Helmer didn't think that the rabbits of Tarvan Bluff would forget this Leaping Week in a hurry. After all, the very first day had already been marked by unprecedented events. For the first time ever, the king of Natalia was visiting the ancient first settlement of the bluff. And thanks to messengers sent to each of the scattered clans, virtually the entire rabbit population of the bluff and its surroundings was present to see it.

Wearing his dress uniform and marching in the third rank behind the king and his Lord Captains, Helmer wished he felt half as comfortable as Jupiter looked. The king was dressed in fine but modest clothing that included a cape. Upon his head sat the Crown of Flames, the Green Ember glinting brightly at its front. Only the sword at his side hinted that he was ready for action at a moment’s notice.

To either side of the king walked Stam and Perkin One-Eye. Stam was quite recovered from his altercation with Sigrid. He towered over King Jupiter, but his Drekker trousers made him look rather less grand. Captain Perkin was dressed similarly to the king, but he had no cape. His customary eyepatch stood out against his fur as he marched with his head erect.

At Helmer’s side, Lieutenant Hewson walked with the same regal bearing as the king and first Lord Captain. To Helmer, however, it seemed that the lord’s son had a haughtiness about him that the other two lacked. Here was one who did not gracefully acknowledge the awed stares and enthusiastic cheering from the rabbits of Tarvan Bluff, but seemed to regard it as his due. By birth he was above these cast-offs from the Great Wood, and it was good that they knew it.

Suppressing a scowl, Helmer did his best to emulate Lord Captain Stam’s bearing: that of a soldier ready and willing to do what his king commanded. In spite of his discomfort, he endeavored to relax and enjoy the festive atmosphere. This became easier as the king’s procession neared the center of the settlement, where Chief Tarvan and his peers waited to greet their guests. What brought Helmer ease, however, was that Sigrid stood with her chief and with the leaders of the defensive forces of their scattered clans.

Dressed for battle but with her array cleaned, oiled, and polished, and her golden fur practically glowing, Sigrid was impressive. More than that, Helmer thought, with an unfamiliar flutter. She was…beautiful. It was not the sort of thought he had ever given place to about a doe. But amid all the Tarvan Bluff rabbits in their festival raiment, and even beside the king, captains, and officers of his own army, Helmer found no sight to compare with her.

Catching sight of him, Sigrid did not relax her pose of stiff attention. But there seemed, he thought, an added light in her eyes. Hoping that his own expression was just as neutral, he returned her gaze as the king’s procession came to a halt. This was, after all, what they had been working towards for some days now.

Behind the front ranks, the soldiers of King Jupiter’s expeditionary force spread to nearly fill the city square.

Fortunately, Lord Tarvan had been forewarned, so none of the Tarvan Bluff rabbits were crowded out of the space. Briefly, Helmer wondered what the many rabbits of this far off place must think as they gazed upon this army of strangers. Only a portion of the forces King Jupiter had assembled during his reign thus far were present, but the army was still many times the size of Chief Tarvan’s entire contingent of Guardians. If the other chieftains commanded similar numbers, they might-might-just have the forces needed to match those the king had brought with him.

It was to be hoped, of course, that it would never be necessary that such a contest occur. By and large, Sigrid had spoken well of the rabbits of the other clans. She believed that they would be civil, if not outright welcoming, to King Jupiter’s coming. And it was her hope, however faint, that any hitherto hostile elements might be cowed, or even humbled, at sight of the king and his bucks.

Without moving his head, Helmer scanned the chieftains and their officers. Little resemblance could be seen between the rabbit leaders to denote their distant kinship. They spanned a range of heights, girths, fur colors, and temperaments. Overall, he wouldn’t have feared King Jupiter, Lord Captain Perkin, or Lord Captain Stam facing any one of them, except perhaps Sigrid.

And one other.

The rabbit in question was not especially imposing. Older than King Jupiter, but not as old as Chief Tarvan. Average height, sturdy build, and with the posture of a trained fighter. But it was his eyes that told Helmer this rabbit was dangerous.

Eyes that looked upon the army of King Jupiter…and were unimpressed.

Only one thing, Helmer thought, would make a rabbit react that way. This rabbit had seen a sight, or perhaps several, that had impressed him. And that sight had filled him with awe, or fear, that left him unmoved by the host of rabbits he now saw. To such a rabbit, to oppose that host would thus not be as daunting as it rightly should have been.

King Jupiter, if he registered this, did not show it. Instead, he stepped forward and stopped a short distance from the waiting leaders of the Tarvan Bluff clans. Sigrid walked out to meet him. Reaching down to his waist, the king unbuckled his sword belt.

“Just as Firstfather gave Firstsword to Firstking, so I now give my sword up to the Guardians of Tarvan Bluff.” With these words, Jupiter handed his sword and scabbard to Sigrid. In doing so, he followed the instructions Sigrid herself had given him.

Helmer, who had been at Sigrid’s side throughout her instruction of the king and his army, knew that the chieftains of the visiting clans and Chief Tarvan himself had made this same symbolic surrender as each arrived in the settlement. It was a ritual dating back to the first Leaping Week that had taken place after the sons of the last Lord Tarvan had split their father’s lordship medallion, and the rabbits of the bluff, between them. Never before, however, had a king been the one to offer up his blade.

It seemed particularly significant given the historical, or mythological, context behind the words themselves. According to some of the earliest stories told among rabbitkind, Flint had besought Firstfather for the means to stand against Firstfoe. Firstfather had responded, and Flint had, by one means or another, received the starsword. But Flint’s fall, it was said, had come because he had failed to surrender the starsword once Firstfoe had fallen.

Sigrid bowed her head in response to Jupiter’s words. “In the name of the Guardians, I is accepting your sword as Firstking was accepting Firstsword. But when the time is being come, I will be giving you back your sword.”

Once Sigrid had returned to her place, Chief Tarvan and his counterparts each made a point of greeting the king and introducing themselves. The other chieftains were each followed by Sigrid’s counterparts from their respective settlements. It was too many names for Helmer to keep track of, and he hoped he wouldn’t need to. But he paid close attention when the cool-eyed chieftain stepped forward and declared his name to be Chief Hardrata.

“Your army is being most impressive, King,” Hardrata observed. His tone, particularly the skepticism with which he spoke the last word, belied his words. “It is being hoped that it will be leaving looking as impressive as it was coming in. And that you will not be regretting the forfeiture of your sword.”

Bristling silently at what plainly seemed a veiled threat, Helmer waited for Jupiter’s response. Unflappable as always, the king smiled graciously at the haughty chieftain. “If it comes to swords, oh chief, you need not worry for me. You see, my Lord Captain and good friend Perkin carries two. He prefers to fight with both, but he’s willing to lend me one as needed.”

Perkin, standing to attention, nodded in acknowledgment. His single eye fixed on Hardrata, glinting dangerously. The twin hilts of his swords, strapped to his back, also gleamed brightly. Any rabbit with the slightest experience of battle could see he was ready for action at an instant’s notice.

King Jupiter laughed then, and his smile was more kindly. “Come, friends! Why should we now talk of armies and swords? Leaping Week has come, and my rabbits and I will celebrate it with you!”

With an inward sigh of relief, Sigrid watched as King Jupiter and the chieftains left to make their way to the Chieftains’ Feast, a meal the leaders of Tarvan Bluff’s clans always shared at the start of Leaping Week. The meeting between the king and Chief Hardrata had been an encounter she had been dreading. It was suspected that Hardrata was in league with the wolves of the north. He had long ceased to disguise his lack of regard for his fellow chieftains.

The army of King Jupiter began to break up into smaller units, by arrangements that had been agreed upon prior to their procession into the city. Many would go to eat with the fighting forces that had been brought to the settlement by the visiting chieftains. Others had been invited to eat with other groups of visitors, or with denizens of the settlement itself. This latter group included Lord Captain Stam and Lieutenant Hewson, while Perkin went with the king.

Helmer approached Sigrid, a hand on his sword pommel. Sigrid fought a smile at the sight of him. She thought he looked quite elegant in his dress uniform. However, even in the short time they had been acquainted, she had gotten to know him well enough to recognize his discomfort.

“Any chance you just forgot to tell me where I’m going to eat, Sigrid? Or have I been chosen for some Tarvan Bluff tradition in which a guest is to go hungry?”

Chuckling, Sigrid shook her head. “We is not being having any such traditions, Helmer. I was being  thinking that you might be liking to be joining me. On such days, and at other times, there is a place to which I am being going.”

Obviously intrigued, Helmer nodded, and together they walked to a quarter of the settlement Sigrid had not yet shown him. They eventually came to a rough courtyard surrounded by buildings that were well-maintained but clearly old. A few clusters of small rabbits were scattered around the courtyard. When they saw the new arrivals, they swarmed towards them with such enthusiasm that Sigrid saw Helmer tense as though bracing for an attack.

“Guardian! Guardian!” The younglings cried out happily as they massed around Sigrid. She smiled warmly at all of them, soaking up their affection. Once they’d expended their greet and quieter, Sigrid gestured towards her companion.

“Mine younglings, this is being Lieutenant Helmer. He is being a soldier of King Jupiter, who is being with us for Leaping Week. We have come to be joining you for the Mountain Supper.” This sparked another clamor, and the younglings eagerly spread out to encircle Helmer.

It was clear from the expression on Helmer’s face that he was out of his element. Sigrid once again had to hide a smile. It was strange to think that this skillful buck, who had fearlessly crossed blades with her, was unnerved by children. But, Sigrid reminded herself, she had her own anxieties that might have bewildered those who saw her as a fearless warrior.

The younglings were soon herding her and Helmer into the largest of the old structures. Soon they found themselves in a spacious dining area. A handful of other grown rabbits were in the midst of final preparations for a meal. One long table had been set and was surrounded by a hodgepodge of chairs, with not one matching its immediate neighbors.

Before Sigrid could say anything, the younglings had ushered her and Helmer to a pair of chairs. She looked at Helmer, and he managed a smirk. The two removed their sword belts and looped them over the backs of their chairs. Much to Sigrid’s surprise, Helmer then gestured her to sit, and then helped move her chair into a comfortable position before taking his own seat.

Eagerly, several of the younglings helped Helmer in similar fashion, though rather less elegantly. Sigrid hid a smile. Fortunately, Helmer had relaxed somewhat and gave the young rabbits an appreciative smile in spite of the jostling. Having seen to their guests, the children quickly scrambled for seats of their own.

“Mind telling me who all your friends are, Sigrid?”

Now Sigrid did smile, but sadly. “They is being the orphans of Tarvan Bluff, mine friend. Even the other settlements is sending them to us, when there is being no kin to be caring for them. And that is being happening more and more these past years.

“We at this settlement is being better able to guardwatch those who cannot be doing the defending of themselves. Even so, most families is not being able to care for more younglings than they is already being having. So the younglings is being housed here, with a rotation of helpgiving rabbits to watch them. Then we they is being old enough, they is being apprenticed.

“Guardians is often being chosen from among such younglings. Many is having good reason to want to be standing against northwolves and traitorkin. And so I is being sure to care for these little ones. For one day they is maybe being my swordsiblings…or the ones who is being carrying my sword when I is being gone.”

Amid their clamor, none of the younglings heard Sigrid’s words. They also appeared to take no notice of the tenderness and sorrow in her eyes as she spoke and looked at them. Intent on the happiness of the occasion, few if any of them saw Helmer lay his hand atop Sigrid’s. And the hand, after giving a quick but firm squeeze, retreated before any of the little rabbits could comment.

Sigrid herself, moved by Helmer’s gesture, could say nothing for a moment. Then her attention was distracted by another adult rabbit carrying a serving tray. At first, Sigrid was baffled by a curious device on his face, a pair of glass lenses surrounded by red metal frames. It was only when she recognized the wild eyes behind them that she realized that she knew the rabbit.

Zeiger saw the surprise on her face and grinned widely. “Happy Mountain Feast, mine Guardian! You will be excusing my shortgreetings, but much dutywork I be having! Always I am being wanting to serve at the younglings’ meal, but never before am I having surekeen sighteyes!”

Helmer actually smiled at the stunned look on Sigrid’s face. “Judging by your expression, I take it eyeglasses aren’t a common sight on Tarvan Bluff?”

“I am never being hearing of such things before, mine friend. Where is being Zeiger getting such things?”

“From Lord Captain Stam. That’s why he asked you about a glazier after our first meeting with Chief Tarvan. Captain Stam likes to work with metal in his spare time, but he has no skill with glass. Except for breaking it, anyway.”

Ruefully, Sigrid rubbed at her nose. “Having being on the wrong end of Captain Stam’s hammer, it is being no trouble for me to imagine.”

“Let’s neither of us imagine it then,” Helmer replied with a smile. One of the younglings handed him a dish, and after helping himself to a portion of the food he offered it to Sigrid. “I don’t know about you, but right now I’d rather eat.”