Rial took a second to register how the old man was standing in relation to Lady Takis; turned slightly toward her, with his sword easily accessible and on the side where it would be drawn away from her. He glanced back at Lady Takis, noting again the new armor, as well as subtle changes to the way she was standing. She'd never needed anyone to protect her before, and he'd never known her to expect it, yet seemed to be tolerating it from this man. His eyes moved over her once more, and after a moment, he straightened up, immediately changing his own stance to remove all threat, then bowed his head deeply to Brijade.
"Perhaps we'll finish this sometime in the future, Lady Takis," he said quietly. "When your--condition--has improved. But I'll not draw any weapon on you now." He bowed his head to her again and turned to Inacia. "Shall we go find a tent?" he asked her.
He turned, leading Inacia away. He heard Brijade and the old man talking quietly for a second, then footsteps and Brijade grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"Take care, Lady Takis," he warned her.
"How did you know?" she demanded.
He sighed. "Do you really want to discuss it out here?" he asked her, motioning to the soldiers around them.
She considered him for a moment. "Tell me how you knew and you can see my arm."
Rial raised an eyebrow at her offer. She must really want to know how he'd guessed. He had to admit, the offer was tempting, he was very curious to see what his slivers had done to her arm.
"All right," he nodded to her.
Brijade's eyes moved to Inacia for a moment, then back to Rial.
"Inacia goes with me," he told her bluntly.
Brijade nodded and motioned back where she'd been standing. "We can go to my tent," she said.
"Won't that risk causing even more damage to what little bit of your reputation remains untarnished?" he asked.
"Rial, she's trying to make an effort," Inacia said. "Quit antagonizing her."
"He doesn't know how," Brijade said over her shoulder, leading them back to the tent. The old man still stood outside, watching them. "And Lord Valin, this is Jedrik," she introduced. "And while I'll admit you're fast, I can guarantee you he's faster."
Rial bowed his head to Jedrik. "So I did get the pleasure of making your acquaintance after all," he noted, following Brijade into the tent. Jedrik followed behind them, and Rial could practically feel his glare on his back.
Inside the tent, Brijade turned to face him, folding her arms and waiting.
"Arm first," he instructed.
"Damned swamprat," she insulted. She unbuckled the pauldron from her arm and shoulder and lifted it back, then pushed her sleeve up. The scarring covered from just above her elbow up to disappear under the tunic sleeve near her shoulder. The skin was rough, with a crosshatch of twisted skin over scar tissue. Dark red lines, some as long as two or three inches, separated the twists of scars. It was obvious the skin and top layer of muscle had been too shredded to hold together with stitches, so she'd had no choice but to let it heal on its own, leaving the twisted scars.
"Damn, Rial," Inacia looked from Brijade's arm to stare at him.
Rial stepped closer, examining the scars.
"I have to admit," he said, stepping back after a moment. "I'm rather impressed with that." He waited while Brijade pulled her tunic sleeve down and buckled the pauldron into place again.
"Your turn," Brijade told him, folding her arms.
"Your--friend here," he nodded to Jedrik. "Gave me the first definite clue that something was different. In the times we've met, Lady Takis, you've never tolerated anyone hovering over you except for possibly Sewati, and his hovering isn't protective, but affectionate. Jedrik was also standing so if he did draw his weapon, it was drawn away from you and his body would easily be in position to move in front of you with a single movement, telling me he wanted to make sure you weren't hurt accidently by him and any immediate attack would hit him first. My next clue was your new armor."
"I offered 'er the armor 'fore anyone knew," Jedrik said.
Rial paused. "Lady Takis is very much a person of habit," he told Jedrik. "The fact that she's wearing heavier armor while obviously not in battle, tells me she's wanting additional protection all the time. Otherwise, she'd be changing into her usual attire and leaving the armor for only when she’s certain to need it. She's also wearing her sash tied higher on her hips than she used to, and the stiletto is moved more to the side." He sighed, wondering why he was the only person all of this was so obvious to. "She's also gained weight in her face, and her resting posture is now turned more to the side and leaning a bit further forward, as if protecting her abdomen." He stepped back. "Please draw your sword, Lady Takis," he told her.
Brijade stared at him, then drew her sword.
"Now take your usual stance as if you were expecting me to attack you."
Brijade stepped back, holding her sword ready.
"There," Rial nodded. "She's holding her sword more in front and slightly lower, and she's leaning forward more while also holding more tension on her off side. She's protecting herself more and making sure she's allowing herself the ability to move out of the way if she needs to." He continued as Brijade straightened up again, sheathing her sword. "There are only two reasons she'd be protecting herself that way: injuries, or she's pregnant." He looked once more at Jedrik. "I don't know what your connection to her is, but I doubt you'd be so protective of a stab wound." He looked back at Brijade, who was staring at him. "Does that answer your question?" he asked her.
"Do you have nothing else to do in that swamp you call a hold, so you just sit and stare at people?" Brijade asked him.
Rial smiled. "I do watch the people there a fair amount, yes," he nodded to her. "Now if you'll excuse us, we need to find somewhere to sleep tonight."
As they left her tent, Inacia continued to stare at him. "So what now?" she asked.
"I suppose we'll head to Herridon with them," he shrugged, then looked at her. "Valry is safely back with her father," he pointed out. "You've paid your debt."
Inacia nodded, falling silent as they walked. "Is the invitation still open to come to Valin?"
"If you'd like," he nodded to her. "But I have to stress again that it's not a pretty place--though it's not as bad as Lady Takis says."
"Like you said," Inacia looked at him. "What she lacks in eloquence, she makes up for in bluntness."
Epilogue - "You fought him before"
Aiqho'il stood at the edge of the chasm, watching the Well surge and twist. It gave no indication of the god it held bound within its depths, but he could feel him there. Fighting and trying to break free, but unable to even begin to wear at the bonds that held him. The power of the Well was so foreign to Zared that he couldn't begin to understand it, let alone ever gain enough control over the power to free himself. When Zared and Zakris had pulled this world from oblivion, the Well had been unable to cross the realities, so had remained as the only remnant of the past.
Zared had sensed the power when it found Valry upon her father's death. He'd wanted the girl at first for her link to her mother, thinking to exploit that to gain his freedom. Once he felt the Well's power within her, though, he'd thought to use that instead.
"I would speak with you if I could find you."
He turned his head slightly, recognizing Halona's voice immediately as it reached out for him just as Zakris' had when he'd first asked him to go aid Nahtan. She must be in the Firstwood, the only place in their world where so much of his power had spread for so long that remnants of it still remained linked to him. The constant ebbing of life he felt through it reminding him all the more of all of the death he'd witnessed.
He continued to stare at the Well as he drew power from it and began chanting, opening that same doorway here that the Well opened for Valry. A few moments later, he saw Halona walking toward him up the slight incline. He debated changing himself back into Gaurel's form, but decided not to. This was his world, and she could see him as he was.
>
She looked around, both intrigued and cautious.
"There's no harm for you here," Aiqho'il told her.
Halona walked up beside him, still looking around, then studying him.
"This is my nephew's world?" she asked.
Aiqho'il nodded. "What remains of it," he replied. "Valry and I are the only ones who can come here now, and only in spirit form. Nahtan is now bound to your father's world."
Halona nodded. "I would like to thank you for your aid," she said. "It's taken an incredible amount of work to get rid of my uncle."
"He's not gotten rid of," Aiqho'il tilted his head at her. He motioned to the Well. "Only bound here."
"Still, it could not have been done without you." She bowed her head deeply to him.
Aiqho'il studied her for a moment. "You were hoping I would intervene with him," he realized.
Halona smiled. "Would you do anything for your brother?" she asked him.
Aiqho'il looked out at the Well and barren landscape, then nodded his head. "Yes," he said. "And I did once."
"So I would do anything for my sister," Halona stated. "Zared's pursuit of Nahtan brought her endless heartache. When he marked Valry d'Herridon for his priesthood, my father was forced to mark her for his at the same moment to offer a chance for salvation for her soul." She watched him for a moment. "My father and uncle are bound together, they cannot exist apart. If I had found a way to destroy or cast out my uncle, then the same would have happened to my father. I didn't understand that at first, but I do now. I needed to find a way that he would have no power and still exist in his current form. I had thought my nephew would be able to figure out a way to do that at first. I hadn't anticipated Valry's connection to this world being what would draw Zared in so fully."
"Yet when it did, you knew it could be used to defeat him."
"You fought him before," Halona stated. "And nearly bested him until Alsynder intervened. I trusted you would be able to again."
Aiqho'il considered her words, not liking the chances she had taken.
"You placed the little one in grave danger," he told her. "Had I not been here with her, Zared would have overtaken her and won her soul."
Halona nodded. "I admit I took risks," she said. "But they were given full consideration and all options were examined. Our world must grow and have the chance to become more than it is, and Zared would have prevented that. The prophecy for my nephew paved the road to that growth."
"And now what of Valry?"
"She will continue on the path of her fate," Halona said. "It is her place to be Herridon's Crown someday, and now she can fulfill that role with no threat from my uncle."
"She will bring this power to your world," Aiqho'il told her, motioning to the Well. "I kept mine contained to my woods, but she will take it with her wherever she goes. Because she was also born to your world, her abilities with it will different from mine. I know what she would have been in my world, but in yours she will become something different."
"Something we did not expect to happen," Halona admitted. "But perhaps it's for the best. She will usher in great changes if taught to use it correctly." She looked pointedly at Aiqho'il as she spoke.
Aiqho'il returned her gaze, unhappy with the risks she'd taken where Valry was concerned, as well as not realizing the danger of the Well's power.
"Halona," he said her name carefully, his tone level. "Our souls were trapped here when I killed our gods so they could not stop me from aiding my brother. I have already bound one of you and can hold him here for as long as I wish. Do not cross me too many times. I would strongly suggest you not place Valry in such danger again."
Halona seemed to consider his words and the threat behind them, then nodded her head slowly.
"Your warning is noted," she said.
"You will find the way back to your world where you came through," he said, turning back to the Well and chanting to open the doorway again.
The story concludes in Herridon - Book 7 Chronicles of Nahtan (coming soon)
Basiyr: Chronicles of Nahtan: Book 6 (The Herridon Chronicles) Page 28