Gilmore blocked Eebon's greatsword on his shield, at the same time angling it down so that the massive sword thudded heavily into the ground, as Eebon tried to recover and resume the attack, Gilmore swung his shield into Eebon's shoulder, knocking him off balance, then followed-up by bringing his dulled, tournament sword down across Eebon's back. Eebon yelled out in pain. Although they were only using tournament swords, the dulled edges did nothing to soften the blows, and now Eebon was going to have a nice, swollen welt, and later a big, nasty bruise.
"Are you alright, Eebon?" Gilmore asked. Gilmore was one of the most promising squires at Castle Cousland, and the son of a lesser noble in Highever. He and Eebon had been friends long enough that Gilmore no longer referred to him as 'my lord'.
Eebon straightened back up and grunted. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've been hit worse before, and I'll be hit worse than that again."
"No, I mean are you feeling alright?" Gilmore asked. "You seem distracted today."
Eebon repeated, "Yeah… I'm fine." This time he put more emphasis on the last two words. "Shall we go again?"
"Actually, I've stayed to long already." Gilmore lied. "I have to go attend to my duties. Good-day Eebon."
"Good-day." Eebon nodded. As Gilmore left the parade ground, Eebon walked back to the post he'd been hacking away at a few days previously. Since then he'd almost cut half-way through. Eebon set down the tournament sword and picked up his personal greatsword again, and was soon swinging the massive blade with anger fueled power. His mind was on the events from two nights ago.
Bryce Cousland and his wife, Eleanor sat at the head of the table. Eebon sat several seats away from them, and immediately across from Fergus, Oriana sat at Fergus' side, and Eebon did his best not to glare at her. Although his older brother and the Antivan had been matched by their parents, Fergus had requested that he be given the final say on whether he actually would marry Oriana or not, and his parents had obliged him that.
At first, Eebon had hoped that Fergus would find Oriana to be incompatible, and would call off the marriage. But after seeing their first kiss, and on same night they had first met no less, Eebon's hopes had started to fall, and in the week since then had fallen only faster and harder. Fergus had been spending virtually every moment of every day with the Antivan, and even a blind man could see that the too two of them were rapidly growing closer. Eebon, on the other hand, had spent much of the last week alone, and spent most of the time either on the parade ground, or out on the countryside, riding his horse and fast and as hard as he could push it. He wasn't used to being alone so much. The time that Fergus had normally spent with him, riding, hunting, sparring, carousing, and just roaming the castle grounds in conversation was now gone.
Across from him, Eebon saw Oriana whisper something in Fergus' ear, then kiss him lightly on the cheek. Fergus' cheeks flushed a light shade of red and he looked at Oriana and nodded, then he cleared his throat loudly before saying, "Father, mother, Eebon… I have an announcement to make."
Eebon felt his hopes crash into the ground so hard they left a crater. He knew what was coming.
Fergus cleared his throat again and turned a couple shades redder before he said, "Today, I asked if Oriana would indeed accept me as a husband, and she has agreed!"
At the head of the table, both Bryce and Eleanor broke into wide grins, and were soon laughing and holding each other in joy. Even the elves and other servants who moved about the dining room set down whatever they might have been carrying so they could applaud the joyous news, some even ran out into the castle to spread the word. And from where he sat, Eebon looked mournfully at Fergus, then adjusted his gaze to glare at Oriana, who at the moment was being held in Fergus' arms, and their lips were locked in another kiss. Before the betrothed couple could part, and before his parents could comment on his lack of appropriate attitude, Eebon stood up and walked as quickly as he could without running towards the exit.
"Eebon, where are you going?" His father, Bryce, called after him.
"To get a damn drink!" Eebon yelled without turning, everyone heard him yell again from outside the dining room "A lot of damn drinks!"
It was well after midnight by the time the servants Bryce sent to look for Eebon found him. And they found him in one of seediest taverns in all of Highever, so drunk that he couldn't form a coherent sentence, and was utterly incapable of walking. Getting him on his horse had been quite a chore, and once that was done, the only way the servants could keep him from falling off was to tie him to the saddle.
The next day, when Eebon had finally woken up he was far too hung over to do anything but lay in bed and groan about how badly his head hurt. Eleanor forbade the herbalist from helping him.
Eebon finished his training session for the day, and was just about to make his way to another hot bath when he saw Fergus coming straight at him, fists clenched at his sides. "Good afternoon my brother!" Fergus said in a happy sounding voice, then brought a fist back flung it with full force into Eebon's jaw. Eebon didn't fall, he only staggered backwards, one hand covering his now aching jaw.
"That was for two nights ago!" Fergus yelled. "For making Oriana feel the way you did after you stormed off, and for embarrassing me in front of her and in front of mother and father! What in the Fade is wrong with—"
Eebon roared and charged his older sibling, ramming his shoulder into Fergus' stomach and pushing him to the ground. Eebon leapt at him, setting free all of the pent of anger, and loss, and frustration he'd been bottling up since the day Oriana had arrived, but as Eebon flew through the air, Fergus got his legs up and landed a double kick to Eebon's mid-section, knocking the wind out of him and pushing him backwards. The two brothers both rose from the ground at the same time and charged each other, yelling like a pair of wild barbarians. Over the next few minutes, the two brothers traded blows back and forth across the parade ground. Eebon was larger and stronger than his older brother, but was also still suffering the after effects from his night of binge drinking, and was already weakened from his rigorous daily training, which gave Fergus something of an advantage, but at the same time, Fergus lacked the advanced combat training that Eebon had been receiving for the last few years.
Eventually the two brothers both stopped, and stood stooped over, hands on their knees, each gasping for breath and glaring at each other. "Eebon…" Fergus said between ragged gasps, made even more difficult from the brutal beating that Eebon had delivered to his ribs, "Why exactly are we fighting?"
Eebon let out a ragged laugh, then grimaced and held his freshly bruised abdomen. "You know… I really don't remember."
Fergus pushed himself up with some effort until he was standing straight up again, even with a bleeding mouth, a black eye, and bruised face, he somehow managed to look noble and authoritative. "I think I remember." Fergus said as he walked back over to Eebon and helped him straighten up again. "It's because you've been a real ass lately. What exactly is wrong with you?"
Eebon touched his nose to wipe away the blood and groaned loudly, realizing his nose was broken. "I'm losing a brother." He said unhappily. "You've been my best friend as long as I can remember, and you've always been the one I look up to… and if you tell anyone that, I'll kill you!" Eebon grinned through bloodied lips. "And now I'm losing you, and I don't want that. I want things to stay how they've always been."
"Eebon…" Fergus said in an annoyed voice, and shaking his head sadly. "If that's really all that's bothering you, then you're an idiot! Did you really think that it would last forever? We are Couslands! The lords and guardians of Highever, and one of the proudest families in all of Ferelden… and here we are fighting like a couple of Orlesians over the last custard pastry! I'm going to be teryn someday, we've both known that for our entire lives… do you think we could still have our boyish fun and games when that happens? And you say that you want to be the commander of Highever's army! You can't have it both ways Eebon! We're not boys anymore, we are men now! And as such, we have to start taking steps towards our destinies."
Eebon hung his head. There were no holes in his brother's logic, and Eebon quickly realized just how foolish he'd been acting since the minute Oriana had first arrived. "I know." He said quietly. "You're right Fergus… just like you always are."
"Glad you know that much!" Fergus said, laughing despite his bruised ribs, which then provoked a short grunt of pain. "Now unless you have some sort of pressing business, you really need to come with me to the stables. Me and Oriana went out to the marketplace today and she found something for you that I think you'll really enjoy. Come-on."
"Hey Fergus," Eebon said as they started moving, "Why is fighting such a good way to settle a dispute?"
"Dios mío, qué te ha pasado?!" Oriana exclaimed as the two brothers walked into the stable. 'My god, what happened to you?!' Then she realized she'd just spoken in Antivan again and corrected herself, "I mean, what happened?"
Fergus grinned and said, "You won't believe it, but when I found Eebon, he'd been set upon by a pack of Orlesian assassins, and so I had to run in and save him."
Eebon chuckled and nodded, "Yeah… just like he said."
Oriana scowled and shook her head in disbelief. It was painfully obvious that they two siblings had fought each other, and she had a pretty good idea why, but was too well cultured and polite to bring it up. She delicately touched Fergus' bruised face, and Fergus sucked in air through gritted teeth, but let her continue to examine him. Once she was finally done with that, and sending a glare at Eebon, Oriana walked back to the stall she'd been standing by when the two brothers first arrived.
Eebon and Fergus both followed. The horse stall was now filled with an ample amount of straw, and a black and white border collie laid on top of the straw, contentedly looking down at the litter of infant puppies that nursed from her. The dog's name was Alice, and she belonged to one of the shepherds who tended the Cousland's livestock. Only a week ago, Alice had given birth to a litter of six puppies, all black and white just like her, but now that Eebon counted, there were seven puppies, and the seventh was obviously not a border collie. The seventh puppy was covered in all brown fur, and had a short, stubby tail.
"Is that a…" Eebon started.
"A mabari?" Fergus finished. "Yes it is."
Oriana relayed the story. "When we were in the market today, there was a group of Ash Warriors who had stopped to rest for a day. One of them had a marbari who had given birth to a litter of her own pups a few days ago, but one had been born a runt, and the Ash Warriors were talking about how they should drown it as he could never been a true war hound, and would only be a worthless mouth to feed."
Fergus finished. "As soon as they said the words, 'drown it', Oriana practically snatched it right out of their hands and informed me that we were taking it back with us. I told her about the history of mabari, and how they're renowned warriors in their own right, and she suggested that it would make an excellent gift for you, given your passion for soldiery."
"You… you got me a mabari?" Eebon said in disbelief. "My very own mabari war hound?"
"Yes." Oriana confirmed.
"But like they said," Fergus interjected, "It's a runt, so it's unlikely that it will be on the front lines for any of the legendary battles that I know you dream of. And it might not even imprint on you."
Eebon ignored all the naysay from his brother, and entered the stall to kneel by Alice, gently taking the infant mabari pup from her. Alice barred her teeth and let out a low growl in warning not to harm the puppy, but took no other action. Eebon gently stroked the tiny dog from neck to tail with a single finger. It was so young that its eyes were still closed. "He's a he." Eebon announced. "Not an it. And his name is Dune." Eebon raised the tiny Dune until their faces were only inches way from each other. Dune squirmed forward in Eebon's hands until their noses were touching. The tiny pup rubbed its infant nose against Eebon's, then opened his mouth and let loose a tiny squeak, Eebon chuckled under his breath, and the pup began to lick the tip of his nose.
Fergus and Oriana both looked on happily as Eebon returned the puppy to Alice. "Would you look at that?" Fergus said, "He doesn't even had his eyes open yet, and I think he already imprinted on Eebon."
Eebon grinned, even though it hurt his face to do so, then his smile disappeared as he had to swallow his pride before speaking. "Thank you, Oriana. That might be the best and most thoughtful gift I have ever received."
"You really like him that much?" Oriana asked, and Eebon nodded. "Then you are welcome, of course."
Eebon glanced towards the back of the stable at his horse, then back at Oriana and asked, "Can you ride?"
"Si, of course I can ride."
Eebon laughed again, "Fergus why didn't you tell me that? We should have all gone riding days ago! Come-on! Saddle up, and let's go!"
Although Oriana could indeed ride, Eebon soon found out to his dismay that she had only learned how to ride sidesaddle, as it was considered more ladylike. It also meant that she couldn't put her horse into full gallop for fear of being bounced out, and Eebon was forced to sacrifice the speed that he loved so much for the sake of riding alongside his brother and soon to be sister. As the three of them returned once more to Castle Cousland, Eebon nudged Fergus and told him that it was up to him to teach Oriana how to 'really ride'.
