Disclaimer: The characters and world which this fic takes place in belong to Mercedes Lackey, I state no claim except for the plot among my fellow fanfiction authors.
Chapter 4
Laying under the warm sun beside Erik, with the smell of grass in her nostrils and her head pillowed comfortably against Kellan's side; Savil began to completely relax and enjoy herself again. They hadn't really talked much, just laid in silence, atleast until he had begun to hum a tune that had a romantic sound to it. Savil strained her ears to listen, trying to see if it was one she'd ever heard before; it wasn't. He looked sideways at her with a suspicious smile on his face and stopped abruptly, turning onto his side and propping his head up on his hand.
"What song was that?" she asked, smiling back at him, extending her thought-sensing ability as she asked the question-
-And met a wall like the one Trenton had, only this one wasn't evil or dirty, it was pure, almost too pure, and there was something familiar yet -not.
:You can't just go into people's heads Chosen.: Kellan said with forced calm, although Savil sensed the snap it had almost been. Well that counted for the familiarity, but what was the other one? She looked over at Erik to see if he'd been the one, but he seemed to be unaware. Then she looked at it his companion and realized that he was the other presence.
"Hey, Dreamer, you want me to answer your question or not?" He asked with a smile, a hint of laughter in his voice. Savil shook her head to clear her vision and then nodded. "Well, alright then; the song is called 'My Lady's Eyes' it's not really very good lyric wise, but the music's beautiful."
"That sounds sappy" Savil said honestly, sitting up and supporting herself on her hands.
He laughed and sat up too. "It is, probably the most ridiculously disgusting excuse for a song you'll ever hear, but-" He shrugged "like I said, the music halfway makes up for it." He looked like he was about to say something else when a bell rang from across the field in the direction of the buildings. Both their heads jerked that way and Erik sighed then stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet with a strength his body didn't show.
"We better be getting back Dreamer, since I bet you're going to be introduced to King Gragery and Queen Tiphiny, and you'll need to change into grays. Do you know the way to the rooms?" He asked, giving her an unneeded boost onto Kellan's back.
"Not really" she said uncertainly, reluctant to be a burden to him; but he smiled as if he'd hoped she didn't, and with one fluid motion, he was mounted and settled.
"Let's get going then, we don't have much time." He said, then with out warning, Kellan took off into a full run and Savil had to struggle to suppress her instinct, which was to stop her, running suddenly like that could lame a horse- but then, Kellan wasn't a horse. Erik and his Drinand were right behind them, and Kellan slowed down so that they were galloping side by side. Savil noticed that it sounded as if it were only one horse and realized that they were matching strides.
Far too soon for her liking, the fence around the field came into view, but neither of the companions slowed and she felt Kellan gather her legs under her.
:Brace Chosen.: Savil tightened her legs around Kellan's stomach and griped her mane, adjusting herself so that she was leaning forward, but not so much as to unbalance her. She felt a rush as Kellan left the ground and soared over the fence with such grace it was as if she was flying. She landed just as gracefully, the musical chime of her hooves on the cobble street like an applauding crowd.
Erik's companion landed at the same time and way, only when his fore-hooves hit the street, he pivoted in front of Kellan so that they were facing each other. "Showoffs" Savil said loud enough so that they could hear it; Erik smiled.
"Not anymore than you, we just do it with style." He said, Savil laughed and Kellan whickered, for all the world as if she were laughing too. Erik slid out of the saddle with feigned dignity and she covered a laugh by sticking her nose in the air like any young snob, and waited for him to help her down. He laughed at her pose and bowed mockingly, trying unsuccessfully to hid his smile and appear serious.
"Does thou lovely lady need thee to assist her in thy decent?" He asked with a chuckle, holding out his hand invitingly.
"Yes, indeed she does." Savil replied with a flirty tone, and with all courtly manners, placed her hand in his and allowed him to help her down.
"You could pass for any of those flutter heads at court you know that" he said, releasing her hand.
"Really? perhaps I shall try and join them some time-" she started.
"You better not" he teased, although with a tone that said he was serious. "Their all a bunch of blood-sucking, gold diggers if you ask me! Sent to the capital by their parents to snag any good looking young man with a high rank." His teasing tone turned bitter, which suggested to Savil that he was currently a target for one or more of the young ladies, and wisely changed the subject.
"So how were you chosen anyway?" she asked, hoping it was a safe subject. He smiled, just as happy for the change of topic but there was reluctance in his voice.
"Well, it wasn't like the stories, that's for sure, far to ordinary for me." He said with a forced laugh, as if he didn't want to talk about it. Savil laughed too but it had a edge of bitterness.
"I could do with ordinary, this is all far to strange for me." She replied. He looked at her as if she were naïve and he confirmed that thought with his next words.
"You think this is strange? Then you'll get one hell of a surprise when you go out on internship, you'll possibly have to study hard to under stand how un-ordinary our jobs are, you'll-" He started.
"Okay, are you going to answer my question or lecture me?" She interrupted impatiently as they started at a fast walk towards one of the many buildings. (which all looked the same to her)
"Not if you're going to be bitchy about it." He said crossly, folding his arms infront of him and looking straight ahead, walking in long, ground devouring strides that had Savil rushing to keep up. His heartbreakingly handsome face was a perfect mask of calm, to free of emotion for her comfort. She wanted to apologize and get him to talk to her again, but her pride wouldn't let her open her mouth, and when she did, she choked on the words. So they walked to her room in silence, her throat clogged with guilt and every step of the way hoping he would say something to break the suffocating quiet that hung between them like a plague.
*****
He liked her, he didn't want to admit it, but he like her a lot. The fact that she hadn't fallen for his beautiful face immediately probably caused that, he got tired of being the male dog in a cage full of bitches, only sixteen and he was already more experienced than most men half his age. Women who's names he couldn't remember for the life of him had occupied his bed more than once, never another trainee though, and never anyone he was actually attracted too, not in any other way than sexually anyway. The one fault he could see right off was that she wanted people to believe she didn't have any faults. Well, the weapons master would beat that out of her soon enough, and in a way, he was looking forward to it, massages were one of his specialties and he judged she would need that talent by the end of tomorrow. Of course, he sighed mentally I think that's all I'd be able to do, she's to closed up right now, I'd be surprised if she let me do that.
He wanted to talk to her, wanted to say something to break the silence, but he wanted her to think that her pride had made him mad at her so that she would apologize. Surely the girls she would have to make friends with would be repelled by her sense of superiority. And to top it off, poor Savil wasn't very pretty, only guys who couldn't do any better, besides herald trainees of course, would be attracted to her. He felt as if she was more like a little sister to him, a sister he was hoping to have a more intimate relationship with, but still a sister.
:It's the bond between all heralds Chosen.: His companion said :It makes you seem like one big family, everyone feels like their brothers and sisters and everyone sleeps together. There are rare bonds between heralds and even normal people, where they love only one person and stay with them their entire lives, the lifebond.:
:Do you think that that's what this is?: he asked eagerly. He felt his companions disagreement before he actually spoke.
:I don't think, I know it's not a lifebond, I would have known immediately because there would have been another bond, one that connected you two, but the only thing I sense is the herald bond.: Drinand shrugged mentally then withdrew from his mind, but Erik could still sense his presence if he ever needed to contact him.
All to early, but then to late as well, they came to the student's building and he directed her to the girls side. Opening the door for her, he left her with a cold sounding "goodbye" and then made his way down to the lunch room in a hurry to see if he could find anything left to eat before his next class.
*****
Coming back from meeting with the King and his Queen, Savil was feeling rather drained, she'd memorized the way her and Vallen had taken so that she wouldn't need help getting back and was currently approaching the door to her new room. When she opened the door to the quarters she was sharing with some of the other herald trainees, she saw a girl standing tiptoe to look in the mirror above a bed, trying to get her curly brown hair into a bun. Savil walked quietly over to her bed and sat down as softly as she could, trying not to disturb her; unfortunately for her, the bed had other plans as it creaked loudly. The girl started and spun around, her dark shoulder-length curls falling about her face and bouncing with her movements. When she saw that it was another herald trainee, she smiled reassuringly and her hazel eyes shined brightly.
"So you're the new girl?" a statement not a question, but Savil nodded anyway. "Thought so. My name is Mishel, what's yours?" she asked, twisting one curly lock of hair around her index finger as she held out her other hand to her.
"Savil" she answered simply as she starred rudely at her outstretched hand, not interested in talking at the moment and the girl dropped her hand with a shrug. But Mishel didn't seem to notice her silent message as she turned back to the mirror, still intent on speaking.
"That's a nice name, so how old are you?" Savil sighed irritatedly.
"Fourteen."
"Really, so am I, well I'll be turning fourteen anyway, in a couple of days. So what are you're gifts? I know the mage gift is one, but what are the others, you have to atleast have another one." She said, reaching for a tie that was laying on her bed with one hand while trying to hold her hair back with the other.
"Actually, I have four" Savil said proudly, Mishel lifted an eyebrow at her tone but otherwise made no other gestures to show that she noticed it. "As you know I have the mage gift, then mindspeech, healing, and farsight." Savil felt herself smile as her other eyebrow joined the first.
"Oh, that's nice, mines the mage gift, strong fetching, usable foresight, and then I have weak mindspeech but I can still talk to my companion." Then added "Your not the only one with four, there are some with five gifts, and we have two boys here with six, though their gifts were brought to life by head injuries, not opening up naturally." She replied informatively, avoiding the mocking tone that kept trying to creep into her voice. But Savil ignored it, she wanted to know who had six gifts.
"Who are the two that have the six gifts?" she asked, trying not to sound too eager.
"Well, lets see, one of their names is Raynand and the other is Erik. Why do you ask?" She looked at her curiously.
"Erik has six gifts? Do you know what they are?" Savil asked, this time not able to conceal her eagerness.
"I think they are strong firestarting, mindspeech, mild empathy, healing, weak bardic, and master level mage gift." She replied, counting them off on her fingers.
"What happened to him, you said his gifts were brought to life by a head injury?"
"I don't really know, he won't tell anyone, only Vallen knows and he just said that his channels opened because of a bump on the head." She shrugged and Savil sighed.
"Well, I have to go" she said after smoothing out her grays and checking her hair one last time to make sure it was perfect. "I'll be back to get you after lunch break so you can start your equitation lessons." And she left the room with long, hurried steps, leaving Savil alone.
She sighed again loudly, wondering what she was going to do for however long the break was. Unhappiness still hung heavily in her stomach and she'd had time to think about where her pride and arrogance might get her here. But the people at home, her siblings and cousins, would walk all over her if she didn't show them that she was better than them. How was here supposed to be different, instead of family they were strangers. Though nobody seemed to care about who she used to be, just what she was now or would be; she realized she had no use for her pride, and the first step to purging it was to apologize to Erik for being so rude to him.
She jumped off the bed and ran purposefully towards the door, knowing what she was going to do; her long, brown hair flowing behind. She didn't have a clue as to where he was though, for a minute her enthusiasm faltered but then a thought hit her. Kellan might! And she slowed to a fast walk down the hall. :Kellan?: she sent, hoping that the time they'd spent together had strengthened they're bond. It had, for she replied almost immediately and there was only a little pressure between her eyes.
:Here Chosen.:
:Does Drinand know where Erik is?: There was a preoccupied silence in which Savil tried to concentrate on keeping the link open and seeing where she was going through eyes that didn't want to focus.
:He says that Erik is on his way to the field.: A pause and then :may I ask why you'd like to know?:
:To apologize for snapping at him.: she found it easy to think about, easier than she's thought it would be, which served to encourage her. She imagined a scenario where she would run up to him and say she was sorry, he would smile and except it, then take her into his arms-
:I'm happy you're going to apologize Chosen,: Kellan said forcefully, purposefully interrupting her daydream as if she knew what direction it was taking and didn't wish to be present in her mind when it had nothing to do with apologies. :Would you like me to tell Drinand so that he can tell his Chosen?:
:No, I'd like to surprise him.: she said happily, surprising herself with this sudden return of spirit. Kellan sent her silent approval in a burst of emotion and withdrew from her mind, leaving Savil to speed-walk through the rest of the hallway with her daydreams to accompany her.
*****
Erik leaned against the fence surrounding Companions field, Drinand behind him on the other side with his head resting on his shoulder and his eyes closed, reveling in the feel of the afternoon sun on his white coat. Erik relaxed as he always did in his companion's presence. He watched absently as a white dog with a black head and two back spots on his back; snatched an unsuspecting squirrel up from the street where he had sat to eat some dropped bread.
The small animal shrieked and turned to bite the mutt, but he shook his head violently and the squirrel went limp with a crunch as blood spilled over the dogs lips before he licked it away. Erik, who was accustomed to street brutality, neither turned away nor tried to rescue the poor animal. Instead, he watched as another stray mongrel, this one twice the size and black, rushed the white dog, who instead of yipping and running away like any of the high born's hounds might have; placed himself between his meal and the would-be thief. The Bigger dog snarled threateningly and rushed again, this time the littler dog rushed under him, biting the tender throat underneath and holding. Bracing his four legs against the larger dogs chest, he ripped himself away, taking a large amount of flesh with him. The black dog howled in pain and turned to run away, but by the blood he was leaving behind, Erik judged he wouldn't get far. The white dog picked up his prize and loped into a corner where his back would be protected against surprise and hungrily ate the squirrel.
That was what his life was like, before he'd gotten into a street fight and received a concussion from it. He'd been the lone wolf that lived between the two packs, trying to stay out of both their ways and picking off their members one by one when he caught them alone. He should have known that they would catch him one day, just like someday, a pack of stray dogs will find this dog alone and fancy him an easy target. Not much even a skilled fighter can do when faced with larger numbers of stronger enemies.
"Erik!" he turned to see Kellan cantering up with Savil riding her bareback. He felt a smile tugging the corners of his mouth up but, remembering how he was supposed to be acting; he turned the smile into a frown and looked at her with what he hoped was a passive glance before turning back to watch the dog devour the squirrel. She'd been confident when she's rode up on Kellan's back; now, as he heard the grass crunch beneath her feet, her uncertainty drifted to him like a scent carried on the wind and he wished that he had strong enough empathy to see why she was uncertain. She came up beside him shyly and watched the dog, flinching when she saw that he was eating another creature.
She coughed purposefully, and he sensed she was about to say something, turning to look at her, he cocked his head to the side, waiting for her to speak. She opened her mouth, and took a large breath of air-
-then held it; she looked torn, as if fighting some internal battle and wasn't sure which side would win. He took a moment to wonder what she wanted to say.
*****
It was supposed to be easy! All she had to do was say "sorry" how hard could it have been? But when she'd walked up to him, and he'd looked right through her as if she hadn't even been there, her confidence crumbled. She'd got some of it back when he hadn't immediately tolled her to leave, but when she opened her mouth to say the word… She'd froze, half of her wanted so badly to apologize for being rude, but the other half wanted just as vehemently to walk away. She didn't need him! Besides it was his fault, he'd had no right to lecture her. But, she shouldn't have snapped at him, he didn't deserve that, she should've just kept her head and asked him politely to answer her question. She was torn.
"Did you have something to say?" He asked detachedly, raising one eyebrow, Savil wilted under that look and hung her head, looking down at her new boots that were a size or two to big and nodded. She straightened out her shirt nervously and watched the grass as she moved it around with her left boot. "Well?" She cringed at the meaning that one little word had in it and buried her pride under her cloak of guilt.
"I'm sorry."