And another of my Metamor Keep tales comes to its end. I do hope
that folks enjoyed this one! I promise my next few will be much shorter!
Inchoate Carillion, Inconstant Cuckold
By Charles Matthias
March 14, 708 CR
Fair weather blessed their trip back through the mountains to the
Gateway, but the exertion taxes Charles more than he cared to admit.
Though Jessica had mended his broken bones and soothed the bruises,
his jaw ached with every bite and especially when he gnawed. E tried
to keep his chewstick away from his incisors, but the longer he
abstained, the more painful his teeth became. The discomfort made him
surly, but for the sake of his friends he said nothing.
The pain in his chest and arms were exacerbated by the climb, but
that he could ameliorate easily enough. By turning one arm into stone
and anchoring it within the mountain itself, he obtained better
purchase than his fingers alone were capable. This he used when the
path narrowed or forced them to press their bodies against the
mountain face to navigate around some tight bend. Even with that he
was still exhausted to the point of passing out as soon as he laid
down for the night. He hated that he couldn't be more supportive of
James who still plainly felt guilt over what had happened.
But his friend had Baerle to do that for him, and he knew this was a
pain in the heart that could only be healed with time and love.
He woke each morning to a fresh set of bandages around his chest,
arms, and snout that somebody had wrapped him in after he'd collapsed
the previous night. These were gently removed by Angus before they
broke their fast and started their climb. They talked little along
the way, preferring as much as speed as they dared.
And it was with great relief and weary smiles when they finally
descended from the narrow paths of ice and rock back to the grassy
meadow on the northern side of the Gateway. They unhitched the rope
from their middles for the last time, embraced in relief, and then
walked at an almost leisured pace through the narrow crack between
the mountains back into the Valley. The three clear days of sun had
warmed the air enough that almost all of the snow had melted,
saturating the ground, softening it enough that their paws were muddy
by the time they passed out of the Gateway and beheld Metamor Valley again.
But their vista was interrupted by a makeshift camp of tents and the
sweet scent of warm food and fresh cider. Perched atop the sentinel
stone was a familiar youth attired in heavy woolen greens bearing the
heraldry of the bow and axe that marked him as a Long Scout. His face
brightened and he leaped from the rock to tumble across the ground
and rush toward them.
"Charles!" the young man shouted with glee as he sped toward them.
"You made it!" Despite being fixed at no more than thirteen years of
age, he still was a hand taller than the rat and as he threw out his
arms to give his fellow Long a hearty embrace, Charles had to duck
behind Angus to avoid exacerbating his wounds.
"Allart," Charles cried with a laugh, "it's good to see you. But I'm
a little injured right now."
Allart stopped and laughed, shaking his head. "Jessica says you got
your jaw broken. If it keeps you from talking too much then it can't
be all bad."
Charles shot him a withering look, but turned his eyes as a trio of
Long Scouts emerged from the collection of tents as well as a dozen
Glenners. While Allart welcomed James, Angus, and Baerle and invited
them to come warm themselves, Lord Brian Avery, flanked by Alldis,
Sir Saulius, Jessica, and several of the Polygamites, brought
steaming cups of cider to their friends. Laura, Ralls, and Padraic
waited a few feet away to welcome Charles properly. At the back of
the tents, a sour-faced skunk watched with arms crossed over his chest.
After the four weary scouts had taken their first sips of the cider,
Lord Avery said, "Jessica has told us what she knows of what
happened. I know I will be interested in hearing the rest of the
tale. That can wait until tomorrow when we head back to the Glen.
We've set up places to sleep here that are warm. Derrick and his
family have brought sufficient wagons for all of us to ride in
comfort back home in the morning."
Angus smiled to the pinto flanking the gray squirrel. "Thank you
Derrick, we are in your family's debt."
The pinto whinnied a laugh. "No need; it's a pleasure being of service."
Jessica wrapped James in her wings and the donkey held her close for
several long seconds. When they parted, she looked him firmly in his
countenance with her large, golden eyes. "How are you holding up?"
James took a deep breath. "Better now that I've had something warm to
drink. Are you okay? That must have been a very long flight back."
"I spent most of yesterday sleeping, so I'm fine now. But I can't
stay long. I have to get back to Lake Barnhardt for Larssen and
Maud's wedding tomorrow. Still, I wasn't going to miss welcoming you two back."
"Give Larssen and Maud our best," Charles said as his eyes wandered
to the Long Scouts and then to Sir Saulius.
The knight rat smiled warmly about his incisors, and then nodded to
him. "Thy friends hath news that thou shouldst hear. Go to them." He
gestured with one paw, but did not approach any closer.
Charles wasn't sure why, but he greatly appreciated his knight's
gesture. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Baerle move away from
the rest of the group and approach Berchem. The skunk looked at her
uncertainly. She put one claw to his chest and said something too
quietly for the rat to hear. The both of them walked off into the
tents, the skunk's expression even fouler than before. Charles would
have his own piece to say to the archer, but that could wait.
Allart followed him over to the other three Long Scouts, and soon all
five of them were smiling and saying how good it was to see each
other. The rabbit Padraic chided him once again on going on a Long
Scout mission without his fellow Longs. The once woman now man Ralls
didn't say anything, but Laura who had changed in the opposite
direction met Charles's gaze with unbridled delight.
"Sir Saulius said that you all had some good news for me?" Charles
asked, wincing at the ache in his jaw but trying not to show it.
"We do," Laura replied, her chest swelling with a deep breath.
"Yesterday we heard from Misha some very good news. The source of the
plague was found and destroyed. It was some Daedra artifact our
enemies sneaked into the Keep. The plague should be over now.
Everyone should be safe."
Charles offered a silent prayer of thanks to Yahshua even as his lips
split into a grin and his eyes almost watered with years. "Oh praise
Eli! But you said should. Have they lifted the quarantine?"
"Not yet," Laura admitted with a little less enthusiasm. "His grace
wants to make sure the plague has indeed been stopped, so it will be
a few more days yet. But, the plague is over and your family and
everyone else at Long House is safe. We should be able to go home soon."
"Oh thank Eli! That is the most welcome news I've had in a long time.
And I promise I'll stay in Metamor at least a week this time."
"Oh, you don't have to make a show of things," Ralls said with a soft
laugh. "You and your family lives here at the Glen. Just gives us all
another good excuse to visit Lars!"
"I just knew there was another reason for it all!" Charles laughed
with them, and then together as a group they moved back across the
clearing with the mountains watching over them to where Lord Avery
and the other Glenners had congregated. Angus had one arm around
James's shoulder and was laughing warmly, his face bright and untroubled.
"And James here," Angus said with a broad sweep of his arm, "now a
more crafty warrior I could not imagine. Why, he even snuck up on me
and knocked me out. Me!"
"When there's so much of you to sneak up on, it's not that hard,"
Alldis pointed out with a twisted grin on his snout.
All of them laughed, the warmth of their hearts greater than the
chill of the mountain air. Charles patted James on the arm and the
donkey did his best to smile down to him. But the donkey's gaze
returned to break in the tents where Baerle and Berchem had
disappeared moments before. Charles understood that look. He turned
back to the rest of his friends and joined in their merriment,
wincing every time he laughed at one of the badger's jokes.
----------
Evening settled quickly over the camp. Jessica flew south toward the
lake only a few minutes after James, Baerle, and their friends had
returned from the mountains. The Longs resumed their watch rotation
with some of the Glen scouts that had come along, while the rest of
them retired to the comfort of the warm tents where they reclined and
ate fresh meats and grains warmed by a generous fire.
Charles fell asleep long before night descended. Berchem kept at the
back of the tent saying very little, his expression withdrawn; even
when he did look up or speak, his eyes never met James or Baerle. And
the donkey preferred it that way. Lord Avery, Angus, and Alldis did
most of the talking, while Laura provided insights on the situation
in Hareford and what she'd learned from Misha the previous evening.
James tried to be interested, but found it difficult to keep track of
all the names and places.
Once night fell, Berchem was quick to return to his tent, and most of
the Polygamites also left. The zebra Lamarck made a half-hearted
offer to James to share their hay, but the pinto Derrick dragged his
herdmate away before he could even finish his sentence. Lord Avery
and Angus discussed the problem of the remaining talismans with
Laura, but none of them seemed to think there was anything to be
gained by haste now that the plague had come to an end.
Strangely restless, James excused himself after Angus asked him if
he'd be interested in helping them manage the remaining talismans in
another month. No one tried to stop the donkey as he left the tent
and wandered out toward the ledge overlooking the valley. No moon
shone to illumine the scene, but thousands of stars sparkled their
brilliance above. But with the torches lit behind him, James could
make out no other details. He stood and watched his breath mist in
the air, no thoughts coming at all.
One of his long ears turned as he heard soft paws approaching behind
him. His nostrils stretched and a familiar and comforting scent
filled them. He did not turn his head until Baerle was at his side,
watching the dark valley with her bright eyes and scalloped ears
raised. "Are you cold?" he asked her.
"Not yet. It's beautiful out."
"Aye. It's very beautiful."
"Do you like watching the stars?"
"I suppose. They are pretty. I can probably name a few. Charles
taught me some while we traveled together last year. Do you like the stars?"
"I've spent many nights watching them both before and after I came to
the Glen. "
James looked up at the stars and took a deep breath. Some shone with
a vibrant light, others only became visible after he stared at the
sky for a time. It did look different from when they had traveled
south, which made it easier to believe the rat's claim that only a
few of the stars they saw at night here at Metamor could be seen from
his old home in Sondeshara.
"The stars look different if you go south," he said with a long flick
of his tail. "Charles says that those shining over Sondershara are
all different. And there's others even further south. They don't have
a southern star though."
"Oh?"
"Charles says they have four stars that cross each other where the south is."
"He has seen many things," she agreed before lowering her snout and
asking, "You... you really do love me don't you?"
James lowered his snout and half-turned to face her. "Aye, I do."
Baerle's paws rubbed one over the other and her face tightened in
pain. "I'm sorry I never looked your way, James. You are a very good
man. I... I want to try loving you. Forgive me if it.. if it doesn't
come quickly. But, I know you are good and I know you'll never hurt me."
"I won't ever hurt you," James said, his heart beating a little
faster, uncertain but hopeful. He slipped his thick hoof-like fingers
around one of her paws and lifted it to his snout. He pressed his
supple lips against the back of her paw and smiled at the edges and
with his walnut-dark eyes. "I'm here for you always, Baerle. I love you."
She looked into his face, and blinking watery eyes, she smiled, and
then pressed herself against his broad chest. "Just... hold me,
James. Just hold me. Let's watch the stars."
James wrapped one arm around the opossum's shoulders and held her
close. Her flesh was warm and her musk rich. All about them was
silent, a meditative peace he could never have hoped to ask for. The
stars above swam in his eyes as he began to cry.
----------
May He bless you and keep you in His grace and love,
Charles Matthias
!DSPAM:4e9de975325151398310010!
_______________________________________________
MKGuild mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.integral.org/listinfo/mkguild
