Aftermath Chapter Four
Sep. 24th, 2010 03:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dracoqueen22a/n: Time for another update! Go back to the beginning here if you are a new reader. And enjoy!
Title: Aftermath
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Drama, Gen (aka no focus on romance, either het or slash)
Size: approximately 81K words
Warnings: some graphic images, memories of past torture, violence, strong language
Summary: Seven heroes try to pick up the pieces after vanquishing evil and protecting what is most important to them. But nightmares haunt the night, and restless stirrings keep them wandering. The real battle begins as they struggle to remember what it means to have a normal life.
Trahern's home town is located on the furthest border of Umbra, where the land meets the sea. His fellow townsfolk are mostly fishermen, and it is with great luck that they escaped most of the madness brought about by the Ruhin. The displaced Ruhin hadn't traveled so far and only a few made it to Rista. They had been quickly dispatched however, so the village had emerged unscathed.
“He's already returned to the smithery,” Haiden explains as they ride through Rista, Gaelin sharing Rai's horse and seeming content to do so. Rai doesn't understand his attachment.
Rai nods, watching townsfolk who are watching their entrance with open distrust. His nose twitches at the strong odors of sea and salt, his ears roaring with the noise of a nearby shore. “I seem to remember a promise he made,” he says, wondering if any of the villagers will be disposed to point them toward Trahern's home. “New blades was it?”
“Something of the like,” Haiden replies, and smiles. “Though I'm quite content with my current weapon. As you should be as well.” He shoots a pointed look over his shoulder at Rai's sword. “It isn't often that a human is allowed to bear a boneblade.”
“It was meant for you,” Rai grumps, still not in the most pleasant of moods.
For the past few nights, he has been attacked by those nightmares. To the extent that he is beginning to wonder if the proximity to his fellow companions might be reminding him of things he'd rather forget.
“Ah, but I'm quite satisfied with the one I have now, thanks,” Haiden says, patting the blade that hangs on his left side.
Haiden looks back to the road and smiles pleasantly down at one of the townswoman, who flusters at the force of that starry grin. “Excuse me, good lady...”
Rolling his eyes, Rai listens with only half an ear as Haiden inquires about Trahern. A hand tugs on Rai's sleeve, Gaelin trying to get his attention.
“What?”
The boy points at a nearby vendor, a pleasant smell wafting from his stall along with a hefty dose of cooking smoke. As Rai watches, the man sets out two trays, both filled with pastries. Though by the smell of them, half are fruit and the other half are meat. Rai's own stomach issues a complaint.
“You want one?” Rai asks, remembering that Gaelin has always had a large appetite, something their entire group had found amusing.
Gaelin nods, practically salivating. Chuckling, Rai carefully dismounts, handing the reins to Gaelin. Flynt is disciplined enough not to run off with the boy, especially after he pats the stallion on the neck. Silent communication. Glancing at Haiden, who is having an overlong of a flirtatious conversation with the woman, Rai returns his attention to Gaelin.
“Watch after him for me,” he orders, and is rewarded with a beaming smile, as though Gaelin is proud to be given that responsibility. “I'm guessing you want something with fruit, right?” It's really trying to have a conversation with a child who can't speak, Rai realizes.
The kid nods, his fingers curling determined around the reins. Unsurprised, Rai dives into the press of people and makes his way to the stand. The smell is even stronger here, and his stomach – free of breakfast since Haiden had made gruel again – demands to be fed immediately.
He looks over the selection, and considers not getting Haiden anything. After all, the bastard keeps serving things that he knows Rai doesn't eat. But his conscience wins out in the end and Rai emerges unscathed with a bagful of pastries – several of the apple and cherry for Gaelin and himself, and a couple meat pies for Haiden, who doesn't like sweets.
Rai returns to Gaelin and Flynt and finds that Haiden has also dismounted.
“Hungry?” Haiden teases, lifting a brow at the bundle of pies in Rai's arm.
Rai rolls his eyes, and hands up a few of the fruit-filled pies to Gaelin. The boy eagerly dives into a cherry one, though careful not to get his face dirty again. The two men had been successful in getting him cleaned the day before, though it had taken Rai holding him down while Haiden fought with a wet cloth. True enough, there was a young child beneath the dirt, one with big brown eyes and a puppy-expression.
“Serve me gruel again and see what happens,” Rai grumbles, tossing the meat pies at Haiden, who catches them easily. “What'd they say?”
Biting into the flaky pastry, Haiden grins. “It's not that far from here,” he says after he swallows the first bite.
Tugging on the reins, they start down the street. Rai lets Gaelin continue to ride, seeing no need for the boy to walk. Besides, it seems to make him happy and right now, he'd do nearly anything to get that hollow look out of the kid's eyes.
Gaelin has been subdued for the past few days. He was quiet before, but the clinginess is something new. Rai can hardly go anywhere without the kid trying to latch onto him, a fact which amuses Haiden greatly.
“His smithery is in the town?” Rai asks with some surprise, knowing that the heat and smoke of the forge fires usually forced smitheries to the outskirts. He unwraps his own pie – cherry he thinks – and bites down into it.
Haiden struggles to speak around the mouthful of pastry. “No, his house is. They said he should be home today.”
“Ah, that makes sense.” Rai focuses on eating, wondering how Trahern will react to their sudden visit.
Funny how Haiden seems to have known Trahern's home town; none of them had known that much about each other. His brow furrows.
“How did you know he lives here?”
Haiden chuckles, wrapping up the last of his pastries and putting it in his saddlebag for later. “Unlike you, who plays the ghost, I've heard from everyone else, excluding Maro. They write letters. Though Ryn is really the one who corresponds. I just read over her shoulder.”
“Rynneth,” Rai automatically corrects, shifting his attention to Gaelin. “Good?”
The boy nods, a bit of apple filling stuck to one cheek as he munches on what appears to be his third pie of the afternoon. Rai digs into his saddlebag and produces a relatively clean piece of cloth to wipe Gaelin’s face. He hands the handkerchief to the boy, letting Gaelin tend to his own matters.
“I heard from Lathe, too,” Haiden adds. “From my family and your father.”
Rai's fingers curl tighter around the reins. “How's the family?” He carefully avoids discussion of Hiroto.
“Proud.” Haiden shrugs. “Mama wants us to come back for a big meal. I planned on taking Ryn in a couple of weeks.” He pauses, and looks back at Rai. “Don't you want to know what Hiroto had to say?”
“Is that Trahern's house?” Rai asks, pulling forward and leading Flynt with him as he stops in front of one of the homes. It looks like something that would suit Trahern, austere but with a dash of decoration.
Haiden's eyes burrow into the back of Rai's skull, but Haiden doesn't press the issue, just as Rai hasn’t pressed about Haiden's engagement. “Your intuition is uncanny as always,” Haiden replies, and hitches Kender's reins to the fence.
Rai follows Haiden's example and helps Gaelin down. The boy grabs his arms and Rai easily hefts him out of the saddle, setting him on his feet. He frowns when he notices the crumbs dotting the boy's face, but leaves them be. He isn't Gaelin's mother after all.
Haiden is already weaving his way toward the front door, and barely knocks twice before it swings open in front of him. A woman, pleasant-faced and a bit rotund, smiles up at them. Her cornflower blue eyes crinkle at the corners.
“Hello,” she greets kindly, one hand wiping over the other with the edge of her apron. Some flour dusts the front of her soft blue dress. “Can I help ye?”
Haiden smiles, flashing his usual charming grin as Rai appears behind him, Gaelin clinging to his side. “Yumi, isn't it?” he asks and holds out a hand of greeting. “Trahern has told me much about you.”
She allows him to take her fingers, pressing a gentle kiss to the inside of her palm. “Trahern...?” she repeats with some confusion before her blue eyes light up in recognition. “I see! You must be some of the companions!” Yumi's gaze flickers between the three of them, probably matching their faces to Trahern's descriptions. “But... you're so young!”
Haiden laughs. “That's the same thing Trahern said to us when we started our foolish adventure. Is he home?”
“Of course,” she answers, and then flushes as though ashamed of herself. One palm hits her cheek gently. “Forgive me, prattlin' on like that. Come on in.” Yumi steps aside, holding the door open to prove the invitation.
“Thank you,” Haiden replies politely, and Rai can't help but wonder who this suave and charming man is.
His friend has so many faces that he asks himself just who Haiden is, and why he hasn't noticed this before. Haiden has always appeared like this to everyone, what he needs to be for any situation. The Haiden that Rai knows has always been very different from the Haiden that everyone else sees. Rai wonders if that makes their friendship something truly unique, or if Rai is just treated to a different face as well.
Gaelin enters ahead of Rai, pulling him along with a firm grip, and Rai stumbles out of his thoughts. They are something he will save for another time. For now, he is too busy taking in his surroundings.
His first impression is that of a home. Trahern's house feels warm and comfortable, practically exuding a sense of welcome. There is a smell in the air, something home-baked. It feels like a home should, or at least how Rai has always imagined a home should.
“Trahern's in the back room,” Yumi explains, shutting the door behind them and tucking a stray curl behind her small ear. “I'm sure he'll be happy ta see you two. He talks about ye all the time.” Her faint accent proves that she hails from a place much further north than Rista.
Haiden simply smiles. “Sorry for intruding without any warning,” he tells her. “It was a spontaneous decision.”
She waves him off. “No bother,” Yumi says, and her gaze falls on Rai and Gaelin, the latter of whom is peering around the taller hunter as if Rai were a human shield.
Her eyes brighten and she moves to lower herself to eye level with the boy. “You must be Gaelin,” Yumi says gently, every inch of her aura exuding motherly instincts.
Gaelin nods, visibly relaxing as she presents a very non-threatening picture. Yumi holds out a hand, not reaching, but simply offering.
“Why don't you let the adults talk, hmm? You can help me in the kitchen. Does that sound good?”
Gaelin looks up at Rai, as though seeking his permission. Rai gives him a little push forward.
“It's all right,” he assures the brat, still not understanding the boy's dependence on him. “Yumi won't hurt you.”
After several moments of hesitation, Gaelin finally takes her hand and Yumi straightens, shooting both men a reassuring smile. “Don't worry. I'll take care o' him. You two go see Trahern.”
Rising to her full height, the woman gently tugs Gaelin along with her, all the time chatting to calm him. The prospect of food, more than anything, is what likely encourages the boy but Rai is glad to see Gaelin clinging to someone other than himself.
Left to their own devices, the two men continue down the hall, Rai allowing Haiden to lead the way. At the back of the house is a door, as Yumi had directed, and Haiden knocks on it loudly. From within, Trahern's deep baritone bids them enter.
To the surprise of both, they find themselves stepping into what appears to be a small library. Books and papers are crammed onto wooden shelves in the tiny room, and two small windows provide ample light with the brightness of mid-afternoon.
Perched at a small desk, Trahern appears to be rifling through a stack of papers, occasionally dipping quill to ink well as he scribbles something down. “Lunchtime already?” he asks, without even turning around.
Haiden chuckles. “I wouldn't know but does that mean we're invited?”
At the sound of his voice, Trahern turns, single brown eye widening in shock as the other lies hidden behind a black leather patch. “Haiden? And Rai, as well? Surprise, surprise.” He rises to his feet, grasping Haiden's hand in greeting, and then Rai's as well.
“We were nearby. Thought we'd stop in and see you,” Haiden explains and props himself up on a desk, nearly setting a careful stack of books to toppling. “Though I didn't expect to see you here.” He looks around pointedly.
Trahern chuckles, scratching a finger under the edge of his eye patch and revealing the pinkish-white of scarred flesh. “What? I didn't mention that I was a bit of a scholar?” he says with a deep-throated chuckle that narrows his eyes and crinkles the forge-toughened skin of his face.
“A bit?” Rai's brow raises. There must be several hundred books crammed into the small space. He’s actually rather impressed and there’s a small part of him that itches to dive into all this uncharted territory. “You're on the verge of starting your own library.”
“My mum's fault, I assure you. All those fairy tales in my youth gave me a passion for fiction.”
“Then you and Rai have something in common,” Haiden says with a laugh, despite Rai’s warning glance. “But a blacksmith and a scholar?” He spreads his hands helplessly. “It just doesn't mesh well in my head.”
“What? A man can't be both?” Trahern reaches behind him and swivels his chair around, lowering himself back to it. “Such double standards.”
Rai rolls his eyes at their banter. “Something like that,” he drawls, and hurries to change the subject before the conversation deviates. “By the way, we caught several odd looks on our way here. I didn't think we were that intimidating.”
Trahern winces. “The locals don't like strangers anymore,” he explains, sitting back into his chair and balancing an elbow on the arm. “We've had a problem with bandits lately. Especially since the guard is pretty much nonexistent.”
“Trust some idiot to take advantage of the situation,” Haiden grumbles, twisting his jaw. “Do you know if they're affiliated with a group calling themselves the Marauders?”
The blacksmith shakes his head, though his eye takes on a contemplative gleam. “I really haven't stopped to ask them who they are while they're pilfering my neighbor's shop.”
Haiden sighs, tugging at his cloak with a curved finger. “They're everywhere,” he explains, sounding very much like the captain he hasn't decided to become just yet. “Spreading more quickly than the Ruhin. Lord Tennyson's hard pressed to find a way to stop them.”
“With the guard in tatters, it's no wonder,” Trahern responds, nodding knowledgeably. But the solemn expression quickly shifts into a grin as he changes the subject. “But come, you say you were just stopping by but I know the both of ye. What's the real reason?”
“We actually came to ask a favor,” Rai says, choosing to lean against the wall in the clearest spot he could find. He's had to navigate around a few stacks of books to get there.
Trahern scratches at his beard. “A favor, eh? Of what sort?”
“We've been to see Loka,” Haiden says quietly, his tone losing all hint of joviality. “I'm not entirely sure what happened, but the short of it is, she's gone now and Gaelin needs looking after.”
“Gone,” Trahern repeats, disbelief and sorrow intermingling. “But... how?” He pauses, and thinks about it, brow furrowing. “Wait... did it have something to do with her magick?”
Rai remembers the press of the arts against his skin, the way it had stolen his breath. “Something, yes. We just don't know what. She'd gone mad, Trahern.”
The blacksmith sighs, leaning back into his chair. “And so we lose another,” he murmurs sorrowfully. “How is the lad handling it?”
“As well as can be expected,” Rai answers, and Haiden shoots him an amused look.
“He is clinging to Rai as if he's found a new father,” Haiden jokes, lending an air of humor to the sober discussion. “It's really cute.”
Rai growls under his breath, annoyed by the reminder. Gaelin's admiration of him borders on hero worship and he doesn't like how heavily it falls across his shoulders. He's done nothing that might earn such esteem and would prefer the boy choose a worthier champion.
“Shut it, Haiden,” he orders, and focuses back on Trahern. “In any case, the favor we were going to ask was if you would be willing to take Gaelin in. He needs a good home, someone to look after him.”
Forge-calloused fingers raked through blond hair, scratching at his scalp. “Gaelin's a good kid,” Trahern says, and there is a touch of fondness in his voice, as though remembering something from the past. “I would gladly take him in, but I have to ask Yumi.”
Haiden smirks, folding his arms across his chest. “I don't think you have to worry about her. She's wooing Gaelin with food as we speak.”
As if cued, a knock echoes on the door behind Rai. He moves aside but before Trahern can even answer, it is pulled open, revealing Yumi standing in the doorway.
“Lunch is ready,” she explains, and then turns her welcoming look onto the other men. “Haiden, Rai, you're invited as well.” Accompanying her invitation is a wonderful smell, like roasted beef and mashed potatoes slathered in gravy. It makes Rai's stomach grumble.
Trahern rises, stretching out with one arm so that the muscles in his back pop and crackle. “Ah, thank you, love,” he replies, and Rai half-imagines that the man would've winked, had he his other eye. “You and Gaelin been getting along well?”
“Of course,” Yumi answers brightly. “He was all too eager to help me mash the potatoes.”
Haiden laughs, edging past Yumi to precede her out the door. “Mostly because he's always hungry. He was probably thinking that the faster he mashed them, the faster he could eat them.”
Trahern shakes his head. “That boy's appetite never ceased to amaze me. He could pack away more than the two brats here combined,” he explains to Yumi, jerking his thumb in Haiden and Rai's direction.
“I think we're past the brat stage, Trahern,” Haiden replies, his voice echoing as he disappears down the hall. Though his haste isn’t disproving his point, as he is all too eager to sit down for a home-cooked meal that smells unarguably delectable.
“Not ta me, you aren't,” Trahern calls back, and kisses Yumi on the cheek as he passes her. “I'm sure it's delicious.”
She grins, giving him a gentle push out the door. “Better than yours anyway,” Yumi teases, and then her gaze catches Rai's as she moves to follow him. “Coming?”
“I wouldn't miss it,” Rai replies honestly, the tasty smells assaulting his nose making his stomach grumble again.
Gaelin is already sitting expectantly at the table, looking scrubbed clean with his legs too short to touch the floor and swinging in excitement. His eyes practically shine at the sight of the food spread across the table, fingers wrapped eagerly around his utensils.
Haiden laughs, ruffling the boy's hair as he passes Gaelin and takes an empty seat next to him. “Hungry, kid?”
The boy nods enthusiastically. Not that Rai blames him. Fresh-baked bread slathered with cream. Thick slices of tender roast covered in a brown gravy. And a heap of recently mashed potatoes, huge chunks still present. A pie cools in the middle of the spread, looking to be made of blackberries, Rai's favorite fruit.
Trahern whistles. “I can't recall the last time ye cooked so much, Yumi. I certainly don't get this kind of attention.”
Rolling her eyes, Yumi hustles everyone to a seat, shoving serving spoons into the proper containers. “Some of it was for dinner later. And besides, all three of them look to be in need of a home-cooked meal,” she sniffs, and as she passes by Trahern, she pats him gently on the belly. “You, however, could probably skip one and be just fine.”
Haiden laughs, helping himself to the spread before them as Rai takes the initiative to lade Gaelin's plate with food. The boy's eyes grow bigger and rounder with each heaping spoonful.
“Dearest, don't you think that's a bit cruel?” Trahern asks, but amusement glints in his eye, proving he is not offended.
“Is the truth cruel?” Yumi returns, pinching his cheek and sliding into the seat at his left, an empty chair left for Rai.
Trahern pouts, prompting a round of laughter across the table. And then words are forgotten as food proves more interesting. Rai himself can't remember the last time he ate like this. At a table with the company of others, the warm feeling of family, the comfort of home. Eight years ago, perhaps? The last time he ate with Haiden's family.
That is one of the few fond memories he has of Lathe. Well, excluding those dim and grey images he carries of his mother. As the years pass, Rai fears that he forgets her more and more. He remembers her laughter and her smile, the color of her eyes. But sometimes, he can't remember the shape of her face, or the sound of her voice. He worries that his memories of his mother are being pushed aside by the dark things he can't seem to forget.
“Goodness, has he always eaten like this?” Yumi exclaims, her eyes round as she watches Gaelin devour all of the food on his plate in several hefty scoops.
Haiden laughs, spearing a thick chunk of roast and slathering it in gravy. “He puts all us men to shame, doesn't he?”
“You weren't kidding about being eager to eat,” Yumi agrees, tone sympathetic as she watches Gaelin. “Poor thing. I still can't believe you took him into battle.”
“It was Loka's decision, not ours. Though I tried to convince her several times,” Trahern says with a shrug.
“And I remember the tongue-lashing she gave you for it.” Haiden gestures with his utensil, trying to twist his face into some vague imitation of Loka's. “And where should I leave him when I’m all he has? You need a mage on this trip, and you know it!”
Trahern chuckles, lifting a cup to his lips to hide behind the rim. “And I had thought the only woman who would ever speak to me like that was Yumi.”
“She showed you,” Yumi remarks, primly dabbing at her lips with her cloth napkin. But even Rai can see the fierceness that hides in her eyes. Yumi is no mere tart, but a woman fully aware of her own strength. In many ways, she reminds Rai of Cecily, Haiden's mother.
“She showed all of us,” Haiden agrees, and there is a note to his voice that makes a thoughtful pall descend over the table.
The reminder that Loka is now gone hangs heavily in the air. Gaelin has finished eating during their conversation, and has since put down his utensil. The loss of his only parent is still a fresh wound for the boy.
Brown eyes have fallen to the table, one hand disconsolately plucking at the edge of the tablecloth. Tears shimmer but do not fall; Gaelin is trying to prove his own strength. There's something about the sight that seems so familiar to Rai, remembering himself a little younger than Gaelin, watching as they toss dirt onto his mother's casket.
Yumi rises to her feet, setting aside her napkin. “I think I'm done for the evening. How about a story, Gaelin? Would you like that?” She circles the table, holding out a hand to him, her smile soft and gentle.
Cecily had done the very same thing for Rai, holding out a warm hand when Rai had fled his own house and headed straight for Haiden's.
The boy considers it for several long moments before silently nodding and sliding down from the chair, taking her hand.
“Don't worry about us,” Haiden says, waving his fork through the air. “We'll take care of the dishes.”
“I'm sure ye will,” Yumi agrees, leading Gaelin out of the room to a manly chorus of goodnights from the three left at the table.
Rai rolls his eyes. “Thanks for volunteering me.”
Trahern claps a hand down on Haiden's shoulder companionably. “A bunch of good lads you are,” he says, in the midst of rising to his own feet. “I'll draw some water for you.”
True to his word, Trahern does just that, passing instructions to the two younger men as to how Yumi likes her dishes to be cleaned. Spotless and shining, dried without a streak and expertly stacked. Haiden spends a few minutes after Trahern leaves them to their volunteered duty to snicker at Trahern's expense.
“Yumi runs things, you think?” Haiden comments, burying his hands in the sudsy, boiled water. He looks awkward standing there in his captain's uniform, sleeves rolled up, empty sheath still buckled at his side. Like he should be riding into battle and not preparing to scrub the crustings of a pie from an empty pan.
Then again, Rai probably looks just as out of place in his stained travel gear and leather arm guards.
“A true matriarch,” Rai agrees, fluffing out the towel Trahern had handed him. It's a brightly colored thing, a mismatch of orange and red blotches, looking far too fancy for drying dishes. But Rai's not going to argue.
Familiarity fills the air; Rai remembers doing the dishes at Haiden's house more than eight years prior. Cecily had always left that to them, claiming that since she had cooked it, and Declan -- Haiden's father – had earned the coin for it, the least the boys could do was clean it up. Rai and Haiden had always known far, far better than to argue with Cecily.
“Been a while since we last did this, ne?” Haiden asks, scrubbing fiercely over a dish before dumping it into the rinse water.
Rai, having been designated the drier, rescues the scoured pan and swipes a fluffy towel over it. “Years,” he agrees.
“You know... even after you left, Mama still made me do the dishes,” Haiden says with a light laugh, dumping a few utensils into the bowl as well, faster than Rai could dry them. “She said it built character.”
“That sounds like something Cecily would say.”
Haiden snorts, accidentally splashing water up into his face. He idly wipes it away with his sleeve. “She'd be pissed if she knew you reverted to calling her that.” Two plates clack together before Rai has even finished one spoon.
Rai doesn't have an answer for that, so he keeps his silence. It's better that way. It would feel awkward to refer to Haiden's mother as his own after all this time. Even if he and Haiden can fall into their friendship as if time hasn't passed, there is still an invisible line there. The one created when Rai left Haiden and Lathe behind and never looked back.
“She never stopped asking why you left,” Haiden continues, as though Rai's silence isn’t some sort of clue. If he wants to make Rai feel guilty, he's certainly going down the right path. “Course, it wasn't like I had an answer for her.”
“Don't give me that,” Rai mutters, watching as the clean dishes pile up in the rinse bowl. “You wanted to leave as much as I did.”
“For different reasons.”
“Whatever,” Rai snorts.
“You could have waited,” Haiden points out, pausing over a particularly sticky spot of leftovers on one of the pans. “Amrita wasn't happy to see you go either.”
Rai wordlessly dries a few plates, stacking them carefully. He's willing to let Haiden babble, having a feeling he knows where the other man is heading. If he thinks to convince Rai to head back to Lathe, Haiden's mistaken. Not even throwing Amrita – their childhood friend – in his face is going to make Rai change his mind.
“I'm not going back,” Rai warns, reaching for a plate before Haiden can set it in the rinse bowl, using that motion to capture Haiden's attention and have their gazes meet. “Not even if you try to convince me.”
“Who says I was doing that?” Haiden's smile is fake, and Rai is a bit disconcerted by it.
Haiden's never used the fake smile on him before. But then, a lot has probably changed in eight years. Even more in the past six months since they defeated the Ruhin false-king. Bothered by it, Rai looks away, focusing on the dishes.
“Just wash the dishes, idiot,” he mumbles.
Haiden wipes his moist hands on his pants leg “Already done,” he says too cheerfully, hefting the bowl. “I'll dump this and grab our bags,” he adds, and leaves Rai to his drying.
Haiden's acting even weirder than usual, and Rai can't even begin to guess why. Was he that close to Loka? Or is his behavior partially Rai's fault? He has no clue, and it's not like Rai's going to corner the other man and demand an answer.
Sighing, Rai tucks a strand of red hair behind his ear from where it has slipped free, and focuses on drying the last of the dishes. He's relieved when the last cup is placed in the cupboard Trahern had pointed out earlier, and swipes his hands over the towel. Rai leaves the rinse water like Trahern requested and heads for the den that will serve as his and Haiden's room for the night.
Soft giggling floats to his ears. Rai slows as he approaches the main room, peeking inside before announcing his presence. Yumi is laying out blankets and cushions for Rai and Haiden, creating quite a nest of soft fabric that looks a thousand times better than sleeping on the ground. Trahern helps her, if by helping Rai means hindering.
The blacksmith has crept up behind his wife and when Yumi isn’t looking, wraps his arms around her in a warm hug. She laughs, eyes sparkling, hands occupied by blankets and turns to murmur something to him. Her voice is too soft for Rai to catch what she says, but judging by the look in Trahern's eyes, it's something enticing. His fingers tickle at her belly and Yumi chuckles again, leaning in to capture Trahern's lips.
Something in the innocent scene makes Rai's stomach tighten. Not in the same way as witnessing Rynneth and Haiden's fake endearments to one another, but in a more approving manner. What Yumi and Trahern share is not childish emotion, but honest love.
Rai turns away, thinking not to interrupt the duo, and nearly runs into Haiden. Rai jerks in surprise, not having heard the other man approach. When has Haiden become so stealthy? Not that it matters since Haiden isn't looking at him, but beyond Rai, to the den where Trahern and Yumi are still whispering softly to one another.
One hand pushes Rai's bag toward him wordlessly, proving that Haiden had seen Rai. Otherwise, the other man says nothing at first, simply watching the married couple interact with an expression Rai has never seen before. But then, eight years have passed. He can't be certain he knows Haiden much at all, can he?
Rai has every intention of leaving Trahern and Yumi to their whispered flirting, perhaps come back a bit later with a louder step to announce his arrival. But the moment he shifts his weight, the floor creaks noisily – damn old houses – and both look toward the door guiltily.
Haiden blinks out of whatever reverie he'd lost himself in and grins brightly. “No need to christen our beds before we can sleep in them,” he jokes, cheeks growing red-warm though his manner shows a different reaction.
Both Yumi and Trahern flush to the roots of their hair, though they are arguably adults and shouldn't be embarrassed.
“Methinks the lad is jealous,” Trahern says with a wink as he pulls back from his wife, who embarrassed, lays out the last blanket and pats down the front of her apron.
“Did you boys finish the dishes?” she asks, all in charge and matronly.
“Yes, ma'am,” Rai and Haiden chorus in tandem, sharing a brief, comedic glance at the unplanned response. It has been years since they've done that.
Yumi laughs again and adjusts her apron, stepping around the carefully arranged blankets. “You two are so adorable,” she murmurs, pausing to pat Haiden on the cheek. “I think Coel would have grown up just like you.” Her smile is warm, infectious.
“We're not children,” Haiden denies, shifting under the attention.
“You are to me,” Yumi corrects warmly, and inclines her head. “Gaelin is already sleeping so you don't have to worry about him. Goodnight, boys.”
Yumi leaves in a swirl of motherly intention, but not before fondly patting Rai on the shoulder. She is so much like Cecily that it's a bit disconcerting to Rai. He almost feels like Haiden's mother is here, accusing him for being gone so long.
Trahern watches her go. “That is the first time she has spoken of Coel without hesitation,” he says, sounding wistful.
“Who was he?” Haiden asks quietly, ever the curious one. Even Rai can see that this is one of those painful subjects. An old wound.
Trahern's eye darkens with remembrance. “Yumi can't have children of her own, but she's always wanted them desperately. We took Coel in when he was just a lad. He was like our own. If not for the accident he would be... well, almost fifteen now.”
“An accident?”
“Aye.” He scratches a finger through his goatee, looking uncomfortable. “Coel wanted to learn a trade. Yumi thought he was too young.” Trahern sighs regretfully. “If I had listened to her, perhaps he would still be here.”
Rai shifts in discomfort, the melancholy in the room one he is not used to handling. He's never been good at that sort of thing. It's always been Haiden's forte more than his own. Rai is the one who can look sorrow in the eye and dismiss it; Haiden's always been the bleeding heart.
“I'm sorry,” Haiden says, true to character, tipping his head in a shallow bow.
“What are you apologizing for? It's nothing you've done,” Trahern replies and shakes his head. “No, lad. The fault is all my own. And it is Yumi's grace that she has forgiven me.” He heads to the door, pausing in the entryway. “Yumi will cook up a big breakfast before ye leave in the morning so don't try to skip out early.”
“We won't,” Haiden promises.
Trahern leaves them to their sleep and Rai turns to the beds, shucking off his belt, leather gauntlets and other uncomfortable accessories. He pulls out the tie to his hair, scratching his fingers against his scalp. The room carries a bit of a chill and Rai's eager to dive into the blankets and hopefully, surrender to a dreamless sleep.
“We still don't know that much about each other,” Haiden murmurs, finally moving into the room and preparing for bed himself. “Even after fighting together.”
Rai thinks of his own secrets. He doesn't plan to share those either. Besides, who says that companions have to divulge their inner pains to one another? “We were strangers to start. What do you expect?”
“But were we strangers in the end?”
“We're strangers now, Haiden.”
“You and I aren't.”
Rai flops down on his portion of pillows and blankets, his back to the other man. “We are now,” he mutters, though it's more to himself than to the only man he's ever considered his friend. “Go to sleep, Haiden,” he says, louder this time.
Mercifully, Haiden says nothing else. He simply blows out the lamp, which bathes the room in darkness, save for the moonlight streaming through the curtains.
* * * *
a/n: And the pace crawls along. *winces* It's more a character-driven story than one driven by action I suppose. Still, I hope that you are enjoying it!
As always, feedback is appreciated!
On to chapter five!
Title: Aftermath
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Drama, Gen (aka no focus on romance, either het or slash)
Size: approximately 81K words
Warnings: some graphic images, memories of past torture, violence, strong language
Summary: Seven heroes try to pick up the pieces after vanquishing evil and protecting what is most important to them. But nightmares haunt the night, and restless stirrings keep them wandering. The real battle begins as they struggle to remember what it means to have a normal life.
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Chapter Four
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Chapter Four
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Trahern's home town is located on the furthest border of Umbra, where the land meets the sea. His fellow townsfolk are mostly fishermen, and it is with great luck that they escaped most of the madness brought about by the Ruhin. The displaced Ruhin hadn't traveled so far and only a few made it to Rista. They had been quickly dispatched however, so the village had emerged unscathed.
“He's already returned to the smithery,” Haiden explains as they ride through Rista, Gaelin sharing Rai's horse and seeming content to do so. Rai doesn't understand his attachment.
Rai nods, watching townsfolk who are watching their entrance with open distrust. His nose twitches at the strong odors of sea and salt, his ears roaring with the noise of a nearby shore. “I seem to remember a promise he made,” he says, wondering if any of the villagers will be disposed to point them toward Trahern's home. “New blades was it?”
“Something of the like,” Haiden replies, and smiles. “Though I'm quite content with my current weapon. As you should be as well.” He shoots a pointed look over his shoulder at Rai's sword. “It isn't often that a human is allowed to bear a boneblade.”
“It was meant for you,” Rai grumps, still not in the most pleasant of moods.
For the past few nights, he has been attacked by those nightmares. To the extent that he is beginning to wonder if the proximity to his fellow companions might be reminding him of things he'd rather forget.
“Ah, but I'm quite satisfied with the one I have now, thanks,” Haiden says, patting the blade that hangs on his left side.
Haiden looks back to the road and smiles pleasantly down at one of the townswoman, who flusters at the force of that starry grin. “Excuse me, good lady...”
Rolling his eyes, Rai listens with only half an ear as Haiden inquires about Trahern. A hand tugs on Rai's sleeve, Gaelin trying to get his attention.
“What?”
The boy points at a nearby vendor, a pleasant smell wafting from his stall along with a hefty dose of cooking smoke. As Rai watches, the man sets out two trays, both filled with pastries. Though by the smell of them, half are fruit and the other half are meat. Rai's own stomach issues a complaint.
“You want one?” Rai asks, remembering that Gaelin has always had a large appetite, something their entire group had found amusing.
Gaelin nods, practically salivating. Chuckling, Rai carefully dismounts, handing the reins to Gaelin. Flynt is disciplined enough not to run off with the boy, especially after he pats the stallion on the neck. Silent communication. Glancing at Haiden, who is having an overlong of a flirtatious conversation with the woman, Rai returns his attention to Gaelin.
“Watch after him for me,” he orders, and is rewarded with a beaming smile, as though Gaelin is proud to be given that responsibility. “I'm guessing you want something with fruit, right?” It's really trying to have a conversation with a child who can't speak, Rai realizes.
The kid nods, his fingers curling determined around the reins. Unsurprised, Rai dives into the press of people and makes his way to the stand. The smell is even stronger here, and his stomach – free of breakfast since Haiden had made gruel again – demands to be fed immediately.
He looks over the selection, and considers not getting Haiden anything. After all, the bastard keeps serving things that he knows Rai doesn't eat. But his conscience wins out in the end and Rai emerges unscathed with a bagful of pastries – several of the apple and cherry for Gaelin and himself, and a couple meat pies for Haiden, who doesn't like sweets.
Rai returns to Gaelin and Flynt and finds that Haiden has also dismounted.
“Hungry?” Haiden teases, lifting a brow at the bundle of pies in Rai's arm.
Rai rolls his eyes, and hands up a few of the fruit-filled pies to Gaelin. The boy eagerly dives into a cherry one, though careful not to get his face dirty again. The two men had been successful in getting him cleaned the day before, though it had taken Rai holding him down while Haiden fought with a wet cloth. True enough, there was a young child beneath the dirt, one with big brown eyes and a puppy-expression.
“Serve me gruel again and see what happens,” Rai grumbles, tossing the meat pies at Haiden, who catches them easily. “What'd they say?”
Biting into the flaky pastry, Haiden grins. “It's not that far from here,” he says after he swallows the first bite.
Tugging on the reins, they start down the street. Rai lets Gaelin continue to ride, seeing no need for the boy to walk. Besides, it seems to make him happy and right now, he'd do nearly anything to get that hollow look out of the kid's eyes.
Gaelin has been subdued for the past few days. He was quiet before, but the clinginess is something new. Rai can hardly go anywhere without the kid trying to latch onto him, a fact which amuses Haiden greatly.
“His smithery is in the town?” Rai asks with some surprise, knowing that the heat and smoke of the forge fires usually forced smitheries to the outskirts. He unwraps his own pie – cherry he thinks – and bites down into it.
Haiden struggles to speak around the mouthful of pastry. “No, his house is. They said he should be home today.”
“Ah, that makes sense.” Rai focuses on eating, wondering how Trahern will react to their sudden visit.
Funny how Haiden seems to have known Trahern's home town; none of them had known that much about each other. His brow furrows.
“How did you know he lives here?”
Haiden chuckles, wrapping up the last of his pastries and putting it in his saddlebag for later. “Unlike you, who plays the ghost, I've heard from everyone else, excluding Maro. They write letters. Though Ryn is really the one who corresponds. I just read over her shoulder.”
“Rynneth,” Rai automatically corrects, shifting his attention to Gaelin. “Good?”
The boy nods, a bit of apple filling stuck to one cheek as he munches on what appears to be his third pie of the afternoon. Rai digs into his saddlebag and produces a relatively clean piece of cloth to wipe Gaelin’s face. He hands the handkerchief to the boy, letting Gaelin tend to his own matters.
“I heard from Lathe, too,” Haiden adds. “From my family and your father.”
Rai's fingers curl tighter around the reins. “How's the family?” He carefully avoids discussion of Hiroto.
“Proud.” Haiden shrugs. “Mama wants us to come back for a big meal. I planned on taking Ryn in a couple of weeks.” He pauses, and looks back at Rai. “Don't you want to know what Hiroto had to say?”
“Is that Trahern's house?” Rai asks, pulling forward and leading Flynt with him as he stops in front of one of the homes. It looks like something that would suit Trahern, austere but with a dash of decoration.
Haiden's eyes burrow into the back of Rai's skull, but Haiden doesn't press the issue, just as Rai hasn’t pressed about Haiden's engagement. “Your intuition is uncanny as always,” Haiden replies, and hitches Kender's reins to the fence.
Rai follows Haiden's example and helps Gaelin down. The boy grabs his arms and Rai easily hefts him out of the saddle, setting him on his feet. He frowns when he notices the crumbs dotting the boy's face, but leaves them be. He isn't Gaelin's mother after all.
Haiden is already weaving his way toward the front door, and barely knocks twice before it swings open in front of him. A woman, pleasant-faced and a bit rotund, smiles up at them. Her cornflower blue eyes crinkle at the corners.
“Hello,” she greets kindly, one hand wiping over the other with the edge of her apron. Some flour dusts the front of her soft blue dress. “Can I help ye?”
Haiden smiles, flashing his usual charming grin as Rai appears behind him, Gaelin clinging to his side. “Yumi, isn't it?” he asks and holds out a hand of greeting. “Trahern has told me much about you.”
She allows him to take her fingers, pressing a gentle kiss to the inside of her palm. “Trahern...?” she repeats with some confusion before her blue eyes light up in recognition. “I see! You must be some of the companions!” Yumi's gaze flickers between the three of them, probably matching their faces to Trahern's descriptions. “But... you're so young!”
Haiden laughs. “That's the same thing Trahern said to us when we started our foolish adventure. Is he home?”
“Of course,” she answers, and then flushes as though ashamed of herself. One palm hits her cheek gently. “Forgive me, prattlin' on like that. Come on in.” Yumi steps aside, holding the door open to prove the invitation.
“Thank you,” Haiden replies politely, and Rai can't help but wonder who this suave and charming man is.
His friend has so many faces that he asks himself just who Haiden is, and why he hasn't noticed this before. Haiden has always appeared like this to everyone, what he needs to be for any situation. The Haiden that Rai knows has always been very different from the Haiden that everyone else sees. Rai wonders if that makes their friendship something truly unique, or if Rai is just treated to a different face as well.
Gaelin enters ahead of Rai, pulling him along with a firm grip, and Rai stumbles out of his thoughts. They are something he will save for another time. For now, he is too busy taking in his surroundings.
His first impression is that of a home. Trahern's house feels warm and comfortable, practically exuding a sense of welcome. There is a smell in the air, something home-baked. It feels like a home should, or at least how Rai has always imagined a home should.
“Trahern's in the back room,” Yumi explains, shutting the door behind them and tucking a stray curl behind her small ear. “I'm sure he'll be happy ta see you two. He talks about ye all the time.” Her faint accent proves that she hails from a place much further north than Rista.
Haiden simply smiles. “Sorry for intruding without any warning,” he tells her. “It was a spontaneous decision.”
She waves him off. “No bother,” Yumi says, and her gaze falls on Rai and Gaelin, the latter of whom is peering around the taller hunter as if Rai were a human shield.
Her eyes brighten and she moves to lower herself to eye level with the boy. “You must be Gaelin,” Yumi says gently, every inch of her aura exuding motherly instincts.
Gaelin nods, visibly relaxing as she presents a very non-threatening picture. Yumi holds out a hand, not reaching, but simply offering.
“Why don't you let the adults talk, hmm? You can help me in the kitchen. Does that sound good?”
Gaelin looks up at Rai, as though seeking his permission. Rai gives him a little push forward.
“It's all right,” he assures the brat, still not understanding the boy's dependence on him. “Yumi won't hurt you.”
After several moments of hesitation, Gaelin finally takes her hand and Yumi straightens, shooting both men a reassuring smile. “Don't worry. I'll take care o' him. You two go see Trahern.”
Rising to her full height, the woman gently tugs Gaelin along with her, all the time chatting to calm him. The prospect of food, more than anything, is what likely encourages the boy but Rai is glad to see Gaelin clinging to someone other than himself.
Left to their own devices, the two men continue down the hall, Rai allowing Haiden to lead the way. At the back of the house is a door, as Yumi had directed, and Haiden knocks on it loudly. From within, Trahern's deep baritone bids them enter.
To the surprise of both, they find themselves stepping into what appears to be a small library. Books and papers are crammed onto wooden shelves in the tiny room, and two small windows provide ample light with the brightness of mid-afternoon.
Perched at a small desk, Trahern appears to be rifling through a stack of papers, occasionally dipping quill to ink well as he scribbles something down. “Lunchtime already?” he asks, without even turning around.
Haiden chuckles. “I wouldn't know but does that mean we're invited?”
At the sound of his voice, Trahern turns, single brown eye widening in shock as the other lies hidden behind a black leather patch. “Haiden? And Rai, as well? Surprise, surprise.” He rises to his feet, grasping Haiden's hand in greeting, and then Rai's as well.
“We were nearby. Thought we'd stop in and see you,” Haiden explains and props himself up on a desk, nearly setting a careful stack of books to toppling. “Though I didn't expect to see you here.” He looks around pointedly.
Trahern chuckles, scratching a finger under the edge of his eye patch and revealing the pinkish-white of scarred flesh. “What? I didn't mention that I was a bit of a scholar?” he says with a deep-throated chuckle that narrows his eyes and crinkles the forge-toughened skin of his face.
“A bit?” Rai's brow raises. There must be several hundred books crammed into the small space. He’s actually rather impressed and there’s a small part of him that itches to dive into all this uncharted territory. “You're on the verge of starting your own library.”
“My mum's fault, I assure you. All those fairy tales in my youth gave me a passion for fiction.”
“Then you and Rai have something in common,” Haiden says with a laugh, despite Rai’s warning glance. “But a blacksmith and a scholar?” He spreads his hands helplessly. “It just doesn't mesh well in my head.”
“What? A man can't be both?” Trahern reaches behind him and swivels his chair around, lowering himself back to it. “Such double standards.”
Rai rolls his eyes at their banter. “Something like that,” he drawls, and hurries to change the subject before the conversation deviates. “By the way, we caught several odd looks on our way here. I didn't think we were that intimidating.”
Trahern winces. “The locals don't like strangers anymore,” he explains, sitting back into his chair and balancing an elbow on the arm. “We've had a problem with bandits lately. Especially since the guard is pretty much nonexistent.”
“Trust some idiot to take advantage of the situation,” Haiden grumbles, twisting his jaw. “Do you know if they're affiliated with a group calling themselves the Marauders?”
The blacksmith shakes his head, though his eye takes on a contemplative gleam. “I really haven't stopped to ask them who they are while they're pilfering my neighbor's shop.”
Haiden sighs, tugging at his cloak with a curved finger. “They're everywhere,” he explains, sounding very much like the captain he hasn't decided to become just yet. “Spreading more quickly than the Ruhin. Lord Tennyson's hard pressed to find a way to stop them.”
“With the guard in tatters, it's no wonder,” Trahern responds, nodding knowledgeably. But the solemn expression quickly shifts into a grin as he changes the subject. “But come, you say you were just stopping by but I know the both of ye. What's the real reason?”
“We actually came to ask a favor,” Rai says, choosing to lean against the wall in the clearest spot he could find. He's had to navigate around a few stacks of books to get there.
Trahern scratches at his beard. “A favor, eh? Of what sort?”
“We've been to see Loka,” Haiden says quietly, his tone losing all hint of joviality. “I'm not entirely sure what happened, but the short of it is, she's gone now and Gaelin needs looking after.”
“Gone,” Trahern repeats, disbelief and sorrow intermingling. “But... how?” He pauses, and thinks about it, brow furrowing. “Wait... did it have something to do with her magick?”
Rai remembers the press of the arts against his skin, the way it had stolen his breath. “Something, yes. We just don't know what. She'd gone mad, Trahern.”
The blacksmith sighs, leaning back into his chair. “And so we lose another,” he murmurs sorrowfully. “How is the lad handling it?”
“As well as can be expected,” Rai answers, and Haiden shoots him an amused look.
“He is clinging to Rai as if he's found a new father,” Haiden jokes, lending an air of humor to the sober discussion. “It's really cute.”
Rai growls under his breath, annoyed by the reminder. Gaelin's admiration of him borders on hero worship and he doesn't like how heavily it falls across his shoulders. He's done nothing that might earn such esteem and would prefer the boy choose a worthier champion.
“Shut it, Haiden,” he orders, and focuses back on Trahern. “In any case, the favor we were going to ask was if you would be willing to take Gaelin in. He needs a good home, someone to look after him.”
Forge-calloused fingers raked through blond hair, scratching at his scalp. “Gaelin's a good kid,” Trahern says, and there is a touch of fondness in his voice, as though remembering something from the past. “I would gladly take him in, but I have to ask Yumi.”
Haiden smirks, folding his arms across his chest. “I don't think you have to worry about her. She's wooing Gaelin with food as we speak.”
As if cued, a knock echoes on the door behind Rai. He moves aside but before Trahern can even answer, it is pulled open, revealing Yumi standing in the doorway.
“Lunch is ready,” she explains, and then turns her welcoming look onto the other men. “Haiden, Rai, you're invited as well.” Accompanying her invitation is a wonderful smell, like roasted beef and mashed potatoes slathered in gravy. It makes Rai's stomach grumble.
Trahern rises, stretching out with one arm so that the muscles in his back pop and crackle. “Ah, thank you, love,” he replies, and Rai half-imagines that the man would've winked, had he his other eye. “You and Gaelin been getting along well?”
“Of course,” Yumi answers brightly. “He was all too eager to help me mash the potatoes.”
Haiden laughs, edging past Yumi to precede her out the door. “Mostly because he's always hungry. He was probably thinking that the faster he mashed them, the faster he could eat them.”
Trahern shakes his head. “That boy's appetite never ceased to amaze me. He could pack away more than the two brats here combined,” he explains to Yumi, jerking his thumb in Haiden and Rai's direction.
“I think we're past the brat stage, Trahern,” Haiden replies, his voice echoing as he disappears down the hall. Though his haste isn’t disproving his point, as he is all too eager to sit down for a home-cooked meal that smells unarguably delectable.
“Not ta me, you aren't,” Trahern calls back, and kisses Yumi on the cheek as he passes her. “I'm sure it's delicious.”
She grins, giving him a gentle push out the door. “Better than yours anyway,” Yumi teases, and then her gaze catches Rai's as she moves to follow him. “Coming?”
“I wouldn't miss it,” Rai replies honestly, the tasty smells assaulting his nose making his stomach grumble again.
Gaelin is already sitting expectantly at the table, looking scrubbed clean with his legs too short to touch the floor and swinging in excitement. His eyes practically shine at the sight of the food spread across the table, fingers wrapped eagerly around his utensils.
Haiden laughs, ruffling the boy's hair as he passes Gaelin and takes an empty seat next to him. “Hungry, kid?”
The boy nods enthusiastically. Not that Rai blames him. Fresh-baked bread slathered with cream. Thick slices of tender roast covered in a brown gravy. And a heap of recently mashed potatoes, huge chunks still present. A pie cools in the middle of the spread, looking to be made of blackberries, Rai's favorite fruit.
Trahern whistles. “I can't recall the last time ye cooked so much, Yumi. I certainly don't get this kind of attention.”
Rolling her eyes, Yumi hustles everyone to a seat, shoving serving spoons into the proper containers. “Some of it was for dinner later. And besides, all three of them look to be in need of a home-cooked meal,” she sniffs, and as she passes by Trahern, she pats him gently on the belly. “You, however, could probably skip one and be just fine.”
Haiden laughs, helping himself to the spread before them as Rai takes the initiative to lade Gaelin's plate with food. The boy's eyes grow bigger and rounder with each heaping spoonful.
“Dearest, don't you think that's a bit cruel?” Trahern asks, but amusement glints in his eye, proving he is not offended.
“Is the truth cruel?” Yumi returns, pinching his cheek and sliding into the seat at his left, an empty chair left for Rai.
Trahern pouts, prompting a round of laughter across the table. And then words are forgotten as food proves more interesting. Rai himself can't remember the last time he ate like this. At a table with the company of others, the warm feeling of family, the comfort of home. Eight years ago, perhaps? The last time he ate with Haiden's family.
That is one of the few fond memories he has of Lathe. Well, excluding those dim and grey images he carries of his mother. As the years pass, Rai fears that he forgets her more and more. He remembers her laughter and her smile, the color of her eyes. But sometimes, he can't remember the shape of her face, or the sound of her voice. He worries that his memories of his mother are being pushed aside by the dark things he can't seem to forget.
“Goodness, has he always eaten like this?” Yumi exclaims, her eyes round as she watches Gaelin devour all of the food on his plate in several hefty scoops.
Haiden laughs, spearing a thick chunk of roast and slathering it in gravy. “He puts all us men to shame, doesn't he?”
“You weren't kidding about being eager to eat,” Yumi agrees, tone sympathetic as she watches Gaelin. “Poor thing. I still can't believe you took him into battle.”
“It was Loka's decision, not ours. Though I tried to convince her several times,” Trahern says with a shrug.
“And I remember the tongue-lashing she gave you for it.” Haiden gestures with his utensil, trying to twist his face into some vague imitation of Loka's. “And where should I leave him when I’m all he has? You need a mage on this trip, and you know it!”
Trahern chuckles, lifting a cup to his lips to hide behind the rim. “And I had thought the only woman who would ever speak to me like that was Yumi.”
“She showed you,” Yumi remarks, primly dabbing at her lips with her cloth napkin. But even Rai can see the fierceness that hides in her eyes. Yumi is no mere tart, but a woman fully aware of her own strength. In many ways, she reminds Rai of Cecily, Haiden's mother.
“She showed all of us,” Haiden agrees, and there is a note to his voice that makes a thoughtful pall descend over the table.
The reminder that Loka is now gone hangs heavily in the air. Gaelin has finished eating during their conversation, and has since put down his utensil. The loss of his only parent is still a fresh wound for the boy.
Brown eyes have fallen to the table, one hand disconsolately plucking at the edge of the tablecloth. Tears shimmer but do not fall; Gaelin is trying to prove his own strength. There's something about the sight that seems so familiar to Rai, remembering himself a little younger than Gaelin, watching as they toss dirt onto his mother's casket.
Yumi rises to her feet, setting aside her napkin. “I think I'm done for the evening. How about a story, Gaelin? Would you like that?” She circles the table, holding out a hand to him, her smile soft and gentle.
Cecily had done the very same thing for Rai, holding out a warm hand when Rai had fled his own house and headed straight for Haiden's.
The boy considers it for several long moments before silently nodding and sliding down from the chair, taking her hand.
“Don't worry about us,” Haiden says, waving his fork through the air. “We'll take care of the dishes.”
“I'm sure ye will,” Yumi agrees, leading Gaelin out of the room to a manly chorus of goodnights from the three left at the table.
Rai rolls his eyes. “Thanks for volunteering me.”
Trahern claps a hand down on Haiden's shoulder companionably. “A bunch of good lads you are,” he says, in the midst of rising to his own feet. “I'll draw some water for you.”
True to his word, Trahern does just that, passing instructions to the two younger men as to how Yumi likes her dishes to be cleaned. Spotless and shining, dried without a streak and expertly stacked. Haiden spends a few minutes after Trahern leaves them to their volunteered duty to snicker at Trahern's expense.
“Yumi runs things, you think?” Haiden comments, burying his hands in the sudsy, boiled water. He looks awkward standing there in his captain's uniform, sleeves rolled up, empty sheath still buckled at his side. Like he should be riding into battle and not preparing to scrub the crustings of a pie from an empty pan.
Then again, Rai probably looks just as out of place in his stained travel gear and leather arm guards.
“A true matriarch,” Rai agrees, fluffing out the towel Trahern had handed him. It's a brightly colored thing, a mismatch of orange and red blotches, looking far too fancy for drying dishes. But Rai's not going to argue.
Familiarity fills the air; Rai remembers doing the dishes at Haiden's house more than eight years prior. Cecily had always left that to them, claiming that since she had cooked it, and Declan -- Haiden's father – had earned the coin for it, the least the boys could do was clean it up. Rai and Haiden had always known far, far better than to argue with Cecily.
“Been a while since we last did this, ne?” Haiden asks, scrubbing fiercely over a dish before dumping it into the rinse water.
Rai, having been designated the drier, rescues the scoured pan and swipes a fluffy towel over it. “Years,” he agrees.
“You know... even after you left, Mama still made me do the dishes,” Haiden says with a light laugh, dumping a few utensils into the bowl as well, faster than Rai could dry them. “She said it built character.”
“That sounds like something Cecily would say.”
Haiden snorts, accidentally splashing water up into his face. He idly wipes it away with his sleeve. “She'd be pissed if she knew you reverted to calling her that.” Two plates clack together before Rai has even finished one spoon.
Rai doesn't have an answer for that, so he keeps his silence. It's better that way. It would feel awkward to refer to Haiden's mother as his own after all this time. Even if he and Haiden can fall into their friendship as if time hasn't passed, there is still an invisible line there. The one created when Rai left Haiden and Lathe behind and never looked back.
“She never stopped asking why you left,” Haiden continues, as though Rai's silence isn’t some sort of clue. If he wants to make Rai feel guilty, he's certainly going down the right path. “Course, it wasn't like I had an answer for her.”
“Don't give me that,” Rai mutters, watching as the clean dishes pile up in the rinse bowl. “You wanted to leave as much as I did.”
“For different reasons.”
“Whatever,” Rai snorts.
“You could have waited,” Haiden points out, pausing over a particularly sticky spot of leftovers on one of the pans. “Amrita wasn't happy to see you go either.”
Rai wordlessly dries a few plates, stacking them carefully. He's willing to let Haiden babble, having a feeling he knows where the other man is heading. If he thinks to convince Rai to head back to Lathe, Haiden's mistaken. Not even throwing Amrita – their childhood friend – in his face is going to make Rai change his mind.
“I'm not going back,” Rai warns, reaching for a plate before Haiden can set it in the rinse bowl, using that motion to capture Haiden's attention and have their gazes meet. “Not even if you try to convince me.”
“Who says I was doing that?” Haiden's smile is fake, and Rai is a bit disconcerted by it.
Haiden's never used the fake smile on him before. But then, a lot has probably changed in eight years. Even more in the past six months since they defeated the Ruhin false-king. Bothered by it, Rai looks away, focusing on the dishes.
“Just wash the dishes, idiot,” he mumbles.
Haiden wipes his moist hands on his pants leg “Already done,” he says too cheerfully, hefting the bowl. “I'll dump this and grab our bags,” he adds, and leaves Rai to his drying.
Haiden's acting even weirder than usual, and Rai can't even begin to guess why. Was he that close to Loka? Or is his behavior partially Rai's fault? He has no clue, and it's not like Rai's going to corner the other man and demand an answer.
Sighing, Rai tucks a strand of red hair behind his ear from where it has slipped free, and focuses on drying the last of the dishes. He's relieved when the last cup is placed in the cupboard Trahern had pointed out earlier, and swipes his hands over the towel. Rai leaves the rinse water like Trahern requested and heads for the den that will serve as his and Haiden's room for the night.
Soft giggling floats to his ears. Rai slows as he approaches the main room, peeking inside before announcing his presence. Yumi is laying out blankets and cushions for Rai and Haiden, creating quite a nest of soft fabric that looks a thousand times better than sleeping on the ground. Trahern helps her, if by helping Rai means hindering.
The blacksmith has crept up behind his wife and when Yumi isn’t looking, wraps his arms around her in a warm hug. She laughs, eyes sparkling, hands occupied by blankets and turns to murmur something to him. Her voice is too soft for Rai to catch what she says, but judging by the look in Trahern's eyes, it's something enticing. His fingers tickle at her belly and Yumi chuckles again, leaning in to capture Trahern's lips.
Something in the innocent scene makes Rai's stomach tighten. Not in the same way as witnessing Rynneth and Haiden's fake endearments to one another, but in a more approving manner. What Yumi and Trahern share is not childish emotion, but honest love.
Rai turns away, thinking not to interrupt the duo, and nearly runs into Haiden. Rai jerks in surprise, not having heard the other man approach. When has Haiden become so stealthy? Not that it matters since Haiden isn't looking at him, but beyond Rai, to the den where Trahern and Yumi are still whispering softly to one another.
One hand pushes Rai's bag toward him wordlessly, proving that Haiden had seen Rai. Otherwise, the other man says nothing at first, simply watching the married couple interact with an expression Rai has never seen before. But then, eight years have passed. He can't be certain he knows Haiden much at all, can he?
Rai has every intention of leaving Trahern and Yumi to their whispered flirting, perhaps come back a bit later with a louder step to announce his arrival. But the moment he shifts his weight, the floor creaks noisily – damn old houses – and both look toward the door guiltily.
Haiden blinks out of whatever reverie he'd lost himself in and grins brightly. “No need to christen our beds before we can sleep in them,” he jokes, cheeks growing red-warm though his manner shows a different reaction.
Both Yumi and Trahern flush to the roots of their hair, though they are arguably adults and shouldn't be embarrassed.
“Methinks the lad is jealous,” Trahern says with a wink as he pulls back from his wife, who embarrassed, lays out the last blanket and pats down the front of her apron.
“Did you boys finish the dishes?” she asks, all in charge and matronly.
“Yes, ma'am,” Rai and Haiden chorus in tandem, sharing a brief, comedic glance at the unplanned response. It has been years since they've done that.
Yumi laughs again and adjusts her apron, stepping around the carefully arranged blankets. “You two are so adorable,” she murmurs, pausing to pat Haiden on the cheek. “I think Coel would have grown up just like you.” Her smile is warm, infectious.
“We're not children,” Haiden denies, shifting under the attention.
“You are to me,” Yumi corrects warmly, and inclines her head. “Gaelin is already sleeping so you don't have to worry about him. Goodnight, boys.”
Yumi leaves in a swirl of motherly intention, but not before fondly patting Rai on the shoulder. She is so much like Cecily that it's a bit disconcerting to Rai. He almost feels like Haiden's mother is here, accusing him for being gone so long.
Trahern watches her go. “That is the first time she has spoken of Coel without hesitation,” he says, sounding wistful.
“Who was he?” Haiden asks quietly, ever the curious one. Even Rai can see that this is one of those painful subjects. An old wound.
Trahern's eye darkens with remembrance. “Yumi can't have children of her own, but she's always wanted them desperately. We took Coel in when he was just a lad. He was like our own. If not for the accident he would be... well, almost fifteen now.”
“An accident?”
“Aye.” He scratches a finger through his goatee, looking uncomfortable. “Coel wanted to learn a trade. Yumi thought he was too young.” Trahern sighs regretfully. “If I had listened to her, perhaps he would still be here.”
Rai shifts in discomfort, the melancholy in the room one he is not used to handling. He's never been good at that sort of thing. It's always been Haiden's forte more than his own. Rai is the one who can look sorrow in the eye and dismiss it; Haiden's always been the bleeding heart.
“I'm sorry,” Haiden says, true to character, tipping his head in a shallow bow.
“What are you apologizing for? It's nothing you've done,” Trahern replies and shakes his head. “No, lad. The fault is all my own. And it is Yumi's grace that she has forgiven me.” He heads to the door, pausing in the entryway. “Yumi will cook up a big breakfast before ye leave in the morning so don't try to skip out early.”
“We won't,” Haiden promises.
Trahern leaves them to their sleep and Rai turns to the beds, shucking off his belt, leather gauntlets and other uncomfortable accessories. He pulls out the tie to his hair, scratching his fingers against his scalp. The room carries a bit of a chill and Rai's eager to dive into the blankets and hopefully, surrender to a dreamless sleep.
“We still don't know that much about each other,” Haiden murmurs, finally moving into the room and preparing for bed himself. “Even after fighting together.”
Rai thinks of his own secrets. He doesn't plan to share those either. Besides, who says that companions have to divulge their inner pains to one another? “We were strangers to start. What do you expect?”
“But were we strangers in the end?”
“We're strangers now, Haiden.”
“You and I aren't.”
Rai flops down on his portion of pillows and blankets, his back to the other man. “We are now,” he mutters, though it's more to himself than to the only man he's ever considered his friend. “Go to sleep, Haiden,” he says, louder this time.
Mercifully, Haiden says nothing else. He simply blows out the lamp, which bathes the room in darkness, save for the moonlight streaming through the curtains.
a/n: And the pace crawls along. *winces* It's more a character-driven story than one driven by action I suppose. Still, I hope that you are enjoying it!
As always, feedback is appreciated!
On to chapter five!
