“Hurry, Gojeck, the guests will be arriving soon, and you know how important it is to greet them at the gate,” said Ayna.
“Yes, my queen, I’ll be right with you as soon as I finish moving the mountain to you,” replied Gojeck.
“You old stick in the mud. If I were eighty years younger, I’d find a man who would appreciate my finer qualities,” retorted his wife.
Ayna had met Gojeck when sent from the northlands to the great forest during the war with Frost Giants.
Gojeck’s family took in many refugees and offered them work in the family mines. Anya was a farmer, so she tended the family livestock and helped in the gardens.
“To think after eighty years we haven’t managed to kill each other,” said Anya.
“T’wasn’t for not trying,” teased Gojeck.
Gojeck often stopped by the barn to check on the young lass, and the two fell in love over time. When the war ended, Anya needed to return to the Northlands to help her family rebuild. It broke their hearts to separate.
“Nay, Gojeck Pandore, you’re like a worm. Once you get under their skin, there’s no getting rid of ya,” Anya said.
Anya promised to return once things were set right, but as life often does, trouble was always brewing. After a year, the young miner could no longer take it.
“I’m going to fetch my bride. If you don’t like it, I’ll stay and become a farmer,” Gojeck told his family.
Gojeck’s parents adored the girl and blessed him with the opportunity to bring her home. “Take as long as you need. There will always be a place here for both of you,” said his mother.
When the young miner arrived, chaos reigned everywhere. “Why haven’t you constructed barns and outbuildings?” he asked.
Anya explained her father could not work due to his injury, and no one had the talent to hew timbers or set the beams.
“T’is child’s work for us miners,” said Gojeck. The miner built a barn and a dozen outbuildings to hold crops and livestock.
With Gojeck’s help, the community rebuilt itself. Soon, the young couple was eager to return to the ancient forest.
“We can’t thank you enough. Please take care of our greatest treasure,” Ayna’s parents said to Gojeck.
Once back in the forest, Anya and Gojeck built a log home for themselves. They worked hard to provide for each other over the next sixty years.
“I have news for you, wife,” said Gojeck one day upon returning from the mine.
“You found another fool to be your wife and are leaving me to spend the rest of my days in peace,” said Anya with a wry smile.
“You’ll not get away so easily. I still have another forty years of torment in me before I let you rest,” said Gojeck.
After dinner, the miner revealed the surprise to Anya. “For our eightieth, I am giving you a new home near the Babbling Brook,” said Gojeck.
Anya was speechless as she hugged her husband.
So, as they prepared to greet their guests, the two held hands and walked to the gate.
Opening the door, the couple bowed and said, “Welcome, friends, welcome to our home. Please come and enjoy yourselves.”
Some things take time—love, like fine wine, ages better when surrounded by the right environment.
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