The Fallen

by R. L. Drummond

They remained in silence until Vella finally brought the horses to a stop beneath the lush canopy of a large oak tree, and after the three had dismounted carefully for fear of awakening Reya, rain pattered gently upon the leaves above. They made camp and tended the horses in practised silence, and when Tellan placed the makeshift pillow of bundled velvets gently under his beloved niece’s head, Vella was glaringly aware of the sorrowful adoration within his face. She glanced across at Jenko crouched upon the ground, determinedly encouraging life into the campfire he had built, but there were no answers for her within his troubled face either.

  Vella found herself suddenly uncomfortable with how yet again, she had become an intruder of such intimacy; very much aware of how stranded she herself was in the strange situation that had swallowed her whole. All she could do was continue taking care of the horses and as she brushed their flanks down with near sightless eyes, Jenko approached Tellan with a brief glance at her troubled expression. Tellan lovingly brushed the hair from Reya’s forehead and as he tucked the velvets higher to keep her warm, he glanced at Jenko inquisitively.

  “Aren’t you going to talk to Vella?” He murmured below his breath.

  Jenko looked across at Vella then, concern clear in his face at how distantly she passed the curry comb over the back of one of the horses. “Yeah…” He replied in an unconvinced tone, “But she’s not going to be happy with me.”

  “The longer you leave it, the angrier she’ll get; after all that whole mess in Dahlia was far more than she had bargained for.” Tellan reasoned. He then sighed and added, “We owe her an explanation.”

  “Sure.” Jenko admitted reticently and with a huff of self–encouragement, he slowly walked towards Vella and called softly, “Vella?”

  Vella looked up from her chore with her face still twisted in confusion, but when she looked upon Jenko, her expression softened at the arms that opened caringly for her. Vella welcomed Jenko’s embrace with a sigh and for a moment she lost herself in the comfort of his companionship, grateful that within the spiralling mire of confusion that drowned her, there was something familiar to keep her grounded.

  But the caring gesture was swiftly dispelled when Vella’s sensibilities returned to her and as she stepped back with a scowl on her face, she slapped Jenko sharply across the cheek.

  “Where the hell have you been?!” She yelled angrily.

  “It’s nice to see you too.” Jenko retorted dryly as he rubbed his jaw.

  “I don’t believe this…” Vella spat venomously with her infuriated hands upon her hips, “Ilema lies in a smoking ruin, we destroyed half of Dahlia’s docks, got shot at by some half–mad archer and all you can do is make jokes!”

  “And how else should one address a precious friend such as you?” He replied through a cheeky grin as he swaggered forward and roughly clapped a hand upon her undamaged shoulder.

  But Vella was unimpressed at his forced cheer and as she stood back in refusal of his affected humour, she glared at him. “I thought you were dead!” She shouted and her eyes were wet with unshed tears.

  “And now you know I’m not.” Jenko replied with a crooked smile, “Honestly, Vella are the waterworks necessary?”

  Vella’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You son of a–” She blurted and as she roughly shoved Jenko in the chest, she hissed acidly, “My life was in that piss hole you called an inn! And then I find out you’re not dead at all, but you buggered off, without any word whatsoever?”

  “Don’t be sore, Vella.” Jenko murmured and his tone was suddenly serious in spite of his playful words. He looked upon her face then and his eyes softened as he added genuinely, “There was no time to say goodbye.”

  Vella stared up at him in silence for a moment, until she gestured meaningfully with her hands and asked, “What happened?”

  Jenko glanced behind his shoulder at Tellan briefly, “We had a visit from…an old acquaintance. You could say it went sour.”

  Vella’s gaze searched Jenko’s face in curiosity until her eyes bulged in sudden enlightenment. She pointed at him accusingly and breathed incredulously, “You burned down Ilema?”

  Jenko waved his hands hastily. “Not all of it, no.” He replied smoothly to assuage her temper, “Just the Angel–”

  “Oh my God, you did what?!” Vella screeched infuriatingly.

  Jenko grasped her shoulder suddenly and pulled her further away from the wagon in case the volume of her disapproval disturbed Reya. “I had no choice.” He insisted at a harsh murmur and within that serious expression, Vella realised the truth in his words, “We were backed into a corner–”

  “Hang on, hang on!” Vella began as she flung a hand up to stop Jenko in his tracks. She paused momentarily as she thought on the instinct that had raised an insistent flag within her mind and with a challenging squint, she finally asked, “Does this have anything to do with why you sent me to Dahlia? To get me out of the way?”

  “Well…yes.” Jenko admitted with a guilty shrug.

  “Bastard!” Vella blurted and she shook an angry finger in his face as she scolded hotly, “You should have just bloody well said so, instead of making me waste my fucking time with that ridiculous job you pulled out your arse at the last minute!”

  “Some of it needed done–” Jenko protested in a boyish grumble as he rubbed his arm self–consciously, very much aware that he was being told off like an errant school boy.

  Vella blinked at him. “Half of them didn’t have a clue who you were!” She rapped.

  Tellan grinned indulgently at the scolding Vella gave Jenko: it was a refreshing sight to see someone else get the better of the fast talking Asgardian for once. Jenko glanced at him with a pleading expression, but Tellan simply shrugged in an indication that he wanted no part in this particular argument. Jenko’s mouth ticked awkwardly as he faced Vella once more; she had crossed her arms angrily now and the indignant snort that huffed from her nostrils told him that he was far from forgiven yet.

  Tellan’s grin softened into a smile of adoration when Reya began to stir within her bed of velvets and with the hazy cracking of an eye, she looked up at him sleepily.

  “Hi.” She whispered simply at her uncle, taken with how steadfast his vigilance was, even now.

  “Hi.” He answered with a widening of his smile and as he caringly brushed her hair away from her forehead, she gasped at the sight of the leafy canopy above.

  “Oh!” She breathed with exultant joy, but within an instant her expression clouded over once more and she whispered sadly, “No…of course not.”

  Tellan’s brow ticked in concern at how despondent she sounded, “What’s wrong, love?”

  Reya huffed a brief laugh and smiled crookedly. “For a moment there I thought we were back home.” She said so sorrowfully that Tellan frowned in empathy. She then glanced back up at the canopy above her and whispered longingly, “It looks so much like my tree.”

  Tellan looked upon his niece with a stab of distress at how wistful her face was; he knew that she wanted nothing more than to be back there under the safety of her favourite tree, for everything to go back to normal. He wished that he could be there with her too…

  Reya tilted her head curiously when the heated arguing of Jenko and Vella reached her ears like the furious yowling of fighting cats. “Is everything all right?” She asked tentatively as she rose.

  “Yes everything is fine.” Tellan replied flippantly as he helped her up. He then chuckled and added with a smile, “Just Vella giving Jenko a telling off.”

  Reya chuckled softly as she looked upon the two still deep in their row, entirely oblivious of the volume they now yelled at one another. “Honest to God, Jenko would it have hurt you to send at least one message? I had to find out from Lily?” Vella scolded.

  Jenko sighed shortly. “Look, I’m sorry…but we had to get Reya somewhere safe. There really wasn’t any time to let you know.” He insisted in mild frustration that he had to repeat himself and, with a brief frown that raked Vella’s p
erson accusingly, he rapped, “What the hell took you so long in getting to the Flowering Garden anyway? I gave you a job to do!”

  In Jenko’s gambit of shifting the power of the argument back to him, Vella’s moment of anger gave way to sullen defiance and with a cocked hip, she responded primly, “Well, when you decided to shut up shop, I took a detour and finalised the velvet deal with Otto and son in the south side. Myself.”

  “Did you now…” Jenko began with a low drawl of disapproval.

  “I won’t apologise!” She retaliated hotly, “I needed the money from that job to pay my rent! It serves you right.”

  “Yes, yes.” Jenko snapped offhandedly with a roll of his eyes.

  “Not that it’s done me any favours; look at my goods!” Vella cried, dismayed at the blood that spoiled her precious cargo of velvets, never mind the arrows that pierced and shredded it. “There’s no way in hell I can shift that lot now!”

  “Oh well, look on the bright side.” Jenko joked wryly as he gestured at the broken arrow shaft still embedded in Vella’s shoulder, “You’ve still got your health.”

  “My health? My health?! I’ve been shot, you bastard!” Vella raged.

  Reya watched the scene with a soft smile on her face; for as little time as she had known Jenko, she still knew that his gruffness and flippancy of phrase was a heavy shroud that covered his deeper sentiments. And from the bickering of this particular conversation, heated though it was, it was clear to Reya that the two cared deeply for one another.

  Vella ground her teeth in fury as she shook her head and hissed, “I swear to God, Jenko, sometimes I fucking hate you.”

  Jenko chuckled knowingly as he swaggered beside her and slipped an arm around her shoulder. Now that she was talking to him again, he could finally have a little fun. “You don’t really, do you, lover?” He replied smoothly.

  Vella’s eyes narrowed dangerously as she hissed, “Don’t call me that.”

  “And what shall I call you?” He endeavoured smoothly with arms cast wide and his eyebrow hiked gleefully as he suggested, “Precious? Darling?”

  Tellan helped Reya out of the relative warmth of the velvets with an indulgent roll of his eyes; now that the initial grievance had been settled to a somewhat reasonable conclusion, the pair had now reverted to their habitual bickering ways. So deep were they in their squabbling that neither one of them registered the awakening of Reya, even as Tellan led her towards the campfire.

  “What shall I call you? Arsehole? Complete wanker?” Vella snarled back.

  “I’ve been called those names so many times, beloved, that they’ve lost all rarity. Perhaps you should choose something of myself that you find most appealing?”

  “My knife has an appealing name for you: dead.”

  Jenko grinned wickedly; this really was fun. “I see your tongue has a talent for wit, as much as its other incomparable uses.”

  “Ooo…” Vella hissed angrily as she stepped forward with a fist held up in white–knuckled threat, “For two bits I’d knock those teeth of yours right down your throat.”

  Jenko’s smile widened like a pouncing predator and before he had even drawn a full breath for a quick fire response, Vella flung her hand up in his face. “Don’t…even!” She warned, knowing full well that his mind had already raced down that innuendo clogged gutter.

  Vella turned her attention away from him entirely then, for she finally realised that not only had Reya awakened, but she now warmed herself before the blazing heat of the campfire. She blinked at the girl’s tiny form in stunned shock and finally said in a far calmer tone than she had used with Jenko, “I never thought I’d see you again, lass.”

  “Me neither,” Reya said warmly as Vella made her way towards her, smiling happily up at her when she sat down beside her, “It’s good to see you’re okay.”

  “And you, pet.” Vella replied with genuine affection as she gathered Reya up into an embrace. When she released her, she jerked a thumb at Jenko and added wryly, “I’m sorry you got saddled with that one.”

  Jenko snorted in good–natured response even as Reya smiled broadly at him and replied with a fond smile, “He’s not too bad.”

  “You hear that, Vella?” Jenko called mockingly with a wide grin as he reached sideways into the wagon and pulled out a bolt of velvet, “She likes me.”

  Vella spun her head in a quick–fire retort, “That makes her the only one here.” She then blinked when she realised Jenko had hauled out several bolts of her precious velvet and as she stared at the growing pile at his feet with a thrill of alarm, she asked carefully, “What are you doing?”

  “You said it yourself:” Jenko said cheerfully and ripped a length of velvet with obvious delight at Vella’s suddenly pained expression, “You can’t sell them now, so we might as well use them.”

  Vella turned back around with angered speed and as she placed her head in her hands, a field of rage vibrated from her hunched body so palpably that Reya fidgeted nervously. “Oh, Jenko…” Vella seethed through hissed breath.

  But even as Jenko laughed off her blatant irritation with his cavalier attitude, Tellan crouched before her and looked into her face with concern. “Do you have a suture kit in the wagon, Vella?” He asked.

  Vella glanced at him from under her bridged hands and let out her anger of Jenko’s gleeful vandalism in a shaky, cathartic sigh before she grumbled, “Sure. It’s in the bench.”

  “Good.” Tellan replied as he calmly unsheathed Vella’s wicked knife from the hidden sheath within her high boots. He kept his eyes on the weapon as he passed its blade through the campfire and called to Reya, “Sweetheart, go and get the kit.”

  Reya leapt to her feet with a silent nod of readiness and as Tellan faced Vella once more, he looked at her almost apologetically, “Let’s have a look at that arrow.”

  She nodded in reply and delicately shrugged from under her poncho with a grunt of pain, but when Tellan ripped the fabric of her shirt to expose what remained of the arrow shaft, she hitched her head at his own plight, “We should take care of that first.”

  “It’s not going anywhere.” Tellan said and, looking up with a nod as Reya returned with the kit, he instructed softly, “Thread up a needle for me.”

  Again Reya did as she was told without question and as she gently placed the threaded needle onto Vella’s waiting palm, she almost jumped at Tellan’s authoritative voice, “Now go and help Jenko rip up bandages.”

  Vella watched the girl leave as she was told without a word and as Tellan brought the knife from the fire, Vella looked at him and said. “She’s a good kid.”

  “She is.” Tellan replied, but before she could comment any further, he moved his crouch closer and placed a hand onto her shoulder, “I’m sorry, Vella. This will hurt.”

  “Just get it over with.” Vella responded through ground teeth and as Tellan brought the now cool blade parallel with the arrow shaft, she squeezed her eyes shut in apprehension of what she knew would soon follow.

  Vella gasped at the agony the knife brought as he cut the arrow wound wider to accommodate its removal, but in spite of her hissed protestations, he continued on through a scowl of concentration. “Reya!” He called.

  “Yes, Uncle?”

  “Bring me a throwing knife and some bandages. Quickly now.” Tellan said as he made ready for the arrow’s removal.

  Reya plucked one of Jenko’s last throwing knives from his belt without asking permission and as she sped towards Tellan’s side with what strips she had torn herself, she bit her lip in concern. Vella’s face was chalk white as Tellan placed his dagger upon the stone contours of the campfire and, his hand still gripped around Vella’s shoulder, he grasped the arrow shaft in his other.

  “Reya, heat up the blade of the throwing knife. But not too hot.”

  “Okay.” Reya replied numbly, for she had never seen this done before and in truth, the raw nature of it frightened her a little. She watched him in stunned silence as he wrapped some of
the velvet around the arrow shaft, soaking up the blood that already seeped from the wound he had enlarged.

  “Ready, Vella?”

  “Just do it.” She hissed.

  Without further ado Tellan pulled the arrow free from Vella’s shoulder, grateful that the arrowhead had somehow avoided bone and as she grunted in agony, he spun for the throwing knife. He snatched the blade from Reya’s grasp at the same moment he dropped the arrow and with swift alacrity, he pressed the hot blade onto Vella’s skin.

  Vella screamed at the intense heat that scorched her briefly and as Tellan passed the blade through the flames once more, he kept his glare firmly on his task.

  “Oh, Vella!” Reya cried in dismay of her friend’s pain as she fled to her side and gathered Vella’s hand into her hers, almost crying out herself against the tight, perspiring grip that seized her for dear life.

  Vella ground her teeth ferociously as Tellan applied the heated blade again, ensuring that the wound had been well and truly cauterised before he placed the throwing knife down with a satisfied nod.

  “That’s the worst of it over.” Tellan said and Reya gasped silently when Vella finally released her hand from its constricting grip. He looked at Reya as he picked up the suture needle and asked, “Is there a water skin in the wagon?”

  Reya nodded once and as she sped off in her new task, Vella stared down intently at the knee guards of her boots as Tellan ministered to her injury, happy to busy her mind with anything else but the dull pain that throbbed from her shoulder.

  “In all seriousness, Vella, it’s a good job that you turned up when you did. Otherwise thing could have gotten considerably worse.” He said softly enough that his voice didn’t carry to Reya’s ears, his frown focused on keeping the sutures as pain free for Vella as he could. He then asked, “How did you know where we would be?”

  “When I turned up at the Flowering Garden with Jenko’s Ashtari silk, Lily asked what I was doing there. She said: ‘I thought you were meeting Jenko at the dockyard’?”

  Jenko shook his head from his task with a wry smile; of course Lily had read the message. He gathered up the strips of velvet and made his way across to Tellan, hunkering down beside him as he kept his concerned eyes upon Vella.