"I just don't like seeing you two so unhappy. None of us have forever."
" I know." Keltin looked out at the grounds. “I do wish things could have been different,” he said. “I’ve tried to do the best I could, ever since father...”
Keltin trailed off. Mary gently patted his arm.
“He’d be proud of you. I know it. You’ve continued the family trade and taken care of mother and I all this time on top of it. But you don’t need to worry about us anymore. We’re all right. Maybe it’s time for you to start thinking of yourself, and what the rest of your life will be like.”
A face suddenly flashed in Keltin’s mind as a name followed close behind that pierced his heart completely. Elaine Destov. Keltin had not seen Elaine since the end of the Krendaria Campaign the previous year. The campaign had been organized by the nobility of Krendaria in a desperate gamble to save their autumn harvest from an unseasonably large infestation of beasts. The hope had been that by assembling the best hunters available and placing them under military direction, the campaign would succeed in driving back the beasts, providing food for the starving lower class and staving off an angry revolution. But revolution came nonetheless, while Keltin and his companions barely survived the horrific experience.
It was in the late days of the campaign that Keltin had met Elaine for the first time. Along with a few others, the two of them had endured weeks of depredation together, trapped in a farmhouse surrounded by deadly monsters. Despite the desperate conditions, Elaine had remained stalwart and steadfast, demonstrating both courage and determination in the darkest of moments. Eventually the beasts were defeated, and the crops, if not the nation, were saved. Elaine had bidden Keltin a tender farewell and returned home to her family in Kerrtow, the capital city of faraway Malpin on Krendaria’s northern border.
Since then, they had maintained a steady correspondence, and over time Elaine had slowly revealed more and more of her true feelings for Keltin, eventually confessing to emotions that went far beyond an admiration for his character and courage. For his part, Keltin knew that he had strong feelings for Elaine, but as yet he’d still been unable to express them. He had little experience baring his soul, and what little experience he did have still pained him to think about. The best he had managed was begging for her patience as he tried to sort out his feelings. As a result, the letters between them had become fewer and more distant until they had both stopped writing altogether, leaving a void that was as painful to Keltin as it was seemingly impossible to fix.
Forcing himself back into the moment, Keltin wondered if Mary might have intended for him to think of Elaine. While she and Elaine had never met, they had become fast friends through correspondence in the last year. Could Elaine have confided her feelings about Keltin to his sister? He wasn’t sure, but he did know for certain that he did not want to discuss Elaine with Mary right at that moment. He searched about for a subject that was somehow related to their conversation.
“Actually, Jaylocke, Bor’ve’tai and I have done a lot of talking about starting up a beast hunting business together.”
“Really? In Gillentown?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe, though there isn’t a lot of business around Gillentown. Maybe we should set up shop further into the hill country where beasts are more common.”
“It’ll be hard for Mrs. Galloway to see you go. You’ve boarded with her ever since you left home.”
“I’ve hardly been there at all for the last year, and before that I rarely spent more than a week at a time with her. Besides, it’s not as if she doesn’t have other customers. Grel’zi’tael and the rest of the Loopi have moved in already and have become good friends with Mr. Renlowah. They’re even talking about working together with him. Apparently, Grel’zi’tael has shown great interest in tending gardens with Mr. Renlowah, and Shar’le’vah and Val’ta’lir would be strong, sturdy hands helping with the local crops and orchards.”
"They must be very impressive. I've only ever known Mr. Renlowah, and even he intimidated me."
Keltin nodded again. The Loopi people were large and ape-like, each one of them standing well over six feet tall. Far from dumb brutes however, all of the Loopi that Keltin had met seemed equal parts stoic, wise and kind. He was proud to consider Bor’ve’tai and his fellow Loopi among his very best friends.
Mary looked down at the watch pinned to her dress and stood up quickly.
"I need to get back to the children. Feel free to enjoy the garden and grounds. Mr. Whitt has said that you're welcome to be their guest tonight if you don't have other accommodations."
"That's very generous of them, although I wish I could spend the time with you instead of them."
“I know. Mrs. Whitt says that I may join you for dinner, and we can speak again after the children have gone to bed. In the meantime, you may want to have a look around. There’s someone here that you might be interested to meet.”
“Oh? Who?”
Mary's eyes twinkled. "I’ll leave that as a surprise for you. I'll see you at dinner."
With that she rose to her feet and quickly made her way back inside. Keltin sat on the bench looking out over the expansive grounds for a while before getting up to wander among the roses and other neatly spaced flower bushes. He walked up and down the rows, seeing the flowers without really looking at them. Eventually he grew tired of the blossoms, and decided that he would try walking down to the lake when his finely-tuned senses detected footsteps on the rocky path behind him. Turning, he saw a man walking towards him. He was in his middle years, robust and a little wide in the middle, dressed in a fine suit that glistened with gold from the shoe buckles to the pen in his lapel.
"Mr. Moore?" he called, his bassoon voice firm and strong. "I hope that you're enjoying my garden."
"Yes sir. Are you Mr. Whitt?"
"Indeed I am. Pleased to meet you. Your sister has told us quite a lot about you."
Keltin nodded, completely at a loss for what he should say or do. Of course, he had interacted with men and women of a higher social standing than himself multiple times. Often, it was the wealthy owner of a mining company or lumber mill that had hired his services. During his time in Krendaria, he'd even had some limited interactions with a duke, as well as daily meetings with a baron from the capital city for more than a month. However, Keltin had never been a guest of one of these people before. Not only that, but the fact that Mr. Whitt was his sister's employer added another layer of potential awkwardness, as Keltin refuse to allow himself to do anything that could possibly jeopardize Mary's position in the household.
Mr. Whitt continued.
"We'd expected you some days ago."
"I stopped off in Bracetown for a short hunting job that went poorly. I'm sorry that it made me late."
Mr. Whitt waved his hand dismissively. "Don’t trouble yourself. I imagine your occupation has more than its fair share of risks associated with it."
Keltin shrugged. “All occupations carry some degree of risk with them."
"That's true enough, though I doubt the sort of risks that I run would daunt someone like you. After all, how intimidating can a meeting discussing annual revenues with your investors be when you've faced down a charging beast?"
"I doubt that I could do anything like that, sir. I'm not much for getting up in front of people. I'd rather be hunting."
"So would I, though I hunt purely for sport. Do you get a chance to do much sport hunting, Mr. Moore?"
"Not much."
"Perhaps I could convince you to come with me and some of my friends in the near future. I'm planning a grouse hunt at the end of the season, and I'm sure that we would all be fascinated to watch a professional hunter like you in action."
Keltin smiled politely, unsure whether Mr. Whitt was being sincere or merely polite.
"Thank you sir," he said. "Though I'm not sure that I'd be very entertaining for your friends. As I said, I'm not the best at speaking with groups."
"You wouldn't b
e speaking so much as shooting, which I'm sure you're far more comfortable with. Besides, you'd likely already be friends with at least one of the other participants."
"I would?"
"I believe so. In fact here he comes right now."
Keltin turned in the direction that Mr. Whitt was pointing. He saw a man walking towards them from the house. He bore a shock of white hair that seemed to have come to him early in life as his face showed a youthful exuberance. His eyes had a stunning intensity to them that seemed to remind Keltin of someone. Mr. Whitt smiled and clapped the man on the shoulder, turning towards Keltin.
“Mr. Moore, allow me to introduce you to Severn Destov.”
“Hello Mr. Moore,” said Mr. Destov. “I’m very glad to finally meet you. My daughter has told the entire family a great deal about you.”
Suddenly Keltin realized where he had seen those intense eyes before. The man before him was Elaine’s father! Keltin was too surprised to voice a greeting as he extended his hand to find Mr. Destov's handshake firm, his smile warm.
"I owe you a long overdue expression of gratitude, Mr. Moore," he said.
"I appreciate that,” Keltin managed to say. “Though I could just as easily say that I owe my life to your daughter. She led the charge against the tusked giant when it had me trapped in the barn."
Mr. Destov's snowy white eyebrows went up. “Is that so? I never heard that part of the story. You’ll have to tell me more about it later. Are you staying for dinner?"
Keltin glanced at Mr. Whitt.
“Mary mentioned it, but I wouldn’t want to intrude...”
“Nonsense!” said Mr. Whitt. “We're having a few friends over for dinner, and I'd love for you to be there as well. I know I for one would be fascinated to hear some stories of your hunts, and while I've never tracked something that might have tracked me back, it would be grand to have a new, sympathetic ear for some of my tired old hunting stories."
"In that case, I'd be honored to come to dinner."
"Splendid. I'll see that another place is set. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
Mr. Whitt left them to make his way back to the house. Keltin turned to Destov, feeling more than a little uncertain. How much had Elaine told her father about Keltin? Had she told him of her feelings for him? Keltin looked at Destov and saw his eyes full of genial friendliness. Keltin cleared his throat.
“I must admit, I’m still a little surprised to see you, sir. I’m afraid that I don’t understand why you’re here.”
"I can answer that easily enough," said Mr. Destov as he gestured for Keltin to walk with him through the grounds. Keltin fell in step with him as Elaine’s father began speaking. "Have you been keeping up with current events in Malpin?"
"I read what I can in the papers, though most of what I know is from your daughter's letters. It sounds like the Heterack Empowerment has finally transitioned into a somewhat stable new government."
Destov made a slight grimace. "'Somewhat stable' is a most appropriate description. The Vaughs have taken control of nearly every branch of government, and their Supreme Minster Halev is introducing new laws and policies every week. Beyond that, the loss of the Loopi craftsmen and laborers has proved a severe handicap in our ongoing attempt to restore our nation to what it was before the tragedy of the Three Forest War."
"I would have thought that the gold coming in from the rush in Drutchland would have stimulated the Malpinion economy."
Destov chuckled softly. "I'm afraid that most of the wealth from the banks of the Wylow has been divvied up between the mining company owners and their investors. You can believe that Mr. Whitt is among those secretly kicking themselves for not acting quickly enough to get a piece of that action. But for the common man, it will be some time before any positive effect trickles down to the lower classes.”
“Are you worried that there may be a revolution, like in Krendaria?”
“No. Not with the Vaughs in power. Their grip is too tight on the populace. At first it was simply dirty politics, but recently the most outspoken opponents of Halev have begun to run afoul of the League of Protection, the state’s police force. The LOP has been finding all sorts of legal violations among political dissidents, especially with the laws changing so quickly. As a solicitor, I’ve tried to represent a few of those who were brought to trial, but the cases were farcical at best. In all honesty, this is why I have been searching for some time now for the possibility of employment outside of my home country.”
Keltin shook his head. “I had no idea things were that bad.”
Destov nodded. “I’m afraid so. Luckily, your sister Mary chanced to mention to Elaine that Mr. Whitt was looking for someone with experience in both business law and government agencies outside of Riltvin. Once I had sent a list of my credentials and a letter of introduction, Mr. Whitt was good enough to invite me to come to discuss the possibility of employment."
“Are you going to work for him, then?”
“I believe so. Working as an agent for Mr. Whitt’s interests should prove both stable and lucrative. Don’t let his genial demeanor fool you. He’s a shrewd businessman with a cunning, quick mind.”
“So that means that your family will be coming here?”
“Would you expect them to stay in Malpin?”
“No, I... I’m sorry. I just...”
Keltin hesitated. Destov seemed pleasant enough, but they’d only just met. How could he explain how he felt about the man’s daughter? Should he even try? He was still debating with himself when Destov spoke again.
"No need to apologize. This is all quite new to you, I’m sure. I would like to continue to talk with you, but I really should finish some pressing business of Mr. Whitt’s before the day’s out. I’m sure our host would encourage you to explore the grounds as you like. Dinner is typically served at seven.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you then.”
Elaine's father shook Keltin’s hand again and turned away. Keltin watched him go and for a long time, his thoughts remained a thousand miles away from the lovely green landscape around him.
* * *
Keltin emerged from the room that had been provided for him, scratching at the unfamiliar, fine suit that had been loaned to him for dinner. He endured it stoically as he made his way along the halls until he finally found the dining room. The space was enormous with a ceiling so high that its ornate details were lost in the twinkling candlelight. The room was dominated by a massive table with comfortable seating for more than a dozen diners. Most of the other dinner guests had already arrived, and Mr. Whitt smiled broadly from the head of the table as Keltin entered the room.
“Ah! Mr. Moore. Come in. I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of introducing my wife to you yet.”
“No sir, thank you.” Keltin gave his best gentlemanly smile to the finely dressed woman at the opposite end of the table from her husband. “Good evening, Ma’am. Thank you for inviting me to be here.”
“Oh the pleasure is ours, Mr. Moore!” she gushed in a surprisingly high-pitched voice. “Please take a seat there, across from Mr. Garsun. Let me make introductions for you. Of course you already know my husband and Mr. Destov. This is Mr. and Mrs. Pennock and Ms. Olshield, old friends of our family. Mr. Garsun serves as my husband’s personal secretary, and of course we have Father Rafferty, always a welcome guest at our table. Everyone, this is Mr. Keltin Moore, the brother of our governess, Mary. He’s a great beast hunter, recently returned from one of his grand adventures.”
Keltin felt his cheeks go warm as he nodded to each in turn, taking his seat in-between Mr. Destov and an empty chair, with Isaac Garsun sitting directly across from him. Mr. Pennock leaned over the table from his place at Mr. Whitt’s side to speak to Keltin.
“A beast hunter, eh? Now there’s an engaging profession. I do hope you’ll rouse us with a few tales of your recent exploits. I never tire of hearing a good hunting story. Tell me Whitt, did I ever tell you of the time I went hunting at Dabnishire?”
Pennock and Whitt were soon deeply conversing about pleasure hunting while the women at the table spoke of people and events that Keltin had no knowledge of or interest in. He would have liked to engage Destov in conversation, but the solicitor was making a show of giving his full attention to his employer’s conversation. Instead, Keltin studied Isaac Garsun out of the corner of his eye. Mary had mentioned the young man several times in her letters over the last few months. It seemed like each time he was brought up, Mr. Garsun had become kinder, funnier, and more intelligent to her. Keltin looked at Garsun for anything that might make him immediately dismiss the young man, but found nothing. Despite his employment as a secretary, he had a healthy pallor, with a build that was slender but not spindly. His face was friendly and he had intelligent eyes. Only once did Garsun look in Keltin’s direction, realized he was being watched, and quickly looked away.
Mary arrived just as the soup and cheese were being served. Keltin was startled to see his unassuming sister wearing a dress that seemed far above her station, though Mrs. Whitt smiled at her warmly. Perhaps it had been a gift from the lady of the house. It certainly seemed to have an effect on Isaac Garsun as the two of them shared a quick smile as Mary took her seat at Keltin’s side.
“How are the children, Mary?” asked Mrs. Whitt.
“Very well, Ma’am. They’ve had their supper, and are enjoying their reading now.”
“You’re a wonder with those two, my dear. Mr. Moore, we’re all so glad that your sister has become a part of our household.”
Keltin smiled politely even as he noticed Mary and Garsun continuing to look at each other with half-hidden smiles. He glanced in their direction. Mary gave him a small smile, but Garsun immediately blushed and looked away to feign interest in some tale Mr. Pennock was sharing about chasing down a grousehound on foot when he was a youth. For his part, Keltin could immediately tell that Pennock was lying through his teeth about the encounter, but decided it was better to keep such thoughts to himself. Luckily, the dark brown soup was most distracting, filled with tangy spices and generous slices of turnips, carrots, onions, and scallions. Keltin hadn’t realized how hungry he had been until he looked up from his empty bowl to realize that everyone else was only half-done. He blushed, worrying that he was looking all the parts of a country bumpkin when he noticed that Father Rafferty was watching him with a kindly smile.
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