Enter the Witchwood

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The small family of two continued to eat, and Ellith kept an eye on Sam to make sure he wasn't struggling too much. She remained quiet until Beliam finished and reached for more food.

"Get more eggs." She urged, pointing to the green-flecked yellow clouds. "You need those more than rolls."

The boy nodded and spooned more onto his bowl. "Ok, Mama."
 
He found no further difficulty eating until he finished his plate. A rising in his stomach was growing more uncomfortable by the moment. Likely as he feared the food was rich and too much so for his empty stomach.

With his utensil placed upon the lap on his plate he grew a bit rigid. Hoping to placate any mention of his paying face with a forced content smile of a full stomach. "Couldn't eat another bite." Came his voice quietly, giving his stomach a gentle pat of affirmation.
 
Ellith nodded and took his dish and utensil, placing them beside her own as she finished, and then stacked her own with his. "Watch how much you eat. You've only had broth for some time." She picked up their dishes and took them to the kitchen, letting Beliam eat until he was filled before taking his dishes, and then the rest of the food dishes.

"The pigs are going to be nice and fat with this breakfast. Belly, you can work the field and trees today. Use a ladder." She looked toward Sam. "Some sunlight will do you some good. Belly and I will help you to a nice spot in the yard, if you like. Otherwise, there's the window." She indicated the corner that had been past his head during the night-- it was tiled with glass from floor to rafters, each pane four inches square and held together with lead.
 
Her words rang true in his head, a few liquid meals held him together but it didn't do much to quell the quivering in his stomach. Taking much of his willpower and concentration to keep it all down and steady. He'd not end up like one of the senile elders who couldn't hold their own bowels like children. So much of his concentration was taken up that he'd forgotten to reply to her, barely a nod of recognition being shown.

With his head back it took him a moment to realize the remainder of her words were meant for him, leaning it forward with eyes open to nod. Sitting around outside only made him feel that much more like an old fart being helped move around but the desire to see the landscape outside was quick to quell those foolish ideas. "Would love that. M'probably paler than the moon from sitting around inside all these days." His tone was joking, playing down his stomach that was beginning to settle down.
 
Ellith nodded. "Outside it is, then." She nodded as she scraped the leftovers into a bucket, then placed the dirty dishes into the stone sink and dumped water over them. She broke off a piece of soap from a nearby brick of it, then began to scrub. She proved quite efficient, finishing each dish quickly and piling it on a cloth spread over the table before she pulled out the plug on the sink. "Belly, pour some water on my hands for me."

The boy darted over and dumped a bucket over the sink, rinsing his mother's reddened hands.

"Thank you. Now..." She dried her hands on her apron and walked toward Sam. "Are you ready?" She looked toward Belly. "Lay a mattress outside for him. Just use mine."

The boy unrolled his mother's bedding and hurried to do her bidding.
 
After what felt like a short eternity his stomach was settling, held down by taut muscles and sheer willpower. He'd not let a meal get the better of his constitution this day.

"Aye. Believe so.." It took some moving to figure out how he'd manage to be pulled up. Sam knew the woman to be stronger than he assumed but still did his pride some damage to need to rely on her.

An arm was pressed flat to the wall on which he leaned and his fingers gripped firmly. Biceps tensed as he began lifting himself slowly with some apparent effort. If he could manage to get standing the wall would be the only thing he may need to move about.
 
Beliam darted out of the house with his mother's mattress, bare feet slapping the floor.

His mother slipped between Sam and his arm and lifted him with surprising strength. "Don't push yourself. You'll get hurt." She shook her head as she slipped an arm around his waist, and used her other hand to hold his arm in place around her shoulders. "Just put your weight on me." The woman nodded and smiled at him. Already her wild hair was fighting against the tight bun she'd put it into earlier this morning.
 
At first he tried to fight against the sudden shift in balance, something that didn't go over so well once he felt the assured strength she had. "Gotcha gotcha.." Was his hissed reply, failing to realize how much pain would be caused by the movement. At least he was now leaning upon the woman.

To him she smelled like the outdoors. Hard labor and a few hints of a barn, hay, manure, all strong and earthy as he moved alongside her towards the door. Barely able to move but getting along.

"Has it always been so far to the door?" He remarked through grit teeth.
 
"It'll get shorter as you get better." The woman laughed.

Once they were outside, he could finally see beyond the walls of her little house.

Ellith lived in a clearing, and the forest around was filled with oaks and birches. Fruit trees lined the edge of the long grass, in more types than he knew. The smell of farm was near, and he could see animals in a pen to the right of the hardened dirt path, and to the left, if he craned to past Ellith's head, he could see a well and a field around the side of the house. Ellith led him into the tall grass and laid him gently, carefully on the mattress. "Just shout if you need something." She nodded cheerfully.

Beliam grinned from Sam's feet. "Yeah, we won't be super far. If you shout, I can run faster'n anyone!"

Ellith laughed and shook her head. "Little beast. Get to work." She swatted at him as he darted off, laughing.
 
He winced as though the sun had blinded him, it was far brighter than inside so it took him a few moments to adjust. Walking with a determined gait he kept his eyes around, relying on her to guide him while he filled his curiosity. It felt wonderful to walk with his bare feet again, more than being stuck in a pair of boots to be sure.

Sam hoped to respond with some kind about how comfortable her home was and how grateful he really was for her aid. His silence was apparent as he looked around awestruck by the landscape, there was simply no way he'd been carried that far. Even the air was missing its usual bite that could last until high noon.

"Oh, yes of course." Came his response after he'd managed to sit and look between the pair. Still he was at a loss for words, barely managing a smile to their words.
 
Ellith smiled at him, then left him to go do some of her own chores. Belly tended the fields, while Ellith harvested from the trees. The day was warm, and the breeze was balmy as it brushed against Sam's face.

Eventually, Belly grew bored with filling a basket with crops, and wandered behind the house. The sound of a large splash came shortly after.

Ellith turned to look, then shook her head. "That boy..." She laughed and placed another bunch of cherries into her basket. Her eyes turned toward her guest. "Everything alright down there?" She called to him. "Not too warm, I hope?"
 
He returned her smile as she left, trying his best to appear comfortable. It took some time to readjust to find that comfort once they had left. His view was mostly open save for some grass that was in dire need of cutting, his thoughts turned to mentioning a goat or letting the cow roam the area.

While the first few minutes were indeed pleasant to his body, the feeling of the warm sun on his skin and the caress of the wind across his shoulders, it still drove him wild inside knowing he couldn't move of his own accord. Desperately he wanted to stand up, instantly feeling pity for the elders who needed crutches or canes. Sam would likely never take the simple act of walking for granted.

That splash drew his attention. A pond? A lake? He'd heard no running water so it narrowed it down.

"The weather is lovely.." It was hard not to sound sarcastic even though her question was sincere. Something was still off with the area. The wind wasn't nearly as cool as it should have been this time of year. The trees though, those were what drew him so far from this peaceful illusion. Home had tall pines, soil littered with needles and pine-cones as far as the eye could see. In this place they were simply different.
 
"It is." She agreed, shaking her head helplessly. "Belly could at least finish his chores before going swimming, though." Ellith laughed and cut some more cherries from the tree with her small knife before she dropped them into the basket on her back. "He's such a troublesome boy some days." Even with her complaints, her son brought a smile to her face. She could hardly be mad at him for long, not without feeling like a horrible mother. He was sweet, cute, and thoughtful-- and probably gathering berries for her. She'd have to remind him not to pick those underwater berries while a guest was present, though.

She sliced another bunch of cherries from the tree. "He forgets that I won't be around forever, some days."
 
"He wouldn't be a young man if he wasn't sweet and salty all in one bite." He quipped back with a slight grin to mask some jealousy. Without any children of to call his the family lineage was at a dead end, he had a brother who had a few kids, but he was just a distant uncle to them either way. "Let him be a boy and enjoy ignorance for a while longer.. Worlds a cold place."

The steady sound of a knife through thin branches had his ears occupied from wondering where the distant splashes he'd expect from a swimming youth. "But. I'm just a bitter man. Probably not the best one to get advice from." His tone spoke volumes more than his self-demeaning words to go with his dry chuckle.
 
Ellith looked down at him. "He's welcome to be a child, but he does need to do what little I ask of him. Tending the field tends to take only an hour, maybe two, and it hurts my back to squat for that long." She smiled warmly at him. "I might be young, but the delivery had some lasting effects." Her words were calm, as though she was well-adjusted to simply dealing with her daily pain. "If he gets his chores done quickly, he has the whole afternoon to play unless I need something."

She sliced another bunch of cherries from the tree, then began to descend the ladder and gently dumped her harvest into another basket. She pulled the first back on, and moved the ladder to another tree, this one home to yellow, oval-shaped fruits.
 
The next tree reminded him of the rare tropical treats salesman would bring in on their carts, a twig of a branch in a pot of soil with a single oddly colored morsel on its end. Usually for some exorbant price.

"Of course.. Being just the two of you can't be easy.." It felt like déjà vu, thinking on that. "May I be bold and ask what of the boy's father? You needn't answer if I'm prying. All this sitting doesn't afford me much to do but think." Sam spoke calmly before giving a grunt of pain as he gave adjustment to a different position a try, his leg was beginning to fall asleep.
 
The woman glanced over at him, and then continued to cut down the yellow fruits. "Beliam's father..." She frowned thoughtfully. "He's married now, to someone else. Beliam is his bastard from a childhood romance." The woman dropped a lemon into her basket. "He visited once. He didn't know Beliam was his. Beliam didn't know it was his father, either. He went home after a time, though he had said he would happily stay with us as my husband." She shrugged, trying to banish the memories. "Beliam still doesn't know."

From behind the house, Beliam continued to swim, each motion well-practiced as he dove repeatedly down, then dropped something into a square of cloth when he re-emerged.
 
Bastard children were nothing new or unique in this day and age. It happened rarely even in his hometown. Some man sleeps around the finds his mistress nursing a child the next time they swing by for a quick night of lust. The drama was always something people liked to hear about, Sam included, it broke up the drudgery. "I see.." The idea to let it go was strong, he was unsure of pressing the matter to fill his hungry curiosity.

"Maybe it best he didn't. I cannot vouch for the man but you seem a parent finer than most that I know. Better he have one grand person to look up to than none." He smiled as he spoke, leaning forward a bit to test how much bending he could stand before having to relent with a soft huff.
 
His words brightened her expression. "I try my best for him. He's a good boy, and he deserves more than I can give him." She nodded as she dropped another lemon into her basket, then climbed down and gently placed the lemons into the basket to take inside, carefully scooping the cherries out of the way first so they weren't squished. The next tree had round, heavy peaches, and she pulled them down and put them carefully into her basket, each in turn.

"Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? All I know of you is that you were a horrible mess, and wore armor when I found you." Her smile was warm.
 
Sam nodded as she spoke, watching her with his head turned as each new fruit was picked. It hadn't occurred to him she only picked what was needed, prolonging the time before anything rotted. Simple and so basic.

"Ah." A look of surprise crossed his face. "How rude of me to be so nosey and give nothing in return.." The tone was brief but still sincere, a hint of shame that he was acting no better than the gabbing washing wives.

"A mess was putting it lightly. Still not sure how I managed to wake back up.. The bear did a number on me." Even mentioning the ursine assailant made his heart beat a bit faster and his wounds to ache. "I'm just a guard -- The guard of a small town off the north eastern coast. It was my duty to keep the peace and protect. Occasionally we'd get a highwayman or a drifter causing a ruckus, but nothing worse." A slight readjustment followed him talking. The story seemed cut short, omitting the reason he was even so far from home.
 
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