Shadows Under the Oak Tree
(C) Intelligent Systems and Nintendo
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29. The Same New Paths
(The
Good Wives Club. Battle Survival 101.)
Her new position allowed her to focus on what was the most important thing to her heart, and she was not going to let it out of her sight without a fight.
"Tinae, you cheater! You bumped the bowl on purpose!"
Tinae made such an outraged squeak that Lily was sorry she'd said anything. "I did not! It just naturally moved like that. How dare you call me a cheater!"
"What? I saw you push it! I can't believe you." Lily shook her head, affecting an exaggerated amount of disgust to annoy her friend. "This is why I hate playing Three Eyes with you." To her son, who was sitting on her lap and unfazed by all the yelling, she said in a very deliberate manner, "When you grow up, you must remember never to become such a poor loser at games like your Auntie Tinae. Nobody will like you if you cheat."
"Tell your son that nobody likes liars either!"
"You two..." Mina sighed as she began to rub her temples in a way that Lily thought seemed even more exaggerated than her own disgust. "The only way this could be worse is if Mister Kelial were here."
"And if we were drinking," Lily reminisced fondly, before cuddling her very cute and very healthy son. "But we're all very happy with tea, right?"
Mina nodded. "Yes."
"No," Tinae said, crossing her arms in indignation. "I came here to escape my family and indulge for once. Do you know how annoying it is to have your son moping around for the last four months?"
At this point, Lily couldn't help herself. "You do know why, right?" she asked in as delicate a tone as possible. For her sensitivity, she received a nonchalant wave of dismissal.
"And I'm very sorry about it. I've been trying to get him married off for years now. But every time I try to get him to talk to me, the only thing he says is that I can't understand his pain, I've been perfectly happy in my marriage for twenty years, blah blah blah." Gathering up the bone dice from the large bowl in the center of the table, Tinae began shaking them in her fist. "He doesn't do it that much, but it's annoying when it happens. He used to tell me everything. It doesn't matter if I don't understand, because I'm his mother. Isn't it enough that I want to listen to him?"
Lily thought about Canas and Lady Niime and how Canas was always very polite towards his mother while Lady Niime always seemed to speak down to him; their relationship was not one she would call close, just amicable. Compared to that, she thought that Tinae should be happy she still had a bond with Rian and was about to say as much when Mina put down her cup and turned to Tinae. "Is it because Grandmother Yunice and Mynthia came to your house for the festival?"
At that, Tinae sighed and lowered her hand. "That was one of the most uncomfortable meals I'd ever had, and I used to go to festival meals with my parents. It's been two weeks and Rian's still distracted."
It was a bad festival all around, Lily thought as she handed the baby one of the old toys she had in storage. When she was young, the departed Aberforth had made for her a polished wooden horse, and her son immediately put its head into his mouth. She carefully pried it out and made it move as if it were galloping before his eyes, paying more attention to his laughter than the conversation Mina and Tinae were engaged in on the other side of the table.
She still didn't know what could've redeemed Yunice and Mynthia's visit. Canas had nervously chatted about any subject that came to mind, and the baby had made for some interesting conversation, but in the end it had never felt like a family sharing a meal. Even after four months, Lily could still see the betrayal on Yunice's face when Leto had all but swooped in and declared Lily as a leader of the village by the will of the Union, even though she and Jorah went at lengths to make it all sound benign.I'm not here to replace you, only to assist.
But Leto had made it clear that it was the Union's wishes because the Union found Yunice untrustworthy. Later, Jorah had explained that Yunice had been Leto's trainer when the latter had been a pegasus knight trainee, which explained to Lily just why Leto had looked as if she had been personally betrayed.It was like watching Rosliand and Leto interact again. Lily didn't want to know.
"...Look at her. She obviously finds her child more interesting than adult conversation."
"All mothers think their children are more interesting, Tinae."
"That's not true. My children are boring when Rian isn't being depressed and Sami isn't doing her weird drawings on the walls."
Lily smiled at that, not bothering to look up from her son's happy face as the horse 'trotted' by once again. Amazing how babies never seem to get bored, she observed. "You mean 'writing', not drawing. Why's she doing it on the walls?"
"She ran out of paper, so I told her she could only carve on the walls.""That sounds dangerous," Mina said, her tone that of mild disapproval. Lily glanced up just in time to see Tinae shrug.
"She's been trained in using a dagger to skin a rabbit since she was six. You worry too much, Mina."
"Your daughter was six only two years ago..."
"Yeah, two years of experience already. She's a natural at hunting, you know. She can pick off a field mouse with only one arrow now!"
"That's...disgusting."
"I agree," Lily said, finally letting the child gnaw on the horse like he had originally planned. "Who wants to eat a mouse?"
Tinae held up a finger. "Old man Wedone likes them almost as much as fish. Why do you think Sami got a new cloak?"
"I thought we weren't going to gossip this time," Mina said, her words heavy with disapproval. "Every time we have one of these talks, I always find out something about one of my neighbors that I never wanted to know."
Amused, Lily reached over and touched Mina's hand, which was gripping the handle of a teacup a little too tightly for her liking. "There are no secrets here. I thought you'd have learned that by now?"
There was a redness to Mina's cheeks that Lily didn't remember as being there earlier. "This village is completely different from the castle town of Remi. Even in my home village, it was much less...connected than it is here."
"That makes sense, though," Lily said, "because it's actually green there during spring and summer, right? We're not just close to each other just because this is a small village. Even one person dying, depending on their job, can put a strain on everyone else. That's why the Ilian version of hell is to be alone--we'd welcome fire."
Tinae nodded. "That's why it's a good thing Lily finally quit being the guardian. It's far better that someone else does it."
I really wish she hadn't said that, Lily thought, melancholia settling in her mind. Because she didn't want to start a fight, especially not with her son and Mina around, she only sighed. "I don't agree, but it's what Canas wanted, so..." She shrugged, embarrassed when Tinae 'aww'ed loudly at her. "Would you just roll again, please?"
"Come to think of it..." Mina started as Tinae threw the dice into the bowl with a loud cheer, "I saw him with Dame Rosliand by the oaks when I was coming over here. He didn't look like he wanted to be there. What were they doing?"Lily knew that it was wrong to smile, but she did anyway because malicious glee was something that just couldn't be hidden away. "Training."
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"Useless. Utterly, completely useless."How odd. The words are rather familiar, but that is not my mother's voice...
The first thing Canas could not help but notice as he opened his eyes was that his head throbbed, the epicenter of the pain at the center of his forehead. Also, his back was cold, almost with a sort of raw numbness in certain places that suggested he had been lying on the snow for some time. Above him, there were the mottled gray clouds of Ilia at the onset of winter. Since his vision in his right eye was rather blurry, he surmised that his monocle had fallen off. However, his highly-developed instincts of self-preservation were all but shrieking that he must not make any sudden movements. That was fine because it was really rather peaceful, just staring up into the clouds, although he could do without the cold seeping through...Suddenly Rosliand's displeased expression eclipsed the sky above him. Frightened, he barely managed to choke down the scream that threatened to erupt; because this was Rosliand, she appeared to have noticed this and her frown deepened. "Your nap is done. Get up."
Canas did as he was told, though his body was beginning to ache terribly. After brushing off the snow from his clothes and using a corner of his cloak to clean his monocle before putting it back in place, he turned to face Rosliand, who was staring at him in such a way that he felt very small and, well, useless. "Ah, forgive me," he said, unable to help himself from falling back into his old habits.
"Why would I forgive a ghost?" She tilted her head, her gaze transfixed on him. "If that had been a real battle, the top of your head would have just been cleaved through, and the brains Lily admires would now be spilling onto the snow." Nausea rolled lazily in the pit of his stomach at the idea--did she have to be so graphic? --but he nodded to acknowledge her point.
"I cannot stress this enough for someone of your height: duck."
Again, he nodded.
"Also, you do realize you were knocked out by a snowball?"
He knew the question was meant to shame him--at this point, it was uncanny how much of his mother Rosliand was channeling, and he was sure the two had never met--but he was certain she had thrown a ball of packed ice at him. Not that he was going to refute the point, because that had potentially deadly consequences. Instead, for the third time, he nodded.
Rosliand stared through him as causally as another might simply glance at an object, and he could tell that she was not liking what she was seeing. "So, not only is your speed and your endurance inadequate, but now we have to make sure you can even take a hit, seeing as you can't dodge one," she stated in a matter-of-fact way that kicked down his self-esteem in the process.
"Ah." Deciding to treat Rosliand-the-trainer in the same way as his mother, he nodded yet again. "Thank you for attempting to train me. It seems that I'm more trouble than I'm worth."
He found it odd when she smiled. "Hm. That sounded like a calculated attempt to appease me."
His eyes widened in shock--how did she know? was a very small, almost throwaway thought in a sea of denial, and he began to wave his hands in vehement denial. "I-I assure you, that isn't what I meant! I-it's, well, er, I'm sure you would prefer to continue to have Lily under your tutelage, instead of myself..."
"You doubt yourself." She approached him and stared up at him; her expression was inscrutable. "Why?""...Well, as you say, I have a lot of faults--"
"And Lily doesn't?"
"Ah...not compared to me, I would think..."
Rosliand studied him for a moment longer before a flat look fell upon her face, much like Etrurian shutters closing off a room from outside light. "Get over yourself. You're mediocre, but you have potential. Once, Lily was much worse than you, but she only worked harder. Rycen couldn't even hold a sword properly when I first began to teach him swordplay. If you spend all your time comparing yourself instead of improving yourself, you're guaranteed to fail."
She's right. If I'm to be of any use, I must keep practicing all elements of what is needed to become a good guardian. If I do not succeed, it would not just be a matter of only failing myself. "I understand," he replied. "I must admit that I don't care for fighting, but I intend to try my hardest."
It is very difficult to remain on this course. The training is tiring, and I am disturbed that I can willingly kill others. But, it is not a bad thing to want to protect others.
"It would bother me more if you enjoyed killing, what with the power you wield," Rosliand said, suddenly looking very tiny inside the large cloak she favored; that her eyes were no longer on him meant everything. "Lily told me to take care of you. I'll make sure you know how to fight and survive.""Rosliand," he started, unable to help himself once he heard her comment on the power of elder magic, even wielded by an amateur like himself, "does my use of elder magic worry you?"
"Elder magic?"
"Ah...some would call it 'dark', but I dislike using such a pejorative term."
She shrugged, pursing her lips as the wind began to blow and her bangs flew into her eyes. "A sword is a sword, whether it's called an iron sword or Durandal. Magic is meant to be a weapon."
"Thank you," he said before consciously deciding to speak.
"Why are you thanking me?" Above all else, he thought she sounded amused. "Is your magic hated?"
Shamans are not appreciated here.
Strange that he could remember that specific utterance from everything else Lily had said during their first meeting. Of course, he knew that was based on her prejudice against elder magic. Now...now that he had proven to the both of them the benefits of his family's heritage, she was much more tolerant and he was willing to actually use it.They had both come a long way from their first meeting, four years ago to the month.
"I believe that opinions can change, but of course the effort must be met halfway," he said, his mood considerably lightened. Even his body did not ache as much as it had before. "What is next for today's training?"
Rosliand smiled. It was rare when a random smile of hers was perceived as a fortuitous event; suddenly, Canas wished he had not been in that good of a mood. His sense of self-preservation, he supposed, was not that developed after all. "No more dodging. The snow is too thick for you. We will try something new. You will attack me."
"Er...pardon?"
"You will attempt to strike me with one of your spells. I will be well-defended with this." She held up a vial of what he surmised was specially-treated water that could blunt the full force of his spell to negligible amounts--he was barely a novice shaman, if that.
He shook his head, hoping against hope that he could talk her out of this. "My apologies, but I could never harm a friend. Please, will you reconsider?"
"Don't worry. You will want to try to hit me at least once." As she lifted up her cloak, his eyes were drawn to the fact that her other hand was drawing her sword out of its scabbard. "If you are too kind, I will kill you," she said with a smile.
First, he considered her sword. He considered it at great length. Then he considered her smile. This, he did not want to study after more than the time it took to glance at those bared teeth. After a short deliberation, he decided that he would be unable to reach his house before she approached melee range. As he reluctantly took out his Flux tome, two thoughts occurred to him.
His first thought was this: Perhaps this was what Lily was trying to protect me from when she was trying to dissuade me from taking up her role as guardian?
His second thought was much simpler.Ah, this tome only has enough power for three spells...
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While her eyes were fixated on the large wooden bowl, Lily asked, "So, how's your weaving going, Mina?" She threw the dice into the bowl and threw her hands up and cheered when she saw she had gotten a four, five, and six. "I win this round!" Her very adorable son, from his perch on her lap, twisted to look at her, then mimicked her pose. Charmed by this--he was finally growing a personality!--she hugged him and kissed him on top of his fuzzy little head. When she looked up, she noticed that Tinae was pouting as the older woman retrieved the dice."It's going nicely, thank you for asking!" Mina said with the same sort of excitement Lily imagined herself having every time she talked about her dream of a green Ilia. The thought made her smile as she focused her attention on the younger woman. "Ever since I saw the patterns on the Sacaean clothing of some of the hunters, I've always wanted to make a rug that colorful. Don't you think it'd really liven up the house?"
"Yes, of course." The sound of the bone dice rattling inside the bowl drew her attention. "Eh, a three..." Lily murmured. At least it wasn't a five or a six.
Tinae sighed. "Well, if it's the best I can do... Your turn, Lily!"
"Would you like a rug?" Mina was wringing her hands in a very delicate manner, as if she were trying to hide her nervousness. "You can consider it the payment...I mean, the trade for the lessons your husband is giving Rachel."
Every bit of shrewdness Lily possessed was being used at this moment. "Hm, that's fair, but it's no good to only have one rug. I'd like something to match in the bedrooms as well." She took out the dice and shook them in one loose fist; her son mimicked this, too. After letting the statement hang in the air for a long moment, Lily looked at Mina and smiled. "What do you think is a fair trade for that?"
"Lessons for Rachel as a herbalist," Mina said without a hitch, a bit too eagerly. Then, as if sensing she might've made a mistake in the bargaining, she demurely looked at her lap, her long, twilight-purple hair hiding her face like a veil. "Um...that is...not that it's so important to me..."
Even after all these years, she's still too easy to read when bargaining, Lily couldn't help but think. Since the village ran on the trade of goods and services, it was much harder to 'get ahead' in what was owed, since everyone knew what the best deal was. Except for Mina, who almost always took the initial deal, and Canas, who was much too interested in teaching others to care about the favors he was gaining, everyone was well-versed in this sort of economy. Even Kelial. Lily twitched at that thought. Especially Kelial.
"I'd be happy to," she interrupted, adjusting the baby from slumping against her body. Mimicking adults apparently took a lot out of him. "I'm not going to take advantage of you." She threw the dice into the bowl as quietly as she could as she cradled her son with her left arm--her left hand felt too stiff for this game today. "Damn," she muttered when she realized she'd gotten three ones."Lost this round, hm? Too bad you got 'three eyes' ...hmm, would that also be called a 'Canas'?" Tinae grinned. Lily rolled her eyes as Mina hid a smile behind her hand. "Anyway, Lily, are you thinking of giving up your job so soon?" Tinae asked as she took the dice and rolled them between her palms.
"Eh, I'm not so old to do that. I know that Rachel really wants to do it, and she's intelligent enough to make a good apprentice." Leaning back against the frame of the couch, Lily cradled her dozing son with both arms and closed her eyes. "Besides, as a co-leader, I've found that my time spent on categorizing and such has been less and less these days."
"Is it really that hard?" Mina asked, her tone sympathetic. "I always thought that Grandmother Yunice was overwhelmed by her duties, but she always seemed very happy."
Lily shrugged. "No, not really." This was not a lie; in some ways, stepping down as guardian and taking on the mantle of a leader made her feel like she had lowered herself. All she had to do was to make sure that what the village required from the Union did not exceed what the Union was able to give, and managing her herbs had taught her a great deal about organization already. Sometimes she discussed the village with Yunice and Jorah, but it was obvious that Corinth was largely self-sustaining in resources. There was always game in the form of deer and rabbits, and fish when the ice of the river melted. There were plenty of trees for firewood, the oaks in particular also providing material for furniture and acorns for flour. A couple sheep provided all the wool they needed to make the thick clothes necessary for surviving in such a place. All they needed from the Union was lily bulbs as a vegetable alternative and some assurance that they were part of a country.
Altogether, it was enough to live on, enough to survive. Just enough.
That's what makes us the people we are, she thought. Since we don't need much, we're not motivated by excessive amounts. As a people, we know the value of ourselves and what we give to each other. We know the value of a pegasus knight and how much more it is than the value of a mercenary knight, and we know the value of death.
Because of that, I think we've become too comfortable. Too complacent. We don't have hope for anything better, we just...survive. We're trapped in snow and ice, and somehow we've tricked ourselves into believing this is all we can expect.The dice rattled inside the bowl as she murmured, "I want to change that," and so she figured neither of her friends had heard her. That was all right, because she had seen how uncomfortable they looked whenever she would tell them about her dreams, her hopes for Ilia. Only Canas and Kelial actually believed in the reality behind the ideal; only an Ilian whose mind far exceeded the trappings of one country and a displaced foreigner could actually let themselves believe.
Somehow, she thought that was fitting.
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Canas sighed as he made his way back home, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to ignore both the aches of his body as well as the niggling feeling inside of him. He hoped Rosliand was able to return to her own home, although admittedly she had not betrayed any sense of pain when he had finally managed to strike her with his second spell.Why should I be bothered? This dark magic can't compare to anything I've seen in my life.
She had laughed, but it had seemed false to him. When he thought about it, he did not know all that much about Rosliand even though she had been his second friend in the village.Would it be all right to ask? he wondered. She's a very private person...I would hate for her to think I was prying into her affairs. And yet, I have to admit that I am curious...
A twinge in his left shoulder caused him to wince; he had landed on a rock half-hidden in the snow during the dodging exercise. Bruises, caused by snowballs with the density of ice and thrown with deadly accuracy, throbbed along his abdomen and limbs as well as the center of his forehead. There was a stiffness to his joints from his fervent desire to not be hit, but he was slow in gaining the flexibility he needed to match desire with actual skill. All in all, he was thankful that the actual battles simply could not compare to what Rosliand put him through.He supposed that meant he was improving, though it certainly did not feel like it.
After trudging through the snow, he was relieved to reach his house. "I'm home," he announced as he entered, the warmth of the house enveloping him. Instantly, he felt a bit better. "Oh," he uttered as he noticed Tinae and Mina. "Good afternoon. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"No, not at all." Mina stood and inclined her head; he did the same out of respect. "I should be going..." She turned to Lily. "I shouldn't leave Jorah alone with Elysia for too long...she's been biting anything she can reach lately." Canas noticed Lily wince in sympathy, and the both of them regarded their sleeping son with at least a little trepidation.
"Just like Nikeah when she was little," Tinae said, her voice strangely soft. It took a moment for Canas to remember that Nikeah was the name of Tinae's second child, as well as a pegasus knight trainee, and when he did the revelation saddened him. Even someone like her, who was very spirited, had her own share of worries. "I'll go with you, since it gets boring winning all the time."
Lily frowned as she stood, hefting their son against her chest. "That's because you cheated every time."
"Feh." In an amazing display of maturity, Tinae stuck her tongue out at Lily. "Not every time. Bye!" With a wave, Tinae followed behind Mina. After he closed the door behind their guests, Canas looked over and noticed that his wife was seething, which made him reconsider staying on this side of the door.
"She always cheats, but I can never figure out how she does it," she muttered as she walked up to him, but the look of curiosity she had affixed on him was oddly calm. "How was your training?"
"Oh, well, it was--" He opted not to continue after she raised her hand and pushed back the fringe of hair that fell over his forehead. One of her eyebrows was raised in a way that he recognized as a question in its own right, and he was unsure how he should react when her thumb rubbed the spot where the iceball had knocked him unconscious.
"This looks bad." After she lowered her hand--and smoothed his bangs down--he watched her shake her head in obvious bemusement. "Next time, please duck."
He could not even remember seeing it come at him. "I'll try to remember that."
"Sure," she said, the corners of her lips lifted in a slight smile. "I can either prepare an ice pack for you, or I can heat up a bath first. Which would you like?"
"Oh, you don't have to go through the trouble--"
"Here's your son."
Not even a moment after he accepted the baby when their son awoke and stared at him. Something like recognition lit in the baby's eyes and he offered a gummy smile at Canas, who was instantly charmed. Their son was just so adorable! Before he knew it, he was sitting down and making sure their son kept his little hands away from his monocle.
Lily's sigh was audible. "That's so cute."
He inclined his head in her direction as an indication that he was listening, even as he kept his eyes on their child--even at six months, their son had shown a potential in grabbing things when everyone least expected it. "I thought you gave him to me as a form of distraction?" he inquired.
"I guess it worked on me, too. He just gets cuter the older he gets." There was a lingering pause of anticipation after her words, and he glanced at her to find that she was smiling softly at them. He smiled back, doubly charmed, and in that moment the baby had grabbed the monocle and tried to put it in his mouth.
"Ah! Please give that back," Canas pleaded as he tried to dislodge the object from the baby's mouth. When he succeeded in doing so, the child began to cry. In utter helplessness he looked up at Lily, who only sighed and went back to her seat to retrieve the baby's favorite toy, a wooden horse, to hand to their son. This toy immediately went into his mouth, too; Canas was beginning to wonder how sanitary all this was. He certainy did not want to wear his monocle without a thorough cleaning first.
"Will you be all right?" she asked, a note of teasing in her voice. He could only sigh. "That's good to know. I'll get everything ready for you." She paused, then said, "You've really impressed Rosliand, you know. She wouldn't work you so hard if she didn't think you could handle it."
Such flattering words surprised him, and he felt somewhat embarrassed. "She told me I was useless," he reported as a way to deflect the praise. He was not particularly hurt; even as the youngest son, he had still managed to earn a fair bit of his mother's ire, moreso once he became the lone successor to their bloodline. His wife did not necessarily looked pleased hearing this, so he hastened to add, "Because I was temporarily unconscious due to, ah, a snowball."
"Yeah, sure," she said, her tone derisive. "Only ice would leave an impression like that." Canas felt vindicated. "No one here thinks you're useless, trust me. Now I'm really leaving this time, so try to keep him from crying."
"Yes," he responded, his blurry vision now fixed on their son. Her reply was the creak of the door as it opened and closed. His son stared at him with large eyes, all while contentedly sucking on the toy. Smiling, Canas reached around for a tome to read aloud, discovered that the table had been cleared in his absence, then decided to recite a passage of a tome he had written a series of papers on during his days in Aquleia; even now he could still remember whole chapters from that tome. His son's eyes never left his face as he talked in a soft voice--such cognizance was admirable in a child so young.
It is hard to believe that just a year ago Lily was only telling me she was pregnant, he thought in amazement as the baby's glance flickered elsewhere for a moment before returning to his face. Time truly flies by, it seems...
That was not a bad thing, he was sure. However, he could not help but feel an odd pressure in his chest just thinking about it. He was already twenty-seven. In another six months, his child would reach the completion of his first cycle and be given a name. And so on it would go. On one hand, it was exciting to know that he was going to watch his first child--if Lily agreed there would definitely be more--grow up; on the other hand, he felt off-balance by the speed in which a single year passed.But since Canas was an optimist by nature, he was excited to see what would happen next.
-to be continued-
Back on schedule once again!--Three Eyes, the dice game, is based off of the infamous Chinchirorin mini-game from the Suikoden series; to this day, I think I'm the only one who likes that game. It feels rigged towards the computer, though, so Lily rightfully feels cheated here.
