A Fool's Goddess - Chapter Twenty-One
With a fresh sense of determination, I then went back around the studio. Where my home had once felt nigh secluded, now I had to navigate around the additional furnaces our growth had made necessary. We now had two kilns in front of the studio and three between my building and the neighboring one. Or, more correctly, I should say between our buildings, since my apprentices now owned the home next door.
Back when Niv moved to Tresety, he needed a place to stay as I didn’t have the space to board him. So, naturally, he chose the building next to mine. I thought having such a tidy neighbor would be nice, but it had the unfortunate side effect of encouraging him to start work immediately, often before the sun or I had risen.
And some time after that, Hed asked if he could move in there as well for “no real reason”. Niv agreed, and I hoped the two might balance each other out. Instead, it resulted in them constantly arguing for those first few months. It turns out that putting a smartass and a hardass in the same box didn’t instantly create a comedic duo. But for whatever reason, they continue to live together. Whether it’s one or both of them being stubborn is beyond me; I’m just glad they stopped fighting every damn night.
At least Libi has stayed a safe distance from their antics. The last thing I’d need was for my most amiable apprentice to get wrapped up in such nonsense. Thankfully, and perhaps ironically, she lives with Tzofiya for now.
And speaking of the lovable mayor, she just so happened to be walking up to my studio. I waved and met her halfway. The short blondy was moving a little slower these days, but that was to be expected.
After all, pregnancy wasn’t the easiest thing on a woman’s body.
“Greetings, Mayor, what can Master Lior’s legendary house of sculptors do for you?” I asked with a theatrical bow.
“Morning, and not much,” replied Tzofiya. “Libi forgot her bag, and since I figured I could stand to see that son of mine, I decided I’d stop by.”
“Ah, thank you, I’m sure Libi will be happy. Hed, however, is currently unavailable.”
She rolled her eyes. “What’d he do now?”
“Drank one ale too many last night.”
“Sonuvabitch… I told that dumbass to watch himself. Is his roommate in the same boat?”
“Nah, Niv doesn’t drink. Hed went off on his own.”
“Shit, then he was out with those dumbass friends of his. Move aside, I’m gonna go tear him a new one.”
She stepped to push past me. I put a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, I gave him a warning already.”
“Knowing you, you probably just let him off with a slap on the wrist.”
“I told him there would be team exercises on stonework if he showed up like that again. And if it became a problem, I’d ban drinking at the studio.”
“… Feh, I suppose that’ll have to do. He’ll have worse to deal with if I hear about it again.”
“Hey, you’ve got your baby to worry about. Let me chew out the young drunk.”
“This ain’t my first time, I know what I’m doing. Yelling at him ain’t gonna hurt me or this kid.”
“Yeah, but Jonathan’s too big for me to carelessly let you do what you want. If he found out you were running around because I wasn’t disciplining Hed enough, he’d make his next set of tools out of my bones.”
“Aw c’mon, you know Jonny’s too nice for that.”
“Yeah, but with his muscles, a man could be twice as nice as him and I’d still be careful with his wife.”
“You always were a bit of a pansy.”
“I prefer the term ‘smart’.”
“Whatever you wanna call it,” she smiled. “How’s work?”
“Going well. We are the ‘jewel of Tresety’ now, so we’ve always got business.”
“Yeah, yeah, keep your bragging to yourself, son. You know you’re only still afloat because of Niv, right?”
“Ha, I’m well aware. I’d probably have ripped my hair out without him.”
“Then you’d look like even more of a geezer. But hey, have you seen the progress on the highway?”
“Yeah, I can see it pretty well when I’m on the mountain. The loggers just finished clearing the trees, so now it’s just a matter of stamping down the road, right?”
“Yessir. I was pretty pleased when a bunch of the new folk petitioned for it, so to see how fast our guys got the work done is even nicer.” She let out a satisfied little sigh. “Can’t believe our little village is about to get connected to the major roadways.”
“I have to admit I was pretty annoyed to learn how close the highway actually was to Tresety. Not even a days walk, and somehow I was lost in the woods for a week.”
“Well, you were half-dead, so I’ll excuse it. How you got lost that second time is beyond me. You sure you weren’t drunk?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” I said as my face turned red. “I really don’t know what happened. I thought I had gotten better at finding my way around that damn forest.”
“So did I. Thank the Gods we found you within the day.”
“Well, at least you know I’d be alive for awhile if you didn’t.”
“Just try not to get lost, how about that, son?”
“Since there aren’t any impending wars or religious zealots running around, I think the reasons I might run off into the woods are dramatically lower.”
“Fair enough,” she nodded. “It is nice that that mess with Ventilia got settled.”
“I suppose. Hearing that peace negotiations won was a relief, but the fact that it was only a religious splinter cell that nearly instigated a war is unsettling.”
“People really are bat-shit crazy, aren’t they?”
“Indeed. But to be honest, it only makes me angrier about what happened to my master and Chen.”
I felt around my left wrist, rolling one of the beads of my bracelet in my fingers.
“I can understand that. Finding out nutjobs killed your friends because of the acts of other nutjobs is frustrating to say the least.”
“What’s really frustrating is how those “Heralds of the Divine” got away with just prison sentences. They set cities on fire and assaulted the Temple of the Five when they realized nobody was listening to their nonsense. They deserve much worse than a dungeon.”
“Now Lior, that ain’t for us to decide,” Tzofiya lectured. “They did terrible things, but they’re being punished as the law deems appropriate. Following our own justice would make us no better than them.”
“Maybe. I just hope that bastard Asa was among the ones who died at the Temple.”
“Look, I don’t feel like getting into a socio-philosophical argument right now, so let’s change the subject. What’s on your docket for the day?”
I suppose that was fair. My merciless hatred for those zealots probably stressed her as mayor. With respect to Tzofiya, I accepted the blatant segue.
“I’m probably gonna head out to get materials with Libi and Niv before working on the cliff. I’ll leave hangover boy to his misery, unless he gives me a reason to assign him something loud to do. How about you?”
“Paperwork. I’m thinking about taking a page from your book and hiring an assistant or two. Shit’s mounting up faster everyday, and I doubt Jonny will have the time to help out after he moves in.”
“Jonathan’s finally moving in with you?”
“Yep. Since business is booming here, he’s decided to move operations out of Quatrot, though it’s really to be closer to his lovely wife and future child, of course.”
“That’ll be nice for us too. I’d feel guilty hiring anyone else, so having to go to the port anytime a tool broke has been a pain in the ass.”
“Be sure to give him your business, alright? It takes a lot of food to keep him that big.”
“You mean you have a hard time feeding him?”
“I’m not a farmer, I’m just the mayor.”
“Ah, he’s the large to your in-charge, huh?”
An awful joke from me, a bit of laughter from her. Our little routine had only gotten better over the years.
“Alright, you give this to Libi.” Tzofiya handed me the bag she’d been carrying. “I’ll take your word that my son’s degeneracy hasn’t gone too far yet. But… could you tell him his Mama wouldn’t mind seeing him more?”
“I’ll make sure to pass it on. Take it easy, Tzofiya.”
“You too. Later.”
With a wave, she then started making her way back towards her home on the hill. I stood there and watched as our village’s peerless leader sauntered away, thankful she would make the time to chat with me. Taking in one more breath of morning air, I then went back inside my studio.
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