After a few long, nerve wracking minutes we reached the house. I nudged Night around toward the back of the structure. Most people didn’t own horses this deep inside the city. Night was sure to draw some attention. Back here behind the building, out of sight, was much safer.
Once we were in the shadows of my father’s work shed, I slid off Night’s back and whispered “Stay here.”
“I want to come inside too.”
My mother would kill me if Night tracked mud inside her house. And Night would pitch a fit if I told him that, too. I compromised with, “Let me explain everything first.”
He snorted at that, giving me a look that clearly said he didn’t believe me, but thankfully stayed put.
Quietly I crossed the yard and let myself in through the back door. At this time of the evening everyone was probably in the main room. I had entered through the kitchen and one glance was enough to tell me that my family still lived here. All of my mother’s china was still in its usual place, and the furniture was the same; even the smell was the same.
I nearly sank to my knees, bowled over with relief. They were still here, and not in one of the dozens of dark scenarios that I had imagined. I think the relief made me a little silly—I was seized by a mischievous impulse.
This was probably one of the very few times my mother would forgive me for startling her. With that thought in mind, I tiptoed across the kitchen, down the narrow hallway, and into the dim recesses of the alcove leading to the main room.
Very carefully, I eased one eyeball so I could peek around the doorframe and into the room. At that first look, it felt like my heart had leapt into my throat. They were all there—Mom next to the hearth with a book in her hands, Da whittling something from wood, and my brothers playing a game at the small table in the center of the room. My sister was attempting to knit something; “attempt” being the key word. Even as I watched, she growled in frustration and ripped it all out again.
Some things never change.
I drew in a breath and said in a loud, cheerful voice, “I’m hungry! Didn’t you leave me something to eat?”
Everyone jerked around, dropping whatever they were doing to stare at the doorway. I moved into view, and I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear as I dropped the hood of my cloak.
My mother was the first to shake off her paralysis. Delight exploded across her face as she dropped her book and flew to me. I caught her in my arms, holding her so tightly I’m sure she had trouble drawing in a proper breath. Through the haze of happiness, I realized I was a whole head taller than her now. I barely had time to register the fact before Da’s long arms wrapped around both of us. I freed one arm so that I could slip it around his back, and hug him in return. Great magic, but I really had missed them! Tears were beginning to sting the back of my eyes, but I blinked them back, wanting to see them clearly.
Grudgingly, my parents gave way so that I could be crushed to death by my three siblings. As much as I had grown, my brothers still towered over me—which was completely unfair—and they had to bend slightly to hug me. Kaydan was practically glued to my chest, and if feel was anything to go by, was crying rivers on my shirt.
The moment of joy and homecoming was shattered by Mom’s indignant voice. “Garth, what did you do to your hair?!”
Everyone pulled back so they could get a good look at me. I raised my hands in an innocent pose, trying to stave off her glare. “I didn’t do anything! It's something of a side-effect.”
“You grew some,” Xajen noted cheerfully. “Not enough of course, but it’s a nice effort.”
I turned a glare onto my oldest brother. “See if I send presents to you anymore.”
“Aw now Garth, you know that you’re my favorite little brother.” He grinned at me unrepentantly.
I was seriously tempted to tackle him and prove that little or not, I could wipe that smirk off his face. Unfortunately my father intervened. “Garth, isn’t it dangerous for you to be here?”
“A little,” I admitted. “More for you than for me.”
They all looked at me doubtfully.
Sighing, I gestured for everyone to sit down. Once they were settled comfortably, I launched into an accounting of the last year, starting at the beginning with Elis. They listened with rapt attention and asked quite a number of questions. I tried not to get bogged down in detail because time was of the essence. I’d barely said anything about King Guin being in Chahir when Night interrupted me.
“Can I come in now?”
“Garth?” Mom was looking at me in worry. I guess from the outside, it would look strange to observe a telepathic conversation.
“Night wants to come in,” I explained.
My parents went stiff with alarm. “You brought him with you?” Da demanded incredulously.
At that I rolled my eyes. “You think I have a choice? He’s always with me. So can he come in? I’ll clean his hooves before he does.” This last bit was directed more to Mom.
“You should have brought him in from the start!” Da exclaimed in exasperation. He was already headed for the door.
“Come in, Night,” I sent back. “My Da is opening the door for you.”
There was no real reply, just a wordless exclamation of relief. Poor Night was probably bored to tears out there waiting for me. I followed close on my Da’s heels—as did everyone else. Apparently they were curious to see my Nreesce.
Da had the door open when I got to the kitchen and was standing in the doorway, awe sketched onto his face. Without a word I caught one of his shoulders and silently encouraged him to step back enough to give Night room to enter. Then I looked pointedly at the dirt hanging onto Night’s hooves—it obediently fell off, behaving like good dirt should. Satisfied he was clean enough, I gestured my Nreesce inside. “Come in, Night.”
Ducking his head, the stallion stepped through the doorway. I never really realized how big he was until he was in close quarters like this. He made the room shrink drastically. He easily spanned over eighteen hands. One of these days, I have to get around to measuring him properly. I think he had grown a bit more since Small Rider had done it. Once he was fully inside, Da closed the door.
My family was standing around Night in a rough semi-circle, just staring at him in disbelief. My sister, naturally, was the one that said what everyone was thinking. “That’s a Nreesce? But he’s gorgeous!”
“What were you expecting,” Night inquired dryly, “a monster with warts?”
Knowing Chahiran tales, probably.
Everyone jumped when that voice sounded in their head. I hastened to explain before they could panic. “Night is a telepath—it means he speaks directly to a person’s mind. He’s rather strong, so he can talk to anybody he wants to, and at quite a distance too.” Turning to him, I started introducing everyone. “Night this is my mother, Rhebenjaylan; my father, Rhebenarden, my oldest brother, Rhebenxajen; my other brother, Rhebenbraeden, and my sister Rhebenkaydan. Everyone, this is Night.”
Night lifted up one hoof and lowered his head, his own version of a bow.
My mother bowed back, clearly torn between pinching herself to see if she was dreaming this whole thing up, and being polite. “It is a pleasure, Night.”
“For me as well,” Night assured her. “Your son has always been an excellent friend to me. I have long wanted to meet his family.”
“If you don’t mind my asking,” Xajen ventured cautiously, “why are you called Night?”
Night rolled his eyes. “That is your brother’s doing.”
“Remember how I was adopted as his Rider when he was barely an hour old?” I asked everyone in general. “Well, I quickly discovered that he could be an absolute nightmare when he wanted something and I didn’t give it to him fast enough. I started referring to him as nightmare…which my friend Chatta pitched a fit about. To appease her, I shortened it to Night. The nickname stuck.” That reminded me; I had to do something nice for my mother to pay her back for putting up with me as a b
aby. I truly understood how much sacrifice and patience that requires now.
“Garth, that was a mean thing to do,” Mom scolded with a disapproving frown on her face. “What is your true name, Night?”
“I’m afraid that I cannot tell you that, sweet lady. My name has great power associated with it. For that reason, only three, besides myself, know my true name.”
“It’s why I call him Night,” I explained. “Look, I know that you’d love to hear more but at the moment we don’t have the time. I need you to pack up whatever you want to bring with you and then get you on the road.”
“On the road?” Da repeated with dawning suspicion. “Son, what are you talking about?”
“You didn’t tell them?” Night asked in a slightly disbelieving tone.
“I was getting there!” I defended myself. “You interrupted right as I was mentioning King Guin.”
“What about King Guin?” my mother asked, probably in an effort to keep me on the subject.
“I am his Mage,” I said simply…and waited for the explosion.
It came as expected, in an almost comical chorus of gasps and “WHAT?!” shrieks from every person in my family. It was rather funny, actually. I wish I had a way of recording the moment. Do they have some magical device for storing memories? Or events? Chatta would know…
“How can you be the King’s Mage?” my sister demanded in clear disbelief. “You’re not even of age!”
“Power takes precedence over age,” I answered quietly. “I am the first Mage born since the Magic Wars. When King Guin met me and realized that I was a Mage—” and Jaunten, but I wasn’t going to go into that just yet “—he paid for my schooling. In return, I serve him.”
“To pay him back?” Da guessed. From his calm expression, I judged that he approved of my actions.
“In part,” I acknowledged. “But the truth is he’s a good man. He’s never asked me to do anything against my beliefs. But that’s something else I can go into on the road. What you need to know now is that I’ve told him about all of you. He’s agreed to give you sanctuary and protect you until I can get you into Hain. But we have to leave tonight and I need us all out by dawn.” Otherwise I might have to fight half the city guard. Granted, I could do it, but that would bring a lot of trouble down on our heads.
My parents exchanged looks, and without a word passing between them came to a decision on what to do. I’ve witnessed similar conversations before in my life, but only now did I stop and really watch them. I wanted that kind of relationship with my wife, someday in the future—I wanted to be so comfortable with her, and know her so well, that I could speak volumes without saying a word.
“Pack only heirlooms or things you can’t replace,” Mom said firmly, still looking at my father. She was smiling slightly, a wry smile that mirrored my father’s expression. “I’ll get the food.”
“Don’t bother,” I told her. Elation was starting to build in my chest. My family was coming with me—I wouldn’t be forced to leave them behind again. It was a truly heady feeling, and I had to fight the urge to grin like a deranged lunatic. “It's not that far to the Palace.”
“Palace?” my parents echoed blankly.
“King Guin has come here for a royal visit. Its how I crossed the border without raising a ruckus,” I explained quickly. “He’ll give you sanctuary at the Palace for three weeks, and then we’ll all return to Hain together.”
“We’re going to live in a Palace for three weeks.” My father said this in the same tone of voice that one would say the moon was made out of green cheese.
“Maybe a little longer.” I shrugged, indicating that I wasn’t sure, precisely. Sometimes when royalty got together, you had to pry them apart with a crowbar. Sometimes you couldn’t get them in the same room together. It depended on their mood.
“Are you sure about this, Garth?” Mom was clearly beginning to wonder if magic unhinged my mind, and how far along I was on that path to becoming crazy.
“If it makes you feel better, I can contact him now and you can ask him yourself,” I drawled.
They exchanged another speaking look, but shook their heads. “We trust you son,” Da assured me. “This is…just…”
“A lot to take in at once.” I nodded, understanding that feeling exactly. “I promise it will sink in later. Right now, we need to move.”
Everyone apparently agreed with me, because they immediately scattered to different parts of the house.
“We left your room the way it was,” my mother said over her shoulder as she hurried out of the kitchen. “Pack up whatever you want out of it!”
I had left a lot behind a year ago. And there were a few things that I wanted…it was probably a good idea to get it now. I glanced at Night. “If it comes down to trouble, will you allow my mother and sister on your back?”
His ears flattened against his head as he gave me a doleful look. Night absolutely detests letting anyone ride him but me. He could see how important this was to me, however, and after a long moment gave a wuff of discontent. “Yes.”
“Thank you,” I told him sincerely. “Keep an eye on the time for me, please. I want to have everything loaded in two hours.”
~*~
Four hours later, I was strapping in the last box. My mother was rushing about in the house to make absolutely certain she hadn’t forgotten anything, and my Da was hooking up the mule to the wagon. I was very thankful that he was a blacksmith at this moment; otherwise, we probably wouldn’t have a wagon and mule at our disposal. He needed both to carry all of his heavy equipment on jobs.
My sister was already loaded in the back of the wagon and helping me settle everything. Both of my brothers were helping Da hook up the mule. Night was antsy at this point, keeping an eye on the sky. We still had another hour until daylight, but…we’d stayed much longer than I planned on, and I was becoming nervous too.
It was at that moment that the mirror pin Chatta had given me gave off a little flicker of magic. Startled, I took it out of my pocket and lifted it to my face. “Chatta?”
“Garth! Where are you?”
Out of the corner of my eye I could tell that everyone was watching me—and no doubt wondering where this feminine voice was coming from. “We’re almost ready to leave,” I answered softly. “Chatta, using this thing is dangerous. They have ways of detecting magic use in this country.”
“Then I’ll shut up. Please hurry.”
“I will,” I assured her before putting the mirror away. I’d been gone almost eight hours now, so I understood her worry. This was not a good country for me to be in.
“Garth?” Xajen gave me a gamine grin, an expression that makes me wary and with good reason. “Who might that lovely voice belong to?”
“My best friend,” I growled back, “and if you lay one finger on her, Mom and Da are going to be paying for a funeral.”
“Touchy, touchy,” he smirked back. “She must be quite lovely, then.”
Chatta was gorgeous, and I really wasn’t that worried about my brother…I just knew that he was going to flirt with her to tease me. I certainly wasn't looking forward to that. I scowled back at him as a nagging surety filled my head. As soon as he saw Chatta, I was going to have a bloody war on my hands. Busted buckets!
Mom came out at that moment, a thick shawl in her hands. “We’re ready, I think.”
“Whatever you missed, I’ll buy you a replacement,” I promised her. “But we’ve got to leave now; we’ve stayed too long.”
“I know,” she acknowledged with a touch of grimness in her tone. “Everyone get into the wagon.”
I mounted Night as they all piled into the wagon. In the dead stillness of the night, right before dawn, the slight creak of the wagon sounded horribly loud. I kept a mental eye on my surroundings, waiting for people to start stirring at the noise, but all was still. I was so sure that someone would hear us that I started to flinch slightly at anything that would sound like a door opening, or a footstep.
/> “Settle down, Garth,” Da muttered to me. “No one’s awake at this hour.”
My senses told me the same thing, and I nodded. I almost forced myself to relax some, but I didn’t lose my vigilance. I couldn’t—this was enemy territory for me despite it being my hometown.
“It's not us he’s worrying about Da,” Braeden sing-songed quietly with a pointed look in my direction. “He’s got some cute girl waiting for him to show up.”
He instantly had my attention so that I could glare at him darkly. “Don’t you start!”
“What girl?” my mother asked with a suspicious look in my direction.
“Chatta, the friend I’ve been telling you about.” I kept glaring at both of my brothers, silently promising them a slow death if they didn’t drop the subject.
“You said she was a friend,” my mother said slowly, not losing her suspicious scrutiny.
“She is,” and my brothers will be dead men if they mess with her.
“She used some magical device to check up on him while you were in the house,” my sister volunteered with a smirk in my direction. The brat, she just had to join in, didn’t she?
“I’ve been gone eight hours,” I growled at her, “she’s right to be worried.” Not that I couldn’t take care of myself and my family, but I still liked that Chatta was worried about me.
“We’ll talk about this later,” Da said firmly. He was also looking at me sideways, probably wondering just how serious my relationship with Chatta was. I’d never really been all that interested in girls when I was growing up. Working with him in the forge had been much more interesting to me. I could tell from his expression that I was going to get a long lecture on how “you’re old enough to want companionship, son, but you’re a little too young to settle down just yet…”
I swallowed a groan and turned my awareness back to the city around me. I could deal with parents and annoying siblings later; right now I had to focus on getting out of the city safely.
Jaunten (Advent Mage Cycle) Page 28