“Patience, is what we need young master”. Brice’s eyebrows lowered themselves into a stern formation. Overshadowing his otherwise bright green irises. He grumbled, “You don’t have to repeat my father’s words, Rex… I know… Soon a dinosaur of proper linage will be born. Suited for bonding… But what am I to do in the meantime!?.. Daily I would scale landscapes and train with Gibby… Back then, I had unlimited strength and power and now all of that is gone!.. Now I’m merely a weak sap”.

Rex understood his master well, who he had served since childhood. He patted the teen on the shoulder and said, “Of course you feel feeble now… It’s not many who are allowed to bond as early as you were… I mean. Barely 6 years old and you already got a taste of the grandest heights in life… To suddenly have such potential ripped out of your grasps… It is indeed pure torture!”.

Brice shrugged off his servant’s hand and growled, “Don’t make it sound so pathetic… I’ll do perfectly fine without a dinosaur!”. Without any discontent, Rex made pleasing gestures of humbleness, “Yes, my lord! Yet… Don’t you think that some of the other young lords, might be able to share some of their pastimes with you? I’m sure with their experience, they’ll show you what fun there can be had in life… A young man such as you, shouldn’t spend his days rotting behind stone walls!”.

Brice gave his servant ‘the look’, before saying, “You mean at the Winter Weddings?.. Perhaps I will ask them?”.

The troubled pair went along their day, unbeknownst of the servant girls in the background. William and Remony glanced at each other. The youngest was about to spill some words but was stopped by a harsh, “Shush!”. Remony double checked to see if the pair was gone. Then she whispered, “Not a word of this can slip outside!.. Or else they’ll have our tongues!”.

William nodded, yet he barely got to blink before the build up tension slipped. It was robbed by Remony who giggled and said, “But really… If I dared to, I could spread some juicy rumors to the other girls. They could use a topic to converse about these days, instead of those recent dreadful disappearances and murders… I mean, how am I supposed to entertain my family with such horrid stories?.. They certainly won’t be fond of them!”.

William went down to scrub the floor extra hard and asked, “Family?.. Do they liwe on this island too?”. Remony shook her head “Not exactly. They live a few meters away from the string of land, that connects the island to the mainland”. While she was at it, she also reminded William of his speech. Saying with a bit of frustration, “And It’s not liwe, Mirabelle. It’s live. Remember to relax your mouth before pronouncing any words…”.

William sighed and reluctantly nodded. He had asked for these kind of comments himself, so there was no reason to take offence...

Remony sighed while her head rested on the broom’s end, “I can’t wait to see them again this sunday… Hm… Now that we’re talking about pastimes. What are you going to do this sunday, when we’re free from work?”. William halted his scrubbing as he thought of the possibilities. In truth there weren’t many to pick from, so he said, “Not much, really…”.

Without meaning to he showed Remony a lonesome expression. The moment he noticed it he tried to hide his face close to his chest. But it was to no prevail. Remony had sharp eyes when it came to sensing another's trouble. Immediately she spoke up and lectured, “Don’t hide your loneliness, Mirabelle!.. I know you don’t exactly have a family to return to anymore… So how about it? Why don’t you join me and come meet my family?”.

The shy girl kneeling on the floor seemed to like the idea but hesitated, “Are you sure that I won’t be a bother?”. Remony made a grimace at how obstinate this girl was and said with great vigor, “Nonsense! They’d love to meet you! Trust me...”.

The two girls chatted some more while cleaning the castle grounds. Finally coming to an agreement. “Then it’s settled! You’re coming home with me this sunday... But I’m warning you. My father loves! And I do mean loves! To tell stories all night long. So if you think you can survive that, I’d recommend that you come along! Haha”. William felt his anticipation rise, as he said, “Sure! I look forward to it!”.

****

After finishing their duties, both girls wandered away from the island to a quaint little house situated on the mainland. It was more humble than William’s home. The reason being that his father was a knight and Remony’s was a farmer.

They were only a meter away from the door, before it opened up by itself. Out came a warm man, who greeted them both with a hug, “Hello there Remony and... Who might you be little miss?”. William could already feel jealousy heat his body as he greeted this kind father… Thinking: How come I couldn’t have a father as nice as this? Screw that book! This world is unfair!

Inside the hut was a pregnant woman. She didn’t have the same hue as Remony and her father. Contrary to them, her skin was unusually pale as if she was sick. The woman’s head dangled as her eyes kept closing themselves. This sight made Remony’s father: Gabriel, worried. He quickly went over to hold his wife and insistently persuaded her to rest.

While he did this, Remony fished coins out of her pocket and placed them in her mother’s palm, saying, “See? There’s plenty here to feed you and the baby… So don’t overwork yourself mother”. The mother didn’t as much as glance at her hand, but instead focused all her strength in giving Remony a hug. William could only stare in the background and grind his teeth with envy.

When dots from thousands of light years ago began appearing on the sky. They sat down for a bowl of gruel. Gabriel took in a few bites before he became the night’s entertainment. The first stories he told were of people and places from far away. This made William question, “Where do you have all these stories from?”.

Gabriel visibly brightened up as he said, “Why, from our ancestor’s homeland of course!.. Hehe... Anybody can see that our bloodline stems from another region. As are there many others, who have ancestors that traversed great lengths to settle here. It’s just not every man or woman, who can remember or tell tales of their origins from the old days. But I can!”.

At first William didn’t get why Gabriel was so proud of knowing his own background. But then it dawned on him, that compared to Gabriel, he didn’t know a thing. Not even where his mother originally came from, or why his family lived on this island in the first place? He really was clueless!

Gabriel mulled over whether he should continue his series of fun tales, or let this unknowing child dwell in their past.

As a teaser he tried to incite the other’s interest, by sharing one of his dreams. He spoke as a powerful yearning seeped through his eyes: “Our ancestors come from a different land where the sun is much harsher and nature’s bounty far richer!.. Although I haven’t seen it myself. I have viewed gorgeous paintings of my father’s birthplace… And it is my and my wife’s dream to see that place one day”.

William didn’t know how to react to this sudden revelation of desires. His blank mug made it seem as if he questioned Gabriel’s heritage and if it really was worth the fuss.

This made Gabriel grin from ear to ear, as he had found a new victim to tell his ancestors’ story to…

Remony on the other hand knew what was in store. She helplessly buried her face between her hands.