Ivan Zoh

With the permission of his father, Jusht, Maiket Zoh married Letibe of the gypsies at the height of summer, and all the farmers congregated in the valley village to witness their vows. For a wedding gift Jusht gave his son four cows and the quarter of his land that bordered a wood, and he built them a small farmhouse at the centre of four fields; two for raising grain, two for grazing livestock. That first year the gypsies gave only their daughter; but from then on, whenever their travels brought them back to the valley they brought strange gifts from the lands they travelled, which in time made the small farm of the Zohs most noteworthy. That autumn Maiket took in the first harvest of his own, which was his gift to her; they gave each other warmth through the long, harsh winter; and in the spring Letibe gave birth to dark, beautiful twins, which was her gift to him.

Ivan Zoh was born a moment before his sister, Ehva, but their parents loved them equally well, as well as a life of hard farm work would allow. They were like one child divided: Ehva's mind held thoughts for two and the tongue in her head would happily speak for them both, but she suffered such lethargies that days might pass without her so much as leaving the family home, let alone the farm itself. Ivan on the other hand had energy to spare and spent his childhood adventuring around the valley at the beck and call of his sister's vivid imagination, though his own was as limited as his vocabulary. He was a watchful boy, inasmuch as his insatiable urge to act would allow.

When Ivan and Ehva were four, their mother gave birth again. From his very first day Sohan was a tricksy boy, difficult to keep an eye on, troublesome when left unwatched, and utterly unafraid of saying or doing whatever took upon him to be said or done, most often at the worst of times. Only his sister had any command over him, for he was devoted to her, and as he grew he found no subject for his slyness more satisfying than his brother, often following him on Ehva's missions either to beat him to the prize or throw unexpected obstacles in his path.

Of course, the duties of the farm called too, and even Ehva's daily quests would have to wait until Maiket judged Ivan's work done. It was a hard life, but Ivan was rewarded for it with strength and a sound knowledge of crops and livestock, they too being relatively simple things, reliable when treated properly. In the autumn of his tenth year, Maiket decided Ivan would help in the fields with the harvest. Ivan was proud that his strength was enough to make him useful in the most important time of the year.

On the morning of the first day of autumn Ivan was up early feeding the animals, while Letibe and Ehva prepared food for the day in the kitchen. Maiket said to little Sohan, "Go to your brother and tell him to join me in the north field when the animals are fed, for I go to begin the harvest."

"I will join you too," said Sohan, but his father shook his head.

"You are too small to work in the fields," he said as he left. "You will stay here and help your mother and sister." Sohan was furious that he wasn't allowed to help with the harvest as well, and he stamped his feet as he went to Ivan.

"Our father orders me to help you in the south field while he works the north alone," said Sohan and Ivan agreed. He and his brother found the south field high with grain, but there were no tools or cord to cut and bind it. "If you pull up the crop with your bare hands I will go and bring what we need," said Sohan and Ivan agreed, bending to the work as his brother left smiling.

All morning Ivan pulled up the grain, laying it in blankets of gold behind him, but Sohan did not return with tools or cord. Still Ivan worked as the sun beat down, long into the afternoon, until he discovered a strange tool abandoned in the field - a straight-bladed sickle of gleaming steel. It cut through the straw beautifully and Ivan was pleased, knowing that he might finish the harvest faster - but hardly had he begun to swing the blade than a voice cried to him from the waves of golden grain.

"I hear the singing of my sword! Who wields it?" Ivan looked at the sword, only now seeing it for a weapon, having never looked upon one before.

"My name is Ivan Zoh," he called. "I work my father's field. Who's sword is this?"

"I am the Tsar's good knight, Dmitri," came the voice. "Swing the sword once more!"

Ivan did, and the falling grain revealed before him a wounded warrior lying hidden in the field, wearing long moustaches, with the blood of his enemies and himself upon his battered armour. He held out his hand for the sword, and though it would have made his task much easier Ivan returned it to its owner. The knight brushed off the straw dust from the blade and sheathed it.

"I was pursued by enemies of the Tsar, and am the last of my company. I was lost in the night and took refuge here to lose them and regain my strength. Am I near to the city?" Ivan had never left the valley, but knew from stories that Dis, the city of the Tsar, lay beyond the mountain to the north, and he said so.

"Bah! I am not strong enough to climb mountains!" Dmitri frowned at the sky. "I need water, food and shelter, and bandages for my injuries. Will you take me to your home?"

Ivan thought, and then he said, "My father sent me here to work. I must finish before I go home. But my brother has not returned with tools, nor the cord to tie the bushels." The knight looked him over; Ivan was both strong and - if simple - determined to do his duty; good qualities in a youngster, he knew.

"If you agree to help me, I have a roll of twine in my pack which you may use to tie the bushels; and I'll loan you my sword for the day to speed the cutting first. What do you say?"

Ivan had liked the feel of the sword in his hand, so he agreed with a wide smile which the knight returned. Swinging the blade he made fast work of the rest of the field, and there was more than enough twine to tie all the bushels when it was done. Before he gave back the sword, he used it to cut a limb from an old tree for a crutch; then, with one arm around the knight's back and a bushel of grain under the other, Ivan helped bring Dmitri back to the farm.

Maiket had been angry all day, thinking Ivan too lazy to work. "I told him to help," said Sohan, who had eaten Ivan's lunch as well as his own when his brother didn't return to the farmhouse at noon. When the dog started barking Maiket stormed out to beat a good lesson into his son, but was much surprised by what he found and bowed to the knight deeply, welcoming him inside.

"Your boy has done you much credit," said the knight. "Your southern crop is harvested and he has been a great aid to me. He has both followed your orders and served an agent of the Tsar. You have raised him as well as the sun raises grain."

"I see that I have, sir knight," said Maiket. "More so than my other son, I suspect," he added, as Sohan ran away to hide in the chicken house, with the dog snapping at his heels all the way. "You are welcome to recover here for as long as it may take."

"Thank you," said Dmitri, "though I cannot rest long as I must bear my message to the Tsar. Perhaps, in a few days when your harvest is done, Ivan could help me finish this task."

Letibe was most concerned, for her first-born had never spent so much as two nights in a row out from under her roof; Ehva was shocked at the notion of her brother embarking on an adventure not of her making; and, had he not been hiding in the stink of the chickens, Sohan would have been outraged at the reward being offered for being tricked so easily - and when he found out the next morning, outraged he certainly was.

But Maiket looked at Ivan and saw a glimmer of light in his eyes that had not been there the day before; he imagined the things the boy would have a chance to see, even if it was only a fleeting glimpse; and he shook the hand of the knight and told Ivan that, if he worked hard to complete the harvest, and if he obeyed the knight's orders without question, and if he promised to bring no shame on the family name, that he may accompany the knight to Dis, the city of the Tsar.

Ivan Zoh promised, and three days later he left the valley for the very first time.