#aidus

“Wait! You’re Bumbling Bertol?” Jae exclaimed dubiously, in far too loud a voice. A moment of clarity seemed to overtake him, and he cleared his throat. “I mean… uh. Sorry. Bertol. So, uh… you’re Bertol then, huh?”

The giant did not appear to take any real offense at the mocking moniker and merely regarded Jae with an easy stare.

“I used to be. That name… well, I cannot say I did not earn it,” he explained with a resigned sigh. An air of wistful regret came over him as he stared passed them. “I was a pathetic creature in my younger days. I went from hamlet to hamlet, village to village, selling my talents for whatever coin or bauble they saw fit to give me. I sold predictions, but nothing too grand. Not in those days, at least. Ordinary folks only wish to know ordinary things.”

He plucked up three apples and tossed them into his mouth. “The housewife wants to know if she’ll bear a son, the poor farmer wishes to know if the year’s crop will be bountiful, and the young maid aches to know the name of the man whom she will wed.” He sighed in frustration and his expression became bitter.

“Simple questions that should have simple answers. But life is far more complicated and twice as cruel. The housewife will have her son, but he will die of pneumonia at too young an age. The farmer’s harvest will be plentiful, but it will be his last before a heart attack strikes him down. The young maid learns the name of her beloved only to find he is fifteen years her senior and a foul drunkard.” Bertol took up another apple and rolled it idly between his fingers. “Such dire predictions. They grind against your soul after so long. I grew weary of seeing the doom ahead of so many people. So I took solace in herbal concoctions and alcohol spirits. I became the man they called Bumbling Bertol. Truthfully, I don’t recall much of those days. I don’t remember a good many of the predictions now credited to my name. Most of them are silly anyway.”

“How did you meet Ellis?” Haiyer asked, his eyes alight with intrigue. The little boy had taken up a spot near Bertol’s knee and was listening with rapt attention, despite the morose subject matter.

“It shames me to say that I don’t quite remember how or where I met her,” he admitted, shifting in his seat and running a hand down his beard. “I was drunk. I know that much. And that she watched over me while I was passed out in a gutter somewhere. She claims that in my wretched inebriated state I called her beautiful and that was why she took pity on me. But I know that is a lie. Fairies are notoriously voyeuristic and mischievous. And I suppose in that state I was quite a humorous thing to behold. In all truthfulness, she was probably bored and looking for some fun. But after I had sobered up, she still stayed with me. She would watch me as I made my predictions, drank myself stupid afterwards, and spent the following hours or days wandering around like fool.”

As he spoke of his fairy companion, Bertol’s dour expression softened and a smile came to his lips. He turned to look down at Haiyer. “She watched over me. Much in the way she looks after you, little one.”

He gestured to the little boy. “She did that for me. Then she began to teach me things about magic, things I never knew. About how my gift of foresight could be harnessed to see beyond merely the terrible. My predictions began to change the more I learned from her. I began to see the good and less and less of the bad. The promise of new horizons stretched on before me and I needed the bottle less and less. For a small amount of time, I was quite content.”

“So then,” Jae pressed, biting into his apple, “where does the Gold Prophecy come into play?”

Nenani ran her fingers across one of her apples as her heart raced. She was all too familiar with the Gold Prophecy, and while many of the people who spoke of it did so with a mockingly or dismissively, it always left her feeling ill. Those were the words that echoed in her dreams, that were spoken by centuries-dead mages deep within the Vhasshalan catacombs, and most worrying of all they were the very words Aidus spoke the day she first met him face to face. 

Those words were a curse.

At Jae’s question, all warmth left Bertol’s face. His expression soured and the giant snorted derisively. “That damn prophecy. It has caused me nothing but misfortune from the day those accursed words left my lips.”

“Do you…” Nenani began, feeling an uneasiness in her belly. Her mind drifted to the catacombs within the Vhasshalan keep and to the skeleton mage. She rested a hand against the fire opal on her belt. “What is it really about? The prophecy?”

“Who knows,” he grunted. “I speak the words as they come to me. I am not omnipotent.”

“Ah, come on!” Jae whined, clearly dissatisfied with his answer. “That’s bullshit! It’s gotta be about someone.”

Bertol glared at the young man and leaned towards him.

“And you think it is about the King do you?” he asked with a sneer.

“Well, a lot of people do,” Jae replied defensively. Meeting Bertol’s eye, he steeled himself and nodded firmly. “So yes. I do think it’s about Warren.”

Bertol glare darkened. “You are hardly the first to ask me the meaning of those words or to believe them to be about one person or another. Many came to me to ask if those words foretold their rise to power. And like you, they did not care for my answer. Some tried to force me to declare that it was always about them and, when I would not, I would be beaten or imprisoned.” A sly grin crossed his face. “So Ellis taught me a useful trick for escaping such circumstances and I am not ashamed to say I have become quite good at it. I became a wanted man.”

He sat back up and gave a half shrug. “And so we went into hiding. I became something of a hermit and avoided people at all cost. I found life in the mountains away from people quite suited me. That was until the war spoiled everything.”

“The war?” Haiyer asked.

“We were able to distance ourselves from the worst of it,” Bertol continued. “Until one day we came upon the aftermath of a battle along the Deahil Nenani river.” His eyes drifted to Nenani and seemed to size her up. “The very river you’re named for.”

“Riftside,” Jae supplied. “That was the battle of Riftside. Warren’s brother died there. Prince Mourin.”

Bertol grunted as he waved the anecdote away. “A corpse with a crown on its head is still a corpse, boy. And believe me, there were many of them. Human and Vhasshalan alike. Further down river from the battle’s center is where Ellis found him, a Silvaaran mage. He was gravely injured, but alive.” Bertol paused and for several long moments did not say a word. He appeared to Nenani as though he were replaying the events in his mind and he did not look pleased at all. “Ellis convinced me that we should save him. So I pulled the man from the water and tried to dress his wounds as best I was able. Ellis was dissatisfied with my quality of care and decided to use her stone.”

“Stone?” Nenani asked. “What kind of stone?”

“A stone of power, a ruby. It was a dear treasure to her and not a gift she so easily bestowed upon others. She used it to heal him.”

“Stones of power can do that?” Nenani asked, looking down at her opal.

“Not the stone itself,” Bertol replied, reaching into his bag and pulling out a red river rock. He turned it idly through his fingers. “The magic infused within is the healing catalyst as the stone is merely a vessel. Fae magic is wild and can be amazingly powerful when wielded in the proper way. Horrendously destructive if misused.” He tossed the stone into the air and caught it with his other hand. “The mage was healed and saved and he was very grateful of course. But as I was a giant, I made him nervous. I attempted to calm his fears and, not much to my surprise, he had heard of me. And he had heard my prophecies., including the one that would become known as the Gold Prophecy. Like so many before, he was very interested in that one. A little too interested for my liking, so I left Ellis to it. She likes to make pets of mortals every now and again. I thought she would do the same with this one.” He shook his head as he glared out into open space. “He attacked her while I was away. Stole her ruby and tried to absorb all that magic it had soaked in over hundreds of years. The fool.”

Nenani ran her fingers over the opal set inside her belt, trying to imagine what hundreds of years of built up magic would feel like. Extremely unpleasant, she was sure.

“It should have killed him, trying to take in all that magic,” Bertol continued. “His aura turned black and his body began to flake apart like ash. But he somehow held himself together, though he was nothing but smoke and cinders and… I don’t think you could rightly call him human after that. Both Ellis and I tried to get the ruby back, but we were not a match for him as he was. I was lucky to have survived and without her stone she could not heal me. The smoke mage disappeared with the ruby and Ellis and I retreated into the hills to lick our wounds.”

“Aidus,” Nenani declared. Her hands rested in her lap, clutching hard enough to turn her knuckles white. “The mage you’re talking about. That was Aidus, wasn’t it?”

“I learned his name much later,” Bertol explained.,“when Ellis found him again after a long search. You must understand, without her stone she was no longer permitted to return to her home realm as it was considered a Fae relic. To return home, she would have to get her ruby back. But in the end it did not matter as her other crimes came to light. Her fellows discovered that she had taught me Fae secrets and that was the reason she was banished.”

He tossed a few more apples into his mouth and was silent as he chewed. “There is nothing like the vengeance of a Fae being. She wanted that mage’s blood. It did not matter that it was I that got her banished. She blamed the mage all the same. I’m not sure what she was planning to do once she had found him. He could and would kill her. Fae can live on forever, but that doesn’t mean they cannot be killed. They are not gods, no matter how much they may act as though they are. But when she did find him, she also found something else. Or rather… someone.”

He regarded Haiyer with a pointed look. “A baby.”

Haiyer pointed at himself, grinning wide. “Me?”

“Yes,” he said with a small smile. “You. It seemed as though the moment she found you, all thought of revenge dissipated. She said you had faint traces of green in you and that you needed protection, so she would watch over you.”

“Green?” Jae asked. “What does that mean?”

Bertol rolled his eyes. “Green. As in the forest. Nature. A green mage.”

Jae glanced at Haiyer and then back at Bertol with a heavily dubious expression. “…green mages? You think… Haiyer’s a green mage?”

“Not so much me,” Bertol replied. “Ellis. It’s what drew her to him. She claimed he was an unbloomed green mage. A rare thing these days and, to the Fae, a precious one.”

“Why would him supposedly being a green mage make her drawn to him?”

“Green mages are supposedly descended from the Fae.”

Jae blinked and then laughed loudly. Through his chortling, he asked “…are you saying Haiyer’s part fairy?”

“No,” Bertol growled. “Green mages are said to have once been descendants of Fae, but they are absolutely human. It’s their connection to the earth that attracts Fae to them. Same way dragons are drawn to fire mages or sea serpents to water mages. They share a common element, their primal sources are the same, and so one will attract the other.”

“And like fairies,” Jae shot back, “green mages are supposed to be nothing but children’s stories.”

“And like the Fae, green mages like to keep hidden and to themselves,” the giant retorted. He glanced up at Nenani and smirked. “The exact opposite of fire mages. Flashy blowhards.”

“Hey!” Nenani barked with a mouth full of apple.

“When she found this one as a babe,” Bertol continued, tapping Haiyer on the head, “she tried to take him back with her, away from Aidus’s clutches. But there was some sort of barrier that would not let her pass through with him. It seemed that Aidus had sensed her peeking about and had made precautions against her meddling. So she settled for watching. But when his mother finally escaped, Ellis was able to better help them, steering them towards clean water, away from poisonous plants. Once they were safe in Vhasshal, I thought her watch over the boy would end. But then the last time she went to visit him… she never returned.”

Nenani recalled back to her first magic lesson and how Maevis had suddenly pulled something invisible from the air and sealed it into a jar. For weeks now she had been harboring a slight suspicion of what was really inside that jar, but now there was no doubt.

“That was Maevis,” Nenani said, casting an apologetic sidelong glance at Jae. “He… he thought it was Aidus snooping around.”

“And so she has sat in that same jar ever since,” Bertol said with a sneer as he balled his hands into tight fists. “That damn magician…”

“Hey!” Jae snapped, pointing a warning finger at the giant. “Maevis is my good friend, and if I hear you say one nasty thing about him I’ll—”

Bertol laughed, cutting off whatever Jae may have said, and leaned into the boy’s space. Jae fumbled back with a start.

“You’ll what?” Bertol demanded. “Just because the King has made you a prince does mean that you possess any real power. You are still my prisoner and a human. And not even a mage at that. So don’t throw around commands as though anyone would listen.”

“Hey,” Jae said, squaring his shoulders. “Just because—”

“Your value is only that which the King has placed upon you,” Bertol said, cutting Jae off again.

The boy glared as his face colored in frustration and embarrassment. “Well… technically speaking I’m not a prince yet.”

Bertol waved a dismissive hand at him as he pulled away. “Close enough for my purposes. You could be as common as a mushroom so long you’re valued by the one in power.”

Jae frowned at the giant and looked up at Nenani.

“I think he just called me a mushroom,” he said. But when she did not respond or even acknowledge him, he grew concerned. It was then that he noticed that her hands were glowing. “Nenani?”

“I’m just wondering,” she said at last, staring off into space. “How different everything would be if… if you and Ellis hadn’t saved him. If you just let him die there.” A pause. “Papa would still be alive…”

Jae didn’t have an answer for her and he looked over to Bertol, a question in his eyes. In turn, the giant stared at the bubbled girl, but his face revealed nothing.

“It is useless to dream of what could have been or to mourn what never was,” he said at last. “The truth is both Ellis and I made a mistake that day. One I imagined cost many lives and much sorrow.”

“Do you feel guilty though? Even a little?” she asked, looking him in the eye. Her magic surged with every beat of her heart, and she could not keep from thinking of all the years she would have had with her father if it hadn’t been for the actions of the giant before her. And his fairy. Right then, she did not care that Ellis had protected her brother all those years. If Aidus had just died at Riftside, her father would be alive and her mother would have never been taken. Haiyer would have been born in the Southlands and uncle Halden would have not been killed. The fire would have never burned the fishing fleet. She would have her family. They would be safe and alive and whole and together.

Bertol just stared at her. “What use would my guilt be?”

His words were incendiary and the ever present fire deep within her began to rage and burn with an unbridled fury.

“But it’s your fault,” she told him. The anger within her surged like a pot boiling over and the glow of her hands began to spread up her arms and chest. It traveled up her neck and across her face and her eyes began to glow.

“N-Nenani?”

“Calm down,” Bertol snorted, reaching out and cupping the bubble between his hands. “There isn’t anything—”

“It’s your fault!” she yelled over him. The bubble filled with fire as she cried out and then abruptly it was gone. The shock of sudden weightlessness extinguished the worst of her flames and she dropped, only to fall into Bertol’s hands. Before she could recover enough to recall her anger, his fingers wrapped around her and held her firmly. His fingers began to glow a bright yellow that contrasted starkly against the angry orange and red of her fire.

“Now that is enough!” he said in a booming voice. His large face loomed above her and his eyes narrowed. “It’s generally ill-advised to be lighting fires within a small and enclosed space. Much like fire, people need to breathe air to live and without it they have the annoying habit of suffocating.”

She glared at him, trying to summon her fire again, but found it oddly difficult. Her arms were trembling, and no matter how deep she tried to reach inside to pull it out, she found her magic weakened and drained away. Looking at the glowing hands around her, she panted with sudden exhaustion. “W-what… what are you… doing… to me?”

“Keeping your flames down,” he growled. “Until you’ve calmed yourself.”

“You can’t do that!” Jae barked. He ran to the giant’s side and grabbed onto his vest, pulling with all his might. “Put her down! NOW!”

“Stop that,” Bertol snapped at him. “I can do as I please. Or have you forgotten you are my prisoners?”

A half-eaten apple struck the giant’s temple and he jerked his furious gaze down at Haiyer as the boy picked up another apple. “Leave my sister alone!”

“If you all don’t stop this right now,” Bertol growled, shifting his gaze between Haiyer and Jae, “I will bubble all of you!”

“Ellis said you were nice!” Haiyer cried as he threw another apple that struck the giant’s shoulder. “But you’re not at all! You’re mean. You’re an arse!”

Nenani renewed her struggles and tried to kick at the giant’s wrists. “And you smell really bad!”

“ENOUGH!” the giant cried, the sound echoing loudly in Nenani’s ears. His hands disappeared from around her, but instead of falling to the ground, she fell back against the now familiar walls of a bubble. Below her, she saw Haiyer and Jae both in bubbles of their own. Bertol got to his feet and stared at the three of them with fury as he tried to catch his breath.

“You will be quiet and meek as mice for the remainder of our time together,” he told them in a low and firm voice. “And then once Ellis is returned to me you will be someone else’s problem.”

Nenani was still too drained to attempt another escape and only wished she’d been re-bubbled with her blankets. Without their cushioning buffer, the bubble was quite uncomfortable.

“Um,” Haiyer spoke up hesitantly and shifted oddly within his confinement, “…I have to pee.”

Bertol glared daggers at the small boy. “Too bad.”

“But—”

“I said,” Bertol began, his face hard, “too ba—”

“BERTOL!” bellowed a voice from outside the tent, drowning out the giant’s words and startling all four of them. Nenani perked up with a grin.

“Farris?” She said with a hopeful voice and looked towards the open tent flap in hopes of catching a glimpse of him. Bertol’s gaze followed and his frown deepened.

“YE BETTER BE GETTING’ YER MOLDY OL’ ARSE OUT HERE NOW YE FUCKER!”

“Oh yeah,” Jae agreed with a grin of his own. “That’s Farris.”

With his eyes still fixed upon the tent’s opening, Bertol raised his hand and, in unison, all three of the bubbled humans rose as well. They followed after him as he left the tent, floating along as though pulled by invisible leads.

Once outside, Nenani was finally able to see exactly where they had been brought. Far off in the distance she could see snow-peaked mountains and below that a wide grassy valley of low sloping hills and sparse copses of trees. A heavy,frigid mist blanketed the ground, and as Bertol stepped out his bare feet made low crunching sounds against the frozen grass. Despite all the evidence pointing to the morning being especially chilly, Nenani did not feel cold at all. Thinking back, she realized with some confusion that she had been perfectly warm the entire time and yet there had been no fire to guard them against the morning frost.

Several yards outside the copse of trees where Bertol had pitched his tent stood Farris and Keral. Farris had exchanged his white apron for a long brown overcoat while Keral was dressed in his ranger’s uniform. In his hands he held a lantern that appeared very similar to the ones Maevis had created for the detection of Aidus’s magic. It was glowing and the sight gave Nenani pause, but she realized with relief that the light was the wrong color. The lantern glowed with a warm golden light rather than the pale violet of the warning beacons. As she studied it, Nenani could make out the shape of a person within and she blinked. Ellis, she realized. That was Ellis.

“If yer wantin’ yer damn fairy back,” Keral called out to Bertol. His voice was nowhere near as loud as Farris, but still managed to sound equally as cross. “Ye better hand over the lil’uns. Now.”

Bertol stopped at the edge of his camp to face the brothers with a hard glare. “You’re more than welcome to take them back. I’ll be glad of it,” he said. “As soon as ye release Ellis to me, that is.”

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BONUS ART

“I’ll give him this,” Jae told her. “Never could get a very good read on the guy. And I still don’t. But he was good for something tonight. Hell, if he throws in a couple thousand more, I’d even let him pet me again.” He paused and eyed her sullenly. “I noticed he left you alone, though...”

GORE WARNING: The included bonus art for this chapter may be a bit unsuitable for some readers.

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Word of Lord Colem’s generosity made it’s way across the room very quickly and almost seemed to create more waves than either her mother or Nenani’s entrances. Indeed, several other pledges were made very quickly and by the time dessert was being served, they had surpassed their goal by some seven thousand. Jae and Nenani were left dumb struck by the about face of the night's progression.

“That’s so much money,” Nenani said in awe, ignoring his last observation. “Is he really that rich?”

“Indigo’s one of the most expensive dyes because the plants are so hard to cultivate on a large scale. Colem’s family is the largest exporter of it on the continent. Plus he has a fleet of merchant ships based in Ibronia. He probably has more money than the Crown and without all the added expense of running a country to go along with it.”

As port and spiced cake was served around to everyone, the room became all that much more cheery. Her mother, flanked by her two assigned escorts, seemed to be in the throws of a pleasant conversation with a dark hair giant dressed in a black and silver doublet and wearing a large sapphire ring upon one finger. Her mother was saying something the giant seemed to find very amusing and as far as Nenani could see, her mother seemed to actually be enjoying herself.  

Lord Eldherst and two others had Warren and Rosanna cornered and he laughed over his generous goblet of port. His third within the last fifteen minutes. “I must confess your majesties, that when I was first told of this dinner, I did not know what to expect, but a Silvaaran restoration was not one of them! What a wonderful evening this has turned out to be!”

“I am pleased that you are enjoying yourself, my lord,” Warren replied with a somewhat force smile. “And I am very grateful for your pledge, sir. Quite generous of you.”

Though she was sure five hundred gold pieces was a lot of money, in comparison to others it felt a little light handed to Nenani.

“Yes, well we can’t have that cad Colem out-showing us, now can we Lord Tendle?” Eldherst laughed, elbowing the taller man beside him who merely nodded. Eldherst, looking quite sloshed, turned back to Warren and said, “In truth, Your Majesty I must admit you had me quite worried. I had feared that you had some other devious plan up your sleeve. I was quite prepared to break out the smelling salts!”

Warren tilted his head and regarded the man with a reserved bemusement. “Oh? And what sort of deviousness had you imagined?”

“Oh, that you might...” his reply was lost as he fell into a fit of inebriated giggles and he snorted. “That you might be intending to adopt that pet...that boy of yours.” Eldherst burst into a loud drunken laugh and the two lords beside him were grinning as well. “Make him a prince or some such nonsense...”

The placid look on Warren’s face had fallen away and he appeared very much the same as he did the day he stabbed Aidus’s serpent avatar in the cook camp. And indeed he seemed just as tempted to do the same to Lord Eldherst. Rosanna, seeing her husband’s mood curdle, slipped her arm into the crook of his and squeezed his hand while murmuring something into his ear. But he shook his head; his mouth only but a thin line.

“You are correct, my lord,” Warren replied tersely; the shift in his tone obvious. Rosanna looked resigned while all three lords froze, their mirth forgotten in an instant as they stared at their King and only then aware of grave a misstep they had made. Warren met their confused looks with a barely concealed contempt. “It is entirely my intentions to give Jae my name.”

Jae and Nenani had been enjoying their own cakes as the lords’ conversation drifted over to them. It was impossible to not heard them as Eldherst was quite loud. However, both of them froze upon hearing the King’s reply and Nenani felt her magic surge along with her adrenaline. The tips of her fingers began to glow. Beside her, Jae was silent as he clutched his fork tightly. He stared over at Warren as he swallowed his cake with an expression of mild horror.

Eldherst fumbled over his words, nearly drops his port in the process. “Y-you majesty...you must be jesting. Surely you...”

“No, sir. I do not jest,” Warren replied harshly. “Jae is not my pet, my lords. He is my son. Dearly adored and held in high regard within these walls and I will not allow such talk about a member of my family. Such remarks toe a very dangerous line, sir. I suggest you retract them.”

Nenani heard the sound of a fork being dropped onto a procaine plate and then the squeal of a chair. She turned in time to see Jae bend down over his knees, holding his head in his hands, and trembling all over.  

“...Jae?” she asked in alarm, putting a hand on his back. He was breathing very fast and did not answer her or seem to even hear him. Far off to her right, Eldherst and the other lords were making their complaints well known and well heard.

“Sire, you must see how that is quite impossible.”

“He is human. And a commoner.”

“It would set a dangerous precedent...”

“A human in the royal family, by the Gods...”

“We couldn’t possibly accept him as a prince of Vhasshal.”

“To pity the poor creature and allow him into your home is one thing, but to make him a prince?”

“It’s unheard of!”

“It’s preposterous! You’re Majesty can not rightly expect...”

Warren slammed his foot onto the marble floor to silence them and the lords all quieted, their faces pale.

“What I expect is that the lords of my Kingdom would hold themselves to a standard of common decency!” Warren yelled, his cheeks flushed red with ire. All around them, faces turned to stare and the quiet chatter faltered.

But Nenani wasn’t paying them an iota of her attention. All of her focus was on Jae, who was pale and shivering. His breath came in quick rapid pants and Nenani was beginning to feel real fear just as Keral swept in behind them. She looked up at the plainclothes ranger, eyes pleading and confused.

“Keral! Please help. I don’t know what’s wrong,” she said in a panic. “He just started to...”

“S’alright, Sweetling,” Keral said quietly, but there was a seriousness to his eyes that did not put her at ease. Moving quickly, he turned Jae’s chair around and scooped the unresponsive human into his hands and cradled him against his broad chest. “He’s just havin’ one of his fits, that all.”

Nenani had never witnessed one of Jae’s fits, but seeing him like that made her understand Farris’s fury regarding his neglect of the tea meant to help manage them. It broke her heart to see him like that and as Keral pulled him away, she stood to follow. But Keral stopped her with a look.

“Stay here,” Keral told her gently. “Won’t do fer on ‘a the guests of honor to depart early.”

“Is he gonna be all right?” she asked, brows furrowed. “Isn’t there something I can do?”

“Don’t worry, Princess,” Keral told her with a soft smile. “I’ll see to it yer prince charming comes out of it just fine.”

And with a wink, he carried Jae from the room and was gone.

“And I also expect them to not insult my son’s right to exist to my very face!” Nenani’s attention was pulled back to the King. “What respect you show to your King, my lords. Opportunistic vultures who prey upon the weak and desperate so you might lined your fat purses still more with ill-gotten gains. I will not hear another word and should you wish to not spend the rest of this evening in the stockades, I suggest you make yourselves invisible from my eye.”

Lord Eldherst and his friends were bowing and professing their shame to him, but Warren did not look convinced at any of it and Queen Rosanna had to step in, telling them in a curt tone, “You are dismissed gentleman.”

As they left the hall, whispers and snide remarks followed the group of lords out. The mood lifted minutely once they were gone, but not to the fervor of before. Her mother glanced back towards her at the table, looking as though she wished to go to her daughter, but the giant with whom she had been speaking to swept her back into their conversation and Oira could only send her daughter a look that Nenani took as apologetic.  

“Where is Jae?” Warren asked Donal when he looked to the table and noticed the boy’s absence.

“Captain Athair took Master Jae out for some air,” said the steward diplomatically. “Shall I fetch him back, sire?”

Warren finally seemed to come down from the heights of his anger, but he shook his head. “No. No, Keral will see to Jae.” He walked back towards the table and took up his goblet of wine and drained it. He held it out to one of the footmen to be refilled and then drained the cup once again. Rosanna seemed to be attempting to distract several of the attendees to give her husband some time to cool his heels and Warren took his seat at the table, all but falling into his seat. The King was silent for several long moments before his head tilted to the side as though looking for Jae again, but there was only Nenani.

“My apologies, Princess,” he told her with a tired smile, but it was forced and there was no heart in it. “I did not mean to frighten you.”

“I’m fine,” she replied, poking at the last few bites of cake with her fork, her mind still holding the image of Keral carrying Jae away. Warren nodded solemnly, staring at something far across the room.

Nenani bit her lip. “Will...will Jae be all right?”

“Once he has had some fresh air and a moment to calm down...yes, he will,” he said. She nodded, but did not say anything further. Finally having a moment to escape away from their guests, Queen Rosanna marched back to the table and to her chair, appearing not unlike a looming thunderhead.  

“I am sorry for my outburst,” Warren said to his wife before she even took her seat, but he did not sound the least bit sorry. “But I was not going to let it pass unchallenged. The nerve of those scoundrels.”

“Of course you weren’t,” Rosanna replied shortly as she slipped into her chair. “He insulted you to your face. What man – let alone a King, would have not done so?” Warren looked surprised, clearly having expected a different reaction. She pinned her husband with a still ill-content look. “What vexes me is that you did nothing to steer the topic away from where it was so obviously heading. Really, my husband. I know you are far more intelligent than that. This whole fiasco could have been avoided had you just...thought for one moment.”

“You are far more agile at dodging around their questions than I,” Warren replied. “Like a skiff on the high seas.”

“Then I shall have to teach you how to sail,” Rosanna replied frankly. “Eldherst is well known to have a very low opinion of you having kept Jae. He makes no secret of it and has made such paper thin remarks before. Of course he was going to say something outlandish after three glasses of port and it stood to reason it was going to be in regards to our dear Jae.”  

Warren smiled tiredly into his wine glass and huffed a small laugh. “Our dear Jae?”

Rosanna nodded. “Whatever the two of us may think of one another does not change the very real love we both feel for you. I am your wife and I am prepared to carry out all duties to which that entails. You say Jae is your son, so I accept that he is indeed your son.” She placed a hand meaningfully across her belly. “Furthermore, my duty as a mother would be remiss if I were to reject him, given all good that he does for you and therefore our child.”

The King regarded his wife with surprise and a sudden warmth and affection turned the hard steel of his gaze into glistening pools.

“You do my heart wonders to hear you say so,” Warren replied, looking relieved, and he reached out to place his hand lovingly over hers.  

“I can see it in your face. How you look from one moment to the next after he has entered the room. You’re happier, calmer, kinder,” she said and placed her other hand on his neck, her thumb caressing his cheek. “He makes you a better King. And for that alone Vhasshal owes him a greater debt than they will ever know. He is their Prince and it’s time they knew it.”

Warren straightened in his chair and leaned forward to kiss his Queen. Nenani tried not to look as though she were eavesdropping on the royal couple and continued to pick unenthusiastic at her plate, still playing with idea of running after Keral.

  “And you, Princess,” Rossana said. Nenani jerked back to attention and saw the Queen was looking to her with a small smile. “You care for Jae very much, do you not?”

She nodded, recalling the previous dinner’s conversation all too well and dreading even more where the Queen may be taking the conversation now.

“What say you to Jae being made a prince?”

“I...I don’t...I don’t know,” Nenani replied, already feeling her face flush. “He didn’t seem to like the idea too much.”

“Because I think the pair of you would make a very smart match,” Rosanna replied with a smug little smile.

“He’s my friend,” Nenani replied quickly. Her stomach was doing somersaults.

“Of course he is. And yet...” She left her words hanging with open expectation and her eyes insinuating. Even with Warren making to look as though he was not listening at all, Nenani’s face still felt warm enough to boil water. In a small voice, she murmured, “Jae doesn’t feel the same way, though.”

“Oh?” She asked, eyes suddenly alight. “He seems to find great comfort in your company from what I’ve observed.”

“Maybe, but...” She felt like sinking into the floor.

“You are both very young, but young in different ways,” the Queen told her sagely. “The years that separate you now will only grow smaller and smaller with time.”

“I’m all right just being friends,” Nenani assured her and Rosanna made a light twittering laugh.

“How resilient you are, my dear. Baring your first rejection with such grace,” Rosanna said with an indulgent smile. “Don’t loose heart however. There is time for him to see.”

“Time for him to see what?” Nenani asked, brow furrowed.

Rosanna made a half hearted shrug as she reached for her wine glass. “That he is wrong.”

Her savior came in the form of an opportune interruption by her mother and the lord to whom she had been speaking to for most of the evening. As she climbed the steps up to the table, she was smiling and saying, “I do apologize, my lord, but you have no idea how badly your neck can cramp starring up for so long.”

“Not at all your majesty,” replied the lord good-humoredly. “I can only profess my embarrassment for not having realized your discomfort. Please forgive this old fool.”

“You’re being modest, sir,” her other quipped back easily. “In fact I owe you my gratitude. It’s been many many years since I have had to carry on a conversation in an official capacity and you’d made the transition back into practice quite smooth and rather enjoyable.”

“I shall take that as the highest honor then,” he replied with a small bow. He was very handsome with a head of long black hair that had been oiled back and secured in a neat shoulder length queue. Though his neatly trimmed bead and mustache were likewise as black as the hair atop his head, there were flecks of gray beginning to edge along his jawline. His clothes were simple, especially when compared to so many of the others, but upon closer inspection, Nenani could see the fine weave and rich materials they were made from. His cologne, unlike Lord Colem’s, was not too strong either and did not immediately maker her head hurt upon smelling it. And with him much closer now, Nenani could see just how large the sapphire set inside his ring was. Easily half the size of her head and she wondered if she would even have the strength to pick it up.

The lord then turned to Warren and Queen Rosanna and bowed deeply. “Your Majesties.”

“Lord Brennan,” Warren replied with a slight nod. “Welcome. I do hope you’re finding the evening worth the trip.”

“Oh, indeed your majesty,” said the man, flashing a bright smile. “Though I hope the ill words of a few drunken fools has not soured your enjoyment of the evening.”

“I wouldn’t give them the pleasure,” Warren replied back. “Eldherst so very often tries my patience, but his impropriety tonight has reached new heights. I am still not entirely sure a night in the stockades is not uncalled for.”

“Lord Brennan was telling me of possible area of revenue that we might explore further down the road,” Oira remarked, clearly turning the conversation and Rosanna nodded to her in approval.  

“Is that so?” Warren replied. “I would love to hear them.”

“If it pleases your Majesty, these are but spur of the moment ideas,” he said. “Should my lord and lady grant me some time, I can put together a more thorough proposal.”

Warren nodded. “I shall instruct Master Donal to schedule meeting. When might you be ready to present?”

“Next Thursday, if it pleases you my lord,” replied the lord.

Deep within the crowd, there came a horrendous shriek that cut off anything Warren had been about to say. A lady dressed in a silk jade gown was wiping furiously at a dark stain on her dress and several other near her were offering their handkerchiefs. From above, another fat black glob fell and struck the lady giant’s hair and it dribbled down the side of her face. She shuddered and gave a pathetic cry as as the crowd’s gaze moved upwards. High above them all, something small and discolored hung from the ceiling between the hanging banners. It swayed slightly and as all of them focused in on it, the room echoed with a haunting laugh. Nenani felt ice down her back.

The lanterns on the walls began to glow.  

The thing above them was human. Or rather, had been human. A decaying corpse, black with muck and mud and refuse, hung from the ceiling. A long muddy rope pulling tight against the figured neck, head tilted alarmingly to one side and clearly broken. White irises staring out into the sea of giants. Warren got to his feet, sweeping his arm across Rosanna protectively, and looked to Donal. “Summon the guard at once! Tell someone to find Keral and have him take Jae to safe location. Now man!”

Donal nodded, his hands already trembling, but he swiftly quit the room to do as he was bid.

There came another shriek and as Nenani watched, from wherever the rope that held the corpse was tied failed. And the decaying body fell down into the crowd. The lords and ladies panicked, pushing and shoving as the dead thing fell down towards them and Nenani felt a surge of alarm as a wave of them pushed up towards the head table. So many giants stomping and pushing.

But there was a flash of red leather as guards spilled into the room, several taking up armed posts in front of the table. Nenani felt a sense of relief with them acting as a barrier, but it was very short lived as the throngs of people parted and left the center of the room open. Standing in the middle was the small decrepit body of a human man dressed in what was once a white shirt, now marred by mud and muck and decay. The shreds of his clothing hung off his thin limbs and through the parting flesh was the stark white of bone. Dead white eyes stared out from sunken sockets and from the decaying flesh of its throat came the voice of Aidus.

“Long live the Queen...”

WARNING: The below bonus art might be a little graphic to some readers. If depictions of gore and zombies bother you, do not scroll down.

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Warning: Mild mentions of gore.