“It’s a big order, isn’t it?” Rose asked, expectantly.
His blue eyes sparkled as he broke into a large grin. “The biggest ever.”
Brian caught his wife as she squealed and leapt into his arms, her long, red hair enveloping his face as she hugged him tightly.
“I knew the church was getting ready to purchase more candles, but I never thought… Brian, did they give you all their business?”
“Every bit of it. The priest I spoke to said that they were most impressed with the quality of the samples we had given them, and that they seemed to even last longer than the others. What’s more, the amount of smoke given off was less and had less odor than the others. He’s given me a down payment already.” He held up a small bag and shook it. It jingled cheerfully, prompting another small squeal from his wife.
“Dillon!” she called.
“Coming, mommy.”
A young boy entered the kitchen from above, descending quickly down the ladder from the loft. He moved to stand before the adults, his green eyes looking expectantly from face to face. His features favored his mother, with the same hair and eyes, and even the same pattern of freckles across his nose. But even at age five, Dillon had the height and stocky build of boys much older, despite his father’s lean frame.
“Dillon, daddy got the order from the church of Arhus today. They want us to supply all their candles for the next year!” Dillon jumped into the air, cheering with excitement.
“Come on,” Brian said, as he led the others to the table. “We need to express our thanks for this gift.” The whole family sat down, holding hands in a circle. “Dillon, will you lead us?”
“Sure, Dad. Arhus, we thank you for the kindness you show us. Thank you that your church has provided this money for our family. Elminoir, we thank you for the bees that make our honey and wax for our candles. Thank you both for watching over our family…”
After several minutes, after each member of the family took time to pray and thank the gods for their provision, they sat around the table to enjoy the moment.
“We’ll need to get started right away,” Brian told his family. “We need to make the first delivery in less than a week.”
“Why so soon,” Rose asked.
“It appears that the church has extra people in their care right now. Several people have fallen ill with a strange sickness, and they have priests working with them around the clock.” He looked gravely at his wife. “Simon Goodyere and Linda Miller are two of them.”
“Simon? I don’t think he’s been sick a day in his life. Will they be alright?”
“I don’t know.”
After several days of gathering honeycomb from the beehives, helping with the making of the wax, and trimming the finished candles, Dillon was sure that he had never worked so hard or seen so many candles before. As he wrapped the last of the first delivery, his parents discussed what they would do with the extra money that came from the new contract.
“Well, one thing we will need right away,” Brian said quietly, “is our offering to Arhus. We’re going to the church tonight.” He exchanged a glance with Rose, who silently mouthed, “who?”
“Simon Goodyere.”
The church service that night was different from any service Dillon had ever attended before. His family regularly went to services at the church of Arhus, but never before on a Thursday. The music had always been jubilant, singing the praises of the god of justice, but tonight it was somber and sullen, like a cold winter morning. Dillon stood next to his father while his mother went to the front of the church and spoke to a woman about her own age. Dillon watched as the woman handed her baby over to a nurse of Arhus and sobbed into his mother’s shoulder. Next to the woman stood a young girl, about Dillon’s age, with long, dark brown hair.
“What happened, Dad? Everyone seems so sad.”
“Several people got very sick last week. One of them died last night. We’re here to honor him and to comfort his family.”
“Did he follow Arhus?”
“I don’t know, son.”
“I hope so.”
“So do I.”