The Goddess and Tyre

Chapter Four The Goddess and Tyre The new garden has been prepared with tilling the ground and making the rows for the new seeds. My mother has gifted the Goddess with a ritual for good harvest.  She poured fresh milk, honey onto the ground, and asked the Goddess to bless us with a bountiful harvest. We always had rituals for certain times of the year. The rituals were always held on a solstice, Imbolic in February, Ostara for the spring equinox, Beltane in May, Litha for June, Lughnasad for the bread harvest, Mabon for the Autumnal Equinox, Samhain for all hollows eve and Yule for winter. I love it when we do a ritual; my mother makes an altar ready with fresh flowers and small cakes and mead. We ask the Goddess for her blessings. In the spring of the year, after our hens laid many eggs most were left to hatch. My mother said it was good to help some families that didn't have any chickens. So it was my job to make sure the eggs were staying warm and the hens were attending to them properly. Two full moons passed when they were starting to hatch into little chicks. After they were old enough, my mother set out with a cart and many baskets of chicks and visited all the families in the village. Some received two some received more. Emerald was fascinated with them and started mothering them, watching their every move. It was funny to watch him try to keep up with the baby chicks, they followed him all over and when he would lay down they all huddled under his wings. Our sow was mated with a hog from one of our neighbors.  Our sow gave birth to 6 baby piglets. One of the farmers got to pick from the litter because he helped with the building of the barn. We kept two piglets for ourselves. Again my mother loaded up a cart and gave the remaining piglets to families in need in the village. This was good karma for our family.  My mother is a good honest woman and a good healer. The young boy we helped with the tea is doing good and running about.  My lessons are going well. I am learning my herbs and what they are used for. One day I will be the village healer and take over for my mother. As we walked, I thought to myself; "Was there more to life than living and dying in the same village?" I wondered of the places in the world. Could I fit in anywhere else? Could emerald? I wanted to see the world and taste it too. So much life outside our village. I wanted it all! One morning Emerald and I decided to visit one of our tasty finds. I told my mother we would be back in a full moons time, for the land we were traveling to is very far indeed. Emerald and I flew to our favorite place to visit the chefs of the Barony of Tyre. I love going there. Tasting the food. The land is somewhat like my home here in Cornwall. The barony is part of the port on the Mediterranean Sea. It has great rolling hills and cliffs.  In the middle is a great manor or castle. The port is there front yard and the massive land behind and along side it is the whole barony. Small homes are scattered around with plots of land to each.  Outside of the barony is it desert, dry and sandy. I like coming here, the air is cooled by the sea. But smells different with all the incenses burning. I have been asked if I want to apprentice the baron and his baroness. He is Baron Jamal Damien Marcus. He is one of the chivalries, a knight to the king. He is a master cook; if I accept this then I will move to his barony and live with them. I will work everyday learning his craft. I will have to talk to my mother and father and he agreed to travel and meet them. He is a good man, with a big heart. I have visited his chefs in the manor often and they let me cook with them to barter for spices and fruits for my family. That is how I met the Baron. He was cooking one afternoon when I came to visit. He saw my dragon and was very happy to have him there. He said," This dragon will protect my barony from anyone who wants to harm us". He also said I wasn't a bad little cook, but I could do better with training. We chatted for the better part of the day and he let me have some spices for my mother. I am excited about this, but fear leaving my home, mother, and father. But I can have emerald with me, they have a barn he can stay in. we can still have our adventures together. The baron said he would teach me the art of feast making and the culinary trade. He showed me around their home and it was huge. Not as big as the kings castle but very large indeed. The grounds around the manor were neatly kept and the garden for the vegetables and fruit trees were great, there is also horse stables. You could smell the salt from the sea in the air mixed with the scent of incense. The blacksmith makes all the shoes for the horses, blades and tuks for eating, swords for the baron's guard. I was fascinated with watching the blacksmith do his work. Banging and hammering the metal and then as he called it "quenching "it in water to cool the steel. The Manor is within a great wall with towers at each corner. It is guard by the Baron's guard. They are always watching for enemies. The captain of the guard is a woman, this enthralled me. I have never heard of such a thing before, a woman? The market is full of fresh vegetables and herbs and some spices. Everything is within the walls of the barony.  All the villagers live outside the walls; most of them have their plot of land. The baron is a good man with a good heart. Several times a week they all go to the great hall in the manor and eat. The Baron loves to cook and share everyone brings something to share. Jamal Damien Marcus was born in late 10th c. His mother's people were traders, with connections all over the world.  His father, a former crusader from Spain, showed great acumen as he married into the trade in spices, fabrics, arms, and foodstuffs. Jamal's youth was spent in travel, with all the privileges and hazards to which an unsettled life is heir.  Some of his associates were of highly questionable character. It is possible that he had contact with the notorious cult of the hassasin. In penance for his life of dicing and carousing, he was married to a stern religious woman and spent years in the Abbey of St John of Wesley in the shadow of the mountains, where he actually practices the craft of the wheelwright and cooper for a time.  The harsh religious life could not quash his youthful ebullience.  It has been suggested that his only son and heir was conceived in the hallowed halls of the Abbey.  Instead of humility, he learned many of the tricks of the schoolmen, which served him in debate with those of his own and other religions whom he met on the trade routes.  The persistent legend that he traded chocolatl in Switzerland, however, is clearly legendary. His family ties and relations allowed him greater access to trade routes and cultures. He gained an understanding and love of people and learned to charm his way in and out of many lands. He was able to make friends wherever he went and learned many ways to be of service to those who befriended him. Eventually he settled in desert lands near the seacoast, with a new wife of stout character, who could shape, but never tame, his warrior spirit.  Eowyn Amberdrake was well placed in the courts of North Umbrae, and was known through the world as a scholar.  Under her tutelage, he began a life as a courtier.  His skill at negotiation and his quickness with mind and word eventually led to his appointment to the Baronacy of Tyre. At times, his skill as a chef drew him into prominence, as he drew on his knowledge of spices and exotic dishes to triumph over all culinary contenders, and win great renown at the craft of cookery.  For this, he not only cooks with bay leaves (Laurus nobilis) but he also wears them. At other times, he rose victorious in battle; enough so that he attracted the attention of the king of outlands, who made him his sworn knight. While as Baron of Tyre he continues to make friends and alliances The Baroness is a quiet woman with much grace about her. Her name is Baroness Eowyn Amberdrake. She told me of her story of coming to be. Eowyn was raised near Lindisfarne.  Her father was a Northman she never knew, who left her mother with a piece of amber carved in the shape of a dragon, and her mother gave it to her. That is where she gets her epithet, Amberdrake.  She is a baptized Christian. She learned to read and write from the Holy Fathers there, the followers of St. Cuthbert.  Bishop Eadfrith, long before he was named Bishop, taught her himself. As a teenager, she went off with a traveling musician.  They were together for several years, traveling around Britain. It was a wonderful, adventurous time, but they were not blessed with children, and she was widowed.  She spent many years as a scribe. She is now married to a traveler from the spice trade, Sir Jamal Damien Marcus. In time, she will leave the amber drake to her granddaughter, also named Eowyn. She makes the most beautiful tapestries I have ever seen. Her work is in every room of the manor. Her illuminations are good to. I do not know how to read, but the Baroness said she would teach me. She told me that when I am ready she would teach me the art of her needlework. The Baron is a happy man always with a smile on his face and laugh in his voice. I love my mother and father deeply, but I would love to live with the baron and baroness to learn more and a trade. I would never forget what my mother has taught me about being a healer. The baroness said she could use a healer living in the manor. She came out to meet emerald and was taken back by his size, but she loves his gentleness. Emerald has been giving rides on his back to the village children. The baron said it was okay. Emerald likes his barn too. Lots of space to spread out and sleep. There are lots of grasses and grubs to eat. The baron asked if he ate vegetables. "I do not know, your Excellency" then young lady we will find out this eve at supper, "You are staying?" "Yes, your Excellency" I answered and bowed. I must let my mother and father know I will be staying.  I understand, but we have much to cook this day, bread to make, harvesting to do, slaughtering of the goat and so on. You better hurry if we are to eat this eve. "On second thought, I guess my mother and father will be okay I told them I would return when the moon is full again, "I will send for them, so they can see you will be taken care of.   We worked all morning and afternoon on the great feast. I learned how to make different breads with grains and flours and spices. I help prepare the goat and help dress it out. It was hard to see an animal die, but it was a necessary deed.  The day seemed to slip pass with no boredom. I was busy with Master Jamal. He was pleased with my work. He would just smile. You know when you do something that displeases him; he gives you this intense look with his eyes sharply.