Life Legacy

by Vlad ben Avorham

  Pavel’s smile faded. Yeah, mamma would have his hide if he caught her by surprise again. “Good point. Hang on, we’re picking up the pace.”

  The warm spring day was good weather for riding, if he wasn’t wearing all of this armor. Even stripped down to minimums it was too hot. Still it was a nice day to be out on the open road. Pavel was looking forward to the trip to the Red Spire. He had missed Echal and Catrin, and while he wanted to give Sha time with her mother after their long separation, he missed being his own man. Able to decide his future with only he and Sha to worry about.

  Oh, he knew he would still be tied up in the important events his family had thoroughly entangled themselves in for decades to come, at least he would be able to steal Sha away for a weekend or two just living out of Koloss, and exploring the wilds. He didn’t really want to settle down so much as just not have a pre-planned agenda every day. This trip had plenty of twists and wasn’t boring but it also wasn’t what he wanted to see. The elves hadn’t really impressed him, and even Voivoed’s Rest wasn’t more than a comfortable place to rest. Oh, the access to shops and equipment was nice, but he really wanted to produce his own custom gear. For that he wanted Echal. He was sure Echal wouldn’t have the time to do the work himself, but Echal always had the best ideas for what to make.

  While he was lost in thought, he heard a noise behind him and turned in his saddle to see the hatch opening and Sha coming up to join him in the open air. “Got too stuffy in there. This breeze is much better. “

  Pavel smiled back. “We’re almost there.” He turned back to look down the road and barked a laugh. “Unless my eyes are going too, that’s Da right there on horseback riding toward us.”

  Sha squinted. “Pavel, he looks like he’s running from something.” the alarm in her voice rising.

  Pavel grunted. “One way to find out. Hold on.” and with a casual word to Koloss they were covering the ground between them at an amazing clip. Then just over the small rise, they saw what Jayen was fleeing. There were six dire wolves, each the size of an ox, and they were baring down on the lone rider. “Sha, a distraction would be nice.”

  Sha froze. What could she do that would help Daddy? Think damn it! Arch Tzadi my ass the treasonous little voice in the back of her mind taunted. Sha didn’t have time for self doubt, so she began drawing in her will, snatched up the power stone and concentrated. The casting time seemed like an eternity as the wolves bore down on the man who raised her from infancy. Finally, as the magic released a wyvern appeared already in flight and landed upon the lead wolf.

  The wolves seeing the new threat broke off their attack and made for the nearest tree cover. The wyvern had stung two, and dug its talons in deep to the skull of a third before they made it cover.

  “Nicely done, m’love. Grab a fresh power stone and join me on the ground. I want to send Koloss hunting.” Pavel was grinning madly and motioning to her with his outstretched hand.

  Sha quickly switched up stones and scrambled up out of the hold as Koloss came to a stop long enough for them both to dismount. Pavel patted his polished oak flank, “Flush them out boy, let the wyvern have them!”

  Koloss bounded off at lightning speed as Jayen was riding up. “Glad to see you two!”

  Sha ran over to the side of his horse and hugged him tightly about one leg. Pavel just grinned up at his father. “Looked like you could use some help.”

  The older man pulled his helmet off, the sweat running down his face. He took a deep breath of the warm early afternoon air, just enjoying being alive. “I wasn’t sure I would make it out of that one.” He said with a sigh, as he reached down to pat Sha’s hair.

  “What are they doing this deep into civilized lands?” Pavel asked.

  Gently disentangling himself from Sha, Jayen slowly dismounted. “We got word last week orcs had attacked that the outpost of the Brotherhood. Without them guarding the pass, all sorts of beasties have been ravaging the neighbors.” He wipes the sweat from his face and blinks his eyes to clear them. “We were on our way to lend a hand, when this pack of dire wolves surprised us.”

  Sha looks up at him, “Us?”

  Jayen just grins and points back up the road. Just cresting the small rise and kicking up and incredible cloud of dust as they came was Colonel Jeffers and his entire cavalry troop, hell bent for leather. “Kinda got split up, and I was hoping they would arrive before the wolves were finished with me.” His grin doesn’t fade but his eyes show his understanding that it wouldn’t have happened that way.

  Pavel waves to the Colonel as they pull up. “They’re in the woods. Koloss is hunting, oh and the wyvern in the air is ours as well.”

  The colonel nearly fell from his saddle in his haste to make it to Jayen. “Your Excellence! You’re alive!”

  Jayen just chuckled, “Aye, and well. Just a bit winded. Can I get you to detail some of your men for an honor guard for the Dutchess? Unless I miss my guess they aren’t far behind?” He looks at Pavel.

  Pavel grunts. “About that, yes they should be about two or maybe three hours up the road. Yes, a guard would do well. We were riding ahead to let you and mamma know that we’re bringing company again.” He looked at the colonel only reddened slightly at the memory. “‘They’re not defenseless. Galan, Angvar, and Ivor are all there, and the Dutchess isn’t exactly harmless.” Jayen snorted a laugh. “Though with Koloss occupied for the next little bit, and no knowing what else made it through the gap...” He trailed off for a moment then remembered, “Oh and Colonel, if you can spare a dispatch rider, can you let my mother know to expect about thirty people long about sundown?” He grinned at Jayen. “Don’t think I’d live down doing that to her twice.”

  The colonel just nodded. “At once. You’re Excellency, I will also pass word on to the Duke that his family is safe and on their way home, and we will be delayed just over a day joining him.”

  Jayen nodded. “Can’t be helped, and he has a big enough force as it is. We shouldn’t be overly missed for just a day.”

  Dinner and a Show

  The young blonde Lieutenant showed up as they were stopped for the afternoon meal. At first she nearly panicked. Her family was all spread out again where she couldn’t help them and ravenous monsters from the wastes beyond had broken into the valley. She took a deep breath, a dragon couldn’t stop Sha, and she had Pavel and Koloss. The duke was out riding into combat, but he had a whole army at his back, not that she didn’t wish she could be there as well. Esta and Galan were the least able to defend themselves, as well as all the commoners that they had in tow with them for this trip. She was where she needed to be, but damn it, the chaos of this horrible trip was following her home. She stopped and realized that this was her home. The love of her life and her children were here. Here she was wanted and needed. Sha had been right if the elves won’t embrace all of her family, who needs them. Eventually she would write to her father, offering them to join her. She knew that they would never come to stay, but maybe for a hundred years or so, long enough to be a part of their grandchildren’s lives? Only time would tell.

  Speaking of grandchildren, she thought that young lieutenant is being just a bit too forward with Esta. If he wasn’t careful, Ivor was going to make a point of it soon. More drama she just didn’t need. Maybe, just maybe if she could make it to Jan’s before this all blew up...

  She no sooner thought the thought than she heard a commotion outside of the coach. Sure enough, Ivor and the young officer were showing off their horsemanship skills for Soph and Esta. She started to put an end to it but hesitated wondering if she was letting her own worries rob the young of their fun. In that moment’s self doubt, the gathered crowd got a quick lesson that Feylynn could have told them would happen. NoVasian calvary officers were beyond excellent horsemen, but Alorns were born to it. Ivor had just ridden at a full run, hanging from the side of his horse using only his legs, retrieved an arrow from the ground, and made it back upright in the saddle in time to put the same arrow into th
e improvised target. The young cavalry officer lost his grip half way to the seated position and fell. Feylynn heard the bones crack from where she sat.

  It was going to be such a long day. Sha evicted Soph from the carriage and in went the officer on his stretcher. Ivor looked near to protests but a meaningful look from Feylynn settles any protestations he might have. Feylynn looks over to Esta. “His back is broken. I’ll need Sha and Pavel to heal him completely, but you’re going to keep him alive until then. Men act foolishly whenever there is a young woman who fails to send the right signals immediately. You’re going to learn how to share strength, it will make his pain your pain too, but it will keep him alive until he can be restored. Think hard on this the next time you return a smile, just to be the center of attention.”

  Esta was crying, Feylynn didn’t care. After Sara last Winter Faire, and the Ivor situation, and Galan’s adventures in Voivoed’s Rest, and the stress of Sha’s relationship with Pavel, which scarily enough seemed the most mature, she was done. These children were going to learn to be responsible with this rush of new hormones. Either from friendly adult guidance or they were going to be made to feel the pain their bad decisions caused. She wished she were with Evan; he needed her help smashing things, and she really needed to smash something right now.

  A Quarrelsome House

  Observations

  Angvar straddled a wooden bench outside of the stables. He leaned back upon the wall and held Soph close to him, his cloak enfolded over them both in the cool of the night. He could feel her tension, even with her back to him, her body language screamed stress. He leaned forward to kiss her shoulder at the base of her neck. She twisted her head to stop him. “What’s wrong m’love?”

  “I don’t know.” She sighed.

  Angvar had a feeling that she did know, but that she didn’t want to talk about it. He also knew that bottling it up, wouldn’t be good. “Ah come on now, beautiful. You know that ‘I don’t know’ isn’t an answer.”

  “It’s the only one I’ve got.”

  He laughed gently. “You’re stiff as a board, and you don’t want me to make you feel better, so what is it? If you were a wine barrel under this much pressure, you would have split by now.”

  “Can’t you just hold me?”

  He kissed the side of her hair and pulled her in tight. “For now. It won’t be any better though until you let out some of that pressure.”

  They sat there for a few minutes, each in their own thoughts, until out of the blue she says to him, “Love hurts too much.”

  He felt his heart drop, and his brain spun up trying to think of what he had done wrong. He came up blank. “Wha... What did I do? Have I hurt you in some way? I’m sorry I didn’t mean to do it?”

  She let out a long sigh. “Not you. For once you’ve been wonderful.”

  He hesitated a moment trying to make sense of that statement but she continued before he could decide if he needed to be offended.

  “It’s everyone else!” she whined plaintively. “What was Barron Jayen thinking? They could have killed him. Jan was right to be pissed.”

  Angvar let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, “Oh that. She’s just scared. That Colonel needs kicked for bringing that up at dinner like that.”

  “You’re damn right she’s scared. What if Koloss hadn’t been there? Jan would have been a widow! Men are such fools.” She could feel her anger rising and tried to get a grip on it.

  “My sweet lover, he was mounted and armored. The rest of the troop was dismounted and disorganized. Had he not drawn off the wolves as he did, twenty men could have died before they got the better of those beasts.”

  “You’re missing the point! That wouldn’t give Jan her husband or Pavel his father back!” Her voice rising.

  “Shh... Easy Soph.” He squeezed her tight. “You’re right, of course. That is what it means to be a noble. It’s not all castles and banquets. Sometimes you’ve got to put your needs second for those of the people who’ve sworn loyalty and fealty to you. It’s a price we all know since shortly after birth that we may be called upon to pay. It was a lesson Galan helped me with last Winter Faire, and it has served me well since. It brought me to you.”

  She wasn’t about to be comforted this easily, “I still say you’re all crazy to take such risks but ok, ok, ‘Duty’ “her tone anything but reverent and respectful for the word, “but that nonsense between Ivor, Esta, and Lt. Smiles a Lot!”

  Angvar laughed loudly at that. “Oh, are you telling me you never had boys try to compete for your attention before? I don’t believe it.”

  “My family are scribes! Men try to outsmart each other to impress us, not get their fool back broken by acting like an idiot on a horse!” she turned to look at him.

  “Whooo, I got lucky then. If I’d have had to compete like that, I’d have been in trouble. Give me the horse any day.”

  She couldn’t help it, she giggled and hit him on the chest. “Stop it. You’re not stupid, and you shouldn’t pretend to be.” She let out a long sigh. Laughing had felt good, and the pressure felt less. “All of these people are hurting only because they love the other so much. I guess I just worry because I love you.”

  Angvar gave her a lingering kiss. “Love isn’t all bad. I wasn’t able to get a room to myself tonight, but Galan pointed out a nice little balcony that would be a great place to sleep out under the stars...”

  Healing

  Pavel saw the young cavalry officer stretched out on the table. Esta looked almost as bad as he did. Seems that riding a carriage over rough roads when badly wounded isn’t conducive to healing.

  Sha washed her hands and cut away the clothes to get to the affected area. After twenty minutes or so of poking and prodding as he variously cried out in pain or seemed to feel nothing she just shook her head. “The back is broken. He won’t make it without magical intervention. It’ll take all four of us and little better than an hour to complete.” She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “At that point we have a choice. We can spend an additional two hours and he’ll walk out of here good as new, or we can let nature take its course and he’ll be recovered enough to return to duty in two months.”

  Feylynn frowned. “We have to restore him.”

  Pavel grinned. “Oh, he’ll recover just fine mother. Sha is just asking if we let the lesson sink in good and solid? Maybe with Esta sticking around to help with emptying his bed pans?” Esta said nothing, anything she would say would only make it worse and after the torture of this afternoon, she just didn’t have the strength to object.

  “Give him some poppy milk. To help cut back on the amount of energy we use, I’m going to open him up and line things up manually.” Sha motioned toward the quietly groaning man as she reached for the surgical kit she carried with her. “Esta, watch what I do, but never do anything like this yourself, unless he is already dead if you don’t. Your magic isn’t enough to more than barely stabilize them after. Only a full Tzadi should try this, but sometimes desperation rules the day, and it won’t hurt you to have seen it done.”

  “While we’re waiting on the poppy milk to do it’s part, this isn’t a spell I know.” She tapped her head, “I have it stored, same as if I had the book in front of me, but we’re going to need to do this as a ritual.”

  They all grunted, except for Esta. “What does that mean?”

  Feylynn spoke up, “Remember we talked about how you can try any spell you can read, but the less you know about the spells that led to its development the more likely you are to fail?” Esta nodded. “Well, by using this ritual, that you’ll get to learn tonight, it takes a lot longer to cast, but you don’t have a great a chance at failure. Most very complicated spells are done this way, as learning all the precursor spells to the proper level is time consuming. Unless of course you plan to specialize in it.” She shrugs, “Normally we would also need a written copy of the spell, but with Shadrea’s perfect recall...” again just a shrug as she begins t
o lay out the ritual area and teaching Esta as she goes.

  It was a long evening but by the time supper was served, the young man was sitting up on his own and could return to duty.

  Sha caught Esta before she made it out the door. “If Ivor is the one?” she held her hand up to forestall any answer. “If he is your choice, don’t make him question it. You owe him an apology.” and just like that she was gone.

  Something's Never Change

  Jayen had seen this all before. The stewing anger hiding the stark terror. He didn’t have the heart to admit to her how close it really had been. So he made light of the whole thing as much as he could and waited for evening.

  Evening arrived, and they were finally alone in their room. She was brushing out her hair with a vigor and a violence that, in his youth had worried him. Now, almost thirty years later he knew this sign. He was ready for what was coming.

  Jan never disappointed on this level. She started in and let him have it. She vented her rage on him, even throwing her brush at him at one point. Jayen never raised his voice. He just let her get the mad out. He knew from all of those years that the anger wasn’t dangerous; it was the fear it hid that could break her.

  After about a half an hour, he started to worry a bit. This was a lot of anger, more than he had ever seen since the night that gave them Pavel. Just like that night though, the anger finally emptied, and the tears began to flow. This was the sign Jayan had been waiting for.

  “It’s ok m’love. I’m all here and in one piece. Shhh...” he wrapped his arms around her. “We’re all safe and sound. I’m not going anywhere.” He just held her while she cried and eventually he could feel the shudders subside as she emptied out the fear as well.