Chapter 15: Mid-winter

Mid-Winter Festival was a relatively low-key event. The history books, those who came with the original settlers from Terra, made a much bigger issue out of the old mid-winter traditions, a festival called Christmas, where gifts were exchanged but the same history books also stated that over the last couple of centuries before the colonists left earth, Christmas became a completely overblown commercial event where shops did their best to maximize sales, to the point where the whole festival became a farce.

The people of Ceres settled for a low-key one-day festival, where people would invite friends and family for a large and elaborate meal. The nobility started the custom of offering meals to the regular people in their jurisdiction.

On the island, the custom was to have a large common meal inside the largest hall in one of the fish processing plants where everybody on the island got together at the same time. The fisher folk were never rich enough to do any shopping in the city, so the custom was to give one gift, and pick somebody to give it to. Part of that custom was to do it in secret, so that the recipient had no idea who the giver was.

Olaf’s perception of the mid-winter festival had changed slightly since he and Aster attended school in the city, and now that he was a nobleman, with a healthy budget, his ideas changed yet again. He didn’t have much of a choice in how he spent the festival, as the heir to the duke of Ceres, he was expected to attend the formal dinner at the palace, with the entire Council of Barons and their families attending.

“Are you sure you want to go back?” Olaf asked as Aster cuddled on his lap. She asked Olaf if she could spend the day of mid-winter as well as the day before and the day after with her mother and Wilda on the island. He reluctantly agreed.

“I go to the formal dinners because it is kind of expected of me, but I don’t really feel at ease there,” she said. “Besides, you will have both Vanessa and Mona.”

“I would love to meet the lady who raised you, and this Wilda,” Mona said.

“I will introduce you,” Olaf said. “We will attend the formal dinner here and the next day we will fly over for the day.”

“That would be great,” Aster said as she hugged Olaf. “Mom, Anna, Wilf, and Wilda would love to see you again. They keep asking for news about you.”

“I guess I don’t write as often as you do,” Olaf said.

With it being winter, the sea was quite rough. As a result, Olaf didn’t even consider letting Aster go over on the regular fishing boat. He had Alec fly her over in the hover craft, along with a whole load of warm fur-lined boots for the women, and a few spare sets for people whom Aster liked.

Attending the formal mid-winter dinner was a bit different from other formal dinners. It was held in the ballroom of the palace. Instead of one long table, the room was nearly filled with several round tables, each capable of seating six or eight people. Olaf gladly paid for Vanessa and Mona to have new dresses; he offered a new dress for Aster as well even if she would not be attending the dinner. She opted to take a large quantity of food with her to the island instead.

Then it was time for Olaf to take his place in the receiving line as the guests started to arrive. As was proper for that time, Duke Wilbur was paired with Lady Thelma while dowager Duchess Victoria, in a more somber dress, stood alone next to Olaf, who had either Vanessa or Mona with him. The two were quite excited to be part of Duchess Victoria’s organizing team, and Vanessa was just as excited to be part of the receiving line, instead of being just one of many guests arriving with her parents as was the case in the past. They would take turns standing next to Olaf, with big smiles on their faces. Mona loved to greet the people while Vanessa liked to take her place whenever somebody she knew was arriving.

The guests consisted of the entire council of barons, their spouses, concubines, and heirs, as well as the spouses and concubines of the heirs. There were many single ladies, daughters of barons. Besides the council of barons, there were also other barons. Because of the distance, those on the far side of the continent didn’t attend. It was the first time Mona experienced such an event.