“You may not threaten my acolyte,” Kai said in a deep voice, one that the listeners felt as much as they heard. “Kestrel is safe from your threats. This is our land, not yours.
“Leave this land now, and never return. The gods of the Inner Seas forbid you to invade our realm with your evil magic,” Kai spoke. She pointed a finger at the defiant sorceress, then released a large sphere of energy, one that was an angry orange in color. The globe flew at the sorceress and enveloped her, as she screamed in a hateful tone.
“You can’t keep us away, now that I know what your land offers! We’ll be back!” she shouted, as the orange globe suddenly lifted off the ground, carrying the sorceress away as it rocketed and disappeared in the southern sky.
“You, imps! Take your friend to Kere’s bath, now,” Kai spoke to the startled imps that floated above the ground, at nearly eye level with her.
“Will he be okay?” Picco asked.
“Is Wren going to be okay?” Creata asked at nearly the same time.
“I’ll be fine; the healing spring will take care of this,” Kestrel said through gritted teeth, in pain, but speaking with assurance. “I’ll send word about Wren as soon as I can,” he added in Creata’s direction.
“Thank you goddess,” he spoke the last words as the imps descended around him, and then they disappeared from the shocked dockside scene.
Chapter 30
The imps dropped Kestrel gently on the shore, next to the waters of the healing spring.
He looked up and saw that Alicia was in the water, kneeling next to where Wren lay in the shallow cove that Kestrel always used to give the imps their time in the water.
“Thank you, friends,” he said to the imps who released him, Mulberry, Odare, and another he did not know.
“We are glad to help you, Kestrel wounded friend. We are sorry that you were beaten by the terrible monster woman,” Mulberry said.
“The imps who fell – can the waters help them?” Kestrel asked. He swung his legs around and dropped them into the water, feeling relief as the warm water of the spring gently lapped up over his injury.
“We will see if they are still alive,” Odare said, and she disappeared.
“Kestrel, what happened?” Alicia asked. “Are you hurt too?”
“I’ll be fine. How is Wren?” he asked.
“She’s in grave condition,” Alicia told him, making his heart drop. “But with the healing water to help her, I think she’s going to survive.”
Kestrel slipped deeper into the water, then struggled across the pool, and dragged himself up to where Alicia knelt over the unconscious form of Kestrel’s cousin.
Wren’s torso was a blackened injury that spread across her chest and stomach. The clothes were burned away, or hung in tatters, while her skin was badly burnt.
“She’s lucky to be unconscious,” Alicia said softly.
“What happened? Did you two get into a fight?” Alicia asked with a straight face.
“No!” Kestrel exclaimed. “We were in Seafare, and we were attacked by a sorceress, the Triplets,” he said.
“A sorceress? Three of them?” Alicia asked in astonishment.
“Three of them, or maybe one – I don’t know. She was one person, then she was three, then she was one, then Kai saved me,” Kestrel blurted out.
Alicia looked at him with piercing eyes. “Did you hit your head?” she asked.
“No! Maybe, I don’t know,” Kestrel mumbled. He sat down in the water, his leg extended.
“Stillwater,” he called.
The imp was hovering nearby, and came to him immediately.
“What do you need, Kestrel friend?” the imp asked.
“Would you go back to Seafare and tell Creata that Wren will be okay? She needs to stay here to rest and heal for, how long?” he directed the question to Alicia.
“With the healing water, I think she should be ready to leave in two days, and fully healed in less than a fortnight,” the doctor judged.
“I do not speak the humans’ language, Kestrel,” Stillwater pointed out.
“Sticks and thorns!” Kestrel cursed. “Who does?”
“Your friend Putienne – did you not teach her both languages?” the imp asked immediately.
“Yes!” Kestrel exclaimed. “Go to Oaktown; ask her to come with you here immediately. And tell her to pack to stay away for several days,” Kestrel advised. “Thank you for the reminder, Stillwater.”
“Behind every elf hero, perhaps there is an imp?” Mulberry asked.
“Undoubtedly,” Kestrel agreed with a tight grin, as the imps disappeared.
There were only the three elves left at the spring: Alicia, Wren, and Kestrel. Kestrel lay back in the water and closed his eyes, then tried to understand what had happened, how the persistently attentive human noblewoman had turned out to be one of the Triplets, and one who had unfathomably been stalking him, seeing him as a mating partner that would produce desirable offspring. Although he had never been tempted by Aster’s availability, he still shuddered at the notion.
“Kestrel, we have a visitor,” Alicia spoke in a strained voice.
He opened his eyes and looked, at where Kere was striding towards them. The goddess was walking atop the water of the stream as she approached, and there was a look of determination on her face.
“You’ll heal, I see,” Kere stated as she arrived atop the pool, and stood just a pair of paces away. Alicia’s hands were trembling, he saw, and he reached out to hold them in one of his own. The doctor grasped his hand and clinched it tightly.
“And your cousin very nearly did not survive. She called this damage down upon herself because she jumped into the fight to help you,” Kere stated.
“I know. I feel badly,” Kestrel answered. “I’m so unspeakably glad she’s going to live.”
“Do you realize what happened?” Kere asked.
“The Triplets attacked,” Kestrel said simply. That seemed to be what had happened; he was curious to learn how the goddess would describe it.
“This is another problematic result of the Rishiare Estelle,” Kere answered. “While the troublesome sunspots disrupted our natural order, the gods of the Inner Seas could not reach to our world, as you know.
“And so, these problems from outside the Inner Seas were able to penetrate, and seek to wreak their havoc among our people. First there were the elves from the East, who brought their perversions of the natural elements, and who would have brought worse, if you hadn’t chased them away,” she explained.
“And these sorcerers who came up the Gamble River from the south, from the lands beyond the mountains south of Uniontown. The Triplets, as you know them, are the offspring of a breeding program. The humans in those far off southern lands have been seeking to create a race of sorcerers with greater powers; they have no gods, and they seek to raise some of their own. The pair that came up the river with the Triplets were the parents of the Triplets, a pair who had some weak powers of their own. Their children inherited the power from each, and then the family observed and learned from the Viathins.”
“Were there three Triplets, or just one?” Kestrel asked in confusion, glad to seek an explanation.
“Only one was born. In their mother’s womb there had been three, but the stronger had absorbed the other two fetuses, yet they remained alive as separate entities within her. They developed the extraordinary ability to live as individuals or as a single entity, and sustained each other by doing so.
“Kai was kind to only expel them; I would have killed them on the spot,” Kere said savagely. “And think what might have resulted if Kestrel had been father to their children.”
“Kestrel? What did you do?” Alicia asked in shock, her hand instantly separated from his.
“Nothing! I did nothing! The Triplet suggested that, but nothing ever, ever happened, I promise,” he said emphatically.
“I believe you, young Kestrel,” Kere told him. “Your imp friends are about to return, so I will lea
ve you now. Take care and heal quickly,” she told him, then finally flashed a warm smile at him, before she vanished.
A fraction of a second later, the imps deposited Putienne next to the pool. The girl was carrying a bag that appeared to be hastily stuffed with belongings.
“Kestrel, what’s happening?” she asked, then shrieked as she saw the mass of bloody red flesh that his leg had been blasted to, as it soaked in the water of the spring. She turned and saw Alicia, and saw Wren’s damaged body in the water as well.
“Did you two fight each other?” she asked. She dropped her bag and stepped into the water, then bent low and hugged him. He felt a sense of comfort and peace as they touched, a reminder of the closeness of their relationship.
“We were both injured by a sorceress, but Kai drove the sorceress away. Listen, Wren is going to be okay. She needs to rest here in the healing spring water for a few days, but she’s also supposed to be married is less than two weeks.
“Since you can speak the human language, would you let the imps carry you back to Seafare, to tell her fiancé and the other humans there that she’s going to be okay? She’s not going to die; she just needs time to heal,” he repeated the message.
“I don’t speak human language so well, since I’ve been in Oaktown for so long,” Putienne protested.
“They’ll understand you. I’d go myself, but I need to heal my own leg for a day or so,” Kestrel explained, and he quickly talked the girl into taking the assignment.
“I’ll come join you in Seafare tomorrow, and you can be my guest at the wedding,” Kestrel said. She departed with the imps, who promised to remain with her, and Kestrel sighed, satisfied that the task had been carried out.
“There’s not much more I can do for the two of you right now,” Alicia told Kestrel, swinging around to face him instead of Wren. “If your friends the imps will provide a ride, I’d like to go back to attend to my own clients for a bit, then come back here to spend the night with the two of you. I’ll bring a change of clothes for each of you, if you’d like, and something to eat.”
Kestrel agreed, and called the imps, who obediently carried their friend the doctor away, leaving Kestrel alone with the unconscious Wren.
“You silly girl,” Kestrel said softly, looking at his cousin. “You should know better than to try to fight a sorceress with a knife. I’m glad the lesson didn’t cost you your life.” He closed his eyes and lay back in the warm water, then fell into a gentle slumber until Alicia returned shortly before nightfall, a number of empty water skins draped over her shoulders and bags of fresh clothes in her hands.
Kestrel sent an imp to Seafare to make sure that Putienne had lodgings in the city, and then ate a quiet dinner with Alicia, providing a weak ball of light overhead as illumination for their meal.
The next morning, Wren awoke, in pain but in good spirits.
“Creata better show some sincere joy when I return,” she said as she lay in the water.
“And some real fear about making you mad, now that he’s seen you’ll attack a sorceress,” Kestrel added.
“If I could move, I’d punch you,” she told him.
“Since we are both in your healing spring, I assume we are going to live?” she asked.
Kestrel proceeded to recount the story of the rest of the battle with the Triplets, and explained some of the extraordinary things the goddesses had said and done afterwards.
“When can Creata come here? When can I go back to Seafare?” Wren asked after shaking her head in amazement over the disclosures.
“You should remain here at the spring for at least two more days,” Alicia said firmly. “And then bed rest for a week after that.”
“I don’t have time for all that!” Wren exploded. “I’ve got a wedding to run!” She winced in pain from the effort.
“You don’t think Creata can do it, with some help from Picco and others?” Kestrel asked.
“Picco can get it done, but Creata would let the staff make all the decisions and spend all the money,” she protested.
Kestrel called Stillwater to the spring, and they made arrangements for a flow of messages and visitors to reach from Wren to Seafare.
“Wren warrior has been a good friend, and deserves our help,” Stillwater said placidly. “Your friend Picco wishes to speak with you,” he added to Kestrel.
“I’m allowed to go now, aren’t I?” Kestrel asked Alicia.
“Oh Kestrel, you should stay here, but I know I’m not going to keep you,” the woman answered in a resigned tone. “Put on the clean clothes I gave you,” she told him. “And stay here for half an hour more to watch Wren, while I ask the imps to take me home to check on Silvic and his nanny.”
Kestrel was back at Seafare an hour later, delivered to the nursery once again, only to find the room was vacant. He grabbed a pole to use as a makeshift walking staff, and began to hobble through the halls of the palace, drawing startled looks until a servant led him to a parlor where Picco and Creata were at work on wedding planning matters.
“Kestrel! So good to see you! How is Wren?” Creata immediately greeted him.
“Good news – she’s crabby,” Kestrel answered.
“So she’s on her way to recovery?” Creata asked. “When can I see her?”
“I suspect she’ll be back here by tomorrow night,” Kestrel guessed, “although the doctor would like to keep her in the spring longer.”
“We need her help,” Creata said, as Picco walked over to Kestrel and gave him a gentle hug, careful of his leg.
“Will it heal properly?” she asked about his injury.
“It will, although it will probably leave a scar,” he answered, thinking about the scar on his chest from his previous injury caused by the sorceress’s fire.
“As is so often the case when dealing with women,” Creata spoke in a mock tragic voice.
“Very interesting, brother dear. I’ll be sure to pass that observation along to your future bride,” Picco observed, making Creata wince.
“Kestrel, your messenger friend, Putienne, as we’ve discussed before, still looks exactly like Moorin, the former fiancée of my husband, and an old flame of yours, as I recollect,” Picco said archly.
“Are you still infatuated with your lost elven beauty?” Picco asked sympathetically.
“No,” Kestrel said immediately, and he knew it was true.
And so the arrangements for the wedding proceeded. Wren did return the next day, though bedridden for several days following, and Kestrel and Putienne enjoyed the freedom to wander about the palace, and the city of Seafare, as the warm days of late spring offered pleasant weather. They played with Kestrel’s daughter Merea, visited Orren and Raines, their companions from an earlier adventure, when they had traveled through the northern lands of the Inner Seas kingdoms, and enjoyed reminiscing about those days, as well as hearing about the life that the two humans established together as they started over in Seafare.
A week after Kestrel’s arrival in Seafare, an unknown ship moored at the docks of the city, and word was sent to the palace that Uniontown had sent a party to attend as representatives of the newly crowned king, Listay.
“Come along, Kestrel, since you’re familiar with this group, and tell us who we have,” Prince Ruelin invited Kestrel to join his group that left the palace to welcome the new guests for the wedding. Kestrel and Putienne rode together on horseback, and carried Merea with them to the docks. Kestrel stood immediately behind Ruelin as the guests appeared on the deck of the ship and descended to the dock to be welcomed.
“That is Lucius, the king’s son,” Kestrel told the ruler of Seafare, when the first member of the party appeared. “He’s a good person, as far as I’ve seen.”
“And that,” he paused as Lark appeared next. She was dressed in elegant clothes, and walked with a confident poise that made her appear older and more mature than Kestrel expected. “That is his sister, the king’s only other child, Lark.”
“She’s a lovely
girl,” Ruelin commented, though Kestrel chose not to reply.
“That is Gates, probably the number two commander of the king’s guard,” Kestrel overcame his unsettled state at seeing Lark to continue the introductions.
“And that is Gail, a noblewoman, probably the betrothed of Lucius,” Kestrel smiled as he named the fourth person to appear. “She is of royal blood.”
“They’ve sent us quite a contingent. They must be eager to establish relations with the other kingdoms,” Ruelin suggested, as he began to walk forward to see the arrivals.
He welcomed the four guests, as servants brought their luggage to the dock, and called them each by name.
“Your knowledge is impressive,” Lucius commented.
“I had an advantage,” Ruelin admitted. “Kestrel, come forth.”
“Kestrel?” Kestrel heard his own name repeated in a voice with a rising inflection, Gail’s voice.
He stepped out from behind Ruelin, Putienne’s hand on his arm, as he carried Merea, and he saw his Uniontown acquaintances standing together, elegantly dressed in their clothes for presentation to the sovereign of Seafare.
“Lad? Look at you, as good as new, with such a beauty on your arm!” Gates said with heartfelt energy. “We missed seeing you when you left.”
“Gates, good to see you; have you had to fight any more battles since I left?” Kestrel asked the guard with a grin.
“No, not a one. You took all the fun out of town when you left; there weren’t any fights left,” the guard laughed back.
“Maybe that’s why I left,” Kestrel answered, though his eyes flickered for a moment to Lark, then back to the guard.
“My lord Kestrel, it’s good to see you again,” Lucius broke in. Without formality or reserve the heir to the crown stepped forward and firmly grasped Kestrel’s hand.
“This is the man, or elf, or great one – say what you will – who stepped into the fray and saved Uniontown, and saved me and my sister personally. You’ve got a good man working for you,” the young man told Ruelin.
“He doesn’t work for me,” Ruelin replied, pleased by the attention. “He’s a friend and a guest, here for the wedding as well.”
A Marriage of Friends (The Inner Seas Kingdoms Book 8) Page 36
