#terellion

Inktober 2017  06 -- The Swordkeeper -- Pen and copic

Terellion Brightwing, from the novel serie "The Knights of Naren" by M.C. Ewen  @prgrmmr @naren-terellion

She had managed to avoid the welcoming party. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go. Terellion was her best friend, and she was glad he had finally returned home after spending the past two years in Rathel training to be an adahi. It was whom he had brought back with him that she was wary of. Deydesli had missed her friend, but she was a little less thrilled that he had returned with a mage. It wasn’t even really the fact that he was a mage, but he was a Thril Gandir trained mage, not a rogue mage like she was. The whole idea of bringing someone well-versed in all the rules seemed like trouble to her.

Her fears not assuaged by her own magic ability. She only had one that she knew of, premonition. She could see things before it happened. However, whenever she tried to see what the mage might do, she came up with nothing. She knew that meant he knew how to ward against her ability, but why would he do that unless his intention was to turn her in. Terellion was an adahi now and had to carry a pair of iron mitts. This mage could grab them, slap them on her, and translocate her all the way to Thril Gandir, where she would most surely wind up imprisoned for the rest of her life, if not for her ability, then for the fact she wasn’t taken there as a child.

So she missed the parties. She avoided his house and the town hall where he was being reinstated as the swordkeeper. There was one place she couldn’t avoid. She was the teacher at the small town’s school. Terellion worked there as well, repairing things and fetching supplies from the town to the south. While others had filled in while he was gone, she was eager for him to come back.

She was hoping he would be alone on his first day back, but he was not so lucky. The students hadn’t arrived yet. Deydesli always made it a point to arrive an hour before they did. When he walked in ten minutes after she got there with the mage trailing behind him, her first instinct was to glance at the side door. She could make a run for it, but instead, she stayed frozen in place.

“Dey!” Terellion smiled as he approached. She tried to smile back as he continued, “I haven’t seen you since I got back. Someone has been waiting to meet you.”

The other elf was tall, thin, and covered in a long flowing robe. His dark skin was a little lighter than his reddish-brown hair and his violet eyes regarded her. He smiled. “Hi. I’m Magister Hethurin Fairsong.” He extended his hand.

Deydesli extended her hand as well. Was this it? Would he be able to tell what she was? Their hands touched. His grip was firm and felt genuine. She still couldn’t tell what he would do. “I’m Deydesli. I’m the teacher here.”

“Terellion’s told me a lot about you. I wanted to thank you for helping him, and me, while we were in the castle in Moressley.”

She glanced at Terellion. How much had he told him?

As if reading her mind, Terellion said, “He knows.”

“Ter! You’re not supposed to tell anyone!”

“He already knew there was someone poking at his wards,” Terellion explained. He sat down on top of one of the desks in the classroom. “I think you should give him a chance.”

“Well, I don’t have much choice now, do I?”

Hethurin sat on the desk next to Terellion, “I won’t turn you in, and I know you’re more than just a mage.”

Deydesli remained silent. That he knew anything at all was a bad idea.

“Your ability— You’ve told everyone it’s premonition and you've treated it like something that any mage can do. No one here has questioned it, but I know better. You’re one of the three seers— the seer of the future. There’s only ever one at any given time, and you’re the only one in Naren right now with the ability to see the future.”

Deydesli lowered her brows and stared at him defiantly, “So you’re going to tell everyone?”

Hethurin shook his head.

“Take me to Thril Gandir?”

Hethurin shook his head again. “I don’t think anyone else should know.”

She blinked. It certainly wasn’t what she expected a Thril Gandir mage to say.

“Terellion knows, and I know, but does anyone else need to? Thril Gandir certainly doesn’t need to know. They already have the seer of the past, and he can’t even leave for visits home despite having a perfect record. I feel very strongly against people being held places against their will. You already have Terellion looking out for you, but I want you to know that you now have me as well.”

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Hethurin filled the sink with water and soap before putting the empty baby bottles in and casting a spell to move the water around. It would last fifteen minutes. He’d have to double check that everything was clean after, but it was more efficient than washing everything individually.

The baby in the sling cooed quietly. She had grown quite a bit since they had found her in one of the crates of supplies coming into the town. Terellion had come up with her name, Narise.

The door burst open in the front room, and Hethurin went to the doorway between the kitchen and living room to give his daily after-school reminder. “Remember to take off your shoes, Malwen.” It normally wasn’t an issue, but the spring rains brought lots of mud with them.

“Okay, Arcanda.”

He smiled at her name for him. It was elvish for ‘magic dad’. It was the easy way for the children to have different names for him and his husband, Terellion. Terellion was just ‘dad’. He gave another short reminder as she ran upstairs to play. “Don’t forget to do your homework before supper.”

“I will.” She disappeared at the top of the stairs and went to her room with her dolls. He’d remind her again later.

The door opened again and Terellion walked in. He stopped to take his shoes off by the door.

“How was your day?”

“It was pretty good. The roof at the school is leaking again, so I put a pot under it. I’ll need to climb back up there once we get another dry day.”

“I suppose with all this rain, leaky roofs are common. Narise’s room has a leak, but I sealed it with a ward against water. It’ll need to be fixed as well with the next dry day.”

“I’ll add it to the list then.” He stood from removing his boots and kissed Hethurin. Narise cooed again in the sling that hung on Hethurin.