“Since you’re home for the next couple of months,” he said, “I have a job for you. Two, actually.”
Everyone looked up to hear what Lord Rendon had to say.
“You know how your mother sponsors the Fall Festival in the town every year? I want you to take it over this year. Your mother could use a break and I could use some time with her.”
Lady Rendon looked like she wanted to argue, but she didn’t say anything.
“I just want to spend some time with my wife,” his father said to her. “Is that so wrong of me?”
His mother smiled. “No, I suppose not.”
“And now that Kellan is taking over many of my duties, I actually have some time to spend with you,” Lord Rendon said to his wife.
“And me?” Liliana asked eagerly.
“Of course,” Lord Rendon replied. “I have plenty of time to spend with my two best girls.”
“How about your best boys?” Gideon asked with a chuckle.
“Yeah, don’t you want to spend time with us, too?” Caspian asked.
“I spent more than enough time chasing you boys,” his father said with a grin. “I’d like to focus on my girls for a little while now.”
It was true, he’d spent more than enough time chasing them around when they were younger. Quality time with their father had never been lacking, even when he was busy. Looking back, Caspian wasn’t sure how his father had managed so much time with them, but he appreciated it all the more.
“I suppose we can allow that,” Kellan said, fixing a pretend glare on their little sister. “You better take advantage of all this time with Father. You hear me?”
She giggled. “Of course I will. What do we get to do first?”
“Hold your horses, Little Bit,” Lord Rendon said with a laugh. “Let’s get your brother settled first. Caspian? Will you take over the Fall Festival for your mother?”
Caspian nodded. Taking over the Fall Festival wasn’t exactly at the top of the list of things he’d hoped to do once he got home, but if it meant that his mother and sister were happy, he would do just about anything.
And it would be nice to get into town a little more. He’d been largely disconnected from the town when he grew up, something he’d wanted to change for a while but wasn’t sure how best to do it.
His father had just given him the perfect reason.
Even if it wasn’t the reason he would have chosen himself.
“Mother, you’ll have to give me some tips. I don’t know the first thing about organizing a festival.”
His mother smiled. “Don’t worry, dear. We have lots of wonderful connections to help. You’ll want to talk to Beatrice at the library. She’s been my biggest help so far.”
Caspian sighed. How had he gone from swinging a sword to spending time in the library in less than two days? “And the other task?” he asked his father.
“I want you to train our guard here,” Lord Rendon said. “You have more training now than any of them.”
He nodded. At least that was something he felt confident in.
Being home was completely different than being an officer of the king’s guard in the capital city. He would have to focus on enjoying life here as much as he could, before making the decision on what he was going to do with the rest of his life.
Training as a guard had set him up for a potential future career. He now had the next two months to decide if that’s what he was going to do for the rest of his life, or if he was going to find another path.
Would planning the Fall Festival help with that decision? It didn’t seem likely. But if that’s what needed to happen here, then he would step up and do it.
Maybe he could become the best at planning the Fall Festival.
That surely would help his future, right?
