Metamor Keep: Divine Travails of Rats
by Charles Matthias and Ryx
Pars VI: Acceptio
(j)
Wednesday, June 23, 724 CR, Evening
Charlie felt overwhelmed by all that he heard.
Several times as they walked through the festival
crowds gathered to celebrate the final night he'd
stubbed his toes on the paving stones trying to
avoid them so distracted was he by his father's
discourse. Everything that had been revealed in
the last two days circled in his mind; many
questions he'd had for the founder of House
Matthias were answered though some of those
answers left him with new questions he had never before thought to ask.
But there was a question the question which
remained unanswered. When his father said nothing
more for several long seconds he dared to give
voice to it. I do not believe I will ever be
able to understand all you went through, Father,
but of the one thing that matters most to me I do
not know any better now than I did before. How is
it I am a Sutt and not a Matthias?
They walked down the main thoroughfare through
Keeptowne leaning in toward one another that
their voices might be heard over the cacophony of
the crowd. Keepers of all shapes and sizes
thronged the streets and the stomping of their
boots, paws, and hooves upon the fitted-stone was
drowned by their voices all shouting in an
attempt to be heard by the Keeper beside them.
The crowd was thick enough that the two rats were
jostled from time to time as they walked, and at
times their passage was blocked by a carriage or
wagon trying to fight its way through. Keepers
and visitors from beyond the valley milled this
way and that through the choked streets. Some
rushed between the many vendors whose prices had
now dropped that they might rid themselves of
their wares. Others were trying to find the inns
and taverns to continue their celebrations. And
some had gathered just to cheer the Duke and the
other nobility as they had ridden back to the Keep.
Many of them, including both rats, lifted their
eyes to gaze at the evening sky. The sun had
descended behind the Dragon mountains and now the
clouds overhead were bathed in an orange light,
even as the sky above darkened to indigo. Summer
sunsets were always breathtaking and both rats
kept silent for a moment more as they enjoyed the
sight. Charlie wondered how close it came to what
his father had seen at the top of the spire in the beyond.
But the question had been asked and neither
crowds nor beauty could forestall its answer for
long. After several seconds admiration, Baron
Matthias let his gaze slide back to the crowds
ahead of them. He slowly shook his head and
dropped his whiskers. I told you this story so
that you would understand better what you saw in
my dreams. I did not sell you to Nocturna. I did
not! The corruption of Marzac guided my actions.
You were not sold, my son. You never were. Your adoption came later.
Charles lifted one hand to still the next
question before it leaped from his son's throat.
And as for Nocturna herself, I cannot speak to
her motives. I have neither sought her again nor
heard word from her again. You commune with her
because of your gift, but I do not. You will have
to ask her yourself. The hand lowered to his
vest where it gripped the lapel. It would be
another year before we knew we had to give you to
Malger. After all I have told you took place, I
told both him and your mother of your ability
with dreams and we agreed that he would train
you, but in time we learned that alone was not
enough. You needed to be his son that he might
protect you in the way only he could.
Charles took a deep breath and lifted his eyes
toward the towers of the Keep. The sky above the
top-most towers was clear, but the light from
scattered clouds cast the gray stone in a somber,
bronze warmth. Your father described for us what
you would experience as you grew the day after my
ordeal. The Sondeck had given me an anger I could
not control. The Dream exposed you to every
frightening terror that anyone near you
experienced in their sleep; worse, it gave you
the temptation to interfere in the dreams of
those you loved, an interference that could harm
both you and the dreamer. You know this better than I do.
Aye, Charlie agreed. He could not recall a time
in his life without the Dream and so its dangers
and his precautions were instinctual. Other than
Bryn, he'd never tried explaining it to anyone
else, and Bryn had understood only after several
attempts. Had his father and mother truly understood that day?
As if answering his unspoken question, the Baron
continued. I do not believe we truly appreciated
what you would undergo, but we could not have
given you up then. Malger returned to Metamor
later that day to give us time to ponder what
should be done. I spent the next few days with
you when I wasn't out dealing with the injuries I'd caused.
Like Silvas?
Aye. I visited the shepherd and made recompense
for the ewe I killed. And I promised him that
none would ever molest his flock on my lands again.
And Bertram?
Charles grimaced. I never did anything to him,
praise Eli, but aye I did bring you children down
to the lake to play with him at Gibson's home.
The moue lifted and with it his whiskers until a
smile emerged on his snout. You each took to
swimming far better than I did at your age! I can
still remember the way you all splashed about and
used your tails to glide like little otters!
Bertram was so happy to have you as playmates.
After we returned from Sondeshara he and Erick
became close, inseparable friends; Erick needed
another boy to play with now that you were at
Metamor; he needed a brother. And when Bertram
was old enough I took him on as a squire but that was many years later.
Charlie nodded as he listened. Somebody had
started up a cheer in the crowd just outside a
workman's tavern fronting the street and dozens
had gathered to join. Charlie lowered his head so
his ears were beside his sire's snout that he might hear over the roar.
But much of what I hoped to do had to wait. Only
four days after the ordeal Lindsey and Pharcellus
returned from Arabarb carrying my friend Jerome.
A distant look crossed his eyes and his whiskers
backed against his cheeks as if he were snarling
at something. I could do nothing to help Jerome
as they'd hoped. My ability with the Sondeck had
always been used for combat; he needed healing. I
knew after only a few minutes that Jerome's only
hope was to be taken to Sondeshara where the
masters of Sondecki healing could examine him.
And when I knew this, I knew of what my friend
Ladero had truly spoken when he told me that I
had to set things right. Many years before I had
abandoned the Sondeckis. Now I had to return and
accept the consequences for my dereliction. But I
was not going to be separated from you and your
brother, your sisters, and your mother; not after
losing little Ladero while at Marzac; not again.
And so I asked your father if he could help us.
Not only did he have the contacts, the position,
and the wealth to make a sea voyage possible for
a family of Keepers, but he also could train you
in the Dreaming while we journeyed.
The prospect of a happier adventure appealed to
him and so he readily agreed. What I had thought
would be a simple matter turned into a much
larger venture as he brought your mother
Misanthe, and several servitors along, as well as
hired the sea bird brothers as messengers. And of
course, we had Jerome, Garigan, and two dragons
in our company so you can imagine it was a
significant undertaking! I left James in charge
of the Narrows during my absence; I wished he
could have come with us but he was the only I
could trust with my lands. Despite all the
arrangements that had to be made, it only took a
short time make each of them and to gather the
necessary supplies; we waited at Metamor for
about two weeks before we could begin. And, to my
delight, I was able to help one of those I'd seen
suffering in the hells during the wait; also as Ladero had promised!
Charlie began to ask who it might have been but
his father did not pause in his retelling. And
then by June we headed south and with your father
and mother, their servitors, the bird messengers,
a pair of dragons and my friends, we began the
long journey by sea to Sondeshara. And it was on
that journey that your abilities truly manifested
themselves, and the painful very painful
choice to give you to Malger as a son was made. I
knew it would have to be made by the time we left
Sondeshara but it was not until we neared the
ports of Menth that all of us understood, accepted, and agreed to it.
Charlie remembered that other image he'd seen in
his sire's dreams, of the pier and the bargains
made over the vessel that took them south. A
slight smile touched his whiskers as he
remembered his father, Malger Sutt, cradling him
when he'd been just a little rat. You've told me
some of that journey before. I... I would very
much like to hear the rest some day.
One of Charles' eyes lifted. Not today?
He shook his head and could not help but chuckle.
No, no. I can wait to hear the rest. I can
wait. He shouldered past a goat bent over
laughing at some unheard joke. In that moment,
Charlie could not help but wonder how many others
had heard even a fraction of his sire's tale. How
many dark secrets had he forced the man who'd
given him life, and who had been forced to give
him up, relive over the last two days? How many
dark thoughts had he harbored against that same
man whose sufferings he'd now sampled? With each
question Charlie felt an anxious regret weigh
upon his heart. Father, I... I am sorry.
And you've been forgiven, son. You don't need to apologize any more.
Not for that; I know you've forgiven me my
foolish anger. I mean, I am sorry I made you
relive all of this. I had no idea...
Charles patted his back and chortled. Again, you
are forgiven, my son. What you saw had to be
explained. I would have been hurt more had you
not asked. And remember, with as much evil as I
witnessed, I also saw a good greater than all of
it combined. That solace, and the bounty of the
life I've been given since, has always helped me
turn the nightmares back. And Kimberly... His
father sighed and for the first time it seemed to
be one filled with peace. Your mother has always
been able to quiet the storm. I owe her more than
my family more than you. I owe her my sanity. I owe her my peace.
He sucked in his breath. Despite standing taller
than his father, for a moment he felt much
smaller. Does... does Erick know these things too?
Which things? He knows his father and mother
love each other and need each other and that they
both love him and his brothers and sisters. He
does not know all of our pains. And neither do
you, my son. You do not know all of the pains
Malger and Misanthe have either. And one day you
will also have a wife and children; they will not
know all of the pains you and she share. Nor the
joys. It is the way of families.
----------
May He bless you and keep you in His grace and love,
Charles Matthias
_______________________________________________
MKGuild mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.integral.org/listinfo/mkguild
