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It was a long time since Kevlin and his wife had nearly lost their daughter and had lost their dear friend, more than enough time to heal his broken arm and her broken leg but their wounds caused by losing a dear friend would never heal. He was now director of the king’s buildings in the kingdom of Shizamid and mayor of Shizimad. His wife was now pregnant and in her fifth month of pregnancy after so many miscarriages.
Thinking back on that dreadful event always made him quiver with a sorrowful longing that left an indescribable emptiness in him that could never be filled without the safe return of his friend, Alexandra. His wife was much better now that it was definite that she would carry this one to full term, but he was worried about her well being. Thankfully his daughter Kalima did not parish in that dreadful storm because he would not be able to handle Siren’s or his own emotions at this time.
Life had been hard after the accident and things just seemed to puzzle him far too much these days. He always wondered why things like this had to happen after so many years of preparation. How could he have failed his ancestors? They were probably looking at him right now wondering how he could have blundered on such an easy task. He knew his place in society and kept to his own business.
All of that money he had earned over the last few years he would gladly trade for his friend’s return. She was gone and he could hardly cope with it, but he had to for his family’s sake. The only way he knew how to cope with it was to delve into his work wholeheartedly and spend lots of time with his family, but like all workaholics the work came first. The king was fascinated with what he had accomplished with his castle and the capital city.
So much so that he put him in charge of even the masonry. Kevlin noticed that many of the masons despised him for this. A lot of them were in their trade for over twenty years. They hated the fact that they would have to take directions from a mere master carpenter, and their mayor. Some even said this to his face, and he could sense the venom, and the animosity from most of the others.
To counter this unrest and animosity, Kevlin secretly took on an apprenticeship with one of the less resentful master masons. The master mason was surprised that he was learning the trade fairly quickly. Learning masonry also improved his carpentry for it allowed him to increase the dependability of the carpentry-masonry bond, where the carpentry and masonry met in the construction of the buildings.
Besides learning masonry, he and his wife had to attend a lot of the king’s functions. This also seemed to appease Kalima in the loss of her old friends, and she made new ones very quickly. Most of the time he would talk with the men, and she would talk with the women, and his daughter would be with the young children.
There were many toasts to some unnecessary events, and some other events that Kevlin, and his wife gladly toasted to. They drank of the finest wines, and ate of the finest foods in the kingdom. Well at least he drank the wine. His wife drank the wine up to the day she found out that she was pregnant, and now only drank juice, or water.