OH SENTICLES, WILL I EVER SEE YOU AGAIN?
by Norsebard
Contact norsebarddk@gmail.com
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DISCLAIMERS:
The characters of Gabrielle, Lila, Hecuba and Herodotus from the TV show 'Xena Warrior Princess' belong to Studio USA/Renaissance Pictures/Universal or whoever actually owns them now. No infringement on anyone's rights is intended. All other characters are created by myself, and belong to me.
NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR:
Written: December 7th - 8th, 2023 for the 2023 Royal Academy Of Bards' X&G Winter Solstice Challenge.
Thank you very much for your help, Phineas Redux!
As usual, I'd like to say a great, big THANK YOU to my mates at AUSXIP Talking Xena, especially to the gals and guys in Subtext Central. I really appreciate your support - Thanks, everybody! :D
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OH SENTICLES, WILL I EVER SEE YOU AGAIN?
Eleven winters ago.
Back in the day, the village of Potaideia was hardly worth the ink used to mark it on the map. Years prior to the accidental discovery of a rich iron ore mine not a quarter of a league from its central square, Potaideia consisted of thirty hovels and a handful of small-scale businesses such as a blacksmith, a healer, a baker, a pottery shop and a stables that also rented out horses and other beasts of burden.
It was still an open village as the protective wall would only be erected after the mine had come into operation, but few ruffians or marauders could be bothered to swing by as everyone knew there was nothing to loot. Despite the low number of permanent residents, a village militia had been formed that had fought off the parties of several slave traders who had seen Potaideia as easy pickings - thus, it was a moderately safe village for the local population, including the youngest.
Two of those took full advantage of that fact by racing through the central square playing tag. The first of the two was a red-blonde whirlwind whose long hair and heavy robe stood out behind her as she pulled wild maneuvers to evade her pursuer.
When she reached the community well in the center of the square, she dove down behind it in a hurry. A moment later, she peeked over the edge of the stones to see where her playmate had gone to. Her hazel-green eyes observed the square without seeing the one who should have been there by now. A puzzled "Hmmm?" escaped her as she slipped back down, moved around and sat with her back against the stone well.
One of Potaideia's regular peddlers - a bowed crone who had reached the staggering age of fifty-five - came by a moment later pushing a cart that offered various edibles and little trinkets that she sold for half a dinar. Her bonnet, the shawl that warmed her shoulders and the peasant's coat that covered the rest of her were all dark-gray. "Hullo, Gabrielle," she said to the small child hiding behind the well.
"Greetings, Lady Leandria," Gabrielle said in a fair voice. Hurrying to her feet to show the proper respect to the elderly, her young face lit up in a polite smile as she dipped down into a curtsey.
Even at seven years of age, Gabrielle was no larger than her kid sister Lila who was two years younger. In fact, the two sisters couldn't be more different if they tried: Gabrielle was a red-blond, Lila a brunette. Gabrielle had only one or two freckles while Lila had a faceful of them. Gabrielle only shared one or two facial features with her mother Hecuba and none with her father Herodotus, but Lila was a perfect blend of both of their parents. Gabrielle was a dreamer and constantly sought adventures while Lila was down-to-earth and content with maintaining status quo in their family unit.
"Ohhh!" Leandria said and let out a laugh. "You don't have to curtsey to me, child. Tell me, have you lost your sister somewhere?"
"I have, Lady Leandria. We were playing tag, but now I don't know where Lila is."
"Well, I haven't seen her. Oh, I need to keep going or my old joints will freeze up and then I can't move anywhere," Leandria said and picked up her pushcart once more.
Gabrielle curtseyed again just to be on the safe side. "Hot tea always helps, Lady Leandria!"
"Why, truer words were rarely spoken, Gabrielle," Leandria said with a smile. "I'll see you later."
Gabrielle waved at the elderly woman before she went back to the game. Hiding behind the well, she kept a sharp lookout for Lila. Several minutes went by. Then a few more. "She wasn't that far behind me… where could she be?" she mumbled as she got up to get a better look.
A mask of confusion fell over her fair face when she heard somebody snoring nearby - the snores had a strong resemblance to those Lila would produce at night in their shared bedroom. The mask of confusion was replaced by one of annoyance as she ran around the stone well to find the snoring culprit.
Arriving at the exact opposite of where she had been hiding, she came to a screeching halt and let out a laugh at the sight of a soundly snoozing Lila resting against the stones. "Oh, Lila… that's not how you play tag!"
ZZzzzz… "Huh?"
"Never mind," Gabrielle said and sat down next to her sister instead of continuing the game. "I wish the eve would just hurry up and get here! Oh, I just love the Winter Solstice… don't you?"
"Yes-"
"Mother has been working on the goose all morning! Oh, it's the biggest goose I've ever seen. At least since the one last year. Don't you think it's the biggest goose you've ever seen?"
"Yeah-"
"And Father will look so handsome in his finest set of clothes. The one with the polished buttons! Don't tell Father, but I know Mother has sewn a new hat for him this year."
"Yes, I saw-"
"I have three favorite moments… no, that's not true… I have many, many favorite moments here on Winter Solstice Eve, but do you know my favorite favorites? The first is at sundown when the torches are lit and we all go to the temples to worship and pay tributes to Hera and Zeus. That is so good. What's your favorite moments of Winter Solstice Eve?"
"It's when Sent-"
"Of course, the Solstice supper is wonderful too."
"Yes, but Senti-"
Not paying any attention to Lila's answers whatsoever, Gabrielle reached over to hook an arm inside her sister's. "But my number one favorite moment of Winter Solstice Eve is when Senticles leaves a gift for us on our pillows. Oh, it's just magical! Don't you think so?"
Lila let out a long sigh and a short "Yes."
Gabrielle furrowed her brow as she looked at her sister to find a reason for the curt answer. Finding nothing unusual, she was soon off again at full speed: "When Apollo rides the sun chariot to the highest point, we're going to help Mother with the soup! Yes, it's just so much fun to stir that giant pot while Mother puts all those yummy things in it."
"I like the goose better-"
"Actually, I think we need to get back home. It can't be long now," Gabrielle said, studying the sky high above the village square. Although it was mostly overcast, Apollo's glowing chariot peeked through the cloud cover at regular intervals.
Realizing that Lila hadn't brought much to the conversation - and in fact bore quite a sour expression - Gabrielle leaned in toward her sister. "You haven't said much today. Are you that excited? I know I am… oh, I wish the eve would just hurry up and get here."
"You said that already, Gabrielle," Lila said in a monotone. "You've said quite a lot already!"
The sisters shot each other a look that proved they weren't using the same scroll when it came to their conversation - and perhaps in general, too.
Lila broke the look first by getting to her feet. "I think there's still time to play a little. Tag! You're it!" After touching Gabrielle's shoulder, Lila took off in a fast run to stay ahead in the game.
"But not for long!" Gabrielle shouted as she set off after her sister.
-*-*-*-
A quarter of a candlemark later, the inevitable happened. The game of tag had been going well, but all good things had to come to an end. In some cases, that end involved tripping on the lower hem of a robe and falling into a neatly stacked pile of fresh loaves of bread. Gabrielle did all that, and more - ultimately, she ended up with a faceful of dirt amid a barrage of buns, loaves and even a few pre-cut slices of bread.
Groaning out loud, she pushed herself off the ground and leaned back on her thighs. The robe's hood had come down to cover her eyes so she pushed it back. Then she wished she hadn't. The wooden rack where the fresh bread cooled off at the rear of the community bakery had been emptied in one, fell swoop.
Sixteen loaves of bread and just as many buns, all meant to go onto the tables of various families on Winter Solstice Eve, had been distributed all over the open section behind the bakery. A look of dread exploded onto Gabrielle's face as she took in the extent of the disaster. She picked up one of the loaves to try to dust it off, but the dirt was stubborn and not easily removed.
Not five heartbeats later, the master baker stormed out of the bakery's rear door to see what had caused the crash. The air crackled with tension as the heavy-set man - dressed in a coat and an apron that had both been permanently stained from grinding grain into flour for years - slammed his hands onto his wide hips to glare at the mess and the party responsible for it. He went back inside a few moments later without having said a word.
Gabrielle could have run away if she wanted to, but the guilt that weighed on her shoulders was reason enough for her to stay. Lila was long gone so she didn't even have anyone to commiserate with, or who could help her gather up the errant buns and loaves of bread.
---
She had only had time to wipe off three loaves and put them back on the rack before a large shadow fell over her. Knowing what was about to happen, she bowed her head to study the tips of her shoes that poked out past the actual antagonist of the unfortunate event - the lower hem of the robe.
"Gabrielle," her father Herodotus said in a dark, dangerous tone of voice that made her squirm. It wasn't too unusual that he yelled at her for something she had done, but those moments were like thundery showers - hard, but almost always brief. When he used the dangerous tone, his ire would last longer and the punishment would be more severe.
Herodotus continued in the same voice: "How often have I told you to take care when you play? Too often. You obviously didn't listen. You need to be taught a lesson once and for all. I hope it'll make you understand. I'm confining you to your bedroom for a full turn of the day-glass."
"But… Father, the temples… it's Solst-"
"You should have thought of that sooner, child. Come. We're going home."
To underscore his words, Herodotus grabbed hold of Gabrielle's shoulders and led her out of the alley and back onto the central square.
Gabrielle's labored walk and the mortified look upon her face proved she had just been dunked in an enormous vat of icy water. There was no point in dragging her feet too much as her father kept a firm grip on the robe, so she upped her pace to match his longer steps.
---
Half a candlemark later, Gabrielle lay face-down on her bed in the tiny bedroom she shared with Lila. Her rear end hadn't been given quite the flogging she had feared, but she had certainly felt her father's harsh hand.
The regular activities continued elsewhere in their hovel. Among other familiar sounds, she could hear her mother and Lila empty buckets of water into the large pot to prepare it for the Solstice soup. The fact she wouldn't even be allowed to help making supper made a single tear run down her cheek and onto the lumpy, straw-filled pillow.
It didn't even appear she would be allowed to join her family for the traditional Winter Solstice offerings and worshipping at the temples of Hera and Zeus, but her mother didn't fully agree with that particular punishment so there was a chance it could be softened - of course, that could mean that something else would be made tougher.
"I deserve it. I was a bad, little girl," she said in a voice muffled by the pillow. "If only I hadn't run so fast, I wouldn't have tripped on my robe… and then everything would have been perfect. Senticles won't bring me any gifts this year… oh… will I ever see him again?"
The thin walls between the hovel's three rooms were unable to block any sounds from the central kitchen, so she had to listen to her mother and Lila as they chopped the vegetables and pieces of meat that were going into the large pot. Lila began to sing a little ditty to ease the work, but their father soon shushed her.
While all that was going on, Gabrielle tried sitting up. Her backside was a little sore, but it wasn't too bad all things considered. The window across the tiny bedroom fell into her field of view. She observed it for a few moments before she let out a "Hmmm?" and got up from the bed.
"Maybe…" she said in a whisper so her voice wouldn't carry beyond the thin walls. "Maybe I need to make up for knocking over all the fresh bread… maybe… maybe I need to do two… no, three good deeds… and then Senticles will come after all? Yes… like Hercules' labors! Only they'll be Gabrielle's labors!"
Spinning around, she clenched her fists while she stared at the door to the main room. She could hear her father admonishing Lila for dropping a piece of vegetable on the floor instead of into the soup. If he had time to do that, it would mean his attention wouldn't be on the door to the childrens' bedroom.
She nodded to herself as she hurried back to the bed to put on her shoes and sweep the robe around her shoulders. She was back at the window a moment later where she paused again to listen to what went on beyond the door.
Everything seemed calm - or as calm as making soup could ever be - so she manipulated the window's latch as quietly as she could. The moment the gap was wide enough for her small body, she jumped through and out into the alley adjacent to their hovel. The window was soon closed with as much care as she could muster.
She left the robe's hood down to begin with but soon pulled it up to cover her shock of reddish hair so she would remain incognito for as long as possible. Her mission was simple: find three people who needed her help, do her best in providing it, and then return to the bedroom before her father would discover she had left.
"May the Gods above look after me," she said to herself as she ran over to the corner of the next hovel to peek past it. The sky had grown darker since she and Lila had played in the square, but that would help her stay out of sight. She waited at the corner for a heartbeat or two before she took off to carry out her noble plan.
-*-*-*-
The site of the first of Gabrielle's three good deeds came almost at once when she came across Leandria, the elderly crone with the pushcart, at the far side of the square. The cart's left wheel had fallen into a deep, unsighted pothole which had given it such a jolt that nearly all the items she'd had on it had fallen off - worse, it was obvious she couldn't lift the cart back out of the hole.
Remembering to lift the lower hem of the robe so she wouldn't trip over it again, Gabrielle set off in a fast walk to get to the troubled woman. "Oh, Lady Leandria… that doesn't look too good. Let me help you," she said as she closed the distance in a hurry.
"Who goes there?!" Leandria said, taking a quick step back from the dark figure running toward her. "Oh, it's you, Gabrielle! Why, I didn't recognize you at all when you have your hood folded up like that…"
"It's me, Lady Leandria," Gabrielle said and lowered the hood at once. "I apologize for scaring you… I didn't mean to…"
"Oh, you didn't scare me, child. It was merely mild concern," Leandria said, adding a friendly wink to release some of the tension. "By the Gods, I fear I've found the deepest hole in all of Potaideia to run into."
Gabrielle tended to agree as she looked down at the hole - it was so deep that it simply had to be some kind of access point into Hades' Underworld. The cart had dropped down so far that the underside of its wooden frame rested on the edge of the pothole.
"This old cart isn't the strongest any longer," Leandria continued. "I worry that it'll break if we use too much force to get it back out. And if I don't have my cart, I can't make any dinars to pay for food…"
A "Hmmm…" escaped Gabrielle as she crouched down at the front of the cart to get a better view of the problem. She put her hands underneath the main frame, but all she succeeded in doing was to make it let out a hair-raising Creeeeeak!
"Oooh! Careful, child!" Leandria said, wringing her hands.
Stepping back, Gabrielle rubbed her chin repeatedly while she studied the problem. The easiest would of course have been to ask a strong man or woman for help, but the square had emptied out as Winter Solstice Eve grew darker.
She uttered another "Hmmm…" that turned into an "Oh!" when she spotted a pair of flat, planed planks leaning against the side of the nearby carpenter's shop. "Oh, I think I… I may have… wait here, Lady Leandria!" she said before she hurried over to the shop to borrow the planks.
"I will!" Leandria said with a laugh. "I couldn't even run that fast when I was your age!"
Gabrielle returned before long with the planks that were so long they reached at least a foot above her head. "Lady Leandria, look here! If we… oh… yes, if we put this one here and this one here…"
After the planks had been put on the ground, she tipped them over the edge so their ends reached into the pothole. "They'll go under the wheels and we may be able to pull the cart up by the handles!"
Leandria furrowed her brow as she looked down at the odd planks. After a moment or two, she broke out in a shrug. "Well, it's worth a try. Are they in place?"
Several grunts and groans escaped Gabrielle as she pushed, shoved and thumped the planks under the wheels. She gave both a small yank to see if they would hold, and it seemed they would. "Now they are. May we blessed by the great… oh… who's the God or Goddess of carpentry, Lady Leandria?"
Leandria paused long enough to reach up under her bonnet and scratch her hair. "You know, I'm not sure. Oh, let's just wish to be blessed by Hera, the Goddess of the Family. I'll take the left handle. Are you ready over there?"
"Yes I am, Lady Leandria," Gabrielle said, gripping the handle on the right-hand side.
"On three… one, two, three! Heeeeeeeave-ho!"
Although Gabrielle really put her back into it, the rescue mission seemed a lost cause for the longest time - then the cart's weight worked for it rather than against it by making the planks tip up when it went beyond a certain point. "Oh! Here it comes! We can't stop pulling now!" she said through clenched teeth.
The planks did exactly what Gabrielle had expected them to, so all she and Leandria had to do was to pull the cart the rest of the way back from the edge of the deep hole.
"Hera, we thank you!" Leandria said when her cart was back on firm ground once more.
Gabrielle wanted to thank the Gods as well, but she needed to let out a long hiss first - she had gripped the handles so hard her palms had become red and aching.
Once she had put the borrowed planks back against the wall of the carpenter's shop, she tried to press her palms against the coarse robe to ease the burning sensation, but it only seemed to make it worse.
"Wait, I have an ointment for that, child," Leandria said and rummaged through the items on top of the cart that had been thrown around for a second time. "Oh, where did it go… ah, I found it! Come, show me your palms."
Leandria soon opened the lid of a stone jar. Digging into it, she scooped up two small globs of a strangely colored paste that carried a scent of wildflowers. The ointment worked at once and cooled Gabrielle's palms down to the point where she could no longer feel the aches.
"Oh! Thank you, Lady Leandria… that really worked! And it has such a wonderful smell, too…"
"Why, it certainly should help you, child. I've made it for many a year now," Leandria said with a smile. "I thank you, Gabrielle. You helped me greatly tonight. I'm afraid I need to move on… I have to be out at the temples before everyone else gets there so I can set up my little store. I definitely wish you a merry Winter Solstice Eve."
"And you, Lady Leandria. Goodbye and goodnight!" Gabrielle said before she dipped down in a deep curtsey.
---
Gabrielle didn't run into anyone else who required her help though she spent a while criss-crossing the central square. Looking for anything she could help with to appease the watchful eye of Senticles, she eventually wandered into the alley that ran behind Potaideia's largest tavern.
The Crafty Cockerel was strictly off-limits for proper ladies of all ages, even in the daytime, and a visit close to nightfall would be risky at best and downright dangerous at worst. The alley behind the seedy establishment smelled even worse than its already low reputation suggested, but a man letting out plenty of juicy oaths drew Gabrielle over to the corner to see what was going on.
A large fellow dressed in a white outfit and a brown apron stood atop a loading ramp shaking his fist at a braying donkey. His swagbelly and multiple chins made him anything but svelte, but at least his handlebar mustache was considered stylish in certain circles.
The large man was trying to get a stubborn donkey to stand still long enough for him to shift a load of barrels from the ramp and onto the two-axled, open wagon, but it was an exercise in futility as the animal just went where it wanted to.
Though Gabrielle's knees knocked at the mere thought of entering such a lion's den voluntarily, she moved into the open and approached the fidgeting donkey and the cursing man. "G- good eve, sir. Looks like you c- could use my help…"
"Huh? Oh… yeah," the man said in a deep, rumbling voice. He scratched his considerable belly a couple of times as he took in the sight of the very small person in the dark-brown robe - he eventually shrugged and picked up the next barrel. "Just get the stupid beast to stand still while I load 'em onto the Gods-be-damned cart!"
"Y- yes, sir," Gabrielle said as she moved over to the donkey. She grabbed hold of its harness in an attempt to keep it still. It wasn't easy as the beast of burden was ten times larger than her, but she did her best to cling onto the leather reins and thus keep it steady.
Up on the loading ramp, the large fellow upped his tempo now the donkey had stopped shuffling back and forth, and the remaining seven barrels were soon transfered onto the cart. Once he had finished his task, he used his sleeve to wipe his damp brow. "Thanks-"
"Oh, you're very welc-"
"Now scram, kid!" the man said before he spun around, went inside and slammed the rear door shut behind him.
"I'm… I'm- oh, what a brute," Gabrielle mumbled as she let go of the harness and slinked away from the smelly back alley - at least she had done a good deed, even if the recipient had been somewhat less than grateful for her efforts.
---
She only needed to help one more person to have completed her self-announced atonement for knocking over the baker's bread and buns, but the final hurdle proved to be the most difficult yet as hardly anyone was around. She had returned home when darkness had finally gained the upper hand over the last rays of Apollo's sun, but while she felt safer standing next to their hovel, it was a given she wouldn't run into anyone there who might need her help.
The thought had barely crossed her mind when a tiny puppy ran into the alley and began circling her legs in a playful fashion. "Oh! Oh, hello, little thing… where did you come from?" she said as she crouched down to get a better view of the small dog.
Out on the central square, a man named Garius - who had recently retired from the village militia due to his advanced age and aching bones - hobbled around the stone well to ignite the four torches that had been put up there, as well as a few others that stood elsewhere. Soon, golden cones of light flickered onto the ground near the base of the torches.
The look and smell of the torches being lit sent a chill down Gabrielle's spine. It marked the time on Winter Solstice Eve where everyone would gather to go to the temples to honor and worship the Gods and Goddesses who kept an eye on Potaideia.
If her mother had managed to soften Herodotus's ire, it would mean they would soon pay Gabrielle a visit in the bedroom to inform her that she could come along after all - all well and good, but if they found the bed empty, the original punishment of being confined to the bedroom for a day would seem like a holiday in the Elysian Fields compared to what would follow.
Gulping, she got back on her feet to peek in through the window. Everything seemed quiet. She had left the latch in a position where she could reach in under the window frame and manipulate it, and she did just that.
The tiny dog wasn't about to give up its new playmate that easily, however, and began to let out a long series of happy yaps that echoed through the narrow alley.
"Ohhhhhh! Ohhh, hush! Hush! Hush, little thing! Ohhhh, this is not good… this is not good!" Gabrielle said in a voice that soon turned into a squeak. She peeked in through the window once more and saw legs moving underneath the doorframe to the central room.
Most of their neighbors began to leave their hovels to gather on the central square. Gabrielle pressed herself deeper into the shadows to wait for as long as she dared, but she was finally forced to slide the latch open and climb up onto the windowsill. Jumping in, she spun around and peeked down at the tiny dog that continued to yap merrily.
Then two things happened at once: The first was that the retired militiaman entered the alley and let out an overjoyed 'There you are! I've been looking all over for you!' at the puppy. The second was that someone touched the door handle to the bedroom.
Yelping louder than the tiny dog, Gabrielle whipped off her robe, kicked off her shoes, swept the winter duvet aside and dove almost head-first into her bed.
A moment later, the person entering was revealed to be Lila - it caused Gabrielle to let out a croaking sound that was a cross between an annoyed grunt and a sigh of relief. "Oh, Lila… I thought it was Mother. Or Father, for that matter."
"No, it's me… Father is still really angry, Gabby. I don't think he wants you to come along to the temples this year…"
A deep furrow developed on Gabrielle's forehead. A long pause developed before she let out an "Oh…" and pulled the duvet further up to cover her chin.
Lila sniffed the air a couple of times before she began looking around as if she was trying to work something out. "What's that funny smell in here, Gabby?"
Gabrielle's eyes briefly grew wide before she caught herself. The only thing she could think of that could produce any kind of 'funny smell' was the ointment that Lady Leandria had offered her for her red palms - but if she let Lila in on that, she would give herself away. "Funny smell? I don't smell anything funny at all. Isn't it the soup you and Mother made?"
"No, it can't be. It's like…" - Sniff, sniff - "wildflowers?"
Gabrielle moved her hands out of sight as quietly and inconspicuously as she could. "Well, now you mention it… I had the window open before. Maybe it was something outside?"
"In the alley?"
"How should I know, Lila!"
Lila scratched her neck before she broke out in a shrug. "Mother said she would bring you a bowl of soup and some of the goose meat once we get back from the ceremonies. All right?"
Gabrielle shook her head - it made her reddish hair swish back and forth across the lumpy pillow. "No, it's not all right, Lila… it's unfair!"
Sitting up, she clutched the duvet to her chest. "I didn't knock over those buns and loaves on purpose. It was an accident! We were just playing and I tripped over the robe… and… and… and… now Senticles won't come this year because he thinks I'm a bad girl." She let out a deep, long, dramatic sigh and fell back onto the lumpy pillow. The duvet was immediately pulled up to cover her face.
The deep, long, dramatic sigh was echoed by Lila before she left the bedroom.
When the door had been closed, Gabrielle moved down the duvet to sniff the palms of her hands. "Wildflowers… typical," she said in a low mumble so her voice wouldn't carry through the wall. "How can something meant to help come back to haunt me like this? If that's not my life in a nutshell, I don't know what is…"
---
A quarter of a candlemark later, Gabrielle stood by the open bedroom window looking toward the central square. She didn't even need to lean out to see her family join the others from the village for the traditional Winter Solstice ceremony. Everyone greeted each other in muted, somber tones before they left the square for the two temples built on higher ground just outside Potaideia.
Salty tears ran down her cheeks at the unfairness of it all. Sniffling, she needed to use her sleeve to dry her eyes as she shuffled away from the window. Her chin quivered as she rearranged her long dress and sat down on the bed. A moment later, she swung her legs up, made herself comfortable and pulled the duvet up to cover her face so she could have a good, little cry in private.
---
When everyone had returned a candlemark and a half later, the familiar sounds of eating supper soon filtered through the thin walls. Gabrielle could hear Lila ask for a second helping of the soup. A moment later, their father said 'No!' as the soup was meant to last the entire Solstice period. Lila began to whine which made their father let out a booming 'Silence, child!' that in turn made Gabrielle cringe just from hearing his tone of voice.
A brief while later, the bedroom door was opened to reveal Hecuba who carried a small bowl of soup, a spoon and a plate with a narrow slice of the goose that had been cooked in one of the baker's stone ovens.
"Gabrielle," Hecuba said as she put the items on her daughter's bedside table, "I hope you've learned a lesson tonight. I know how much you wanted to come with us to the temples, but we can't always get what we want. You'll understand when you're married and have children of your own. I'll speak to your father in the morrow, but don't expect him to lessen your confinement. He made it quite clear he wanted to set an example so you and Lila knew how to behave in public."
A squeaked "Yes, Mother…" came from the small figure on the bed.
"Here, eat this and you'll feel better. I hope Morpheus will grant you a good night's sleep."
"Thank you, Mother… and good night."
Alone once more, Gabrielle swung her legs out of the bed to take the bowl of soup. Although it was still warm and smelled deliciously, her stomach performed an ungraceful loop-di-loop at the thought of having missed the ceremony - not to mention the fact that Senticles would give her such a wide berth that she might as well give up hope of ever getting another present.
She put down the bowl at first but soon realized she hadn't eaten since noon. There was no reason to let good food go to waste, so she picked up the spoon and went to work devouring the soup and the chunky vegetables in it. The goose meat soon disappeared as well.
-*-*-*-
Even the worst Winter Solstice Eve since the day where Prometheus shaped the first man in clay eventually came to a close. As night fell, it brought all hopes of leniency from Herodotus with it. He had refused to change his mind or even to lessen Gabrielle's punishment - thus, she would remain confined to the bedroom until late afternoon the following day.
The quiet noises made by the retired militiaman Garius as he and his tiny puppy carried out the nightly fire watch were all that stirred in Potaideia, at least beyond the walls of the various hovels.
It was a different story inside the bedroom Gabrielle shared with Lila. A long, slow sigh of sadness and frustration went past Gabrielle's lips as she could do nothing but lie there and stare at the dark ceiling. It wasn't merely the fact that Morpheus had abandoned her just like Senticles had that gnawed on her spirit, but also that Lila's snoring was loud enough to alert every dryad, harpy, nightcrawler or any other denizen of the dark within a five-league radius.
"Oh, won't she ever shut up?" Gabrielle said in a mumble. When even sticking her fingers into her ears didn't work, she gave up trying and sat up in bed instead. It wasn't like she had anything to do while up, but the duvet was soon swept aside so she could get out of bed.
She ended up just sitting there passively, propping her head up on her arms while staring into the darkness at nothing in particular. Having bare feet soon grew too chilly, so she donned her shoes before returning to her passive stare.
A faint scraping noise over by the window frame caught her attention. When it wasn't repeated, she shrugged and swept the duvet over her shoulders instead. Not ten heartbeats went by before the scraping noise returned - and this time, there was no mistaking it for anything else, even considering Lila's brutal snoring.
"Ohhhh," Gabrielle said in a mumble as she stared intently at the window across the room. The noise was repeated once more swiftly followed by an annoyed grunt uttered by a male throat. "Ohhhh… someone's trying to get in… could it be a harpy? Or a dryad? Or Cerberus? Or a giant? Well… a little giant… or a big, hairy, smelly ruffian? Maybe he wants some of Mother's soup?"
Getting up, Gabrielle ran over to Lila's bed and grabbed hold of the sleeping girl's shoulders. "Lila, wake up… wake up… wake up! Wake- oh, it's no use," she said after no less than four failed attempts at shaking her sister out of her deep slumber.
She whipped her head around to find some kind of weapon she could use against the unknown intruder. The past summer, she had spoken to a pair of traveling Amazons who had come through the village on their way to one of Artemis' temples. Although the militia and the local magistrate had banished them before long out of fear they would stir up trouble, she'd had time to see and admire their special weapons - the fighting staff among them.
There were obviously no Amazon fighting staffs stored anywhere around the bedroom, but it didn't matter as she had access to the next best thing. Hurrying across the room, she pulled the closet doors open and took the broom she would use to clean the floors once a week.
The scraping noise by the window was repeated yet again, prompting her to spring into action. A chill went down her spine as the window itself was pulled open just enough for a gloved finger to reach though the gap and manipulate the latch.
Summoning her inner Junior Amazon, Gabrielle hurried back to the window. She held up the broom as she dove into the shadows to await the intruder's arrival.
Once the gloved finger had released the latch, the actual window frame was pulled open with ease. A moment later, a dark figure climbed up into the bedroom and put a large, black boot on the floorboards.
Gabrielle sent a small prayer to Hera, Zeus, Athena, Artemis and anyone else who would listen before she sprung into action. Jumping ahead, she stretched out the broom and held it down low so the mysterious stranger would trip over it the moment the second boot would come through the window.
The plan worked perfectly - except that she hadn't counted on the vast difference in weight between herself and the stranger. The broom did what it was supposed to by tripping up the intruder, but as the shadowy figure fell forward, Gabrielle was pulled along with it until they both ended up in a bundle of arms and legs on the floor.
A pair of identical, croaked "Oooof's!" escaped the two people as one sat up and the other tried to extricate himself from whatever it had been he had tripped over.
"By all things Yule, that's a new one… I won't put this in my journal," the mysterious man said in a low mumble.
Gabrielle got back on her feet the soonest, and she hurried over to her bed to strike the candle on her bedside table. Once the flints had done their job, she thrust out the candlestick at the intruder.
She uttered a cry of "I command you to be gone, hideous creature of the night!" that would have worked a lot better if it hadn't come out in a squeaky, high-pitched squeal that wouldn't scare a squirrel much less a hideous nightcrawler.
"A creature of the night I am, but certainly not a hideous one… or my wife doesn't think so, anyway," the man said as he leaned back on his rear end to finally remove the broom. "Good eve, Gabrielle. I must admit I didn't expect such a welcome…"
"How… how do you know my name?" Gabrielle croaked as she stepped forward. The cone of light eventually reached the mysterious stranger, revealing him to be none other than - "Senticles?! Ohhhhhhhhh-no, now I've really messed up! I can't believe it… I can't believe it!"
A rumbling laugh soon erupted from the large man in the red-and-white suit. Stumbling over the broom had caused his hood to fold itself up, but he shoved it back down to reveal his white beard, round face and bushy eyebrows. "You know," he said as he clambered to his feet, "I've been given plenty of welcomes over the years, but never one quite like that. Most are happy to see me… well, there was that time in Amphipolis where a young girl saw it necessary to… oh, but that doesn't matter now."
"I am happy to see you, Senticles… truly I am, I just didn't think you'd… you'd… oh… visit me after I had been such a bad girl yesterday."
"I keep track of those I bring gifts, Gabrielle. And what happened to you yesterday was an accident," Senticles said as he moved back to the window and grabbed the sack of gifts he had left outside.
Gabrielle broke out in a little sniffle. "Oh… that's what I said, but Father wouldn't believe me."
The sack itself was too wide to fit through the window frame, so Senticles simply rummaged through it for a short while before he found what he had been looking for. "Here, Gabrielle. Happy Winter Solstice Eve. Or as we say in the old country, Merry Yuletide." As he spoke, he held out a small figure made of wood.
"Oh! A lamb! But what's the string for?" Gabrielle said, reaching for the gift at once.
"Pull it and find out… here, let me take the candlestick while you try," Senticles said as he reached for the light.
Holding her breath in a state of exploding excitement, Gabrielle pulled the string that prompted the wooden toy to let out a lifelike braying. "Ohhhhh… what a wonderful gift! How on Mother Gaea's green Earth did you make it bray?!"
"Yuletide magic, little one. Simply yuletide magic. Which reminds me, I have something for your, uh… rather loud sister as well," Senticles continued before he put down the candlestick to return to the window. He was soon back at Gabrielle's side holding a rag doll.
"Oh, this is so nice, too… but I like my lamb better!" Gabrielle said as she held up the two toys.
Senticles broke out in a beaming smile. "I'm glad to hear it as I made it especially for you. Well, I wish you sweet dreams for the rest of the night. We'll meet again next year, Gabrielle. Stay safe."
"And you, Senticles! Goodbye, and may the Gods protect you on your merry way!"
"Thank you."
The large man soon swung his legs and sturdy boots up over the windowsill so he could jump back into the alley. The moment his hefty frame was out of sight, Gabrielle hurried over to the window to offer him a proper goodbye wave - but the alley was already empty.
After putting the rag doll on the bedside table next to Lila's bed, Gabrielle returned to her own bed where she quickly kicked off her shoes and sat down.
Once the candle had been snuffed out, a smile spread from ear to ear as she made herself comfortable. She held the wooden lamb tight against her chest as she fell soundly asleep a few moments later.
-*-*-*-
The next morning came sooner than Gabrielle had expected. The next time she opened her eyes, the early rays of Apollo's sun shone through the window and painted pretty pictures on the floorboards. Lila continued to snore, but far less so than during the night. From the central room, she could hear their mother preparing breakfast.
The smile that had spread over her face after Senticles had left returned in full force. Snuggling down under the warm duvet, she wrapped her hands around the wooden lamb - or she meant to, at least. When all she felt were her hands, her smile disappeared in a flash and her eyes popped wide open.
"Ohhhh… ohhh, no… was it just a dream?" she whispered, moving her hands up, down, left and right to find the missing solstice gift. When she ran out of spaces it could be hiding, she swept the duvet aside and bolted upright.
She leaned to her right to see if the lamb had fallen onto the floor on that side, but it hadn't. Then she leaned to her left to repeat the procedure there. Unfortunately, it yielded the exact same result: nothing. "It was just a dream… by the Gods… how can the Fates be so cruel?" she whispered as she rubbed her face several times.
Leaning back down to grieve a little more, she suddenly experienced something round and hard poking her in the back. Arching away from whatever it was in a hurry, she let out an "Ouch!" as she reached behind her to make it go away.
When her fingers touched the wooden texture, she came to a complete halt - then she bolted upright again and spun around to see if the foreign object was the one she hoped it was. "I… I knew I didn't dream it! I just knew it!" she said as she clapped eyes on the wooden lamb that had somehow ended up under her straw-filled pillow while she had slept.
Grabbing it at once, she pulled the string and marveled at the braying. To celebrate its magical rediscovery, she gave it a big kiss, held it tight against her chest and began rocking back and forth while she mumbled a lengthy list of thank-you's to Senticles and all the Gods and Goddesses she could think of.
In the middle of all that, Lila finally woke up. Rolling over onto her side, she stared at her big sister for a moment before she shook her head. "Gabby… what are you doing?"
"Look what Senticles brought me last night!" Gabrielle said, holding up the precious gift. "It's a wooden lamb that'll bray when you pull this string! Listen!" - The action was soon carried out which prompted the toy's usual braying.
"How is that possible?" Lila said, swinging her bare legs over the side of the bed. She sat like that for a few seconds before she stretched her body and broke out in a wide yawn.
"Oh, Senticles called it Yuletide magic. I believe him!"
Lila scratched her hair and body several times before she broke out in another yawn that was just as wide as the first one. "What does that word mean? Yuletide?"
Across the room, Gabrielle rubbed her chin a couple of times without arriving at anything that could be perceived as a definitive answer - the look of pure concentration in her hazel eyes proved she couldn't rack her brains more than she was already doing, even if she was forced to. "I don't know," she said and spread her arms out wide in a shrug, "but I think it means Winter Solstice in Senticles' own language…"
The skeptical look that spread over Lila's face proved exactly what she thought of that theory.
"No, honest! Oh, it doesn't matter," Gabrielle said as she focused on the wooden toy once more, "because the lamb proves Senticles was here."
"Mother put it-"
Gabrielle shook her head and held up the lamb. "He was here, Lila! Senticles was right here! Look at your bedside table… that dollie wasn't there last night, was it?"
Lila turned to look with a puzzled expression on her face - the question mark was instantly replaced by an exclamation point as she took the rag doll and held it close to her exactly like Gabrielle did with her lamb. "Ohhhhhh! This is so wonderful! Look, Gabby! Isn't she beautiful? I think I'll call her… oh… uh… Magheera! Yes, Magheera… oh, I love her so."
"Senticles knew you would because he made it especially for you," Gabrielle said with the level of sincerity and conviction that only a 7-year-old could produce.
The sisters shared a long look before they each concentrated on their Winter Solstice gifts. A few moments went by before Lila said "Did not."
"Did too."
"Did not."
"Did too!"
"Did not."
Gabrielle finally let out an exasperated sigh as she offered her sister a pointed look. "Lila… he told me. Senticles told me last night the gifts are made especially for the person getting it."
"Well… I suppose…"
"Good-"
"Did not."
"Lila!"
The best way to respond to that was to stick out one's tongue, so that's exactly what Lila did. Gabrielle mirrored the reaction a moment later before they both snickered and settled down with their new toys…
*
*
THE END