She frowns up at Otrin, “What’s wrong? Is Loket hurt?”
“No, no,” Otrin says, “Nothing like that, Bazaline. He’s asked me to bring Henga back with me when I go back to Harito. We found Emlyn.”
“Umir’s Forge!” Bazaline sighs, “How is that even possible? We’d given up on that years ago.”
“Let me come in and I’ll tell you the story,” Otrin says.
“Oh, sorry,” Bazaline laughs, “I’m just shocked. Please…”
Once Otrin is seated, Bazaline brings him a mug, “Tell me everything. Are you sure it’s Emlyn?”
Otrin nods, “I’ve seen enough of her tattoo. It’s our Emmie. What she’s been through…”
Otrin recounts Emlyn’s story, and Bazaline grimaces. “Killing and resurrecting them over and over… How horrible! Maybe it’s a blessing she doesn’t remember that.”
“We’re not entirely certain that she doesn’t,” Otrin says, “She’s having nightmares and talking in Cymry in her sleep. That’s why Loket asked me to bring Henga back. Henga can bunk with her and figure out what she’s babbling about in her sleep.”
“When are you bringing her back here?” Bazaline says, “She’s going to need all of us, I think.”
“We have some logistics to figure out,” Otrin shrugs, “She won’t be arriving here alone. Her cohort of paladins, her suitor and his cousins, and maybe a few more besides.”
“Humans in the Taig,” Bazaline grins, “That’ll shake some things up around here. It’s been too quiet and boring. It’s better that she’s not dealing with all this on her own. Let me go get Henga.”
As Otrin sits there, a dwarven girl comes in. Henga is stocky, even for a dwarven girl, with a pug nose, merry brown eyes, and dimples when she smiles. Long light brown braids fall over either shoulder, and she flips one of them back.
Grinning, Henga looks at Otrin, “You found Emmie after all this time, eh? Yes, I’ll come back with you. I’m sure she needs a friend.”
Growing more serious, Henga adds, “Mama told me what happened. It sounds… horrible. I’m sure her father hasn’t been overly understanding, either. He was always such an ass to her.”
“You knew about that?” Otrin asks, shocked.
“I tried to tell Papa,” Henga shrugs, “but I don’t think Papa believed me about just how horrible he was. Terwyn always made it seem like I was exaggerating everything. Why do you think she spent so much time at the Terfel keep with Nia? Nia was protecting her from him. Midir, Niet, Dian, Gwladus, and Cian did the same, but they were boys, so it was a bit harder for them to shield her, but they still managed to do a good bit of it. Emmie always felt guilty because it left Arwydd and Myfanwy undefended. Nia and the rest were always afraid that his abuse would become… more physical and he might even try to prevent her from marrying.”
“I wonder if that’s why they were going to make the offer for her.” Otrin muses.
“What are you talking about?” Henga asks.
“Midir, Gwladus, and Cian’s family came to see me shortly before the Culling,” Otrin explains, “They were going to make a Ban Gwyr offer for Emmie. They came to see me about the finances. It was more than Midir’s house could afford alone, so Cian and Gwladus were coming in on the offer to help. I knew Midir loved her, but the other two…”
“Hah!” Henga grins, “Gwladus always had a thing for Emmie, but he was quiet about it. He didn’t want to disrupt his friendship with Emmie or Midir. Emmie was always drawn to Midir’s boldness, but I saw how Gwladus looked at her when he thought no one was paying attention. Cian was a bit more open about his feelings, but too good a friend to Midir to ever say too much. Cian didn’t want Emmie’s choice to come between him and Midir, and it looked like Emmie was going to pick Midir. An offer like that, and she wouldn’t have to choose. That might have worked, or it might not. It might have ended up with those three being jealous of each other.”
“One of your jobs will be taking turns as her chaperone,” Otrin says.
“My, my,” Henga grins, “Our Emmie with a suitor. I can’t wait to meet him.”
“Take your battle gear,” Otrin grins, “There’s going to be a fight with a dragon or something pretending to be a dragon.”
“I’ll bring my axe,” Henga nods, “Papa paid for the artificers to have a go at my axe too. We’ll see if we can’t mince up whatever’s giving our Emmie a problem.”
“I’ve got some things to deal with at the bank,” Otrin says, “and a bunch of jewelry that Emmie took off some bandits that I need to get to the traders so that they can sell it off. It’ll be another day or two before I’m ready to go back. Gendini’s coming too. Gen is about as close to a living Mama as Emmie’s got, and she says she misses her Mama. Dergit will be coming along, too.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Henga nods.
“There’s another thing you need to know,” Otrin goes on, “You’ll have to call her Nia, if you use her name. She started using Nia’s name to try to leave a trail for anyone looking for any of the seven of them. She said that anyone who knew them well enough would recognize the name and that most of the people she’d want to find her would know that Nia was dead. We just call her Girlie. Then there’s no chance of slipping up and saying something we shouldn’t. Likely, a great many things might still be looking for her, and they shouldn’t find her.”
“Girlie, it is, then,” Henga agrees, “I’ll pack up and be ready.”
Atres leads Emlyn through the King’s Guard offices to Argonath’s office with Benger in tow. Argonath isn’t in, so Emlyn settles in to wait for him. Argonath comes to the door and peers in to find Emlyn, Atres, and Benger.
“This is a surprise,” Argonath says, “What’s going on?”
Emlyn launches into a full recounting of the events with Dorak, Brarazo, and Rirdec.
“Wait,” Argonath says, “He assaulted you.”
Sighing heavily, Argonath rummages in his desk and pulls out yet another form. Argonath starts filling in the form and finally looks up at Emlyn. “Can you start from the beginning?”
“We were riding back to Harito…”
Emlyn finishes the story and grins at Argonath, “That was all before he came to Kethas’s inn and tried to get me to sign a contract with him instead.”
“What’s this? Dorak’s poaching?” Argonath says and rummages in his desk for another form.
“He didn’t actually make the offer to me,” Emlyn says, “but one of my fathers took issue with it and ran him off before I got back.”
Argonath stops writing and looks at Emlyn for a long moment. “I thought you were an orphan. And what’s this? One of your fathers?” Argonath says with a frown.
“I’d have been here to report all this yesterday,” Emlyn shrugs, “but they all showed up rather late the day before yesterday. It’s been a bit hectic.”
“Let’s go back to the part about fathers,” Argonath says, “How many do you have?”
“Four of them,” Emlyn replies, “I should probably add that at least one of them isn’t very happy about these King’s Guard uniforms. It’s created a bit of a… situation. He says that no daughter of his is going out in public in those leathers, war braids or no.”
“Our uniforms are almost excessively modest. You’re literally covered from the neck down,” Argonath frowns, “What’s the problem?”
“He says it’s too suggestive,” Emlyn shrugs, “You’re welcome to come by the inn and discuss it. Three of them are there. I know that they’ll want to meet you.”
“Where’s the fourth one?” Argonath asks.
“He went back home,” Emlyn explains, “He’ll be back in a couple of days.”
“How exactly does one end up with four fathers?” Argonath asks.
“My Mama arranged, separately, for each of them to adopt me if anything happened to her,” Emlyn shrugs, “I don’t know if she was worried that one or more of them might refuse or what, but none of them have.”
“I don’t know if our next of kin forms have enough blanks for that,” Argonath mutters, rummaging in his desk for forms. Finding the pad of forms he’s looking for, he tears off four of them and hands them to Emlyn. “Fill those in and get them back to me by the end of the tenday.”
“Anything else?” Argonath asks.
“You might have a hard time reaching us for a bit,” Emlyn says, “I’m sure that my fathers will want to go back to the Taig at some point.”
“Why would they take you to a Taig?” Argonath says, frowning, “Oh… they’re all dwarves, aren’t they?”
Emlyn nods, and Argonath palms his face.
“Which clans?” Argonath asks.
“They’re all from Clan Rune Axe,” Emlyn says.
“The traders and bankers?” Argonath muses, “Hmm… That might not be such a problem then. I’ll still have to get approval for that.”
“Approval for what?” Emlyn asks.
“We are the King’s Guard,” Argonath says, “Having outside attachments is problematic.”
“I already have outside attachments,” Emlyn shrugs, “My Temple is an outside attachment. That hasn’t been a problem, so I’m not sure why this is.”
“Yes, but your Temple is here in Harito, in Tassatung,” Argonath says.
“This Temple is,” Emlyn says, “and while it is our central Temple, there are many other locations outside Tassatung. Some are very far outside Tassatung.”
“How far outside Tassatung?” Argonath inquires.
“If my fathers are correct, not even in the same world,” Emlyn shrugs, “I’m not sure I understand all of it. They tried to explain it, but it’s probably best you ask them about that.”
“Our oaths mention the multiverse,” Benger adds helpfully, “We discussed them at the fair.”
“I should have paid more attention, apparently,” Argonath shrugs, “Done is done. The prince wants your whole cohort under contract, and I don’t see that changing, even in light of this new information.”
“He knows us,” Emlyn shrugs, “He knows we can’t lie to him, like most everyone else does. He knows that we’d protect him, even from his own father, if it came to that.”
“Why would you say that?” Argonath asks, “The prince is solidly in the succession and will be the next king.”
“My people’s own royal family had some… succession issues,” Emlyn shrugs, “Our king handled it, but we went from having six princes to five. It was very sad.”
Argonath studies her for a moment. “You knew them,” Argonath says slowly, “Quite well, judging by the look on your face. No wonder our prince wanted to marry you. How in the name of Mulo the Unlucky did you end up in Harito?”
“My Goddess brought me here,” Emlyn shrugs, “wherever here is.”
“You’ve been here for a year,” Argonath frowns, “You were only consecrated recently. Why would she bring someone here who wasn’t sworn to her?”
“You’d have to ask her that,” Emlyn shrugs, “I’m certain that she had her reasons.”
Argonath frowns and stares at Emlyn for a long moment while Emlyn calmly stares back.
“You seem to have the most unusual life,” Argonath finally shrugs, “I suppose nothing you say should surprise me at this point.”
Seeming to come to some decision, Argonath motions to his pad of forms.
“Why did you want to report this incident with Rirdec?” Argonath asks her, “It seems like you settled your differences with Dorak’s group well enough without any intervention. Dorak even came to make you a counteroffer.”
“I’m certain that Rirdec will try something else,” Emlyn explains, “and when he does, I’d like to have all of this on record. It’s highly probable that I’ll be forced to defend myself next time.”
“You expect him to be violent, then.” Argonath shakes his head. “We’re not very tolerant of violence against colleagues.”
“He almost forced me to draw my weapons in our last encounter,” Emlyn shrugs, “If he decides that he’s going to attack me, it will likely involve force. He doesn’t strike me as being subtle enough to deal with things any other way. Dorak doesn’t have enough command over him to prevent it, either.”
Frowning slightly, Argonath sizes Emlyn up. “Are you planning to take Dorak’s offer?” Argonath asks.
Emlyn gives him a look that says he’s being dense. “Do you really think I’d be sitting in your office telling you about it if that were the case?” Emlyn says dryly.
“If it’s more lucrative,” Argonath probes, “why wouldn’t you take it?”
“Pfft,” Emlyn says dismissively, “I’d rather take orders from Jagannath.”
“And who is Jagannath?” Argonath asks, picking up his pen.
“That’s her horse,” Benger grins.
Want to binge the future? > I have months of backlog for Order of the Storm Crow waiting for you. Get 50+ chapters ahead of Royal Road today!
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Current Count: 48 "Patient Smiles" and 1 "Formally Documented Courting."
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Observation: "Atres is officially on the 'Next of Kin' forms now. Argonath handed Nia four forms to fill out for her fathers, and I bet Atres tried to sneak his name onto all of them. He’s also busy helping her navigate King’s Guard politics. He thinks he’s being her shield, but he’s really just becoming her administrative assistant. A real 'Tiger' doesn't fill out forms in triplicate, Atres!"
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Official Entry: Next of Kin Notification Forms (x4); Household: Clan Rune Axe; Relation: Adopted Fathers.
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Boltir’s Correction: "ANNOTATED: 'The Council of Over-Protective Beards.' I’ve added a section for 'Potential Suitors' and listed myself as 'Highly Recommended' and Atres as 'Occupational Hazard'. Also, Argonath is asking for approval for Nia to visit the Taig. I’ve stamped it 'APPROVED BY THE BARDIC CONSENT' because I’m tired of reading about human cities that only spread out and never up or down."
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Current Jar Total: 320 coppers, a recipe for 'Mama’s Potion Ingredients', and a very sharp dwarven hair-clip.
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Boltir’s Plea: "Did you hear that? Nia told Argonath she’d rather take orders from her horse, Jagannath, than from a dullard like Dorak. That’s my girl! She knows quality when she sees it. Toss a coin in the jar, kin! I’m saving up for a 'Scroll of Ghostly Visage' so I can match her Weeping Skull war paint for our eventual first date. Leave a review if you think Atres is going to faint the first time he sees her in full Cymry war-braids and face paint!"
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