Chapter Thirty-Two

 

 

Av stumbled to the dining table and dropped into an empty seat. His head felt stuffed but in a pleasant sort of fashion. He couldn't quite focus on any one thing, hardly even noticing when Jer set a plate of food in front of him. A hand on his shoulder was the indication to Av that there were people present and he was truly upright.

He moved sluggishly to pick up his fork and feed himself. As he ate, his father shuffled from the bathing room to the table. Ervam eased into the seat across from Av very carefully. The trainer was obviously in pain.

Av glanced down the table and found Mie wavering back and forth in his seat. The boy was dancing to a music only he could hear. When Mie saw Av watching him, he stilled, focused on his food and dropped his head.

Jer drew Av's attention, walking around the table to set a plate of food before Ervam.

Everyone seemed to be moving so carefully, no words were spoken, no one made eye contact with him. They were afraid of what he might do. After a moment, Av realized it wasn't fear. While it was very much like prey caught in the sight of a predator, the mood was more borderline caution rather than fear. No one wanted to be the first to break the silence.

“Where's Anue?” Av asked.

Mie and Ervam stiffened, forks at varying distances from their mouths. Jer set a cup of tea at Av's side, drawing his attention once more. His brother was doing small things to keep Av focused on him instead of the others. Mie was too young, Ervam had already taken a beating. Jer was making certain that, should Av still be riding the edge, he was the one who was attacked.

“Resting,” Jer said. “She was given something by the healer to numb the pain and to make her sleep, just for yesterday. Today I'm to half the dose. If you have a problem with her pain being numbed, we can take the conversation outside.”

Jer said the last because of the change in the room. It took the younger man a moment to realize that the emotion wasn't coming from Av. As he had already dealt with the problem, it was Av's duty to distract from the actual cause of the emotion.

“Put her by the fireplace,” Av said. He turned his attention to Mie, as the boy had begun dancing in his seat once more. “What has gotten into you?”

Mie finished his mouthful of food before he said, “I slept a long time.”

Which meant Mie had more energy than normal. Av recalled being that age, remembered the bursts of energy and the times when he simply could not sit still. Ervam couldn't keep up with his children when they got into that mood and he had been younger than Av and Jer currently were. At times like those, the two boys would take off together on adventures through the woods. That was, once Ervam ran out of chores for them to do.

“Maybe we could go ice fishing,” Jer said. “Lake should be frozen enough not to crack under our weight while we fish.”

“We can do that?” Mie asked with wide eyes.

“Just have to shovel off the snow and then take the axe to the ice to get to the water,” Av said, taking up the line of thought because he saw the wisdom in the plan.

“Can I do that?” Mie gasped.

“With the dull axe,” Ervam said.

Mie and Jer suddenly found other things intently interesting. Av was very aware of how defeated his father sounded.

He had batted around a few guards before, and inserted himself into fights to end them and prevent a larger fight from starting. Ending fights was a part of what he was, part of what he had done as master while on palace grounds. But he had never done that on another person's territory, had certainly never taken down the one who owned the territory.

This was new ground for him, and he wasn't entirely certain what to do.

“Father's right,” Av said. He hesitated, then added, “In this instance.”

Jer had been moving around the table to set a cup of tea by Ervam. The younger man made eye contact with Av, the first one to do so since the day before. There was a keen understanding in Jer's eyes. He now knew, without announcing anything to Mie, that there had been a very specific reason why Av and Ervam had gotten into a fight. With the earlier emotions in the room at the mention of numbing pain, Jer was likely leaping to the proper conclusions.

All without Mie realizing what the adults were talking about.

There wasn't a doubt in Av's mind that the boy had bonded with Anue. Mie had laid a lifelong claim on the young queen. If Mie knew that his father was going to cause Anue pain for selfish reasons, there would be no end to the boy's anger.

“Better a broken leg, rather than a missing foot if one misses,” Jer said to Mie.

The boy was off the seat and headed for the door before Jer finished speaking. At the door, he began putting on his outerwear.

Av looked wearily at Jer, not wanting to go outside with Mie right then. They would take turns because they knew they couldn't leave that bundle of energy contained in the house, not with two injured folk inside.

There was no sympathy from Jer. His brother was punishing him for something that Av wasn't entirely certain about. Obviously it wasn't about the fight. Their kind fought—they fought with each other and other ranks. Of all the ranks, a trainer was more likely to have an even foothold at least.

The other possibility was his father.

“You'll be wanting something to numb that pain,” Av said to Ervam.

“I'm fine,” Ervam said through gritted teeth.

“You change your mind, just let me know,” Av said.

The fight continued, a little differently now. Ervam knew that Av could best him physically, but that still didn't mean that Av had won. If the pain didn't wear the trainer down, Av would have to take matters into his own hands. Either by broaching the subject and creating peace, or by forcing Ervam to surrender.

Av stood, regretting the motion as his body lost its nice, relaxed feeling. He turned to Mie, who was practically dancing by the door, and sighed.

“Go to the shed and get the shovel, clear off an area around the fire pit,” Av said.

“Fire!” Mie shouted, and was out the door without waiting for Av.

With another sigh, Av turned to Jer, who almost smiled at him. Now was not the time to be a smartass. They had a very long day ahead of them. Wearing out a warrior was not like wearing out a commoner child. Warriors would calm for a few hours, then the need to move would surge again.

“Anue can't be handling your temper right after waking from the sleep she's in,” Jer said.

A warning for Av to curb himself. He would be banned from the house until either Anue was stable, or Av was calmer. The queen wasn't likely to be stable until the pain stopped and that would be quite some time, even if the healing process had been sped up.

Av jabbed a finger at the door and made a confused sound.

“Once she's settled before the fire with Father to watch her, I'll come out and help,” Jer said. “It's probably best if Mie or I see her drink the tea and he's about to start climbing the walls.”

“Fine,” Av said. “I'll take first watch.”

He walked into the cold, not bothering with a coat. The winter morning was warm enough, and they'd be moving soon. That would be enough, at least for now.

Av knew he also had to be keenly aware of the temperature. Mie wouldn't feel the cold and if Av started moving, he wasn't likely to either. The boy had at least had enough thought to put on his coat. That would keep him warm. Av going without a coat would, hopefully, keep Av aware enough to pull Mie inside once the cold became too much.

Mie was standing on the porch, shovel in his hand. He gave Av a toothy grin.

The boy should have begun training years ago, even if it had only been in control of his instincts. His father had insisted on a normal childhood, that Mie should grow up without having to learn to fight with a stick, not until he was a young man. Ervam's thought had been that this was palace lands, Mie was palace blood. The boy should be raised according to their traditions.

Palace traditions be damned, Mie should have learned from the moment he realized what he was, taught how to do everything a warrior could do. Trying to teach a grown man how to control himself was much like trying to teach an adult to read. It was possible, but why cause such stress, when one could simply teach a child before they recalled how annoying it was?

“Have you been told the myths of warriors?” Av asked.

“Father said that if this was the north, I'd be learning how to control a blooding,” Mie said. The boy pressed his lips into a thin line, rocked back on his heels and watched Av. “Have you blooded a man?”

“I've drawn blood, but not done what Father calls blooding a man,” Av said, motioning towards the lake.

Mie bolted for the lake. Halfway there he realized that Av wasn't chasing after him, and he came back, sprinting to the porch.

“Has Jer blooded a man?” Mie asked.

“Blooding a man is personal, Mie,” Av said.

“Father's blooded a man,” Mie said. The boy rocked back on his heels again, peering at Av, just as he had a moment before.

Then he was off in a flash, headed for the edge of the lake. At the edge Mie spun, running back to Av, shovel still clutched in his hand. Av watched his little brother do this again and frowned.

“What are you doing, Mie?” Av asked.

“Mother used to have me run laps,” Mie said. He rocked back on his heels, peering at Av.

Judging him, summing him up.

Mie wasn't just rocking back to make a motion, he was doing it to distract Av and give himself an opportunity to judge an adult. Which made Mie very, very dangerous. As a trained warrior, Av should have been able to pick up on the summing up the first time Mie had done it.

“Why did she do that?” Av asked.

“She couldn't keep up with me. Said sometimes warriors have more energy and that if I got like this when you were around, she'd throw me at you and see what happened, but I never climbed the walls when you were around before.”

“How long has this been going on?” Av asked, stepping off the porch.

“Is it wrong of her?” Mie asked. The boy went very still and lowered his head. “Was it wrong of her?”

“No, not wrong, I was asking how long you've been bouncing,” Av said.

His first time had been when he was ten. He had been training for years. It had been Av hitting that mood that had driven Jer into it, one warrior getting in a mood could bring another, if the pair of them were close enough.

Mie shrugged in response to the answer.

“I was ten,” Av said.

The boy looked up at Av, a deep frown creasing his brow. “Why ten?”

This time Av shrugged. “I suppose that'd be a question for Father. I get the feeling that it's linked to something else. My parents said that warriors typically showed at my age, showed like that at my age. Everyone knew we were warriors, but it's the start of instinct.”

“But I've always known I was a warrior,” Mie said.

“And I always knew I was a warrior,” Av said. “But I didn't start with those things until I was ten. You, however, are seven years old.”

“Almost eight!” Mie protested. “Though Mother had me doing laps almost since the time I could walk. I know because she used to tell me about how hard it was to catch me because I'd always seem to get moody when she had me half-washed after I went and rolled in the mud.”

“Was there holly and pine present?” Av asked.

“No, I know that feeling now, I'd recognize it again,” Mie said.

“Well,” Av hesitated, then continued, “I suppose all we can do is wear you out until Father's in a talkative mood.”