#haiyer

Nenani tried to occupy herself by recalling as much of her lessons with Maevis as she was able, but time passed like cold molasses. While the old magician possessed many tricks and pointers for magic, it was frustratingly difficult to recall them. The more she tried to hold onto the memories, the more they seemed to pass through her fingers like grains of sand. Haiyer sensed something of her mood and wrapped his arms around her. Having been pulled from her thoughts, she looked down at him with a curious expression.

“Ellis will be back soon,” he told her with such confidence that she almost smiled. “And then we can go home.”

“I’m sure she will,” she said and returned the embrace. After what seemed like hours, there was a knock on the door. Farris’s shoulders squared as he reached for the knife at his belt, moving from his seat to the door.

“That you, Keral?” he asked lowly.

“Aye,” Keral’s voice said, muffled behind the wood. “It’s just me.”

Farris removed the chair blocking the door, and the moment Keral was inside, the chair was placed back. Nenani watched the ranger move to the center of the room, his expression betraying the weight of his thoughts.

“I’ve sent the note,” Keral said. “But I’m not very confident it’ll ever reach Warren’s hands. Their falconer smells off to me. Shady. But too agreeable and smiles a bit too much. But if it does make it to the castle, there’s enough short code words in there fer His Majesty to know what’s going on.”

“Short code words?” Nenani asked. “What are those?”

“It’s like a spy language,” Jae explained. “Depending on the way the message starts or ends, it lets the reader know there is a hidden message and certain words or phrases have double meanings. You isolate the words and decipher the message.”

“Oh,” she said. “That’s clever.”

“So what are we doing now?” Farris asked.

Keral ran a hand down his pensive face. “I had thought we might stay up here till the light begins to fade and then try to make our way down. But when I was meeting with the falconer, I saw that they’d stationed a few guardsmen near the door and there were a few milling ‘round outside.”

“Think they suspect we know?” Farris asked.

Keral shook his head, but his expression remained pensive. “I don’t believe so. But it don’t look as though they mean to risk it. They get a sniff of our plans and those guard’s will be on our arses in a blink.”

“Gods piss on it,” Farris snarled and turned away, running his hand down his face anxiously. When he rounded back to face him, he pinned his brother with barely suppressed rage. “Can’t just sit up here Keral.”

“Unless ye wanna find out what it’s like to have steel split yer spleen in half, that’s just what we’re gonna have to do,” Keral retorted sternly. “We need more information before we –”

His words cut off as a flash of light illuminated the room for a brief moment and Ellis appeared above Keral’s head. Her wings seemed to beat at a slower rate, and she plopped herself onto the ranger’s shoulder in an exhausted heap.

“Any luck?” he asked the fairy. Ellis looked haggard, but she nodded.

“Yes,” she said. “I found him, your Lord Colem. He and his men are on the road now and he says to expect them just after sunset.”

There was a palpable shift in the room, and Nenani shared a look of relief with Jae.

“Fuckin’ great news! You did well,” Keral told her with a near manic grin. “Very well. Now I have another one fer ye.”

Ellis raised her head slightly, and in a tired and reluctant voice she asked, “Yes?”

“How many more portal jumps ye think ye have in ye?”

Ellis was quiet as she considered. “One. But only one. I wouldn’t be able to make a return trip until I’ve rested. Why?”

Keral jerked his head towards where the children sat together on the bed. “Ye think ye might be able to get Haiyer back to Vhasshal? To the castle?”

Ellis immediately brightened up at the idea, her near exhaustion suddenly forgotten. There was a light in her eyes that was not there before. “Yes! Of course I can! And if not there, then close enough. Out of this wretched place at the very least.” She paused and considered. “But I would not be able to take the other humans. Not until I rest a bit more.”

“How long?” Keral asked.

“An hour at the very least. I am still not yet fully recovered, and to go that far with another...I shall be useless after.”

“Then that is what you will do,” he said with an air of finality. Moving to the bed, he carefully plucked the fairy from his shoulder and placed her near the humans. “Get the boy as close to the castle as ye can. Maybe aim fer the Hill Tribe. It’ll save ye a few miles at least, and they’ll take ye both in if ye just tell ‘em ye were sent by me. They’ll see to it the lad’s kept safe. Rest, and the moment ye feel like ye can make a round trip, come on back. I want all three of them out of this place before any of the fightin’ starts.”

It was then that the horrible implications of what Keral was saying were made clear to Nenani. Jae seemed to have gotten there just as she had and he balked at the ranger.

“You don’t mean that you’re gonna stay here, do you?” Jae demanded hotly. “If there’s a fight...”

“Ain’t no other way fer this to happen,” Keral told him. “Ellis will get you three out of here. Colem’s men will arrive, and Farris and I will use that distraction to try and get the humans downstairs out.”

“And what if Colem’s men aren’t enough?” Jae demanded hotly.

“Then I suppose we’re just gonna die,” Keral replied frankly with a shrug. Nenani felt herself go pale, and both she and Jae regarded the ranger with a look of horror. Before either could protest, however, Keral silenced them with a hand. “Ain’t to say that I plan on dying here. I may not be in my prime, but I still know how to fight. And if all they have is them boys I saw walkin’ ‘round, then I’m thinkin’ I stand a good chance.”

Behind him, Farris snorted. “I certainly don’t have any intentions of dyin’ here of all places.”

“Good!” Nenani snapped at him. Farris regarded her with a raised eyebrow, and she glared back at him. “You better not.”

He looked as though he wanted to be mad, but his frown broke into a smirk. “Yes, ma’am.”

The notion of either Farris or Keral getting hurt or worse was enough to send the tips of her fingers sparking. She wished they were all back at the castle and the worse she had to contend with was endless dress fittings and her lessons.

It felt like the world was becoming far too complicated and she was drowning in it.

“Come to me, Haiyer,” Ellis said as she reached out for the little boy. “Let us go.”

Just as he began to move, Nenani reached out to pull Haiyer into a quick hug. The little boy readily returned it, burying his head against her chest.

“Come too,” he said.

“I will,” she assured him. “Soon. But you need to go first.”

From the side, Keral reached over and poked Haiyer lightly on the head. “Yer gonna scout ahead fer us, eh?”

“Oh, okay,” he said, though he did not look convinced or enthusiastic about it.

“If you go to the Hill Tribe,” Nenani said to Ellis, blinking back sudden tears. “Find Nonna. She is our great aunt. She will take care of him.”

Ellis nodded as Nenani loosened her hold on her brother. The fairy happily gathered the little boy into her arms and allowed herself a smile.

“I will do that,” she said to Nenani and then regarded the others with a wistful look. “I wish you all the best of luck. May the green mother’s blessing be with you.”

And with a flash of golden light, both the fairy and Haiyer were gone.

“He’ll be alright, Sweetling,” Keral told her softly, running a knuckle down her back. “He’s a tough little nut.”

………………….

“We’re playin’ a dangerous game,” Keral explained to them. Farris stood near the bed, close to where Jae and Nenani sat, all of them wearing morose or stern expressions. “And if we wanna have any chance at winnin’, we’re gonna need to play our pieces in just the right order and at just the right time.”

The room somehow felt colder despite the roaring fire not too far away. She felt Haiyer’s absence far more acutely than she had assumed she would but consoled herself with the knowledge that he was safe. It was clear that Ellis dearly loved her brother, and she had faith that loyalty would see him through. But to not be able to see him with her own eyes made her nervous. In her growing anxiety, she picked at the uneven portion of her fingernail.

“Sunset won’t be fer another hour or so,” Keral continued with a calculating look to the window. The sun was nearing the horizon and casting the world in a hazy orange and red, but it did not yet touch the tops of the mountains in the distance.

“Is Colem’s estate really that close to here?” Jae asked. He snorted in frustration and crossed his arms. “If he’s one of the good fellas like you say, why couldn’t we have stumbled on his estate?”

Keral shrugged.

“Luck of the draw, lad. Would have liked it better myself, everythin’ considered,” he said. “Would never have been suspicious of Brennan. Eldherst or Tendle or one of them velvet-arsed pricks, but not Brennan. Feel a fool fer fallin’ fer his charade.”

“Yeah. He was awfully chummy with Queen Aine at the dinner too,” Jae added, delving back into his memories for missing puzzle pieces. “Think there was some calculations going on there?”

“He put up a lot of money to rebuild Silvaara too,” Nenani said, feeling the same sort of incredulous horror. When she pictured his smiling grinning face, it became twisted and maniacal. She shuddered. “Why do all that if he’s...doing all of this too?”

“The charming philanthropist makes fer a convincing cover,” Farris replied flatly. “Fooled the king. Fooled all of us.”

“There might be more still,” Keral said in contemplation. “But answers will be hard to come by fer a bit. If luck be with us tonight and we get the humans downstairs out, the estate secured, and the staff in irons, then we can –”

Keral paused as the sound of many boots stomping up the stairwell pulled all of their eyes to the door. Both he and Farris rose to their feet together, moved to the door, and pushed their bodies against it just as a body from the other side collided with it in a horrible cacophony of pained grunts and groaning wood. The force of the strike bowed the door inward, but the old wood and hinges held. The brothers pushed themselves harder against it to hold back the next strike, and though it was just as strong as the first, the door did not move. Both Farris and Keral’s faces were grim mirrors of one another as they shared a glance.

“Gods piss on it,” Farris snarled under his breath. “Fuck the bloody fuckers to Vendril’s damned door!”

There was another slam and more grunts of frustration from the other side. There was no way of telling how many men were outside their room, but Nenani thought she could pick out at least four distinct voices.

“Open this door!” demanded one such voice. “Or we will break it down and drag you out!”

“SHOVE IT UP YER ARSE!” Farris bellowed back. He turned his head and pinned Nenani with a hard look. Determination and regret and anger and fear all rolled into one single glance. “The window. Go. Now!”

She knew two things were going to happen. Firstly, they were not going to be able to barricade the door forever. The men outside would get in eventually through whatever means they could employ. Secondly, once inside, they would either kill them all outright or take them in irons. The window was too small for the giants to climb out themselves. The door was the only entrance or exit for them.

There did not seem to be any choice. And it was terribly frustrating to have so few options. She hated the idea of just abandoning them. The mere thought of losing them was a crushing weight inside her head. And yet there was so little that she could do. Fire, in all its power and splendor, seemed so utterly useless to her in that moment.

She returned Farris’s gaze with anger and reluctant acceptance. A thousand words were on her lips, but her body moved as though it knew there was really only one choice. Beside her, Jae stood like a doe caught in the hunter’s sights, motionless and terrified, but the moment Nenani grabbed his arm he seemed to come back to himself.

“Help me open the window. We need to get to the roof,” she told him, pulling him along. The window looked old and worn, and she worried it would stick and they would not be able to pull it up, but it moved with shocking ease after only a few hard pushes. The ledge below was a good four feet wide, made of stone, and speckled with bird droppings and remnants of past seasons’ nests.

“We can’t just leave them,” Jae said to her, wincing when there came another slam against the door.

“We can’t do anything if we are dead,” Nenani told him. “They’ll take them prisoner. They would outright kill us.”

Just as they stepped down onto the ledge, the door behind them burst, the hinges breaking apart from the abuse, and bodies and splintered wood fell into the room. The small space was filled with loud angry voices as seven armed men dressed in dark green uniforms stormed inside. They grabbed Farris and Keral’s arms, pushing and pulling at them as the whole lot of them struggled for control over the other.

One of the men near the door caught sight of the open window and locked eyes with both Nenani and Jae.

“The window!” he shouted, pointing at them. “The fucking little rats are escaping!”

Jae pushed Nenani in front of him and further down the ledge, away from the open window.

“Move!” he told her. 

They reached the end of the ledge where the dormer ended and a sloping part of the roof began. Behind them, they heard a curse, and when they turned, they saw one of the guards trying to climb out the small window after them. He was younger and thin-limbed, and Nenani did not doubt that he might have been the only one of the giants who had a chance of fitting through.

“Get back here!” he snarled, swinging his arm out towards them. His fingertips rushed by with barely a foot of space to spare. Jae tried to use himself to shield Nenani, but she pushed his arm away and stood in front of him.

The giant’s eyes were a dusty brown, and they bore into her with a primal hate and rage. She recognized it, and she allowed herself the smallest piece of self indulgent joy as she fed every piece of fear and anger she had inside to her flame.

Angry red fire burned from the tips of her fingers and up through her arms. The amulet set inside her belt sparked to life as she reached inside and pulled every bit of magic she could. The flames along her arms flickered and turned into a hissing blue flame. Long tendrils of fire, like barbed strings, fell from her fingertips and pooled around her feet. Anger drained from the giant’s face to be replaced first with confusion and then with terror. She swung her arms, bringing the horned vines down across his arms and face. Something fell away and dropped down off the ledge, and the man was still and did not move as blood pooled around him.

His head was gone.

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Night fell upon the camp as they finished their meals. Keral and Farris hammered out a rough strategy, as the ranger was certain they would come upon the main estate sometime the following day.

“My hope is we run into the damn house by mid-day,” he said, twirling a stick between his fingers. “We’ll get our message sent out to Warren and might borrow some of the men there fer an escort back to the castle or wait fer one to be sent up here to collect us. What I want to avoid is missing the estate all together, because just a few miles passed here we’d start to hit the top of the moors. And if ye think trudging through the woods is unpleasant, you’ve never had to hike through the moors during winter.”

“How long would it take for a message to get to the castle?” Nenani asked.

“Dependin’ on what variety of birds he keeps, could be as little as three hours,” Keral explained. “But if all goes as I hope it does and we get a message sent tomorrow afternoon, then Warren should be readin’ it by late tomorrow night.”

“I just hope he manages to keep his temper and not send out the army after us,” Jae said. His shoulders were hunched up, and he stared down at the dirt, not quite looking into the fire.

“Aye,” Keral agreed, grim-faced. “Probably the one bad trait he got from his father. Doesn’t happen often, but if he gets right and proper mad, Warren could put old grumpy britches here to shame.”

Keral jerked his head towards Farris and earned a swift punch to the shoulder. He winced, rubbing the offended area.

“Eh? Ye see that?”

“Like I said before,” Farris replied, his expression teasing even as he held up his fist in warning. “Still have a few of these in reserve fer Mum.”

“I’m gonna have to send her a letter and clear all this nonsense up.”

“Ye should. One of these is fer only writing to her three times a bloody year.”

“I have a very demandin’ job. Sometimes it don’t allow fer letter writing.”

“Ye have time to distill that whiskey of yers but not to write to yer own Mum. Ye at least send her a bottle?”

“I’ll have ye know I use that time to write performance reviews. I ain’t just sittin’ on my arse and pickin’ my toes. And ‘a course I send her some!”

“Wonderful. Then ye should have no trouble adding in a letter fer her then too.”

Keral glared at his brother. “Just what are ye wantin’ me to tell her? ‘Hello Mum. Arrested a few fellas yesterday fer trafficking and murder. Issued seventeen court summons to folks who’ve been caught planting traps on their land and some on other folks’ land too. But good news is that it ain’t as bad as it used to be. Still haven’t caught the bastard we think is supplying the traffickers with funds and means to be moving all these poor little sods across county lines, but who knows. Tomorrow’s another day. Love yer darlin’ baby boy.’ Somethin’ like that, eh? Nice and cheerful news fer our ol’ Mum to be reading. All the things her son gets up to.”

Farris stared but did not say anything. He studied the face he had known best since birth, and below the thick beard and jokes and grins he recognized the frustration and pain in Keral’s words. He reached out and Keral leaned away as though expecting another punch, but Farris merely placed his hand upon his brother’s shoulder and squeezed.

“I ain’t downplayin’ yer work, Keral. That’d be the last thing I’d ever say to ye. You of all folks...I’d never tell ye yer work wasn’t important,” he said. “I get why ye wouldn’t want to tell her all that. Gods above, ye know I do. But it might do both her and you a bit of good to just send a letter fer the pure sake of it. Come up fer a breath of air.”

Keral took a moment to regard his brother seriously before saying, “If I promise to write to her when we get back, will ye stop punchin’ me?”

Farris grinned and gave a half-hearted shrug. “Sure, I will. Soon as ye write that damned letter.”

……………………………….

Nenani pushed aside her blankets to adjust her belt, and the motion caught Keral’s eyes.

“Little attached to that dagger if yours, eh?” Keral asked, the side of his mouth twitching up into a smirk. Nenani met his eye then turned away, feeling called out.

“Just seems like it’s a better idea to have it around then not,” she replied.

Keral laughed, but Farris was nodding emphatically. “Not a bad idea to my mind.”

“S’why didn’t ye give that old goat of a mage a good stab fer nabbin’ ye?” Keral asked, his eyes still shining with mirth.

Nenani shrugged. “Didn’t really get a chance to. And those bubbles are tough.”

“She tried to stab it and it didn’t work,” Jae threw in. He, Haiyer, and Nenani were all bunched together near the base of a tree. Haiyer, having eaten both his potato and piece of bread, was staring off into space with distinctly droopy eyes.

Nenani leaned forward to frown at Jae. “Yes it did.”

“No, it didn’t,” he answered back. “Remember? You tried to stab it, it didn’t work, and then you did that weird magic thing and made the blade glow.”

Nenani’s expression lit up with recognition. “Oh yeah! I did do that.”

Jae grinned sardonically at her. “Yeah, and then you fell on me.”

The excitement in her expression died instantly and she wilted with embarrassment. “Oh yeah...”

Her shame was felt all the more acutely when both Farris and Keral fell into a raucous bout of laughter.  It wasn’t too long after that Keral announced he would take the first watch, and they settled in for the night. Farris, not being very picky about his sleeping arrangements, propped himself against a tree truck, crossed his arms over his chest, and closed his eyes. The three humans adjusted their blankets before laying down. It seemed as though it only took a few moments before Haiyer was sound asleep beside her, but for Nenani sleep seemed illusive.

Staring up at the underside of the canopy, she watched the shadows shiver and dance with the movement of the campfire. Though they had had a pleasant dinner and evening, she still never let go of the notion that something, or someone, was watching them. She could just make out Keral’s outline from his position just outside the clearing and beyond the reach of the fire’s light. His blue coat allowed him to blend in very well with the dark.

“Ye should try and sleep, lil’un,” Farris told her in a whisper, and, craning her neck, she saw his eyes were still closed. “Yer fidgetin’ again.”

“Sorry,” she whispered back and tried to settle into her blanket. There came a sigh and then the rustling of leaves that drew her eyes back to Farris. She saw that he was leaning forward with his hands reaching out for her, and a feeling of yearning pulled at her. 

“Come on,” he said with a thin smile. “Up ye get.”

As carefully as she could, Nenani got to her feet, still clutching a corner of her blanket, and Farris scooped her up. Leaning back against the tree, he settled her on his chest and laid a hand over her. Though the nagging feeling was still there, she felt far more at peace, and as she laid her head on his chest, Nenani felt the first tugs of sleep.

………………………………..

They set out the following morning, just as the first splashes of color could be made out through gaps in the trees, a little more refreshed and eager to get back to the castle. Keral led them through a weaving path that, to Nenani’s eye, seemed aimless and arbitrary. It was as though Keral was a hound, trying to get a good sniff of his query while following an invisible trail that only he could make out.

They found the first body only two hours after starting off.

At the bottom of a large tree, nearly invisible within the twisting roots, was a face of a young man. Dark of hair, pale faced, and – curiously enough – there was a notch taken from the top edge of his left ear. Almost as though it had been bitten off by a small creature. Haiyer had been the one to spot the body when, seemingly out of the blue, he told Keral, “There’s a sleeping man over there.”

Keral extracted the small prince from his pocket and surrendered him to Farris. Turning his head, he said to Jae in a quiet voice, “Best get down too, lad. Not sure what we just happened across, but ye may not want to see.”

Looking nearly as pale as the body in the roots, Jae climbed up over the ranger’s shoulder so that Keral could pluck him up and set him back down on his own feet. Jae turned to go stand closer to Farris as Keral moved forward towards the body.

When he was close enough to study it properly, Keral only found more questions. The body was fully encased in the roots as though they had grown around and under it, only the man’s head peeking out. But the time that would have taken to occur naturally would have seen the flesh and muscle of the corpse succumb to rot and decay, to say nothing of the scavengers that would have made an easy meal of it.

“Whatever this is, it's not natural,” Keral said, keeping his gaze affixed to the dead human. “This stinks of magic interference.”

“Ye think whatever did this poses any kind ‘a threat?” Farris asked.

“Hard to say for sure, but I’d rather not find out,” Keral answered as he rose back to his feet. “Best we move on before whatever is responsible for this comes around.”

Less than ten minutes later, they stumbled upon two more laying together at the base of a tree. There were not nearly as many roots as the first, and the pair looked to be a mother and child. The woman was middle aged, but thin and sickly-looking, with hollowed cheeks and sunken eyes. She looked far more corpse-like than the first or the smaller one to which she clung. Round-faced with thick curls of dark hair was a small girl of perhaps five or six. She looked as though she were merely sleeping in the woman’s arms.

“Why are they sleeping like that?” Haiyer asked, trying to peek around Farris’s fingers to get a better look, but he turned his body and Haiyer made a sound of annoyance.

“They’re not sleeping,” Keral said as he crouched above the pair, staring down with a grim face and hard eyes. “Same as the last.”

“Just what have we come across?” Farris asked, his eyes bouncing around as though expecting the trees to answer him.

The trees said nothing. But someone else did.

“You should not be here,” said a voice from high above them. It came out like the viscous hiss of a disturbed cat. Their eyes moved up to scan the trees, looking for the source. “This is hallowed ground. Only the blessed may walk here. You’re filthy. And I smell fire on you.”

“Who are you?” Keral asked.

“Someone who wishes to see you leave,” the voice replied. Keral’s head swiveled to his right and he stared up at a particular tree. “You’ve disturbed the garden.”

Farris snorted, not having seen Keral’s line of sight, and continued to look about. “Garden? Looks more like a graveyard.”

“They are the same,” replied the voice. “Death is the road that returns us all to the green mother.”

“So you did all this?” Keral asked.

There was no answer.

Farris looked as though he wished to reply, but Keral silenced him with a hand and then said to the voice, “We’re just looking for a house. Big house. Belongs to a Vhasshalan lord by the name of Brennan. Think you might be so kind as to point us the right direction and we’ll see ourselves out?”

The voice did not answer right away and the silence was heavy,

“Follow the smell of blood,” it suggested at last. “You can’t miss it.”

Keral’s expression hardened and his lips drew thin. “My nose ain’t as good as it used to be. How about a heading?”

A pause.

“You’re too far east. Two fingers past the sun at noon and walk straight. The white moss grows on the north side.”

“Thank you,” said the ranger with a bow of his head.

“A warning. If you are still here come nightfall, the others will not be as kind, and they might decide to add you to the garden. And also, do not let the little one eat anymore of the ironwood sap.”

“What?” he asked, looking back at Haiyer. “Why not?”

“It will weaken his magic.”

“The little one doesn’t have any magic.”

There was a long silence and then a rustle of branches. Keral’s head swiveled up to his left and then he saw him:  human, dressed in grayish green and brown clothes that helped him all but melt into the tree bark behind him. He was young and thin limbed, but with large brown eyes. Across his forehead was a smudge of ash. He met Keral’s gaze without fear.

“I forget sometimes how distant you giants have made yourselves from the earth. Strange you cannot feel his magic. I could the moment you all stepped inside my forest,” he said and then pointed to Nenani, his brow furrowing. “And the smell of fire on that one there is so pungent I was convinced the woods had caught flame.”

“Thank you. I’ve got one more question,” Keral said, gesturing to the dead woman and child. “The notches in their ears. Your lot do that?”

The boy scowled. “They’ve been marked. For what purpose, I cannot tell you. But they all have them. Their spirits are weakened and often soiled when they come here. The roots purify them so they may find peace in the hereafter.”

“You call that purifying their souls? Looks like fancy fertilizer to me, boy,” Farris said with a sneer. “Disrespectful. Coverin’ them all in roots.”

The boy did not react to the accusation. “You are of the mountain. I do not expect a rock to understand the ways of a tree. The roots preserve their mortal shell. If you were to remove them, their bodies would crumble like dirt.”

“So you collect dead people in this garden of yours?”

The boy cocked his head and regarded Farris with a curious expression as though he had just decided something. 

“This is how we remember them. Honor them. Mourn them. You have your ways and we have our own. It does not change the meaning. Giving love to the loveless. Care where there was neglect. Peaceful forever sleep where before there were only endless nightmares.”

Farris’s frown deepened and he opened his mouth to reply, but the boy slipped behind the trunk of the tree and was gone. The giant stared and then snorted in disdain, rolling one shoulder. Still inside the pack, Nenani watched the spot where the boy had gone and knew he had left. The unsettling sensation of being watched left as though it had never been. What a strange person, she thought. She remembered what he had said.

That she smelled like fire.

“Who the hell was that?” Jae asked in a low voice, his eyes still watching the trees for any sign that the boy would return.

“Don’t know,” Farris said. His eyes fell back to the dead woman and child, entangled in the roots. “But he has strange notions I don’t much care for. I’ll be glad to leave.”

Keral walked up alongside his brother and nudged his elbow with his own. “Well, at least we managed to get a heading out of the lil’ fella.”

Farris did not move or speak and Keral’s grin faded.

“Farris?”

The kitchen master’s eyes snapped to attention and he turned to his brother. “Let’s go.”

Keral nodded. “Alright.”

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BONUS ART!

Nenani could not stop thinking about the strange boy in the tree. What did he mean that she smelled like fire? They all had been sitting around a fire the night before, so should they not all smell like fire? Why only her? Or did he mean that he could smell her magic? Did magic have a smell? And if Haiyer did have magic, as the stranger boy insisted, why had he not bloomed yet? Had her mother put a seal on him as well? No, that did not make sense at all. Their mother ran from Aidus out of fear that he would kill Haiyer for not having magic.

She suddenly had a lot of questions for Maevis once they got back to the castle. And perhaps a few for her mother as well.

They did encounter a number of other bodies as they walked, forever sleeping among the tangled roots, but they did not stop to inspect them as they had the others. Keral’s eyes studied them as they passed, but he kept a steady pace that Farris matched. The kitchen master did not even look at them, and Nenani was growing concerned that he might find them upsetting. There wasn’t much Farris could not face, and the sheer practicality of his manner made it all the more worrying to Nenani. She hated the idea of him being upset. Not mad, she was quite accustomed to that. But the idea of Farris being upset was disconcerting. His eyes seemed to dart away the moment a body came into view, his shoulders tensing up, and there was a subtle shift in his breathing. He didn’t want to see them. 

She couldn’t blame him.

 ………

It was barely an hour passed mid-day when they finally came across a road. It was made of white and grey gravel, pounded flat over years of heavy use, with neatly spaced gouges down the center marking the path of cart wheels. The road looked like a long pale scar carved into the forest, cutting through copses of trees that had stood hundreds of years before there was ever a road. Ten minutes following it and they happened upon the first gate.

Two obelisk-like pillars stood sentry on either side of the road with an ornate iron gate strung between them. The metal bars had been shaped and pounded into elaborate twists and curves. Though it was clearly meant to be a display of wealth, there was something dominating and commanding about it.

Atop each of the obelisks were marbled granite spheres with trees carved into them. Keral rearded the gate with a scrutinizing eye. 

“For a man with the reputation for being very hospitable, his garden gate sure don’t look it.”

“Doesn't matter the man’s reputation,” Farris replied. “All gates are meant to keep folks out. Be a lot more suspicious if it looked more welcoming. Besides all that, a gate means we’ve made it. So we can get on with the rest of this madness and get back to the castle.”

The gates themselves were locked tight by a severe-looking padlock, but Keral still gave it an experimental jiggle that sent the iron works screeching and moaning in protest. A few moments later, as though having rung a bell, a figure emerged from behind a bend in the road. He walked quickly, but his short stature and portly middle made his walk more of a waddle. And if the flushed complexion and puffing cheeks were any indication, he was not very pleased. His eyes looked between Farris and Keral’s faces and then to Jae and Nenani, who both were peeking out from behind the brothers’ heads. His eye narrowed and he flung his arm out to his right in a manic gesture.

“Deliveries are to be made at the red gate,” the man said, waving his arm. “How many times must we tell you bloody...”

The man paused, suddenly taking note of Keral’s coat and its color. A little of the blood in his cheeks drained away. Keral’s easy stance straightened and his muscles and tendons tightened as he assumed a more commanding presence.

“Deliveries?” he asked, tilting his head curiously. “We aren’t here to deliver anythin’. We’re in need of some assistance as it happens.”

The man swallowed thickly.

“W-well, if you’re needing food, you’ll have to come back later,” the man said. “Alms are only distributed on Fridays. And His Lordship isn’t in residence just now.”

“I know he ain’t here. And we’re not looking for alms either,” Keral said. “My name is Keral Athair, Captain of His Majesty’s Rangers and I’m here to claim quarters for myself and my companions.”

The man balked, and a condescending scoff was just at his lips when his brain reminded it whom he was speaking to and he disguised it behind a cough. He readjusted his stance to match Keral’s, but his shorter stature and more rotund figure did not quite make the effect. “To claim quarters? Sir?”

“Aye. I’m sure you're familiar with the practice, ain’t ye? A man in service to His Majesty may call upon the lords of the kingdom to – ”

“Yes, yes. I am aware, sir, of what claiming quarters means. We just don’t see many rangers up this way and so it has been quite some time since we’ve had...the honor to host,” he said. “And may I ask why you’re here to grace us with your presence?”

“On business for His Majesty,” Keral replied and supplied no more.

Nenani watched the exchange with a mixture of confusion and anxiety. She had never seen anyone talk to Keral the way the sentry did. In her experience, he commanded a great deal of respect. It was a new proposition to witness anything to the contrary. And if Farris’s expression was any sort of a tell, he felt similarly. She wondered if it would be better for him to say who they and Jae were. If a captain of the Rangers did not merit an immediate invitation inside, then perhaps the king’s adopted son and the two heirs to Silvaara would. But Keral remained tight-lipped.

The sentry looked very uncomfortable and ill equipped to know what to do, and it was clearly annoying Keral, who snorted with impatience.

“So then might we be brought up to the house?” he asked shortly. “I’ll need to make use of your falconer to send the king a message. It is of some importance.”

The last part was said with an exasperated inflection. Finally the man seemed to understand well enough, and he stumbled forward to open the gate. But his expression was curiously dour. The iron gates were pushed aside with the screaming of their hinges as the man stepped to the side and waved them in.

“Follow me, if you please.”

The sullen-faced man said nothing as he led them down the long drive. There was a stark contrast between the trees inside the gated property and those outside. While winter had ravaged the foliage of color and leaves, the manicured and pruned trees of the Brennan estate looked as though it were still midsummer.

They were lush and full of leaves, and there was only a splash of autumn colors here or there. The rest were all a verdant green as though suspended in perpetual summer.

“Does he have men tie the leaves back onto the tree?” Jae whispered to Keral. The ranger’s eyes remained steady and he only grunted noncommittally.

“Lord Brennan must be mighty proud of gardeners,” Farris said to their guide. “To be able to keep color like that in this cold.”

The sentry’s head shifted as he answered. “His Lordship takes great pride in his family’s estate and heritage. Maintaining Blythe trees takes a delicate hand and firm knowledge for them to keep evergreen.”

“So it’s not their natural state fer ‘em to be green like that this time ‘a year?” Farris asked.

“Those trees were cultivated by His Lordship’s ancestor more than eight hundred years ago,” he said. “It is a symbol of his house and is believed that so long as the Blythe trees stand, so shall the house of Brennan. So yes, sir, great pains are taken to keep the trees healthy and prospering. Their coloration is a consequence of the superior care they are given.”

Nenani was surprised at just how long it took for them to reach the house. The road took them though two more locked gates before the house came into view at last. Even then, it still took the group another ten minutes to transverse the long drive and arrive at the great stone entryway of the house.

It was easily the largest house she had ever seen. It wasn’t a castle in any sense of the word, but a grand house.Tan and dark stone stacked together in a very pleasing way to make tall strong walls topped with sloping roofs. A single large dormer overlooked the property. For a house, it had many windows and did not appear to have been built with defense in mind, unlike the Vhashallan castle. A vast meadow spread out behind the manor, and she could see the mountains in the distance.

And yet, the nagging voice in her head was buzzing again, much in the same way it had when they had first ventured into the forest. But she was quick to shake the feeling away. This house belonged to Lord Brennan. Her recollection of him was that he seemed very amiable and friendly. Her mother had taken such an immediate liking to him at the dinner. But his house, much like the forest that surrounded it, did not feel welcoming at all.

But then, she had to admit, how something looked upon first meeting did not always reflect the truth of it. She had experienced such a phenomenon time and time again since coming to Vhasshal. Farris and Keral were both such examples. And they were not in any state for being overly critical. So she ignored the little nagging voice. Looking to Farris and then to Keral, she felt secure enough to know there was nothing to worry about. It was nerves, she told herself. She was merely eager to return home.

……………….

A tall, thin woman giant waited for them at the front door. The sentry rushed ahead of them to whisper something in her ear, and she had to bend herself over for him to reach. Her expression did not change, and she merely nodded.

“I shall take it from here, then,” she said to him. “Please return to your post.”

In stark contrast to the sentry, the housekeeper was calm and composed, as though she had been expecting them all along. She was dressed all in a mottled black and dark green fabric and wore her large, hawkish nose proudly. Her small brown eyes stared down along its length. It was almost comical the way she held her head so far back, as though she were going to sneeze at any moment and wanted to be prepared.

“I do apologize, my lords,” she said. “But His Lordship is away at court on His Majesty’s invitation. But the hospitality of this house is at your disposal. I am afraid, though, you have caught us in a bit of an awkward time, however. Most of the rooms are under renovation and are not decent enough for occupation just yet. I have a few small rooms upstairs we put you up in.”

Keral did not meet the woman’s eye but instead gazed around at the house behind her. “We don’t need nothing fancy. A single room will do for all of us. And I’ll be needing to speak with your falconer as soon as possible.”

She dipped into a polite curtsy. “I shall send for him immediately. We also have accommodations more appropriate for the humans, sir, if you wish.”

Keral shook his head. “No. They’re stayin’ with us, ma’am, thanks all the same.”

The woman’s lips pursed tightly. “Of course, sir. I only meant that...”

“They stay with us. We don’t plan on intruding for very long and they’re tired from the journey. If you could show us to a room, we’ll sort it all out ourselves.”

The woman dipped again and made a vague gesture to follow her.

Through the main entry, they spilled out into the atrium. The floors were a dark-colored wood, polished to a high sheen, as were the walls. Marble pillars drew the eye to the ornate wooden ceiling and the carved stone statuettes at the corners, like little stone spies. Tapestries were hung along each wall leading to the main staircase. It too was made of the same dark wood. However, the housekeeper led them down a smaller corridor off to the side, a servant’s entrance, and they followed her to a much more humble set of narrow stairs that led them to a modest guest room. There were three beds lined up along a wall close to the only window. There was a small table on one end of the room and a simple fireplace at the other.

“I shall send the maid up to light the fire for you gentlemen,” she said. Farris went to one of the beds and helped Nenani down from his pack before slinging it from his shoulders. Keral did the same with Jae but did not pulled Haiyer from his pocket. “Shall I send up some supper for you as well, my lord?”

“You’re most kind, ma’am,” Keral replied. “If it’s not too much trouble, could ye have some brought up fer the humans as well?”

She gave the smallest of smiles and inclined her head. “Of course.”

“Thank you.”

“My name is Miss Embrews, if you should need anything else. Once the falconer has arrived I shall send a footman to inform you.”

“I would appreciate it,” he replied. And with that, Miss Embrews turned and shut the door behind her. Her footsteps faded away and only then did Keral’s stance relax. He turned to his brother. “That was odd.”

Farris snorted. “That sentry was a prickly lil’ bastard.”

“He was,” Jae agreed, bouncing experimentally on the bed before flopping back. “Why did you tell them who we were? Wouldn’t that have...I dunno, put more of a fire under their arse?”

Keral’s eyes wandered around the room, taking in all the details. “Hm. Eh, might have. But I have a funny feeling. Better play it safe and not say anythin’. Fer now.”

Nenani’s ear tingled. Keral’s senses and intuitions were sharp and well honed. If he was picking up on something just as she was, perhaps he was right and they needed to proceed carefully. Lord Brennan may be genial and kind, but that was no guarantee that his servants were anything of the sort.

“It feels weird here,” Nenani admitted. “The forest felt that way too. Like...something saying we shouldn’t be here.”

Farris nodded. “Aye. Have to agree with ye two. Somethin’s off. Don’t smell right.”

Keral had been walking the room, assessing it and poking at the walls experimentally. He kicked one of the bed’s legs and upon Farris’s comment, he spun on his heels to face his brother, eyes alight with inspiration. “Ye know what it reminds me of, Farris? When Mum would get worked up over something and she’d spend two days washing and polishing everything in the house until it sparkled.”

Farris’s eyes widened. “Fuckin’ hell, yer right. Even smells like it.”

“Everything’s too clean,” Keral said. He looked around the room again with new eyes. “Even the castle ain’t this clean.”

“If there’s no one living here,” Jae said, pushing himself onto his elbows. “Doesn’t it make sense that it’d be clean?”

“Might be. But ye remember when Warren had the Queen’s apartments renovated before the weddin’?” Keral asked. “All the hullabaloo and all?”

Jae nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“Ye remember how filthy the place was all the while? With all the supplies and dirt being tracked everywhere from the workers?”

Jae’s lazy expression widened with clarity. “Yeah. I do remember that.”

Keral nodded. “Aye. She says they’re renovatin’ most ‘a the rooms? Where’s the evidence of it? Where’s the supplies? Where are the workers? The dirt?”

Farris made a displeased rumble. “We need to send that message out quick and get outta here.”

Keral nodded and reached into his pocket to fish Haiyer out and set him down next to Jae. The little boy sprang up to his feet and spent several moments happily celebrating his freedom by frog hopping in circles around the other boy.

“I’ll send the message and we can rest here for the night. Just gotta keep our eyes open fer anythin’ off. And we’ll move on tomorrow with some supplies and maybe a cart. Whatever they’re doin’ up this way, I’ll need more than a funny feeling to inspect further. My position gives me a lot of freedom to dig around, but I’ll need more that to do much of anything. Right now at least.”

“He was really nice at the dinner,” Nenani said. “Mama really seemed to like him.”

“No surprise,” Farris said. “He has a good reputation at court. The king likes him.”

“Haven’t ever spoken with him myself,” Keral said. “But he always seemed a friendly enough man. Not one to show off or bring attention to his person. An odd trait in a courtier.”

Jae snorted. “You mean like Colem does?”

“No one does it like Colem,” Keral laughed. “But say what you want of the man. Personally, I find him to be quite amusing.”

Jae glared up at the ranger. “You only say that because you know how much he annoys me.”

Keral grinned but did not deny the accusation. “Believe it or not, there’s a lot more to that loony bastard than ye might think.”

Jae looked as though he wanted to reply, but they were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Farris, who had sat down on the bed, reached out to coax Nenani closer to him. Keral motioned for Jae and Haiyer to remain where they were and then turned towards the door. He cracked it open and asked, “Yes?”

“I’m here to build the fire, milord,” said a young and high pitched voice. Keral pulled the door open to reveal a young maid with thin mousy brown hair tucked up under a simple cap. She, like the housekeeper, was very thin, with a hawkish nose. It was painfully obvious there were shared relations. She hurried inside, awkwardly carrying a load of firewood and some flint. “It won’t be but a moment, milords.”

She made quick work of setting the logs inside, but as she worked with the flint, striking it repeatedly to bring up a spark, her eyes darted to the side every so often. Jae, who sat on the bed nearest to her, watched and did not miss the quick glances his way or the pursed lips. Looking to Keral, he shared a bemused look. The ranger only gave a small nod and Jae got up from his spot, taking Haiyer’s hand, and they moved further up the bed and closer to Farris.

The maid rose to her feet as the fire began to burn properly and she gave a small bow. “The footman should be here shortly with your food, milords.”

Keral nodded. “Thank you.”

As the girl departed, a tall middle-aged man crested the stairs carrying a tray. The maid stepped gingerly aside as he moved into the room, and she gave him an amused grin before dashing off back down the narrow stairs. The same smile graced the footman’s face, but dropped the moment the maid was out of sight and he turned to the room. He sat the tray upon the table and turned to Keral.

“Will there be anything else, milord?”

“No, this will do fine. Any news of the falconer?”

“He lives in a cottage away from the house, sir. But Miss Embrews has sent for him. Shouldn’t be much longer, sir.”

Though displeased, Keral nodded. “Good.”

“If it pleases milord, I could take whatever message you may have and meet him halfway with it.”

“No, I will wait for him. Thanks all the same.”

The footman looked disappointed but gave a short nod and quitted the room. The food he had brought consisted of an iron pot and two bowls with a loaf of bread. Farris went over to it, taking the bread in his hands and scrutinizing it.

“Their ovens run too hot. Bottom’s burned,” he said as he dropped it back onto the tray. “I’d kick Quin in the arse fer tryin’ to serve that t’ anyone.”

“Not every baker can be as amazing as yers, Farris,” Keral replied, looking at it for himself. “Looks perfectly fine to me.”

“Say the man who eats dirt,” Farris quipped back. He pulled the lid off the pot. Inside was a cream colored soup with various vegetables and hunks of pale meat. “Looks under seasoned.”

Keral rolled his eyes.

“Gods forgive anyone who under-seasons food around you,” Keral grunted. “Just ladle it out and complain later.”

Farris merely grunted and took up one of the bowls to ladle in the soup. As he filled the first bowl and went to grab the second, a sudden flash of gold light filled the room, startling the lot of them.

“Wait!” cried a familiar voice. An orb of transparent gold hovered over Keral’s head, making quick circles around him. Startled, Keral shied away from it but frowned when recognition hit him.

“Ellis!” Haiyer cried out in delight, getting to his feet and rushing to the end of the bed. “You came back!”

Annoyed, Keral resisted the urge to swat at the fairy. “Oh, back already are we? Where’s that mage ‘a yer’s lass? Don’t suppose he’ll be turnin’ himself in, eh?”

Her voice was frantic and quick and no one could make out what she was saying. She flew away to fly laps around Farris’s head.

“Gods piss on it, girl!” Farris barked. “We can’t understand a word. Slow down.”

The fairy’s golden light took on a red hue as though manifesting her frustration. She flew to the soup pot and slammed the lid back onto the pot and stood on top of it.

“Don’t eat the soup!” she said, breathless.

“Why? What’s wrong with it?” Keral asked, the annoyance turning to anger.

“Poisoned?” Farris asked, his expression matching his brother’s.

“No!” she said. “People! There are people in it!”

.

.

.

.

.

.

The horrible silence was broken at last when Jae began to gag. He pulled his shirt over his mouth and turned away. It was then that the smell caught Nenani’s nose, and though there was nothing intrinsically offensive about it, the knowledge of what it was made her body shudder, and her stomach roiled. She swallowed thickly against the rising bile as her heart beat thunderously in her ears.

It felt as though her insides had spilled out from her body, and she was overcome with a seeping dread that passed all along her limbs and down to her fingertips. The hairs along her neck prickled, and all sensations were amplified. Worst of all were the forest boy’s words that drifted back to her.

“Follow the smell of blood...”

Keral’s expression was venomous. He swung his hand back as though meaning to sweep the whole horrid affair off the table in angry disgust, but Farris pushed him back.

“No,” Farris hissed, grabbing his brother by the arms and pinning them to his sides. “Don’t.”

Keral thrashed against his brother’s hold, but Farris’s grip was iron. The ranger was snarling. “The bloody business is–!”

“Think, dammit!” Farris said. “They were people, Keral.”

“Ye don’t think I know that? That fuckin’–!”

“They were people,” Farris repeated, his voice having gone quiet. “Not gonna let ye go and insult or demean them any further by throwin’ what’s left of ‘em to the fuckin’ floor.”

Only when he was sure that Keral understood him did Farris release his grip. The old cook then moved to the fireplace and watched the firewood burn. Keral’s gaze did not leave the pot and the one filled bowl. After a time, he reached forward to shoo Ellis away from the lid, and she did so without a fuss. The contents, viewed with new understanding, made his inside tumble about. He was not unaccustomed to carnage. Far from it. He had, on occasion, come across such things in his line of work. But they had become blessedly rare in the last few years, and to be suddenly confronted with it once more, he found himself far more affected then he was comfortable admitting. Even to himself.

With as much ceremony and grace as he could muster, Keral picked up the bowl with both hands and gently poured the soup and its victims back inside. Setting the lid back in place, as though sealing a coffin, he placed his hands gingerly atop it. He did not consider himself religious, but he said a small prayer to whichever of the gods cared to listen.

He turned to Ellis, the ire from before now concentrated solely in the intensity of his gaze. The fairy regarded him warily.

“Tell me what you know,” he said. “And speak calmly and slowly. The less you have to repeat, the better. Tell me everything.”

The fairy, less frantic now, hovered a few meters from Keral’s head and wrung her hands.

“I didn’t feel right about the way we left you all. Whatever Bertol says or blames you for, I don’t. Not much anyway. My mission is to make sure Haiyer stays safe. So that is why I came back. I wanted to make sure Haiyer got back safely. I came to check on you once I had enough energy to make a portal jump for myself. I was in that jar for a long time and I am still not all the way better, if I am honest. So it took longer than I would have liked. And Bertol didn’t like the idea. He even tried to stop me, but...well. Anyway. When I did find you all again, you were at the house’s door and I did not want to reveal myself to that woman or the short toad mad. I did not like their energy. And they have a smell about them I do not care for. Like old blood. This whole house is filled with it. A miasma. And it’s not good for those like Haiyer to be around it. His magic will never bloom if he is constantly subjected to magic draining energies. You’re a terrible guardian for–”

“We’ll leave that conversation for another time,” Keral replied shortly. “On with the rest of it, please.”

Ellis looked as though she wished to continue on with her tangent, but with a single mournful glance to the pot, she reluctantly continued.

“I went to go look around to find the source of the miasma. All the rooms are empty, so I went down to the kitchens. Down in the basement. And I saw them.”

“Humans?”

“...what they had left of them. The butcher is skilled,” she said with a frown. She swallowed nervously. “There wasn’t anything wasted.”

Farris made a harsh scoffing sound and moved to the other side of the room, further from them all. Nenani felt a sickening pull in her chest. She went to the side of the bed and considered the distance to the ground. It wasn’t too far a drop down to the floor, and the shock of everything all but dissolved her inner inhibitions. She eased herself over the edge, keeping a firm grip on the bedspread, and pushed off. The fabric slipped slowly through her fingers as she scaled down and dropped the last few feet to the floor. In any other circumstance, she would have felt a sense of pride. But all she felt was sorrow and fear.

“How many?” Keral asked.

“I only saw two...remains,” Ellis said. “But there was too much blood for it to have only been two. The miasma is thick down there, but it wasn’t the source. It’s seeping from behind a door far back inside a cave. Past where they’re storing their wine and cheeses.”

“Any idea what’s in there?”

“It’s an iron door and I cannot pass it.”

Keral growled in frustration and rubbed his temples. “Right. Iron weakens Fae. Gods piss on it...”

“But I did hear things.”

“What things?”

“Crying mostly,” Ellis replied. “I believe there are humans there. How many I cannot say.”

Nenani stopped several feet from where Farris stood, looking up at him and wishing she weren’t as small as she was. It was only then that she saw the slight shaking of his shoulders, andthe pulling inside her chest turned to a painful yanking. Her eyes started to prickle as her chest heaved against a sob.

“Farris?” she called out tentatively, her voice cracking. “Are you...are you alright?”

For a long moment he did not speak.

“The world is a very dark place, my girl,” he said at last. His voice was thick and hoarse. “I know it well enough. But even so. I don’t care to be reminded. Not like that...”

He didn’t need to say anything more, and she could only stand there, not knowing what she could do.

Ever since coming to Vhasshal, Farris had maintained a place in Nenani’s mind as someone of deep integrity and strength. Like a living wall of stone: impervious to the world’s harsh realities and the withering sorrow that came along with it. A place of shelter and safety. She did not know his past in any great detail, but she had enough pieces to put most of it together. And to see such large cracks in the stone wall that was her guardian had her feeling both incredibly sad and angry. Not for herself, but for him.

In a strange twist of roles, Nenani was suddenly feeling very protective of Farris. She felt a surge of heat and her fingers started to glow. Before she could attempt to say anything, however, Farris turned from the wall, and she scrambled to be out of his way. He marched with determined purpose over to one of the beds, yanked the bedspread off, and stomped up to the table. Keral wordlessly moved aside as Farris flung the blanket over it, tray and all, and stepped back. When he looked to Keral, his eyes were red and his frown was deep and morose. Old wounds torn open afresh.

“We may have just found out the lord who has been supplying the traffickers,” he said. “If he has anyone else down there, we need to get ‘em out. Tonight.”

Ellis made a sound of alarm and flew over to Farris, wings buzzing in irritation.

“But you can’t stay here!” Ellis said. “You need to get Haiyer out of this place! And the other two. They are not safe!” 

“I don’t think that falconer will be coming,” Keral said to Farris, all but ignoring Ellis. “Brennan will likely be aware that I’ve been on the hunt for traffickers. And I don’t doubt his servants are in on it. Servants have big mouths. He would need ones who know how to shut up. Either that or they’re simple minded.”

Farris snorted in disgust. “No one accidentally cooks human soup. They know. And they’re complacent if not fully involved. That’s why this place smells off. They’re tryin’ to hide it.”

Jae sat with Haiyer, his face having turned slightly pale, eyes unfocused as though his mind was far away. Haiyer seemed more confused than anything and was looking around as though patiently waiting for a more easy-to-understand explanation. But he could sense well enough the emotions of the room.

“I wanna go home,” he whimpered, tears beginning to pool under his eyes. Jae pulled the boy closer to him. “I want Mama...”

Keral ran his hand down his beard, furrowing his brow, and paced about as he contemplated. Farris stared at the floor, also lost in his own meandering thoughts. No one said anything for nearly a minute. A long, uncomfortable, minute. At last, Keral pinned Ellis with a serious frown.

“Do you know where the indigo fields are, Ellis?”

She blinked and slowly nodded. “I know of them and I can get there. They are rather large and hard to miss. Why?”

“That is Lord Colem’s estate. It’s the closest one to us. Closest that I trust anyway. Go there and find him. He won’t be hard to miss.”

Ellis looked scandalized. “What? And just reveal myself? I can’t go about and just–!”

“Listen to me, girl,” Keral growled, stepping forward into the fairy’s space. “If ye wanna see Haiyer outta this mess safely, we need back up. I need Colem. He employs a private militia to protect his fields. He can send them all this way within a matter of hours.”

“How do you know he’s not in on it with Brennan?” Jae asked angrily. “That guy’s a loon! I wouldn’t be surprised if he was in cahoots with him!”

Keral disregarded Jae’s concern with a single look and a shake of his head. “He’s not.”

“And how the hell do you know?” Jae demanded.

“Because I thought the same. So I investigated him,” Keral replied. “And you know what I found? Seventy three humans. But they weren’t prisoners and he wasn’t trafficking ‘em. They were all refugees from the war that he had hidden away from Nethrin. Made them a little village deep in his indigo fields where no one would bother them. Protected by his militia.”

Jae just stared.

“Warren even asked him to help with the planning of the Hill Tribe. It’s all based on Colem’s design. Just scaled up.”

Jae’s mouth fell open. “What? He...what? Really?”

“Tried to get them all to come live there once it had been built,” he continued “But none of them wanted to leave. Colemn offered to help us track those still dealing with the trade. His family connection to the old Rangers gives him clout with the seedier lords who aren’t very receptive to Warren’s reforms. He was deputized a few years back.”

“I...wouldn’t have guessed,” Jae said. He looked back through his own memories and slipped in the new information to see how it fit. “Warren never said anything to me.”

“Colem’s one of my top informants. Without his help, our extraction rate would be half of what it is. I trust him with my life,” Keral said. He pinned Jae with a look. “More than that, I trust him with yours. Remember back at the dinner? Ye think I’d leave ye alone with just any lord? Not a chance, boyo”

As Jae stewed on that thought, Keral turned back to Ellis.

“Well?” he asked. “Can you do it?”

The fairy huffed with indecision, her eyes looking to Keral and then to Haiyer. She nodded. “I can do that. I don’t have much energy, but...yes. I can make it there.”

“Then go. The sooner he knows, the quicker his men get here. I don’t know if Brennan’s got any men stationed here or nearby, but if this is the center of it all, there is going to be some sort of enforcement body close.”

“Could there be a battle?” she asked, seemingly horrified by the idea.

“Could very well be,” he answered grimly. “So best we have some swords of our own to meet them should the need arise. Now go! Time’s precious.”

“All of that is well and good,” she snapped, crossing her arms. “But just what am I meant to tell him? Hello there my lord giant! Do you happen to mind terribly if you just send your little army over to this other lord’s estate? He eats people and is a very nasty person.”

Keral smirked. “Just tell him ‘Ai eyvue ha’dure.’ He’ll know what it means.”

She tilted her head, mulling over the strange phrase. Her indecision melted away with a sigh.

“Alright,” she said at last. “I will do as you ask.”

Keral nodded. “Good girl.”

Ellis stole a glance at Haiyer.

“Take care of him,” she asked. Her pleading face turned hard and she added firmly, “Or I’ll curse you.”

Keral spared her a smirk. “Get a move on girl.”

There was a flash of light and Ellis was gone.

…………………….

“What do we do now?” Jae asked.

“Now,” Keral said, grabbing a chair and moving it across the room. He planted it near the fireplace, facing the door. He sat himself down into it and eased back. “We wait.”

“If there are humans down there we shouldn’t be sittin’ on our arses,” Farris argued.

“We don’t know this house,” Keral reminded him. “If the servants all still believe we’re unaware of what’s going on, they won’t think we’re up to anythin’. It’s clear they weren’t prepared fer a visit like this. Least of all me. They won’t be tryin’ nothing funny that may give themselves away. They’ll want us out and gone as quick as they can.”

“That’s a lot of assumptions,” Farris said. “Can we afford any of ‘em?”

“If we’re patient enough and play this just right,” Keral replied, “we may very well end the human trafficking trade once and for all tonight.”

“And what if they decide it’d be safer fer them to just kill us all and be done with it? They only know who you are. And rangers disappear on their patrols all the time.”

Keral shifted in his chair, making himself more comfortable, and laid his head back.

“And that, dear brother,” he replied. “Is why we need to be prepared for things to go sideways.”

…………………….

Farris had moved the table back and out of the way but kept the blanket covering the tray and pot. No one was interested in dwelling too much on what lay inside it any more than they already had. The children had all been moved to the bed farthest from the door, and there they sat, trying to keep quiet and calm. But their nerves were as frazzled as the brothers’. Farris took one of the other chairs and sat it at the bed’s bottom edge, bodily placing himself between the children and the door. Ever the stone wall, Nenani thought. 

An hour after Ellis left, there came a knock. Keral was on his feet and went to the door, placing a hand against it as though preparing to press it shut should the need come.

“The falconer is here, milord,” said the voice of the footman from earlier. Looking back at his brother, Keral gave a small nod. Farris sneered, displeased, but nodded back.

“Thank you,” the ranger replied, his tone pleasant. “Shall I come down to greet him or will he come to me?”

“He is waiting in the atrium, sir,” came the reply. “I would send him up, sir. But he is all over mud and Miss Embrews won’t allow him any further inside. She is rather particular, you see. She requests you and he conduct your business there so as to minimize the cleaning the poor maid must do.”

Keral rolled his eyes.

“Well, we cannot have that,” he replied. “It’d be a lot of work for those poor girls.”

“Oh, it’s just the one, sir,” said the footman. “We keep a low staff when His Lordship is away.”

“A big house like this? Surely you must have more than a housekeeper, you, and a maid.”

“Oh, we’re quite adept, sir. And of course there is the cook and the butler. Everyone else was given leave to visit family, you see.”

“His Lordship is most kind to give you all some time off,” Keral replied. “Perhaps Lord Brennan could convince His Majesty to do the same for me.”

The footman laughed. “I shall see what I can do, sir.”

“Give me just a moment, son. I’m puttin’ my boots back on and I ain’t as fast at it as I used to be. The joys of gettin’ older. It’ll happen to you too, boy. Just wait and see.”

The footman laughed again. “Yes, milord.”

Keral turned to Farris and silently mouthed “lock the door behind me,” before pulling the door open just enough to walk through. It shut behind him, and the sound of Keral amiably chatting to the footman as they descended the stairs grew fainter. Farris was on his feet then, carrying his chair with him, and slipped the back under the metal knob. He wedged it against the door and gave the handle an experimental pull. It did not move.

“Alright,” he said, turning to the children. “If things go south on us, you all need to get on the roof.”

“The roof?” Jae asked, looking behind him at the window.

“Aye, the roof,” Farris said with a nod. “The moment ye hear any sort of shout or scream, yer all to get onto the roof as fast as ye can. Jae, yer the expert climber here. So it’ll be yer job to see these two safely up. Understand me?”

Though still pale with nerves, Jae nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Good lad,” said the kitchen master approvingly. His eyes turned to Nenani. “And if anyone comes after ye, ye have my full blessing to roast the damn fuckers to their bones. Ye do what ye need to do to protect yer brother and the brat.”

Nenani nodded mechanically, not quite seeing Farris or anything at all. She was staring passed him towards the blanket-draped table and what lay below. Her chest hurt and her throat felt as though she had swallowed nails. Farris bent himself in half to peer into her face, his familiar green eyes hard and resolute. In a voice that belied the severity of his expression, he said, “Ye need to be sharp, lass. Keep yer wits about ye.”

Nenani’s eyes focused on him, but her vision was blurred with tears. A large hand rested against her back, and a choked sob burst from her mouth.

“Ye can do this, darlin’,” he told her. “Maevis’s taught ye good and well. I believe in ye.”

She spared him a small smile, but it was all she could manage. He pinched her arm, returning a half hearted smile as empty as her own.

“Just pretend they’re Aidus and have at ‘em,” he told her. “But try not to burn the house down. Not until we get those poor wretches downstairs out. Then ye can go on turn every timber to charcoal fer all I care.”

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BONUS ART