"Bed? It's the middle of the day!"
* * * * *
"Ethan! Ethan get out of bed right now! It's the middle of the day for crying out loud!" Ethan curled into a ball as the covers were pulled roughly away. The daylight burned his eyes, even when he screwed them tightly shut and a chill rushed over him as the warm snuggly softness of his blankets was torn from him.
"C'mon Mom! It's a Saturday!!" Ethan whined and made a grab for the covers, but she held them just out of reach.
"Since when does that make it ok for you to sleep in till the afternoon?! Everyone else works just as hard as you do and they've all been up since seven!" Ethan rubbed his eyes and rolled out of bed as slowly as he could. He re-adjusted his too-short hand-me-down pajamas he'd gotten from Alex almost two years ago and walked to the kitchen. Lucinda was there already, playing tea party with her yarn dolls and Mom's old cracked china dishes. She beamed up at Ethan, one of those smiles that would have been sweet were it not for her missing front tooth and a couple other on the bottom row. Ethan grinned blearily at her and patted her head.
She took it as a good sign and immediately started chattering, "Ethan, d'you wanna play tea party? I wen' to Joni's ta play yesterday. I wan'ed to have a tea party, but she said no 'cause she wan'ed to play dress up. Her momma had some really neat old clothes and I was a princess and Joni was my fairy go'mother! Then her mom brought us some treats an' they had sugar an' cocoa in 'em. Not like the ones mamma makes, they were way sweeter an' maybe if you asked Joni's mom, you can fin' out how ya make 'em and then you could make 'em for us too!"
Ethan scratched his head lazily and sat in the nearest chair. "Y'know Lucy, I think Mom'd be better to ask about that..."
Lucinda made a face and whispered across the table, "But Momma doesn't make things as sweet as Ethan does!"
Ethan winced as his mother walked by and smacked the back of his head with a wooden spoon, "That's because Ethan uses up all our sugar when he makes treats."
"Ow!" He rubbed his injury and put on his best "I'm hurt" face. Apparently his mother wasn't buying it this morning because all it earned him was another smack to the head.
"Hey! What was that one for?!" he whined as Lucy giggled and his mother put her hands on her hips.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice those bruises you came home with? You were fighting at school yesterday, weren't you?" she grimaced, then threw her hands up in the air, "ugh, what am I going to do with you Ethan?" She shook her head, "Hurry up and get in the tub! The water's getting cold and if you're not on your way over there in about two seconds, I'll have to strip you and throw you in like I do with Luke and Andy!"
Ethan turned up his nose at that offer and started quickly walking to the washroom mumbling to himself. "Yeesh, I just woke up, you think she'd have the decency to give me a few minutes..."
He shut the door behind him before stripping off his old pajamas and slipping into the warm water of the tiny, cramped, little tub. He splashed his face a few times and then relaxed a bit before dunking his head completely under the water. The bath was always one of the best places to sit and think.
Gotta find a place for 'Topher and I to play. Gotta go to that dress shop and get Briar Rose's birthday present. I probably won't get invited to her party, so maybe if I give it to her a few days earlier, it'd be better. I could go to town and get it and visit 'Topher before checking out some places to play all in one trip. He nodded to himself, glad to be sounding sensible again. If I get back before eight, I'll have time to finish two or three more assignments. Oh snap! I told Professor Ardeneaux I'd come by today at around four! I'll have to hurry! He grabbed the nearby lye soap and scrubbed quickly and pulled on a towel before marching back to his room and putting on some trousers and one of Alex's old tunics that wasn't too badly worn. He dragged a comb through his hair long enough to part it down the middle. It never stayed where he put it, so he usually just let it do whatever it wanted. It was still wet, but he was sure it would curl up as usual when it dried.
He reached under his bed for the loose floor board and wiggled it from it's place. It was perfect for hiding things you didn't want your entire family knowing about. Ethan smiled triumphantly as he pulled a small coin purse from the secret spot and shoved it into his pocket. Next, he snagged his violin case from where it rested near the bed. He went to the bedroom door and peered around. He had to make sure his mother wasn't lurking about. She'd have him doing chores for the rest of the day if she caught him. Moms had that sixth sense when their children were behaving badly and Ethan had a sixth sense for knowing when his mother was in a cleaning mood and how to dodge chores.
He crept down back into the kitchen and peeked around the next corner. It looked like she was in the middle of giving cleaning assignments to Luke and Andrew. Perfect timing. He eased the front door open and before his mother could turn her head, he was out the door.

Ethan smiled happily to himself as the house slowly disappeared from sight. He dusted himself off a bit as he continued up the main road. It looked like there was a carraige coming down from town. There were only a number of reasons that a carraige would come down this old road. It had to be 'Topher. He waved frantically and ran over.
"Hey 'Topher! What're you doing in our neighborhood?" He climbed aboard the wagon as Christopher turned it around and started heading back toward town. Topher seemed in unusually good spirits today. Usually he hated Saturdays because of all the deliveries. Ethan raised an eyebrow, but before he could ask, Topher shoved a paper bag at him.
"Mrs. Rothenberger gave me way too much. You better take some, you look like you could use something to wake you up."
Ethan eagerly peeked in the bag and pulled out a few pastries. "Ah, the breakfast of knights, wizards and champions, Mrs. Rothenberger's sweets!"
Topher laughed and hurried the horses onward. Ethan took a few bites before looking over and asking, "so, what'd you come all the way over here for? Not that I don't appreciate it..."
"I saw a poster in town. They're taking applicants to play at the King's Ball this weekend. I..."
"You wanna try it, don't you? You just didn't want to go alone." Ethan finished.
Topher frowned, "a solo? Are you kidding me?"
Ethan shrugged, "It's a good thing I brought my violin then. There's no way I'd go back for it when my mom is on a cleaning spree."

ATTENTION:
The annual King's Ball will be held this Friday, April 15th at the palace.
All are invited to attend.
Best dress only.
Begins at 7:00pm

Entertainers, performers and musicians wanted.
Please apply at the castle gates before Thursday evening.

"Sounds pretty posh." Ethan stated as they stood before the castle gates. He and Topher stood amid several other nervous applicants.
Topher's hands shook and he quickly stuck them in his pockets. Ethan looked over at his timid friend. C'mon now 'Topher. This is the chance you've been waiting for. Don't freeze up, Don't freeze up, it'll be fine!
A well dressed man carrying parchment and a frilly quill pen walked over to the group of applicants. "Mr. Christopher Hodge and Mr. Ethan Fawks, if you'll follow me please."

* * * * *

Briar needed to clear her head. Luckily it was just the boys that had burst in earlier. They had to show her the tiny fish they'd caught all by themselves. Briar brushed her silky hair a few more times and flicked imaginary dust from her dress before heading for the door.
She peeked into her coin purse after closing the little gate in front of their house. Only a few mofles and some change, maybe three or four koles. Not much left after yesterday's purchase. But it'd be enough to get started. She just had to stop at Odessa's shop today for the essentials. Needles, thread, buttons... she couldn't wait!

* * * * *
"I can't wait anymore, this is killing me!" Chris sat on the steps before the old castle gates, clutching his head. They'd finished their audition over an hour ago, but they hadn't announced the results yet. Judging from the many people still waiting to perform, it might be a while. Ethan seemed antsy too and kept walking up and down the steps, pausing only to look anxiously back at the gates, then at the large clock tower back toward town.
"I know, I know, but we have to wait here or we won't ever know if we made it or not!" Ethan explained for the third time now.
Chris didn't look up, "I screwed up on the chorus of the third song. I can't believe I did that. And I couldn't stop stuttering when I introduced us. and---"
Ethan shook Christopher's shoulders, forcing him to look up, "hey! whatever happens, we did our best. There'll be other festivals or balls or whatever, don't sweat it so much." He glanced at the clock again and paused, "Listen. I told Professor Ardeneaux I'd meet him today for a lesson. If I don't leave now I'll be late and..."
Christopher nodded slowly, "yeah, yeah I understand. I'll stay here. Come back and check in if you get done early ok? I'll give you the news."
Ethan gave him a small salute as he walked down the stairs one more time, "And it better be GOOD news Topher!"

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