This is the Sequel to the Course of True Love! Please give it a try and let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
The ship rocked gently in the waves. It had been a strange voyage to get here… the wind always filling their sales to billowing and the tide giving them no trouble as they glided across the ocean toward their destination. In the distance the deep thunder heads of Wild Sea Bound storms called to them like sirens dancing on the white capped waves. Still they went on, pushed by some unseen force… guided by the very Gods themselves.
The girl who leaned against the rail of the ship was not stunningly beautiful, but the warmth of her hazel dreamer's eyes and the solid confident lines of her body made her a unique beauty that drew more attention then most of the hot house flowers of the court. She was an exotic bloom, her honey and brown colored hair set of her tan skin and one look in those eyes showed a soul that had seen the world and measured it in saddle sores, grit, and blisters.
She wore tight dear skin breeches that ended in knee high boots and a loose linen shirt with a thick leather vest strapped tightly across her chest, her clothes were worn and patched but they suited the woman. She wore one weapon strapped to her thigh, a battered sword made of highly prized Yamani steal, it was clearly well cared for and despite the use it was razor sharp. It was clear though, that the woman was completely comfortable with the sword at her side and knew how to use it.
A voice called out to her.
"Kel, were about twenty minuets from docking. Are you ready?" The speaker was lost in the crowd of men and women who bustled about the ship in preparation for docking.
Kel raised a hand to indicate that she was and then turned back to look at the rapidly approaching city.
Kel felt the pull of the tide in her very soul, like somehow the current was calling her home to Tortall's rugged shores, to a warm embrace long forgotten. She fingered the thick leather band that she wore around her wrist. The waves embossed therein told the truth of the tale. The Wave Walker had blessed her with the gift of Safe Voyages. Once reserved for those served her, those who had once danced in the waves with her… but now it was the battered token of a desperate Goddess. The truth of the gift was not lost on Kel, the weight the she bore on her shoulders was dangerously heavy, she feared what would happen if she could not bear it.
Kel had not been home in almost a year and a half… the fear of what waited for her on the shores of her homeland almost outweighed her desire to be home again. Still, she didn't hesitate. She had learned the value of home, and the danger of hesitation. She missed home, missed her family, and missed her friends… she feared what coming home would mean, but she felt the rightness of this to the very core of her bones.
Despite the adventures that she had undertaken, the new friends and allies that she's made, and the changes that she'd undergone as a women, a warrior, and an individual she knew that there was a place in heart that would never be filled by anything other than her family and those friends near and dear enough to be considered family.
She had walked on earth that no man had touched, traveled with native peoples who hadn't seen an outsider for hundreds of years, and brought with her diplomatic offers and Honor Gifts from tribes she's lived among. Her open and embracing manner had made many friends and spread the legend of her deeds into epic proportions.
She remembered the night that she was taken. The Slavers that had become her first set of unlikely allies, despite the fact that her scalp still bore the scars from Trevon's knife and her soul still bore the scars of her time in the shackles of slavery. The slaughter of the King of Scanra and her late night escape into the depths of the Hag's Revenge.
She fondly remembered Lilith, the rouge who'd been killed in Carthak and the children she'd adopted as her own. She missed them and Tobe with a fierceness that she could not voice. Her thoughts drifted back to the voyage. Back to her death, all the killing, Dom's death, and the birth of the Dark Army.
Disheartened she tired to focus on the good and found herself doing a subtle check on the Honor Gifts she wore on her person. A light touch on each brought back the story of how they had come to her and what each meant. The first was a broad ornate tattoo that stretched from one shoulder to the next, filling the slight hollow between her collar bones. A passive magic spell that would always show her the way home if she asked for it's help.
The next was a pair of ultra soft hand stitched knee high boots. Her fingers rubbed a piece of the leather, she remembered the small Lycean woman who had given them to her as thanks for saving her family. Kel had put them on so that the woman would be honored and now wore them everyday because they were the best boots she'd ever owned.
Her hands found her way up to her ears were several silver rings sparkled in each… they were gift from a band of traveling players who'd taken them in. Then she touched the circlet of evergreen strangler vines that was woven into her hair and arched across her hairline. It was a binding, one that she and Dom had done in the jungles of Malaica. He wore his as a necklace and she wore hers as part of a thick crown of braided hair.
Tucked into the braid were three charms made of woven plants. The first was a Willow ring, blessed by the Elfae to defend against any person who might scry for her. The second was a ring of carved of a sacred Apple tree, it was a gift from a friend of her heart and it made her feel safer knowing that it was there.
The last was a dangerous gift that Kel wore cautiously but with much pride. A ring made of Rune tree bark. The Rune Tree was said to grow only in places were unjust death had occurred. Many users of dark magic feed the Rune tree human blood in order to ask for gifts from the dangerous gods of the Otherworld. The ring of Rune Tree bark would warm to her touch if a person's intentions were evil. It took a pure heart to control the evil that flowed from the ring, but the Priestess of the Belsigh who had given it to Kel had no doubts that Kel would be fine. The last was not a gift from a native people or new friends. Instead it was a set of battered beads, a gift from the first warrior: Ezekiel the Brave, attached to two tightly braided chunks of hair. She wore them proudly. They were a memento of the beginning of this trip… a marker of how far she had come.
Deep lines creased her forehead as she looked out toward the land mass that was growing closer and closer by the moment. Port Caynn was a bustling mark on the shoreline…their destination; once they landed they would be headed away from the coast inland, toward the capital. Kel's shoulder muscles were tight and jaw clenched in concentration.
She was so intent on the Port that she didn't hear Dom coming up behind her until he placed his hands gently on her shoulders. Kel knew that it was him without looking. She knew his touch, his scent, and the comforting feeling that his presence radiated.
She leaned against his solid form, taking her eyes away from the horizon to run them lovingly over his face. His once close cropped dark hair was shaggy, making him look unkempt and dangerous. He was not unscarred by their voyages. His right eye carried the mark of an assassin's blade. A thin scar that slashed through his eyebrow, danced diagonally across the delicate skin of his eyelid and ended in the flesh of his cheek just short of his nose. His smile was the same thought and the laughter that had always danced in his eyes was still there stronger than ever.
Kel sighed when his fingers gently began to work the tension from her muscles.
"What's going to happen when we get to Corus?" Kel voice slipped out. She was still self conscious about her voice sometimes; a memento from a Slashing Wire that had been looped around her neck as she tired to fight her was toward Dom. It was meant to kill her but the thick leather necklace that the Wave Walker had given her took most of the damage. The thick choker had saved her life, but for the first three months after the accident she had been unable to wear it, so Dom had tied it snuggly around her wrist and there it stayed. The Slashing Wire had left a thin scar across the skin of her neck and deepened the once dulcet tones of her voice. Dom said that it was beautiful just like the rest of her and made a point of telling her so everyday, but Kel was not sure she'd adjusted yet… after all she had not heard her own voice for six months, three to heal and three of hearing a stranger's voice when she spoke… she thought that perhaps she would adjust in time… for now enough time had no elapsed for her to come to grips with a voice other than her own coming out of her mouth.
Dom laughed in response to her question.
"I suspect I will have to get a hair cut, then we will have take baths… you smell a little ripe, love…but after all that… I think Raoul will probably ask us to train him with that Knife Punch Dagger of yours." His lips were curled into a closed lipped smile as he placed a chaste kiss on her cheek.
"Don't worry. I don't think that you are meant to die now. You bring with you at least three offers of diplomatic relationships… and the most attractive man in all of Tortall. Can you imagine how miserable those fluff brained ladies have made the King, begging for word of me?" Kel turned and swatted him on the shoulder with a laugh. He always knew just what to say.
He took her hand and steered away from the rail to where several warrior like individuals stood apart from the din.
These were her friends. Each gathered into the fold from a different part of the world, each with their own history, culture, and future… but held together by a common bond of friendship and a commitment to stopping the evil that plagued the world. She took her brace of weapons and her pack from one of the men, a tall waif like creature with dark ebony colored skin.
She strapped her Knife Punch Dagger to her hip, it was a fantastic weapon that had a small handle protected by a piece of heavy metal, on top of the metal was a long finely honed blade. It was meant to be used in combination with hand-to-hand combat.
Next she took her Bola and tucked it into a pouch on her waist band; next to it went a small perfectly balanced throwing knife. The others were arming up to. It's not that they expected there to be trouble on the road between Corus and the Port… but their pasts had taught them to be prepared for anything.
Kel was lost in thought until she felt the boat bump the dock. She moved toward the gang plank, walked carefully down the slick wood ramp. She'd slug her pack over her shoulder as she went. The others were followed close. They waved goodbye to the sailors as they went, only one garnered more attention then the others.
Kel and Dom waited at the bottom of the gangplank while the others seeped away from them to complete their tasks for the journey to the capital. A man moved down the gangplank with a sailors ease. He was tall and harsh lines had been etched in his face by the last year, but his smile was true.
"Jack." Kel had no other words. Jack was a friend of her heart. A staunch ally through all that they had faced. This was his ship and his crew… so there was very little chance that he would stay with them. Dom placed his hand on her shoulder, his silent support pouring into her. Along the way they had lost so many to death that the loss of a friend, even if they were simply sailing away into the opening of the harbor, was a blow to her heart.
"Kel…" He trailed off as he considered her with serious eyes. "You aren't going to like this, but I'm going to come to the capital with you," he referred to the fact that Kel had repeatedly told her travel companions that they should make their own way to the king. After all, meeting the king with a traitor was not the best way to impress him, but those who traveled in her small band where glad to stand beside her, consequences be damned.
"After that… I'm not sure what I'll do. The Hag has been my home for a long time and it would break my heart to leave her, but I know that if I go with you, I'll get to meet all the pretty girls and impress them with my rugged manliness." He nodded to himself, rubbing his chin, excited by the whole prospect. Kel felt a smile grow on her lips, at least for a moment they would loose no one else. It was in this moment of peace that a curvaceous woman with caramel colored skin and exotic eyes drifted through the throngs of people on the dock and spoke softly in Kel's ear.
"The King is visiting Caynn today. We will see him here… not in Corus. We have an appointment to 'air grievances' in thirty minuets. " Kel drew back from the exotic beauty. Her eyes were wide but she betrayed on other signs of her shock and concern. She nodded.
"Sanja, Tell Avedro to gather our gear, get the horses loaded, and spread the word that we are going to get our royal meeting earlier than we thought." The small woman bowed slightly to Kel and slipped back into the teaming masses of the wharf district. Jack and Dom observed Kel with blank faces, but the question hung in the air.
"The King has decided to visit the port today. So we will meet up with him here. He will be hearing concerns and complaints from local nobles. We will see him within half a candlemark." Kel rubbed the apple wood ring tied in her hair furiously until Dom grabbed her hand occupying it with one of his own.
"Well, that's a great coincidence, rather convenient if I do say so myself. Speeds the whole process up a bit, don't you think?" Jack's grin was good natured, but he knew as well as they did that when the Gods meddle; nothing is coincidence. Kel nodded to the dark skinned man who had held her pack and brace earlier, he trailed five horses, four for riding and one loaded down with supplies.
They mounted with little conversation, they knew what waited for them and time it seemed was racing forward to encourage this meeting.
The King's Caynn "home" was really more of a miniature version of the Palace. It surprised Kel that they even made it past the gate. She knew they looked like a band of brigands, still a subtle flash of their credentials and some gold nobles placed in the right hands and they found themselves in a grand hallway outside the King's meeting chambers. She felt naked without Griffin weighing at her side… but rules were rules. Each of them had been forced to removal all of their weapons and leave their packs in the courtyard under the suspicious eyes of a small stable boy.
Kel eyed the small wooden plaque lightly 'stitched' into the shoulder of her vest. In truth it was an oval shaped piece of Wildwood. A tree whose sap was poisonous to people. Grown in the deep jungle Wildwood trees were hard to find and dangerous to harvest. She wore the plague as part of a concealed weapon. The oval was attached to the string that stitched it in place and when loosed and spun in a carefully practiced motion it could protect the wielder from arrows, attackers, and other defensive threats… or better yet, used as a deadly slashing blade.
She knew that the others carried 'weapons' to. Each was carefully design to speak past alarm spells and have everyday uses. Sanja wore jade combs in her midnight tresses. Each was heavy, reinforced with steal, and had a wide enough spacing in the teeth that Sanja could slip her fingers between them and use them like wickedly sharp claws.
Lyric wore a heavy belt that wrapped around his frame several times, it truth it was a deadly leather whip, he could use to turn the tide of any fight he found himself in.
The others wore their weapons more close to their hearts and gave no sign of the urge to draw them like Sanja and Lyric did. Before Kel could think on it further the door to the chamber opened and they were called forward.
"I understand that you are diplomats," the King spoke softly, his smile good natured and friendly. "But I have never heard of your countries. Please tell me how you came to be here and how I may encourage the friendship between our lands."
King Jonathan was just as Kel remembered. Self-assured and not as observant as he liked to think. Thayet was cool and collected beside her King with a gentle smile gracing her ruby lips. To Kel's surprise Numair and Daine stood beside the King. The both wore huge grins on their faces. Beside them Alanna and George lounged on a smaller dais in comfortable chairs. The road dirt that clung to them let Kel know that they had traveled from the Swoop to see the King. Standing in a Guard position in front and slight off to the side of the King was Raoul. His hand resting on his sword and his eyes fixed to them with intense focus. Buri assumed the same position and pose for the Queen. 'All in All it was a good day to come back from the dead,' Kel thought to herself.
Dom squeezed her hand and then meandered good naturedly toward Raoul. Dom bowed low in a players overly dramatic pose before he spoke.
"Milord, Your prodigal Sergeant had returned. He, that is I, have brought with me, your other prodigy, Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan. We are doing prodigiously, and I expect to receive hazard pay for the last year." He rose and looked the Knight Commander in the face. His grin was wide as he held his hand out for Raoul to shake.
Raoul's face broke into a huge grin. He grabbed Dom's hand and pumped it enthusiastically, all the while slamming an open hand, the size of a Christmas ham into Dom's back. Dom looked overjoyed.
Daine and Numair could not hold out any longer. With shouts for joy, Daine embraced Kel and squeezed tight about her shoulders. It felt good to know that she was at least wanted back home by some of the people she had come to know in her lifetime.
By this time commotion had overtaken the room. George had come up and joined Raoul in welcoming Dom home. It seemed that on one of their stops to get supplies, not that George would say which one; a 'little birdie' had tipped him off to their homecoming. Thus, the mad rush from the Swoop to Caynn. Alanna approached Kel with a large smile. Once Numair released Kel's hand, she stepped forward.
"Gods all bless Lady Knight. You've been gone from your home for to long." Kel and Alanna clasped each others wrists, a warriors greeting and a sign of mutual respect. After a moment and a harried shuffled of overly excited people, Kel found herself swept into a strong embrace. Raoul hugged her tightly. His fatherly manner took the edge off her fear and made the last year seem less dark. When he stepped back Buri joined them. She also clasped Kel' s wrist, then stepped back.
"About time, Kel. Do you know how much trouble this one has been since you left?" She tapped Raoul on the shoulder with a small fist. Kel could only laugh in response. George shook her hand and smiled his wide smile her direction, a way of showing he was glad for her return. A voice broke through the noise of her homecoming.
"Am I to understand that this is Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan? Come home at last…" King Jonathan still sat in his high straight backed chair. Kel's smile faded as the others drifted away leaving her, Dom, and their group to face the King.
You know what to do... so do it!