#Captain Haiyer

[diddlesanddoodles]

DUMPLING ch 39

(Chapter warning: Discussions of death and gore)

See bottom of the chapter for bonus art and a new addition to the Dumpling Playlist. 

Farris lead them out of the tent and into the kitchen camp and they were greeted by the absurd sight of all of the kitchen staff surrounding a group of seven or so humans, most of whom looked absolutely terrified, and then one lone human who stood outside the group was waving a sword in the air as he angrily shouted at Bart. “...WILL NOT LET ME THROUGH THIS INSTANT, I WILL RUN YOU THROUGH!”

“Through what? My big toe?” Bart asked with a laugh. He could not look less intimidated by the man if it had been a dust bunny shouting at him.

Farris let Nonna down and she snorted at the sight of them, calling out, “Riley, stop swinging that thing around, it’s not a damn toy! We’ve already made a piss poor showing and I won’t have you insulting these good people any more that you already have. Put that poker away and shut your gob or I’ll be telling your mother she needs to teach you better manners.”

The so name Riley turned to look at Nonna, eyes wide and disbelieving. “Nonna! You aren’t hurt are you?”

“I’m fine you great cow pie!” she snapped back at him and earning a few snickers from some of the kitchen staff. “Now do as I said and put that damn thing away.”

Riley tightened his grip, looking back and forth between the giants around him and then back to Nonna before looking up at Farris. “Tell your men to back away first.”

Farris regarded the little squire with a flat look, displeased at being given orders and especially by someone so annoying, but conceded by glancing at Bart and jerking his head. Bart nodded and began to usher everyone back to their tasks. “C’mon now, let ‘em be, lads. Back to work, the lot of ye. We’ve had our fun.”

Avery made a long disappointed whine. “Aw, come on now. I was this close t’gettin’ that lil’ fella in blue to piss himself.”

Riley watched the giants leave with suspicious and wary eyes, but once they were a comfortable enough distance away from the group of humans, he sheathed his sword. He turned his attention back to Nonna, but paused, eyes shifting to stare behind Farris where Yale stood with Nenani cupped in his hands. The man’s eyes widened and he shifted nervously for a moment before abruptly bending himself in half. “Y-your Grace!”

The other humans looked at Riley in surprise, following his trail of sight and when they all saw Nenani, they mimicked him and dropped into dramatic bows with mutterings of “Your Grace.”

Yale snickered, lowering his head to whisper to Nenani. “Princess Dumplin’...”

“Nooo...” She whined. Her face turned red with mortification when she heard Avery and Kol both add their own flamboyant your grace’s from across the yard. Farris glanced back at her with a raised eyebrow and she frowned back at him miserably. “Please make them stop...”

But he just grinned at her and shrugged.

“Well, you heard her,” Nonna told the group. “Stop with all that silly nonsense. You’re embarrassing the poor girl.”

Riley’s face made several jumps between conflicting emotions before finally giving a small bow and muttering an almost inaudible, “My apologies.”

Nonna nodded in satisfaction before turning to look up at Farris with a pleasant smile and patted his boot. “Thank you for help, Farris, you’re a peach. But I believe I can manage them from here.”

“As ye say,” he replied and stepped back, crossing his arms. Nonna looked up and waved a beckoning hand at Yale.

“Go on and let the girl loose, young man. We’ve come all this way so we might as well give her all these presents we’ve trudged up along with us.”

Nenani perked up. “Presents? For me?”

Nonna regarded her with a sly grin. “Well what did you think it mean to pay homage?”

Yale laughed as he let Nenani down and she hurried to catch up to Nonna as she reached the group of humans. Many of them were pulling the packs off their backs and rummaging inside, pulling out objects, some wrapped and some not. And though they all were still sending wary glances towards the giants who were still watching them all from their work stations, the humans seemed excited to be presenting their offerings. Nenani did not know how to feel about it all. It felt strange to suddenly be in the company of many folks her size, having become so accustomed to living among giants and even more so when they were throwing gifts at her.

But so long as they kept their your grace’s to themselves, she supposed it was all in good fun.

Riley stepped up to Nonna, bending to whisper something into her ear to which Nonna nodded. Riley was a tall young man, dressed in a long dark gray gambeson coat, and green trousers. He look only a few years older than Jae. The leather of his belt was oiled and shining with a silver buckle of intricate silver. He wore a short stubble beard and his hair was a fluffy mob of dusty brown and his face was set firmly into a scowl. His hand still rested on the hilt of his sword as he cast his gaze around the camp. They lingered on Farris and Yale and neither giant missed the way he was looking at them. Yale wiggled his eyebrows at him, daring the human to try something, but all Riley did was scowl back at him.

“Now, my girl,” Nonna said, gently taking Nenani’s arm and guiding her towards the group. “Most of these gifts are going to be things you don’t really need and never asked for...”

“Nonna!” Riley barked at the woman in indignation; momentarily turning his head from the giants.

“...but I can assure you that they were all made with love and care and the finest craftsmanship we possess.” Nonna finished, ignoring Riley. One by one, each of the group stepped up and held out their offerings with a short greeting. Thankfully they kept it informal. Among the gifts was a light green cloak with delicate embroidery along the bottom, a brass broach in the shape of a dragonfly, a roll of beautifully tanned leather, a ring with a polished purple stone, and a small wooden box inlaid with different colored wood to create a beautiful pattern on the lid like a string twirling in never ending loops and knots. They were all beautifully made gifts and Nenani stared dumbly at the pile, taken aback and oddly humbled.

“And Riley has one for you as well,” Nonna said, looking to Riley with a nod. The young man reached behind himself and unclipped something from his belt, pulling it out and handing to Nonna. It was a sheathed dagger. The leather had been dyed a faint green color and near the top, pressed into material was a familiar symbol; the Thorn guard crest. Nenani stared at it, feeling a strange nostalgic pull.

“But first,” said the old woman, her voice soft and oddly serious. Her eyes were searching and hopeful. “I have an important question for you; Where is Hayron?”

Nenani stared at Nonna for a moment, a sinking feeling in her belly, and then after a moment said, “He died. Or rather...he was killed.”

There was a collective noise of despair and the group of humans all looked heartbroken at the news. They all bent their heads and muttered something Nenani could not make out. It did not sound like the common tongue at all.

Nonna nodded her understanding. “I had feared as much,” she said, eyes incredibly sad. “When news reached us that you and your mother were alive, but no news of Hayron...”

She heaved a great sigh, suddenly looking her age. “It is a great loss. I would have very much liked to have been able to see your father one more time. So many things I would have told him. So many apologies I would have made. Your grandfather was never the same after he was forced to give his son up. It tore at him, terribly.” She looked up at Nenani and smiled sadly, regret and longing on he face. “How he wished he could have had a chance to meet his grandchild. This broach here, the dragonfly...”

She reached for the broach from atop the pile of offerings and pinned it to the front of Nenani’s thick wool dress. “...is the symbol of familial love. He had this made for me after my daughter was born and I’ve kept it all these years. The notion to one day give it to one of my granddaughters crossed my mind, but they fight over every little thing. So, when I heard you were alive...it seems only fitting you should have it.”

She rested a bony hand over the broach, over Nenani’s heart. Riley stepped up to her.

“Who killed him?” he asked. The young man’s eyes were intense everything about him was pulled taut with withheld rage. The hand gripping the hilt of his sword tightened and his knuckles were white. “Who killed Hayron?”

“His name is Aidus,” she said to the man.

“Aidus...I know that name,” Nonna said, looking pensive.

Something in the back of her mind gave her pause and she looked back to Farris. Almost as though she sought his permission to say anything more. He seemed to sense her apprehension.

“It’s up t’ye how much ye wanna share, lil’un,” he told her. “But I’ll say this: better fer everyone t’be knowin’ about that fucker. He ain’t gone after the tribes yet, but best not assume that won’t change.”

She did not want to tell them about Aidus being the one to have killed Thadeus and starting the war. It did not feel like something she could tell them. Who knew what sort of the trouble that knowledge would stir. But the rest...the rest she could. After seeing the pain on their collective faces at the news of her father’s death, she almost felt like she owed them the story and the chance to share her loss with someone who shared it was alluring.

“He was after Mama,” she explained. “But Papa tried to fight him off. Aidus killed him and stole my mother away. But she escaped him a year ago. She said he threatened to kill my little brother.”

There was a shift among the group.

“Brother?” Nonna asked.

“Mama was with child when she was taken,” she replied.

There were hushed murmurs among the humans and someone from the back asked, “We have a prince?”

Nonna waved them off with a hand, frowning at them. “Quiet you hens!” She turned back to Nenani with an expression of longing. “We had not heard of your mother bearing a son.”

“She named him Haiyer.” The old woman was silent for a long moment, her eyes frozen as they peered at Nenani. Then she rose a trembling hand to her face, covering her mouth as the emotion took her. “...Haiyer?”

“Nonna?” Riley asked, his nervousness forgotten as he went to her side, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Are you alright?”

She nodded, wiping at her eyes. “Yes, of course. I am all right, my boy. Don’t fret.”

Riley looked back at Nenani. “Why would this man do all of this? Kill Hayron and take the princess?”

“Aidus is the man who Mama was supposed to marry,” Nenani replied. “But she fell in love with Papa instead.”

Nonna gripped Riley’s shoulder as sudden recognition struck her and she gasped. “Tarliene’s eldest boy!” she cried, eyes wide. “The King’s advisor! His son was named Aidus! I thought I knew that name!” She turned to the man in blue, the one Avery had been trying to scare into wetting himself. “Pip, do you remember if Aidus was one of the Ruby order? They were the mages sent to Riftside, correct?”

“If I remember correctly, they were sent in as back up,” he replied. “I’m fairly confident that if the Aidus that her grace...er, my apologies. If the Aidus she speaks of is Tarliene’s son, then he would have been there.”

“Aidus was a fire mage. Vennor’s apprentice,” confirmed another of the humans. He was older and gray haired. A thin pale scar rang the length of face on his right side. He looked to Nonna. “He was a member of the Ruby Order. A highly skilled fire mage.”

Above them all, Farris snorted. “I’ve met ‘im briefly. And he don’t look a thing like any fire mage I’ve ever seen.”

“My apologies, sir, but you mistake my meaning,” the man explained. “It couldn’t have been him. I saw Aidus fall at Riftside. He and two others were thrown from the cliff by Prince Mourin.”

“Ye were at Riftside?” Farris asked, the gruffness easing a little and he regarded the scarred man with a kinder eye.

“Yes, sir. Infantry captain,” said the man and gestured to his face. “S’where I got this beauty. Courtesy of one a’ yer late King’s balista’s shattering our shield wall. The prince and a few others got through after the river was set on fire and they scaled the cliff. They killed all them mages there. Not sure who, but someone ‘em got in a quick hit before they fell and it cut through the Prince’s neck and he bled out. Every soul on that cliff died that day.”

“Ye say ya saw ‘im fall,” Farris said. “He could’a survived.”

“Unlikely. That cliff is nearly 150 feet and the river may be deep there, but there’s plenty of rocks to hit on the way down.”

“Well if he’s did die at Riftside, someone forgot to tell him he’s suppose to be dead,” Yale added. “He’s attacked the castle directly twice now. Tryin’ t’get to the lil’un. Somethin’ about usin’ her to get her Mum to come back to ‘im.”

Nonna chewed on her bottom lip, mulling over all that had been said. She shook her head. “What could he possibly be after? Silvaara is no more, why fixate on Princess Aine?”

“Obsession?” Yale offered. “Revenge?”

“No,” Nenani said, something in her mind abruptly making sense. Keral had told her once that the smoke mage problem was like a puzzle to him and suddenly she was aware of just how many pieces she had. “Not revenge. Something about the gold prophecy. He...I think he thinks...it’s about him. When killed my uncle, he said that he wanted to see the dead walls rise. And then when the wyvern attacked, the only thing he said was the gold prophecy.”

“What do you mean when he killed your uncle?” Nonna asked. “Halden died in Silvaara. Alongside Haiyer and the royal family.”

“...no he didn’t. Uncle Halden didn’t die in Silvaara,” Nenani said, shaking her head. “He survived. He and some others made it to the Southlands. Where Mama and Papa and I were living. After Aidus took Mama and killed Papa, he took care of me for years. But Aidus came back. He burned everything down. And killed him.”

There was a long silence.

“Nonna,” Riley said in a quiet voice. His eyes were red. “We must hold the last rite for them. Hayron and Halden. We owe them that much at least.”

“It will take a few days to prepare for the ceremony,” Nonna told him. She turned to one of people within their group. “Jerand, how long would it take you and your brother to carve a pair of effigies?”

“Two days at least,” said an older man with a round face and bushy brown beard. “Three would be better.”

Nonna nodded. “I will speak with Warrick when we return. Could be a week or so before we could manage something half way decent. We won’t find much in the way of flowers this time of year.”

“What do you mean?” Nenani asked.

“The last rite,” Nonna explained. “For when an oath bound Thorn guard falls in the keeping of his or her oath, they are given what we call the last rite. Or full colors. We would like to give you father and uncle their last rite.”

“Didn’t grandfather have to...I forget what it’s called. Make him not a Thorn guard anymore?”

“He was relieved of his duty,” Nonna replied. “Only death can dismiss you from your oath.”

“There will be lots to be done,” said one of the group. “And so soon after Gregis.”

“More funerals,” Farris muttered unhappily.

“And what of it, giant?” Riley snarled, whirling on the kitchen master. “Do you see us criticizing how you mourn your lost?”

Farris glared at the whole group distastefully. “Y’know how many funeral’s I’ve been to since the war ended, boy? Too many. Both Vhasshalan and human. More than half didn’t even have a body to bury or t’burn. Folks speakin’ of a dead fella they didn’t know, paradin’ and weepin’ with all the pageantry and bullshit they can muster. It was never fer the sake of those closest to ‘em. Most ‘a the time it was only fer show.” He pointed glared at Riley. “Just t’see who could make a bigger arse of themselves.”

Riley’s face turned a deep shade of red and he glared up at Farris, furious and incensed. “KEEP YOU TONGUE IN YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH!”

“Riley,” Nonna began, raising a placating hand towards him, but he shouted over her.

“NO! They were Thorn guard, Nonna. My brothers! And I will not stand here and be told my grief is nothing but for show! Least of all by a giant!” He turned back to Farris. “You speak of things you know nothing about.”

“Do as ye well please, but it’ll just be people weepin’ over a bonfire. Ain’t no bodies fer ye to burn,” Farris said and gestured to Nenani. “The lil’un’s been my ward fer months and she’s been mournin’ fer the both of ‘em fer longer than that. I’ve seen her tears and heard her cry out fer ‘em in her sleep. So excuse me if I don’t think ye have any right to sweep in and take ownership of a grief that’s rightly hers. Ye haven’t a right to it. Or her father. ‘Specially since ye all were the ones t’ave tossed Hayron out in the first place.”

Riley drew his sword, the metal catching the firelighte. “HOW DARE YOU –!”

Yale stepped up behind Farris, eyes narrowed and voice low and threatening. “Put it away, boy.”

There was the rushing of many feet and the rest of the kitchen staff stepped up behind Farris and Yale. There all glares and scowls and tightened muscle. But either the squire did not see them or did not care, too entrapped by his own anger. Nenani went to stand between them, suddenly afraid of the sudden escalation, but Nonna gripped her arm and pulled her back, pushing her towards one of the group of humans. “No, dear. Stay out of it.”

“But...” she began to protest, but Nonna shushed her.

“Stay out of it.”

“Aye,” Farris said to Riley, scowling. “Where were the lot of ye when yer King had him and his pregnant wife thrown out into the wilds like unwanted dogs? Ye sat at his heels and followed yer orders like good hounds even as one ‘a yer own was thrown aside. So don’t get all high and mighty on me with yer talk of oaths and shit.”

Riley opened his mouth to reply, but Nonna spoke over him, gripping his sleeve and rubbing his shoulder. “No, son. He is not wrong to say so. He is not wrong. And we know it. Haiyer certainly did and you know it too.”

“Nonna that isn’t what...”

“Not everyone shares the same view as to just what it means to uphold one’s duty. It is a hard line to walk. And one you must be prepared for if you ever want to take the oath yourself.”

“How can you bare such an insult?” Riley demanded, voice thick with emotion. “How he speaks of us? As though we do not grieve them at all. That it did not hurt to see Hayron leave and know we would never see him again. To see Father weep and pray to the Gods that they would be safe and beg for forgiveness. To watch war break out and destroy everything and never knowing if they were dead or alive. Now we have a chance to help Father’s spirit to finally rest. And this...fucker tells us that we are not entitled to our grief?”

“Haiyer is dead, son,” Nonna told him and not unkindly. “Confirmation of Hayron’s death does not change anything.”

“It does to me!” he said. “I may not share their name or wear his sigil, but they are my blood too! Don’t tell me how I should mourn them. I would have been there if I had been given the chance!”

“Then you would have died with him!” Nonna said, anger rising in her throat. “You were a child, Riley! You would not have made a bit of difference to that fight. The moment the keep fell, you would have just been another dead child laying on that marble floor in pieces!”

The young man’s face contorted with pain and he took a lumbering breath and howled, “BUT I WOULD DIED WITH MY FATHER!”

Nonna was livid. “And I would have one less piece of my brother and another dead nephew to grieve over.”

“I can’t just –!”

“Riley, that is enough!”

Riley sneered at Nonna and then turned his angry focus to the group of giants. “Do you know how he died?” he demanded of them. “Captain Haiyer? My father? He was the last one, y’know. The last of the guard left alive when your King tore through the keep. Just before he killed our King and his family. His sons and daughter. Their children. Babes still in their swaddling clothes. Popped their little bodies like goddamn grapes!”

Nenani felt ill as she listened to Riley speak. One of the men standing beside her put a hand on her shoulder, his eyes downcast and sad.  

“Riley,” Nonna said. “Stop this now...”

But he did not listen to her. He was delirious with anger and he gave a manic laugh. “You might’ve noticed your King came back missing his left pinkie finger. That was my father’s doing. Lobbed the damn thing from his wretched hand...just before the Blood King bit hit head off!”

Nonna stepped in front of Riley and backhanded him across the face, the sound of it echoing across the camp. There was a moment where no one said anything and even Farris looked caught off guard. Riley stared at the ground, his head still tilted to the side from the force of the hit.

“Enough!” Nonna said and turned to the group of humans. “Pip, Jerand; take him home and put him to bed like the insolent child he is determined to be. Rendlen, you go too. You’re paler than milk and I don’t need you fainting on me.”

Three of the men from the group stepped up, one of them putting a hand onto Riley’s shoulder and guiding him towards the back gate. Riley did not protest or say anything, just kept one hand to his face where Nonna had struck him. Watching them go, Nonna sighed a great heaving breath as though it came from deep within. When she turned to Farris, her eyes were filled emotion.

“I am deeply sorry for his behavior, Farris,” she said, forcing herself to stand a little taller, though it was obvious she was still agitated. “It was not my intention for us to disturb you all. I hope you can forgive our transgressions here today.”

“That boy’s gonna end up pissin’ off the wrong folks one ‘a these days,” Farris warned her.

“He has many demons,” she relied, seeming smaller. “And I am sad to say...he is not currently winning that particular battle.”

“Tell ye what, Nonna,” Farris said. His face was placid and without a scent of irritation or anger. But there was something else there. Pity. “When ye see Warrick, give him this bit of advice from an ol’ man whose wrangled his fair share of belligerent lads who just wanna be angry at the world and fer everyone to feel as miserable as they do; work the boy till he can’t stand up straight no more. Don’t give ‘im a moment’s peace to dwell on all that shit in his head. Put all that angry energy into something productive. He’ll figure the rest out himself. Might take a few months. Might take a few years. But ye have to break him to have any hope of savin’ him from himself.” Farris turned his eye towards Yale and grinned. He reached out and looped his arm around his assistant's neck and pulled him into a choke hold. “S’how I set this smarmy bastard straight.”

“Ah, Farris!” Yale growled, pushing at the kitchen master’s arms. “Come off it!”

With a chuckle, Farris released his hold and Yale stumbled back with a muted curse.

Nonna watched the pair and laughed weakly at that, nodding. “Thank you. I will.”

“He said that the Captain was his father,” Quinn asked and looked to Nenani. “So does that make that whiny lil’ wanker the Dumplin’s uncle?”

“Half uncle,” Nonna said with a nod and then paused, looking at Quinn askance. “Dumpling?”

“Aye,” Farris said, the whole lot of them sharing a grin. “S’what we call yer niece there.”

Nonna laughed and patted Nenani on the back. “Well, I suppose there are worse things to be called.”

“What do you mean, though?” Nenani asked her. “When you say that he’s my half uncle?”

She sighed. “Well, no sense in beating around the bush as every in the village knows. Riley is your grandfather’s natural born son,” the old woman replied. “A bastard.”

The word echoed in Nenani’s mind, bringing with it the voice of Lord Eldherst. Bastard. Only a bastard.

“Hayron never told you? Nor Halden?” she asked, seeing the look on Nenani’s face. “That they had a half brother?”

“Papa never told me anything,” she replied, brow furrowed and feeling hollow inside. “I didn’t even know my last name until a few weeks ago...”

The old woman’s head drew back and she stared at Nenani, scandalized. “Truly?”

Nenani nodded. “I...never knew about anyone. Or anything...”

“He may have been waiting for your tenth birthday,” Nonna said. “When you would receive your first rite.”

“My first...rite?”

“That’s right,” she said with a grin, holing up the green sheathed dagger. “When you would have been given your dagger.”

“Given her dagger?” Bart asked with a bemused grin. “What’s the bloody hell does that mean?”

“You may have noticed us lot in the Hill Tribes are a bit...well, let’s be generous and say superstitious,” Nonna explained. “We of the Thorn clans hold traditions very close as it is really all we have left of our culture. We are all Silvaaran, but we are also Thorn. Our place in the hierarchy of Silvaara kept us apart from either end of society. Neither peasant nor nobility. So the old ways were kept well and alive through the years. Our music, our stories, our language...”

“...language?” Nenani asked.

“Tier,” Nonna replied with a grin. “Gothe‘er than ule ore sei schlie.”

Not a word she spoke was familiar and she had never heard anyone speak in that way. Nenani stared.  “What does that mean?”

“I said that many of us still speak the old tongue. As for the dagger, it is the first of the rites.” She looked to Nenani and smiled, holding out the green leather sheathed dagger to her. “When one of our clan turns ten years old, a dagger is made from a piece of their father’s yearling sword and given to the child as their first rite. Your father would have presented this to you on your tenth birthday,” She smiled at Nenani, but it was sad. “...but as we do not have his yearling sword nor him...I am afraid all I have is a substitute and my old bony self. Riley was going to present this to you, but...well.”

Nonna held out the dagger to Nenani and as she reached out to wrap her hands around the dagger’s hilt, Nonna closed her fingers over her hand. Holding them, she looked into Nenani’s face.  

“When you turn fifteen,” she continued. “This dagger will be melted down again and turned into a yearling sword as your second rite. And finally when you are deemed to be ready, your are given your final sword and take the oath. The oath use to be to protect and guard the royal family.” Nonna tilted her head in a strange sort of shrug. “But since the war, we have broadened that oath to the Hill Tribe and to Vhasshal should the King ever call upon us.”

Behind them, she heard Farris huff a laugh. “Yer saying yer wantin’ t’show the lil’un how to fuckin’ use a sword now?”

Nonna turned her eyes to Farris and laughed loudly. “Goodness no! We’d never set her upon such a path nor is it expected of any of our children to do so. Only four of the young ones have taken the oath in recent years and seven more have their yearling swords, but most never progress beyond their dagger. These rites are more to persevere our heritage than anything. Do not worry Farris, we don’t mean to turn your ward into a soldier.”

Farris chuckled. “Was only gonna warn ye she’d make a right sorry solider. Sleeps late, doesn’t mind ye worth shit, and she’s easily distracted by small shiny things.”

“I do not!” Nenani shot back with a frown. Nonna pulled the dagger from the sheath and it glinted in Nenani’s eyes, drawing her gaze downward. Behind her, each and every one of the kitchen staff was laughing. Nenani whirled around, red faced and opened her mouth to defend herself.

Farris eyed her with a smirk. “Oh, aye. Ye do, lass.”

She stuck her tongue out at the lot of them and the just laughed harder. Nonna smiled and patted her cheek affectionately.

“Don’t feel too bad, my dear,” she said and leaned forward to whisper into her ear, “I’m quite partial shiny things too.”

BONUS ART: Riley. 

Author’s notes: The Thorn clan language is similar in sound to the Irish or Gaelic languages.     

NEW DUMPLING PLAYLIST TRACK: Thorn Guard Song. 

[diddlesanddoodles]

DUMPLING ch 54

WARNING: This chapter contains brief mentions of gore and themes that some readers may find disturbing or alarming. 

Nenani could not stop thinking about the strange boy in the tree. What did he mean that she smelled like fire? They all had been sitting around a fire the night before, so should they not all smell like fire? Why only her? Or did he mean that he could smell her magic? Did magic have a smell? And if Haiyer did have magic, as the stranger boy insisted, why had he not bloomed yet? Had her mother put a seal on him as well? No, that did not make sense at all. Their mother ran from Aidus out of fear that he would kill Haiyer for not having magic.

She suddenly had a lot of questions for Maevis once they got back to the castle. And perhaps a few for her mother as well.

They did encounter a number of other bodies as they walked, forever sleeping among the tangled roots, but they did not stop to inspect them as they had the others. Keral’s eyes studied them as they passed, but he kept a steady pace that Farris matched. The kitchen master did not even look at them, and Nenani was growing concerned that he might find them upsetting. There wasn’t much Farris could not face, and the sheer practicality of his manner made it all the more worrying to Nenani. She hated the idea of him being upset. Not mad, she was quite accustomed to that. But the idea of Farris being upset was disconcerting. His eyes seemed to dart away the moment a body came into view, his shoulders tensing up, and there was a subtle shift in his breathing. He didn’t want to see them. 

She couldn’t blame him.

 ………

It was barely an hour passed mid-day when they finally came across a road. It was made of white and grey gravel, pounded flat over years of heavy use, with neatly spaced gouges down the center marking the path of cart wheels. The road looked like a long pale scar carved into the forest, cutting through copses of trees that had stood hundreds of years before there was ever a road. Ten minutes following it and they happened upon the first gate.

Two obelisk-like pillars stood sentry on either side of the road with an ornate iron gate strung between them. The metal bars had been shaped and pounded into elaborate twists and curves. Though it was clearly meant to be a display of wealth, there was something dominating and commanding about it.

Atop each of the obelisks were marbled granite spheres with trees carved into them. Keral rearded the gate with a scrutinizing eye. 

“For a man with the reputation for being very hospitable, his garden gate sure don’t look it.”

“Doesn't matter the man’s reputation,” Farris replied. “All gates are meant to keep folks out. Be a lot more suspicious if it looked more welcoming. Besides all that, a gate means we’ve made it. So we can get on with the rest of this madness and get back to the castle.”

The gates themselves were locked tight by a severe-looking padlock, but Keral still gave it an experimental jiggle that sent the iron works screeching and moaning in protest. A few moments later, as though having rung a bell, a figure emerged from behind a bend in the road. He walked quickly, but his short stature and portly middle made his walk more of a waddle. And if the flushed complexion and puffing cheeks were any indication, he was not very pleased. His eyes looked between Farris and Keral’s faces and then to Jae and Nenani, who both were peeking out from behind the brothers’ heads. His eye narrowed and he flung his arm out to his right in a manic gesture.

“Deliveries are to be made at the red gate,” the man said, waving his arm. “How many times must we tell you bloody...”

The man paused, suddenly taking note of Keral’s coat and its color. A little of the blood in his cheeks drained away. Keral’s easy stance straightened and his muscles and tendons tightened as he assumed a more commanding presence.

“Deliveries?” he asked, tilting his head curiously. “We aren’t here to deliver anythin’. We’re in need of some assistance as it happens.”

The man swallowed thickly.

“W-well, if you’re needing food, you’ll have to come back later,” the man said. “Alms are only distributed on Fridays. And His Lordship isn’t in residence just now.”

“I know he ain’t here. And we’re not looking for alms either,” Keral said. “My name is Keral Athair, Captain of His Majesty’s Rangers and I’m here to claim quarters for myself and my companions.”

The man balked, and a condescending scoff was just at his lips when his brain reminded it whom he was speaking to and he disguised it behind a cough. He readjusted his stance to match Keral’s, but his shorter stature and more rotund figure did not quite make the effect. “To claim quarters? Sir?”

“Aye. I’m sure you're familiar with the practice, ain’t ye? A man in service to His Majesty may call upon the lords of the kingdom to – ”

“Yes, yes. I am aware, sir, of what claiming quarters means. We just don’t see many rangers up this way and so it has been quite some time since we’ve had...the honor to host,” he said. “And may I ask why you’re here to grace us with your presence?”

“On business for His Majesty,” Keral replied and supplied no more.

Nenani watched the exchange with a mixture of confusion and anxiety. She had never seen anyone talk to Keral the way the sentry did. In her experience, he commanded a great deal of respect. It was a new proposition to witness anything to the contrary. And if Farris’s expression was any sort of a tell, he felt similarly. She wondered if it would be better for him to say who they and Jae were. If a captain of the Rangers did not merit an immediate invitation inside, then perhaps the king’s adopted son and the two heirs to Silvaara would. But Keral remained tight-lipped.

The sentry looked very uncomfortable and ill equipped to know what to do, and it was clearly annoying Keral, who snorted with impatience.

“So then might we be brought up to the house?” he asked shortly. “I’ll need to make use of your falconer to send the king a message. It is of some importance.”

The last part was said with an exasperated inflection. Finally the man seemed to understand well enough, and he stumbled forward to open the gate. But his expression was curiously dour. The iron gates were pushed aside with the screaming of their hinges as the man stepped to the side and waved them in.

“Follow me, if you please.”

The sullen-faced man said nothing as he led them down the long drive. There was a stark contrast between the trees inside the gated property and those outside. While winter had ravaged the foliage of color and leaves, the manicured and pruned trees of the Brennan estate looked as though it were still midsummer.

They were lush and full of leaves, and there was only a splash of autumn colors here or there. The rest were all a verdant green as though suspended in perpetual summer.

“Does he have men tie the leaves back onto the tree?” Jae whispered to Keral. The ranger’s eyes remained steady and he only grunted noncommittally.

“Lord Brennan must be mighty proud of gardeners,” Farris said to their guide. “To be able to keep color like that in this cold.”

The sentry’s head shifted as he answered. “His Lordship takes great pride in his family’s estate and heritage. Maintaining Blythe trees takes a delicate hand and firm knowledge for them to keep evergreen.”

“So it’s not their natural state fer ‘em to be green like that this time ‘a year?” Farris asked.

“Those trees were cultivated by His Lordship’s ancestor more than eight hundred years ago,” he said. “It is a symbol of his house and is believed that so long as the Blythe trees stand, so shall the house of Brennan. So yes, sir, great pains are taken to keep the trees healthy and prospering. Their coloration is a consequence of the superior care they are given.”

Nenani was surprised at just how long it took for them to reach the house. The road took them though two more locked gates before the house came into view at last. Even then, it still took the group another ten minutes to transverse the long drive and arrive at the great stone entryway of the house.

It was easily the largest house she had ever seen. It wasn’t a castle in any sense of the word, but a grand house.Tan and dark stone stacked together in a very pleasing way to make tall strong walls topped with sloping roofs. A single large dormer overlooked the property. For a house, it had many windows and did not appear to have been built with defense in mind, unlike the Vhashallan castle. A vast meadow spread out behind the manor, and she could see the mountains in the distance.

And yet, the nagging voice in her head was buzzing again, much in the same way it had when they had first ventured into the forest. But she was quick to shake the feeling away. This house belonged to Lord Brennan. Her recollection of him was that he seemed very amiable and friendly. Her mother had taken such an immediate liking to him at the dinner. But his house, much like the forest that surrounded it, did not feel welcoming at all.

But then, she had to admit, how something looked upon first meeting did not always reflect the truth of it. She had experienced such a phenomenon time and time again since coming to Vhasshal. Farris and Keral were both such examples. And they were not in any state for being overly critical. So she ignored the little nagging voice. Looking to Farris and then to Keral, she felt secure enough to know there was nothing to worry about. It was nerves, she told herself. She was merely eager to return home.

……………….

A tall, thin woman giant waited for them at the front door. The sentry rushed ahead of them to whisper something in her ear, and she had to bend herself over for him to reach. Her expression did not change, and she merely nodded.

“I shall take it from here, then,” she said to him. “Please return to your post.”

In stark contrast to the sentry, the housekeeper was calm and composed, as though she had been expecting them all along. She was dressed all in a mottled black and dark green fabric and wore her large, hawkish nose proudly. Her small brown eyes stared down along its length. It was almost comical the way she held her head so far back, as though she were going to sneeze at any moment and wanted to be prepared.

“I do apologize, my lords,” she said. “But His Lordship is away at court on His Majesty’s invitation. But the hospitality of this house is at your disposal. I am afraid, though, you have caught us in a bit of an awkward time, however. Most of the rooms are under renovation and are not decent enough for occupation just yet. I have a few small rooms upstairs we put you up in.”

Keral did not meet the woman’s eye but instead gazed around at the house behind her. “We don’t need nothing fancy. A single room will do for all of us. And I’ll be needing to speak with your falconer as soon as possible.”

She dipped into a polite curtsy. “I shall send for him immediately. We also have accommodations more appropriate for the humans, sir, if you wish.”

Keral shook his head. “No. They’re stayin’ with us, ma’am, thanks all the same.”

The woman’s lips pursed tightly. “Of course, sir. I only meant that...”

“They stay with us. We don’t plan on intruding for very long and they’re tired from the journey. If you could show us to a room, we’ll sort it all out ourselves.”

The woman dipped again and made a vague gesture to follow her.

Through the main entry, they spilled out into the atrium. The floors were a dark-colored wood, polished to a high sheen, as were the walls. Marble pillars drew the eye to the ornate wooden ceiling and the carved stone statuettes at the corners, like little stone spies. Tapestries were hung along each wall leading to the main staircase. It too was made of the same dark wood. However, the housekeeper led them down a smaller corridor off to the side, a servant’s entrance, and they followed her to a much more humble set of narrow stairs that led them to a modest guest room. There were three beds lined up along a wall close to the only window. There was a small table on one end of the room and a simple fireplace at the other.

“I shall send the maid up to light the fire for you gentlemen,” she said. Farris went to one of the beds and helped Nenani down from his pack before slinging it from his shoulders. Keral did the same with Jae but did not pulled Haiyer from his pocket. “Shall I send up some supper for you as well, my lord?”

“You’re most kind, ma’am,” Keral replied. “If it’s not too much trouble, could ye have some brought up fer the humans as well?”

She gave the smallest of smiles and inclined her head. “Of course.”

“Thank you.”

“My name is Miss Embrews, if you should need anything else. Once the falconer has arrived I shall send a footman to inform you.”

“I would appreciate it,” he replied. And with that, Miss Embrews turned and shut the door behind her. Her footsteps faded away and only then did Keral’s stance relax. He turned to his brother. “That was odd.”

Farris snorted. “That sentry was a prickly lil’ bastard.”

“He was,” Jae agreed, bouncing experimentally on the bed before flopping back. “Why did you tell them who we were? Wouldn’t that have...I dunno, put more of a fire under their arse?”

Keral’s eyes wandered around the room, taking in all the details. “Hm. Eh, might have. But I have a funny feeling. Better play it safe and not say anythin’. Fer now.”

Nenani’s ear tingled. Keral’s senses and intuitions were sharp and well honed. If he was picking up on something just as she was, perhaps he was right and they needed to proceed carefully. Lord Brennan may be genial and kind, but that was no guarantee that his servants were anything of the sort.

“It feels weird here,” Nenani admitted. “The forest felt that way too. Like...something saying we shouldn’t be here.”

Farris nodded. “Aye. Have to agree with ye two. Somethin’s off. Don’t smell right.”

Keral had been walking the room, assessing it and poking at the walls experimentally. He kicked one of the bed’s legs and upon Farris’s comment, he spun on his heels to face his brother, eyes alight with inspiration. “Ye know what it reminds me of, Farris? When Mum would get worked up over something and she’d spend two days washing and polishing everything in the house until it sparkled.”

Farris’s eyes widened. “Fuckin’ hell, yer right. Even smells like it.”

“Everything’s too clean,” Keral said. He looked around the room again with new eyes. “Even the castle ain’t this clean.”

“If there’s no one living here,” Jae said, pushing himself onto his elbows. “Doesn’t it make sense that it’d be clean?”

“Might be. But ye remember when Warren had the Queen’s apartments renovated before the weddin’?” Keral asked. “All the hullabaloo and all?”

Jae nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“Ye remember how filthy the place was all the while? With all the supplies and dirt being tracked everywhere from the workers?”

Jae’s lazy expression widened with clarity. “Yeah. I do remember that.”

Keral nodded. “Aye. She says they’re renovatin’ most ‘a the rooms? Where’s the evidence of it? Where’s the supplies? Where are the workers? The dirt?”

Farris made a displeased rumble. “We need to send that message out quick and get outta here.”

Keral nodded and reached into his pocket to fish Haiyer out and set him down next to Jae. The little boy sprang up to his feet and spent several moments happily celebrating his freedom by frog hopping in circles around the other boy.

“I’ll send the message and we can rest here for the night. Just gotta keep our eyes open fer anythin’ off. And we’ll move on tomorrow with some supplies and maybe a cart. Whatever they’re doin’ up this way, I’ll need more than a funny feeling to inspect further. My position gives me a lot of freedom to dig around, but I’ll need more that to do much of anything. Right now at least.”

“He was really nice at the dinner,” Nenani said. “Mama really seemed to like him.”

“No surprise,” Farris said. “He has a good reputation at court. The king likes him.”

“Haven’t ever spoken with him myself,” Keral said. “But he always seemed a friendly enough man. Not one to show off or bring attention to his person. An odd trait in a courtier.”

Jae snorted. “You mean like Colem does?”

“No one does it like Colem,” Keral laughed. “But say what you want of the man. Personally, I find him to be quite amusing.”

Jae glared up at the ranger. “You only say that because you know how much he annoys me.”

Keral grinned but did not deny the accusation. “Believe it or not, there’s a lot more to that loony bastard than ye might think.”

Jae looked as though he wanted to reply, but they were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Farris, who had sat down on the bed, reached out to coax Nenani closer to him. Keral motioned for Jae and Haiyer to remain where they were and then turned towards the door. He cracked it open and asked, “Yes?”

“I’m here to build the fire, milord,” said a young and high pitched voice. Keral pulled the door open to reveal a young maid with thin mousy brown hair tucked up under a simple cap. She, like the housekeeper, was very thin, with a hawkish nose. It was painfully obvious there were shared relations. She hurried inside, awkwardly carrying a load of firewood and some flint. “It won’t be but a moment, milords.”

She made quick work of setting the logs inside, but as she worked with the flint, striking it repeatedly to bring up a spark, her eyes darted to the side every so often. Jae, who sat on the bed nearest to her, watched and did not miss the quick glances his way or the pursed lips. Looking to Keral, he shared a bemused look. The ranger only gave a small nod and Jae got up from his spot, taking Haiyer’s hand, and they moved further up the bed and closer to Farris.

The maid rose to her feet as the fire began to burn properly and she gave a small bow. “The footman should be here shortly with your food, milords.”

Keral nodded. “Thank you.”

As the girl departed, a tall middle-aged man crested the stairs carrying a tray. The maid stepped gingerly aside as he moved into the room, and she gave him an amused grin before dashing off back down the narrow stairs. The same smile graced the footman’s face, but dropped the moment the maid was out of sight and he turned to the room. He sat the tray upon the table and turned to Keral.

“Will there be anything else, milord?”

“No, this will do fine. Any news of the falconer?”

“He lives in a cottage away from the house, sir. But Miss Embrews has sent for him. Shouldn’t be much longer, sir.”

Though displeased, Keral nodded. “Good.”

“If it pleases milord, I could take whatever message you may have and meet him halfway with it.”

“No, I will wait for him. Thanks all the same.”

The footman looked disappointed but gave a short nod and quitted the room. The food he had brought consisted of an iron pot and two bowls with a loaf of bread. Farris went over to it, taking the bread in his hands and scrutinizing it.

“Their ovens run too hot. Bottom’s burned,” he said as he dropped it back onto the tray. “I’d kick Quin in the arse fer tryin’ to serve that t’ anyone.”

“Not every baker can be as amazing as yers, Farris,” Keral replied, looking at it for himself. “Looks perfectly fine to me.”

“Say the man who eats dirt,” Farris quipped back. He pulled the lid off the pot. Inside was a cream colored soup with various vegetables and hunks of pale meat. “Looks under seasoned.”

Keral rolled his eyes.

“Gods forgive anyone who under-seasons food around you,” Keral grunted. “Just ladle it out and complain later.”

Farris merely grunted and took up one of the bowls to ladle in the soup. As he filled the first bowl and went to grab the second, a sudden flash of gold light filled the room, startling the lot of them.

“Wait!” cried a familiar voice. An orb of transparent gold hovered over Keral’s head, making quick circles around him. Startled, Keral shied away from it but frowned when recognition hit him.

“Ellis!” Haiyer cried out in delight, getting to his feet and rushing to the end of the bed. “You came back!”

Annoyed, Keral resisted the urge to swat at the fairy. “Oh, back already are we? Where’s that mage ‘a yer’s lass? Don’t suppose he’ll be turnin’ himself in, eh?”

Her voice was frantic and quick and no one could make out what she was saying. She flew away to fly laps around Farris’s head.

“Gods piss on it, girl!” Farris barked. “We can’t understand a word. Slow down.”

The fairy’s golden light took on a red hue as though manifesting her frustration. She flew to the soup pot and slammed the lid back onto the pot and stood on top of it.

“Don’t eat the soup!” she said, breathless.

“Why? What’s wrong with it?” Keral asked, the annoyance turning to anger.

“Poisoned?” Farris asked, his expression matching his brother’s.

“No!” she said. “People! There are people in it!”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

[diddlesanddoodles]

DUMPLING ch 40

The dagger was nearly ten inches long from hilt to tip and it was heavier than she would have thought it should be. The leather of the sheath was smooth under her fingers and well made. She held it in her lap as the conversation of the others drifted overhead.

“I would have liked the chance to speak with her,” her mother was saying. She hadn’t touched her wine, though Keral was on his third glass and even the King was starting on his second. “If only to let her meet Haiyer.”

The news of Nonna and the others’ visit to the kitchen camp had made it to the King and to her mother and Warren had called for Nenani to discuss the matter. The presents that had been brought for her were in a small pile near her mother. But Nenani kept a hold of her dagger.

Keral had dropped by to give a report and ended up joining their conversation. Though he did not contributed much to it, rather he occupied himself with wine and playing with Haiyer; letting the little boy crawl over his arm or let him attempt to pull the glove off of the ranger’s hand. For her part, Nenani sat next to her mother, inspecting the dagger and lost in her own thoughts. She thought of Riley and how she regretted how their first meeting had gone and wished she could speak to him again. If only to know more about her father and his side of the family. Her family...

“I’ve always known Lady Nonna to be...quite free spirited,” said Warren, smiling into his goblet of wine. “She does what she pleases and asks for forgiveness afterwards with such sincerity you forget what angered you in the first place. Should she have been in possession of a more devious mind, she would be a real problem. But as it stands, she’s easily my favorite of the tribe elders to deal with. Her nephew, however...” He shifted, straightening his shoulders and tilted his head to the side. “Best to leave him to his Aunt and to Warrick.”

“Riley?” Keral asked, his brow furrowed and he smirked sardonically. “The boy’s a walking powder keg. Anything sets him off and he’ll be throwing around challenges like leaves in autumn. Warrick probably thought he was doin’ Nonna a favor by takin’ ‘im as a squire. Not sure how well that’s going fer him, but if half of what I heard about this mornin’s true...” he shrugged dismissively. “...not very well.”

“A pity he doesn’t take more after his Aunt,” Warren remarked. “They could do well with a few more elders such as Nonna.”

Keral barked a laugh, gently drawing his hand slowly across the desk as Haiyer clung to one of his fingers and giggling all the while. “That’s only because she’s still got a sense of humor. The rest of ‘em all seem to have some sort ‘a bet goin’ on as to who can scowl the longest. Warrick’s somewhere in the middle until ye get a bit a whiskey in ‘im and he’s the friendliest fella ye could ever meet. Pretty sure that’s why Gregis liked ‘im so much. Still, I say Warrick’s a far better choice to have replaced him than that Melahd fellow. I don’t think he know how to smile. Not sure why he’s so popular.”

“I’m sure he isn’t the only one who struggles with it. Riley, I mean,” Oira said. “Hayron did, certainly. He would get angry at the drop of a stone if something set him off. I remember once he dropped a jar and shattered all into pieces and he just...went off. I had to send him out to go cool off and he spent hours out in the dunes. Just swinging his sword and going through old drills and just...yelling.”

Nenani looked up from her dagger. “He did? Papa got angry...like Riley did?”

Oira nodded. “Yes. Especially after Halden found us and...told us all that happened. Even though he had been released from duty, Hayron was still deeply loyal to my father and family. Halden barely spoke for nearly a month. They both felt as though they had failed their oaths.”

“I don’t remember them being angry,” Nenani said.

Oira smiled. “That’s because they made you their new oath.”

The dagger in her hands felt heavy and meaningful and she wished not for the first or last time that is had been her father to have given it to her.

“I can’t help but feel as though Nonna was avoiding me,” Oira said then, turning the conversation. “I understand why she might feel...awkward about it, but still.”

“That had been my first inclination,” Warren admitted, sipping at his wine and setting it down. His eyes flickered over to Nenani, the edges of his mouth curling into an amused smile. “But I also have an idea that it may also have something to do with the nature of one of their gifts.”

Nenani looked up as though sensing the conversation had drifted her way and she gripped the dagger possessively. “What?”

Oira looked over at her daughter and the dagger in her lap and frowned pensively. “Yes, about that...”

Nenani looked at her mother, seeming to sense where she was going. “I’m keeping it.”

With narrowed eyes, Oira sighed, and pinned Nenani with a look. “It’s not a toy, Nenani. It’s a weapon.”

“I know. Nonna said it was my first rite,” she replied with a frown. “She said Papa would gave given me one when I turned ten.”

Oira looked conflicted, eyes turning sad at the mentioning of her late husband. “I know, sweetie,” she said gently. “And yes, he did speak of it once. I didn’t like the idea then and I still don’t like it now.”

“I’m still keeping it,” Nenani replied firmly and regarding her mother with a frown. Her eyes were unwavering, as though daring her mother to try and take the dagger from her. Oira watched her daughter, noting her expression and she did not seem too surprised by her daughter’s vehemence.

“Just...promise me you will be responsible,” her mother asked softly. “I don’t want to hear that you’ve cut your fingers off...”

“I’ll be careful. I won’t even take it out of the sheath,” Nenani promised, smiling at her. Nenani had expected more of a fight, but it made her happy to see her mother understood so readily why she wanted to keep it.

“You’ll be needin�� a proper belt to hang it on then, lass,” Keral said and then gestured to the roll of leather. “Ye should go see Connar and see if he won’t make ye somethin’ nice with that there.”

Nenani looked at the roll of leather and then turned to Keral. “Do you think he would?”

“Connar doesn’t get the chance to do much work fer humans these days,” Keral said. “I’m sure he’d love the chance to work on something that isn’t fixin’ or mendin’ guard armor.”

“He is very good at what he does,” Warren added. “A true craftsman. A pity his skills are so underutilized.”

“And ‘a course Rheil could show ye a few tricks with yer dagger there,” Keral offered with a sly grin, plucking Haiyer up and passing the boy idly back and forth between his hands as though demonstrating with him acing as living baton. “The Captain’s real handy with a short blade.”

“I don’t think so,” Oira was quick to say, looking at Nenani with a meaningful eye. “You need to concentrate on learning to control your fire. You may keep the dagger, but I draw the line at you learning combat,” Oira then turned to look at Keral with a scowl. “And I swear to the Gods, Keral, if you drop my son I will have boots made out of your hide.”

“Ah, the pup’s fine,” Keral replied, lifting the breathlessly giggling human boy and setting him on top of his large head. “See? Perfectly safe.”

Oira glared at the ranger.

“Mama, look!” Haiyer said, getting to his feet and using strands of Keral’s long hair to keep himself upright. Oira huffed nervously through her nose. But Keral had enough good sense to put the boy back down onto the solid ground of the desk before his mother began to spark at him. Much to said boy’s disappointment. “Aw...”

Warren regarded the little boy with a warm smile.

“Can’t ye just imagine it though? The lass masterin’ both mage fire and a blade?” Keral asked Oira with a smug grin. His green eyes moved to Nenani as he lifted his cup. “Seven hells by the time yer grown lass, ye’d be a real force to reckon with. Feelin’ sorry for whatever poor love struck sob tries to woo ye.”

Oira suddenly grinned. “Speaking of love,” she said, turning to regard the King with an amused glint in her eye. “I had a very interesting conversation with Queen Rosanna this morning.”

Warren raised an eyebrow, looking the faintest bit concerned. “...oh?”

“Yes,” her mother said with a slight nod. “Her majesty asked me if I had put any thought towards the arranging of possible marriage suitors...” she paused deliberately, eyeing the Vhasshalan King. “...for Nenani.”

Keral snorted into his cup, splashing wine onto his face and shirt and Haiyer gave a startled cry when several fat drops landed on his head. Warren tried to suppress a grin and hide it by lifting his goblet and taking a drink. Nenani looked at her mother with a look of incredulity. “Huh?”

Keral was trying to cough and laugh at the same time.

“Yes. She does seem to have a once track mind lately. I’m afraid she’s already broached the topic with me as well. Concerning Jae,” Warren said with a chuckle. Nenani’s head whipped around to the King, eyes wide and incredulous and he laughed at her horrified stare. “Not in regards to you, Nenani. Only that she feels it’s time we start to consider his future and begin the search. He is sixteen now.”

“And what did the brat have to say about that?” Keral asked, pulling a handkerchief from inside his coat pocket and wiping his face and then used a clean corner to wipe off Haiyer’s wine dampened hair.

Warren sighed with a wry smile. “I’ll let you know once I’ve spoken to him.”

Nenani felt warm around her ears and then her mother ran a hand down her head, pulling her fingers through her hair. “Don’t worry. I would never force a marriage on you, Nenani. Besides,” she added with a glare. “You’re far too young for such things to even be on your mind or anyone else’s. Though I do not believe her majesty meant any offense in asking. If there is one thing I will fight to the death over it’s the forcing of my child into a political marriage. I won’t let her become someone’s pawn.”

“I’m afraid that is just how life at court is,” Warren said with a resigned sigh. “I was only six when they began looking for a wife for me. But I wasn’t just the spare son. I was the spare’s spare’s spare. So though I was a Prince, I wasn’t considered all that great a match. Until I was the only son left that is.”

“It just seems so...terrible to do that to your child,” Oira said. “Spending them like currency...”

“It is,” Warren agreed grimly. “And it’s why if Jae objects to any of it, I have no intention of forcing him. Much for the same reasons as you, Annie. I don’t want him become someone’s pawn in a power play.”

“The last thing that boy would ever find himself caught up in would be a power play,” Keral laughed. “They could try till their gums bleed, but if Jae ain’t in the mind to do it, he’ll just bugger off.” He took a long drink from his cup, draining it. “Not that a King’s ward could give them all that much influence anyway.”

“That is true. For now at least,” Warren said, looking serious and Keral eyed his King curiously. Meeting the ranger’s eyes, Warren said, “I have discussed it with Rosanna extensively these last few weeks and...I intend to formally adopt Jae and give him my name.”

If Keral had not finished his wine, he would have spurted it all over himself again. “What? When?”

“I had thought to do it on the solstice.”

Keral leaned forward, resting his arm on the desk and regarding the monarch with a stern eye. Even Oira was seemed apprehensive.

“Ye sure ‘bout this, Warren? Folks seemed alright enough with ye keepin’ him as yer ward. They could just fool themselves in ‘ta thinkin’ ye’d gone mad and made a pet of the boy. But makin’ him a prince is a whole other matter.”

“Jae is my son, Keral,” Warren said firmly. “And I want my people and our history to acknowledge him as such. Rosanna stands behind me in this. When our baby is born, they will be the crowned heir. But I want Jae acknowledged as my son and a Prince of Vhasshal.”

Keral watched Warren for a moment with a steady stare and then after a time, he leaned back into his seat and smiled with a nod. “That boy’s got a head the size of a cannonball and ye wanna go and put a crown on it,” Keral chuckled. “But aye. I’m with ye, Warren. He’s more Vhassal than Silvaara now anyway.”

The King was visibly relieved. “Thank you, my friend.”

“You must love that boy very much,” Oira said with a warm smile.

“I owe Jae everything,” replied the King. “He doesn’t believe me when I tell him, but...I don’t think I would have been nearly as successful in bringing Vhasshal back from the brink if I didn’t have him and Keral by my side. They’re worth more to me than every gold ingot in the treasury and more.”

“Don’t see ye goin’ outta yer way to make me a prince,” Keral quipped, pouring himself another glass.

Warren smirked at the ranger. “Would you like to?”

“Fuck no!” said the ranger with scoff, setting back in his seat and bringing the cup to his lips. He paused and gestured with his cup towards the King. “I’d be content with a raise, though.”

Warren laughed. “We shall see.”

Keral then turned to smirk at Nenani and Oira. “And just think: with Jae bein’ a prince, when the lass comes of age,” he said with smug grin. “Ye can marry the both of ‘em and reform the alliance between Silvaara and Vhasshal.”

Her mother was laughing, but Nenani was not.

“What?” Now Nenani felt distinctly warm and Keral’s grin widened.

“Ah. Yer blushing there, lass,” he said. “Ye really are sweet on that boy, after all. Ain’t ye?”

“No!” She shot back with a little more volume and force than she meant and her blush deepened. Both her mother and Warren were looking at her with surprise and Keral could not have looked more smug if he had been a cat who caught the king of rats.

“Can we talk about something else?” She demanded of the room, not looking at anyone. Her stomach roiled with mortification as they all laughed. But thankfully after a moment, Warren turned the discussion onto another topic.

“Annie, would you consider joining Rosanna and Jae and myself for dinner one night in the great hall? I will be addressing the Lords and I would very much like to have you there.”

Her mother looked started. The moment she and Haiyer had come to Vhasshal, they had taken all their meals in their private room and barely spoke to anyone beyond Lolly and the few other servants that sought to their daily needs. To dine in the great hall meant being in the presence of fifty plus giants all in the same room. Many of those attending would be the Lords and Vassels of court. People of great importance and influence.

It was a disquieting prospect.

“I...if you wish me there,” she said finally, but she appeared very reluctant. “I will be happy to.”

Warren nodded. “I do. There are things being said around court and I want to address them and make myself perfectly clear where the Crown stands in regards to them.”

…………………………………

There was not a single soul to be seen as Maevis carried her through the hallways and Nenani yawned greatly, leaning back against him and trying to slip back into sleep. Something tapped her head and she opened her eyes to see his finger hovering over her.

“Sorry, my dear, but I can’t have you falling to sleep on me,” he told her with a bright smile and she groaned. How could he possibly be as jovial as he looked at such an early hour? “You’ll need to be awake for your lesson.”

“But why so early?” she whined, rubbing her eyes. “Even Farris doesn’t get up this early...”

“True enough. We still have a little over an hour before that,” Maevis replied with a laugh. “But, Quinn will be waiting for us and I don’t think we should disappoint him.”

She stared up at him through tired squinting eyes. “Huh?”

“The repairs to the kitchen has been completed and Quinn will be lighting the new ovens for the first time this morning,” he explained and then pinned her with one amused honey colored eye. “Or rather, you will.”

Looking around, the halls as he moved, she was able to recognize where they were and sure enough, after a time, Maevis took a flight of stone stairs downward and he stepped down into the kitchen. An odd sense of longing pulled at her as she looked around.

The floor was different than she remembered, but most of it had to be replaced, so that was to be expected. The damage to the hearth was repaired and all the shelves were back, though they were empty. The tables had been brought in and many of the cooking pots and knives had been piled there. Near the archway, many of the chests and crates that had been in the tent were stacked up and ready to be put back in their proper places. And to her left she saw the ovens. Where there had once been three were now five and a new set of shelves had been built into the wall. Quinn was kneeling beneath one of the ovens and the square set chamber beneath them, shoving firewood into the space. Upon hearing Maevis’s footsteps, he rose to his feet and grinned at them. “’bout time ye showed up. Was just about t’start without ye.”

“Believe me, I would have been here sooner,” Maevis replied. “But you try to coax this one out of a warm bed at this hour and see how well you manage it.”

“Food, my dear fellow. Food. S’how we always did it,” Quinn said as he walked up to meet them, reaching into the pocket at the front of his apron and pulling something out. He held it out to Nenani and she looked down to see a small round piece of flat bread with something sprinkled on it. She took it and she could smell the cinnamon and clove.

“Sweet roll!” She cried out with glee and took a large bite, her mouth watering as the honey sweetened bread hit her tongue. It wasn’t a proper sweet roll, but she didn’t have enough in her to care.

Quinn laughed. “Not quite the same, but close enough, eh?”

She just nodded and took another bite.

“I will have to remember this,” Maevis said with an amused grin and sat her down onto the floor near the first oven’s burn chamber where Quin had been stacking wood.

The sweet bread was gone in minutes and did a decent job of perking Neanani up from the pulling grip of sleep.

“Where’s Kol?” she asked.

“Lettin’ ‘im sleep a little more,” Quinn replied as he squatted next to her. “Not that he’s said as much, but he ain’t been sleepin’ all that well last few days.”

“Because of what the serpents did?” she asked, concerned and guilt ridden. “Does he need to go see Yaesha?”

Quinn grinned down at her. “Lass, I’ve been tryin’ to get him to since it happened, but he swears he’s fine. He ain’t, but he swears it all the same. Kol’s more stubborn a mule when it comes to having to go see Yaesha few anythin’. Few yeas back he broke his arm after a pile ‘a wood collapsed on ‘im and Farris had to literally carry the bastard to go get it set. Yelled the whole way, swearin’ he was fine, but Farris wasn’t havin’ any of it. His arm was bent wrong and was purple.”

Nenani made a face. “Ow...”

Maevis frowned and shook his head. “That won’t do. Perhaps I should mention it to Yaesha that Kol would do well with a quick check up?”

Quinn grinned wickedly at the magician. “Well, Maevis. That would be awfully kind of ye.”

…………………….

“Now, for this lesson, we’re going to work on your endurance,” Maevis explained. Quinn stood to the side, leaning against the table and was content to watch the lesson unfold.

“You’re not going to charm the wood are you?” she asked pensively.

“No, I will not be charming the fire wood,” Maevis replied and then smiled. “At least not for today’s lesson. Now, do you know how these ovens work, Nenani?”

She opened her mouth to affirm that she did know how ovens worked, but paused when she realized...she really didn’t. Not entirely. In principal, yes. In actuality…

Quinn saw her puzzled look and chuckled. “No worries, Dumplin’. It’s a fairly simple design. These ovens are all built around a brick core where the actual bakin’ is done. The brick chamber is heated two different ways; by shoveling some burning wood inside and closing ‘em up for an hour or so and by heatin’ ‘em from below.  I do both as it heats the oven faster and more evenly. Especially when it gets t’be real cold and a sudden change of temperature could shatter the bricks. But once it’s up to temp, we sweep the ashes from the brick chamber while the fire below keeps everythin’ at temperatures all day and all I gotta do is make sure t’keep feedin’ it more wood.”

Nenani nodded her understanding. “So...I just need to light the wood on fire? That doesn’t sound too hard.”

Maevis peered at her over the top of his rimmed spectacles. “Surely you don’t think it would be so simple?”

“No,” Nenani admitted with a small smile and a shrug. “But I hoped it would...”

“No such luck, my dear,” he said. “No, your task will be to light the wood in the bottom chambers here, but there is a reason I am having you do this lesson now.”

“Normally, I’d just use a bit ‘a kindlin’ and a bellows to get the fire going,” Quinn said with an easy shrug. “But it rained last night and got a good bit of my kindlin’ and wood got all wet and it’s right useless. So yer just gonna have t’blast the buggers with yer flames till it dries out the wood enough for it to light. And we got five ovens needin’ to be lit.” He gave her a devilish grin and clapped his hands. “So get to it, lass. Chop chop.”

Maevis cupped his hand around her back and tapped a finger against her chest, his expression serious and warning. “Now, Nenani. If at any point during this lesson you feel the need for a rest, tell me and we shall stop. This will be much more draining than your first lesson and I won’t have you fainting on me. Understand?”

She nodded. “I will.”

Maevis nodded. “Good.”

“Aye. Wouldn’t do at all fer Farris to walk in right as ye dropped to the floor now would it, Dumplin’?” Quinn remarked. “He’d have poor ol’ Maevis here ripped t’pieces and then we’d have to tell the King he’ll be needin’ a new magician.”

“Yes, let us avoid all that unpleasantness, if you please.”

It started off quite simple, much to Nenani’s surprise. The fire pulled smoothly and easily and as soon as the flames hit the wood, steam began to rise up as the moisture from within began to boil and hiss away into fragrant clouds of mist. It was becoming easier for her summon real fire rather then the harmless mage fire that was much more natural. But almost a minute in, the first pile of wood was still steaming away and she was beginning to feel the drain. The second minute passed and she had to stop. With her hands planted on her knees, she panted and struggled to regain her breath. Maevis rubbed a finger along her spine and murmured encouragements to her. “Remember, this is about endurance, not speed.”

And so it went on. After ten minutes and two more breaks, the first oven was lit and beginning to burn nicely. But Nenani looked at the other ovens with a sense of dread. With Maevis and Quinn encouraging her onward however, she summoned enough fortitude to turn to the next one. And the next. And the next. But after the fourth oven was finally burning as it should, Nenani was left sitting on the floor, drenched in sweat and panting.

“Hm,” Quinn said, staring down at her and flicking a worried look to the other giant. “I dunno, Maevis. Four might be all she’s got in her.”

“I believe you’re right,” Maevis replied, reaching down and carefully scooping her up. “You did very well, Nenani. Your control is much improved. But I think we’re done for today.”

She nodded absently, her head already drooping as the pull of sleep tugged at her mind.

…………………………….

The skeletal form of the mage stood in front of her, blank sockets for eyes seeming to study her and she could do nothing but stare back. The amulet – his amulet, felt heavy against her middle.  

“A flower withers in its vase when pulled from the earth,” he said. “The thorns protect and hold the flower up. Without one, the other dies.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, holding up the amulet. “Maevis took this from you. But he said I needed it help me control my magic. I’m still learning, but I promise I’ll give it back. I only need it for a little longer. I’m getting better at it. The magic, I mean.”

Though he no longer had lips to do so with, it seemed to Nenani as though the skeleton mage was...smiling.

“The flower is still wild,” he said, sounding amused. “The thorns are strong. Trust in what the earth has blessed you with, child...”

He reached out and touched her cheek with a bony hand.

“...and his machinations will never uproot you.”

………………………………….

She awoke to the smell of yeast and fire and flour, the sound of the wooden peels pulling in and out of the ovens and the pleasant chatter of familiar voices as they worked. Laying atop a flat surface, cushioned by the folded fabric of an apron, she began to stir. Somewhere far off to the right of her, she heard Herit laugh. Avery was singing again and Saen was begging him to stop.

She opened her eyes slowly to find her field of vision blocked by a grayish green tunic and clean white apron. Turning her head up, she met Farris’s expectant gaze with a bleary eyed stare. The edges of his mouth curled into a grin.

“And just what in the seven hells am I meant t’be doin’ with ye, eh?” he asked her, pinching her arm lightly. “Come in here findin’ ye passed out like a drunkard after the solstice.”

She yawned and stretched. “Maevis had me light the ovens,” she said as she rubbed her eyes. “I only could do four though...the wood was wet.”

“Aye,” he said, looking over his shoulder to peer at the new ovens. All five were roaring away and bread, proper bread, was being unloaded into the baskets. “Was fully expectin’ to come in here and find Quinn still tryin’ to get it all goin’. But ye seemed to have done just fine. Seems t’ave done ye in though, eh?”

“It takes a lot more concentration to burn stuff than to just makes mage fire,” Nenani said, sitting up. “I have to...like...be angry. Kind of. It’s hard to explain. I just think about Aidus and it’s a lot easier.”

Farris’s huffed a laugh. “That so?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, can’t say the thought of that fucker don’t light a fire in my belly either,” he said, reaching out to scoop her up, apron and all. “But since yer down here takin’ up my valuable table space, we’re gonna put them little hands to work.”

She yawned again and laid her head against his chest. “Okay...”

“...and it ain’t more sleep,” he said, tapping her head with a meaty finger. “Sun’s up, Dumplin’ and so should ye be.”

“The sun may be up,” she quipped. “...yet I am still sleepy.”

For a small moment, Farris looked as though he were going to be cross, but he paused as a thought struck him and he shrugged. “All right then.”

Nenani blinked. “Huh? Really?”

Farris nodded as he walked over to the large table in front of the hearth. Several of the chests were stacked beside it with their contents unloaded onto the table. Avery and Herit were working the new spit roasting mechanism with a few mutton carcasses. Or rather Avery was and Herit was feeding the smallish fire below to make sure it was an appropriate size for the meat they were roasting. Farris sat her down on the table between several pottery crocs and bundles. “Aye. If yer that tired go on and take a rest,” he told her. His eyes narrowed as his mouth curled into a smirk. “Got a nice cocotte fer ye to sleep in an everythin’.”

Nenani sat up straight. “I’m awake.”

Behind her, Avery and Herit were laughing.

[diddlesanddoodles]

Dumpling ch 31

“Mama,” Nenani asked from where she had curled up against her mother, one of her long thin arms draped over her daughter protectively. Haiyer was fast asleep and curled into his mother’s other side with their mother’s other arm wrapped around him. She had slept a little, but the rhythmic lilting of the pack they were being carried in make it hard to stay asleep. At least for Nenani it was and such restlessness did nothing but urge on the many questions that stewed inside her mind. “...am I a fire mage?”

Her mother’s fingers laced through her hair, pulling lightly at the tangles and only paused for a moment at her query before resuming the idle grooming.

“Yes,” her mother replied softly so as to not rouse Haiyer. “I hope you can understand why it was that I put the seal on you.”

“...to protect me?”

“Yes. But more than that,” she said. “There are so few left with the Flower’s power. You and I may very well be the last. Haiyer might still bloom, but...there are people who crave power and to people like that, fire mages are useful tools. Someone born with the potential for magnificent feats of magic. Or monstrous feats of destruction. They would seek you out and try to make you do things. Things you wouldn’t want to do.”

“Barnaby said that people use to kidnap children who were fire mages if their family wasn’t rich...”

“Yes,” her mother said. “It was horrible. My father encouraged it, calling it a mercy for the families and a blessing for the child. That to surrender your blood in such a way...for the good of out kingdom.”

She shifted as she considered her next question. “Was grandfather...a bad person?”

Her mother did not answer right away. “People are hardly ever just one thing. And they’re different things to different people,” her mother explain. “My father was not a gentle man, no. He was strict, but I knew he loved me. In his way.”

“But he banished you...” It was hard to get around the idea that a father could just throw his child away like that. She couldn’t imagine her own father doing it.

“I broke his heart first,” Oira replied, her voice sounding thick. “He was crying as he read out my punishment. So I knew it pained him, but...I was still forced to leave.”

It wasn’t a satisfying answer and she felt inclined to think ill of her maternal grandfather regardless.

“Sometimes I wonder if what he was trying to do was grant me mercy,” her mother continued. “If I had stayed, both my life and yours would have been horrible. By leaving, he gave me a way to start afresh. At least...that’s what I hoped he meant. I still love him even now and he did allowed Captain Haiyer to honorably discharge your father so that he could come with us. Instead of facing possible execution.”

“He...he would have killed Papa?” Nenani asked in real alarm and raised her head, but Oira pushed her back into place, petting her hair as though to sooth her back into calmness.

“No, it wouldn’t have gone that far. But others may have pushed it to further their own agendas. Any sort of upheaval at court was always a chance for someone to get an upper hand in some dealing or another.”

“Did uncle have to go too?”

“No, Halden stayed. He only found us much later after the capitol fell. He was one of the few that made it out. It was actually by chance he found us at all. He’d bargained for passage on a barge on its way to the Southland Port where he ran into your father. It’s how….how I found out about...how my family died.”

Nenani fell into an uneasy contemplation and then quietly asked, “Would you be able to teach me how to be a fire mage?”

“I was only ever taught the basics. Mostly how to control the flames so they didn’t just burst out whenever I became upset. I wouldn’t be able to teach you much. But I will teach you what I know.”

“I wonder if Maevis would be able to teach me some too,” she contemplated allowed. “And maybe...maybe if I got good at it...I could help.”

“Aidus would kill you if you stood up to him,” Oira said firmly. “No. I want you as far from that as I can get you. And from what you have told me, it sounds as though there are plenty of others in Vhasshal who would agree with me. You’re a child, Nenani. Not a soldier.”

“I don’t want him to hurt any more of my friends...”

“Perhaps,” her mother said. “Once I have spoken to King Warren, we might be able to assemble a defense against Aidus. He’s strong enough to take on several giants all on his own. But he has an army of bewitched serpents at his command as well. It will take...a lot to bring him to heel. You bought us time by killing the dragon. But we can’t hope for more than a month or so.”

They settled into a nervous silence with only the sound of rustling leather and the muffled sound of Keral’s boots to fill the silence. Eventually, sleep came for them all, though neither Nenani or her mother had pleasant dreams.

…………………………………………………………….

When Nenani woke up, she felt sluggish and the air inside the pack was stale and smelled of body odor and whiskey. She was curious about when had woken her when she heard a voice. “Captain, we weren’t expecting you back for another –!”

“Give this note to Captain Rheil,” Keral barked. “It’s of the upmost urgency. I’ll be waitin’ fer him in the west wing’s solar.”

“Uh, sir. There was a fire in the west wing and...”

“East wing then. Hurry on, boy.”

“Oh, of course. But sir, I...”

“Now, you useless halfwit!”

“Yessir!”

“And have some wine brought too!”

She could hear the young Vhasshalan guard scamper off to hurriedly carry out his orders and Keral moving away down a corridor. After several long minutes of silence, there came the sound of large metal hinges screeching as a door was opened and then slammed tight again. The pack tilted alarmingly, and its occupants let out cries of alarm.

“Sorry,” Keral said, flipping the top of his pack open and allowing fresh air in. “Forgot to warn ya.”

He had set the pack down on a wooden bench that faced another bench of similar design and wood. Between them was a low table with the whole affair arranged beside a tall and beautifully ornate stone fireplace. The room’s ceiling was high with its wooden support beams showing through the plaster. He sat down heavily beside them, running a hand down his tired face.

“Can we come out?” Nenani asked as she fidgeted inside.

“Not just yet. I don’t want anyone to be seein’ ya until we’re in front of the King. So just sit back fer a bit.”

“Who is Rheil?” Oira asked, setting Haiyer in her lap. The little boy’s eyes drooped heavily and he was only dimly aware of his surroundings.

“Captain of the guard,” Keral said. “Probably the most trustworthy man here. He took up the post when I refused it.”

Oira snorted. “They wanted you to be Captain of the guard?”

Keral eyed her in annoyance. “That surprise ya, does it?”

“Greatly.” In response, Keral flipped the lid of his pack back over them. Oira gave a startled “Hey!” before Keral shushed her.

“Someone’s comin’. Hush up.”

The door to the room opened and a slim girl carrying a large decanter of wine walked in. “Apologies, my lord. The kitchens are still a mess and they had to move the wine stores to make room for the temporary cook camp.”

“Never ya mind, lass,” Keral said amiably. “I thank ye.”

“Will that be all, m’lord?”

“Fer now.”

“I’ll take my leave then.” The door closed and left them in silence for only a few short moments before it opened again.

“Rheil,” Keral said in muted greeting as he rose and met the Captain halfway.

“Keral,” said the captain, sounding confused and apprehensive. “We weren’t expecting you back for a few more days.”

“There were some...developments that brought me back early.”

“Oh,” Rheil said seriously. “So then..?”

“I need to have a conference with his Majesty. I want you, Maevis, and Barnaby there as well,” Keral said as he poured himself a generous cup of wine and took a long drink. “It’ll make this a hell of a lot easier if everyone is all in one place so I don’t have to go about repeatin’ myself and folks gettin’ the facts backwards.”

“Very well, I’ll see to it that they’re all assembled. Is this of a...sensitive nature?”

“The less folks know, the better.”

“Ah, then I suggest we have this conference in the King’s private study if he permits.”

“Agreed. I’ll wait here until everyone’s ready.”

“Why not simply come with me?”

“You’ll understand soon enough.”

“Very well,” Rheil said. “It’ll come back once everyone is assembled then.”

“I have a question for you Rheil before you go,” Keral said, voice serious and strained. “Jae. Is it true? That the Mage killed him?”

Nenani’s heart pulled alarmingly at those words and to her further dismay, her hands started to glow. She gasped and began to flail her hands as though to shake the affliction off of her. Oira reached out and grabbed her daughter’s hands, bringing them to her lips and kissing them lightly.

“Breathe,” she whispered. “The flames will feed off your fear if you do not control it. Just breathe, baby. You have mastery over the flower, not the reverse.”

“Is Jae…?” Rheil’ asked, sounding confused. “No, he’s not dead. Bruised black and blue from here to Timberbrook, but he’s alive.”

Nenani’s eyes widened and she could not suppress the relieved smile that spread across her face. Even in the dark of the pack, she could see her mother smiling back at her and the glow from her hands faded.

“Seven fuckin’ hells!” Keral said in abject relief and then laughed despite himself. “I’d heard the fucker had killed him.”

“Not for lack of trying, trust me. Threw the poor boy from the Library roof. Luckily for Jae one of my men was right below when he fell and caught him. But only after he’d hit the edge of a lower level on his way down. He’s busted up and his arm is broken, but he is very alive.” Rheil said and then his words grew soft and sad. “But...Farris’s little ward, Nenani. She’s dead.” He paused. “That Mage...the fucker fed her to his dragon. Right in front of me, Keral. I couldn’t get to her in time...”

Keral did not say anything for several moments and then in a quiet, but firm voice, said simply, “Best get going Rheil. Sooner what needs to be said is said, the better fer everyone.”

“...aye.”

The sound of the door closing once again marked his departure and Nenani could hear Keral’s boots clopping against the stone floor as he returned to the bench. “Sorry, lass. I’m thinkin’ it’s best we keep yer miraculous survival to ourselves until we’re before the King.”

“Will I be able to go see Farris and Yale and everyone soon?” she asked anxiously.

“In time,” he said. “But first we need to sort this mess out and see to yer Mum and brother. Just sit tight fer me, sweetling.”

The next half hour was spent in uncomfortable and anxious silence. Nenani could feel her mother becoming more and more agitated as time continued on and the only real sounds beyond their own quiet breathing was the sound of Keral drinking glass after glass of wine.

“I don’t know if I can do this...” Oria said quietly; her breathing having become more and more rapid. She was panicking. “Keral...I can’t do this.”

“Far too late fer any a’ that, lass,” Keral replied grimly. “Just keep hold a’ yer lil’uns and remember to breathe.”

“Don’t cry, Mama,” Haiyer said, cuddling up to her. “Don’t cry.”

She wrapped her arms around her son, but did not speak. Nenani wished she could go see Jae and talk to him. Or to Farris to let him know she was alright. But she was also loathed to leave her mother’s side, especially in such a state. She was beginning to feel awfully anxious herself. It was reminiscent of when she had waited for the King to judge her for stealing fruit from him. The pit of her stomach felt as though she had swallowed rocks and no matter how she sat or shifted, she could not get comfortable. So she concentrated on her breathing so her excessive emotions would cause her hands to spark again. How awkward would it be to get upset and mistakenly burn the King’s study down?

The flap of the pack opened, dousing them in warm sunlight and Keral frowned down at them.

“Ye all look like yer waitin’ fer the executioner’s swing,” he huffed. Oria did not rise to his taunt and he studied the woman for a moment. “Tell me, what are ye afraid of, Oira?”

She spared the ranger a glance and shook her head. “Everything. I’m afraid to look into his eyes and tell him the truth of his brother’s death and all that followed was my doing. That he’ll allow the children to stay,” she whispered. “But demand that I leave. Leave them forever and return to Aidus and to that life.” She let out a breathless sob and fat tear droplets dripped from her chin. “I...I don’t think I could ever return to him. I...I don’t want to, even though I know it’s what I deserve. It might even stop him. But...I can’t.”

“Give Warren a little credit, lass,” Keral replied gently. “He is Thadeus’s brother after all.”

“And the Blood King was their father,” she replied grimly. “I can’t expect his familial connections to save me.”

“Yer not on trail, y’know.”

“Yes I am,” she replied very softly, perhaps intending for the ranger to not even hear her. “From the moment I was presented at court at fourteen years old, all I have ever had on me were judgmental eyes. Deciding how much I was worth. What status my hand would bring. What they could have from me. And the very few people who never did are dead now.”

Keral opened his mouth to reply, but a knock at the door disrupted anything he would have said.

“We’re ready for you, Keral.”

“Aye.”

Keral flipped the pack’s lid and sealed them all back into the dark. Nenani heard him lock the pack’s cover into place and with a measured slowness, eased the pack onto his shoulders. The three humans were rocked inside along with the ranger’s gait as he left the room and followed Rheil down the long halls. Beside her, Nenani heard her mother stifle a sob and wished there was something she could say to make her smile.  

“I’ll warn you now, Keral,” Rheil was saying. “The last couple days have left everyone on a razor’s edge. And this hasty meeting hasn’t done much to quell that. The King’s out for blood.”

“I would expect so,” he replied. “How bad’s the damage to the west wing?”

“Not nearly as bad as it could have been. The dragon only set fire to one portion of the roof and after it left, Maevis was able to easily douse the flames. Donal is overseeing the reconstruction plans. His Majesty’s been with Jae for the most part.”

“Injuries?”

“Minimal. A few burns. Some tapestries were destroyed, but nothing as bad as it would have been,” Rheil said and then added, “And then of course we lost Nenani.”

“How’s Farris and the lads?”

“Ruined,” Rheil said. “Farris sent Yale home for a few days to grieve in the comfort of his mother’s home. Everyone else is carrying on, but...you can tell.”

Keral rumbled noncommittally. Inside the pack, Nenani was miserable. She hated the idea that her very dear friends were in pain, believing her to be dead. For the life of her, she could not understand why she could not just go see them. She had to quell the swell of sadness before she began to spark. Another door opened and together, Rheil and Keral entered the King’s private study. The very place that Nenani had been brought months earlier to face the King for her own petty crimes. She hoped that he would be as kind to her mother.

“Keral,” came the angry voice of the King. “I hope you bring news of the Smoke Mage and how me might bring him to justice. Because I have a pike I’m sure his head would fit on nicely.”

“Your Majesty,” Keral replied and Nenani could swear she could hear the smirk in his voice. “I come to you bringing everything.”

“Explain yourself, then. Because right now I’d very much like to tear that human into pieces for what he did to my son and to that little girl.”

Keral very slowly sat his pack onto the ground, but made no motion to reveal its contents. Beside her, Nenani’s mother reached out and gripped her daughter’s hand and Nenani squeezed back.

“Fer months I’ve been chasing this shadow that we now know is a Smoke Mage. It’s attacked the villages, several people, and then killed a man. The Hill Tribes are the only ones to have reportedly seen the thing and none of the reports match one another. Then we have a seemingly happenstance Wyvern attack here at the castle. Maevis didn’t think it was so happenstance, though. There was...some weird magic all around it. Then Farris’s lil’ ward admitted to me that she had seen a man she claimed was “made of smoke” during the attack. During which he attempted to kill her. He did not succeed and after the wyvern had been killed, the Smoke Mage was no where to be found.”

“Keral,” came Maevis’s voice, but he did not sound at all like himself. “We know all of this, why do you need to...”

“Maevis, please,” Keral said. “It’s taken me a good while to string all this together. Once it’s all laid out, what comes next will make more sense.”

“Apologies. Please continue.”

“Then a field scout reports to me that a dragon’s attacked Vhasshal. On my way back, I spotted the damn thing and followed it for a half league or so. If the Smoke Mage is using these beasts, I might be able to find where he’s hiding. Just as it flies over the Daehil Nenani river, the fucker explodes.”

There came a weighted silence as Keral’s words were mulled over.

“The dragon...exploded?” came the incredulous voice of the King.

“Yep. Big ol’ ball of flames. Ripped the damn thing’s jaw clean off and it fell into the river. Then the river caught fire.”

Maevis made a strange sound of surprise as though he was choking on air.

“The river...caught fire?” Rheil asked incredulously. “...like at Riftside?”

“Aye, s’what I said and yeah. Looked the same too. And the closer I got to where the dragon fell, I could hear somethin’. Or rather, someone. Screamin’ their fuckin’ lungs out and each time they did, the fire got bigger and bigger.”

“A fire mage,” said the King, his voice serious. “You found a fire mage?”

“Aye, a right an’ proper fire mage.”

“Keral, sir,” came Barnaby’s shaking voice. “You...you don’t mean to tell us that...”

“She was in the water screamin’ her little head off. No worse fer wear ‘cept being torn from her wits and senses. Suppose almost being eaten by a dragon’ll do that to anyone, let alone a wee lass.”

“Answer me plain, Keral. Who did you find?”

“Nenani. She was sparkin’ up a storm and gettin’ ready t’light whole valley up.”

“Nenani? She...bloomed?” Maevis asked. “But what of...”

“You mean she is alive?” Rheil asked.

“Keral, where is she now?” the King demanded.

Light flooded into the pack once more as Keral lifted the top away and reached inside for Nenani and pulled her out. “She’s right here.”

He sat her gently onto the King’s large desk and her eyes were still adjusting to the light when there came many voices of surprise and elation. The King sat in his chair behind the desk and to his right stood Rheil. They looked at her as though she were a ghost and she supposed she sort of was, but it wasn’t a moment later that Rheil broke out into a wide smile. Then Barnaby was suddenly at her side, wrapping his arms around her and crying. “Oh, Nenani, you are alive!” he cried. “Praise the Seven Seals! Gods above!”

“Dear child,” Maevis said, breathless with relief and when she looked up into his honey colored eyes, he was smiling warmly, holding one hand to his heart. “We were sure he had killed you.”

“I’m sorry for worrying you,” she said, burying her face into the old man’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, pish-posh! You haven’t a thing to be sorry for! What an idea, apologizing for being attacked by a dragon!” Barnaby said, pulling her away from himself to study her over. “Oh, young master Jae will be so glad to hear you’re safe.”

“And Farris,” Rheil added. He looked to Keral with an expression that was meant to be admonishing, but was tainted by his own relief. “You mean to say you had her stashed in there the entire time I was telling you how upset everyone was? You’re terrible.”

Looking as smug as the cat that just caught the biggest rat, Keral shrugged. “Ha! She ain’t the only thing I have in here,” Keral replied. “And if ye thought her bit was fantastical, well...” Keral reached down into the pack. “Come on then, lass. Up ye get, now.”

With a gentle hand, Keral helped Oira step from the pack and onto the desk. She was very pale and she held her hands clasped together as though to hide the fact that she was trembling. The gathered Vhasshalans looked to her in mute confusion and expectation. The King, however, was looking at her with a sharp and suspicious eye.

Barnaby’s hands left Nenani’s shoulders and he stared at Oira, mouth agape. In turn, Oira stared back and when recognition struck her, it was as though a damn had broke and she broke into a sob. “Oh, Master Barnabas...”

Barnaby slowly walked towards her, reaching out in an almost disbelieving fog. His wrinkled and worn hands cupped the woman’s face and he had tears in his eyes. “My dear girl. Oh, I dared not hope...that it might be true. That somehow...you had survived. Dear child...”

“You don’t know how good it is to see you,” Oira laughed through her tears and hugged the old archivist tightly. Though he readily returned the sentiment, his face was one of regret and pain.

“Barnaby,” said the King when the two parted and the old man had a moment to compose himself. Though his words were genial enough, there was suspicion in his eyes and his back was straight and stiff. “Might you be so good as to make the introductions for us?”

“Ah! Of course, forgive me, sire,” the older man said hastily and took a formal bow. “My lords, I have the immense honor and privilege to introduce to you all, Flowered Princess Aine Elaine Oira, Duchess of Ravenwood, and sixth child of the late King Haeral XVI.”

Nenani could see the way her mother seemed to tense up as her name and titles was said aloud and she did not meet anyone’s gaze. For several moments, no one spoke and the King stared into her with sharpness that made Nenani feel uneasy.

“Annie,” said the King softly, his eyes piercing. “You’re Annie.”

Oira did not meet his eye and only nodded in mute confirmation. The King’s gaze roamed over her figure, taking in her story that was written plainly on her body. Her hair cut shot, her neck marred with old scars, and most of all her demeanor. She carried herself much in the same way Nenani had when she faced his judgment and his eyes flickered between Oira and Nenani and there was a spark of recognition.

“We had thought my father slaughtered you with the rest of your kin,” King Warren said though not unkindly. “How ever did you survive?”

“Your Majesty...” she said, her head bowed and voice unsteady. “I...I have something to tell you. And I...I beg you to allow me to finish what I have to say without pause. Because if I stop, I am afraid I will never be able to finish and what I have to say you need to know. It is your right and I have taken far too long in coming to you.”

Warren considered her for a moment and then gestured to her. “You have the floor, m’lady.”

“...the night that Crown Prince Thadeus died,” she began and there was a palpable shift in the room. Muscles tensed and eyes narrowed, but she pressed on. If she stopped now, the words would never come. “He was in Silvaara because I asked him to come. I needed his aide. To leave. I...I had been banished by my father for defying him and taking a man not my betrothed. I was carrying his bastard child and he refused to allow her to be born under his sigil. He had Master Barnabas remove me from the archives so it was as though I never existed. He is wrong to call me a Princess because I have not held the right to that title in more than a decade.” She took a deep fortifying breath. “The man to whom I had been promised is named Aidus. When I was banished, he refused to accept it and he would not let me go. He tried to kill the child still inside me, but Thadeus stopped him.”

She took a breath.

“Aidus killed Crown Prince Thadeus when he tried to save me and my unborn child and the man that would become my husband. He told us to run and Aidus killed him for it.” She quickly dabbed at her flowing tears and continued on quickly before her courage ran dry. “I could not come to you to tell you the truth of it, because I feared your father’s wrath. That he might kill me and my baby and Hayron. So I stayed away while the war waged on. All these years I thought that your father still lived. So we hid away in the Southlands. But Aidus found us again just as I learned I was with child once more. He killed my husband and took me away and I was forced to leave my brother in law and young daughter. I was able to convince him that the son I bore was his blood so he would not kill him.

“But last year he threatened to kill my baby boy when he showed no promise of ever blooming. So I ran away with him. The Smoke Mage who had been ravaging your lands is Aidus. He has been looking for me. And also my daughter so that he may use her to force me to return to him.”

Oira was trembling terribly and her eyes swam with tears.

“Above everything, sire, the one thing I wish for you to know is how much I deeply regret involving the Prince in my matters and leading him to his death. I do not ask for forgiveness as I know I do not deserve it, but I beseech your mercy that my children may rely upon your protection. If Aidus gets the chance, he will kill them both and they’re the last of my father’s bloodline. If Silvaara is ever to live on, even as a memory, so must they.”

The room became very quiet and Nenani could see all the hard faces of the Vhasshalans gathered. All but Keral wore expressions of anguish and anger and it was almost as if she could feel their gazes upon her mother’s shaking form.

“Please,” Oira said lastly, her voice faint and wavering. “They’re innocent in this...they’re only just children...”

“My lady, are...are you alright?” Barnaby asked, reaching out to grasp Oira’s hand. Her eyes were unfocused and listless and all at once she crumbled to the floor as every muscle holding her up failed her. Barnaby fell to his knees, looking upon the Princess in anguish. “Oh –! Oh my lady!”

It seemed to break everyone from their introspection as they looked down at the unconscious woman. Keral stepped up and slipped his hand behind her shoulders and propped her up. “Oi, lass. Come on now, stay with us.”

“Gods above, m’lady!” Barnaby fretted, wiping his hands down her face and lightly patting her cheek, but there was no response. “Oh, please, answer me dear.”

“Mama!” Nenani went to her mother’s side. Her skin was clammy. “Mama? What’s wrong with her?”

“Don’t worry Sweetling. She’s just fainted is all,” Keral replied and looked to King Warren, who stared broodingly over the proceedings, his eyes shining. “After I fished Nenani from the river, she came out of the woods and tried to sneak away with her. She thought I meant t’hurt her girl. When I told her where I was takin’ the lil ‘un, she asked me to take her lil’ boy as well. Then she told me what she’s just told all of ye. Took a grand effort fer me to get her here. Fretted the entire way. Not all that surprised he fainted.”

Nenani let their conversations wash over her as she stared at her mother’s prone form. How many times did she wish for her mother to miraculously appear and make her feel better. To protect her. To chase away the nightmares. But now that she had actually appeared, Nenani felt...disappointed. And it made her hate herself for feeling that way. Her mother was broken and hurt and even she could see in her mother’s eyes the scars left from baring the life she had for so many years. In all her wishing, it had always been for her mother to come save her, but now she could not shake the feeling that it was her mother that needed saving. She was dimly aware of her hands beginning to glow, but she felt no desire to quell them. She wanted to feel the pain and to scream out like she did at the river. For that release. It hurt. It hurt so much to see her mother this way. So changed from the person shew knew. She hated him for what he did to her. Aidus was a monster and she hated him...

“Gods above!” came Barnaby’s startled yelp. “Nenani–!”

“Sweetling,” Keral said shortly. “Yer sparkin’ again, lass.”

She looked down at herself to see her hands and forearms up to her elbows were glowing and the fainted flames flickering at her finger tips.  

“Calm, my friends. It is to be expected,” said Maevis as he reached out and gathered her up into his gloved hands, wholly unconcerned with the flames. Looking into his face, Nenani could see him smiling sadly at her. “She is newly bloomed and the current state of emotions do not lend for a calm environment. Her feelings are feeding the mage fire, but it is harmless. A fire mage has to be taught how hurt people with their flames. It does not come naturally.” He brushed a finger against her cheek and Nenani pressed her face into the touch. “You’re alright, my dear. No harm done.”  

The King said nothing as he rose abruptly from his seat, the sound of the wood scraping loudly, and he walked to the window; drawing everyone’s attentions to him. He raised an arm up and rested against the glass as he stared at the world beyond its pane. “I never could understand,” he said at last. “Why my brother would have been in Silvaara. There was no reason for it to anyone’s knowledge. My father was so grief stricken that he would hear nothing of it unless it was to blame Silvaarans for luring him there under false pretenses. To deliberately invoke a war. Because how else did he get there? He must have gone under his own volition. And I suppose that was true.”

Warren turned his head so as to look upon the woman laying unconscious atop his desk, his eyes narrowed.

“Sire,” Barnaby said, his face pleading. “I beg of you to show her your mercy. She was but a girl at the time. Barely seventeen and with child and facing banishment from her home and having herself erased from the history of our country. There was no malice in her actions, she was only scared. She loved your brother.”

“Calm yourself, Barnabas. You do not need to fear for her,” said the King as he turned back to face the room. His eyes lingering upon Oira’s face and the hard steel of his eyes softened. “I do remember her. Thadeus considered her an intimate friend. And though it pains me greatly to know that such amiable feelings were what brought him to the scene of his own death, I do not blame Annie. She did not kill Thadeus, whatever the guilt she carries. This Aidus person was the one to drive the blade into my brother’s heart. My eldest brother’s memory is one of the last pure things I have left of my family. I cherish it beyond words knowing he was a good man. A true friend and if he had been given the chance, a noble King.” He took a breath and released it slowly. “And if he were here right now, he would not blame the Princess in the least. Nor shall I.” The King looked to Nenani and seeing the fretful way she stared back, he smiled warmly. “You have nothing to fear, Nenani. I shall see to it that your mother is taken care of and is given the rest and care she needs.”

“Thank you, sire,” she said, though the flames of her hands only diminished minutely and she looked down at them glumly.

“And should you feel any shame or misgivings of having bloomed,” he added. “Please know that you are still under my protection. You’re new...talent does nothing to change that.”

The flames slowly faded and dispersed and she smiled through her own tears. “Okay.”

“Hm,” Warren said with a nod before shifting his focus to the Ranger Captain. “Keral, she spoke of another child. A son. Do we know where he is?”

“Oh, aye. Little buggars’s sleepin’ right here in my pack there,” Keral replied and eased Oira back down onto the table. Pulling up the pack, he reached inside to scoop up the sleeping child and holding him out as though to show him off to those gathered around. Haiyer was curled up and quietly sucking on his hand, the bluish stone Nenani had given him gripped tightly in the other, and he oblivious to everything and everyone around him. The King broke out into a wide smile as he looked upon the boy.

“My goodness, he is a little thing,” he said. “Just a babe.”

“Skittish lil’ tyke too,” Keral said with a frustrated huff. “Had to tell him humans taste like dirt so he would believe me when I said I wasn’t gonna eat ‘im.”

“Gods above,” Rheil chuckled, rolling his eyes.

“What is his name?” asked the King.

“Haiyer,” Nenani answered from Maevis’s cupped hands. “His name is Haiyer.”

“Haiyer,” Barnaby said with a sad smile. “Named for his paternal Grandfather. He was the Thorn Guard Captain. Hayron was his eldest son.”

There was a small whine from Keral’s hand and Nenani looked to see that Haiyer has woken up and was now looking at the giants around him with unapologetic terror. He began to whimper in fright.

“Oi, now,” Keral said down to the little boy. “What’s all this noise fer, lad? Yer safe.”

“Mama...” the child whined as he looked around and when he finally spotted her down below and unconscious, he started to wail. “MAMA!”

It was then that Oira began to stir, her eyes slowly opening and Barnaby helped her to sit up. “Slowly, m’lady,” Barnaby said. “That’s it.”

“MAMA!” Haiyer cried again.

Oira suddenly jolted, becoming alert and frantic as she looked around herself. “Haiyer? Where is Haiyer?”

“Calm down, lass,” Keral said as he brought his hand down to let the boy scramble off and throw himself into his mother’s arms. “The pup’s just had a bit of a fright.”

“You’re alright, baby,” she whispered to him. Oira looked around and belatedly saw the large Vhasshalans around her and she blushed a fierce scarlet. “My...my apologies, m’lords.”

The King reached down to pick up the small brass bell the laid to the side of his desk and gave it a single firm ring. A footman opened the door. “M’lord?”

“Inform Lolly that we have guests and have her prepare the Blossom room for Human use,” he said. “And bring Yaesha to me. He is to bring both Sawyer and his kit.”

“Very good, m’lord.” The footman left and the King returned his gaze to the young mother and still whimpering child trying to bury themselves into her skirts.

“M’lady, I understand the difficult circumstances that have brought you here to me,” he said, firmly, but not without kindness. Oira was listening with brittle attention, still looking quite pale and ill. “And I thank you for telling me the truth of my brother’s death, despite your clear apprehension in doing so. I will not speak of all that followed. There is no one here who had not been touched by the war. Too much of our lives have been devoted to it and it haunts too many of us still. I would have you know that you have no reason to fear retribution from neither me nor my house. Thadeus’s murder was not your doing nor do I blame you for what happened. What young mother wouldn’t do everything she could for her child?”

The King’s words seemed to make her mother wilt in relief and she hugged her son closer to her breast, fresh tears pouring from her eyes. “I...I am so very glad to hear you say so, m’lord. So very glad. I thank you for your mercy.”

With sympathetic eyes, Warren studied the woman who could not even meet his eye. The little boy peeked out from his mother’s sleeve, watching the King warily and monarch smiled down at him. “I can see plainly you have had a hard life. As such, I would like the opportunity to honor my brother’s legacy and extend an invitation to you and your son to stay here in Vhasshal, under my protection. Just as you daughter has these passed months. A room will be prepared for you and your children within the royal apartments so you may rest and recover in peace.”

She nodded again, stifling a sob.

“Annie,” the king said and waited until she had composed herself enough to meet his eye. “I am glad to see you again.”

[diddlesanddoodles]

Dumpling ch 30

ALL THE EXPOSITION, FOLKS!

Alternative title for this chapter “In which the bastard gets a name and Keral yells at a hobo lady.” 

“The first time I ever met Thadeus was during a dedication ceremony in Silvaara. Some new conservatory or other, I don’t remember. He was there to represent Vhasshal on behalf of his father, the King. My official presentation to the court had been just the week prior so I was nervous as this would be my first official function under my full title. My dress was so tight and starched I could barely move without fear of tipping over. Which I did; I fell into a creek when I went to have a moment to myself away from all the madness of the festivities. Thadeus must’ve heard me go in, because he fished me out of the water before that damnable dress could drown me. We ended up talking for almost an hour and the guards had to come search for us when they realized we were missing.

“And then it came to pass that every time there was a reason for Vhasshal to come to Silvaara or Silvaara to go to Vhasshal, either he or I would go as part of the dignitary company. Just to speak to each other. He would give me little tricks and methods on how to stand the structured rigors of court and to not bow under the pressures our positions required of us, though mine wasn’t so great or heavy as to having one day rule an entire Kingdom. I was just a lonely girl and he was endlessly kind to me, far more than he should have been willing to bestow. One of the few people who did not see me a pawn to be played or won or lost.

“The day he learned that Rosanna of Ibronia was promised to him as his betrothed, I...found out that I had been promised to the eldest son of the Silvaaran royal adviser, a boy named Aidus. He was a cruel creature; selfish and too full of pride. I had always detested him, but he had always sought me out at court. When I was told I was to marry him...I did not receive the news well. His family was powerful and well connected. Anything he ever wanted he would get presented to him on a silver platter. Including me it seemed. But the one thing he nor his family had was a line to the throne. And though everyone kept telling me how smart a match we would be...

“...I did not want him.

“My heart belonged to another man; the Thorn Guard Captain’s son, Hayron. He had been one of the guards to come find me when Thadeus fetched me from the creek and he had often been apart of the guard entourage that escorted courtiers throughout the capitol. The three of us became friends after a time and I remember feeling like nothing that life could throw at me would be so insurmountable as long as he and Thadeus were beside me. I might even be able face my betrothal with dignity and grace as it was expected of me. But then I made a mistake. I...I fell pregnant.”

Oira laughed, a hallow false founding laugh without any humor. “I was so scared that I told Thadeus before I told Hayron. The Crown Prince of Vhasshal knew of my child before her father! Heh...he congratulated me, but he was still scared for my sake and that of my baby. He said that no matter what happened, he would make sure we would be taken care of and I absolutely believed him.

“I had just began to show when my father learned of my shame. I never found out who it was that told him or perhaps he just knew. In any case, I was dragged in front of the whole court and forced to confess everything. My father disowned me then and there and told me to leave. To leave Silvaara. That he would not allow...not allow a bastard to be born under his sigil. He had Master Barnabas erase my name from everything. The histories, our family tome...

“Hayron and I left and lived in the countryside for a time. I wrote to Thadeus and told him what had happened and he instructed us to remain there and that he would come and take us all back to Vhasshal. The night he came to get us...Aidus came as well. He told me that if I got rid the baby, he would overlook my unfaithful indiscretions and still marry me. I would not have my title, but I would share his and still be permitted to live in the place of my birth. I refused him. I told him he was not a man, but a selfish boy who thought he could buy and manipulate his way to power and to a royal title and a path to the throne. He...tried to cut Nenani from my belly. Thaddeus stepped in and...then there were guards everywhere, but they were...wrong. Their eyes were white as milk. Aidus had enchanted them, slipped some sort of potion into their food or drink so they obeyed every one of his words. It was a forbidden magic and I did not know how to snap them from their daze. Aidus had intended for them to kill Hayron, but he had not anticipated Thaedus being there.”

She paused, sucking in a fast breath as tears fell fast down her face. “They killed him. The Prince. He desperately tried to save us; Hayron and my baby and I. He told us to run and to not look back, but...I saw Aidus do it. The killing blow. A single stab through the heart. My dearest friend was dead and all I could do was run away as he bled to death in a foreign country and...I’ve been running ever since...”

Hands pressed to his lips, Keral’s green eyes seemed to stare out into nothing. His whole being was wound tight and looked almost feral with rage. Bitterly angry and sad. He took a deep breath that shuddered as it drew across his lips. “Thadeus was a fuckin’ idiot.”

Oira bristled, shaken from her tears and she snarled. “He was not! He was incredibly kind and selfless...”

“Incredibly stupid and inconsiderate!” Keral reiterated, staring daggers into the small woman. “He didn’t say a damn thing to us. Just up and left one night and got himself killed! All he had to fuckin’ do was tell us and we would’ve been there with ‘im. He was the fuckin’ Crown Prince fer fuck sake!”

Oira paused, her expression softened. “You...were friends with Thadeus?”

“Yes, I was!” Keral shouted, angrier than Nenani had ever seen him. Or Farris. He stood up and walked back and forth in a nervous line, running his hands through his hair and huffing through his nose looking for all the world like a man desperate to hit something. “Since I was a lad. He was my best mate fer years. Met ‘im after I became a squire.”

“...I’m sorry.”

“A’course that would be why he died. Puttin’ his neck out where it had no fuckin’ business and fer what? A damn woman who couldn’t keep her fuckin’ legs closed?”

“YOU GO TOO FAR, SIR!” Oira was on her feet as well now. “HE WAS MY FRIEND TOO!”

“AND YE GOT ‘IM KILLED!” Keral shouted back, the sheer volume echoed hauntingly through the forest. “AND A WHOLE LOT MORE PEOPLE TOO!”

Oira flinched as though his words were a physical blow and she shrank back. “Don’t you dare put that on me...”

“Go on then. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me that the war would never have happened if you hadn’t begged him to come rescue ya from yer own fuck up. TELL ME!”

“I CAN’T!”

Keral starred at her with bristling hate. “He’s dead because of you.”

“I know he is,” Oira said, her head bowed and shaking. “I know...that I committed a horrible sin...”

“Ha. Don’t think so highly of yerself, woman,” Keral snorted distastefully. “What I want to know, is why didn’t ye come forward and tell us the truth? Why are ye out here skulking about the dark like some fuckin’ goblin?”

“By the time I would have been able to, the war had already started,” Oira said. “And...and you, Vhasshal that is...had started...started to...eat humans. Thadeus had died for my child. For me. For Hayron. I couldn’t throw it all away by risking it. And just as you showed me here, that was what I had expected from his father and so much worse. Tell me Keral, and tell me what you’re heart knows is the truth: would the Blood King have spared me or my infant child if I had told him the truth of his eldest son’s death? Or would he have killed and probably eaten us both and continued on with the war?” Keral didn’t say anything and Oira nodded. “So you understand me then a little at least...”

“Go on then,” he growled. “Tell us the rest of it. I know there’s more.”

“We hid in the woods with others for a long time, trying to wait out the war. Then one day you and your blue coats came and drove us all out to the Southlands. We made a life there somehow. We raised our daughter. And then I fell ill, but it wasn’t a sickness. The night I found out that I was with child again...Aidus found us for the second time. But he was not how I remembered him. He was twisted and so much crueler than before. He had fought in the war, but had started to learn some deviant magic and it had warped his mind and turned him into this...this monster of a man.” She paused and took a fortifying breath that wavered. “...he killed Hayron in front of me. With his own sword. My...my entire world bled out in front of me and I couldn’t do anything. Just like Thadeus. All over again. I don’t remember anything of the next few months, but he had taken me away and...forced me to be what he always wanted me to be; His wife. Even though I could give him no way to the throne and there was no longer a throne to even be had.

“And for those years that was what I did. Languished in the crumbing halls of his keep and bide my time. I gave birth to my son and was able to convince him that Haiyer was of his blood, so he wouldn’t kill the only part of Hayron I still had. I called him by a different name around him, but in secret I would always call him Haiyer. But...almost a year ago now, he said that he was disappointed that Haiyer had not bloomed or showed any sign of being touched by magic. He said that if he did not show promise by summer...that he would kill my son and we would have to “try again”. I could not let that mad man take my son from me like he took everything else. So I ran away. I had tried so many times before, but this time I managed to get away and stay hidden. A cloaking spell I’d found in one of his books.” She ran her hand across her scalp and the shortened tendrils of hair. “Normally such a spell requires a great amount of energy and calls for the blood of a freshly slain sparrow, but some of my own blood and hair did well enough as a substitution to last a few days. If I allowed the cloak to fall for too long, his many eyes would find me.

“I wanted to go back to the Southlands. To get my daughter and Halden, Haryon’s brother. But when I finally made it back, I couldn’t find them anywhere. Someone told me that there had been a fire and that Halden had died, but...no one knew where Nenani had gone. I feared that Aidus had come and taken her. To manipulate me into returning to him. So I’ve been searching for her ever since, hoping somehow he had not found her.”

Keral nodded. “Aye, she was with us by then. But this Aidus fellow. Is he this Smoke Mage I’ve been chasin’ all ‘round creation?”

“Smoke Mage?” Oira made a face. “Smoke Mages are a fairy tales to scare children. Aidus is something much worse; A monster. He’s barely a person anymore. He has scores of Wyverns he’s enchanted or made deals with to do his bidding and the spells he uses...eat at him. Pieces of him flow into the beasts. It was why escaping him is so hard when he has hundreds of eyes. And his precious Dragon of course, but...that beast is gone now. Which will make hiding from him much easier. He put so much of himself into that creature to have it bend to his will. He’ll be weak for some time yet as he tries to pull himself back together.”

“Ye asked me to take yer lil’ uns with me. What about you?”

“It’s me he wants. If he has me he couldn’t care less about the children.”

Keral sighed angrily and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Gods piss on it, no wonder ye and Thadeus got along so well. Yer both fuckin’ idiots.”

“I don’t know what else to do! I have nothing left. Only them. I don’t care if I die, but they,” she said, pointing to Nenani and Haiyer, her voice frantic. “They have to live. For the memory of Silvaara, they have to live!”

Keral bent down suddenly and grabbed the woman up. She shrieked in fright as Keral brought her close to his face and her fire was doused by pure shock. She trembled and uselessly pushed against his hands. “What are you doing? Put me down!”

Nenani got to her feet, truly afraid now. She had listened to them yell and scream at each other for what seemed like forever, but despite the cruel things Keral had said, she did not think he would harm her mother. But he looked so angry, she was beginning to fear that he very well might. “Keral! Please!”

“I’m pretty damn good at smellin’ lies, girl,” he said to Oira, ignoring Nenani all together, and his voice was low with warning. “And I think yer tellin’ the truth. Or yer version of it anyway. But there’s one glarin’ omission in yer story.” Oira’s face was flushed and she was breathing hard. She was terrified. His eyes narrowed at her. “Just who the fuck are you, girl?”

She moved her mouth, but no sound came out. Keral snarled. “Try again, lass. I’m waitin’...”

“...my….my name is Oira Daelg. Wife to Hayron Daelg and mother to Nenani and Haiyer,” she said, voice shaking but firm in her convictions. As she spoke her next words however, her voice grew small and pained. Tears welled in her eyes. “But...but I was born Aine Elaine Oira of Silvaara. Youngest daughter of King Haeral XVI.”

Keral’s narrowed eyes softened and he sighed heavily, all the ire and hate draining away like droplets of water. “Of course ye are,” he said and crouched back down and eased her back onto her feet. He stared at her for a moment. “Yer that little lass that would tag along with Thadeus whenever the Silvaaran diplomats visited.” He paused in contemplation, digging back through his own memories to pluck out a name he hadn’t spoken in over a decade. “...Annie.”

“...yes,” she said quietly. “That’s what he called me. Annie.”

Keral shook his head, laughing without humor and looking around in disbelief. “Of course ye are...”

“I’m sorry,” said the woman with clear emotion. “I’m so sorry for what Aidus did to Thadeus. And my part in it.”

“Strange I didn’t realize who ye were when me and the boys caught ye,” he pondered aloud. “Probably too pissed that ye left yer lil’ girl all on ‘er own to recognize ye in the dark like that.” Keral sat back down in the dirt with a heavy thud, leaning back against the tree and looking up. The stars were out and the only light was the bright moon above them. He was quiet for a long time. “He would have hated himself if he didn’t go to ya. Even if ya never sought his help. He’d have blamed himself for whatever happened to ya and yer babe. Fer the rest of his life. That’s how he was.”

Oira stared at Keral askance and said quietly, “But there wouldn’t have been a war.”

“Probably not,” Keral agreed tiredly. He tilted his head to regard her with shining green eyes. “But does it really matter anymore?”

Oira considered his words and then shook her head. “...I don’t know.”

Keral nodded and looked over to where Nenani was sitting with Haiyer in her lap. The little boy was asleep, but Nenani was awake and watching. Listening with anxious attention between the two of them. They were so different from one another, her mother and Keral. But a thin thread connected them and it seemed like they both were aware of it at all once; How small the world could be that the death of one person could have such an enormous toll on two people so different from each other. Keral was watching Nenani carefully, considering something. He sighed and said, “So them two lil’ uns there...”

Oria was staring at Keral as he watched her children. “They are the last of my father’s bloodline.”

“And you…?” Keral asked, eyeing her from the side with one gleaming eye. Oira frowned and shook her head.

“I was disowned by my father,” she said firmly, sensing where his thoughts had wandered. “I have no claim to the throne.”

Keral just shrugged off her denial. “Kinda hard to be Queen of a country that doesn’t exist anymore. But still. It’s not a small thing, lass. Warren will be wantin’ to speak with ya.”

“I’ve told you everything, Keral,” she said stiffly. “Please. Just make sure they’re taken care of.”

“That Aidus bastard’s attacked Vhasshal; five times now. Hurt my brother. Killed my King’s ward. We can’t just let that go. I won’t let that go. I loved that boy like he was my own flesh and blood and I want that damn Mage’s head fer it.” Keral reached out and tapped his finger against Oira’s head and she batted at him. “You and the lil’uns are all comin’ to Vhasshal with me and yer gonna tell the King all you’ve just told me. And then we’re gonna end this fuckin’ madness once and fer all.”

“I can’t go to Vhasshal,” Oira said, her face contorting in pain. “I can’t.”

Keral snorted distastefully. “Ye said ye were sorry fer what that bastard did to Thadeus. Then prove it. Hoist yer skirts up and face the consequences of what ye did. Warren deserves to know why his brother is dead. Ye ain’t the only one whose entire family was wiped out by the war. Far from it.”

“I...” She covered her face with her hands.

“If ye say you can’t one more time, I’m tossing ya in my pack and lockin’ ye in,” he growled. “There ain’t a scenario where this doesn’t end with all a’ us goin’. You’ll have about a day to figure out yer choice a’ words.”

Nenani carefully eased Haiyer off her lap and stood. She went to her mother’s side and reached out to put her hand into the crook of her arm. Oira flinched, looking at her daughter.

“It’s alright, Mama,” she told her trying to give her an encouraging smile. “There are a lot of really nice people there. They took care of me. Please, don’t be afraid.”

Keral spared Nenani a tired smile. “Well, it’s decided then. I need to go grab my pack from where I left it. Just sit here till I get back.” He paused, looking at the ground in consideration and then bent down to carefully scooped little Haiyer up and slipped him into the large breast pocket of his coat.

Oira bristled and made as though to charge at the ranger. “What are you doing?”

“Yer pup’s gonna be my insurance,” Keral replied with a smug grin. He gently patted the small lump that was the sleeping boy. “To make sure ya stay put till I get back.”

Her mother watched Keral disappear though the trees with her youngest child and Nenani could see that she was frightened and anxious.

“Keral won’t hurt him,” she told her mother. “He really is nice. I promise. Even though he’s been really mad, he really is a nice person.”

“Nenani,” Oira said quietly and taking her hands and looking into her daughter’s face. Here eyes were seeking, pleading. “Tell me truthfully. Have they...have they been good to you?”

Nenani nodded. “Yeah. I like living there. Farris is kind of grumpy and yells a lot, but he takes care of me. He’s even teaching me how to make tonics!”

Oira smiled at her daughter indulgently, but it was clearly forced and she kept glancing towards where Keral had left through the trees. “How to make tonics? Is he a healer or…?”

“Oh, no,” Nenani laughed. “He’s the kitchen master.”

The smile was gone from Oira’s face and she stared at her daughter in horror. “The...the kitchen master? The...they gave you to the cook?”

Nenani nodded, not considering the source of her mother’s misgivings. “He wasn’t gonna keep me at first. He said that he just wanted to scare me off of stealing and then send me to live with the Hill Tribes. But I got sick with the red reap.”

Oira’s breathe hitched. “No. You...you got the reap? How...”

“I remember the pain mostly,” Nenani said. “Everything hurt and I couldn’t breathe. But Farris gave me medicine and stayed with me all night. When I got better he decided to keep me.”

“But still...they gave you to the cook!”

“He doesn’t really cook anything himself. The others do that. He manages the spices and runs the kitchen. Yale’s his assistant and he’s been teaching me about plants and herbs. And then there’s Saen. He’s really funny and sneaks me treats when no one is looking. And Quinn and Kol bake the bread; its really good. And then Bart is the butcher and Avery is kind of his assistant. Bart looks scary and mean, but he’s a lot like Farris and is actually really nice. And then Herit and Gjerk are the youngest. They call them tenderfoots because they’re still learning. Gjerk helped me when the wyvern attacked and I almost got smashed by a table.

“And then there’s Lolly. She’s the matron and she made me these clothes and was really nice to me when I first came and yelled at Farris for scaring me and making me think they were gonna eat me. And then there’s Maevis. He’s a magician and makes really yummy tea. He watches over Barnaby same way Farris watches over me and...”

“Wait! Wait. Did you say Barnaby?” her mother asked, face as pale as milk.

“Yeah, he’s an archivist,” Nenani paused. “Did you know him from before…?”

“Yes,” Oira replied sadly. “I did know him. He...he erased my name from the archives when I was disowned.”

Nenani did not say anything and truthfully she did not know what she could say. She didn’t want to think about all that her mother and Keral had discussed. The way they yelled at one another and threw around their pain like weapons as though hurting the other would lessen the weight of their own burdens. All Nenan cared about was that her mother was finally there. She was alive and now she even had a brother. Above all, she wanted them to be safe. Her thoughts returned to Vhasshal and the assured destruction and pain they would be returning to. Her stomach roiled at the memory of Jae falling into nothing. It hurt so much to think about...

“Nenani,” Oira said gently, taking her face into her hands. “My sweet, you’re crying...”

“The smoke mage...” she said with a whimper. “He...he killed my friend.”

“The one the blue coat spoke of? The King’s ward?”

“Jae was human, but the King called him his son,” Nenani said, shivering. “The King...and Keral. They found him when he was little and he was all alone so the King kept him and raised him in the castle. He was my friend...”

“Warren...took a human boy as his ward?” Oira asked, a strange sort of longing pulling at her features. “That sounds like something Thadeus would have done.”

“Jae tried to protect me from him. Aidus. When he came. He...he had Papa’s sword. But he...threw him off the roof.”

“Oh, my baby,” her mother said and held her. Nenani sank into her mother’s arms and let herself go numb. She was so tired now and all she wanted to do was sleep. She was so tired of crying...

“Oi, Princess,” Keral’s voice broke through the thickening sorrow of Nenani’s mind and she raised her head as the ranger returned from beyond the trees. She could see the thick leather straps of his pack strapped to his back and in his hand he held Haiyer, now awake and red faced with distress. The little boy reached out his hands towards Oira and was calling for her. Keral shook his head in clear exasperation. “Yer pup’s makin’ a right racket.”

“Mama!”

“Is that all you’re able to do? Scare children?” she asked the giant ranger.

“What can I say?” Keral said as he let the little boy slide down from his palm and frantically run to his mother. “It’s a talent.”

Keral put his pack down onto the ground and began rummaging through it. He pulled a flask out and put it in his pocket and several other items as well. Once he seemed satisfied, he looked over to the three humans and gestured them over. “Come on then, let’s get goin’.”

“Now?” Oira asked reluctantly. “Shouldn’t we wait till morning light?”

“Too easy fer folks to spot me in the day,” Keral replied. “Harder to spot in the dark. That’s why our coat’s are blue, blends better in the dark. And the sooner all of ye are in Vhasshal, the better. We don’t know when yer Smoke Mage’ll show up again and I’d rather have a few hundred feet of stone walls and a couple hundred more men to work with than just some trees and a few squirrels.”

Keral looked to Oira and nodded to his open pack. “In with ya, Princess.”

“Please don’t call me that. Oira is my name. No titles,” she said, eyeing the open pack with suspicion and reluctance. “And must we…?”

“It’ll be the most comfortable way fer us all to just have ya stashed in here.” When she made no indication of complying, Keral sighed in frustration and reached out and grabbed her around the middle. Haiyer cried out as his mother left his side, little hands trying to catch her skirt.

“For the love of –! Don’t just grab me!” Oira snapped indignantly. “That’s rude!”

“Don’t have the time to be humorin’ yer misgiving’s, Princess –er, sorry. Oira,” Keral said to her as he slipped her into the pack. There was a wad of cloth down at the bottom cushioning her from the other items further down and making for a softer place to sit. Once he had their mother tucked away, Keral eyed the two children. “Okay, sweetling. Yer turn.” Nenani let him scoop her up without a fuss and set her next to her mother and then he turned his green eyes to the smaller and arguably weepier of the group. Haiyer was grabbing at his tunic nervously and glaring up at the ranger.

“Give her back!” he demanded with a frown; his little chin sticking out in a pout.

“Oh, aye? Ye givin’ me orders there lil’ princeling?” Keral asked in amusement. “And just what ye gonna be doin’ if I say no?”

“Leave him alone, he’s just a baby!” Oira told him, but in response, Keral flipped the pack’s lid closed and sat his hand on top.

“Quiet woman and let me have my fun,” he said and turned his attention back to Haiyer who had procured a rock and had it pulled back in his hand, ready to throw it. Keral laughed. “Oh, ye gonna hit me with a rock?”

“Give Mama back! And sister!”

“Hm. No, I think I’m gonna keep ‘em,” Keral replied with a grin, patting the top of the pack with his hand.  

“NO!” Haiyer yelled and threw the rock. It landed harmlessly about a foot away from Keral’s boot and the ranger looked at for a moment before flicking his gaze back to the boy who visibly flinched. The thin blanket of courage fell from the little boy’s shoulders and he began to shake and cry. “Please….please give them back.”

“Ye think I’m gonna hurt yer mum and sister do ye, son?”

“You’re a giant...giants eat people...” said the little boy with an oddly serious expression, but the way his bottom lip trembled gave him away.

“This one don’t,” Keral said simply, shaking his head. “Never have, never will. Besides. Ye lil’ fella’s all taste like dirt.”

Haiyer blinked, looking confused and then turned his eyes down to the ground and the dirt there and then back up at Keral; tilting his head. “...dirt?”

“Oh, aye. Just like mud,” he said, making a face of disgust. “Not very yummy. So I won’t be eatin’ ya or yer mum an’ sister.”

“...no?” the little boy said with a hopeful lilt.

“Nope.”

“...oh,” Haiyer said, blinking as he digested this revelation, his fear seemingly forgotten. He looked at the rock and the back up at Keral and seemed almost ashamed. “...I’m sorry I threw a rock at you. I thought you wanted to eat us.”

“No harm, lad,” he said with a grin. “Ye did good comin’ to yer family’s rescue like that. Very brave of ya.”

“...I was really scared.” he admitted.  

“And how about now?”

“...still scared.”

“Well, don’t be worryin’ about that none, my lil’ lad,” Keral said and laying his hand down in front of the boy. “I’m takin’ all of ye somewhere ye gonna be safe.”

“...safe? From Addis?” Haiyer asked, a little more hope brightening his face and looking at Keral’s open palm warily.

“Addis?” Keral asked, confused. “Aidus, ye mean?”  

“Yeah. The bad man,” the boy said. “He hurts me sometimes. And Mama. Makes her cry a lot.”

The amusement in Keral’s eyes softened and took a moment to properly look the little boy over. He could see marking on his bare legs and scratches on his arms and face. What would normally have been mistaken for the scrapes and scratched of a rambunctious child when pulled together with everything else painted a much bleaker picture and he found himself very angry.

“I’m not gonna let ‘im hurt yer mum, lad,” he said gently. “Or yer sister. Or you.”

Haiyer fidgeted, digging his toes into the dirt and thinking very hard. When he finally spoke, it was a small and anticipative question. “...you promise?”

“Promise,” Keral answered, making an X over his heart. “Cross m’heart an’ everythin’.”

“...Okay.” Haiyer replied with the smallest of smiles. Keral remained very still as the boy cautiously approached him, eyeing his open hand. Slowly and still shaking, Haiyer climbed into the ranger’s palm and sat down in the hallow of the gloved hand. Lifting the boy very carefully, Keral brought him over to his pack and opened it. A very nervous looking Oira was glaring up at him and the tips of her fingers were glowing.

Keral rolled his eyes at her.

“Settle down, lass. Yer pup’s fine,” Keral said as he lowered Haiyer inside and let him slip off from his hand and into his mother’s arms.

“Mama! Guess what?” Haiyer asked, suddenly very animated and excited. “He said we taste bad so he isn’t gonna eat us.”

“Well,” Oira grinned, suppressing a laugh and pressing her forehead to his. “That is good news.”