Summer Fields

The long grass had yellowed, and the flowers had almost all faded from the field. Too long without any rain… There was more than enough water for them to drink in the river, but they could not use it on the fields. They needed rain… not just for the pretty flowers, but also for their own crops and vegetables. And the sun would just not stop shining, either. Ivy had told her it was like this every summer for a while, and rain would come soon enough, but Aline did not like it one bit. She loved hot, sunny weather, but not the dry grass and the everlasting heat. She found she was actually longing for the first drops of rain.

Aline was glad with the straw hat she had bought from a farmer’s young daughter a few days ago. At least it kept her head cool and out of the sun. She pitied her mother, who was walking next to her. She had no such hat and she basically refused to wear one either. She said that it did not look good on her, but for once, that was one thing Aline refused to care about. They were on their way home, after a short visit to the queen in the castle. Even though they had left there only half an hour ago, the heat made it seem so much longer already. And it was only early in the morning, something Aline found hard to believe. It was so hot already…

She had to think of a way to provide more water to the ponies that were working in her new land. She may not be officially steward yet, she still felt responsible for those working in the new area. Besides, she liked it when the area around her little cottage looked colourful with many different plants and flowers, not this endless yellow… But she wasn’t home yet, and she still had lots of hours to think about a way to accomplish this.

Their visit to the queen had only been briefly to update the queen on the progress in the new part of the country. Apart from her mansion, three other families had started to build a house there for their children, who were slowly leaving their parents care. Her mansion was well underway but it would still take a while before it was finished. It was always hard to build a house with a floor, and hers especially so since it was quite big. Sometimes Aline wondered what she would do with all that space. Of course, she needed a room to work in, and they needed a bedroom, and a room for their future children…

“Mother,” she said, “How old were you when you were first pregnant?”
Her mother seemed surprised that Aline should ask this question. It was not something they had discussed before, but Aline was grateful for the time she had alone with her mother now. There just didn’t seem to be anyone else to discuss it with, but ever since she got married and Stelline had her twins, it was something that was growing on her mind more and more each day. It felt so natural in her, the next phase in her life…

“Well… I think I was about your age. It was just… customary, I think, to get your children at a young age, so by the time I would be ready to succeed my mother, my children would have all been born and I could devote myself to my task. But my mother got ill shortly after you were born and I had to take over early. And after the eruption… well, your father and I just didn’t think of having more children. It felt so useless, somehow…”

Her mother paused for a moment to look at her daughter.
“Why are you asking me this?” she asked at last, while they were standing in the yellow meadows. Aline sighed while she wondered how she should tell her mother this.
“It’s just… With the princess Stelline having those two adorable children, and now that I am married… it’s strange, but it feels like my body longs for a child, somehow.”
Aline did not really know how else to explain it. She knew a child at this time would not be a good idea. The little house they lived in now was barely large enough for Junai and her, let alone a child. She would do better to wait for her mansion to be done, but there was no reasoning against this feeling.

“Oh, honey, those feelings are so natural. Every woman has them at some point in her life. Don’t worry about it. You will have your child, but you do best to wait just a little longer, when your home is done and everything has settled down a bit. A child does not grow well in a body under stress.”
Aline knew her mother was right. By the stars, she knew it, but that did not change her feelings. She had not even talked about it with Junai yet. She had no idea how he would respond if she would, but she was afraid he might be too enthusiastic… she knew for sure Junai would be a great father. He might agree with her… and she knew that might not be such a great thing right now.

“How long has Twinkle Star been gone now?” her mother asked, obviously changing the subject.
“Almost two months…” Aline replied. Two months already… but it would be a long time still before she would be home… It was mid summer now, and Twinkle Star would probably only be back when the first leaves were already returning to the earth. She wished Twinkle Star would return sooner… she wanted to make peace with her again. As every day passed she felt even more foolish about their fight.

“Do you miss her?”
“No… not really. Even though she should be my best friend… We did not have that much contact the last few months while she was here. She was busy with her foster child Câlin, and I was busy with Junai and the mansion and the wedding… and before that she had been away for a long time, as well. Everything I have build up right now… I did it without her, even though I wished it was not so. Our lives have grown apart so much…”

“Yes, I can see that. You hardly mention her. But don’t forget she’s still your friend. She’ll always be.” Her mother said, and Aline knew it was true.
They would always be friends. She never had a friend like Twinkle Star before and she knew she would never get one like her, either. Even though their time together as close friends had been so short… they had formed a bond not easily broken.

Silently, Aline and her mother walked on. The road was dusty because of the lack of rain and Aline could feel the loose sand crawling into her coat. That would mean another bath in the river when she got home… It was one of the great parts of her new job. She had to look good and everyone accepted it when she needed a lot of time for that. Even her hairdresser was doing her hair for free now, even though Aline wasn’t too comfortable with that… She was not a princess or a queen, only someone in service of the queen. But the woman insisted, and Aline had accepted in the end, if only to do the woman a favour.

The sun made their little journey almost unbearable, and Aline and her mother sought the shade of the trees when it became noon. It was just too hot to continue, and they were lucky that the road brought them close to the river right when they had decided to rest until the sun had passed over it’s highest point in the sky. At least there they could find some rest and cool water, as the water they were carrying had already become warm.

“It seems strange to me,” her mother said when they both had had enough to drink and they lay down I the yellow grass under the trees near the river bank, “That the queen is in such a hurry to finish your mansion, but she is not even planning to build one for her daughter, Ivy. You two are of the same age. Surely she is able to live on her own now, and she is supposed to do the same duties as you. How is she able to do those things without her own place to receive others?”

“Well… mother, I think you are forgetting this is only a small country, and a mansion is not easily build. I think there simply aren’t enough ponies to build two mansions at the same time. The queen told me she wanted mine to be finished first because she can’t rule both the old and the new part of the country on her own, but she could manage the old part a little longer. And Ivy may be as old as me, but… she isn’t even married, you know. Not that she has to, but I think she prefers the safety of her mothers castle for a little longer.”

“Doesn’t Regina want her to get married before she takes her role as steward?” her mother asked, and Aline was unsure what to answer.
“Well… I don’t know. I know it was a custom in the old lands, that a girl was seen as mature when she married which would enable her to rule in her mothers place… but I don’t think Regina would force Ivy to marry if she doesn’t want to. I know I wouldn’t. I was just lucky to have met Junai.”
“Yes… you were, really lucky, Aline.”
A sweet smile shone on her mother’s face. Yes, her mother was really fond of Junai, and Aline was grateful that her parents and her husband were able to get along fine.

“But anyway… I think Ivy is content the way she is now. I don’t think she even feels like getting married, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the thought had not even crossed her mind yet.” Aline continued after she had taken another sip of the cool water.
 “Yes, you’re probably right. It’s just… now that you have become a woman so fast, it somehow surprises me to see girls of your age who are just that… girls. Maybe I envy their mothers… it’s not easy, to see your child change so much. It’s not a bad thing, but it still hurts, somewhere inside.”

Aline could see that her mother meant what she said, and she believed her. Their relationship had changed. Not better or worse, just… different, somehow. Before Aline had left with Twinkle Star her mother had been… the one person she wanted to be like, who she adored, who scolded her when she had done something bad. But now her mother was more like… an equal, someone who supported her and who talked to her as if she was an adult. Had she really changed that much this last year?

“I guess… that’s just what happens. Everyone changes. Children grow up… right?” Even though she said those things, she suddenly longed for the warm mother she used to have, the one that would yell at her when she had been bad, the one that would read stories to her when she was afraid to go to sleep, the one that would hold her when she had hurt herself… Aline crept closer to her mother. Even though it felt somewhat awkward, she enjoyed the warmth of her mother’s body. Some things… just don’t change, right?

Her mother put an leg around her daughter, hugging her. Her mothers warmth felt so comforting, even in the heat of the summer day, that Aline’s heart was taken back to the days where her hair was the only thing she had had to worry about. Those days were gone now, forever from her mind… but for this single moment they embraced her like the cool water of the river.
“Mama…” she whispered, fighting back the tears she did not understand.
“It is okay, my dear. I will always be here for you…” Her mother drew her even closer, and Aline buried her head in her mothers neck.