The Sage of Einar

In the grass outside the greenhouse, Ashraf and his family enjoyed a picnic meal.

His children, once finished eating, started playing with a leather ball while Ashraf lay down on the grass with his wife.

"This place is too quiet. I hope it stays that way forever.

Although our destination is further south, when King Einar conquers all the islands, he will establish a trade with the Emirate of Cordoba.

I am sure that many scholars and students of Islam will be able to come to know the wonders that are civilization.

I would hate to have to compare but I believe that unlike the savage Christians in these places, the arts and science will be able to flourish in here.

Not to mention that here have freedom of worship, as in the emirate of Córdoba, so many will begin to emigrate to make their lives in the newly conquered lands.

I do not know how the future will be but I can assure you that the Frank empire will be destroyed by his own hand so it is possible that Aquitaine.

It is conquered by the emirate of Córdoba, that would put pressure on the kingdom of Asturias, so it may end up losing all its ability to defend itself in a few years.

That would make the Iberian Peninsula completely Muslim. With it we will have an exchange of products that will bring things from the Silk Road to our nation.

In this exchange, our family will be the gateway, we will be important, and our children will be able to live without problems in the future. "

His wife, who was listening, just closed her eyes "I hope that can happen. It would really be a pride for my father-in-law to see his son become a ruler."

Ashraf sighed "Our tribe may have been sold into slavery and taken from our ancestral lands but because of it.

We are in this place where we have a future beyond simply being mercenaries who sell their lives fighting in unknown places.

For reasons as silly as the theft of a pig by a villager from an enemy village, I sometimes think that we are lucky.

Well, we could continue in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms fighting against enemies we do not know or protecting conceited nobles who believe they are superior to us.

I suppose that when I rule the land that was promised to us, I will pay a visit to Mecca to give thanks for the luck of our family. "

After saying those words Ashraf hugged his wife and fell asleep in the grass. It was not until after a while that a small hand woke him up.

When he opened his eyes, he could see his little son, so he grabbed him and hugged him before getting up from the blanket that was on the grass.

"It\'s time to go to the center of the tribe because we have to buy some things to prepare dinner because my friend Lars will come."

The boy was happy to hear that Grandpa Lars was coming "Dad, I will hear the fabulous stories of Grandpa Lars."

Ashraf smiled and stroked his son\'s hair "You will have to ask him because you know that you always have to ask for things with respect."

The little boy nodded and gave his father a smile before taking his hand as he watched his father help his mother up.

When the family got to the center of the town, there were a lot of food stalls, but what caught everyone\'s attention was a cloth stall.

At the stand was Peder taking care of Angus, who was in charge of selling and recording all the earnings for the day.

What caught everyone\'s attention and the reason so many people were in training was that the fabrics had extravagant colors.

Like the purple that was supposed to be a mythical color that only the richest nobles could wear.

Ashraf approached Peder knowing that he was Einar\'s stepson because he was in a relationship with Kassia\'s daughter Felipa.

"Sorry to interrupt your work Peder but I would like to know if this colored fabric is for sale."

Peder nodded and pointed to the different fabrics "All these fabrics were created by my father Einar, who entrusted me with the duty of taking care of them so that they could be sold.

As I understand it, in a few days a law will be enacted so that we can buy these fabrics but no one will be able to sell them to foreigners as it will be a crime.

I think it\'s a fair deal not to mention that each fabric fold costs 2 silver coins I\'d like to buy.

But Felipa received a large package of fabrics from her mother so I don\'t think it is necessary to spend the money that way.

Although if you want advice Ashraf, you should be able to buy them because according to my father these fabrics will only be sold on certain days that no one will know.

This to avoid hoarding by a family, is a good way to keep fabrics always available to everyone. "

Ashraf smiled "Thank you very much for the advice Peder. I will train with my family to buy some purple fabrics, I really liked the color quite a bit."

After those words, the entire Ashraf family lined up and waited for their turn. His wife was quite excited.

Because she had imagined all the clothes, she would make for her husband and children, her daughter was also deeply in love with the red fabric.

The only one who did not seem very happy was the little boy who did not understand the happiness of his family, but was somehow curious to wear a blue garment.

"Dad, when you buy fabrics we could have a little blue color, because I would like to have a scarf and gloves of that color."

Ashraf gave his son a smile "We will buy folds of fabric of all colors although we will end up buying a little more purple.

You must know that the nobility can only occupy that color in other kingdoms, but in the Nordic nation we as citizens do not have those prohibitions.

Just remember to never give your clothes to a foreigner because you could be punished, just like us.

This is just a privilege for us, you have to promise me because it is very important that you remember. "

The girl and the boy nodded at the same time and making a military salute they looked at their father "We promise you that we will take care of our things to prevent foreigners from having them.

We will not sell or give them away. "

Ashraf, feeling proud of his children, stroked their heads "Since they understood, we will only have to wait our turn to buy."

After waiting in line for almost an hour, they bought the colorful woolen fabrics and continued with their grocery shopping.

Upon arriving home, Ashraf\'s wife began to prepare food for dinner, which was fish and carrots.

Her daughter prepared her tools to sew the red fabric that her father had bought her, although she was not very good at using the needle.

She never stopped practicing, so she set out to make a beautiful skirt.

For his part, Ashraf prepared all the necessary things to receive Lars and his grandson.

At night, the door of the house was knocked so Ashraf walked towards it and opened the door to see his good friend next to his grandson.

"What a pleasure to see you Lars, also you, little Borg. I see that you are growing quite strong like your grandfather."

Borg smiled "Thank you for those words, Mister Ashraf. I continue to train every day as I plan to become a respected warrior.

By the way, Amira will be here. I would like to talk to her. "

Ashraf laughed and showed a smile "Of course you can see her sitting at the table because she is making a dress with the red fabric that I bought today."

Lars was quite surprised "I was glad that you could also buy the fabric in the market. I bought quite a few pieces of blue and yellow fabric.

My daughter-in-law loved them so soon she will create some clothes for them. I have to say we were lucky.

I hope that in the future they can continue to sell fabrics of this type because I could no longer buy purple fabric like those of those Christian nobles.

I once told you about the time I almost died at sea in a storm. "

Ashraf shook his head and invited his friend to take a seat in one chair at the table. Ashraf\'s son, who wanted to hear the story, also sat next to his father.

"I was young, and I really felt like I could do anything, so in an early morning with the sky darkened by clouds.

I took my boat and went out to sea to fish. Something that surprised me was that there was no one there, so I took advantage of the lonely sea and released my fishing net.

The boat was moving from one side to another because of the strong winds, but as a young man I believed I was strong and powerful, so I stood firm in my boat.

I waited for a few minutes and pulled my fishing net. To my surprise, large quantities of fish came out.

So I had to use excessive force to be able to remove the net from the sea. When I succeeded, I looked with joy at all the fishing I had done.

But that\'s when it happened. A lightning bolt like Odin\'s fury struck near my ship, causing it to fall inside my ship and hit me on the head.

I lost consciousness at that moment and woke up with the first drops of rain. When I got up I just looked at the sea and could not find the coast in sight.

Far from being afraid, I just started laughing and faced the challenge of the god Odin.

I took my two paddles and rowed towards where I thought the coast was; I rowed for hours until when I felt like I could no longer see a view full of fjords.

At that moment, I smiled and made one last effort to reach the tribe. When I arrived, I found out that six other young people had entered the sea with their boats.

They never saw each other again.. Although I had won Odin\'s challenge, I decided not to be reckless again because of a good storm fishing, because one does not always win over the fury of the gods. "