, thanks to Tarik. I was still sad about his early return to The Soul. We would have worked something out, he could have used his soul magic for progress. "Thank you, Tarik," I whispered.

And while sleeping, well. There was a reason, that I now slept next to the toilet. Wo'lua style, water running through a wooden trough in the ground in a dedicated room. Simple, but still the innovation for Litra I was most proud of. Now half of the houses had them already. So we ran the wastewater through a pond before going back to the river. Back to business, I sighed and also threw the soiled night straw into the trough and washed my behind in the cold water.

Rap was still our servant. He had become older too but compared to him, I felt ancient like a mythical dragon. He still balanced the breakfast tray for all six of us with ease. I followed him to the dining room and quickly pushed my hind paw toes on the floor to push back the claws for a short time while entering. Everyone was already at the table.

"Mum, look!" shouted Freya, my youngest daughter, nearly eight. Yes, I named her after the healer who took me on first. I had always liked the name, and finally, Radel gave in. "Look!", she insisted. Her long, tufted ears on top of her head twisted in a complex double-eight pattern. "Three against four!", she beamed.

I smiled. "Great dear." And while I wished she had rather her father's ears like her two years older twins Tim and Tam, who were perfectly human, her ears were the only traits she got from me. Even Freya's hair was red like Radel's. Well, and all of them had his freckles.

The twins were at the brink of manhood but today they were childishly excited. Easy, because it was the last day of school before the harvest break. And after the winter, school would end for them and they would be running supplies to the mountain cabins.

"I will walking with you to school today."

"Dear, it is 'I will walk'", corrected Radel me for the thousandth time, with his endless patience that I so adored. And I really tried, but somehow I never chose the correct future tense.

"I will walk with you to school," I said, eager to prove that it is never too late to learn. And then a morning peck for Radel. I still loved him dearly. He was lovely, still a strong man and gentle and witty. Not like me, with more grey than brown fur, wrinkled skin and almost white head hair.

Rap came with the school boxes for the children that contained their slates, some paper and a quill and an inkstone. Today, I would carry them. Thus, they hurried with their breakfast when I stood up.

* * *

The schoolhouse was a little outside of the main village of Litra, so the pupils from the other hamlet closer to the entrance of the valley must not walk too far either. When I returned from Loma, I had convinced Larel that every child between four and eight years old should go to school in the winter. First, there had been only a winter term, taught by the cleric and Count Larel himself. It made him so happy to work with children. And after a rough start, the pupils liked school in winter, since there was not much to be done otherwise.

My first year in Litra had been most exciting. Or rather our year, starting with our wedding in Krenburg. It was a much smaller affair than we hoped because Radel's parents opposed me as much as they could oppose a marriage with an independent countess while being themselves only dependent counts. We then returned to Litra just in time for the winter. A really harsh winter like almost every winter here. I was ok but Freya (the healer) was not up to those. She helped me to deliver Carol, my firstborn, but then left for Krenburg. And just before New Year, Count Larel died from a stroke. So I became the sole ruler, the Countess of Litra and Karenburg before the end of 148.

But I, no, Radel and I wanted change. Thus, we travelled to Krenburg and registered Litra as a republic domain, a domain ruled by an internal republic with me as the administrator. It was not easy because it was the first time someone made such a request. But we had an ally in Vice-Administrator who had been more than pleased about it. It did not change anything in Litra though: Since then, I was re-elected every autumn equinox, in the first years even without an opposing candidate. But it had made an impact in the wider Kren Republic. Two independent domains had gone republic too when their count or baron died without a successor. But it remained to be seen if they could defend against their neighbours in the long term.

The second big change came rather by through the back door. When in Krenburg, I had asked the old Senior Healer Yutan if there was a volunteer for going to Litra. Maybe even a healer who could read and write, to help with teaching in the winter. I didn't really expect someone but, surprisingly, there was such a volunteer, a very young fourth son of a dependent count. His name was Jacius of Geldern. But he had renounced his title to become a healer instead, to help the peasants. It turned out that his biggest motivation was the idea of building a republic domain.

Since then, the cleric and the healer had both taught at the school. And in that first winter, when I visited the school, Jacius sighed about not being able to buy paper to write longer texts than just the three letters that fit on the hand-held slates. I dimly remembered that paper was made from wood after milling and boiling, maybe with vinegar? And wood we had enough.

In the summer of 149, Jacius started to experiment with paper-making with my strong encouragement. Soon he had the first, horrible paper sheets done. It went uphill from that quickly, the paper-making experiment had evolved into a water-powered paper mill further down next to the other hamlet.

Today both Tom, the cleric, and Jacius, the healer, were waiting in front of the school. The summer term was a more recent addition, only two days followed by a four-day break, so they would not forget too much and still would be able to help with farming. After all, we had little food to spare to survive the winters.

Jacius came towards us. "Greetings Kiara, great to see you. Hello Tim and Tam, Hello Freya. Go on in, I would like to talk to your mother." He was almost the only one apart from Radel, who did not call me countess.

"Hello Jacius, I need talking to you as well. Let's go to the side."

The children took their heavy boxes from my back, finally, and went inside.

I walked slowly to the side and I smiled at him. "Jacius, I think my time has come."

He was very confused. "Dear Kiara, yes, you have aged a lot since spring, but"

"Since yesterday, the hind claws no longer respond to me. And the tail is numbing more and more. And I mostly lost most bladder control." I sighed. "It is getting bad fast."

"Let me look."

I nodded. He was foremost a good healer, then master of the paper mill and second teacher. I felt his probing everywhere.

"Nothing wrong, just worn. A slight infection of the bladder."

"Yes, I am only old." I nodded. "But I feel, I will not see the winter. Anyway, I cannot run another year for administrator. I am asking you to run as a candidate. My last wish is to have Litra a real republic. Just everyone voting for the same countess every year is not a republic."

"But you did so well."

"You helped a lot. Litra really bloomed from your paper-making and teaching. You were most important that Litra is becoming a better place to live."

"Since you mention that, actually, today another family came and asked for work in the mill. There are no empty houses left, they will have to build a house for themselves quickly, there is less a months until the equinox."

"So three new houses near the paper mill this year. We really need to give that hamlet a name, before it is getting larger than Litra. Anyway, please prepare for being elected this time."

"And Radel, wouldn't he?"

"His decision. But I think you are probably better at governing than me or him. Radel never says no. Please."

"Kiara," he sighed, "Yes, I understand. I will run honestly this year, giving real vision.”

“I am sure you will get more votes than just one from me.”

“But I am worried. I am already busy with healing, the paper mill, and teaching."

"You should hire a real teacher. I heard you got a second order from Kwal University?"

"Yes," he beamed, "they wanted more of our paper. Still not good enough for runes, but for bookkeeping and teaching."

"Well done. So maybe write them for a teacher?"

* * *

I slowly walked over from the school to the paper mill at the side of the valley. The big wheel of the mill was idle now at the end of summer when every hand was needed for the harvest. Furthermore, many rivulets had run dry after all the snow had molten.

And soon there will be nine houses around; there had been only three when I first came to Litra. The wood-cutting work for the paper mill had already attracted four families and it seems that even more might come next year. Well, whoever would be in charge of Litra, soon would have to either import food for winter or must find better ways of farming. Or both.

This year's harvest would be plenty though. I could not remember a year with that few thunderstorms, and the summer was mild early but had not been too hot. Heavy grain stalks were waiting in the fields to be harvested from tomorrow. Yes, Litra had harsh winters but it was still a great place to live.

I strolled back in a wide arc, so I just arrived back home at lunchtime. Rap had waited for me. On my request, we had a vegetable cheese fondue with the first aged summer cheese. And outside, my nose was still too good to forbid cheese fondue inside when the weather was fair.

When seated, we nodded to each other and then started to eat in silence. I was not very hungry, despite all the walking and finished first and enjoyed a great berry curd for dessert.

"Rap, I would like to have a feast tonight for the whole village. The paper mill had sold another batch to Kwal and the harvest looks very promising. And I want to announce that I will not run for re-election this time."

"But Countess" "But Kiara"

I had expected their protests. "This is final. Please Rap, do it for me. No expenses spared, empty our stores. Litra has owned a feast this year."

Rap looked at me and then at Radel, confused. Radel had understood me and nodded. "Yes, do as she said."

"Then I have to start right now." He stood up and bowed. "Countess." Still, after all those years ...

"Thank you very much." I smiled. "We will washing the dishes."

"Do you really think"

"Yes, dear. We had fifteen great years together, a present from Mage Tarik. But my time has come. Today the tail is numb until here. It goes fast. Before next month, I will have returned to The Soul." I gulped. "Please, I want to go on my terms."

"So tomorrow"

I nodded. "Yes, when you left for Karenburg with the little ones."

He stood and hugged me.

"I love you so much", I whispered.

We both were crying for a long time.

* * *

It was late in the evening, the food was almost eaten and before too much of the wine from our cellar had circulated, I took the drum and beat it for silence.

"People of Litra!" My voice was still powerful enough to command silence. "I am retiring as administrator today. For the equinox election, I will not run again."

The people gasped and started talking, so I beat the drum again. "And one more thing. This feast is a to thank you for everything. Because I had a calling. I need to climb the Ice Fang. This year's summer was the longest in recent history and no storms lately. It is now or never." The voices got even louder, so I had to beat the drum again. "I know, nobody ever went to its top. Maybe I will be failing too, but I have to try. I will leave tomorrow. Thus, tonight I am only Kiara, not countess, not administrator. And let the music start."

The music did not start. Confused faces stared at me, people were talking all over. "Why?" finally someone shouted.

"I have been called, so I have to come. No sad faces tonight, Kiara wants to dance. Music please, I wish for The Happy Sheep!"

This second command had the musicians more ready and soon we were dancing. The people still talked but tonight I danced with them. And despite the age and the protruding claws, I could still coordinate my limbs well enough for this.