Any resemblance to anyone alive or dead is simply a fluke. All characters are 18 years of age or older. Thanks to Selenakittyn for her edit, and Dampy for the idea.
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Ellowynthe lit upon a budding cherry tree. She was a wood sprite, a magical creature of the forest. Ellowynthe had never been to this village before. It sat at the northernmost regions of the land.
Spring had arrived and the snow had retreated to the base of the surrounding mountains. Bits of budding plant life were visible in the countryside. The sun had regained its warmth and shone down upon the land and the people.
She looked at the villagers with interest. It looked like it was a festival day. The villagers were dressed in their best finery. The women all had bright ribbons tied in their hair—red and blue ribbons for betrothed women, yellow and violet for women that were promised to a man, and white and green ribbons for maidens that were available for courting. Men that were married and those men awaiting marriage wore feathers in their hats, single men wore nothing in their hats.
It was the festival of Neuvenschlatt, the new planting. Today the village would celebrate, and tomorrow the planting would begin. This festival was to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of a new year. A successful festival would ensure a good harvest.
Tables were lined up in the main square of the village. Women labored at their stoves and ovens preparing dishes that had been handed down from mother to daughter for generations. Breads and cakes of all sorts were heaped upon the tables. Smoked meats and cheeses were placed on platters. Dried fruits stewed in bowls laced with sugar and brandy.
Farmers from the surrounding area brought in casks and kegs of wines and ales. Some of the wines had been put down nearly a generation ago and were well-aged. Men spoke in hushed tones of vintages of years gone by. The ales and lagers had been brewed from the grains that had been harvested the previous autumn.
At the head of the main table sat two empty places, these were the places for Vadervynte, the winter spirit and, Vaderzummi, the spirit of spring and summer. The best of everything was placed on plates of silver as offerings to the whimsical spirits of the seasons. It was the farewell meal for Vadervynte, and the welcoming meal for Vaderzummi.
The villagers sat at the tables with the men at one side, and the women at the other. The eligible bachelors and maidens sat at their own table. Many a marriage had been the result of the pairing at this table. The seating arrangements at this table were supposed to be a random pairing, but it was common knowledge that arrangements were sometimes made to pair up certain young men with certain young women.
Ellowynthe assumed the form of a brown chickadee and flew close enough to hear the conversations of the villagers. A small group of the young eligible girls stood huddled near the tree that Ellowynthe sat in and were discussing who they hoped they would be paired up with. This year was uncommon in that there were exactly the same number of boys and girls. No one would forced to sit by themselves this year It was considered to be an ill omen to sit alone at a table with no one of the opposite sex across from them.
"Oh, I don't care who I get," remarked Jillith.
Leyna carefully straightened her top and gave the other girls a haughty look. "Well, I know who I will be across from. My mother paid three gold crowns to assure that Johann sits across from me." Leyna was beyond pretty. She was perfect and her long blonde hair shone like the sun. Her skin was smooth and creamy and she had eyes the color of the sky on a clear winter day. Some of the older women would comment that maybe her top was cinched in a bit too much and that her blouse showed just a little too much cleavage.
While Leyna may have been the most physically attractive of all the girls in the village, she was not well-liked. Her obsession with her beauty, and her obsession with getting what she wanted, no matter what the cost, had left her with few real friends.
Lisa lifted her soft brown eyes from the ground. "I'm with Jillith. I don't care who I get, as long as he is nice."
Leyna's voice was almost a sneer. "If that's the way you feel, then I hope you get Sven."
Several of the other girls tittered and covered their mouths. Sven was considered by most of the girls to be the most unattractive of all of the possible prospects. If any of them were to explain why they found Sven unattractive, they would be hard pressed to find a concrete reason. The seeds of dislike for Sven had been planted by Leyna years ago in school for an incident that was long forgotten.
Rheanna made a sour face. "I think I would sooner sit with a pig than have to sit with Sven." She was about the only girl that liked Leyna. She was a lot like Leyna, pretty and shallow and she came from a well-to-do family.
Ellowynthe didn't know much about people, but she decided she didn't care much for the one called Leyna. She could feel why Leyna wanted Johann. It wasn't so much that she liked him, it was more that Leyna saw there would be advantages with Johann due to the stature of his family in the land. There would be opportunities for Leyna to leave the village and be seen in the court of the King. Ellowynthe flitted off in her chickadee form and set about trying to find the boy called Sven. She wanted to see him for herself.
The boys were found gathered around a small cask of ale that one of them had spirited away from the square. Their faces were bright with mischief and glee. Laughter continually rang out as they talked.
Ellowynthe immediately sensed that the aversion the girls had for Sven was not shared by the boys.
Olaf wiped some of the foam from the ale from his lip. "Sven, which of the girls do you want to be across from?"
Sven blushed and shook his head. "It matters not a whit to me. None of them seem to care much for me anyway."
Sven's father's farm was one of the poorest in the area. More than once, villagers had joked that his land always produced the best crop of rocks in the area. As a result Sven was poor and it reflected in his clothing. Sven's shirt was clean, but the collar and cuffs were frayed in places. His vest was well-worn and had seen better days. Signs of fine mending were visible here and there on his trousers. His boots were clean and polished, but worn out.
Ellowynthe could feel Sven's soul deep inside of her and there was a richness to it. He was a simple and honest boy, full of kindness. Ellowynthe smiled. She liked what she felt. There was a love of nature in him that she found attractive. He was tall and lean, his face tanned from being outdoors. There was great strength in his arms and shoulders from working the land on his father's farm.
"What about you, Johann, do you think that you will be paired up with, Leyna?" Olaf grinned. It was correctly assumed by the boys that Leyna's mother would have paid out money to ensure her daughter got what she wanted.
"I hope not." Johann took another swig of the ale from his mug. "I was hoping for Jillith."
