“I’ve been so worried about you,” she told Coriae after a hug and a kiss. She looked upward as she spoke. “There were so many rumors about you, and then nothing from Stoke.
“Why aren’t we feeling the rain fall on us?” she asked curiously.
“Theus is using his magical powers to make the air above us move sideways, blowing all the rain behind us,” Coriae explained matter-of-factly. “Isn’t that what you’re doing?” she looked at Theus with an inquisitive expression.
He nodded agreement with a smile.
Lady Warrell ushered them into the house, where they found fewer government officials waiting in the hallway than had been present previously.
“Your father has taken to using the governor’s offices for several of his meetings, to help keep the house for family business only. It’s getting much better,” she smiled with satisfaction.
“Sit down and I’ll have refreshments sent in, and then we can talk,” Lady Warrell insisted.
“Can you have a message sent to daddy, letting him know we’re here?” Coriae asked.
“Of course, and after you snack, you can go fetch Forgon and Amelia out of the armory. Theus, since the day you came to stay with us, that armory has become the most popular part of the estate!” the hostess smiled at him.
“We’ll go there first!” Coriae said brightly, rising to her feet and clasping Theus’s hand. “We’ll bring them back in a few minutes,” she tugged on Theus.
“I expected that,” Lady Warrell said to herself as the pair disappeared out the parlor door. “they’ll be gone for at least an hour, and come back hot and sticky,” she predicted.
Coriae and Theus walked hand-in-hand through the house and the kitchen, drawing greetings, and leaving a trail of comments and gossip among the staff that had last seen Theus skulking away broken-hearted before Coriae had been exiled to Thuros.
The pair rounded the corner in the rear of the stableyard and spotted Forgon and Amelia gently practicing with staves, visible through the windows of the armory. Forgon appeared to be patiently teaching his beloved the rudiments of the weapon, with a focus solely on her. As a result, Theus and Coriae were able to open the door of the armory before being noticed.
“I say we show them how a loving couple really practices with staves,” Coriae called out loudly to Theus, her voice carrying easily over the desultory clacking of the staves on the practice mat.
“Cory? Theus!” Forgon shouted jubilantly at the sight of his two closest confidantes, and dropped his staff to go hug each of the new arrivals. “What brings the two of you here? Together?” he asked tentatively.
“We’re traveling around the kingdom to announce our engagement,” Coriae proudly announced, as Amelia joined the trio and squeezed Theus in tight hug.
“You two are getting engaged?” Amelia asked, looking up directly into Theus’s face. “You’re not going to let her break your heart again are you?” she asked.
“Amelia!” Forgon tried to silence her.
“No, Forgon, it’s alright,” Coriae stopped him, as she held him in an affectionate embrace. “It’s a fair question to ask – the right question, really. I know she only asked because she cares for Theus,” the girl said.
“Theus lost all his memories of me when he was treated in Limber; you probably know that,” Coriae spoke to both Amelia and Forgon, her eyes shifting from one another. “And so when he came and rescued me, I found that in some ways, we were in a position that was different.
“And I thought about things in a different way. I’ve lived a different life these past few months. We’ve all learned the world is different from what we thought it was growing up – when it all seemed so safe and reliable and steady,” her eyes stopped shifting between Forgon and Amelia, and instead came to focus on Theus, locked into an intense mutual stare.
“The one most steady, most reliable, most honorable, most desirable thing I’ve discovered in the world is this man, and I’ll never doubt anything about what he says or does,” she said fervently. Her eyes were shining.
“But in the meantime,” she sighed, “I plan to thrash him with a staff to show you two how lovers have to be tough on each other!” she and Theus grinned at each other.
“I know you,” Forgon sighed. “You have to get this display out of your system, obviously. But as soon as you do, we’re going to go open a bottle of wine and you’re going to tell us everything that’s happened since we last saw either one of you! We’ve heard some outlandish stories coming down the river from Stoke – I want to know everything!”
“You won’t have to wait long,” Coriae told him as she stepped over to the equipment wall and prepared to do battle with Theus, who likewise patted Amelia on the shoulder before he prepared for the contest as well. “It won’t take long to demonstrate how to thrash him,” she laughed.
The couple proceeded to battle with fierce determination, making Forgon and Amelia wince at crucial moments as the battling pair showed little mercy towards one another. Forgon finally called an end to the evenly-matched contest.
“Enough, enough, you’ve shown that love is no match for determination to dominate!” he stepped between the pair, then stepped hastily back as Coriae took one last lunge forward with her staff.
“I would ask that you let me take on one or the other of you, but we’re really most anxious to hear your story,” Forgon spoke again from the sidelines. Theus looked at him, while warily keeping an eye open for Coriae.
Minutes later, as peace broke out, the quartet walked back to the house.
“Your mother said you’re to go take baths and then meet her in the dining room. She’s sent a message to your father,” Lorinse the steward reported. “And it’s a pleasure to see you all back together,” he added with a smile.
“I’m staying in the room next to yours,” Amelia told Theus as the group climbed up the back staircase. “So if you snore, I’m going to hear it, although I don’t remember you snoring when we were traveling together from Steep Rise.”
“And I don’t remember you snoring either,” he agreed, before the foursome split up and headed to their individual rooms.
When Theus finished his bath, he was surprised to find Amelia sprawled upon his bed.
“I didn’t work up a sweat, so I didn’t need to bathe,” she explained. “Poor Forgon tries so hard, but some days I just don’t want to play with swords and staves and knives.
“So Theus,” she immediately changed topics, as he hastily buttoned his shirt, “first of all, come over here and let me brush your hair for you. It looks tangled.
“The real question I have,” she said once he was undergoing her ministrations to his unruly hair, “if I were to marry Forgon, and you were to marry Coriae, would that make us brother and sister?” she asked.
Theus raised an eyebrow as he considered he question. “Yes, I suppose that in a way it would do that.”
“Oh good!” she squeezed her arms around his neck in a hug from the back. “I’d love to have you and Amory as my brothers! You’d be even better than Amory because you never teased me or pushed me when we were little. Plus, you’re a magician now, and who wouldn’t like to have a magician as a brother?” she asked.
They laughed at the conversation, then went downstairs and found Forgon and his parents sitting at the table, talking in hushed tones. The conversation ceased as soon as the two visitors entered the room.
“Theus!” Lord Warrell greeted him warmly, rising to his feet and grasping Theus’s hand and forearm in a firm two-handed grasp. “It’s so good to see you back with us once again,” he told the guest. “And I gather there’s a great deal of news that you can provide to us about all that’s happening in the world?”
“I probably know more than the typical apprentice memory stone worker,” Theus agreed with a grin, then stopped and looked at the doorway, where Coriae was entering.
She wore a formal green dress that accented her eyes and made her appear to be a princess in regal attire
.
“This is one of my favorite dresses,” she announced to the room, “so when I got cleaned up, knowing that we had some important news, I decided to wear it for our announcement.” She glided smoothly over to Theus’s side, and they clasped hands.
“We came home to announce that we are officially engaged,” she spoke with a lilt in her voice. “And since I’m the one who asked Theus to marry me, he can’t be blamed for not asking for your permission first, daddy,” she looked at her father.
“We wish you all the happiness in the world!” he exclaimed. “And Theus hardly needs to ask me for permission for anything,” he added. “Just so long as both of you,” he stared at Coriae, “are truly sure this is what you really intend to be and do, without reservation or second thought.”
“We both want this. We’ve been through a great deal together recently,” Theus spoke up.
“We’ve seen each other in incredible circumstances, and we know our hearts are right to tell us this. He’s an amazing man, and I wouldn’t have anyone else but him,” Coriae spoke with determination. “You wouldn’t believe,” she began, and they all sat down to sip wine and listen with astonishment as Coriae and Theus told the story of the happenings in Stoke and Greenfalls and Limber.
“Real gods come to life? And you fought against a demon – truly?” Forgon asked in astonishment. “No wonder you were able to hold off Coriae at staves!” he drew a round of laughter from the others.
The family sat and spoke and listened for hours, as the servants brought food and drink from time to time, and listened in amazement from behind the door to the serving pantry.
At length, Lady Warrell asked what their plans were.
“I have to leave,” Theus answered. “I have to go to Southsand and fight the last battle against Donal and Ind’Petro, I hope.
“I plan to leave tomorrow,” he said.
“You can’t leave tomorrow!” Lord Warrell protested. “From what you’ve told us about your injured leg, you need more rest and recovery.”
“My leg held up pretty well in our contest in the armory,” Theus offered. “And I’ll take a day or two to travel to Exlive. I’m not in a hurry to get to Southsand, believe me,” he confessed. “But I have to go; there’s a task that only I can do. This whole past year feels as if it’s been preparing me for this,” he said abstractedly, thinking it for the first time, but convinced that he had spoken the truth.
“And when he comes back, we’ll plan the best wedding possible,” Coriae spoke up.
“We’d even make it a double wedding if there were another couple engaged to be married as well,” she added, with a sidelong look at Forgon, who blushed.
A moment of awkward silence ensued.
Lord Warrell restored conversation with a lively report about the battles between the guilds of the wharf workers who salted fish versus the ones who smoked fish, and how the city patrol had stopped the two groups from sabotaging one another’s livelihoods. “Once the smokers secretly dyed the salty brine the salters used, and all the fish came out purple!” he made the table laugh with his tales.
Afterwards, as the family prepared to go to bed for the evening, Lady Warrell asked Theus if he had any special requests for his farewell breakfast in the morning, and then they all bid goodnight and went their separate ways.
Theus awoke shortly before dawn to find Coriae sliding under his covers as she joined him in his bed.
“I just want to hug you as much as I can before you go,” she told him, and they drifted back to sleep until Lorinse knocked on Theus’s door in the morning.
Coriae disappeared as she slid down beneath the covers when the steward entered the room.
“We hadn’t seen Miss Coriae, and thought perhaps she was chatting with you this morning,” the head of the household staff explained as he apologized for interrupting.
“Perhaps she went to the armory to practice,” Theus suggested helpfully. “She needs to improve her work with weapons if she hopes to beat me in the future…ouch!” he yelped sharply, as Lorinse looked at him with concern.
“I have a cramp in my leg,” Theus lamely explained, and he promised the steward to be down soon for breakfast.
“I want you to come back from Southsand safe and sound,” Coriae’s head popped out from under the covers as soon as she heard the bedroom door close, “so that I can thrash you soundly in the armory before we get married!” she scolded him with a smile.
The pair were soon downstairs and ate breakfast with the family. Everyone at the table struggled to remain cheerful, as they all thought of the horrors they had seen and heard about, caused by Southsand’s evil aggression under the control of the black magician Theus was soon to face.
After the meal, Coriae and Theus sat together alone for several minutes, talking quietly, and then Theus was ready to leave. He found that the other members of the family had unintentionally formed a line of farewells, and he worked his way affectionately along the line, hugging, kissing, and speaking to each.
“When I get back, Southsand will be beaten, and Steep Rise will be a free nation again,” he told Amelia as they stood with arms on each other’s shoulder, looking at one another.
“You’ll help Amory, won’t you?” she asked earnestly.
“If I have a chance to, I’ll help Amory and Redford and Lord Krabel,” he promised, then stepped down to Forgon.
“I feel like a failure as a friend; I’ve missed every one of the great battles you’ve fought – here in Great Forks, up at Greenfalls, and now coming up in Southsand. Can you forgive me?” Forgon asked with sincerity.
“There’s nothing to forgive,” Theus replied calmly. It was the truth; a sense of obligation and responsibility had descended upon him in the last days he spent with Coriae. He felt that no matter what happened, he was fighting the battles that Limber and Currense had wanted him to fight, against the foes who threatened so much harm and pain. He didn’t know if he could win against Donal, who had apparently joined in an open alliance with demons – demons that were difficult for even the gods to fight.
But he almost fatalistically felt that winning and losing were beside the point. He would simply go and do the best he could, and take down as much of the evil power as possible.
Limber and Currense had shown him extraordinary things since the very first day he’d left his family farm. They had made him aware of the infinite number of ways in which evil and kindness were distributed and exercised in the everyday affairs of the lives of people everywhere. And he’d learned that unless the kindness was actively cultivated, exercised, and spread, it would not necessarily occur, while the evil seemed to have frightening momentum that caused it to fester and grow more easily. Ind’Petro and Donal were the cause of much of that evil momentum in the world, it seemed clear.
Theus and Forgon hugged again. Theus hitched up the strap that held his back pack, giving it a slight tug to settle his pack load in more securely and comfortably on his back. In the pack he had the strange horn that Limber had given him – so long ago, it seemed. The horn was destined to be a weapon that could destroy Ind’Petro’s temple, and negate the evil god’s power. So Limber had told Theus, and he trusted the god.
Beside the horn were a few articles of clothing, and a supply of food prepared for him by his friends in the kitchen at the Warrell mansion; he’d also received a few small containers with some of the most commonly used ingredients that his healing remedies called for. It was enough to sustain him on his journey to Southsand. The backpack was battered from long use and much travel, but it was reliable and sound, and Coriae had given up on trying to persuade him to rely on something that looked cleaner and more shapely.
Beside the pack he had his staff and his sword. They were proving to be less and less the weapons he relied upon as he found that magic, and guile, and agility could help him avoid unnecessary conflicts; he hoped they would do so on the upcoming journey.
And then he stepped in front of Coriae, the last in the line o
f greeters who were wishing him farewell.
The pair engaged in a long hug, made awkward by the gear he carried, but a hug they held silently for long seconds.
“I know you’re going to come back safe and sound when this is all over, and you’ll be ready to settle down somewhere,” Coriae murmured as she pressed her head on his shoulder. “Wherever that place is, I’ll be waiting to join you.”
“I’m glad I’ll be able to take a little bit of you with me,” he patted the ring she had given him, as it hung on the chain on his chest, beneath his shirt. “Not that I’ll need it to remind me of you; I’m not going to forget you this time,” he pledged with a smile.
“No matter how lonely it gets on the journey, I won’t be alone because I’ll have that reminder of you.”
“I don’t think you’ll be lonely either,” Coriae agreed.
They kissed, and then stepped apart.
Theus gave a wave to everyone in the hallway, smiled, then turned, and disappeared.
“We’ll see him again, don’t worry,” Forgon stepped over beside Coriae and told her confidently.
“I know. And until then, I’ll see him a great deal, in my dreams about the future,” she agreed.
Chapter 21
Theus found himself in the countryside south of Great Forks with his first step. He had a long way to travel to get to Southsand, and he didn’t intend to hurry along the way. Despite the great show he had made of being healthy and healed, he still felt weakness and pain in his shattered leg. He intended to travel slowly enough to let the leg further heal, using some of the healing potion he had premixed and included in his pack.
Theus squinted at the sky overhead. There were more clouds than he had seen at Great Forks, but the landscape in the pasture was still brightly lit; he watched a wood chuck hastily bustle towards its burrow for safety from his unexpected arrival. Theus took a breath and relaxed. He felt a lingering sense of tension due to his departure from his friends at the Warrell mansion. If he made it back – when he made it back, he corrected himself – he would tell them all how much he appreciated them. And he would take the time to visit others in Great Forks too, people he hadn’t seen recently, like Glory and Mason and Trey and even Master Falstaff.
Tangled Engagements (The Memory Stones Series Book 4) Page 23
