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News » Dreams of a Family: III
Chapter Three
Watussin was in bed telling herself that she needed to rise when she heard a knocking at the door. She rose while considering who could be wanting her so early. It was true that she was a lady of the house, and that certain decisions needed to be made early in the day. Fenshallit was the real authority when the men were away however, so any serious concern should be taken to her and not brought to the wife of the religious authority. The elf lady had quickly learned that a number did not want to approach the baroness until they had some support for what they considered a private cause. Watussin considered such discussions a nice way to fill the day, but she had recently been in her time as a female elf which made her inaccessible to most. She straightened a gown tossed upon her form as she wondered how someone knew that she could now be bothered again. As the only elf presently in the house, there should not be anyone with knowledge about how long her time would last.
Our heroes start the movements that will lead to their next adventure.
Chapter Three
Watussin was in bed telling herself that she needed to rise when she heard a knocking at the door. She rose while considering who could be wanting her so early. It was true that she was a lady of the house, and that certain decisions needed to be made early in the day. Fenshallit was the real authority when the men were away however, so any serious concern should be taken to her and not brought to the wife of the religious authority. The elf lady had quickly learned that a number did not want to approach the baroness until they had some support for what they considered a private cause. Watussin considered such discussions a nice way to fill the day, but she had recently been in her time as a female elf which made her inaccessible to most. She straightened a gown tossed upon her form as she wondered how someone knew that she could now be bothered again. As the only elf presently in the house, there should not be anyone with knowledge about how long her time would last.
Hearing a guard state that it was Lady Dethii desiring to speak with her, Watussin accepted the visitor. The human wizard was a recognized friend. The elf lady also had memories floating in her head about what the visit could be about, but what she could recall from her time in the melt was often confusing. Luckily, Dethii did not demand any recollection of past events.
"Watussin, I really do not care if you are still in the melt. However your mind is functioning, I feel that your advice would be more honest than anyone else I could speak to."
The violet haired lady played hostess as she said, "I am coming out of the melt, Dethii. I always feel drained on this day, but glad to have survived. Gipellar told me a number of times that he did not expect me to live through those periods. His words were reinforced by elves that I met in Tebililac. It seems that I am not the first non-elf to be transformed, and that there is no record of a lady surviving."
"Elves are supposed to be an improvement of human stock."
Watussin smiled with the memory of hearing natural elven ladies make jokes about their time as a woman being an improvement to that of human women, but spoke to keep the conversation from digressing. "What did you want to speak about, Dethii?"
"You went into that mountain where you encountered Gipellar seeking adventure. You then traveled with Jackal and Rain, and me. Soon you will be confined here as you go through what is necessary to bring children into the world and keep them alive. Are there any regrets?"
"No. I often wonder what it would be like having Jackal as my husband instead of Rain, but he is a good man. I accept him as my husband and look forward to any children."
The human lady did not touch her glass, but faced her friend as she spoke with a serious tone to her voice. "I have contracted out to serve as the authority for the arcane aboard the Ibis. The owner of the Ibis, Magrut, has been told by his parents to seek me for marriage. I don't want to be tied down."
"Would you rather be a man?" Watussin did not give the human lady a chance to answer. "Rain will be coming home. He had a job to do, but accepted his place as my husband. The gods will hold him as accountable as they will hold me."
Dethii paused, but could come up with no useful response. "I guess that I am just not ready for marriage."
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"What could you do?"
"What I am doing now, be a friend. I am not the baroness. While Fenshallit has duties around this place, and can act in the place of Jackal, I am just the wife of the local priest. There is little that I can do to replace my husband. I do however have armor, good weapons, and can fight, and I can be your friend."
The eyes of most were not easily staying open. While Jackal had returned to his family hoping for a private meeting, that is not what occurred. Word spread that a traveling local lad who had a number of recent tales being sung by minstrels had returned, then others added that it was Jackal who was responsible for ending the curse that had set itself upon the land. All in town suddenly wanted to meet someone that they had previously not had such high hopes for. What was intended to be a family gathering instead turned into a community party which spread into a city wide celebration.
The baron had not done anything to stop the rejoicing. He instead supplied food, drink, and a staff to assure that the celebration was a success. The curse had taken its toll upon the land and people, and they needed something to bring them out of any miserable depression that might prevent a restoration of what all considered a normal life.
Stories were proclaimed to inform all what they had experienced and how it was eradicated. Jackal, Rain, Viscount Nexelt, Derinda, and even the priests and heroes of Wrossin had to stand before the people and relate what they could. The visiting high noble had the local ruler assure him that a copy of all the scribes were writing would be provided to be brought to the king of the northern land which was also affected by the curse. In handling that business, Jackal also made his own requests. Baron WHAT did not want to spoil this time of celebration with business, so promised all that he would hold court in the morning for such a purpose. All were now present, but everyone was wishing that the baron had delayed the event.
The baron rubbed his eyes as he said, "William, you and Jason are not known to get along very well, so are you certain that you want to move with him to his new barony? You will be under his authority there."
The elder man stood erect in an attempt to show all that he could hold his liquor, "My son said that he needs my advice. He also said that there could be some use in my choice of crops. He did not promise that he would not argue with me, but agreed that I could live my life as I saw fit.
"Alice is staying here with her husband and his family. I will not argue with that. She has my blessing. Charles has said that he would come with me. I hope to pass along something of our family history to my two boys."
"Well, you and I have had our discussions in the past. I certainly do not see Charles as becoming a better farmer than you. I thus won't put up any fight to your leaving."
The baron signaled for the court officials to write any official proclamation, then moved on. There were actually a number of matters that the local monarch needed to handle. Most of the situations involved deaths. One such matter was having the court officials transfer the title to a certain parcel of land to the elder son who had been restored in order to properly remove the curse that had set itself upon the land. The man's sister, who had brought the curse to her home and the kingdom to the north, turned from hearing the official proclamation of her parents' death to the one who had found his family still alive.
"Jason, everyone says that they will speak well of me to the new man that I wish to marry. Whether I gain him or not, I want to always hear word of you."
"It seems that Rain will be working with the priests of Wrossin, so there should often be messengers available to carry an additional letter."
"I will always love you, Jason."
"If you again get into too much trouble to handle yourself, you may again depend upon me."
The two parted as each moved to their own lives. Derinda went to her brother with each determining how their future would be without their family, and wondering how successful they would be in starting families of their own. Jackal, Viscount Nexelt, and Baron WHAT spoke words to each other of friendship. While their respective kingdoms would war with each other, both spoke of brotherhood and how the peoples of the land needed to be able to depend upon each other to overcome crises. Rain and the priests of Wrossin were brought in at the conclusion to again speak divine words that the curse was removed from the land, and that Muysdian would presently work to benefit the land so that it could heal. With those words, all left to return to their lives.
With the formalities finished, Viscount Nexelt turned to his vassal to speak of business. "I was told that I could pick up horses in Wrossin, Jackal. I plan to move my men as fast as possible there, then back home. I need to start restoring my own land."
"I definitely feel a need to return to my wife, but I was in a major building stage. All that she needs to do is get the people back to work. I will move my parents and brother as fast as I can, but don't look for me to keep your pace."
"You handled this situation very well, Jackal. I expect your land to become a jewel in my crown, and our king's. Send me word as soon as you can."
The two shook hands, then each left to their respective duties. The viscount gathered his men, then left to head back to their home. Jackal went back to his childhood home, and had his men gather up memories. There really was not much, but Jackal's mother cried every time she had to allow something to be left behind. Sooner than most desired, Jackal was waving to people as he led his men and parents out of Jantirl.
Rain enjoyed the evening as he sat with Jackal and his father around the campfire. William spoke of his beliefs and worked with Rain to correlate the religion of another world with those of the god Muysdian. The elder had a strong voice, and would sing and chant things that he considered prayers to the planet and the spirits of the planet. The elf had a hard time imagining the planet as a whole, but worked to appreciate the completely alien point of view. Rain understood that William was having just as difficult a time comprehending a more local and direct method of communicating with the divine. While Jackal's father sought to be one with nature as he did things to assure survival for his family, Rain primarily considered his own plans trusting in the divine to send words of reprimand or caution should he be performing something that would work against a greater good.
Jackal's mother worked to make the camp operate smoothly. She was glad that her husband was getting along with everyone, and moved about assuring that nothing would disturb the conversation around the campfire. She was missing her daughter, and the husband she had gained. The elder however also felt an anxious joy in meeting the new lady in the family, and to know that there was a future with a son that had been missing.
It was Charles who was not exactly happy. He had not been happy growing up in a family that was different than the rest. There were a few other families whose parents had also been brought in from another world, but the number was an extreme minority. Charles had grown up feeling more rebellious than his older brother, and would often give in to more sinister thoughts. His occasional misdeeds had ruined his life, and in Jantirl he had been condemned to living a life as a farmer. There was now a chance to improve his lot, although he found himself again considering dark schemes.
Charles was firing arrows into the night. Yes, he knew that they took time to make, but he felt no concern for the expense of the missiles. The string of a bow was pulled and an arrow loosed without any consideration of having a target or needing to later find the projectile. A very human scream sounded and Charles's eyes went wide with again having his indifference to the results of his actions come to haunt him.
The next chapter actually finds a plot rearing its head (I knew that was going to happen).
Posted by TerishD on Sunday, September 12, 2004 (07:43:57) (2889 reads)
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