A familiar face peeked from the stables. Remony whispered into her companions ear, “That boy seems to know you?”. William shifted his attention towards the boy and exclaimed, “Joss!?”.

The boy tried to hide at first. But then he suddenly seemed to be taken over by curiosity. He cautiously looked around before nearing them, “What are you doing here!? This is the lord’s castle! Only personnel can be here on a daily-basis”.

Remony chuckled, “Silly, she works here as a servant. Why else would she drag around a basket full of laundry, through the ward?”. Joss inspected the stranger and asked with a petulant tinge to his voice, “And you are?”. To this snooty response, Remony smiled curtly before laying things flat; “Also a servant… Let me guess. From your attire and rude manners, I suspect that you must be a new page?.. The only question is to whom?”.

Joss squinted his eyes at Remony: “... True… I serve my father, Sir Castonale… And the one your serving with is my sister… Was! My sister… But she now lives with an old woman and her sons”. William shook his head and corrected Joss, “Not anymore… Haven’t you heard the news? She’s dwead… She moved into Halbal with Harvick and I ended up here. I liwe and work here as a servant now”. William stared at his brother with expectant eyes.

It didn’t take long for Joss to understand, that their pretense was now over.

He stretched out his back and showed more confidence. No longer afraid of being seen chatting with the ‘wrong’ company. He cheered, “That’s great news! I guess god finally heard my prayers!”. William said, “More like Hawick. His my god now, haha”. Joss felt his heart rush as he stammered, “W-What!? Then what am I?.. Just some peasant on the road?”.

William held his hand in front of his mouth as he chuckled. Then he teased his brother by suggesting, “Hmm, if Harvick is my god, then you must be my cute guardwian spirit?”. Joss held a strained smile on his face, as he imagined the means needed to become a god. The hurdle might be big, but he was definitely going to become greater than Harvick one day!

Remony glanced at the sky to check the time. Seeing that the sun had moved further than she’d like, she decided to interject the fun and said, “Mirabelle, as heartwarming as this reunion is, I’m afraid our work must come first… Joss, was it? I hope next time that we can get to know each other better… Till then you can try to remember my name”. Joss looked at her confused, “But I didn’t get your name?”. This sentence made Remony roll her eyes, as she advised him, “Then maybe you should ask before we leave?”.

Joss perceived what she was hinting at. So he cleared his head and greeted her properly, “Sorry, I was kinda rude earlier…”. Remony flicked her hair, then commented, “That’s understandable”. Joss stepped back from it’s area of reach and nodded. Then he began formally introducing himself: “Sure. But yeah, you know my name now. It’s Joss Castonale and may I ask what your name is?”.

Remony gave him a warm welcome as she squished his hand and said, “Pleased to meet you. My name is Remony Bartcove, you’re sister’s new best friend”. William was pleased with this introduction. He felt that they clicked right away and would surely last. Joss however, was baffled at the sudden competition. He was used to being William’s only ‘friend’, excluding Harvick that shark.

Joss opened and closed his mouth like a fish. He was caught speechless as the two girls sauntered away. Giggling at his many colourful expressions.

****

Each sunday there would be a holy-mass, for the castle’s inhabitants. It was held in the ward when it was sunny and inside the great hall when it rained. This sunday was a mix of both, so they stayed inside.

The insides of the castle would often get affected if the humidity was too high. When these conditions were met, It would unleash a certain smell. Resembling a whiff of damp earth and leaves, with a sprinkle of moist mushrooms, that you would usually see popping out of the soil and dead trees.

It wasn’t exactly a bad scent. In fact William found himself enraptured by it. Sighing to himself, that It had been awhile since he last visited a forest. His trance suddenly broke, when the words, “What have you done, dear woman?” echoed along the stone walls.

Usually he would turn a deaf ear to these holy sermons. However this one caught his attention. The man who spouted ancient stories continued, “You have thrown away god’s gift! His vision! And allowed this evil abomination to take place!?… The young woman, had been foolish enough to listen to the reptile’s spite. She had been lead by its mischievous nature, to make an unholy bond with Ragtus, one of the disciples of Solvi…”.

The devout preacher shook his head with great passion. Then he lifted his hands into the air and shouted, “Thankfully! Our forgiving savior rescued her with hot fires and coal. The purest of sources and the elements which leads to the gateways of Nurgal! When this golden ritual died along with the dust carried by the winds; Ragtus was once again freed to meet his truthful master and the woman was released from her anguish... When she met our maker, she cried both out of shame but also out of gratefulness, to the heavenly lord. For she had forsaken her utmost holy duty of mothering the future of mankind…”.

The man noticed some spit resided on his lips. So he wiped it off before continuing, “Thus we must guide our mothers and sisters to choose the right path, designated in our core nature, created by our all-knowing great heavenly lord! And to those who are deterred from this righthous path!? Perish they must as our enemies, for they have crossed the line of redemption into the ravine of hopelessness…”.

His last words echoed into his students’ ears with great effect... As soon as the man stepped down from his podium, applaud filled the room. William clapped along but inside he shivered. He finally understood, why a girl bonding with a dinosaur was a legend that never got tested. Apparently it was because their religion strongly guided women around the topic…

The most frightful thing about it, was that they actually incited people to murder bonded women!.. The reason being that they were seen as heathens...

Although this new confirmation was rather bleak, it also gave William a bit of hope. This was because it confirmed his doubts, that it was bull that girls couldn’t bond because of their sex but rather because of something else. In this case: The public’s opinion.

He thought with newfound vigor: So what if people would persecute him? He would definitely try to bond with a dinosaur someday! And prove that legend wrong!..

Although his goal was set in stone, he had to lament! If only he was stronger!.. Strong enough to wipe out those who tried to hurt him!.. Whether their reason for attacking him was because he was a bonded or a woman…

Having brought himself towards this topic, he thought: Maybe I should start practicing my fighting skills again? Now that I can actually use this body to hold-... perhaps even a sword?

****

Remony sighed as she came to deliver some bad news, “Mirabelle, today Carmen and Alise are both sick. They can’t even lift a finger, let alone leave their beds… I have to teach the lord’s sons today, so I have to ask you to do their task instead. Alone... Since I’m not there I suggest you take care not to contract the same illness as them… Cover your mouth with a cloth if possible”.

William was in the middle of braiding his hair but failed, “Argh! Thish stupid hair!.. And yeah, I understand, I’ll do their task as well… But what exactly ish it?..”. Remony went over to help William with his braid, “Here, let me… Today, besides your other duties, you have to muck out the stables… Get the horses some new hay and help the butcher’s boy feed the dinosaurs…”. Before finishing the braid, Remony asked him a bit nervously, “You do know where the stables are right?”.

William flapped his hand around, whifting away her concern. Then he relaxed his shoulders and said, “Of course I do!.. And it’ll be no pwoblem… My only concern is whether or not I’ll get paid more, since I’ll be taking over their job”. Remony smacked William in the head, “Silly! Of course you’ll get paid for your effort. However don’t be too selfish and share a pence with those poor girls... I’ll share mine as well”. William groaned as Remony tightened his hair, “Yes, yes… I’ll make sure to seht some over for them”.

When his hair was safely tucked away under his bonnet, William began to trudge away towards the stables. Before he was completely out of the room, Remony exclaimed, “Ah! Remember to wear a cloth over your mouth! Or do you want to fall ill as well?”. William slumped his back and said, “I’ll remember it… And thanks”. Remony made a nod, “Good!”.

William huffed and went on his way, with a mindset that this day couldn’t get any worse. Yet, the moment the wooden structure was in his sights, he heard a frustrated shout, leading up to further bad news: “This is impossible! There must be something wrong with them!?”. Another voice begged, “Please calm down young master! Surely this must be a mistake! It’s impossible for there to not be a single dinosaur who’ll bond with them...”.

WinterFairy

I'd just like to add, that I wrote this chapter before the Corona-virus outbreak... So... Hope you're not infected or any of those you hold dear! ｡(*^▽^*)ゞ