Disclaimer: Good grief. Suffice to say, I disclaim everything that should be disclaimed.
Chapter 35, here we come! Once again, I shall not jinx myself by discussing how I hope it doesn't take me too long to finish the chapter, so we shall see what results this time. Heh, two months resulted. Oops. Well, on to reviews!
Lurks in Shadows: Yup, finally the cavalry has arrived. It's about time too, I'd say.
Frequency: I imagine Karissa will be fine now. Next chapter's up as soon as I kick my lazy butt into gear and write it.
Fireblade: I'm afraid you may be disappointed in that one, I don't think his parents'll be coming to Haven. It's certainly a nice thought, though.
Acacia: Yup. Although it appears Karissa wont get her chance at his parents, which would certainly be a sight to see.
Ali: Yeah, it was pretty short but hopefully this one'll be a bit longer.
Wizard: You'll see soon.
Cesy: Thanks for the grammatical help, I'd like to think my later chapters are better than the earlier in that way but concrit is always helpful. If I ever revise this thing, I'll definitely fix all that stuff.
Anyway, I guess by now everyone just wants Treet to get rescued, so I suppose I'll go off and set that up. Not much else to say here now that the story is pretty much winding down. Few more hurdles to cross, not many though. Anyhow.
Yeah, I deeply apologize for how long it took me to write this chapter. I've been so busy with school and stuff, I just haven't found the time to sit down and write.
Chapter 35: Rescue
Adin bent low over Deri's neck. Deri was not running as fast as he could, wanting to keep something in reserve in case a quick getaway was needed, but he was certainly moving very quickly and it took most of Adin's considerable skill to move with him and not end up flat on his back staring up at the sky.
Adin knew a little about the Trainee he was being sent to pluck out of harm's way, had made it his business to pry every scrap of information out of Deri, who, being a Companion, knew everything about everything, or so he thought. Adin was naturally curious, for one thing, and for another he felt that any information he could glean would make him more able to deal with the Trainee's possible hurts.
It turned out that the Trainee in question, one Tretin, had been born Holderkin and had been stolen away and brought to the Collegium by the redoubtable Herald Karissa, the very same whose circuit he had taken over. Adin and Karissa had been in the same Yeargroup at the Collegium and he remembered her as reticent though in no way shy. She had always seemed to be on the outskirts of the Trainees larks and pranks. As many of that Yeargroup had been strong Mindspeakers, they had interpreted her reticence as a natural wish for privacy and left her alone.
Deri rounded the last corner at a fast canter and broke into a village, which was currently filled with occupants wearing almost identical astonished and more than faintly disapproving expressions. Adin didn't think this was a particularly unusual state, nor did he care that he had elicited it. In all his years as a circuit rider, dealing with all sorts of insulated, provincial, prejudiced people, he had never been so tempted to simply ride in and do…something. Something that would only reinforce the image these people carried in their heads of Heralds, Adin firmly told himself, checking the impulse. His blood boiled at the thought of a helpless Healer Trainee forcibly removed from the Collegium to "have a man made out of him"
Adin rode into the center of town, well aware that he was making a spectacle of himself. He took a deep, centering breath as he had been taught, cleansing the anger from his face, ready to deal impartially with the entire town, if he had to, to get to the Holder he was looking for. He gestured at the nearest man to him. "Holder, of your kindness, direct me to the Steading of Holder Nin Lornsson?"
The man stopped, bracing himself, obviously ready for a fight. Adin's teeth ground together audibly. The man's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. He scowled viciously, but pointed to the left, audibly muttering about abominations as he hurried away. Adin continued in the general direction indicated. Word traveled fast on the Border, Adin noted, seeing that there was already a man standing outside of the indicated house.
:Go gently, Chosen: Deri warned.
:Of course. King's justice and all.:
Adin approached the man, dismounting so that he could get inside the house, though the thought of riding a Companion through the halls made Adin laugh to himself. As a Trainee he had plotted such a prank many a time, imagining charging through the neatly polished floors of the Collegium, but the thought of re-polishing them all himself had dulled his enthusiasm somewhat.
Treet's father was obviously expecting a fight, though Adin was sure he looked exactly as belligerent every time a Herald showed up on his doorstep. Adin, on the other hand, didn't particularly feel like arguing. A brief rush of pleasure flooded through him at the astonished look on Nin's face as Adin, who Nin had presumed to be an effete weakling, shouldered him aside with an ease born of long training and rushed through the door.
Following the sound of weak cries, Adin left the astonished Nin behind him and pushed his way past various women, either pale and large eyed or beady eyed and calculating, and descended into what he assumed was the cellar. What he found made his blood boil within him. Treet lay on the floor, pale as death itself and bleeding from several superficial wounds to the face and arms. At least, Adin devoutly hoped they were superficial – for the sake of those who had inflicted them.
The small group of young men who surrounded Treet in a ragged semi-circle had not yet noticed Adin's presence, despite the noise he had made in his arrival. Their laughing, sneering faces all blended into one around Treet as they kicked him, shouting taunts.
Adin lunged in, interposing himself between Treet and everyone else. The boy was valiantly struggling with tears while trying to suppress the green sparks popping from his fingers. Adin nodded in approval. If Treet's Gift became visible, it would only exacerbate the situation at hand.
Adin stiffened and put on his best Heraldic face, though he had no doubt that it was completely wasted on his audience. "Have you nothing better to do than torment this child?" Adin asked, suffused with rage.
One, bolder than the others, yelled "What is it to do with you, abomination?" Adin added a checkmark to his mental tally. It served as his amusement when he found his way into Holderkin lands. His record was seventy-nine in a stay of only a week. He had made some particularly unfavorable judgments that week, though.
Adin did not reply. As though he had not heard, he picked up Treet in his arms. The boy's head lolled on his shoulders, it was almost as though he was not quite all there. Adin cautiously unshielded a little. The boy was conscious. Adin hefted him a little higher on his shoulder, acutely aware of Treet's obviously broken arm. His rage frothed and bubbled. How dare they? He would drag them to Haven and there would be reckoning! Before the King, even if Adin had to drag the King to the trial himself!
The young Holderkin men were reluctant to defy a Herald face to face; they tagged along awkwardly behind him, obviously waiting for their father to deal with this Herald who had dared intrude on their fun.
'Not so brave now, are we?' Adin thought viciously.
He permitted himself to vent his spleen but once, as he gifted Treet's so called father with a particularly vicious knee to the thigh, sending the man into a doorframe.
As Adin loaded Treet onto Deri's back, the boy winced and came to. Adin led Deri a little ways over so that they might talk in privacy. There had been specific orders about the punishment of Treet's family, much as Adin wished it were his job to apportion the penalty.
"Tretin?" Adin asked gently.
Treet blinked at him. "Herald? So you did come. She said you would. Even when I heard you, though, I thought perhaps you might not."
"Of course I did," Adin said warmly. "That's what being in the Circle is, someone will always come for you." Time ebbed and flowed around him for a moment as he remembered anew why he was a Herald. Shouts from the distance awoke him to reality and he continued quickly.
"I have crown authority to bring your father, at least, back to Haven for trial. I have been instructed, however, that the final decision on whether to do that rests with you."
Treet turned pale. "Bring him back with us? No." The thought of having his father in the same city, even as a prisoner, made his blood flow cold.
Adin misinterpreted his pallor. "He wouldn't be able to hurt you again. Our jails are very secure."
Treet shook his head. His father in Haven, despoiling what little happiness Treet had found, polluting it with his very presence, the need to constantly watch, wait, lest behind a shadow should lurk a vengeful relative? This could not be tolerated.
"Just make it so that he cannot touch me again and I will be content. He does not really deserve to be punished, he is only doing what he was raised to do." Treet said wearily.
Adin opened his mouth to protest, but Deri had other ideas.
:He is right, Chosen. You have legal authority; simply force them to disown their child. Haven will be his home and we his family, he needs no other.:
Adin said nothing, walked back over to where Treet's family waited, obviously nerving themselves to come after him. He did not wait for them to speak first.
"You will give up custody of this child to the kingdom of Valdemar and her king. You will never seek contact with him again. Should you refuse, you will come to Haven with me and argue the point with the King from one of his jails."
Nin's eyes met Adin's and he saw the deadly seriousness there. "Be welcome to him, then. He would only pollute our bloodlines with his taint," Nin said ill-naturedly.
Adin sighed with relief. There had been the makings of a fight there, but it had not materialized. 'Takes some of the fun out of it when you're facing royal justice, no?' Adin thought sardonically.
"Repeat after me, then," Adin commanded, then recited a simple oath and a formal passing over of the child Tretin to the custody of the King. Nin muttered it after him. It was good enough for Adin. Without further ado, Adin remounted his Companion, balancing Treet carefully on the saddle so as not to jar his arm any more than necessary. Adin would set it when they came to a Waystation, and see about assessing Treet's condition, but for now he simply wanted to brush the dust of the place from Deri's hooves.
