Chapter 5
"They are nearly here!" The hertasi hissed at Firesong's elbow.
He instantly grimaced, an expression not hidden by his mask. "Thank you, I will be there in a moment."
"I thought you were looking forward to their arrival." Silverfox said with confusion.
"I was. Until my food literally incinerated." Firesong said testily.
Silverfox wondered exactly what the odd incident the night before had to do with a venerated Adept but said nothing.
Firesong refrained from stomping out of his home and hurried to the entrance to the Vale. Only Darian was there before him, not dressed in his normal greeting finery. Beyond the Vale he could see two figures riding dyhelis. One wore a scarlet cloak with white fur lining it, their hood was up so he couldn't see if it was Icestone, and the other was one of their other recent arrivals, Wildblade.
"I hope he doesn't mind that it is just us." Darian commented.
"I hope it is a he." Firesong grumbled.
Silverfox studied the approaching figures. "I doubt it. The shoulders are too narrow for a male."
"Damn." Firesong grumbled.
~*~
Icestone chuckled at Wildblade's anecdote, he was an amusing traveling partner, and his sense of humor matched her own.
"I do believe your brother did not heed your warning." Wildblade commented after a short silence.
"Maybe I'll spend winter at the Fortress of Sorrows after all." She could see her brother's less than pleased reaction from here. "Care to join me? My student, Sherri, used to be the Countess there, now her uncle is the Count and I am certain he will welcome us."
"You weren't exaggerating about this friction between you." Wildblade said, almost mystified.
"I didn't exaggerate a word. My brother is brilliant and powerful but we do not get along. I promise you I will be doing my best to avoid him." She pulled her hood down just a little farther causing a disgruntled squawk from Del.
"Well, maybe he wants to mend the bridge." Wildblade suggested. "And if not, he spends most of his time in the Vale and you said you wanted to work with the scouts."
Icestone shrugged. "We will see."
Wildblade turned off towards his ekele, letting her have some privacy while meeting her brother again.
She swung to the ground facing the trio that had come out to meet her. She knew her brother was the one wearing the mask, she assumed Silverfox was the man with the black hair, so that left only the identity of the young man in question. "Am I welcome or should I continue on?" She asked dryly.
"Of course you are welcome, we weren't expecting you for several more days." The young man quickly assured her. "We did have a grand welcome planned for you."
"I am glad I missed it." She said as she pulled her packs from the back of Hyl. "I meant Firesong is looking like he wishes I were anywhere else but here." She pushed back the hood releasing Del.
Silverfox gasped and looked at Firesong.
Icestone cocked an eyebrow at his stunned reaction. "I'm his little sister. I take it he never mentioned me."
"You never came up in conversation." Firesong said with mock civility.
"Of course I didn't." She patted his arm and gave him a sugary smile. "Can't expect an old fellow like you to remember what you had for breakfast, let alone that you had a sibling. And you can't complain that I didn't warn you."
"Why are you here?" Firesong demanded.
The other two were stunned at his less than hospitable welcoming of his own sister.
"I am here because I did not want to ride all the way to k'Treva in winter." She said calmly. "I am sure we can arrange not to see each other."
"I am sorry, I never caught your name." Silverfox said, hoping to distract them.
"Sorry, I am Icestone. You must be Silverfox, I have been looking forward to meeting you." She said sincerely. "I have wanted to meet with a kestrachern and hear more about what you do straight from the source."
Silverfox was obviously flattered. "I would be honoured to show you."
Firesong looked ready to boil.
Icestone glanced at him and cocked her head to the side. "Perhaps we could now. I think we should leave Firesong to cool off before he has a tantrum."
"I am not about to have a tantrum." Firesong insisted loudly.
"You really haven't changed have you? You can't even be civil and say 'welcome to k'Valdemar'." Icestone favoured him with a disgusted look. She sounded just like their mother. "You could just have stayed away rather than trying to drive me off and making everyone else uncomfortable. I did give you warning."
"You did?" The young man asked. "Sorry, I am Darian. How did you warn him?"
"I am a Firestarter." She explained.
"That's why he was so disturbed by his food incinerating as he was about to bite it." Darian said, enlightened.
"Icestone!" Starfall called as he hurried to meet her. "You look wonderful, why didn't you say it was you?"
She gave him a warm hug. "It wanted to surprise you. Did it work?"
"Of course. So it was you lighting Firesong's meal on fire after all." He chuckled. "It has been fourteen years and you still make him jump every time. Come, you must tell me everything."
Darian watched them leave and turned back to his teacher. "She reminds me of you for some odd reason."
"Hardly! We are complete opposites." Firesong protested.
"She is guaranteed not to be stubborn, arrogant, or powerful?" Silverfox asked.
"She is all of that and more." Firesong grumbled and stormed off.
"Two Firesongs in one Clan? No wonder they try to keep them separated." Darian commented wryly. "She is certainly…eye catching."
"I wonder what she is like when she isn't bristling at her brother." Silverfox commented.
~*~
"So, why are you here? I heard what happened to your friends." Starfall offered her a cup of chava and took a seat across from her. "Your letters have been rather…sparse."
She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I hate writing. I can hardly wait until we can send magical messages regularly again. I did come to Valdemar for Sherri and Kevyn's memorial but it proved to be a bit hasty. Just a month before I left Haven they rode in the gates, weak but alive and set most of the palace on its collective ear. She's the True Seer I was training."
"Right, you mentioned her in a few letters. So they are back from the dead?"
"And they are also the mages that have been helping with settling the leylines. She was taught magic by an illustrious ancestor we share."
"You mean that ghost that kidnapped your brother?" Starfall asked.
"Herald Vanyel? Yes. Sherri is his protégé and has techniques I have never seen before. I learned a lot more from her than she did from me." Icestone sipped the sweet drink. "She's pregnant so Kevyn has been hovering over her. They are both still weak so I am not certain if it is good news or not."
"I look forward to meeting her." Starfall said truthfully.
"Before I left her uncles had gotten wind that she was alive, wed, and pregnant and were descending upon Haven so I decided not to stick around. They are all huge!" Icestone chuckled, remembering the size of the six uncles in question. "I have never seen anyone among the clans that can rival their height."
"I am glad you have decided to come for a visit. Have you decided about children yet?" He asked, hopeful. "I would love some grandchildren."
"I can't imagine giving up a baby and never seeing it again. I would rather have none than to give up one. Besides, it feels like I am selling myself to get a child." She toyed with her nearly empty mug.
"Many children are conceived that way." Starfall protested.
"And how so many women can take being treated like brood mares, chosen for the mage gift they may pass on, is sickening." Icestone countered. "I have already decided not to choose him."
Starfall couldn't hide his disappointment completely. "So who will you choose? I imagine you have had several offers."
"I was thinking of finding a man I liked and maybe starting a family together. I just said I hate the thought of being a broodmare." She set down her mug. "Why don't you pester Firesong about grandchildren?"
"He doesn't think he is father material." Starfall admitted. "I wish whatever feud you two have were ended. It has been going on since you could talk. Not once have either of you actually tried to get along."
"I did try. After the forest fire we had a truce, until I moved in. I only asked that the hertasi refrain from cleaning my room because they never stop there and he got all offended that I was rejecting his hospitality. Sure enough he asks them to make certain my room was kept spotless and he ordered a new wardrobe for me and ordered my scout gear disposed of. And that was in just the first two days!"
"So you two don't talk because he changed your wardrobe?" Starfall said in disbelief.
"Actually we agreed not to talk after that. That was just how it started. The day before I moved into my own ekele he accused me of trying to make him look bad to the clan by making his hospitality look lacking. I told him he didn't need me to look bad and called him a poor host for refusing to respect my need for privacy to grieve. He told me that it was just a bondbird and to get over it. I called him arrogant, selfish, and heartless and said he had just offered so he would continue to look like the hero." She shrugged. "It got worse from there; I spent the night sleeping outside and moved in the next morning. Since then we have found it is better to be distant siblings."
"If it were anyone else I would say that doesn't sound like him. But you two always brought out the worst in each other. Couldn't you call a truce for the winter?" Starfall asked hopefully.
"Since he greeted me with a glare and demanded to know why I was here, I doubt it. I need to settle in. Can we talk more later?" She started to stand.
Starfall sighed. "Very well. Perhaps tonight."
"Actually, I am meeting with Wildblade tonight. I haven't seen him in ages and I want to catch up with what has been going on in k'Chorna. How about in the morning? Then you can give me the tour." She suggested.
"Very well. Good night then Feather." He bid her farewell and walked her to the door. "If you like Wildblade, why don't you have a family with him?"
She quirked one white eyebrow. "Don't start."
"It was just a thought." Starfall shrugged.
~ * ~
"Blade, are you there?" She called as she started up the winding stairs the hertasi had said was Wildblade's.
"Ice, I am on the roof. A shingle slipped and it looks like snow." Wildblade called back.
She swung up the tree limbs until she reached the roof where he was repairing the shingle himself. "Still like to do things yourself?" She teased as she sat beside him.
"How did it go with your brother?" He asked as he started to pound another nail into place.
"Well enough. We are both still alive." She lifted a strand of his long white hair and let it slide through her fingers.
Wildblade set aside his hammer and sat down. "You should grow your hair out."
"I am a Firestarter, long hair is a very poor idea." She pointed out dryly. "I do wish I could have it waist length."
"You're right, long hair would be a liability. Especially if you left it down." Blade fingered the owl feather that hung over one ear, so white it matched her hair. "You would have to have a hertasi do it for you every day."
"And considering how much I have traveled in the last few years that would be very impractical. I am sorry for showing up early but my father had a two-track mind. The feud with Firesong and grandchildren."
"I don't mind." Blade assured her as he caressed her face. "Did you tell him about the k'Treva mage?"
"I did, and I decided I don't want to do it that way. Maybe I am thinking like an Outlander but I can't bear the thought of giving up a child. Instead of talking I think we should go inside…" She whispered the rest of her suggestion in his ear and laughed he practically pulled her off the roof and inside.