Tears of War (24 page)

The sound of the milk swishing into the pail soothed her and she lost herself in the rhythm of it. Before Maleena realized it, the milking was done. She helped Barden turn the does and the babies eager to be back with their mothers loose in their pasture and then began toting the full pails to the house, the dog following them happily. What did they do with all of this milk? Surely they couldn’t drink it all and if they got this much each day, not even making cheese would use it all up.

She glanced at Barden out the corner of her eye as they walked toward the house. “What do you use all of the milk for?”

“We sell a lot of it, either as milk or cheese. Not everyone has the time or inclination to keep their own animals. Milk animals are something you kind of have to have in you. Some don’t ever have it, some find it later.”

“Do you get this much every day?”

He shrugged slightly. “More or less. We pen the babies away from their dams at night so they can’t drink it all. They get to spend the day and early evening drinking their fill, so they aren’t deprived.”

Maleena nodded. “That’s what we do in Galdrilene.”

He smiled. “I know.”

Barden tapped the back door of the house with his foot and within seconds, Sonja opened it. “Good morning, Maleena. And you too, Father.” She beamed a smile at both of them as she backed out of the way so they could enter.

The smell of cooking food nearly overwhelmed Maleena as she stepped into the kitchen. Her stomach clenched. Thick slices of ham sizzled on a flat piece of metal hung above the fire in the hearth. Beside that, a pot of water boiled as Grandme lowered eggs into it. On the cupboard top, loaves of freshly baked bread cooled. Maleena’s mouth watered but she turned to follow Barden back out the door.

He stopped her with a shake of his head. “Oh no, you have helped enough. You are our guest, not a hired hand. Besides, you have a busy day today. You should get ready for it.”

“It won’t take long to bring the other pails in. I don’t mind helping,” she protested.

“I’ll help him. You go sit down and relax,” Mckale said as he came down the stairs.

Maleena turned and smiled at him. “Good morning, bondmate.”

“Good morning, my love.” He brushed a kiss against her cheek as he stepped past her, following his father out the door.

Sonja smiled as she flipped a sizzling slice of ham. “Breakfast will be ready soon.”

Maleena hung her cloak on a peg by the door and glanced around. “Is there something I can do to help?”

“You are our guest,” Grandme repeated Barden’s words.

“I can’t just stand around here and do nothing. Please, give me something to do. Anything.”

“You can set the table if you like.” Sonja waved toward the sideboard and the stack of dishes there.

Maleena let out a relieved breath. “Thank you.” She picked up the stack of plates and carried them to the table, going back for the cups and utensils.

Grandme smiled and nodded in approval. The old woman looked at Sonja. “Mckale has done well to be chosen by Maleena. First she is up at the crack of dawn insisting that she help with the milking and now she refuses to sit by and let us do all of the work even when we tell her she doesn’t have to help.”

Sonja grinned back at her grandmother. “Yes, I think he was chosen by a good woman. At least he avoided getting chosen by that back alley cat, Rona.” She made a face and shuddered.

Grandme scowled. “That woman is as useless as a cart without wheels.”

Sonja giggled. “Well, she has certainly ‘been’ around the city like a race cart.”

“Sonja! A lady doesn’t speak of such ugly behavior.” Grandme aimed a deep scowl at her granddaughter.

Maleena paused in the act of setting a cup next to a plate. “You’re a lady?”

Sonja nodded and shrugged slightly. “Father is a lower lord. Nothing fancy but it makes me a lady nonetheless.”

Grandme huffed, disapproval still on her face. “You hardly speak like one half the time. Soon you will start sounding like a common tavern wench.”

Sonja rolled her eyes. “Yes, Grandme. I will do better,”

“No, you won’t.” The old woman shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder what that young man sees in you. How he can come around here moony-eyed and smitten when your mouth gets away from you, I will never understand. Back when I was a girl, we knew better.”

Sonja heaved a dramatic sigh and rolled her eyes again. “Yes, Grandme.”

Maleena smiled. She sensed the emotions in the room weren’t antagonistic. Mckale’s shield and her dragon bond kept the feelings at bay this morning, but it didn’t block them completely. Nothing could do that except the weave she and Taela had found.

Grandme’s disapproval was real, but behind it was a deep adoring love for her granddaughter. Sonja’s irritation at her grandmother’s scolding was real, but underneath it a deep river of respect and love flowed.

The door opened for a moment as Mckale and his father set pails of milk down. Barden glanced at his mother. “One more trip and we will be in.”

She nodded absently and pulled the last of the eggs out of the water. As the two men left again Maleena asked, “Where’s Kaden?”

“He is a Border Guard,” Sonja said as she set the platter of ham on a cupboard. “He has duties to attend to. Thankfully, he won’t be on patrol during the Spring Dance. I know he is looking forward to seeing his younger brother claimed.”

“He needs to quit worrying about Mckale and start trying to find a woman willing to claim him.” Grandme set the bowl of eggs next to the platter. “He is older than Mckale and its time he stopped avoiding the dance.”

Maleena looked around. “Is there anything else I can do?”

Sonja walked to the table and settled in one of the chairs. “Take a seat.”

Grandme also settled down at the table. Maleena looked at the food still resting on the cupboard top. “Shouldn’t we bring the food?”

Mckale’s sister shook her head. “Last night I served the food because of the chaos caused by Kaden, but it isn’t my place. Here in Calladar, the women prepare and cook the food. The man serves it and cleans up afterward to offer his thanks to his woman for cooking his food and keeping his house.”

Grandme nodded. “We do the laundry, have babies, keep the house clean, raise gardens, preserve food and any number of things that go with being the lady of the house. We make sure the house runs smoothly for the man and in return he takes care of the livestock, keeps the children out of the way while we preserve food, brings in the coin that keeps the wheels of the house turning, and protects us. We offer thanks for their part by cooking the meals and he offers his back by serving them. Even the Head of the Nine serves his wife meals and she goes into the kitchen to help cook his food.”

Maleena was surprised at the complexity of their culture. In Lowden, the men worked and came home and the woman shifted from taking care of the house and children all day to taking care of all of that and him. She liked the way they showed mutual respect for each other with the Calladar tradition.

The door opened, allowing cold air to sweep the room as the two men stepped into the kitchen with Mola on their heels. They shut the door and set the pails of milk in line with the others. After pulling off their light cloaks and hanging them from the pegs, they each lifted a bucket and poured it into a funnel at the top of a metal tube. Curious, Maleena leaned around the table to get a better look at the tube. It disappeared into the floor.

“What are you doing?” Maleena asked as they each picked up another pail and poured the milk into the funnel.

Barden smiled at her, setting his empty pail down and reaching for another full one. “There is a piece of fine mesh cloth in the funnel to filter out any hair or debris in the milk. Then the milk goes down the tube to a holding tank.”

“Why down there?”

Sonja picked up the explanation. “Our well is under there. It’s a good place for it since it keeps birds and such from falling in it and it means we don’t have to trek through snow in the winter for household water. There is another well in the barn. It makes life easier.”

Confused, Maleena looked away from where the men dumped another set of pails. “You’re dumping the milk into the well?”

“Oh, no.” Sonja laughed. “I guess that didn’t quite explain it.”

Mckale chuckled. “There is a holding tank for the milk set down into the water of the well. It stays very cold there. The pipe enters from the side near the top and there is a lid on it that can be removed so the milk can be dipped out. It stays in the holding tank until we ladle it into containers to be carried down to the market in the afternoon so it can be sold. Then in the evening the tank is washed and put back so it’s ready for the next morning’s milk.”

When the last of the twelve pails had been dumped, Mckale picked up the bowl of eggs and the platter of ham while his father carried the bread board and a dish of butter. After they placed the food on the table, Mckale lifted a slice of ham onto each of the women’s plates, followed by a couple of eggs and his father placed buttered slices of bread on their plates.

As they placed the items on each plate they murmured, “Thank you, my lady, for the meal.”

In turn Grandme and Sonja quietly said, “Thank you for serving it.” Maleena thanked them as well out of habit. She didn’t realize it was part of the custom until it continued throughout the serving of every item.

Once Maleena and the other two were served, the men piled food onto their plates and sat down. Maleena took a bit of ham and savored the taste. Her stomach grumbled anxiously. She felt absolutely famished. The eggs had been served three to a bowl and she watched as the others tapped the top of each egg to crack the shell. She followed their example, cracking and removing the top part of the shell. The white inside looked like any other boiled egg but when she got to the yolk she found it warm and runny. Her stomach rolled and lurched.

Mckale looked at her, concern in his silver eyes. “Are you feeling sick again?”

She pushed the eggs away, the turning in her stomach easing when she couldn’t see the yolks anymore. “Not really. I guess the yolks cooked that way don’t appeal much to me.”

Grandme waved her hand in Barden’s direction. “There are two eggs in another bowl over there. I got distracted and overcooked them. I was going to feed them back to the chickens since we don’t normally like them cooked through, but Maleena is welcome to them.”

Barden’s chair scraped across the floor as he jumped up to get the eggs. Maleena took another bite of the ham. She loved bacon, but she didn’t usually like ham that much. This morning though, she couldn’t seem to eat enough of it. Mckale watched her while his father set the new eggs on the table next to her plate. “You don’t usually eat ham. Not that I’m complaining. It’s a relief to see you eat.”

She finished chewing and swallowed. “I know I don’t. It must be seasoned differently or something because this is delicious.”

Across the table, Grandme’s eyes appraised her again with a knowing look and a small smile played across her face. Maleena felt delight rolling off the woman. What was that about? She thought about probing the old woman’s mind but immediately put the thought away. One did not invade the mind of another out of curiosity. Besides, given the current instability of Mckale’s shield it wasn’t a good idea anyway.

Instead she turned to her bondmate. “Who is Rona?”

Mckale set his fork down with a groan and looked across the table at his sister. “Really? You had to bring up Rona?”

Sonja waved away his comment. “Oh please, everyone knows she never had a chance. Although you can bet, she will try now that you are back.”

“I’m already claimed, there is nothing for her to try.”

Sonja just laughed. Maleena held her gaze steady on Mckale. “Are you going to answer my question?”

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, casting a glare at his sister. “She has tried to find a way to claim me since I left Border Guard training.”

Sonja leaned forward. “She would have tried before, but Border Guards in training aren’t allowed to be present during the Spring Dance. It’s felt that they will do better if not distracted by a wife and young family. Once out of training though, they are fair game and Rona has been trying to latch onto Mckale with her claws since the spring after he graduated. Thankfully, Mckale was smart enough to always be on patrol.”

“Is she also a lady?”

Mckale snorted. “She holds the title but she is no lady. I’m surprised she hasn’t already claimed some poor fool.”

Grandme’s eyebrows drew together. “I think she has been holding out, hoping you would return.” Her face smoothed and she smiled at Maleena. “I have to say, I’m glad to see you return with this young lady ready to claim you. It lifts the worry of Rona. If that woman set foot in my kitchen I would be forced to throw her out the back door by the scruff of the neck and set Mola on her.”

Sonja and Mckale burst into laughter. Barden chuckled. “She means it too. Rona’s mother tried to claim me, which might be where Rona gets her obsession with Mckale. Grandme threw her out that very door and told her if she ever tried to lay claim to her son she would personally see her skinned alive and fed to the pigs. Rona’s mother was terrified of your Grandme after that and never tried to claim me.” His voice softened to a sad, wistful tone. “She did approve of your mother though.”