Landsbyen -Into the North- An Epic Poem 66

She was happy to deliver the news if only to get a glimpse of Lumi. They had met some years back, before he had been exiled to the northern desert. She thought she would never see him again and was excited when she heard he was back in the Village. They were friends but more and she knew Lumi felt the same. With all of the crazy days that followed his return they had little time together until she volunteered to help Gwaldon cast protection spells around the cottage. Each evening they would sit and talk for hours when they had finished. She had no reason to return to her little hovel where she lived alone, her parents having been killed during one of Rian's insurrections many years before. When Ceridfen heard what happened she offered to take her in, but she chose to live with a Great Grandmother until, she passed away. Then staying in that small house afterward. Lumi was always there for her as they grew older, and when he returned from his exile he had such grand tales to tell her about the mysterious half elf who had saved him. He explained to her about Sprinteren and how Joulupukki was kind but intense and unbelievably strong in his magic. He also told her to never call him King. 'He hates to be called King, always call him Joulupukki,' but he never explained why. “It has been a pleasure meeting you, King Joulupukki.” Her eyes grew wide as she slapped her hand over her mouth, “I am very sorry, ah, ah...” “Joulupukki, my friends call me Joulupukki, everyone else calls me King Klaus. I would like to consider you a friend.” “I would be honored,” she replied. “Your friendship honors me, as well. We are all equal in my eyes. I need no honorific from you or anyone, Chroí. Just be my friend.” She smiled at the big man. How kind he seemed after she had just called him Goat King. “Chroí, what an interesting name. I once told Lumi I would explain mine to him someday. “Perhaps, sometime in the not to distant future you and I can sit down and discuss our names.” He leaned close to her ear and whispered, “I might even invite Lumi, I love him to death but he can be quite dense at times, if you know what I mean.” She blushed and looked at Lumi. She never tried to hide her feelings for him. “I would enjoy that,” she said to the king. Then addressing Lumi, “Will you be coming to the ceremony later, Lumi?” He looked at her for a moment, then glanced around quickly as everyone turned away, smiles on each of their faces. Then bowing his head again, he said, “Yes, we will all be there, I imagine.” Gwaldon thanked her and after she left they let the matter of the two of them drop. They all stood and made their way through the open stable doors, out past the garden to an open area of dried grass. There were ten elves that created a circle as Gwaldon joined them. “May I be of service to you, Gwaldon,” the King asked? “Thank you, but I think it best to leave it to the elves that have been practicing for this.” Joulupukki understood and was not at all offended. He took several steps back to join Dyndoeth and Ceridfen, all the while watching Lumi as he inched his way around the circle until he finally stood beside Chroí. “I'm certain that you have all witnessed the movement of the Sun and Moon as they cross the sky above us.” Gwaldon spoke loud and clear for everyone to hear. “You have, also likely, watched as the seasons change and the tiny lights change their position in the sky. The beacon that we will attempt to create will be placed on one of those tiny lights, but it will outshine the moon when we are finished. In fact you should even be able to see it after the sun rises above the horizon.” “Wow,” Joulupukki exclaimed to himself. “If you watch the sky long enough you will see there are other lights that move at different speeds than the ones around them. After much debate we have decided that they are not among the stjarna that cover most of the sky. We are not certain of what they are, but some of our scholars have speculated that they could be other worlds like our own. What we do know is that there are objects in the sky that appear from no where and disappear just as quickly. If you turn to look in that direction,” Gwaldon gestured with his hand then raised it like the gnomon on a sundial, “following your arm to the tip of your fingers you will see a light that is much brighter than the ones around it. That is one of those strange objects and is much closer to us. With the help of our friend, the Garden Elf, and a little luck, we will place our beacon there.” “So, are there many of these objects in the sky?” Joulupukki asked sincerely interested. “Yes, there are.” Gwaldon responded with a bit of a scowl on his face. “We can discuss that at another time.”