worms and bugs and nasty things
His mother never laughed anymore. As a boy, Theodric could remember his mother’s laugh being almost contagious. The Lady Felice was really not like most noble women. She knew how to wield a sword and crack a joke with the men in the bailey of Stonewood Deep. She was beautiful in an unconventional way, with long dark auburn hair and soft blue eyes. She was warm and inviting, such a stark contrast to their frigid surroundings. He remembered she was always especially warm to Arion.
The air had smelled so crisp and clean outside of Stonewood Deep. The stronghold of House Forst was located in the deepest valley on the north slopes of the Titans where the fog and mist hung in low shadows. The mountain range was at its highest here, with the warmer sea air rolling in from the great bay and getting trapped in the sharp cut vales. Here not only were the mountains titans, but the trees as well, so high, so thick and dense and strong.
Arion Reiss was born the only son of the late Lord Jon Riess and his child bride the young Lady Mae. She had been a sight to behold, a beauty of red hair and striking green eyes. Unfortunately Ari took after his father with his muted features, nothing very striking or interesting about him, except for the deep circles around his hazy gray eyes. After the gruesome and tragic events that led to the end of House Reiss, Arion had been sent to live as the ward of Lord Rickard Forst. It was decided Arion would be a great match for house Forst. Lord Beric had four boys of his own, young Theodric the same age as Arion. And it went without saying that the Stonewood Deep would prove an impregnable fortress would it be his estranged family came looking for the boy.
Theo and Ari ran as hard as they could along the old forest road. The two found an almost instantaneous bond when Arion came to live with them. A type of connection where they both knew the other would defend them to the death were it to come to that. Yet, at only 7 and 8 years it was never going to come to that. Their true band of brotherhood came all those times the two boys sneaked out of the castle grounds. The road was a serpentine path through the old groves to the logging camps one after another. And the boys were nary a scarce sight. As far back as Theodric could remember, the two had been running this road. The dust kicked up underneath them as they raced toward Stonewood Deep, trying to beat the sun as it threatened to dip behind the great stone wood trees in the west.
Lady Felice would have quite a bit to say about this. She always found them in the worst situations. Theo’s lady mother was a woman who believed a child’s place was at her knee, never out of sight and never on his own. And young Ari had a tendency to wander. He lacked the patience of her first born, Rainer. Or the honor of her second born Emery. She would even dare say the discipline of Theodric if he hadn’t always been off with the Reiss boy. But Ari was all curiosity.
Alone he had found his secret path a few years ago while exploring the wall-walk, the battlements and the parapets along the southern wall. This section faced a steep cliff side which provided the perfect defense for Stonewood Deep, but also the right amount of cover needed for his little missions. There the vines grew thick along the interior side of the moat and the dense foliage was strong enough to hold his weight. Missing and crumbling stones due to poor maintenance made the perfect footholds for his small boots.
From there it was a slippery balancing act across the frozen moat to the other muddy bank. He would then press his body to the moat side of the concentric outer walls, ever careful not to slip back down. The first time Theo accompanied his brother outside the walls he slipped right in to the frigid summer waters. It was slow going to the postern gate, where he knew the guards never locked the irons during the day. No one ever saw them slip through and then they would be out, running away from the grounds of Stonewood Deep, past the southern gate house, through the cold grasses of the valley they called home. Past the market square of Heldheim and beyond into the dense stone wood grove. Through the trees to the logging camps where Fat Annie always had fresh baked bread and barley soup that had no taste except hot.
They played this game, the three of them. Theo pretended he was not Lord Forst’s son, Annie pretended they were just little beggar boys looking for food, and Ari pretended he was really on his own. Occasionally one of the woodsmen would make a comment about the Little Lord’s identity. Everyone in the deep valleys of the northern Titans knew what young Theodric Forst looked like, brownish red hair, blue eyes, and a big smile. But Fat Annie always shushed them away. “He’s just a litt’e beggar boy tryin’ to get me scraps!” she spat from those big rosy cheeks. “An’ this ones been stealin’ me bread all day. What I ought t’do is feed ‘em to the rats. Fatten ‘em up. I could make you boys into rat stew!” She swung her body about the mess tent of the camp, her large bosom heaving with every word.
Ari giggled uncontrollably and Theo watched her with a horrified expression the first time she pinched his spindly arms. He knew she knew who he was, sure. But she still seemed almost psychotic. What she gave Ari, more than anything, was the sense of freedom he longed for, when he was one of the little beggar boys. After playing with Fat Annie, Theo and Ari ran back along the forest road straight to Heldheim, the village just outside Stonewood Deep, with no extra stops because the sun was setting fast. They didn’t have much time before their absence would be noted. As their feet pounded the rocky path, Ari spotted something in the distance and called out to Theo. It was something strange. Both boys slowed to a stop before approaching with caution. There in a nasty little heap of color, bright orange and pitch black, naked and bald and covered in some slimy substance, came a shrill shriek. Ari knelt down and investigated the sight before him. Two strange looking baby birds, probably only a few days old, with the mother nowhere to be found. Instinctively Theo looked for her. Ari scooped the birds up while Theo looked overhead. No nest could be seen, but the stone wood trees rose high above. They had certainly fallen out, after their mother had been killed or lost. It was more surprising that they’d survived the fall or the predators that stalked these woods.
Ari slipped the naked birds into his satchel and looked at Theo’s shocked face. “You can’t bring those back with us,” Forst protested. But Reiss shook his head and rebelled. “Sure I can,” he answered. Without another word he was running again and Theo had to follow.
They raced through Heldheim, through the cold grass fields, past the gate house and to the postern gate once more. They had almost made it into the castle grounds when they were caught climbing the vined wall. “Deenys,” Theo spat out with disgust. He was one of the younger guards, brand new actually, and Rainer hated him. He was young, ambitious and always trying to impress their lord father. Most of all, he was always talking up the girls Rainer fancied. Deenys alerted some other guard along the parapet who alerted another and then Maester Gerold who would certainly alert Lady Felice. That was the very last thing they wanted.
The boys ran faster now, Theo pulling ahead as their feet padded across cobbled stone toward the inner bailey. They crossed the yard to the Lord’s Tower. Up through the forehouse, Ari ascended the stairs two at a time pushing Theo in front of him, in order to protect the young one’s he’d found. No way Lady Felice would understand this. She never understood his fascination with life. She never quite understood anything he did, actually, and he and everyone knew why.
Once inside Ari’s chambers, Theo hurriedly barred the door so she would not see what they’d found.
“Boys,” the voice caught them off guard. Theo slipped as he spun around to find his mother sitting on a bench by the window. Ari was more on guard. “Where have you been?” she asked.
Theo heard the question but everything sounded as though he was underwater when his eyes landed on the windowsill just over her shoulder. Dead flies gathered in a heap between the heavy leaded glass pane and the outer screens. For a weeks time Ari had been watching the flies on the sill. He’d shown Theo some time ago that he could remove a piece of mortar from the frame of his window and after the small hole he’d dug, his fingers reached the outside. No one knew about the crack but for the two of them. Theo thought nothing of it until Ari showed him his latest development. He’d stolen a piece of raw venison from the kennels. He’d pushed it out through the small hole where he laid the meat onto the windowsill in his direct line of sight. He’d replaced the slender piece of mortar so nothing looked amiss. And for a week’s time he’d watched the flesh as it rotted, the flies came, then the maggots and more flies and finally the pile of them dead from the early spring frosts so cold they never had a chance to survive.
If his lady mother saw this she would surely be cross with Ari. Theo acted quickly. “We were in the library, mother,” he insisted.
Lady Felice pressed her lips together tightly and looked at Theo squarely. She saw through his lie, obviously, and he knew this. “How many times must I tell you that your place is inside these walls? Both of you. You mustn’t leave the castle grounds unattended. Why do you disobey me child?” By the end she seemed to be speaking to Ari mostly, which left Theo confused. Why was it more important that he stay within the castle grounds?
Ari’s mouth opened to respond but the only noise to ring out was the shrill shriek coming from his pack. Lady Felice’s eyes grew as big as saucers. “What have you?”
His face flushed. He had been caught. Not just running outside the castle walls but now with something in his bag which she very probably would forbid him. Theo went to speak for Ari once more, when the ward responded indignantly, “I have nothing.”
She was instantly to her feet with those words, hands on her hips. Her face was cross and stern. “Child, your tongue spits lies with little hesitation. By the Gods, there is a lack of discipline in you. Why must you be so disrespectful?” Lying came naturally to young Ari. Not to Theo. His face always gave away the truth, but Ari could spin a tale with such detail it just had to be true.
But something was different this time. Theo wasn’t sure, but he thought he could see guilt on Ari’s features. He watched as he relinquished the bag to her, and even considered calling out to Ari to stop. She was the enemy here! But Ari seemed almost sad about it, as though he’d let her down. As his arms relaxed, so did her features.
Theo’s mother reached forward for the bag and looked inside to see the source of the noise. “Arion!” she gasped. “What on earth are you thinking? You cannot steal animals away from their mothers!”
“They have no mother!” he insisted, before following up with a muttered, “just like me.” No one spoke to those words. They rarely discussed Arion’s parents anymore, least of which his mother, or the way she died when she threw herself out of that tower. The beautiful Lady Mae, a tragic story of grief, the guards sometimes whispered.
Lady Felice reached forward and brushed her hands along the young Reiss’ face. Last of his name. “They will die up here with no one to care for them.”
“I will care for them!”
“Arion you do not know the first part of caring for a baby bird,” she countered. By now the lady was crouched in front of the boy in a not very ladylike position. Ari appeared a few steps ahead of her, his face now flushed red with some kind of emotion.
“Maester Gerold will help me. He has the rookery. The ravens. I can keep them in one of his cages here in my room and when they’re big we can train them. They will be mine. He can help me feed them and care for them and they will grow and be with me forever.”
“Son,” she began with a frown on her features, still close, still comforting the boy. “Even if you raise these birds as your own, even if they somehow survive, you must know they will leave you some day.” Something in her features was just as sad and longing as his. “All children leave their mothers and fathers.”
But he protested. “I can raise them. They will survive. I will bring them part of my meals.”
“These are birds, Ari. They will not be eating potatoes and roasts!” she insisted, a smile now on her face. “Birds eat worms and bugs and nasty things. Their mothers chew it all up and spit it into their mouths because their beaks aren’t strong enough. Will you do that?”
“Yes!”
“Oh you will?” she asked, that laugh coming from her lips. Theodric finally made a noise as well, laughing from behind his mother. She glanced back at him. “And I suppose you would like to keep one as well?” she questioned.
“No!” he answered with a bluntness that could only convey honesty. Again Lady Felice laughed at her sons.
Then after a quiet moment of both boys staring at her, waiting for her judgment, she appeared to have a change of heart. Finally a small sigh escaped her lips as she stood. “They cannot just stay in your pack. Your room up here is so drafty. Call for the servants to start a fire early tonight. Keep it burning through the day even if you aren’t in here. If these young ones are to survive you will need to keep them warm. And they will need a proper place to nest.” She looked around the room until her face seemed to have an ‘ah-ha’. “Theo, fetch me the wash basin and cloth,” she instructed her son.
Ari stood awkwardly, looking down at the screeching birds in his pack. Theodric gathered up the wooden bowl from the table by Arion’s bed and the cloth. His mother was on the other side of the room reaching into the tinderbox next to his hearth. She withdrew a handful of sticks and woodchips and soft fleece from their goats. “Here we are. We will call for a new wash basin. Use this to make the nest. Like so,” she said. The boys watched as she placed the tinder in the bowl before covering it with the cloth. It seemed as though she’d done this before. Finally she hollowed out a spot right in the middle.
“Come, Ari,” Felice said as she helped Theodric place the bowl on his table in the center of the room. Arion approached and did just as his mother said. At first he hesitated then pulled the first of the two birds out. He placed one, then the other into the bowl and looked up at his adoptive mother. “Strange looking little creatures,” she commented. “Not a sparrow obviously.”
The babies appeared as though they would grow much larger than a small sparrow or the ravens in the rookery. “They’re hawks,” Theo insisted. “Or falcons.” Both boys watched as Lady Felice held out her hand, one of the birds inching his little head toward it to latch onto her flesh with his pitch black hooked beak. She withdrew before he had the chance. “Well I will send a servant up to start your fire. You can keep these birds Arion, as long as you get one of the cages from Gerold. We don’t need any of the cats getting a hold of them. But first, my sweet boys, will you both promise me something?” she asked.
Theodric was already looking at his lady mother, while Ari took a moment to tear his gaze away from his babies. She conveyed a sort of pleading honesty in her eyes. “Yes?” Theo asked.
“Promise me you won’t go on any adventures outside this castle alone any more. Your Lord Father worries about you so much,” she said sternly. Something else betrayed her features. “Ari, I worry about you so much.”
“If I don’t go outside the castle walls unattended I can keep them?”
“Yes.”
It didn’t take much thought to answer her. “Yes I promise you. No leaving the castle alone!”
“Very well,” she answered. “I will see you both for supper quite soon. Get changed of these clothes and do not be late.”
“Yes mother,” Theo answered. He helped his mother unbar the door to get out. Once she left the room he turned back to Arion who seemed to be drawn into his birds with an expression he hadn’t ever really seen before. After watching him for a moment, Theo left for his own chambers.
