The morning slipped quietly into the room. Silah's naked form stirred against me as she felt me ascend through the layers of sleep. I let myself linger on the edge of wakefulness, fighting back the need to snap myself aware. I felt ecstasy reflected from Silah, a memory replaying in her thoughts; something that she was sharing with me. I breathed deeply, reveling in the vibrant feelings tugging at me.
"Good morning, love." She said with a wistful smile.
It had been a long time since things were as calm and, dare I say it, easy. For now, we could simply be together.
I leaned my head forward, awkwardly and kissed her forehead. I could see the tattoos—stark against her pale skin—that ran down the length of her spine and reaching up to the nape of her neck. I traced along them with my fingers, feeling my pulse rise with the caress. It had only been days since I had allowed myself to look at her with unrestrained desire. I wondered why I had held back for so long, but also knew that this … this was different. If I had allowed it to sweep me away, I doubted our connection would have had the roots grow as deep as they had. And my hope was that they were deep enough to weather the storms ahead.
Silah's own expression shone with a wry humor listening in on everything passing through my head, her golden eyes sparkling. Her smile widened with amorous intent as she clawed her way up and straddled me, bringing me in line with those fiery eyes. I encircled her with my arms as we kissed. I felt every part of me react to her intensity and I responded in kind, drowning in the reverberating echoes reflected between our bodies.
Hours passed and I began to feel a smoldering guilt; that, along with pangs of hunger, from being lazily holed up in this room until nearly noon. The sunlight had started to heat the walls and ceiling to a point where it was getting uncomfortable. I sat forward and swung my legs from the bed. I expected Silah to sulk at my departure, but she just smiled warmly. She remained, lounging comfortably, draped loosely in a sheet, propping her head up to watch me. While still naked, I walked absently around the room, gathering my things, still trying to emerge from this dreamlike haze as hunger gnawed at me.
"We can't stay in here all day." I said as she remained still with the wistful smile plastered to her face.
"I never intended to. I'm impressed that you didn't shoot out and run to your friends upon waking." She said, her voice laced with dry humor.
"We should take the time to live gracefully," I said with a smile, "I remember someone telling me some time ago. Back when there was even less to worry about."
"Whoever it was, she sounded like a very wise person." She said as she swung her graceful legs from the bed.
The sight of her naked form triggered my involuntary reaction to turn away. I smiled to myself, and turn back to meet her gaze. She chuckled at my initial reaction then moved into my arms and lingered. I could see us in the mirror, my mottled gray green flesh against her perfect peach-colored skin slashed with the scrollwork up her back. I breathed deeply, soaking in the preternatural warmth from our embrace.
"Let's find something to eat." I said, while putting on the Mont Brooks tunic and trousers.
She nodded and quickly snaked her way into the milky white dress. It had been bunched in my rucksack, but the crushed fabric appearance seemed to add a pleasing texture to the dress. Silah admired herself in the mirror and nodded. I gathered only my coin purse, but left my rucksack and gear remain. It was a fierce internal struggle to leave anything behind, but my concept of home had begun to change. At the door, I held out an arm and Silah slipped her arm through, then descended into the dining room.
After breakfast we found that Bromm had gone to the temple again. He was following through with his commitment to Kols. We found that Floki and Sig had joined Bromm there, but Danin was absent. Bromm suppressed a chuckle as I approached.
"We wondered where you'd gone off to, but, then again, we also didn't." He gave me a smile and a nod, the striking hammer swinging from his neck with the movement.
"What's the plan here?" I said aloud while looking around the room avoiding their eyes, feeling a little sheepish and doing my best to push on to another topic.
There was a subtle chuckle reverberating in my head from Silah as she disengaged from my arm. She moved into the next room to fall in next to Sig.
"We've been looking for the deed." Sig said, digging through some of the bookshelves at the bottom of the tower.
"What can you do with the deed?" I asked, curious.
"If we're going to revive faith in Kols, we'll need to make sure we keep control of this building. I have a few ideas, but it all starts with acquiring this building."
I nodded. It sounded sensible and very business-like. I started to wonder what the plan was, to keep faith in Kols alive or start yet another business? Maybe the ingenuity of what Bromm was doing was that it was both. I lingered, listening in on the exchange between Sig and Bromm. They had been loudly calling out different ways to bring in more members who would pledge themselves to the cause.
Later today he planned to go to the City Offices to hire some hands to maintain the temple and, perhaps, a scholar who he would pay to take on the clerical responsibilities for the church. The man would officially be an acolyte of Kols. He even laughed about getting his first "member", as he had given Robyn the same symbol he wore around his neck.
"We could set up a lab here, sell powder from the temple." Sig said. He seemed to be getting excited with the direction Bromm was going.
Bromm nodded appreciatively.
"We could offer training in firearms, too. Like how Yollari has the rangers headquarter to draw people in for services and information, we could do the same." Bromm mused, fitting the pieces together.
The stout Danin emerged through the door.
"I found the deed. It shouldn't be a problem. We'll just want final word from the Regent." He said, somewhat gruffly.
"We should get to that immediately. No use shuffling through more papers here, when we're hiring someone to do that for us." Sig said with a bit of a grimace. "We've got to get to work on the powder shipments, anyway. The sooner we can get Beidrick back on the water, the better."
Silah and I followed Bromm and Sig to the city offices first, Bromm approached the straight-backed man who ran the public calls for service. He warily looked at Bromm, knowing the amount of effort he had recently gone through with vetting and populating the mining venture for Richter Holdings. There was a discussion of the best fit and the man pulled a number of papers for unskilled labor and a potential for the acolyte position, a budding scholar who had submitted his paperwork.
"This is for work at the Priory?" The man said, "Nasty business, that. Should I have them meet you there?"
"And," the man paused and wet his lips, "Will this position be hazardous?"
Bromm's face was smooth, it was clear that he did not intend to allow anything to happen.
"No, sir. All will be in order. And, yes, have them meet us at the priory."
With that, we took our leave and continued on past the city offices back to the Regent's estate.
"I've been seeing a lot of you boys lately." The Regent said with a tired sort of smile. "What do you have for me?"
"The priory," Bromm began, "We wish to take charge of the ongoing duties of those who were lost, including care and maintenance."
The Regent looked at each of us, weighing us.
"You've done well so far, but this is a very weighty matter. We will need to make sure all of the paperwork is in order for it to transition to your care." He fidgeted, drumming his fingers into his palms rapidly. "To tell you the truth, I would rather keep this as quiet as possible. The city has only heard rumors so far, and losing one of the oldest holy places is … disquieting, to say the least."
"If you can promise me that you will honor this position and," he glanced between Bromm and Sig, "Treat this duty respectfully and not simply to your own ends, then, by all means, I will fully empower you."
There were nods around. He watched closely, still weighing their intent. I could see the deepening lines around his eyes and the graying at his temples stand out more pronounced with each visit.
Crisis upon Crisis. I thought. I wonder how much all of us will age before these matters are settled.
Silah caressed my arm in response and I felt a warm embrace tighten across my shoulders reassuringly.
"Just," The Regent took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "don't make me regret this."
"You won't." Bromm said, fervently. "I am an Oathkeeper."
Bromm gave a curt bow, but remained standing in front of the man. He was about to turn away when he looked back to Bromm.
"Is there something else?" He said, annoyance creeping into his voice.
"Yes. One other matter." Bromm's unflappable exterior held strong, but I could still see a slight strain in his neck and his eye twitched just momentarily. "Regarding Robyn Beckett."
The Regent shook his head clenching his teeth.
"I will allow the law to handle this matter." The Regent chewed on the words. "There are too many moving parts to settle this cleanly. It will require a private pre-trial to establish a precedent. If we find that she was not justified in her … self-defense. If we are unable to settle this there, we will be required to make this a matter of public record. This could be … difficult for all of us."
Bromm nodded slowly.
"Anything else?" The Regent's eyes smoldered.
"No, sir. Thank you for your time." Bromm's manner was charming, but the Regent wasn't open to his disarming approach, at least, not at the moment..
As we stepped outside, Bromm let out a long breath and shook his head, the tension bled from him as he allowed himself to relax.
"I'm going to need more than a couple of drinks after all this." He announced. " But, right now, I'm going to visit Robyn again."
"Later at The Sea Witch?" He looked at us.
Danin and Floki nodded. Sig seemed preoccupied.
"We have the materials from Beidrick's shipment, Bromm." Sig mentioned. "We can start anytime."
Sig's tone belied his words. He wanted to start immediately. Bromm nodded seeming to recognize this. Apparently, this wasn't new information to him, but he seemed to need a moment to gather himself before he committed to yet another task.
Sig moved toward his grandfather's place while Danin and Floki went on to their own matters.
Beidrick was at The Sea Witch, he was sitting at one of the round tables, doing his best to capture Sabella's interest. She watched to see how much he pulled from his purse, giving back the attention as the coin still flowed. When Silah and I walked in, he nearly sent his chair to the floor he stood so quickly.
"A drink for these two! Shatterhammer?" He nodded toward us, Silah parted and moved toward him with a grand smile.
I looked to Sabella, then to Macaulay and shook my head.
"A stout if you would." I said in a low tone as a delighted Silah talked with the exuberant Beidrick.
Macaulay nodded with a wry smile. This had become the usual for me. I had told Sig and Bromm had better get something new in place quickly or they'd lose me entirely.
Beidrick flagged me over as Silah turned back, her eyes glittering reflecting his excitement.
"Did Bromm tell you about what happened on the return trip?" His eyes were afire as his excitement seemed to get the better of him.
I shook my head. My lazy morning, perhaps, was too lazy after all.
"So, we're out at sea and have the first shipment from the mines in the hold. It's a clear night, smooth sailing as far as I could see." He swept his hand across the air as he spoke, "Then these clouds start building from nowhere, off a bit to West from what I could tell by the starlight. It swallowed up the moon and we were nearly blind out there. We put in to the coast just as the the rain rolled right over us."
I thought back on the events after Bromm pledged himself to Kols. I furrowed my brow at Beidrick's own revelation. I have no idea how the gods work and now I was even more confused. It seemed a coincidence—even a sign, as it were—that showed just in time with Bromm's words. I was now even more intrigued and, from the look in his eye, Beidrick was just getting started.
"When it settled and we had bailed the boat, we ran into an old fisherman, someone I'd known for years, he flagged us over. They were caught out in the worst of it and it caused them some trouble with their sails." Beidrick got intense, "But, get this, they had fished a man out of the water who had been on some sort of makeshift raft. They said he was babbling on about a war. The fisherman was confused, thinking he was blown in from another warring nation, but then he mentioned Briarsgate and, oh, what's that name again, Dezovrask. That's the name of the demon that ..."
He looked at me and saw my confused look. Silah was intrigued, though, she seemed to recognize this name. I would have to ask her about it later. Seeing my lack of recognition, he moved on.
"The guy babbled on about mermaids grabbing the others and dragging them into the depths of the sea. Mermaids! Raenir and Danin said they saw mermaids off the coast of … that island." He looked around worried now that he'd raised his voice.
"Of course, it didn't work out so well for the man, though. He died from exposure as they were stuck in the worst of it."
He looked to me excitedly, but my lack of reaction seemed to tamp down his spirits. I could imagine my face didn't show much more than bewilderment.
"They did tell you about the island, right?" He said, a tad sullenly.
"Only briefly. I did overhear Bromm talking about Briarsgate once and I asked him some questions about it. Your friends are a bit tight lipped about all that." I offered, wondering if he could fill in the gaps. He looked around the room and found an empty table in a quiet corner of The Sea Witch.
"Let's go over there." He said, nodding toward the table, his eyes darting around for eavesdroppers. "If we're going back there, you'll want to know what went down."
I couldn't help but smile at the mischievous look on his face. Both Silah and I had heard portions of his tale from the others to a certain extent, but it had always been very restrained and abbreviated. Beidrick brought a different flavor to all of it, a considerably more raw depiction of events as well as adding his characteristic bravado.
"You keep talking, I'll keep buying." I offered, and he gave me a wide grin.
"You're on!"
(Get to know Akeron.)
(Read Robyn's Account of Events.)
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