Following Blindly

Mercedes Lackey "Heralds of Valdemar" Fan Fiction

-Chapter 2-

Baron Greory Hethlight want not a small man, though one would not call him large either. He was of average height with a stocky build and so was his wife Dalila. How a pair of stocky built western Valdemarens could spawn two lanky heirs was beyond him, that sort of thinking was not his strong suit. He did however understand that when the rider-less horse of his son and huge clouds of smoke started racing into the Barony proper from the forested mountain slope that it was time sound an alarm. He, with about forty others, was headed through the forest towards the source of the smoke to see what had caused it and if a fire brigade was needed. What they found was not what they'd been expecting.

In the midst of what had once been a clearing lay the charred ruins of a camp. Here and there lay the still smoldering bodies of bandits, no doubt the ones who'd been plaguing his lands for the last few months, as well as some horses that had been as unlucky as their masters. The smell of burning flesh was sickening, but not something he was unsettled by, it was not the first time he'd been witness to carnage like this. The Barons group quickly spread out to look for survivors. It wasn't long before someone called out and the whole group converged on the remains of a tent on the northern edge of the camp.

His sons, both of them, lay within the smoldering remains of the tent untouched by the fire that had destroyed the rest of the camp. He didn't know what to think but he did know that, by the state of them, they both were in need of medical attention. It was a shame that just as his wife's aunt had come to visit both of his sons would be felled by such strange circumstances.

He sent some of his men to Shelen as he seemed to have taken lighter damage than his brother, Ashlen. The older of the twins was shivering even though he was obviously out of his senses. As a father he had always been the hard hand on the boys, knowing that one day one of them would be taking over for him at the holding. After the accident that left Ashlen blind it was obvious that his successor would be Shelen and he had left the older of the set of twins to his own devices in dealing with his handicap. He had never stopped watching over the boy, no, that would have been irresponsible, but he felt awkward and didn't know how to approach his son in a way that they would both understand. He felt as responsible for his sons' blindness as anyone could for it was he who had taken the five year old boys to the barn to show them the new stud. It was he who had left them alone in the foul tempered beasts stall to fetch a groom, and it was he who returned to late and had to carry Ashlen's limp body to the main house and console his wife when even he had been unsure if the boy would survive. Now he again cradled Ashlen's limp body in his arms and he felt like weeping for it. His son was covered in bruises in the shape of grasping hands and he was bleeding from bites and scratches, as well as from other places he didn't even want to think about. He unpinned his riding cloak and wrapped it around his eldest son then, handing him momentarily to one of them men while he re-mounted his horse, he carried Ashlen back down the slope to the barony. His assistant arms master, Hern, looked after Shelen and none of the men talked as they made their decent from the site of where the bandits' camp now lay in ash-covered waste.

Hedda patted her niece on the back; it was the only show of support she could offer while Dalila sobbed into she sheets of her sons' bed. Ashlen was still now; the hedg-witch from town had given him some tea made of herbs to help him sleep dreamlessly. The poor young man was wrought with nightmares and Hedda knew that he would need the attention of a mind-healer, and the only place to get one was in Haven, the capital of Valdemar. But the old Herald said nothing, now was not the time, right now this boy need some physical rest and his family needed consoling.

When Gregory had returned from the forest with his sons Hedda had just dismounted from Kristopher in the courtyard where Dalila and her girls had come to meet her. Shelen had awoken before the group of would-be firefighters arrived back at the Barony but he was quiet, and he refused to look his mother in the face when she asked him what was wrong. Only then did Gregory dismount a limp and sad looking Ashlen unconscious in his arms. The boy looked so small draped in his father's arms as he was, and neither Shelen nor Ashlen were small boys, both towered over their parents at the age of twelve and now at seventeen they were like giants amongst pygmies. Dalila had at first thought he was dead and she had snatched her son from her husband with a strength that only a mother could muster, falling to her knees and rocking him back and forth as she began to cry hysterically. She must have been holding on very tight because Ashlen moaned and at the sign of life Dalila jump back to her feet and ran, son in arms, for the main house. Gregory, Shelen, Hedda, and the others had no choice but to follow.

Shelen had collapsed into a chair next to his brothers' bed and, after telling his father, mother, and grate-aunt, what had happened, he fell into an exhausted sleep. It was easy to see that he was hurt more by what had happened to his twin then he was physical. He had bruises on his face, on his wrists, and chest. The old hedge-witch said he had cracked a few ribs but other than that he was fine. Shelen hadn't stuttered since he was three but he had stuttered profusely when retelling the occurrences that took place in the forest. Shelen, however, would heal. Ashlen on the other hand, would proudly never be the same. He had always been a bit of a recluse. Hiding from large crowds and avoiding enthusiastic affairs like festivals and weddings but that was understandable. The boy could not see to make his way though such event and would have bumped into unfamiliar objects just trying to pass though the crowds. This was something, however, that would most likely turn her young great-nephew suicidal. Hedda had see similar cases, though in none of them had the victim been blind, where children, who were usually from the slums of Haven or some other backwater place, had been raped and it was a horrifying and painful experience, both for the victim and the victims' family. She wanted so badly to gallop Kristopher up that mountain and desecrate whatever was left of the bandits who had done this to her great-nephew but she knew better. There would only be empty satisfaction in that, they were already dead, and they had not died in a quick or un-painful way.

Being burned alive was one of the worst ways to die, before the fire killed you it would eat up your oxygen and you would suffocate while screaming in pain from your burns. It was a fate that Hedda wouldn't wish on even her own enemies, but now, with the seething hate and pain that comes from knowing such a horrible thing happened to someone you love, she could only pout that it was not she who had burned those bandits alive. Kristopher warned her that those were not very Herald-like thoughts but he could not hold back the feeling of protectiveness he felt for the boy on his chosen's behalf.

"Dalila, dear, you must get some rest. It will do no one any good for you to cry yourself sick, and then who would look after Ashlen and Shelen and the stubborn husband of yours." Hedda said softly, knowing full well the hurt her niece must be feeling because she felt it too. Hedda had never married, or had any children of her own so when her sisters daughter was blessed with twins she had sung their praises to anyone who would listen. She was so proud of her great-nephews, proud in the same way she would have been had they been her own grandchildren. She loved them both more than anyone but Kristopher knew.

Dalila looked over her shoulder with a hick-up and nodded with a weak smile, trying to compose herself as she turned and stood before her aunt. She was a strong, small, sturdy woman. Her black-brown hair was held back in a loose plat down her back, often braided with softly colored ribbons though there were none of those today. Her normally beautiful hazel eyes were bloodshot and were still seeping grief slowly out of their corners. She turned and looked down at her sleeping sons, one in the bed, the other occupying the only chair in the room, and suppressed another hard sob while finding her shaky voice.

"I almost lost a son once to simple oversight, and I have come close to losing both of my sons to stubborn pride. I could not bear it should some other event really strip one from me. Hedda, aunt whom I love and respect, please. Take my sons to Haven when you return? If they are there I will know they are safe, and Ashlen will need healing that no one out here can provide. I would rather see less of him then never see him again…" she stopped choking back a sob that threatened to shatter her hard-held composure. Hedda could not argue with her niece, she had thinking some of those same thoughts only moments before, she was grateful that Dalila had saved her the hard task of putting them to words. The old Herald nodded and her niece sighed, quickly fleeing the room as another bout of sobs shook her. It would be difficult for her to let her sons go but her motherly instincts had told her, screamed at her, that it must be done.

Hedda knew that she would be going back to Haven before she had wanted to, but she was not unhappy about it, as she would have been had her vacation had not had such a horrifying start. But now she needed to speak to Gregory, because he would be the one with the final say on what became of his sons, at least until they got to Haven. From what she understood of Shelen's story one or both of the twins had manifested a Mage-gift or at the very least a strong fire starting gift. She was certain that within hours of entering the wall of Haven at least one of them would be Chosen.

Hedda left her two young charges sleeping peacefully, at least for now, and asked a passing servant where she might find her nieces' husband. She was directed to the drawing room, where Gregory often went when he was not needed elsewhere; she intended to bring up the trip back to Haven but as she cracked to door she found that she was not the first to approach the Baron Hethlight about the trip.

Dalila must have come directly from Ashlen's room to face her husband of twenty years, and now she was in a heated discussion with him; her tears dry, at least for the moment.

"I have asked Aunt Hedda to take the boy back to Haven with her." the Baroness of Hethlight started and she leveled a look on her spouse that said that she was not changing her mind, that didn't stop Gregory's protests, however.

"Send them to Haven? Are you mad? What made you think I would agree to this? Shelen is my heir, and Ashlen is blind anywhere but here at the Barony. I won't send either of them from here!"

"My sons are not safe here!" Dalila protested "This is the second time I have almost lost Ashlen! I refuse to tempt fate this closely again."

"Dalila, I…"

"No! When they were five you left them alone with that foul-tempered stud of yours and Ashlen lost his sight. Shelen lost his innocence and he was never the same child afterwards. He grew up much too fast, and in doing so he and his brother grew further and further apart. Now because you refused to send for a Herald to help get rid of those bandits we have almost lost both of our sons. Ashlen was raped, Gregory, by a man, by men! He needs a healer of the mind and the only place he is going to find one is in Haven!"

"But why send Shelen too then? I need him here if he is to take over this Barony!"

"Because…"

Shelen cam running down the hall then, he grabbed onto Hedda's shoulders and jerked her away from the door so he could throw it open.

"Mother, Father. Ashlen is having a fit!"

Gregory and Dalila paled and Hedda was gone, moving down the corridor at a pace a woman her age shouldn't have been able to hold. She slid into Ashlens room to find the seventeen year old curled up in the corner created by his bed and the wall, his hands covering his head as he shivered. Gregory came into the room a moment later, followed shortly by Shelen and Dalila, and strode toward his eldest son. Confused and worried he reached out for the boy.

"Son, what's wrong with you?" As he kneeled and his hand closed around Ashlens shoulder Shelen let out a cry in a voice that sounded warped and not his own while his brother made noting but a strangled sob. "No! Don't touch me!" Shelen yelled and Gregory Hethlight was sent flying across the room, slamming into the hard stone walls and bringing down a uselessly placed picture that hung there.

"Ashlen!" the boy's mother called out, falling to her sons side and wrapping her arms around him. The boy shifted, wrapping his own arm around his mother and sobbing into her chest. Hedda turned to Shelen as he swayed and grabbed the doorframe for support, a few warped sounding whispers escaping from his lips before he coughed and looked up at his great-aunt with eyes full of confusion, fear, and questions.

"Don't hurt me, please don't hurt me." he had whispered before returning to "himself" and while Gregory picked himself up, leaning against the wall on shaky legs, Dalila rocked one of her sons as she held him, and Hedda knew that she and both the twins would be leaving the next morning without any protests.

-End Chapter 2-