As Sean led Laurelyn out into the corridor they were met by Gairge. "E'll teke her frem here," he told Sean, with a quick signal of the hand to send the boy on.
Laurelyn's eyes narrowed at her cousin's highhanded manner. She could tell from his badge that he had moved up in rank since she had seen him last - fortunately four years back. "Sean would have done well enough as an escort," she said, "I suspect he knows the way."
"Nay, nay," Gairge said, with the mockery of concern, "It weuldn't do to have a _mere_ bey escertin' the Chieftain's deughter. Net et all!"
The storyteller knew that he was going to try and get even with her for her earlier slight to his authority, but the question was - how far would he go? Subtly she shifted her belt dagger into easier reach. "Then lead the way," she said with all the chill air of command she could muster. The only real advantage she had in this Dun of ancient traps and twisting halls was that her Da awaited her - and so her disappearance while enroute would be hard to explain.
For many corridors they walked along in silence - with Laurelyn remembering all the reasons why she had left behind her clan heritage. A heritage as bloody as any within the Republic, and she realized that had been one reason she couldn't curse the Republica's soldiers. She was no hypocrite - so she couldn't condemn the men and women for fighting for their believes, but she could condemn those believes - whether borne of fanaticism or of vengeance.
"Thet's quite a metley band of "felks" ye trevel with," Gairge broke said, breaking the frosty silence, "Werse then nermally trevel with a tinker."
"Be wary, Gairge," Laurelyn started.
"Or ye'll tell yer Da?" Gairge said with a mocking laugh.
With her lips tight in a warning smile Laurelyn said softly, "No....., I was going to remind you that tinkers know more than their share of curses, and if I am such as they - then you might wake tomorrow withering with worms." Her lips tightened further and she added, "As for my companions - they have proved themselves to be true allies in the inferno of battle....far better than some who are of my same blood."
"But I den't heve to even werry abeut these curses," Gairge said, "Sense ye're net even a tinker - and ye have no bards treinin.'" The corrider reverberated with his laughter as he added, "And fer the enferno of bettle....ye never were one fer a fight. E'd sey ye never hed the stemach fer it. Se meybe thet rebble scered eff a sterved rebber or twe, bet net much else."
Laurelyn almost laughed aloud. Gairge had been _so_ right about the starved robber!! The bitter mirth was in her voice when she said, "Oh, Gairge, pray that you never meet those starved robbers!! Or, she wondered, remembering that those robbers hungered for human flesh and souls, perhaps she should pray that he did? A brief chill swept through her at the temptation and she quickly decided that she wouldn't not wish her worse enemy to fall to such an end. For, in those far woods, that evil only slept in its circle - though most of its minions lay dead, and the survivors were wounded, cursed folk, who had lost the thirst for blood.
But there had been something about her tone - or maybe her expression - that made Gairge fall silent. Maybe something that reminded him that Laurelyn had been away - traveling in strange and distant places - for over fifteen years.
His silence held until he announced her to the Chieftain's guards.
Not even her anger at Gairge could dampen Laurelyn's joy at seeing her father, and so it was with a joyous smile on her face that she walked into the room. Behind her the guards quietly closed the door.
Acair Hillrover, Chieftain
of the Hillrover clan, was a good two inches taller than his "baby" brother,
Brion, and with a few white strands in his auburn hair and beard. Nor had
he yet changed from his warrior's kilt, with sword hanging at belt, to
his ceremonial clothing; for now his long hair was pulled back in a thong.
Even before the door had clicked shut he was striding across the room -
his cry of "Laurelyn!" reverberating in the oaken beams of the high ceiling.
Her own stride was
just quick and long, and she braced herself for all-embracing hug that
was forthcoming, though she held on just as long. For though she had forsaken
the warring ways of her clan she had not forsaken her love of her father,
and her three uncles. "Da!" she whispered as she was crushed against his
chest, with her cheek pressed hard against the woolen folds of his kilt.
Nor was it all delight that made her hold on - but an insidious fear that
the Fort of Sorrows might claim him.
Finally Acair loosened his embrace and looked into the face of his daughter - and only child. Who looked up at him with the same searching look; her blue eyes studying his face to see all that was remembered and loved, and to try to come to terms with the signs of age and world-weariness. Both father and daughter found the world's marks within the other's eyes.
As he motioned her towards the great fireplace and the chairs that had been pulled up he said, "I have heard wild tales that you travel with a dwarf, a shaman, a Fhaolian, a barbarian, a mother with babe-in-arms, a lad, and a lady. And....a warrior who rides at your side."
Laurelyn heard the speculation in her Da's voice, and opted to set the record straight on her companions first - before broaching the topic of Thomis. "Well, they at least have the head count and gender right," she said, sitting down in the chair he offered. "But the 'dwarf' is Keir, a master healer, and of a race called the Hortus...the 'shaman' is Jacques the Jester. They did get the 'Fhaolain' right, but Fionn seems to an abundance of loyalty - to Maeve and Rue ...I'll get back to that story...The lad is Rudolpho and the lady is Daron. Ulric is a warrior we found wounded and who is heading to Morrow's Hold with us...And the warrior who rides with me.....is Thomis."
Her father settled in a chair opposite her's and leaned back, seeming to be watching the firelight. "I suspect that there are many stories behind such traveling companions," he said, "...Your Ulric for one - some of the men vaguely remembering hearing tales of sea maruaders dressed like him.. but obviously you found him far from the shore...A Fhaolain is always considered trouble - and I will need to know more about this girl and her babe that you say he is loyal to." He shifted to look at his daughter, and raised his hand to forestall her explanations. "But there are two questions more important than that ....What bonds you and this assortment together? And why do you turn a shade redder when you speak of this Thomis?"
Laurelyn opened her mouth to protest, but was cut short when Acair added with a warm grin, "Its a trait of your Ma's - she always turns red when someone mentions me."
After a few more false starts the storyteller finally managed to say, "Thomis is someone very special to me." She felt the warmth of her blush spreading as she added, "We were through a lot together in Montfort."
"Then," Acair said, with a mock seriousness, "The gentlman best be brought here and presented to me." With these words he strode over to the door and sent a runner to go get Thomis.
And while they waited Laurelyn began to try to explain why such a crew traveled with her - that each in their own way seemed to desire something from "The Star Dreamer." What was harder than explaining others' nearly-hopeless desires was explaining her own - and why she would risk everything on an legend.
[Thomis]
The Oath-bound had taken Laurelyn's warning, and had used the short time afforded by her initial reunion with her father to indulge in a quick -- very quick -- bath and change of clothing, though the shave had to be postponed for another day. Just as he rubbed his chin and contemplated the dark stubble on his cheeks, a runner appeared to summon him. "Watch yourself and those with you," he murmured to Fionn before slipping out the door after the one who had come to fetch him. The other man, just stepping from the tub with his shoulder-length hair hanging wet to his shoulders, just looked at him with an expression that said Thomis might want to take his own advice.
Not that Thomis ever did anything else. When the party had been led into the fortress, he automatically had taken note of each person therein, cataloguing them and their weapons, as well as the exits, as few as they were, from the Dun. And as he moved after the messenger, he counted doors and turns of the hall and steps up and down. His shortsword still hung at his hip; Laurelyn had not said what the etiquette was for coming armed into the chief's presence, and if someone demanded that he yield the blade, only then would he decide whether to give it without protest.
Depending on who asked, and why, for something about the atmosphere in the Dun, and the edge to Laurelyn's exchanges with her cousin Gairge, and the sideways glances given to Fionn and Ulric and the others in the party, made him *want* to have the sword at his side, and the knife in his boot.
[Acair/Laurelyn]
After hearing that Thomis was at the door Acair signaled that he was to be admitted, and stood standing - more like "towering" by the fireplace, with the firelight dancing as a backdrop.
Laurelyn was torn between standing and greeting Thomis, and staying seated. She looked up at her Da as he did his best to look intimidating, and felt like whispering that though he looked grand Thomis had faced far more nightmarish situations. But she knew that he would have to weigh Parch's mettle for himself. So she stayed where she was and chided herself for holding her breath - she _knew_ that Thomis would easily pass this test. Or any other her Da would throw his way.
[Thomis]
Thomis Parch stepped into the room and away from the door to allow the runner to shut it behind him. His brown eyes, as he looked up ... and up ... remained calm. Though a slight twitch in the fingers of one hand might have told Laurelyn that he had felt the urge to touch the scar across the bridge of his nose as a reminder of what trouble headstrong women could bring to him, he kept his hands down by his side. And bowed, not too slightly for the movement to seem merely obligatory, and therefore disrespectful, nor too deeply for it to be unctuous, but just enough to indicate regard for the Chief of the Hillrovers and the father of the woman he followed. "I thought Brion's claim of being the baby of the family was merely a jest," Thomis said quietly as he straightened. "I see now that I was wrong."
[Acair/Laurelyn]
Acair's chuckle was low but hearty as he acknowledged Thomis's bow, and stepped forward to offer Parch his hand. "Aye, our wayward piper is but the wee one of the family. I had heard that ye were the one that led him astray, bet I canna hold that against ye - since ye saw to it that me daughter was safe."
"Da, you can't even lay Brion's travels on Thomis," Laurelyn said, with a gleam in her eyes, "He told me himself that Ma sent him along."
"And there aren't many Hillrovers that can ignore that woman," Acair answered with a laughing, but loving, growl.
[Thomis]
"I imagine not," Thomis replied, not wincing as the Chief took his hand and tested his grip. Brion had done the same when first they had met in Morrow's Hold, the strength of their handshake an implicit vow of retribution if the Oathbound should think to do anything to harm Laurelyn. His own hold, and the way he met the Chief's gaze was its own promise, perhaps not as binding as the oath he had taken to Mesani I'Se, but one he would not break. "Nor her daughter," he added finally, with a brief glance to Laurelyn.
[Laurelyn/Acair]
Laurelyn ignored the increased warmth of her cheeks and stood. She knew that the two men would probably appreciate a few minutes to talk - without her about, and before formalities were required. She said, "If I'm to look less like a wandering tinker and more like a Chieftain's daughter at this feast I best get a bath."
There were still many a topic she hoped they would have a chance to discuss - like whether the re-taking of Bro'n was so much a move to stop McLenan raids or one instigated by factions within the Hillrover clan. And she knew that her Da wanted to know more about what had happened to her in Montfort - to understand why she sought "The Star Dreamer."
Acair nodded and said, "Aye, a wise move - I want them to well understand that ye are _my_ daughter."
Which told Laurelyn something more - that some of the more conservative of the Hillrover clan had been pushing for him to sire an heir, though it was well within his rights to choose a suitable man to be groomed as a Chief. Which is what Acair had done - leaving no opening for one of the cousins, like Gairge's direct kin, to seek guardianship of a babe - if Acair was to die. But even with that loophole sealed someone was challenging him - carefully, and using her arrival as yet one more needle; the daughter who had refused to train as a bard, or sit on the women's council in their home Dun - who had walked away from many of the clan ways. Which was considered presumptuous by many - she had a lot to "prove," since her mother - a coast woman - had refused to marry into the clan.
And though she had always been aware of clan politics she found herself more sensitive and more wary of the machinations of the different factions. She knew that part of her sensitivity came from her time in Southern courts, but more so from her time of trying to survive the Republic's occupation of Montfort.
Once Laurelyn had excused herself Acair indicated a comfortable chair and asked, "Ale or brandy?"
[Thomis]
The Oath-bound paused for only a moment, but a perceptible one, obviously
trying to decide whether the tone of the conversation already had changed
now that Laurelyn had left the room. He could imagine several directions
the discussion could take, from light-hearted to deadly serious, depending
on how the Chief cared to take his measure. "Brandy," he answered,
taking the chair and automatically adjusting it so that he could see all
entrances into the room. Was it Laurelyn or her father who had made
that note of unease return? The storyteller had said the highlands
were a bloody place, with their own deadly schemes, and Brion had as much
as said the same.