Thanks: Lady Sandrilene, clarylissa, ladyknight, ihl, PharaohsBeloved, Kenta
Divina
*cries* I don't want to stop this! I don't want it to end! Make it stop, make it stop!
**Chapter 26: Truth**
"*You* did this to me!"
"Lass, now, calm down--"
"I thought we were done! But *no*! You had to go and--uuuuuugggggghhhh!"
"My hand, my hand! Leggo of my hand! Ow! I said leggo of my hand, I didn'
mean t' grab my arm instead!"
"Okay, Alanna, just one more push..." coaxed the midwife. "Come on, one more
push and it should just come on out..."
"Should?!" Alanna demanded, pushing anyway.
A few moments that seemed like eternity later, the midwife proclaimed, "I can
see the head. Keep pushing, Alanna."
"I can't," she panted.
"What, the Lioness? Not bein' able to give birth t' a babe?" George taunted.
"I am going to wring your scrawny neck for that comment," Alanna ground out
through gritted teeth as she gave the last of her reserves to push the baby out.
Not long after, crying filled the room.
"It's a girl," announced the midwife as she began to clean off the child.
Alanna glared daggers at George. "Come here, *laddy* *me* *love*."
Gulping, George shook his head. "I'll check on our daughter, lass."
"What will you two name her?" the midwife asked, wrapping the baby girl in a
blanket.
"Acacia," Alanna answered.
"Well, Acacia of Pirate's Swoop, meet your mother and father," the midwife said,
placing the child in Alanna's arms. Alanna adjusted the blanket around Acacia's
head and smiled.
"Hello, Acacia."
***
As the last week of July passed and the first two weeks of August pressed forward,
the third week of August and intense heat washed over Tortall. Luckily, Pirate's
Swoop sat on the edge of the Emerald Ocean, and the inhabitants didn't feel quite
as sticky and humid as the rest of the country.
Acacia grew, and as her hair started to come in, Alanna worried.
As much as she would have liked to believe, nobody in George's family or her
own family had black hair as dark as midnight. The violet eyes came from her,
but the black hair seemed rather...mysterious.
That was, until she found herself thinking back to Duke Baird's funeral and
realized, with horror, that she had slept with King Jonathan of Tortall the night
after the ceremony.
***
Jonathan sent her a summons, asking Alanna to bring the child to Corus for
some reason or another. Innately, Alanna knew that Jonathan had
remembered what had happened as well, and wanted to see his new daughter.
The daughter they had never had when they were together.
So Alanna, after much protesting on George's part, took a carriage up to
Corus with the month-old baby girl and found Jonathan waiting eagerly for
her arrival.
"I didn't think you were actually going to come," Jon confessed as he helped
Alanna to the Champion's quarters.
"Oh? And why not?" Alanna wanted to know, pointing to where she wanted
her trunk. Jon lugged it over himself. "Since when have I ignored a
summoning from my king?"
"Point taken," Jonathan sighed. "Do you...remember...what we...?"
Alanna nodded. "Every...well, almost every moment of it."
"It's been a while, hasn't it? You and I," he said, looking at Acacia though
talking to Alanna.
"Yes, a very long while." Carefully, Alanna handed over the child to her
father. "I named her Acacia."
"Acacia of Pirate's Swoop," Jonathan murmured. "A very pretty name for
a very pretty daughter." He smiled at her. "She has your disturbing eyes."
"Gee, thanks."
"They're a shade darker though, don't you think?"
"Probably because of your blue eyes."
"She has my hair."
"She'll definitely have the Gift. Both you and I have it, so she's bound to."
"She's an awfully pretty thing. If I had known this came out of you and me
I would have done this earlier and named her my heir."
"If you did, I would have hurt you. Badly."
"I love you too, Lioness."
"She'll probably have my free spirit."
"Mithros save us. Another Lioness."
Acacia looked up at Jonathan and looked confused. She looked at Alanna,
then back at Jonathan, and snuggled into her paternal father's arms and
fell asleep.
"I think she likes you, Jon," Alanna whispered, reaching for her.
Jonathan backed away a step. "Let me hold her for a little while longer,
Alanna. Please?" he asked softly. "I may never get to hold her again and
I...I just..."
She felt so sorry for Jon that she let him hold the baby as long as he
wanted to. "I'm sorry, Jon. I didn't think about that."
Tenderly, Jon swept Acacia's hair from her eyes. "She's so precious. I
haven't felt like this since Lianne was born."
"Take your time," Alanna whispered. "She won't go anywhere."
***
That Friday found Kel bent over the privy, heaving out everything in her
stomach until nothing was left, then heaving some more.
"Kel?" Neal called, knocking on the privy door. "Love, are you all right?"
Kel dry-heaved again. "No, not really..."
"Are you sick?"
"I..." she paused. "I think so."
"Let me see, sweetheart," he requested. She reached back and unlocked
the privy door, dry-heaving again as soon as she finished. Carefully, Neal
knelt down next to her and placed a hand on her back. Soon, the tingly
warmth of his Gift spread through her body and her stomach stopped
trying to empty itself of contents it didn't have. He sat against the privy
wall and pulled her slowly into his lap. "There we go," he murmured,
placing a hand to her forehead. "You don't feel like you're running a fever,
though you do feel a tad warm. Anything else? Congestion, sore throat,
coughing, chills?"
"No, but my throat feels raw." She felt better just lying in Neal's arms, even
though they were sitting in a privy.
"Do you think you can stand?" he wanted to know.
"I think so." She got to her feet and Neal wrapped an arm around her
waist. Together, they made it out to the bed, where he laid her down.
"Love?"
"Yes?"
"Did you ever get a pregnancy charm again?"
"Ye..." she trailed off, a hand flying to her neck. "Oh no," she moaned.
"Looks like we're going to have a baby."
Kel groaned and rolled onto her side.
"Hey...at least we're married."
"We've only been married for two weeks."
"But we're married, no?"
"Ugh."
***
Udaan hopped off of the trellis he was hanging on and shook his head. He
had tried to warn Kel against staying with Neal because, truth be told, though
Neal was obnoxious to him and downright rude, he liked the knight. Now he
had to go report to the Master what happened with Neal and Kel. Maybe he
wouldn't share the information of the possible conception, gods willing that the
Master didn't press him for more information. It was almost time for the
Aescili anyway. September 23 was rapidly approaching. It was already the
week before September 1.
Shaming Kel and Neal under his breath, Udaan mounted his horse and began
the trek back to the Master's domain.
He arrived around the third day of September and passed easily through the
guards. They knew Udaan's face now. He was the Master's personal spy.
"My Master," he said in a subdued tone, kneeling before the Master's shaded
pedastal.
"Arise." The Master's omnipotent voice swelled like the tide and washed over
the stone room.
Udaan hoisted himself up.
"What news do you bring?"
Carefully, Udaan related the stories of the past month, telling of Kel and Neal's
wedding and moving onto everything else that had happened. Unsure, he left
out the detail he had just learned.
"You attempt to hide something from me. What is it?"
Trying not to cringe, Udaan said, "M'lord, tis possible that Kel and Neal may've
conceived a babe between 'em."
For a moment, the room was frighteningly silent.
"That is a possibility."
Udaan let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Tis only a possibility.
They didn' have proof when I heard 'em."
"I understand."
The one-armed man bowed. "I regret not bringin' ye some better news,
m'lord."
"Then correct your error."
Udaan recognized a dismissal when he heard one and backed out of the chamber,
only turning when he reached the door. Shaking his head, he sank down against
the wall, staring at the torchlight flickering off of his golden bracelet. *I told ye t'
stay way from 'im, Kel. I liked ye. I tried not t' sell ye out, but He knows me too
well. May luck stay on yer side, sweetheart. May ye not truly be pregnant an'
mayhap yer husband will escape wit' his life.*
***
Merric paced up and down the aisles of the paltry Hollyrose library, searching for
anything that would give him a clue about where the Aescili would be held or
when it would occur, or what it would entail. Thus far, he had found nothing. He
had the creeping suspicion that the fief of Mystra would have more on the legend
of Abscador because it was closer to Stone Mountain. The man who might have
known anything about Aescili would have been...
"Myles," Merric murmured. Not too long ago, Myles had had essays about the
Ancients published and shelved in the library at the palace in Corus, and thus far
no one else had a copy. The essays had only been bound the month before.
"I need to get a copy of those essays..."
He tore out of the library like his heels were on fire and found Jeraldine with
her ladies-in-waiting in her chambers.
"Jerri?"
Jeraldine looked up and smiled at Merric. "Hello. What do you need?"
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.
"May I," she corrected absently, setting down her embroidery and joining Merric
outside her chambers. "What is it, Merric?"
He kissed her gently. "I love you, but I have to go to Corus for a few days.
Jonathan's orders. I don't know when I'll return, but I'll try to write. I may not
be able to, depending on what he has me do."
Jeraldine pouted. "Can't you tell him that you just got married and you want to
spend time with your beautiful wife?"
Again, he kissed her. "I wish I could, but I really have to go."
She searched his eyes and sighed. Softly, her fingers went to the wrist sporting
the gold bracelet. "It has to do with this, does it not?"
"There's no lying to you, is there?" Merric murmured. "Yes, it has to do with this,
and no, I can't tell you what. I...have to go to Corus though, and I really don't
know when I'll be back. I will try to write, though."
"Come back alive, please. I don't want to be a widow after barely a month," she
told him.
"I promise I'll try to come back alive." He gave her a final kiss, had things packed
for a journey to Corus, and went out to the stables to saddle his horse.
***
Contrary to what Udaan had told the Master, Kel did have confirmation that she
was pregnant. With Neal's child. At age twenty-one.
"Well, love, should we wait until Jon summons us back to Corus or get a head
start on things?" Neal asked of his wife, stroking her hair as she laid her head on
his shoulder.
"Will you let me be a knight if we go back?" Kel retorted.
"Of course," he replied. "It's who you are. How can I deny you that which you
worked so hard for?"
"Stop it. You're starting to sound like Cleon," she said. "It scares me. I didn't
marry Cleon, thank Mithros."
Neal laughed. "Thank Mithros you didn't. If you had, I would have had to
kidnap you myself."
Kel rolled her eyes. "So, should we go back to Corus? Yes or no?"
"I say...yes. My mother will live to see her precious grandchild, and you and I
have had enough loafing around." Suddenly, Neal shuddered. "Did I just say
we had enough loafing around? *Me*? Wanting to do *work*? Who died and
said I should want to work? Oh...my father, that's right."
"We'll leave tomorrow morning?" she made it into a question.
"Tomorrow morning," he agreed.
The servants had their things packed and ready to go in the morning, and Kel
and Neal managed to rouse themselves at dawn. Neal griped all the way down
to the kitchen where they grabbed some fruit and dried meat, grumbled all the
way to the stables, complained as they saddled their horses, threatened the
sun with many buckets of water, and grumbled as they left Queenscove.
Finally, Kel had had enough and smacked him upside the head.
"Ow!" he cried melodramatically, clutching his head.
"Oh for the love of the Goddess, stop whining, you big baby!" Kel demanded.
He pouted at her and stayed silent for about three minutes. Then he began
to whimper about abusive, hormonal, expecting wives, to which Kel replied,
"You made me this way."
That shut Neal up for another few minutes, then he began to mumble about
going on a journey so early in the morning again.
***
Merric arrived at Corus two days before Neal and Kel, having a hostler stable
his horse and having a servant take his things to his quarters. As soon as he
was free of material ties for the moment, he ran to the library, brushing past
ladies, lords, and fellow knights. He almost careened into Princess Lianne but
stopped himself, allowing the girl to walk past him, then continued his mad
dash to the library. He just hoped someone wasn't already reading the essays
when he arrived.
"Come on, come on," he panted, crashing through the library doors so quickly
that the inhabitants scowled at him. Ignoring them, he ran for the aisle he
had previously found the book on the legend of Abscador in. "Where are you,
where are you..."
It occured to him then that he didn't know the title of the book of essays,
which made it infinitely harder to find.
Sheepishly, he sought out the card catalogue, flipping through the cards in
search of Sir Myles of Olau. Finally, his finger landed on the knight's name
and Merric pulled the card out, careful to keep the space for the card open.
He looked at the location of the book and the title, memorized it, set the card
back, and took off again.
"No running in the library!"
Merric ignored the order mostly and sped to his selected aisle. Furiously, he
combed through the books and finally, *finally* came upon his prey--er,
the book he sought after.
"If there's anything in here that would be useful...maybe I can show it to
Kel and Neal," Merric murmured, took the book, and sat down in one of the
chairs to read.
***
Neal and Kel arrived at the palace around midday the following day. Kel
felt a little nauseous, so Neal helped her to their quarters, kissed her on
the forehead, and went to go find some of the people he hadn't seen for
half of a year.
The first person he found was Owen.
"Neal! Jolly good to see you!" Owen cried as he saw his older friend.
"I heard a rumor that you and Kel got married?"
Grinning, Neal nodded. "We did."
"About jolly time, too! We all had bets running on when you would pop
the question. When *did* you ask her? Please say June..." Owen
pleaded.
Neal nodded. "I asked her in June. I had tried to ask her in April and
May but I kept getting interrupted. Don't you hate that?"
"I do indeed. I had two silver nobles riding on that month! Looks like I
need to go collect. Anyway, when did you two marry? And why didn't
you invite me?" Owen pressed.
"About three weeks ago we got married," Neal replied easily. "We didn't
invite you, or Merric, or Cleon, or anyone else. Just my mother and her
parents. We didn't want a particularly large ceremony because Merric's
wedding scared us away from that."
"I heard about that one," Owen nodded wisely. "Jolly good time at
Hollyrose, at least, that's what everyone who went said. I feel so left
out of the loop!"
"Weren't you up at border patrol for April through July anyway?" Neal
questioned, raising an eyebrow at the younger knight.
Owen blushed. "Well, er, yes, and that was jolly too, but, you see...I
just...it would have been nice to get invited to some of these things!"
Cracking a half-smile, Neal patted his friend on the shoulder. "I was
just teasing you in any case. Who else is here?"
Owen rambled off the list of the study group from their page and
squire years that was at the palace. "...Dom and Yuki, who are engaged
now by the way, and Merric came in yesterday. I think he may have
gone mad though from marrying that lady from Mystra. He's been in
the library reading like a madman all day yesterday and this morning.
You should go check on him."
"I will. Thanks, Owen. See you at supper." Quickly, Neal headed for
the library. He could only think of one reason Merric would keep himself
like that was if he found something about the Master or pertaining to the
tools of Abscador, and Neal wasn't about to miss that.
***
Quietly, Neal stood behind Merric, reading over his shoulder and waiting
for the younger knight to notice him. When he didn't, Neal placed a hand
over Merric's eyes. "Boo."
Merric jumped a mile, smacking the top of his head into Neal's chin.
"Ouch, dammit! That hurt!" Neal cried, rubbing his chin. One of the library
attendants glared at him and told him not to be so loud. Rolling his eyes,
Neal sat down next to Merric. "What are you reading?"
"'Ageless History' by Sir Myles," Merric said absently, going back to
reading.
"What has you so captivated?" Neal asked.
"It's about the Ancients," he replied emptily, his mind obviously elsewhere.
"What kind of horse did you ride here?" Neal questioned further.
"A horse of a different color," he mumbled.
"I see. Do you like the book you're reading?"
"Yes."
"Are you going to show me something when you're done with it?"
"Yes."
"Can I bed your sister?"
"Yes--hey, what the hell?"
Neal snickered. "I wouldn't bed your sister. I'm a married man, my
friend."
"Kel actually became the Duchess Keladry of Queenscove?" Merric
asked incredulously.
"...Yes. What's so wrong about that?" Neal wanted to know, eyeing
Merric suspiciously.
"Nothing, nothing," Merric said hurriedly. *Gods! She actually
married him. Neal, the duchess of Queenscove.* "Nothing, Duchess
Neal."
"It better--hey. That's enough of that, now," Neal said warningly.
Merric snickered this time. "Stop talking so I can finish reading this."
"Yes, my lord," Neal said monotonously.
"I'll ignore the sarcastic overtones of that statement." Quickly, Merric
finished reading the essays and sighed. "Well, Neal. Why don't you
read this essay and form your own conclusions?"
Merric handed over the book, opened to an essay about legends and
mythology. Raising an eyebrow, Neal began to read. The essay went
on and on about the gods, and suddenly, a name popped out at him.
'The legend, or myth, of Abscador and Cathos was passed down
through the Ancient culture for many years. Supposedly, the wife of
Cathos kept a diary of the events leading up to that day. Although
the ceremony, called the Aescili after the name the god known as
Abscador took when he adopted mortality, was believed to be held in
the armory of a house in Olau, little proof has been provided to prove
this assumption true. As well, little evidence has been discovered to
prove this assumption false.
The ceremony of the Aescili, or Rite of Ascension, had to be held on an
equinox. The first Aescili, and only Aescili known to date, was held on
the autumnal equinox. It was said that candles of every color had been
arranged in an unbroken circle around the virgin princess sacrifice, and
the princess then brutally murdered by plunging the Sword of Abscador
through her breastbone. Enough blood to fill a chalice was collected into
two separate cups, and both Cathos and Abscador took two full gulps of
the virgin princess's blood. Starting with the white candle, each candle
mysteriously extinguished after the flame turned the color of the candle
set before it in line. Finally, when the black candle with black flame
burned no more, the last drop of the virgin's blood had left her body.
After that had happened, Cathos became a god, and Abscador a mere
mortal.
It is said, as well, that Abscador wrote a series of magical incantations,
rituals, and ingredients on a scroll and hid it somewhere in the vicinity of
the fief of Stone Mountain. Abscador's, or, rather, Aescili's, descendents
then spread, trying to find the Sword of Abscador and Scroll of Abscador.
Today's inhabitants of Stone Mountain and Olau are supposedly the heirs
to Aescili's fortune, hidden somewhere for the past centuries. It is
believed that the Royal Family, specifically the Conte line, has found the
Asecili Fortune and used that to better the good of Tortall.
It is generally well accepted that in order for the ritual to come to
completion again, it would need to be held at the original location of the
original ceremony. However, no one knows with utmost certainty where
the original ceremony took place. Most guess that it happened in the
ruins of the Ancients buildings at the Barony Olau, while others still
believe that it truly took place in Stone Mountain.'
"Well," Neal breathed. "That was...informative."
"Oh, I forgot. Did you read the other book about that particular legend?"
Merric asked. When Neal shook his head, Merric retrieved the book and
handed it over. "Here, go ahead and read it."
Neal obeyed and seemed to pale when he finished. "We'll need to bring
Kel down here. I have no idea how he would perform this thing without
the necessary certain immortal being..."
"I have no doubt that this particular person will find a way. Doesn't he
always?"
***
In the end, the books were smuggled out of the library by Merric and
taken to Neal and Kel's room while Neal went to go visit Alanna. When he
knocked on the door, he heard a baby wail inside.
"Alanna?" he asked.
"Come on in, Neal," Alanna replied tiredly. As Neal opened the door, the
baby stopped crying.
"Whoa. I suppose that's the baby you were pregnant with back in...erm...
whenever we went down to Pirate's Swoop?"
"The very. This is Acacia," Alanna introduced them.
Neal smiled. "Hello, Acacia. Aren't you a pretty little girl?"
"Everyone says that," Alanna sighed.
"She's gorgeous. I didn't know anyone in your family had black hair?"
Neal made it into a question.
"Long story, don't want to explain." Alanna yawned.
"Do you want me to hold her so you can sit down for a little bit?" Neal
offered. *I'm going to have a baby of my own in nine months so I may
as well get used to it.*
Wordlessly, Alanna handed Acacia to Neal and sat down heavily on the
bed. "Thanks," she mumbled.
"Not a problem, former knight-master," he said. "Besides, I need to
have a little practice, you know?"
Alanna stared at Neal. "Is Kel pregnant?"
Neal just grinned.
"Congratulations, good luck, and don't seek me out for help. I've had
enough of babies after this one," Alanna sighed.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Neal said.
***
The evening came and went, and as Lianne took a last sip of water in her
chambers, she suddenly felt dizzy and her world blacked out. She collapsed
to the floor, limbs folding underneath her, and from the shadows stepped a
man with one arm.
"I hate this part," Udaan grumbled, hoisting the princess over his only
shoulder. "I always get stuck doin' manual work."
As he touched Lianne, she disappeared with the spell that concealed Udaan.
Without a noise, he walked past the king and queen and everybody else,
strapped Lianne to his horse, and rode off into the night with her.
"Everyone was so damn busy guardin' that Kalasin princess that they fergot
abou' poor li'l Lianne. Heh. Life jus' ain't fair, righ', Lianne?"
***
Joren sat in his chambers, the room deathly silent except for the soft
rustle of his clothes as he breathed and the faint crackle of the fire as
the wick of the candle in front of his burned. Next to it lied the Scroll of
Abscador, translated and in impeccable condition. Joren's face was
illuminated by the small red and orange flame of the candle.
He began to whisper something about a Sacred Candle, steadily growing
louder until his tone became conversational. "'As thy candle yond flickers
to and fro the lights of dawn...and lest thy Sacred Flame doth perish, a
World of Light doth reign supreme.'"
A cold, calculating smile spread across the blond man's features and,
without explanation, the flame flickered out.
"'And whence the Sacred Flame came forth, young Cathos stood and
prayed. He sayeth these words in a whisper soft a smoke: "The Flame
doth burn. When the Flame burneth no more, arise My father and claim
thy throne." Thus Abscador and Cathos becameth one and same.'"
Mysteriously, the other candles in the room flickered to life.
"The time for the Aescili has come."
Divina
*cries* I don't want to stop this! I don't want it to end! Make it stop, make it stop!
**Chapter 26: Truth**
"*You* did this to me!"
"Lass, now, calm down--"
"I thought we were done! But *no*! You had to go and--uuuuuugggggghhhh!"
"My hand, my hand! Leggo of my hand! Ow! I said leggo of my hand, I didn'
mean t' grab my arm instead!"
"Okay, Alanna, just one more push..." coaxed the midwife. "Come on, one more
push and it should just come on out..."
"Should?!" Alanna demanded, pushing anyway.
A few moments that seemed like eternity later, the midwife proclaimed, "I can
see the head. Keep pushing, Alanna."
"I can't," she panted.
"What, the Lioness? Not bein' able to give birth t' a babe?" George taunted.
"I am going to wring your scrawny neck for that comment," Alanna ground out
through gritted teeth as she gave the last of her reserves to push the baby out.
Not long after, crying filled the room.
"It's a girl," announced the midwife as she began to clean off the child.
Alanna glared daggers at George. "Come here, *laddy* *me* *love*."
Gulping, George shook his head. "I'll check on our daughter, lass."
"What will you two name her?" the midwife asked, wrapping the baby girl in a
blanket.
"Acacia," Alanna answered.
"Well, Acacia of Pirate's Swoop, meet your mother and father," the midwife said,
placing the child in Alanna's arms. Alanna adjusted the blanket around Acacia's
head and smiled.
"Hello, Acacia."
***
As the last week of July passed and the first two weeks of August pressed forward,
the third week of August and intense heat washed over Tortall. Luckily, Pirate's
Swoop sat on the edge of the Emerald Ocean, and the inhabitants didn't feel quite
as sticky and humid as the rest of the country.
Acacia grew, and as her hair started to come in, Alanna worried.
As much as she would have liked to believe, nobody in George's family or her
own family had black hair as dark as midnight. The violet eyes came from her,
but the black hair seemed rather...mysterious.
That was, until she found herself thinking back to Duke Baird's funeral and
realized, with horror, that she had slept with King Jonathan of Tortall the night
after the ceremony.
***
Jonathan sent her a summons, asking Alanna to bring the child to Corus for
some reason or another. Innately, Alanna knew that Jonathan had
remembered what had happened as well, and wanted to see his new daughter.
The daughter they had never had when they were together.
So Alanna, after much protesting on George's part, took a carriage up to
Corus with the month-old baby girl and found Jonathan waiting eagerly for
her arrival.
"I didn't think you were actually going to come," Jon confessed as he helped
Alanna to the Champion's quarters.
"Oh? And why not?" Alanna wanted to know, pointing to where she wanted
her trunk. Jon lugged it over himself. "Since when have I ignored a
summoning from my king?"
"Point taken," Jonathan sighed. "Do you...remember...what we...?"
Alanna nodded. "Every...well, almost every moment of it."
"It's been a while, hasn't it? You and I," he said, looking at Acacia though
talking to Alanna.
"Yes, a very long while." Carefully, Alanna handed over the child to her
father. "I named her Acacia."
"Acacia of Pirate's Swoop," Jonathan murmured. "A very pretty name for
a very pretty daughter." He smiled at her. "She has your disturbing eyes."
"Gee, thanks."
"They're a shade darker though, don't you think?"
"Probably because of your blue eyes."
"She has my hair."
"She'll definitely have the Gift. Both you and I have it, so she's bound to."
"She's an awfully pretty thing. If I had known this came out of you and me
I would have done this earlier and named her my heir."
"If you did, I would have hurt you. Badly."
"I love you too, Lioness."
"She'll probably have my free spirit."
"Mithros save us. Another Lioness."
Acacia looked up at Jonathan and looked confused. She looked at Alanna,
then back at Jonathan, and snuggled into her paternal father's arms and
fell asleep.
"I think she likes you, Jon," Alanna whispered, reaching for her.
Jonathan backed away a step. "Let me hold her for a little while longer,
Alanna. Please?" he asked softly. "I may never get to hold her again and
I...I just..."
She felt so sorry for Jon that she let him hold the baby as long as he
wanted to. "I'm sorry, Jon. I didn't think about that."
Tenderly, Jon swept Acacia's hair from her eyes. "She's so precious. I
haven't felt like this since Lianne was born."
"Take your time," Alanna whispered. "She won't go anywhere."
***
That Friday found Kel bent over the privy, heaving out everything in her
stomach until nothing was left, then heaving some more.
"Kel?" Neal called, knocking on the privy door. "Love, are you all right?"
Kel dry-heaved again. "No, not really..."
"Are you sick?"
"I..." she paused. "I think so."
"Let me see, sweetheart," he requested. She reached back and unlocked
the privy door, dry-heaving again as soon as she finished. Carefully, Neal
knelt down next to her and placed a hand on her back. Soon, the tingly
warmth of his Gift spread through her body and her stomach stopped
trying to empty itself of contents it didn't have. He sat against the privy
wall and pulled her slowly into his lap. "There we go," he murmured,
placing a hand to her forehead. "You don't feel like you're running a fever,
though you do feel a tad warm. Anything else? Congestion, sore throat,
coughing, chills?"
"No, but my throat feels raw." She felt better just lying in Neal's arms, even
though they were sitting in a privy.
"Do you think you can stand?" he wanted to know.
"I think so." She got to her feet and Neal wrapped an arm around her
waist. Together, they made it out to the bed, where he laid her down.
"Love?"
"Yes?"
"Did you ever get a pregnancy charm again?"
"Ye..." she trailed off, a hand flying to her neck. "Oh no," she moaned.
"Looks like we're going to have a baby."
Kel groaned and rolled onto her side.
"Hey...at least we're married."
"We've only been married for two weeks."
"But we're married, no?"
"Ugh."
***
Udaan hopped off of the trellis he was hanging on and shook his head. He
had tried to warn Kel against staying with Neal because, truth be told, though
Neal was obnoxious to him and downright rude, he liked the knight. Now he
had to go report to the Master what happened with Neal and Kel. Maybe he
wouldn't share the information of the possible conception, gods willing that the
Master didn't press him for more information. It was almost time for the
Aescili anyway. September 23 was rapidly approaching. It was already the
week before September 1.
Shaming Kel and Neal under his breath, Udaan mounted his horse and began
the trek back to the Master's domain.
He arrived around the third day of September and passed easily through the
guards. They knew Udaan's face now. He was the Master's personal spy.
"My Master," he said in a subdued tone, kneeling before the Master's shaded
pedastal.
"Arise." The Master's omnipotent voice swelled like the tide and washed over
the stone room.
Udaan hoisted himself up.
"What news do you bring?"
Carefully, Udaan related the stories of the past month, telling of Kel and Neal's
wedding and moving onto everything else that had happened. Unsure, he left
out the detail he had just learned.
"You attempt to hide something from me. What is it?"
Trying not to cringe, Udaan said, "M'lord, tis possible that Kel and Neal may've
conceived a babe between 'em."
For a moment, the room was frighteningly silent.
"That is a possibility."
Udaan let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Tis only a possibility.
They didn' have proof when I heard 'em."
"I understand."
The one-armed man bowed. "I regret not bringin' ye some better news,
m'lord."
"Then correct your error."
Udaan recognized a dismissal when he heard one and backed out of the chamber,
only turning when he reached the door. Shaking his head, he sank down against
the wall, staring at the torchlight flickering off of his golden bracelet. *I told ye t'
stay way from 'im, Kel. I liked ye. I tried not t' sell ye out, but He knows me too
well. May luck stay on yer side, sweetheart. May ye not truly be pregnant an'
mayhap yer husband will escape wit' his life.*
***
Merric paced up and down the aisles of the paltry Hollyrose library, searching for
anything that would give him a clue about where the Aescili would be held or
when it would occur, or what it would entail. Thus far, he had found nothing. He
had the creeping suspicion that the fief of Mystra would have more on the legend
of Abscador because it was closer to Stone Mountain. The man who might have
known anything about Aescili would have been...
"Myles," Merric murmured. Not too long ago, Myles had had essays about the
Ancients published and shelved in the library at the palace in Corus, and thus far
no one else had a copy. The essays had only been bound the month before.
"I need to get a copy of those essays..."
He tore out of the library like his heels were on fire and found Jeraldine with
her ladies-in-waiting in her chambers.
"Jerri?"
Jeraldine looked up and smiled at Merric. "Hello. What do you need?"
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.
"May I," she corrected absently, setting down her embroidery and joining Merric
outside her chambers. "What is it, Merric?"
He kissed her gently. "I love you, but I have to go to Corus for a few days.
Jonathan's orders. I don't know when I'll return, but I'll try to write. I may not
be able to, depending on what he has me do."
Jeraldine pouted. "Can't you tell him that you just got married and you want to
spend time with your beautiful wife?"
Again, he kissed her. "I wish I could, but I really have to go."
She searched his eyes and sighed. Softly, her fingers went to the wrist sporting
the gold bracelet. "It has to do with this, does it not?"
"There's no lying to you, is there?" Merric murmured. "Yes, it has to do with this,
and no, I can't tell you what. I...have to go to Corus though, and I really don't
know when I'll be back. I will try to write, though."
"Come back alive, please. I don't want to be a widow after barely a month," she
told him.
"I promise I'll try to come back alive." He gave her a final kiss, had things packed
for a journey to Corus, and went out to the stables to saddle his horse.
***
Contrary to what Udaan had told the Master, Kel did have confirmation that she
was pregnant. With Neal's child. At age twenty-one.
"Well, love, should we wait until Jon summons us back to Corus or get a head
start on things?" Neal asked of his wife, stroking her hair as she laid her head on
his shoulder.
"Will you let me be a knight if we go back?" Kel retorted.
"Of course," he replied. "It's who you are. How can I deny you that which you
worked so hard for?"
"Stop it. You're starting to sound like Cleon," she said. "It scares me. I didn't
marry Cleon, thank Mithros."
Neal laughed. "Thank Mithros you didn't. If you had, I would have had to
kidnap you myself."
Kel rolled her eyes. "So, should we go back to Corus? Yes or no?"
"I say...yes. My mother will live to see her precious grandchild, and you and I
have had enough loafing around." Suddenly, Neal shuddered. "Did I just say
we had enough loafing around? *Me*? Wanting to do *work*? Who died and
said I should want to work? Oh...my father, that's right."
"We'll leave tomorrow morning?" she made it into a question.
"Tomorrow morning," he agreed.
The servants had their things packed and ready to go in the morning, and Kel
and Neal managed to rouse themselves at dawn. Neal griped all the way down
to the kitchen where they grabbed some fruit and dried meat, grumbled all the
way to the stables, complained as they saddled their horses, threatened the
sun with many buckets of water, and grumbled as they left Queenscove.
Finally, Kel had had enough and smacked him upside the head.
"Ow!" he cried melodramatically, clutching his head.
"Oh for the love of the Goddess, stop whining, you big baby!" Kel demanded.
He pouted at her and stayed silent for about three minutes. Then he began
to whimper about abusive, hormonal, expecting wives, to which Kel replied,
"You made me this way."
That shut Neal up for another few minutes, then he began to mumble about
going on a journey so early in the morning again.
***
Merric arrived at Corus two days before Neal and Kel, having a hostler stable
his horse and having a servant take his things to his quarters. As soon as he
was free of material ties for the moment, he ran to the library, brushing past
ladies, lords, and fellow knights. He almost careened into Princess Lianne but
stopped himself, allowing the girl to walk past him, then continued his mad
dash to the library. He just hoped someone wasn't already reading the essays
when he arrived.
"Come on, come on," he panted, crashing through the library doors so quickly
that the inhabitants scowled at him. Ignoring them, he ran for the aisle he
had previously found the book on the legend of Abscador in. "Where are you,
where are you..."
It occured to him then that he didn't know the title of the book of essays,
which made it infinitely harder to find.
Sheepishly, he sought out the card catalogue, flipping through the cards in
search of Sir Myles of Olau. Finally, his finger landed on the knight's name
and Merric pulled the card out, careful to keep the space for the card open.
He looked at the location of the book and the title, memorized it, set the card
back, and took off again.
"No running in the library!"
Merric ignored the order mostly and sped to his selected aisle. Furiously, he
combed through the books and finally, *finally* came upon his prey--er,
the book he sought after.
"If there's anything in here that would be useful...maybe I can show it to
Kel and Neal," Merric murmured, took the book, and sat down in one of the
chairs to read.
***
Neal and Kel arrived at the palace around midday the following day. Kel
felt a little nauseous, so Neal helped her to their quarters, kissed her on
the forehead, and went to go find some of the people he hadn't seen for
half of a year.
The first person he found was Owen.
"Neal! Jolly good to see you!" Owen cried as he saw his older friend.
"I heard a rumor that you and Kel got married?"
Grinning, Neal nodded. "We did."
"About jolly time, too! We all had bets running on when you would pop
the question. When *did* you ask her? Please say June..." Owen
pleaded.
Neal nodded. "I asked her in June. I had tried to ask her in April and
May but I kept getting interrupted. Don't you hate that?"
"I do indeed. I had two silver nobles riding on that month! Looks like I
need to go collect. Anyway, when did you two marry? And why didn't
you invite me?" Owen pressed.
"About three weeks ago we got married," Neal replied easily. "We didn't
invite you, or Merric, or Cleon, or anyone else. Just my mother and her
parents. We didn't want a particularly large ceremony because Merric's
wedding scared us away from that."
"I heard about that one," Owen nodded wisely. "Jolly good time at
Hollyrose, at least, that's what everyone who went said. I feel so left
out of the loop!"
"Weren't you up at border patrol for April through July anyway?" Neal
questioned, raising an eyebrow at the younger knight.
Owen blushed. "Well, er, yes, and that was jolly too, but, you see...I
just...it would have been nice to get invited to some of these things!"
Cracking a half-smile, Neal patted his friend on the shoulder. "I was
just teasing you in any case. Who else is here?"
Owen rambled off the list of the study group from their page and
squire years that was at the palace. "...Dom and Yuki, who are engaged
now by the way, and Merric came in yesterday. I think he may have
gone mad though from marrying that lady from Mystra. He's been in
the library reading like a madman all day yesterday and this morning.
You should go check on him."
"I will. Thanks, Owen. See you at supper." Quickly, Neal headed for
the library. He could only think of one reason Merric would keep himself
like that was if he found something about the Master or pertaining to the
tools of Abscador, and Neal wasn't about to miss that.
***
Quietly, Neal stood behind Merric, reading over his shoulder and waiting
for the younger knight to notice him. When he didn't, Neal placed a hand
over Merric's eyes. "Boo."
Merric jumped a mile, smacking the top of his head into Neal's chin.
"Ouch, dammit! That hurt!" Neal cried, rubbing his chin. One of the library
attendants glared at him and told him not to be so loud. Rolling his eyes,
Neal sat down next to Merric. "What are you reading?"
"'Ageless History' by Sir Myles," Merric said absently, going back to
reading.
"What has you so captivated?" Neal asked.
"It's about the Ancients," he replied emptily, his mind obviously elsewhere.
"What kind of horse did you ride here?" Neal questioned further.
"A horse of a different color," he mumbled.
"I see. Do you like the book you're reading?"
"Yes."
"Are you going to show me something when you're done with it?"
"Yes."
"Can I bed your sister?"
"Yes--hey, what the hell?"
Neal snickered. "I wouldn't bed your sister. I'm a married man, my
friend."
"Kel actually became the Duchess Keladry of Queenscove?" Merric
asked incredulously.
"...Yes. What's so wrong about that?" Neal wanted to know, eyeing
Merric suspiciously.
"Nothing, nothing," Merric said hurriedly. *Gods! She actually
married him. Neal, the duchess of Queenscove.* "Nothing, Duchess
Neal."
"It better--hey. That's enough of that, now," Neal said warningly.
Merric snickered this time. "Stop talking so I can finish reading this."
"Yes, my lord," Neal said monotonously.
"I'll ignore the sarcastic overtones of that statement." Quickly, Merric
finished reading the essays and sighed. "Well, Neal. Why don't you
read this essay and form your own conclusions?"
Merric handed over the book, opened to an essay about legends and
mythology. Raising an eyebrow, Neal began to read. The essay went
on and on about the gods, and suddenly, a name popped out at him.
'The legend, or myth, of Abscador and Cathos was passed down
through the Ancient culture for many years. Supposedly, the wife of
Cathos kept a diary of the events leading up to that day. Although
the ceremony, called the Aescili after the name the god known as
Abscador took when he adopted mortality, was believed to be held in
the armory of a house in Olau, little proof has been provided to prove
this assumption true. As well, little evidence has been discovered to
prove this assumption false.
The ceremony of the Aescili, or Rite of Ascension, had to be held on an
equinox. The first Aescili, and only Aescili known to date, was held on
the autumnal equinox. It was said that candles of every color had been
arranged in an unbroken circle around the virgin princess sacrifice, and
the princess then brutally murdered by plunging the Sword of Abscador
through her breastbone. Enough blood to fill a chalice was collected into
two separate cups, and both Cathos and Abscador took two full gulps of
the virgin princess's blood. Starting with the white candle, each candle
mysteriously extinguished after the flame turned the color of the candle
set before it in line. Finally, when the black candle with black flame
burned no more, the last drop of the virgin's blood had left her body.
After that had happened, Cathos became a god, and Abscador a mere
mortal.
It is said, as well, that Abscador wrote a series of magical incantations,
rituals, and ingredients on a scroll and hid it somewhere in the vicinity of
the fief of Stone Mountain. Abscador's, or, rather, Aescili's, descendents
then spread, trying to find the Sword of Abscador and Scroll of Abscador.
Today's inhabitants of Stone Mountain and Olau are supposedly the heirs
to Aescili's fortune, hidden somewhere for the past centuries. It is
believed that the Royal Family, specifically the Conte line, has found the
Asecili Fortune and used that to better the good of Tortall.
It is generally well accepted that in order for the ritual to come to
completion again, it would need to be held at the original location of the
original ceremony. However, no one knows with utmost certainty where
the original ceremony took place. Most guess that it happened in the
ruins of the Ancients buildings at the Barony Olau, while others still
believe that it truly took place in Stone Mountain.'
"Well," Neal breathed. "That was...informative."
"Oh, I forgot. Did you read the other book about that particular legend?"
Merric asked. When Neal shook his head, Merric retrieved the book and
handed it over. "Here, go ahead and read it."
Neal obeyed and seemed to pale when he finished. "We'll need to bring
Kel down here. I have no idea how he would perform this thing without
the necessary certain immortal being..."
"I have no doubt that this particular person will find a way. Doesn't he
always?"
***
In the end, the books were smuggled out of the library by Merric and
taken to Neal and Kel's room while Neal went to go visit Alanna. When he
knocked on the door, he heard a baby wail inside.
"Alanna?" he asked.
"Come on in, Neal," Alanna replied tiredly. As Neal opened the door, the
baby stopped crying.
"Whoa. I suppose that's the baby you were pregnant with back in...erm...
whenever we went down to Pirate's Swoop?"
"The very. This is Acacia," Alanna introduced them.
Neal smiled. "Hello, Acacia. Aren't you a pretty little girl?"
"Everyone says that," Alanna sighed.
"She's gorgeous. I didn't know anyone in your family had black hair?"
Neal made it into a question.
"Long story, don't want to explain." Alanna yawned.
"Do you want me to hold her so you can sit down for a little bit?" Neal
offered. *I'm going to have a baby of my own in nine months so I may
as well get used to it.*
Wordlessly, Alanna handed Acacia to Neal and sat down heavily on the
bed. "Thanks," she mumbled.
"Not a problem, former knight-master," he said. "Besides, I need to
have a little practice, you know?"
Alanna stared at Neal. "Is Kel pregnant?"
Neal just grinned.
"Congratulations, good luck, and don't seek me out for help. I've had
enough of babies after this one," Alanna sighed.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Neal said.
***
The evening came and went, and as Lianne took a last sip of water in her
chambers, she suddenly felt dizzy and her world blacked out. She collapsed
to the floor, limbs folding underneath her, and from the shadows stepped a
man with one arm.
"I hate this part," Udaan grumbled, hoisting the princess over his only
shoulder. "I always get stuck doin' manual work."
As he touched Lianne, she disappeared with the spell that concealed Udaan.
Without a noise, he walked past the king and queen and everybody else,
strapped Lianne to his horse, and rode off into the night with her.
"Everyone was so damn busy guardin' that Kalasin princess that they fergot
abou' poor li'l Lianne. Heh. Life jus' ain't fair, righ', Lianne?"
***
Joren sat in his chambers, the room deathly silent except for the soft
rustle of his clothes as he breathed and the faint crackle of the fire as
the wick of the candle in front of his burned. Next to it lied the Scroll of
Abscador, translated and in impeccable condition. Joren's face was
illuminated by the small red and orange flame of the candle.
He began to whisper something about a Sacred Candle, steadily growing
louder until his tone became conversational. "'As thy candle yond flickers
to and fro the lights of dawn...and lest thy Sacred Flame doth perish, a
World of Light doth reign supreme.'"
A cold, calculating smile spread across the blond man's features and,
without explanation, the flame flickered out.
"'And whence the Sacred Flame came forth, young Cathos stood and
prayed. He sayeth these words in a whisper soft a smoke: "The Flame
doth burn. When the Flame burneth no more, arise My father and claim
thy throne." Thus Abscador and Cathos becameth one and same.'"
Mysteriously, the other candles in the room flickered to life.
"The time for the Aescili has come."
