The Line of Illeniel

Chapter 18

The rest of our trip passed uneventfully and two days later we rode into Washbrook. I was surprised when we found two men at the outer gate. They seemed to be taking their job seriously as we approached.

“Ho the gate!” I called.

“Ho yerself! Who goes there?” One of the two men responded. I recognized him immediately, it was Cecil Draper.

“If you don’t remember me after a few short weeks I’ll have to question the wisdom of putting you on gate duty!” I responded amiably.

“Your Lordship! Sorry, I was jus’ doing my job. I trust all is well with you and the lady?” he nodded at Penelope.

“We’re fine,” I said, not daring to look at her. “How have things been since we left?”

“We’ve had quite a bit of excitement,” he said.

“What happened?” I asked immediately.

“I think you’d better talk to Lord Dorian or Joe McDaniel your lordship. They’ll want to tell you about it themselves,” he answered uncertainly.

“Do you know where they would be at the moment?”

“Most likely at the castle,” he replied.

I thanked him and we went through the gate. Not much had changed since we had left but there was an air of frenzied activity within. Children were working on bundles of torches in the main yard and men moved back and forth at their assigned tasks. The few women I saw seemed to be extremely busy.

“Let’s head home,” I announced, turning my horse to head for the main keep.

“You mean your home,” Penny said bitterly.

“About that Penny, we need to talk…”

“Don’t worry Mordecai, I’ll move in with my father,” she stated.

“Actually that won’t do,” I responded. “The requirements of the bond… remember? You and Cyhan will be staying at the keep. There should be plenty of room.” I had meant to talk to her about this, but I didn’t want to do it in front of the others, especially Cyhan.

“As long as I don’t have to sleep near you,” she said bluntly.

I held my tongue and we continued on. The gate house leading into the castle was unmanned, which wasn’t surprising. There were barely enough people to manage the gates. Honestly I was surprised they were even doing that. People had to eat and every man had something else important to be doing. We were almost to the main door when Dorian came barreling out.

“Mordecai!” he shouted in greeting, and then he looked at everyone else. “Penny, Marcus… am I ever glad to see the two of you! Who’s your new friend?” He indicated the giant warrior.

I started to answer him but Penny was quicker, “Oh Dorian this is my new teacher, Master Cyhan.”

“Teacher?” Dorian was puzzled.

“I had to form the bond with Mordecai. I am Anath’Meridum now. Anyway the important thing is I’m learning to fight under Master Cyhan’s skillful tutelage. He’s really quite amazing. You two should compare notes. I’m sure even you might learn a few things Dorian. He’s been training the Anath’Meridum his entire life,” Penny said, practically gushing.

I couldn’t recall her ever acting so excited about someone in my entire life. Certainly it had to be for my benefit. That’s what my rational mind said; the rest of me was turning green.

Dorian strode up to Cyhan and offered his hand in greeting, “It is an honor to meet you. The fighting skills of the Anath’Meridum are legendary. Their teacher must be extraordinary.” The older warrior clasped his hand and they shook. I noted that they stood eye to eye, and it was anyone’s guess as to who was bigger.

“Well met Dorian. You do me too much honor, I am but one of a long line of teachers,” Cyhan answered.

“You’re too modest. Honestly Dorian, he’s taught me so much already,” she put her hand on Cyhan’s well-muscled arm in an almost proprietary way, as if she were claiming possession. Then again perhaps my jealousy was overreacting. Dorian caught my eye for a second, an unspoken question was written in his gaze. Even he could tell something was going on.

“Let’s go inside,” he said. “Marc I haven’t seen you in ages. You must have a hundred stories to tell by now.”

A few minutes later we were seated at the high table in the feast hall. I had never presided over an official dinner at the castle yet but the table’s size and prominent position proclaimed its future role. “Before we catch up on casual matters tell me what’s been going on Dorian. Cecil indicated that there has been some excitement since we left.”

Dorian’s expression grew dark, “I finally got to meet your monsters.” That got our attention and Dorian spent the next half an hour relaying the story to us. He downplayed his own role in the battle but my father came in before he was done and corrected the omission.

“Don’t listen to him son, Dorian here fought like a lion. If it hadn’t been for him we’d have been overrun by the hell spawn!” Royce said as he came over. I got up to hug him.

“I would have guessed that even if you hadn’t told me,” I said.

“Your dad saved my ass Mort,” Dorian added. He proceeded to describe Royce’s plan to extract him from the mob of undead who had overpowered him. Between the two of them I got a reasonably complete account of what had happened.

“So this was almost a week ago, has there been any sign of them since?” I asked.

“We’ve had nary a peep from them,” my father replied.

“I think your dad scared them off,” Dorian laughed.

“I only wish that were true,” I said. I gave them what I had learned regarding the shiggreth and their dark origins.

“How’d you learn that?” Dorian asked.

“Marc told me, though Rose knew about them too. Apparently it’s one of the finer points of history that I missed out on.”

Dorian looked at Marc, “I don’t recall you being that keen on history.”

“My information came from a higher source,” he answered solemnly. That led to a detailed discussion about Marc’s new vocation. Dorian was pleased by the news. The Thornbears had long been devout followers of the Lady of the Evening Star and Dorian was no exception. Finding out that one of his best friends had become a saint of the Lady was a thing for celebration in his mind. Royce just grunted noncommittally. He had never had much use for the gods.

“By the way Dorian,” Marc went on, “Lady Rose sends you her greetings. She was most interested in your doings since she last visited. She sends her apologies that she had to remain behind.”

Dorian’s face lit up. He had always been terrible at hiding his emotions. “Is she well?”

“She said to tell you that she is in excellent health and looking forward to seeing you soon. She will be coming to stay here in a few months,” Marc replied. He was enjoying his role as messenger far too much.

“Why are you telling me though? Shouldn’t she be giving such messages to Mort?” Dorian had gotten so flustered at news of Lady Rose he had completely forgotten I had been there when she gave Marc her messages. I smiled inwardly.

“He was there Dorian,” Marc sighed, “and she was most specific. She wanted me to let you know personally that she would be coming and looked forward to continuing her conversation with you.”

Penny laughed at Dorian’s confusion, “Give it up Marcus. He’s never going to get it. Not until she brains him with a large club and drags him back to her den.”

Dorian glared at her. Uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going he sought to change it, “Penny you’ll be pleased when you see your rooms. We finished setting up the furnishings and the workmen completed the rest of that floor as well.”

The light in her eyes went out, “I’m sure it’s very nice Dorian but I won’t be staying there. Mordecai has decided to terminate our engagement.”

“What!?” Dorian’s shout was exceptional. He managed to draw that one word out into a ten second exclamation of shock and dismay. Across the table my father’s face also showed surprise but he kept his silence. He was wise enough to wait till later to question me about it. Dorian recovered his voice and went on, “What did you do!?” Naturally he was addressing me. I worried for a moment he might try to throttle me.

“Whoa! Calm down Dorian. We can talk about it later, this isn’t the time,” Marc interjected, hoping to forestall a messy argument. Dorian looked from Marc to me and back to Marc again. His face was clearly communicating the message that we would need to talk… and soon.

Penny broke the awkward pause, “I’ll need alternative sleeping arrangements Dorian. My master…,” her eyes shot me a look of utter disdain, “requires that I stay within two hundred yards of his presence at all times.”

That riled me up, “Now hold on here, Penelope!” I spit her name out as if it were a curse. “The two hundred yards is a result of the bond you lied to me about, so don’t go trying to hang the blame on me for that!”

“I stand corrected. Please forgive me your excellency,” she replied in mock obeisance. “As you can see Dorian I am no longer worthy of being in his lordship’s exalted presence so I will require a different room.”

Poor Dorian was caught in the middle, and ill-equipped to deal with it. “Well, there’s not much extra room at the present. I was going to offer to have Cyhan and Marcus stay in your old house, but if you need it…”

“That’s too far for her,” Cyhan put in, “but for me it would be fine.”

“What about the other rooms?” Penny asked. The floor that held our suite also had a number of rooms for guests.

“All the villagers are sleeping inside the walls at night. The rooms have been occupied though I suppose I could put one of the families in the barracks…,” Dean suggested.

“No that’s fine,” Penny said. “Cyhan won’t mind the barracks; he’s a military man after all. We can both stay there.” Cyhan’s eyebrows went up at this.

“I don’t mind the barracks either,” Marc said.

“You can stay with me,” I said. “I will have room after all.”

Once everyone had settled upon the sleeping arrangements they started to head out but I had one more announcement, “Before you go… I have some bad news.”

“Haven’t we had enough bad news for one evening?” Dorian replied.

“I’m afraid this is even worse. The kingdom of Gododdin will invade Lothion come spring. Arundel, Cameron and Lancaster will be the first to feel the brunt of the assault,” I informed them.

“How do you know this?” Dorian asked, furrowing his brow.

“One of Penelope’s visions and some timely information from the Lady of the Evening Star,” I nodded at Penny and Marc.

Everyone began talking at once and I was forced to shout to be heard, “I know this is unexpected but hear me out!” After they had quieted I began detailing what we knew, which wasn’t much, other than the time and place. I also shared my conversation with King Edward; they needed to know that help wouldn’t be forthcoming. When I had finished the conversation rapidly fell into chaos again.

Royce interrupted. Though he spoke calmly everyone stopped to hear what he said, “I have a suggestion. Why don’t we sleep on it? You’ve told us what you know, but we’re still getting a handle on it. We should wait until morning to start making plans, our heads will be clearer then.”

That sounded like a good idea so I seconded the notion. Soon people began to drift out and Penny took Cyhan by the arm, “I’ll show you where the barracks are.”

I’m sure an old veteran would be able to find the barracks without help but I didn’t say anything. Marc and Dorian were heading for the stairs. They were giving me glances which I figured meant they planned to grill me back in my rooms. I rose to follow them but my father stopped me. “I need to talk to you for a minute son,” he said.

I told Dorian I’d be along in a little while and turned to give him my attention. I had little doubt what he wanted to talk about. I steeled myself, disappointing him had always been my worst fear. He gave me a thoughtful look but didn’t say anything. He had a talent for talking without words. After a long silence he finally spoke, “Well?”

“Well what?” I replied. I felt like a rebellious teenager again, which was odd since I had never really had a rebellious stage. I imagined if I were a teenager and rebellious, this was probably what it would feel like.

“What do I tell your mother?” he asked.

“Why isn’t she here anyway?”

“Because you didn’t bother to stop on your way in and tell her you were back. You’re lucky I was here or I’d still be thinking you were in the capital too,” his words were a rebuke.

“Sorry I didn’t think. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately. I’ll come by in the morning and see her,” he already had me apologizing. I never understood how that happened.

“What’s going on with you and Penny?”

“I don’t really understand it myself Dad. She lied to me about this bond…,” I gave him a little background. I don’t think he had ever really understood exactly what an Anath’Meridum was before. I also told him about the voices and the stone lady. Before long I was stumbling over my words. It was hard to talk about my emotions. They all seemed so petty when I put them into words before him.

I couldn’t tell him about her vision. So I also had to leave out my reasons for wanting to break the bond. Avoiding those things I wound up talking mostly about my experience with the voices, or the onset of madness as everyone else had felt it was.

He listened without comment, until I had run out of things to say, and then he waited a while longer. I began to wonder if he would say anything at all when he finally spoke, “I’m not going to tell you what to do about the girl. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself, although I’m sure your mother will have a lot to say about it,” he chuckled. “About these voices though… what were they like?”

I described them, as best I could. For the most part they had been wordless experiences, almost like an extension of my senses, except for the stone-lady. Her voice had been as clear as my father’s. I told him about her appearance at the bonding ceremony.

“I don’t know much about wizards or magic, but I do know a thing or two about the earth,” he held up his rough calloused hands. “I’ve worked with iron for most of my life. Most men think it to be hard and unyielding, and it is… if you treat it like something to be shaped on a whim. Iron takes patience and strength of will. You have to plan and think… it won’t give itself over to be shaped by pure force. No matter how strong you are.”

As deliberate as he usually seemed, I couldn’t see how this had anything to do with my experiences, “Dad listen I don’t think…”

“Let me finish! Iron is a gift of the earth. What I just said is true of blacksmiths, but it’s also true for stone masons and even woodworkers. They’re all gifts from the earth. I don’t know much about the gods but I know a bit about the earth. You can trust it. If you’re sure it was the earth you were hearing,” he finished.

My own feelings had been similar to what he was telling me but I had been too uncertain to voice them. Everyone had been so certain I was going mad and the stone-lady had only made it worse. “What do you think about the stone-lady?” I asked.

“Hell I’ve never understood your mother, much less any other woman. I’d be careful if I were you,” he replied.

I laughed, “Thanks Dad.” I gave him an awkward hug. He never had been very comfortable with overt displays of affection.

I turned to go but he had one more thing to say, “Mordecai.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t be too hard on the girl. You’re a fool if you let her go over this, life’s too short.” He didn’t wait for me to answer, just headed for the door.

I stared at the doorway to the great hall for a long minute after he had left. “If only it were that easy Dad.” Finally I turned and headed for my rooms. I was expecting another long conversation once Dorian got me alone.