It is a bright sunny morning. Summer has come, and with it some new and unexpected happenings! A few days before Solmar, Lorenz asked me to meet with him at the tavern to discuss some of the details of our coming journey. It did not take us long to realize that secrets do not keep well in small villages; goodness, it seemed everyone knew about our soon-to-be trip into the forest with the baron and his son. Some seemed impressed, others concerned. Then Mrs. Hume greeted us with a serious look in her eye and asked if the rumors were true. When I quietly confirmed, she said she’d be back soon and left the tavern. She did return an hour or so later, and with a confident look sat down and stated she would be joining us on our journey. It seems she had been off to speak with the baron and the matter had been all settled. I was surprised but glad that we would have her company. Mrs. Hume said, “Since that day I followed what I thought was a faery into the forest, I have dreamed of discovering more of what magic lives in those trees. Over the years, with daily tasks never ending, it never felt like the right time. I think perhaps now it is.”
We sat there together for a while longer and, dear reader, I hadn’t expected it but Lorenz and Mrs. Hume were actually very well acquainted. In fact, Mr. Leland seems to be very well acquainted with most people in the village. Mary brought him a freshly brewed cup of coffee without him having to ask, and he explained that he came into the tavern at least one night a week. She giggled that he was one of her best customers. Later in the evening he turned down the milliner for a game of chess, saying he would offer him a rematch later in the week. Lorenz appears to have been truly embraced as a member of the village and not just as “the tutor of the baron’s son”. He was even invited to light the bonfire at sunset on Solmar!
Oh, a great honor indeed, and I made certain to congratulate him afterwards! He smiled warmly and thanked me as we watched the sparks of the fire grow, spreading to every branch until it was a bright blaze against the night sky. Lorenz sighed happily, and he reflected on how welcoming a place Greenwood really was, the people of the village and the forest itself. After a moment, Lorenz looked at me as if he might be weighing something in his mind. He asked if I had ever dreamed about the forest. “Yes,” I said, “quite often!” He looked back at the fire and told me about a strange dream he had the other night. There had been a lady with green skin… he added with a laugh that at first he thought it was me. She had been spinning thread at a wheel, and all the while she had her eyes closed as if she was in a trance or asleep. The thread she made was blue …or was it silver? Anyway, it turned into a river, the one that runs through the trees where the stone giants stand. As he followed it, more threads appeared and they became the vines with the strange green fruit. He felt he was getting close to something, but of course, that’s when he woke up. We shook our heads and laughed. The best dreams always end too early. I told him that perhaps, that was so we could make up the endings.
Dear reader, at the time Lorenz’s dream seemed just a fun tale to share between friends. But now as I sit in my bed in the morning, petting my sweet Flame’s head, I wonder… I wonder if there isn’t something more to it. For you see, I have just had the very same dream.