There so many questions being fired at him that finally Dorien intervened. “Quiet!” Everyone looked at him with a bit of shock. “Tentret, close the curtains tight. Maman, stop that caterwauling before a neighbor comes knocking. Let Alador have a seat and we will take our turn with our questions.”
Alador flashed Dorien a grateful look as Sofie led him to the table. His mother was busy dabbing her eyes with her apron. Alador knowing his mother well, looked over and smiled.
“Maman, suppose I could get a bowl of that stew? It smells amazing.” As he predicted, his mother’s face split into a huge smile and she hurried over to ladle him a bowl.
Alador slipped into a chair and everyone sat back down. His mother put a bowl and spoon before him, and Sofie slid over the loaf of steaming bread. Alador looked about as everyone stared at him, waiting expectantly. Alador took the expected taste of the stew and nodded to his mother.
“I have missed your cooking so much, Maman.” He was again rewarded with her happy grin as she joined the others at the table.
“Now there, my dear boy, you know very well I fed you quite often.” Henrick frowned at Alador. The others laughed, breaking the tension of the unanswered questions on the tip of everyone’s tongue.
“Father, no offense but there is nothing better than maman’s cooking. Why, I think that is half the reason you visit so often.” Alador teased.
“That and other delights.” Henrick conceded with a grin.
“Henrick!” Alanis squeaked.
Chuckles went about the table at the look on Sofie’s face and his mother’s girlish blush. Alador found that the thought did not bother him as it first had. He had accepted that Henrick, the Henrick whom he knew, was not responsible for the spell placed upon his mother the night he had been conceived. That his mother was cavorting with a dragon was a bit more than he wanted to consider.
The next couple of hours were spent answering his family’s questions. What was his day like? What was it like to live in a mine? How long could he stay? What did he think of Silverport? What kind of spells could he cast? Alador was careful to keep his answers very general when it came to matters of his magic. Dorien caught his eyes with a questioning look at one point, and Alador had given him a slight shake of his head. He knew his brother would have surmised that this was not just a family reunion. After that, Dorien left the questions to everyone else.
“What did you do to Mesiande?” Sofie asked. The room became silent, and Alador did not miss the withering look that his mother gave his sister.
“What do you mean, what did I do to her?” Alador frowned uncertain how answer that question and buying time.
“One day, she was just a little sad and missing you. The next, she was all angry and quit talking to everybody.” Sofie explained. “She spends most of her time in a mine or at home. She hardly ever is about the village anymore.”
“I don’t live here, how could I’ve been responsible?” He glanced at Henrick who just shrugged as he ladled stew into his mouth.
Sofie rolled her eyes. “Oh please! Like any of us believe for a moment that you two don’t communicate somehow.”
Tentret uncharacteristically came to Alador’s rescue. “Sofie, your mouth and gossiping ways are going to be the end of you one day. You make assumptions without facts to base them on.”
“I have facts.” She pouted in that childlike manner that she had perfected. “I just believe that you can love someone. Love has a way of crossing barriers. Tentret, everything isn’t a matter of logic and cold hearted korpen dung.”
“Sofie!” Alanis’ face clouded with a look that every one of her children had come to fear. “You will leave now, and you will keep your mouth shut about Alador’s presence here tonight. Am I clear?” Alanis enunciated every word.
Sofie looked as if she were going to argue for a brief moment. Alador realized that it would not be long before Sofie found a housemate to establish her own household. It would not have ended well for his sister if she had tried to stand up at that moment. However, he suspected that the day she would try was not too far off. It was usually how a woman came to find a housemate and a house of her own; mother and daughter would finally reach a point where authority of the household was challenged. Usually, the daughter did not win.
Sofie stood up angrily and pushed her chair in. “I just asked a question. You all act like she is the one who ‘died’.” Her glance at Alador was haughty and condemning. With this last gibe, his sister turned and flounced from the room. The force of the door slamming as she left rattled the pans hanging on their pegs in the kitchen.
Tentret put a hand on Alador’s arm. “Don’t pay her no mind. You know how she is.”
Alador nodded. Despite knowing Sofie, her parting comment had still stung. It wasn’t that she had hurt his feelings, but more that her gibe had been the truth. Technically, Alador was supposed to be dead to them.
Dorien looked around the table as Tentret was speaking to Alador. He leaned over to the older man and murmured. “Henrick, I would like to speak to my brother alone if I may. Would you take maman down for a drink or two?"
Henrick nodded. “I would be happy too.” The older mage rose up and offered his hand to Alanis. “Shall we, my dear?”
“But he just got here and … I want to stay.” She crossed her arms in that way that Alador had come to dread. His mother could be rather stubborn. Despite her age, he was fairly sure his mother was pouting.
“I promise you that you will get to speak to him before he disappears again, Alanis.” Henrick caressed her cheek as he gave her a gentle smile. “However, I know that Alador has something that he must speak with Dorien about as well, and well, the less you and I know, the better it will be.” He put a concerned hand on her arm. “You wouldn’t want to endanger our dear boy, now would you?”
Alanis looked at Alador with uncertainty. “Well no…” she admitted, allowing Henrick to pull her from the chair by her arm. “It’s just…” She swallowed the rest of her words.
Alador tried to give her a reassuring smile. “I promise, Maman, I will not run off and leave you without a proper conversation. It’ll be just the two of us.”
“Swear it!” Alanis said, glancing at him with genuine fear he would disappear.
“I so swear.”
Tentret stood up. “I think I will go double check the fire at the forge, make sure it is banked properly.” The two brothers always banked it properly so Alador knew it was just an excuse to give his two brother’s privacy.
Alador waited till Henrick and his mother had left before saying anything further. When the door latched, he looked at Dorien to find his brother deeply scrutinizing him. “I suppose you want to know why I am really here,” the mage said.
“If it were so easy for you to come and go without consequence, then tonight would not have been the first night you came home.” Dorien stated leaning back in his chair, he teetered the chair on its back legs. The big man was clearly waiting for Alador to explain for he said nothing more and crossed his arms.
“I have…. There’s this...” Alador ran a hand through his hair. “I am not sure how to explain this,” he admitted.
“I find starting at the beginning is a very good way to start a complicated explanation.” he answered seriously. Dorien winked at him.
“The beginning?” Alador wondered where that even was after everything he had learned from Renamaum.
“The beginning seems a right smart way to start,” Dorien restated.
Alador rubbed his face and sat back as he thought of how to start. “There is so much, and each has its own beginning.” He took a breath and eyed his brother, wondering if he were making the right choice.
He decided to begin by setting the stage. “Silverport has a High Minister as most cities. However, this one is the leading city for all the rest.” Alador stared at the wall behind Dorien. “It turns out that this man, Luthian, is my uncle.”
Dorien whistled. “Well, that is news that had
best not get out. We will have people lying in wait to see if you ever appear and will each want to be the one to claim your or Henrick’s head.” Dorien still sat cross armed and relaxed.
Seeing his brother had not reacted in anger emboldened Alador to go further. “These things are going to seem unrelated for a moment, but I will tie them all together when I am done.” He waited for Dorien’s nod then continued.
Alador pulled the mug over and stared into it as he began to speak. “The bloodstone I harvested was clear because my mage powers had just reached a point where I would have passed the test. When I pulled the stone out of the ground, somehow I harvested the powers in the stone itself.” He looked up but Dorien just nodded at him to continue.
“This stone was a bit different. It is a geas stone. When a powerful dragon is dying, it can press its dying wish into the stone. The mage that finds that stone must complete the dragon’s last request, but gains the power of the dragon to help him do so.” Alador turned the cup absently in his hands as he spoke, watching the liquid within slosh back and forth.
“The dragon of this stone was very powerful. So much so that an echo of him was retained within the stone and transferred to me when I harvested it. It is rather complicated to explain it all, but the short version is that he is now a part of me.” Alador did not look up taking a deep breath
“You have asked me to accept at your word a great deal, brother.” Dorien stated quietly. “But now you tell me that you hold within you one of the beasts that we revere. It is… a little much to accept.” Dorien sat his chair back down on four legs and leaned forward. He looked Alador up and down. “I have never heard of such a thing happening.”
Alador looked up at his brother. “Imagine how I feel knowing that my powers came at the death of a dragon. Or that, I took his powers and his memories.” Alador swallowed hard. “That leads me to the next part. I have made a pact with his family and another dragon.”
Dorien’s sat staring at Alador for a very long time. When he finally spoke, it was as if he feared being overheard. “You have spoken with dragons?” His question was slow and Dorien’s eyes were very large.
“I have.” Alador met Dorien’s gaze evenly. “The last request of the dying dragon needed to involve them.” Alador’s face lit with excitement. “It was more than I ever dreamed, Dorien. They talk, act and play just like Daezun or Lerdenians, except, well, they are dragons.”
“What is this dragon’s last request?” Dorien pressed.
“Oh, yes sorry. I got off track” Alador spun the mug between his hands spilling liquid onto the table. “Well, it is rather broad and hard to interpret, but it basically is to save the dragons’ young from Lerdenia.”
“How is one man to do that?” Dorien asked incredulously.
“If you knew how many times I have asked that question.” Alador laughed at the thought. “However, one man does not. He reaches out to those he trusts for help.”
“And this is why you are here?” Dorien asked.
“Yes, this is why I am here.” Alador admitted. “I could think of no one I trust more.”
Dorien ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath. “I suspect by your posture and tone there is more. Let us have the rest of this incredulous news.”
Alador planned to be a bit more careful in the next revelations. His brother did not need to know quite everything. He had already trusted him with a great deal that could lead to many trying to end his existence. He nodded and pushed the mug aside.
“Luthian, my uncle, wishes to unify the island under one rule...” Before Alador could continue Dorien rose up, his chair falling backwards.
Dorien spit on the floor. “It will be a foul day before Daezun would bend a knee to a mage ruler.”
Alador remained calm as he looked up at his brother and stated firmly. “A foul day is coming.” His answer was somber as he held Dorien’s angry gaze and remained still.
Dorien finally broke the stare between them and picked up the chair, setting it upright angrily. “What do you know?” he spat out.
“Luthian has a weather mage. One that is capable of casting and controlling great blizzards and storms.” Alador hated not telling his brother the whole truth, but he was fairly certain that the man would not understand the delicate game that he played. “The plan is to bring a hard winter down on the Daezun, then a late spring frost, and between weather and failing crops, force them to draw in.” Alador could not continue to look at Dorien and speak, so he rose clasping his hands behind him as he walked to the crackling fire.
“He will force a starvation upon the land then come in as offering hero to the people. The condition for food, aid and help with the weather will be to bend that knee you so adamantly claim will not happen.” Alador picked up a small grass pot that his sister had woven for his mother when she was young, eyeing it fondly. When Dorien did not speak, the mage turned around to look at him.
“I do not understand?” Dorien look flustered as he dropped back into the chair.
“It will be a war of attrition. Not a single man will be lost in Lerdenian holdings. The longer the Daezun stubbornly refuse to ask for help, the more of them that will die. In Luthian’s mind, either way, he will win.” Alador moved to stand before Dorien, his apprehension gone as he spoke with confidence.
“And your part?” Dorien asked with suspicion. “What part are you to play?”
Alador cleared his throat and shifted nervously. “I have abjectly refused to assist him in the destruction of my own family.” Alador raised his chin a little. At least that part was true and allowed him to meet Dorien’s harsh appraising look calmly. “He has agreed to save Smallbrook from the worst in exchange for my loyalty and silence.”
Dorien’s eyes narrowed. “But you are telling me?”
Alador nodded. “Yes, so it is best he not find out,” he answered. Alador moved closer to Dorien. “But to remain close to him, I may have to do things I don’t like.” He took a hold of Dorien’s shoulder. “When I am powerful enough though, I am going to remove him from power and kill him.”
Dorien rose back up, surveying Alador as he did and his movement forced Alador’s hand to fall away. They stood quietly assessing one another. “You have changed,” he stated.
“More than I can ever explain, brother.” Alador nodded in agreement as he grinned at his brother’s recognition.
“We will not leave our home, Alador. We will not run and leave the others to this fate.” Dorien’s tone was deadly and cold.
“I was counting on the fact that you would not.” Alador admitted as he glanced up at the beast of a man.
Dorien ran a hand through his unkempt hair. “You have a plan?”
Alador pulled out the chair by his brother and sat down. He reached across the table to retrieve his mug. Only then did Alador look at Dorien a smile as he beckoned his brother to sit. “I have the plan.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Alador had stayed almost the entire night talking to his family. He had not dared to leave their house for fear that someone other than his kin saw him in the village. He had spent time with each of them alone, even Sophie, who had settled down in the wee hours of the morning. It had been important to show them that despite his skills in magic, he was still the same Alador that had left them.
He rubbed the ache from his eyes that the lack of sleep had created along with staring into the fire for far too long. He had one last person to see; it was a visit he dreaded and hoped for all at the same time. Alador focused his talisman on the small clearing by the swimming hole. It was just about dawn, and so no one was bound to be about. Sophie was on her way to see if Mesiande would meet him there.
As he manifested in the small clearing, he was relieved to find that it was unchanged. He had half-feared appearing with a twig in his leg. Alador built a small fire to provide heat for her. Once he was satisfied with the small blaze, he looked about. He had built the fire to filter up through the trees and had used as dry a wood
as he could find. He did not want anyone to come investigating.
Alador paced for some time before he heard the first steps of anyone approaching. The sun was fully visible over the far ridge when Mesiande stepped into the small copse of trees that sheltered the pool. Alador smiled at her despite the state that he had left things. She had that pert upturn of her chin, and it was clear that even though she was angry with him that she had still groomed to meet him. Not a hair was out of place, and she wore a skirt rather than her usual breeches. Alador was uncertain if the dress was a good sign or a bad one.
Mesiande did not answer his smile. Her arms were crossed, and her words were clipped when she finally spoke. "Well, I’m here. What do you want?"
The smile on Alador's face slowly slid down as it was clear that she was still more than a little vexed with him. He could not blame her. He had acted the perfect ass, and while he had gotten the results he had wanted at the time, the cost had been harsh.
"I came to apologize and tell you that you were right." He would have to step carefully. Mesiande had one of those tempers that was hard to rile, but once it raised she took her time forgetting one's offense. Alador put both hands out beseeching her forgiveness.
“Of course I was right.” Her hands moved to her hips. "You can't just show up and say I am sorry," she pointed out angrily. “It won’t just make things magically better no matter how good of a mage you have become.”
Alador's tone was soft as he answered her. "I realize that, Mesiande. However, it seemed a good place to start."
She took her hands off her hips and stepped forward. It was a good sign. "And what was it that I was right about?"
"That I was being a korpen's ass. That what I said and did was beyond simple forgiveness. That I was becoming a man that you would not wish to be with." Alador indicated the ground to offer her a place to sit with him by the fire. When she shook her head no, he continued. "Mesi, I just wanted you to go home. I thought if you were mad enough at me that you wouldn't want to stay." He took a step towards her. "I would never want you to be a bed servant. I...care for you too much for such a callous act."
Pseudo-Dragon (The Blue Dragon's Geas Book 4) Page 22
