_ _ _
The Afterlife Part I: New Beginning
_ _ _
It had been over a month since Berengar had entered the next life. And during this time, he and Brynhildr had been focused on one thing, and one thing only. Survival. There was a lot that a man like Berengar could do in a month if he had the resources and team to accomplish the goal.
But now that he was all alone, with nothing but a valkyrie to keep him company, and with no civilization to speak of. The once mighty Kaiser of the German Empire was forced to start from scratch.
Because of this, Berengar had built a raised lean-to shelter, where he and Brynhildr had slept for the past two weeks. And during this time, Brynhildr would scavenge, while Berengar would hunt for food. Luckily for him, this world seemed to be a perfectly balanced paradise, that was filled with an abundance of food, and fresh water that was not the slightest bit polluted.
Thus, neither Berengar nor Brynhildr needed to focus on purifying water for survival. Instead, they simply drank from the river, and hunted much of the wildlife for food. Berengar had fashioned a longbow from a single yew log, with a Flemish bowstring made from plant fibers. This, along with flint arrows, allowed him to expertly hunt down a large, wild boar. Which he brought back to their camp.
Once butchered and cooked over the fire, which Brynhildr maintained nearly every hour of the day, it would provide more than enough calories for the day. That Berengar would use to work in their shelter.
The Lean to was not enough for long-term survival, and Berengar had no idea when the winter would come in this world, or if it ever would. Thus, he had wanted to build a proper, long house before such a possibility prevented itself.
Of course, Berengar was working solely with stone tools of his own making. Thus, it was a slow effort to chop down the trees, and clear the space necessary for a longhouse to exist. Which was exactly what he was doing at this very moment. '
Soon enough, Brynhildr arrived with a wineskin fashioned from goat leather. It was filled with water, which Brynhildr handed to her man with a wide smile on her face, while asking about how the new home was coming along.
"So how much longer will it be before the land is cleared?"
Berengar simply scoffed after taking a deep gulp from the wineskin, where he then handed it back to Brynhildr before making a comment about the whole thing.
"By the end of the day, I should have enough space cleared for the longhouse, but we will also have to think about a small sustainable farm, a place to put domesticated livestock, once we have manged to accomplish this, as well as a smoke shack so we can properly preserve our food.
So may be in about three days' time, I will have the land cleared for all of that as well. Not to mention we will have to build a smith, so I can make some iron tools. Because these fucking stones are worthless! Gods, I miss steel!"
Brynhildr could not help but giggle at her man's remarks. He had been working so hard to get this longhouse up and running, now that they did not have to worry as much about basic needs. And yet there was very little she could do to help in this regard, because she constantly needed to maintain the fire.
All she could really do was scavenge the plentiful forests nearby for berries and fruits. But she could only do so for a limited amount of time, and could never stray too far from camp. Thus, she truly felt bad for making Berengar do all of this work. Yet, despite the fact that he appeared to be exhausted. Berengar seemed to be happier than he had been in a very long time. He was finally able to be useful again.
Even if it meant starting from scratch, Berengar finally had something to do. Something meaningful. And he could not be happier. After all, he had to prepare for his wives and children, many of which would soon be joining him in this paradise. And thus, he needed all of what he had just listed to Brynhildr, and even more if he wanted to provide for his loved ones when they finally joined him.
With this in mind, Brynhildr was simply happy that her man was happy, and was quick to comment on this.
"Well, I trust you will have the longhouse built in another month. As for the other things, they will come on time. For now, we simply need to take things slow, and conserve our energy..."
Berengar couldn't help but agree with Brynhildr as he finished chopping down the tree. Which fell over in the opposite direction of the two of them. Once it had done so, he called out to the mature beauty to hand him his shovel, which he had fashioned from stone, wood, and plant fibres.
"Brynhildr, be a doll and hand me that shovel, will you?"
Brynhildr did not hesitate to assist the man, as he stuck the shovel into the ground, and began to pry the stump out of the ground from its roots. Only a man with the superhuman strength and endurance that Berengar had inherited from the starry well of the world tree, and the mystical pool in Iceland would so easily be able to remove a stump.
Berengar would continue on this effort, until the night began to fall, which he and his woman then retired back to the camp, to feast on some freshly cooked pork, along with some vegetables and fruits scavenged from the forest.
_ _ _
While Berengar was working tirelessly to build a home from scratch in the afterlife. His wives, lovers, and children were all rather depressed. Though they all knew the man was in a better place, a month had passed since the patriarch of their dynasty had passed away. The Funeral that was held for Berengar was the grandest that anyone could possibly imagine.
To honor Berengar as the Great Kaiser who had built the German Empire from nothing. The German Army Corps of Engineers quickly got to work building a grand mausoleum in Kufstein that was designed to be the man's final resting place.
The work was on the scale of the Great Pyramid of Giza, and was located in the center of the Kufstein Military Cemetary. Berengar's corpse had been laid in a solid gold sarcophagus, which was carved to resemble his youthful appearance, back when the man was in his early twenties.
The coffin was painted with enamel to match Berengar's appearance, as he appeared in life. With two solid blue sapphires in the eye sockets. Every day, his wives and lovers would visit the tomb to speak to their loved one who they missed dearly. Perhaps none more so than Henrietta, who struggled to find a reason to continue living without her beloved big brother.
Even now, as night fell, Henrietta stood silently, gazing upon her brother's corpse with a solemn expression. She had been standing still for hours, not saying a word to anyone. And this was mostly how she spent her days silently communicating with the deceased, hoping he would give her some words of wisdom that she might be able to live by now that he was gone from this world.
Eventually it was Adela who came forth to collect the girl. They had always been close in life, almost as if they were truly sisters, even if they were cousins by blood. And yet Adela could not help but mourn beside the girl as she gazed upon Berengar's casket with a look of sorrow on her aging face.
"He really was handsome, wasn't he?..."
Henrietta silently nodded her head, not wanting to say a word. Because if she did, she did not know if she would be able to prevent herself from crying. After a dreadfully long silence that lasted longer than either of the two women knew, Henrietta finally spoke of her thoughts.
"Soon, big brother and I will be reunited... I don't know how much longer I will be able to live without him..."
Adela could sense something dark in her cousin's tone, and thus she looked over at the woman before asking the question that worried her the most.
"Henrietta... You aren't thinking of....
Luckily, Henrietta shook her head with a bitter smile on her face. It was clear that she had contemplated ending her life multiple times throughout this past month. Hell, perhaps she had thought about it multiple times every day since Berengar passed away. Which was ultimately confirmed by her words.
"Berengar would never forgive me if I took my own life... But I can tell that my time is coming... It may be a month, or it may be a year, but I know in my heart I will be the first to reunite with Big Brother, I was the first he saw when he came into this world, and I will be the first he sees after he has entered the next....."
Adela was at a loss for words over what her cousin had said and simply beckoned her to return to their home. Which they had lived in for most of their lives.
"Come, Henrietta, let us return to the palace. Dinner should be ready soon, and Hans will be worried if we are out for too long...
Thus, Adela grabbed hold of Henrietta's dainty hand and led her back to the car, which had been waiting for hours to take the two women home.
_ _ _
The Afterlife Part II: Welcome Home
_ _ _
Over a month had passed since Berengar first began building some proper accommodations for himself and Brynhildr in this paradise which he had been given by the god, Odin. And finally, he had managed to do just that.
Standing before the man and his Valkyrie wife was a large log longhouse that was easily capable of providing shelter to Berengar and his many women. It was covered with a thatched roof, and it was built into the hillside, where a hot spring sat in its backyard, one that Berengar had converted into a public bath.
Aside from the longhouse and hot springs, there was a large hatchery directly below the hillside, which was used to farm fish of a variety of species. The water from this hatchery was used to irrigate nearby farm land which contained a small plot of land that had been converted into the four field system.
Potatoes, wheat, barley, spices, legumes, you name it, and it could be found in Berengar's fields. It was hard work maintaining a farm of this size yourself. But luckily, Berengar's enhanced strength and stamina, which he had gained from bathing in the mystical pool, carried over to the afterlife.
Yet Berengar's most prized possession was not this fertile farmland, or the hatchery which provided near unlimited fish for himself and his lover. But it was instead the small ranch, which housed not only horses but also tamed animals which Berengar had captured in the wild, such as the mighty aurochs, hogs, and, of course, the red junglefowl.
This meant that Berengar had access to fish, beef, pork, and poultry as a near constant meat supply. Aside from these major improvements to the land, Berengar had also established a small smithy, which was capable of producing bronze and iron, and a smokeshack, to cure his meat so that it did not spoil.
Not that spoilage was a problem in this paradise, as harmful bacteria that caused spoilage and disease were nowhere to be found. Still, it was an old habit that Berengar had, and if he was being honest, he enjoyed the taste of smoked meat.
After gazing upon the maginificent progress he had made over the last two months since he first entered this eternal paradise, Berengar could speak with pride about what he had created from nothing.
"It's funny... I never thought my own afterlife would be creating everything from scratch, and though it may be hard work, I enjoyed every moment of it!"
Brynhildr hugged her man, and leaned into his arms, while gazing upon all the progress that had been made in such a short time.
"It is truly magnificent... Now, husband... There is another matter we need to discuss....
Berengar rolled his eyes before guessing what the problem was.
"Let me guess, you're pregnant again?"
Brynhildr giggled when she heard this, before shaking her head and correcting her husband on what she meant.
"No... I meant that we have a new guest..."
Berengar quickly looked over in the direction which Brynhildr was pointing, and noticed a young, and naked woman lying unconscious on the ground. The moment Berengar laid eyes on this woman, he knew exactly who she was. And tears appeared in his eyes as he ran over to her side and knelt in front of her. Grabbing hold of her hand and checking the pulse on her wrist.
Once he realized the young woman was simply sleeping peacefully, the tears in Berengar's eyes became even more profuse as they dripped on the sleeping beauty's face. Though they did not seem to have the slightest effect, that is until Berengar leaned forward and kissed the young beauty on the lips. She immediately opened her azure eyes and made a slight comment in a rather tired tone.
"Good morning, big brother..."
This caused Berengar to wear a wide smile on his face, as he pressed his forehead against his beloved little sister's before welcoming her to the afterlife.
"Good Morning my dear Henrietta!"
It was only now that Henrietta realized she was not dreaming, and immediately sat up and looked around at her strange surroundings. It was the dead of winter when she had passed, yet in this world, it was a warm and gentle spring.
The young woman gazed around in awe, and then at her own body, realizing she was once more just old enough to be considered an adult, and her big brother was only a few years older than herself.
Henrietta immediately hugged Berengar, who was dressed in rather primitive clothing, as she sobbed in his shoulder, fearful that if she were to ever let go, she would wake up in the Kufstein Palace, old and alone.
"Big brother! Big brother! Big brother! I missed you so much! Is it really you?"
Berengar wiped the golden strand of hair out of the young woman's eye and smiled while nodding his head before confirming that this was indeed reality.
"It is really me Henrietta, we are united at last... Though I must say, you followed me here to the afterlife much quicker than I thought you would. What happened? You were ten years younger than me. How did you perish?"
There was a warm and gentle smile on the young woman's face, a she nuzzled her head into her beloved older brother's chest, and remarked how she had died.
"Silly brother... I died of a broken heart... You left me behind in that cold and cruel world without the one person I had ever truly loved... How could I not follow after you? Two months was all it took before I wasted away into nothing.... By the end of it, I could not even leave my bed, I went peacefully in my sleep...."
Brynhildr quickly approached the reunited siblings with a basket full of freshly baked pretzels, along with some fine venison knockwurst, and two mugs of beer, which she handed over to Berengar and his sister with a wide smile on her face.
"Welcome home Henrietta... Though it isn't much at the moment, I am sure soon enough it will be the paradise that your brother has envisioned....."
However, Henrietta looked around at the large longhouse that Berengar had built which was only but a fraction of the size of the luxurious palace she had lived in for most of her life. She then saw the small hot springs, the hatchery as well as the fields and livestock.
Despite being born a minor noblewoman, and raised as a princess, she did not care in the slightest for all the frivolities she had become accustomed to in her past life. And instead made a warm and gentle remark to both Brynhildr and her beloved big brother.
"It's already perfect....
Berengar hugged his little sister again. He, too, feared that if he were to let go, she would suddenly vanish. He assured her that together, they would make the afterlife worth living. As he kissed her on the lips and promised never to leave her side again.
I promise Henrietta... Never again will I leave you behind. From today, until the end of time, you and I will be together here in this paradise. And soon enough, our other loved ones will join us, but for now, it's just the three of us!"
Henrietta took another glance at the modest shelter that Berengar had built to house him and his family. Before finally voicing her thoughts on everything she witnessed.
"I'm finally home..."
_ _ _
The Afterlife: Part III: Letting go of the past...
_ _ _
It had been close to a year and a half since Berengar passed away... And during this time life had been cold for his loved ones.
The German Reich that the man had painstakingly built over a lifetime of valor, brilliance, and ingenuity was left in good hands.
After all Berengar had long since retired before his death, leaving the realm in the hands of his eldest and most capable son. Hans was a fearless leader, but a ruthless one. Ruthless, especially to those who sought to undo what his father had built.
Despite all nations across the globe bowing before Hans, as the rulers of the most powerful kingdoms and empires all shared some form of blood ties to the man. There would always be those who sought to disrupt the balance of the world for personal glory and fortune.
Rebellions in colonial regions by ambitious men were put down with violent repression, and those who were related to the rebels were executed along with them, in order to "finish the job" and leave no "rebellious sentiment left behind."
His cruelty in the face of global threats earned hans the nickname of the "Block Hearted yet he was beloved by his people, especially those within the fatherland's borders. Space became the new frontier, as Germany bolstered by Zand's brilliance, and the resources at her disposall allowed for travel towards the moon, mars, and beyond.
And the wealth of the stars would, in the coming years, be claimed by the Germa Reich. It was a new era, one which Berengar would be remembered for having made a possibility. But, as the days passed, his lovers became more and more feeble.
The oldest of which were, after all only slightly younger than Berengar was whe he passed. Blessed with youthful vigor long beyond their normal means, the gift of the Gods had rapidly dried up. And after Henrietta's passing it was only a matter of time before another of Great Kaiser's wives or concubines was laid to rest as well.
As they had done throughout their entire lives, it would appear that Linde and Adela were in competition once more to see who entered the grave and reunited with their beloved husband first. The two of which were equally bedridden, lying next to each other.
There was a bitter expression on Adela's face, as she finally mustered the courage to tell Linde what she had thought of her all these years.
"For my entire life... I have hated you... You were always first in Berengar's heart. We all knew this. It had been that way since you first stole from me what was rightfully mine. I had always played second fiddle to you in everything.
Even towards the end, when he tried to make things up for me, and apologize for the way which he initially treated me, I knew if given another chance, he would still choose you over me... And that little bitch Henrietta had to go and pass away first, stealing from me my chance to be the first to reunite with our beloved in the afterlife."
Linde smirked, her faced aged, but her devilish grin never once being less seductively beautiful, as she made a comment on what she knew would be Adela's last words before they reunited in the afterlife. And because of this, she made fun of her one last time...
"But I always adored you little lamb... A pity, I had always sought to best you in every competition we ever had. I would be lying if I were to say that I did not do so intentionally to hurt you. But the truth of the matter is, I always resented you for having been granted the title of first wife.
Sure, Berengar showed his favor to me in many many ways, but you held the title I always coveted. And in the end, you will also be the first to see him, other than Henrietta that is. I can't complain about the girl though, she did take a bullet for her brother after all... If not for her courage, my man would have left me long earlier than he was meant to...
Still, I suppose I should say I'm sorry, I did torture you a bit more than I should have, and for that I apologize... If I had not egged Berengar on, perhaps things would have been different between us, and we never would have had that nasty business in the chapel...
Adela eyes widened as she vividly remembered a heavily repressed memory. She instantly began breaking out laughing at Linde's apology. Now? Of all times in their lives, now she chose to apologize for that?
Her laughter turned to coughing, first slowly, and then heavily. The fever that had taken them both was working desperately to finish the job. And as Adela's breathing began to become shallow, she was quick to say her final thoughts...
"I suppose.... After everything we have been through... Now that my time comes to an end... I can forgive you... Still, to be so upset over the first wife thing.... It's just a meaningless title..."
As the light behind Adela's eyes slowly began to fade, and her consciousness became black, the final words she heard were an admission from Linde that she had never expected.
"It may have been a meaningless title to you, but to me it was everything... I'll see you soon little lamb. Give my love to our husband for me, will you?"
After hearing this there was nothing but darkness for Adela as she had finally passed away from this life, any leaning resentment she had towards the grievances she held with Berengar and Adela finally liberated in her last moments.
_ _ _
Light shone upon Adela's face... Bright, too bright. It was penetrating through her eyelids, and directly into her mind's eye. She was awake? She was alive? These were the thoughts that lingered in her brain until she finally awoke to find herself naked.
Her figure was young again, every wrinkle and crease in her body that had formed with age had vanished. As she popped up, she was quick to find that she was lying next to a creek, where, upon gazing into it, she had reverted back to her young appearance.
Adela's body was petite and thin, and her lustrous golden blonde hair had returned, tied in the signature twin tails she had worn in her developing years. Even her bosom seemed more modest, as if the growth she experienced in that regard after giving birth for the first time had been set back to zero.
She quickly began to pout, as she realized she was once more the smallest of Berengar's wives, and would forever be so in the afterlife.
She was quick to hug her knees and sulk in silence. That is until a voice called out to her. It was a familiar voice, one which she had longed to hear for close to two years now. And when she gazed over to look at the origin, she saw Berengar standing there.
His age had too been set back to the time when Adela had first met him. Barely twenty years of age by the looks of it. His scars removed, although he was dressed rather strangely. Berengar's clothing was clearly handwoven from wool, and given a rather nicely embroidered trim around the collar and sleeves.
A pattern of Germanic knotwork. His trousers were Norse in origin, particularly of the eastern variety, and he wore a pair of wool ankle wraps. The man also appeared to be wearing a hooded cloak fashioned from a wolf's skin. With a sword tied across his chest via a leather baldric.
The hilt was of a Migration era design, while the blade appeared to be of the single-edged Viking era variety. But none of these finer details caught Adela's interest, because the moment she saw the man she had loved more than anything, alone on horseback gazing down at her with the same longing expression in her eyes that she herself was wearing, the two of them sprinted at each other without a single other care in the world.
Berengar and Adela hugged in silence, his size easily dwarfing hers, as it bad in life. Nothing was said for some time as tears strolled down both of their faces until finally Adela decided to crack a joke at Berengar's expense
"It had been so long, I almost mistook you for a barbarian
This comment elicited a laugh from Berengar as he picked his wife up into bis arms and dragged into his lap as the two of them sat down upon the saddle of the steed, which the man had just leaped off of moments ago. His remarks were almost a confirmation of this joke as be responded to his wife with a jovial smile on his face.
"In comparison to the world we left behind, you might not be wrong about that... It has been a tough year and a balf... But..... Henrietta, Brynhildr and I bave managed to rebuild some primitive form of civilization from scratch.... And nowe we have you my love...
Words cannot express how happy I am to reunite with you after so long. Come, let me show you to our new home. It isn't much... But we have eternity to expand upon it together!"
Adela did not say a word as she happily clung her head to Berengar's chest. This was not the paradise she had quite dreamed of sharing together with her husband for all eternity,especially not what she had been told by the church during her youth. But... As long as the two of them were together, she did not care where they spent eternity.
_ _ _
The Afterlife: Part IV: Reunited After Far Far Too Long..
_ _ _
A lifetime spent together, ups, downs, and lows so low one might wish they could climb into hell itself and never crawl out of its damned depths. That was the relationship that could be described between Berengar and Adela.
So many regrets, apologies, and forgiveness over the years. Yet as Berengar fed his beloved wife the fruits of his labor, a woman whose appearance was almost as vibrant and youthful as the day they met, he could not help but comment on this very thing as she happily ate the food with an adorable smile, and a swing of her legs.
"You know, if I didn't know any better I'd say the Gods sent you here a bit too young..."
Adela stared at Berengar with a scornful gaze, it was not as serious as the ones she had given him in the past, but she was quick to remind him that they had been together for a lifetime, and that despite her current appearance, she was far from naïve as she had once been.
"If you think a bowl of stew and some compliments about how young I look are going to sway my heart back in your favor, you have a long way to go! I mean how could you!?! How could you be the one to die first! Would it not have been better for me to wait for you here!?!"
Berengar chuckled when he saw the feigned fury on his wife's face, as well as the masterful façade of hostility she had conjured in her voice. He was quick to speak with a snarky tone as he wiped some gravy from her cheek before patting her silky, golden hair.
"Oh yeah? And who would have built this stone keep we now have as our home? Would you have painful crafted each stone? And placed every wooden stake in the ground that acts as the defensive perimeter?
I bet with that little body of yours you would have struggled to even dig the first meter of dirt necessary to be lifted to craft the motte and bailey which this very home is built upon!"
Adela knew Berengar was right, but she was quick to pout and outright deny the truth of his words in a way so adorable and childish it was almost as if she had gone back to how she was when they first met all those years ago.
"I could too! If it was really necessary!"
Just when Berengar was about to close the distance and hug Adela, who was dressed in little more than his wolf skin cloak, as a set of finely spun wool clothing had yet to be handcrafted for the woman, the door opened to reveal Henrietta's figure.
The young woman was holding two milk jugs over her shoulders, which she was quick to drop into their rightful position in the kitchen, having not yet noticed the newcomer within her home.
"Big brother, did you catch something tasty? I'm starving, and my back is sore. Can you give me a message after we---"
It was only now that she looked across from the kitchen to see Berengar shamelessly trying to hug Adela who was fighting his advances that her cousin had finally joined them in the afterlife. Causing Henrietta to run over with excitement towards.
"Adela! You have finally joined us! And look at you! You look so young! What the bell? This is too funny? Do the Gods bave some kind of a sick sense of humor? I don't remember you being so small when you married Berengar! "
Adela, who was staring at Henrietta's large and soft globes, which she had been well known for in life with complete and total disbelief. Considering Berengar looked roughly the same age as when they had first met, and she herself looked perhaps a few years older than that same year. How in the hell was Henrietta the way she currently was?
It didn't make sense! And it was so unfair! The girl was three years younger than her, but looked at least three years older nove instead! It wasn't fair! And Adela immediately began to pout as she no longer had the strength to resist being hugged by both Berengar and Henrietta who welcomed her home. All she could do was curse the heavens for playing this cruel joke on her.
"God dammit..."
Berengar and Henrietta however found this amusing, and Henrietta herself was quick to make a comment.
"As adorable as you look wearing big brother's cloak, we really should make you something proper to wear! I will get right on it, big brother, you keep Adela company! I'll be back in a bit!"
With that said, Henrietta ran away to go to her spinning wheel where she would craft a proper set of wool clothes for the latest addition of their family to join them in the afterlife.
As for Berengar, he was quick to kiss Adela on the lips, and pull her out of her funk as he did so.
"Hey little, missy! There's no point pouting! You're absolutely perfect the way you are!"
Adela eventually came around as her pouting frown turned into a smile of disbelief as she looked around at everything Berengar had built in the near two years since he had passed away.
"You really are the type of guy who will build a kingdom even if he is left alone to his own devices, aren't you?"
As she thought about this, Adela remembered something important, which she was quick to give voice to...
"Oh, yeah... Linde wasn't far away from joining us when I finally passed. You should probably get Henrietta to spin another set of clothes for the ginger bitch because it will only be a day or two before we find her..."
Frankly speaking Berengar was surprised that Adela would mention this, as there was a potential the man would become overly excited at the prospect, and would no longer give Adela his focus. Luckily, the woman's trust in her man seemed to have paid off, as he smirked and patted her golden hair before assuring her he would not do what she suggested.
"And? We all showed up in this world naked as the day we were born. Like hell I'm going to give her the privilege of having a pair of clothes readily available, not when the same could not be afforded to you and Henrietta! Let her roam the keep until Henrietta has the time and inspiration to properly make something for her..."
Adela was most surprised by Berengar's words, but was quick to wear a sinister smirk on her face as she said something that made the two of them laugh.
"Well, I might just go have a word with Henrietta and make sure that inspiration takes a bit longer to appear!"
_ _ _
The Afterlife: Part V: Familiar Faces
_ _ _
A brief walk around the property which Berengar had built from scratch over the course of the past two years give or take made one realized just how much work could be done when one was incapable of tiring.
In this afterlife, sleep wasn't a necessary part of existence, fatigue was non-existent, death was impossible, and disease? The idea of such things was the notion of a paranoid schizophrenic and nothing more.
Even food did not spoil no matter if you know how long you exposed it to the elements. In a way, this was the paradise Berengar had been gifted. A barren landscape devoid of pain and suffering, a giant sandbox for him and his family to do what they will with.
As a result, Berengar's work efficiency was at its peak. In a mere two years, he had constructed a motte and bailey castle with a stone keep. For the time being, the lower half of the structure was a small and sustainable field system, surrounded by wooden palisades and a moat structure beyond its edges.
The objective with this was to keep out the pests that lurk outside these walls like, deer, rabbits, and what have you which were by their very nature inclined to steal the crops which Berengar and his loved ones worked so hard to plant and harvest.
The four seasons existed here, but exposure to even the harshest of elements caused no pain, nor blemish upon the skin. In fact, on more than one occasion Berengar and Henrietta had made love in the snow, its cool sensation adding to the overall enjoyment of the activity, rather than detracting from it.
Adela was naturally starting to learn of this as the days passed. Her newest clothes were indeed fashioned by her cousin, Henrietta, who had developed a knack for such talents. Finely spun wool of the softest variety clung to Adela's natural curves, without any undergarments underneath.
Underwear? Such a concept no longer needed to exist other than as a means of sensual stimulation as the ravages of time did nothing to their eternal figures, nor aided in any capacity to keeping their figures warm.
And since the technology to create modern lingerie did not exist yet in this primitive world, Adela, Henrietta, and Brynhildr simply wore nothing beneath their dresses. Adela was indeed surprised as a result that her body did not act in a strange way because of this despite the rain pelting the landscape, and the air being cold enough for her breath to be visibly on display.
Berengar just so happened to be walking by the woman, wearing nothing but a pair of trousers, leg wraps, and boots, as well as his wolf pelt, as he had a quiver of arrows tied to his belt, and a composite bow in his hands, one of a quasi-Scythian design.
If this was her past life, Adela would wish her man luck in his hunt, and pray for his safety on his journey. But by now, after living here for over a month, she knew that there was no risk of injury or death in this paradise.
Nor was there any possibility that he would return without game on his back. The world was filled with a never ending supply of resources. Forever to sustain the growth of the von Kufstein Dynasty as their members based away from the moral world and entered their personal afterlife.
As a result, Berengar slapped Adela's petite ass as he walked away, almost as if he had begun to resemble the barbarian he now dressed as, an act that did not result in any verbal condemnation from his woman, rather an embarrassed blush, and a hidden smile as she averted her gaze.
Berengar then walked down to the stables, where many steeds resided for him. If one paid close attention to these magnificent stallions all were faces that would be familiar to Berengar, and he nodded to each and every one of them with a smile filled with comradery as he passed them.
Finally, however, Berengar stopped at the edge of the stables, where one steed in particular was standing, waiting for his arrival. It was a face which Bruno had only recently connected with in this life. One which had once more resumed its role as the man's personal mount.
Bruno opened the gates and handed a carrot to the beast, as he pet its familiar snout. His voice was filled with a complicated tone as he referred to the steed by its name. His eyes glazing over as they recalled the brief time the two shared together in his past life.
"And how have you been, Erwin, my oldest friend?"
The horse had died in battle, carrying Berengar against his brother Lambert and the Teutonic Order after the exiled nobleman tried his best to avenge his fate. Erwin was forever immortalized in a large bronze statue that overlooked the city of Kufstein, but Berengar had always lamented its early passing.
The Gods had decided to reward Berengar in ways he never fathomed, all the steeds who had carried him into battle over the years had rejoined him in the afterlife, and had found their way to him, despite this plane of existence being vast beyond his reasonable imagination.
As a result, Berengar was quick to saddle the steed, and climb upon its back as he ushered it forward and out of the stables, into the vast forests which the storm's mist permeated. No matter the weather, if he had the time to do so, Berengar would hunt.
And today was no exception. But for some reason, Erwin did not go where the man had directed it to. Instead, taking off, running its own quest. An act which surprised Berengar. That is until he came across the object of the horse's fascination.
Lying naked in front of a sacred grove, which had naturally appeared in this world as a tribute to the Gods, was an even more familiar face. One which Berengar had longed to reunite with since the moment he entered this strange world.
Frankly speaking, Berengar had no idea how his steed knew to look for her, or where to find her, but the moment the man saw that long, straight, and silky straw-berry blonde hair he was quick to leap off the back of his trustworthy steed, and run to her side.
Stroking her soft and pale face as he checked the fair maiden's pulse off of instinct. And when she opened her sky-blue eyes, Berengar could only greet the woman with a smile, as he swiped her signature blunt bangs aside while welcoming her to their personal after life with the most wholesome of kisses.
"Welcome home, Linde... "