Commerce and Inheritance:
Friendship is a disinterested commerce between equals; love, an abject intercourse between tyrants and slaves.
-Oliver Goldsmith-
When Guiomer turned seventeen, the full effects of the accidental Blood Adoption showed.
It started with the little things, like how he could nearly match Heather with the sword, and how he suddenly knew what day to bring a windbreaker. But it started to get really obvious when Guiomer had blue, indigo and purple shot through in his hair.
Guiomer hadn't noticed it and had greeted his pseudo-mother with affection. Luna was the first to notice it and her eyes had turned impossible wide. Draco, annoyed at Luna's lack of attention, tried to see what occupied her and froze at the sight of Guiomers hair. Draco then elbowed Hermione, who gaped, and then kicked Heather in the shins.
"Oh, bugger!" Heather muttered, having spilled her soup. Then she looked up and finally noticed the state of affairs.
"By all that's magic," Guiomer finally said. (He had picked up some phrases from them.) "What are you staring at?"
Hermione cleared her throat. "Guiomer, dear? You might want to try the looking-glass by the kitchen."
Guiomer gave a very put-upon sigh and stood up, clearly humoring them. He finally did find out why they were looking at him with surprise, shock and no small bit of trepidation.
"Alright," he said after taking several calming breaths. "Any of you lot want to explain why my hair looks like my lady mothers?"
The four of them exchanged glances.
"It didn't show immediately," Heather said.
"No it didn't," Luna concurred. "He's just reached his magical maturity."
Understanding dawned on all of their faces.
"Full effects?" Heather asked.
"Maybe watered down," Hermione answered. "He's only adopted. Draco ought to check it later if he also got the effect of the hallows."
"I'll do it later," Draco agreed.
Guiomer was too well mannered to stomp his foot, but he looked close to doing it, as well as lose his temper. "Guys!" he finally exclaimed. "A little help here? And maybe some less cryptic statements for people who can't read each other's minds or something."
Hermione glanced at Heather and saw the lurking mischief in her eyes and decided to take pity on Guiomer.
"What it means," she said. "Is that you will be receiving your inheritance that comes with being blood adopted by Gryffon. It is probably not at its full strength since you aren't her blood son, but you will have her speed and, apparently, the hair."
Heather sighed mournfully at the reminder, commemorating her lost black hair. She glanced at the single braid that hung nearly to the floor with disdain. It was all the shades of a rainbow and was surprisingly bright instead of mud-colored…which didn't make sense. Heather had remembered playing with colors at a young age and knew that if you dumped all the colors together, it came out as mud.
"Is that why I can suddenly guess very accurately some things? Like when it will rain?" Guiomer asked, breaking into Heather's musings.
That removed all of her plans of mischief. She looked at him so fast that she nearly got a crick in the neck.
"What did you say?" she whispered.
"I can guess things. And I have these sort of feelings that don't really make sense. Like, just yesterday, I felt like I had to help old lady Hellas in carrying her bags and she gave ma gold coin in return," he tapered off, looking sheepish.
Heather felt like she'd just cursed her adopted son. She remembered her difficulties in controlling and it and even now, her sight often came unbidden, which was why she had refrained from hunting dark creatures alone.
Underneath the table, she felt Luna take hold of her hand and squeeze, while her other hand was enveloped by Hermione's warm ones. Across the table, Draco patted her foot with his own.
That gave her strength. She took a deep breath. "Guiomer, pack your bags for two weeks travel. We're going to the elves."
The confused and rarely moody teenager went back to his room, stomping and complaining the entire way.
"Don't forget the sword!" Luna called out. "And some clean nightwear!"
There was a thud of something really heavy hitting the floor, and then Guiomers muffled voice filtered back to them, saying, "That's bloody embarrassing!"
Hermione sighed and gave Heather a pointed look. "Really, feather?"
"What?"
"Have you been cursing in front of Guiomer?"
Heather looked embarrassed for a moment and then she said, "I refuse to answer that on the grounds of being incriminated."
"Feather!"
The journey to Rivendell usually took two weeks. Heather knew that she could have apparated them, bags and all, but she missed the fighting and the freedom of the wilderness.
If Guiomer had complained, she would have shortened the journey by magic, but Guiomer was as much of a survival nut as she was. Probably why the sword chose him anyway.
The dark creatures they encountered had no chance, not with Guiomers inherited speed. The sword was a blur in his hands and Hafny was often disgruntled with the both of them since they left her no enemies to kill.
When they finally were only a day's travel from Rivendell, Guiomers curiosity finally erupted.
"I know you don't mean to be so secretive," he started. "But why are we going to the elves?"
Heather, who was picking burs out of the horses tails, paused. "You don't understand my fear for you, child. When I reached my magical maturity, the gift came slowly and gradually. But still, it was too powerful and I nearly died with how ill I became. Only one man was able to help me and I am taking you to him."
Guimers understanding of the situation suddenly made him nervous. He looked at her withfrightened eyes. "Will you stay with me?" he asked.
"I cannot make promises," she said. "But you have no need to be frightened about the elves. I have always thought of your well-being, and I have never lied to you."
That reassured him and the rest of the journey passed in silence.
The elves, apparently had great memories because Lord Elrond did not need to be reminded on who she was. Instead, he inclined his head in greeting and gave Guiomer a curios look.
"Lady Gryffon," he greeted. "You returned."
She blushed, remembering her abrupt departure. "Ah, well. There was a need to. My son has the same gift."
He transferred his hazel gaze to Guiomer, who was trying hard not to fidget.
"I will try to help him. It is just starting?" he queried. He sounded like he was diagnosing an illness. Heather pushed Guiomer in front of her to answer the questions. The child was suddenly affected by shyness. Heather had no idea why.
"Lady Gryffon," Elrond said, suddenly directing his attention to her. "It might be advisable if you leave your son with me."
Heather wanted to protest since Guiomer had suddenly latched on to her hand. Merlin! He hadn't relied on her so blatantly, not since he started taking over her border patrols with the men. It made her heart throb.
"He has to learn how to control it by himself," Elrond insisted when she opened her mouth to say her protests.
When Guiomers hand trembled in hers, she ignored Elrond and placed a hand around his shoulders. He was taller than her already and it made Heather a bit tearful.
"Don't worry," she told him in Latin, because whispering in Westron was useless, not with an elf in the room. "I am leaving Hafny with you."
"Mater," he protested. "Hafny will be unhappy."
"Hafny will understand," she said firmly. "You are more important."
Guiomer shuddered. "Then bring the sword with you. I know it makes you stronger and faster. Please? For my state of mind."
She agreed and accepted the sword as he unhooked it from his belt. "I will fetch you when Lord Elrond says so," she said, switching back to Westron. "Send Hafny."
Lord Elrond was at a discreet distance, examining a flowerpot and trying not to listen, to give them some semblance of privacy. When she approached him, he looked at her with a sad smile.
"He is your first?" he asked. She nodded and he continued, "I will take care of him as though he is my own son."
"Thank you," she whispered. "Be careful with him. I am all he has, and he has relied on me for a long time. I have never left him alone."
She moved to leave, then Elrond called, "That language you spoke, it wasn't anything I have ever heard in Arda."
Heather gave him a cheeky grin, "Of course not! You haven't been travelling in Arda for a while, and new ones get invented all the time."
It wasn't a lie. Latin was being taught among the many languages in Hermione's school. It wasn't useful, but it was being used as code among the healers, along with some mixed Greek, which was the language more selectively taught.
Elrond, a bit familiar with her mischief, looked on the verge of rolling his eyes.
Heather was moody and irritable at Guiomers departure. The others knew to avoid her, and her temper. The apprentices, who often crossed paths with her on errands, were not so fortunate.
Meiran was a welcome distraction since she traded barbed words right back. Phobos merely ignored her snarls and Deimos incited Heathers temper to worse levels. The only one with a remote chance of calming her down was Hermione's apprentice. Tiny Felicia treated Heather with a firmness that was reminiscent of Luna and Hermione and an underlying compassion that was absent in both.
"You've got to stop terrorizing the cavalry," Draco commented eventually. "Meiran has become unbearable."
Heather muttered even more and finally solved the problem by high-tailing out of town.
Incidentally, this coincided with the leaving of the first of the Order. Heather then decided to accompany them, her bad mood quickly dissipating at the thought of travelling.
One of the healers was Ellas. He looked happy and splendid in the indiscriminate gray of the Journeyman healer. The standard weapon if the healers were the thick blue arm guards that doubled up as holsters. It could hold knives or poisoned needles, whatever the situation called for. The thick, ordinary looking boots hid a metal toe that would really hurt to be the receiving end of. Heather knew, since she tried.
"Ellas!" Heather remarked when she finally remembered the orphans name. "How is the healer business doing for you?"
"Lady Gryffon," he started, then he saw her stern stare and relented. "Gryffon, the vocation that Lady Eilys started is wonderful. In my old village, the one I saw in before Haven, people got sick often and tried remedies that often made it worse. So this is my dream and it is because of Haven and the Lady Eilys that it came to pass."
She gave a happy sigh at his words. It was people like Ellas that made Haven a beautiful town. It made all their pain worth it, to hear words like that.
Heather then gave a smile of mischief. "Alright, in regards to the program we made, give me your comments, all of them."
Ellas was astonished at first, and then he started, "Lady Eilys is wonderful ,really, but her apprentices are such bastards!" he said passionately. "I mean, I only had one bones misplaced, then Deimos starts calling it the wrong end of a mad painters' brush!"
The other healers made sounds of agreement and Heather laughed. "Yeah? Phobos and Deimos are your only complaints?"
One of the healers – there were five of them – piped up, "One of your Training Master is a hard-nosed bastard."
Since Heather generally thought of that in regards to her own men, she wasn't offended and instead encouraged them. "Really? Which one?"
"Hama," was the answer. "He kept picking on me."
All of them laughed at the tone. "Truly?" she chuckled. "That meant he liked you. He did the same to me."
The rest of the trip passed like that until they reached the nearest town. Heather gleaned several funny moments in their training, like when Ellas mistakenly placed the wrong bones in the human body. Apparently, anatomy was his worst subject. There were ales of pranks done to the Training Masters as well. It was starting to become a sort of tradition to at least do one prank before attaining journeyman status.
But for all that they spoke of things fondly, some complaints were genuine, like an incompetent instructor and a subject they would have wanted to be discussed at further length.
Upon reaching the town, Heather took charge and directed them to the inn.
"I'll tell you a secret," she told them seriously. "Innkeepers are the most unbelievable gossips. If you want people to know about the Order, you better start with the one we have downstairs."
They took her advice seriously and drew lots with a bit of strange signals that Heather knew was taught amongst healers. Eventually, Ellas threw his hands in the air and relented.
"I'll do it," he sighed. "But the first watch isn't going to be mine."
Heather didn't intend to stay with them all the way. They needed to learn, after all. She only stayed long enough to watch the effects of the innkeepers gossip.
Within a week the inn was flooded with people talking to them and Heather chuckled as they expertly concealed their panic and did their work. The unexpected effect, which she did not anticipate at all, was the sudden chatter about Haven.
She mentally took note that maybe Haven needed to be turned from a town to a city, if commerce was going to increase with the help from the healers.
Within another fortnight, Heather approached them again and said, "Well, fellows. You're pretty much established here. I'll tell Eilys about this. Some of you might want to move on soon. The goal of the Order was to reach s many villages as possible."
There was dismay in all of their faces. "You're leaving, Lady Gryffon?"
She chuckled. "Yes, I only came to see how you lot would do, and I must say that you're doing splendidly. Oh, and don't forget that even if your robes repel dirt and sweat, you still get dirty inside."
As she was wearing her belt buckle, getting ready to leave, one of the healers caught up with her and said, "Lady Gryffon, if I might ask? What do we do with the cakes and the money?"
The healers had been taught to take nothing, in the spirit of service. Heather found the rule ridiculous. Because no matter what you said, people got offended if you rejected their gifts.
Heathers forehead creased with thought. "Umm, I might suggest giving it to the children and the give the money to the beggars. You might want to keep a small bit of it though, in case your next innkeeper isn't so nice."
The effects of the Order wasn't so obvious until the next two months came and a group of people came, asking to be taught. Word had spread that Haven was a town for the educated.
Heather had acted on what she had seen in the inn and had already done some minor tweaks, like adding extra inns and encouraging Hermione, Luna and Draco to expand their school and their staff. What she hadn't expected was the number of people asking to be taught fighting since some of them had been put on their backs by a couple of harmless healers.
"We're building a city," Hermione had remarked as she looked at the blueprint of the town. "And if this continues, we'll have to add another school, not just mine."
Heather felt like wailing at the increase of paperwork. "Guiomer, where are you?" she sighed mournfully.
But they only truly realized how far things had gotten when they received Theodred, Prince of Rohan.
Omake:
When Guiomer met the Twins
"Hi, I'm Guiomer," he introduced himself. He was pleased that one of his pseudo –aunts finally found an apprentice. It was even nicer that there were two of them since Lady Eilys needed all the help she could to run a really large hospital.
One of them looked at him with indifference. "Charmed, I'm sure," he said in a bored tone.
Guiomer twitched. He looked to the other one.
"You don't need to introduce yourself," this one said. "Everybody knows you. What are you, an idiot?"
Oh, for the love of the Valar. Two of them were really too much.
Okay, Unanswered questions last time due to my sleepiness:
Aragorn and Heather pairing?
Uhm, tentative. Gosh, she thinks of him as a pseudo-uncle. That's maybe like, incest?
Legolas and Heather or just any other character involved with him?
I might, so I'm sorry if it turns you off. But the fellow is fairly pair-able. But I'll try not to. He's also a bit cold, described in the books.
Heather and the last of the bloodline of Gryffindor thing when she has siblings?
Erm, it's really all in the sword. People in Arda understand this coz they have enchanted stuff too. Researched this bit.
Luna being the brain child?
Yep. You are totally right. She spearheads these kinds of things, but she doesn't have the iron will that Heather has, or Hermione's mind that likes planning stuff. Draco would be like the rock that supports everything. Luna sees things and acts on it through her friends. That's the short and long of it.
The other apprentices being adopted?
Uhm, no! Guiomer was an accident because Heather was desperate to keep him alive. The others came in more normal circumstances.
That's all, I think. Questions I didn't answer are those that will be answered in succeeding chapters.
Oh, before anybody has questions about the weapons of the healers, I was browsing through the net one day and I came across Ezio Auditor's weapon in Assassins Creed, the Renaissance. I think that's it.
Needing more sleep,
~Hallen
R&R