Finally, the battle is over. Phew!
Two more chapters left to go in this adventure. Fluffy ones. Knight Tony and Lady Pepper deserve some fluff.
There's a quote from a literary classic in here.
Thanks for reading!
Life is a balance between holding on and letting go.
There were a number of Chonsario prisoners. They had been locked up in the village gaol after the battle. However the next day, when lunch was brought for them, the villagers found all of them dead in their cells. The mystery was how. No one had entered or left the gaol since they were imprisoned.
Tony visited the gaol and examined a horseman's body. He realized they had swallowed poison hidden on their person. He informed the villagers who had been coming up with superstitious reasons for their sudden demise.
Tony kept his grim thoughts to himself.
What sort of soldiers would voluntarily kill themselves for losing a battle? More over, what sort of master do they have, that death is better than facing his wrath?
A more horrifying fact was that the body of the Captain was nowhere to be found. Who could have taken it and why?
X-X-X
The battle with the Chonsario, changed the way the villagers felt about Tony. Suddenly he wasn't the lofty Lord of the Keep anymore. He was a nobleman, yes, but one who cared about them. They felt guilty for thinking bad about him and wanted to make amends.
For the next few days, while Tony nursed his gashed shoulder and bruised limbs, the Keep was inundated with gifts from the village, in the form of food, furs, trinkets, furniture, even geese. While Tony, Pepper and Jarvis were delighted with the rich cheeses, smoked meats, wine and other delicious food items, Magdalene was miffed. She was envious of the village women's cooking skills.
But even she thawed when the village women invited her for their weekly cookoff. Pepper was invited for even more events and get-togethers. At first, she declined out of shyness. But their friendliness won her over and soon she, Jarvis and Magdalene started making trips to the village nearly every day.
She worried that Tony would feel left out. Indeed, the villagers still regarded him as a lord and one couldn't just invite a lord to simple village gatherings. Luckily, there was a birth in the village and invitations were sent for the christening. The villagers felt shy about making the first move, so Pepper did it for them, cutely inviting Tony to the yeoman's firstborn's christening.
Tony hemmed and hawed and put up a fuss but he showed up for the ceremony, albeit a tad late and even gave the child a gift: a tiny horse carved from sandalwood. He also gifted the couple, a silver goblet. The villagers ooooed and aaaed at the generosity of Lord Stark. Pepper was pleased. Tony was a good man and it was time the village learned it. It was also good for Tony. She hoped socializing with others would pull him out of his self-imposed exile. She had seen the man behind the Iron Knight and she believed in him.
x-x-x-x
They found a new friend in Hereweald, aka Happy. He came to the Keep, two days after the Battle, hoping to see more of Tigliath, who he was fascinated with. If he suspected that Tony was the Iron Knight, he never let showed it. He simply accepted Tony's explanation that he was Tigliath's caretaker for the Iron Knight.
He came over to play with the big cat, the next day as well and watched Tony supervise Pepper's sword routines. Then he casually suggested that he could show them some boxing moves, if they were interested. They were.
Few moves became one lesson, one lesson progressed into two and soon, Happy was at the Keep, at least once a week. He really got along well with Tony. They both liked to spar with each other and teach each other fighting techniques.
He was also eager to see Tony's new inventions and tricks. He and Pepper showed Tony their wine bomb and Tony solemnly agreed, it was an impressive way to frighten an enemy.
Happy was no longer snarky around them and his nickname seemed to suit him well. He was a jolly, burly giant who was always ready with a smile and a joke. He was a little shy around Pepper, because as Tony mischievously told her, Happy was slightly enamored of her. But Pepper did her best to put him at ease.
x-x-x-x
One night, Pepper had a bad dream.
It was a sunny day and she was at a picnic. Her mother was laying out food. Her father tossed a piece of bread to his hounds. Her mother scolded him. He laughed and winked at Pepper. It felt so good to see him again. Her mother smiled at her and said "What a good girl you are, Pepper."
Pepper abruptly stood up and walked away from the picnic, towards the forest.
"Come back, Pepper".
"I'm coming, Mother" she said and turned.
But they weren't there anymore. The sky had turned black. There was only darkness.
All that was left of her father was a pile of dust. And in her mother's place, was a necklace. Not just any necklace.
The Necklace of Summa. Glowing orange and red.
She reached out to touch it.
Suddenly a gnarled claw gripped her wrist hard. Its grip burned her flesh. She looked up to see Stane, so close to her face, his eyes black and pupil-less. He grinned at her, his smile widening in an inhuman manner, almost ear to ear.
"Virginia, this is mine and you are mine as well."
She screamed but no one came to help her. "And no one would come." laughed Stane.
Pepper jerked upright in her bed, body sweating, sheets tangled around her legs. Her heart was pounding.
I haven't seen my father in a dream for so many years. And Stane... she shuddered. Can he see into my mind? Does he know where I am?
She swallowed hard, her throat too dry. Perhaps a drink of water would help.
She walked down to the kitchen, only to see Tony, resting his head on the counter. An open bottle of wine was next to him. He appeared to be asleep.
Do not wake him up. she warned herself.
She reached for the wine and Tony raised his head. He looked at her with slightly watery eyes. "Pepper..." he said dazedly. "What are you doing up so late?"
Then he hiccuped. It was so cute that Pepper giggled loudly.
"Glad I've amused milady somehow. What you be doing in my lair here?" He murmured.
"Are you drunk, Tony?"
"Naaaahhh ... wellllll.. perhaps slightly tipsy. Me and Happy were having a drinking competition and I won." He gestured behind him and Pepper saw Happy sprawled on the kitchen floor, mouth open. He started to snore.
Tony murmured darkly, "The man snores like 10 bears... wait, make that 50 bears. Can't snooze in peace with that racket."
Pepper was taken aback by the very relaxed, carefree expression on his face. Then he started to sway gently.
"My lord, I think you have had quite enough." and she took the bottle away.
"Killjoy woman. Why are you up anyways?" He rubbed his eyes. "Couldn't sleep?"
"No, Tony, I... I just couldn't sleep. I couldn't sleep..." The nightmare came back to her.
My mother. The necklace of Summa. My mother.
He looked at her intently. "Want to talk about it?"
She shook her head. It's too fresh in my mind. Besides I don't want to explain the necklace to him. Not now. I can't.
Tony gaze had darkened.
"Was it about Stane?" He growled out.
She nodded in affirmation. His jaw tightened and he looked at the fireplace. Then he got off the stool and came towards her. He placed his large hand on her shoulder and rubbed it in comfort.
She smiled softly and tilted her head, such that her cheek touched his hand. It felt right somehow.
They stood like that for five minutes in silence. Then Tony murmured "Pepper, go back to sleep. The nightmare won't come back."
"No!" She said in fear. "I ... I am scared" she whispered more to herself than Tony.
"Come, I shall sit with you till you sleep. The nightmare won't come back."
They walked to her room together. Pepper lay down and Tony pulled up a stool beside her. He caught her hand in his and murmured soothingly. His flame arc was visible through his thin shirt and the blue light comforted her in the darkness. She began to close her eyes.
It was not dark anymore. She drifted into sleep, still feeling the gently caress of Tony 's thumb on her hand.
The next day, she found a small package on her bedside table. Its note read "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light. Here's a light that will never go out."
She opened the package to find a small, oval stone. It was the size of an apple. It glowed beautifully with a blue light. There was a dark blue orb in its depths and the light would throb and wane but not fade.
She turned it over to see the words for pep from ts engraved on it. Then she remembered Tony telling her once, that he could transfer small amounts of his flame to other objects. She cradled the orb, watching the flame glow, as if it was trying to reach out to her.