Dear reader, the old year has gone and a new one has come. A few days ago I went to the manor house as the baron requested, and I received an unusual commission. It’s one that has set me to thinking and made me see the baron in something of a new light.
It is the custom throughout the land to stay up all night on the eve of the new year and to welcome the first light of sunrise. This year, it was so gray and cloudy that all of us at the Hume’s house could hardly see anything, but we ate our traditional meal of pancakes, said our farewells to one another, and then were off to bed for the better part of the day. So it wasn’t until the second of the new year that I paid a visit to the grand manor house that stands at the edge of Greenwood.
I saw Mrs. Algar again. She welcomed me in, as she has so many times now with her usual curt manner. However, when I gave her two scarves —belated Wysolice gifts for her and Alexander— well, I think perhaps I saw the hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. She led me down the hall, passed the library where I could hear Lorenz giving a lesson, and to a large room where the baron sat behind a big desk.
He greeted me, but waited until Mrs. Algar had gone to continue his speech. “Well, Miss Sonya,” he said, “you received my note.” I answered that yes I had, and would try to craft whatever remedy he might require. “Who is it for?” I asked. He groaned as he turned to face the window. It was for himself, but he didn’t know exactly what he needed nor did he want others knowing about it. I was confused; he seemed agitated, but he continued to explain. “It’s this blasted cold, and the dreary winter is always twice as bad after the holiday. I find it drains me.” His voice, which is usually so forceful, suddenly sounded tired. Baron Rhodes talked of the dead earth, and the lacking light, and the dull short days of the early months. He sighed, and facing me again asked if there was anything that could be done. Certainly there was, but how precisely to handle things, well, that was a far trickier question. I told him I’d have to think on it and promised my discretion. He only asked that I make the effort a priority, as the winter tide was long and weighed heavily upon him.
Dear reader, while I enjoy winter, I can understand Baron Rhodes frustration. I find it funny that each new year is born, not in light and warmth and vigor, but in quiet and cold. It comes to us at the darkest point, and only slowly does the sun begin to voyage closer to us once more. But where the baron sees dead earth, I hold to the old myth: the Green Sister sleeps and so too does the earth. Many animals in the forest lay down for their long slumbers in the winter, and the trees and plants seem to find repose beneath the deep blanket of snow. Rest is an important part of nature’s cycle. And not just for the forest, but for craftsmen too, now that I think of it! It is in the empty space, in the time where we simply exist, that we become inspired and dream. It is when we wonder… and when we find wonders... And now I wonder how I am going to share all this with the baron.
I have begun crafting his remedy with a base feeling of warmth, as of those moments curled up by the hearth with a bowl of hot stew and a good story. I want it to give him energy and strength, but how to overcome that dull, tedious feeling that the baron suffers? Such weariness can come at any time of year, but the feeling may have more power in winter, when folks are tired. On this I must ponder a little more.
It took me quite some time to think why Baron Rhodes would want all this kept secret from the village, but I did recognize it in the end. I think… he’s worried… maybe of being judged or seeming weak? He is the leader of our village and oversees its well-being, providing goods for the people when they meet with hardship, and representing us in the capital when it comes to larger affairs of state and kingdom. Perhaps he does not want folks to see that even he might need help too… it must have taken him great courage to ask me for this remedy… but I know we all require aid, at least sometimes. I do not think he should feel concerned or ashamed. And I’ll try to finish it up with haste. Hopefully it helps, whatever sort of remedy it turns out to be.