Redemption
Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns PotS. Anything you recognize is hers, anything you don't recognize is mine.
A/N: This is the fourth (and last) chapter about what Kel was doing all this time. I hope to update with Joren soon. Thanks for being patient!
Four Seasons: Autumn, 464 H.E.
Fief Cavall, Northern Tortall
The dream began the same as always, ever since Kel had taken command of Fort Stonebridge:
She was standing on a grassy hilltop which overlooked a rocky valley. Her hair was long and loose and the wind was whipping it around her face and neck and shoulders. She was wearing a winter dress and the wind made her dark skirt billow out behind her. The sun was setting beyond the western mountain peaks and the sky was turning the deep blue of early twilight. She could hear his footsteps as he walked up behind her. Her pulse quickened as his strong hands gently rubbed out the tension in her tight shoulder muscles. As she began to relax, her back still toward him, he lifted her hair off of her shoulder and nuzzled the side of her neck. Kel was pleased, but puzzled. Dom had never done this before. He whispered softly, seductively, "Please come back inside now. The wind gets even worse after the sun goes down. I promise ... I won't harm you." Kel turned around slowly, and stared into Joren's perfect face and screamed.
Kel woke up gasping for air, not knowing if she had screamed out loud, hoping no one heard her if she had. The dream felt so real that she could still feel the kisses on her neck and she scratched at her skin to make the feeling go away. It was at times like this that Kel really missed having the boy Tobe around. His presence had always been able to reassure her, back when her bad dreams were of Blayce and his evil killing machines. Now, Kel would just have to calm herself and try to get a bit more sleep before the day's festivities. Today was supposed to be a day of celebration. Today was the day her good friend Sir Owen of Jesslaw would be marrying Margarry of Cavall, the youngest of Lord Wyldon's four daughters.
Earlier that week, Kel had traveled to Northwatch to deliver her first command report to General Vanget. All was well at Stonebridge and she was happy to be able to give a good report. Then the general and Kel, as well as several officers and knights who also had been invited to the wedding, traveled together to Fief Cavall. Kel was confident that her second-in-command, Sir Aron of Aili, was capable of taking care of the fort while she was away. Aron, the nephew of Master Harailt, the dean of the royal university and leader of the mages council, was very much like Neal in his training. He seemed a little 'bookish' and was always studying this or that scroll, but he was a very capable knight/healer/mage and he seemed not to mind working for 'the Girl'. Still, he wasn't Neal - and certainly not Merric. However, since his home fief of Aili was not far from Stonebridge, Aron was very familiar with the terrain, and with the ways of the miners. Kel knew she was thrice-blessed and thanked the gods every day for her good fortune.
The wedding ceremony was beautiful and the feast afterward was magnificent. Lord Cavall and his wife Lady Vivienne were very gracious hosts. The decorations of fruits and nuts and dried leaves of autumn colors complemented the rich tapestries which hung all around the great hall of the Cavall's castle. Everyone ate and drank to the health and prosperity of the young newlyweds. Kel couldn't help but wonder what sort of wedding she and Dom might have someday.
After the tables were cleared away, the musicians started playing livelier tunes and the dancing began. Kel danced with several of her friends, including the groom, who gushed about his 'jolly' new bride and told Kel of his 'jolly' plans for a new stable and kennels at Jesslaw to accommodate the 'jolly' horses and dogs that Lord Wyldon had given as part of his daughter's 'jolly' dowry. Kel just chuckled and wished Owen and Margarry well in their new life together. Neal spoke of Yuki's recent head cold and how she stubbornly refused to drink his special healing teas. Kel sided with her Yamani friend - Neal's teas tasted nasty. Kel made Merric blush when she playfully chided him for getting over her so quickly. It was obvious to all of their friends that Merric was rather smitten with Owen's younger sister, Merry, and the lady seemed equally interested in him. Kel had just taken a sip of her cider, when someone touched her lightly on her shoulder. She flinched a little but recovered quickly.
"Lady Keladry, may I have this dance?" a man's deep voice asked Kel from behind her.
Kel spun around and smiled. She clasped the upper arms of her would-be dance partner, examined his face with her eyes and exclaimed, "Faleron! Is it really you? Owen told me you were planning to be here."
The tall, dark and handsome knight nodded slowly and repeated his question, "May I have the next dance, Kel?"
"Of course you may!" Kel laughed, set down her drink and let Faleron lead her out onto the dance floor as the musicians started a mellow tune. "It's so good to see you. How have you been?"
"It's good to see you, too, Kel. I've been well. I got to see a lot of action along the coast - fighting off the Scanran raiding ships that tried to land and fighting off the raiders that did make it ashore. Mithros! I'm glad to finally be away from all the sand - it was ten times worse cleaning my armor of all the grit and salt. I heard about your exploits, too, 'Protector of the Small' - I even heard a ballad about you in a tavern."
"Oh no!" groaned Kel. "My brother Conal will have learned every tavern tune he can just so that he'll be able to tease me the next time we're together."
"And now you're commanding at Stonebridge. We all knew you'd do great things, Kel." Faleron beamed down at her.
Kel enjoyed dancing with the taller knight. Faleron was a very good dancer and he chatted easily about a variety of topics. When the music segued into a livelier dance, Kel graciously agreed to continue as his partner. Faleron started a new conversation after they had been dancing a while.
"Gods, Kel, you're looking lovelier than ever. No wonder my cousin was lovesick for you all these years."
"What!?" Kel exclaimed, her face turning quite red.
"It's alright, Kel. Merric told me everything when I stayed at Hollyrose after my great-uncle's funeral." Faleron explained. "It was very difficult for him, but he's doing much better now - as you can see." And they both looked over to where Merric was sitting next to Merry, their heads close together in private conversation.
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate you letting Merric down easy," continued Faleron. "I watched one of my close friends self-destruct on the battlefield because the lady he loved spurned him for another man - in a very public, very cruel way. It was horrible. I love my cousin, and we'll always hold you in high regard. You are a true noble woman. Thank you, Kel."
"Well, I care about Merric, too. So, I guess it's just as well that he told you. I know other cousins who care deeply about each other's welfare." Her mind drifted to thoughts of the ways Neal and Dom played pranks on each other, but were usually quick to forgive, and she blushed again.
"Seriously, Kel, if I wasn't already betrothed to the fair lady Elsa of Seabeth and Seajen, I might be besotted with you myself."
"Did you just say you're betrothed to Elsa of Seabeth and Seajen?" asked Kel, ignoring his compliment. "She's my distant cousin on my mother's side of the family! Congratulations then, almost-cousin! When did this happen?"
"Thank you. We met during the King's Progress, and again after the war ended. I was one of the fair maiden's protectors on the coast," Faleron said with exaggerated drama. "I suppose you could call it a combination of hero-worship and love at second sight. We will announce at Midwinter."
"That's wonderful, Faleron. I'm happy for you both," Kel laughed; she hadn't known that he was such a player. "I haven't seen my cousin in ages. I'm sure we wouldn't even recognize each other anymore."
"Well, the ballads say you're ten feet tall and you slay monsters with one hand tied behind your back, so no, I don't think Elsa would pick you out of a crowd. And certainly not tonight. Your gown - it must be one of the newest designs by Lalasa Isran. And that Tyran twist in your hair is very stylish, too. I've never seen your hair so long - I remember your page days." And he shuddered dramatically.
Kel looked at her dress. The smooth green velvet matched her dreamy hazel eyes perfectly. Lalasa had trimmed the cuffs and the bodice with a soft brown lace. A curl from the simple, but elaborate-looking hairstyle fell lightly down to her shoulder. "Wait a moment," she looked at Faleron suspiciously. "How do you know so much about ladies' fashion?"
"I have seven sisters and one brother," he replied with an air of comic melodrama. "He and I were forever being tormented with constant chatter about this cloth and those styles, hair up or hair down, ear-bobs or not, and shoes of a thousand colors. I've picked up more than my fair share of understanding current fashion, I assure you."
Kel laughed again and curtsied to Faleron as their dance came to an end. She was about to have another goblet of cider when Lord Wyldon asked her to join him and some others for a meeting in his private library. Kel was perplexed, but she brought her goblet with her and followed her former training master into the surprisingly large wood-paneled room. There were three other men already standing around a beautiful black marble-topped table in the library: General Vanget, Baron Myles of Olau, and to her surprise, Master Numair Salmalin. There were maps and scrolls laid out on the table, and it was obvious to Kel that there had been some sort of planning meeting going on before she joined them. Kel began to feel a little uneasy.
"Thank you for joining us, Lady Keladry," Lord Wyldon began. "We apologize for the timing of this meeting, especially since you appeared to be having such a wonderful time. We will, however, try to keep this as brief as possible - I am certain my wife will look for me to be out there with our guests soon enough."
"Yes sir," replied Kel, "This looks serious, sir. Has something happened?"
"Not quite," Wyldon replied. "Master Numair, are you ready?"
The powerful mage nodded and spelled the room against any eavesdropping.
"What you are about to learn, Lady Knight, has been a well-kept secret for several years," Sir Myles began. "No one worried about it much during the war; it had no bearing on anything that was going on at that time. Very few people outside this room know anything about it. Only the King, Duke Baird, and Master Harailt of Aili know of this. You are not to speak about this matter with anyone other than the people you see in this room now and those that I just mentioned, with one exception. Master Harailt will have informed his nephew, your second-in-command, Sir Aron by the time you return to Stonebridge. Even then, you must only speak of it in secret. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir, I understand and I will comply," Kel replied in a serious tone.
"Lady Knight," said General Vanget, "I have informed Lord Wyldon that I am very pleased with your command of Stonebridge so far. He told me you were the right person for the job when he first recommended your name to me. He also told me that your unique experiences with civilians had well-equipped you to be able to care for the miners and the villagers, as well as the soldiers under command. Now that you have settled in, have you noticed anything peculiar about the people of Stonebridge?"
Now Kel was confused. She thought the people were very hard-working, very proud people. Generation after generation had dug and scraped and picked out the precious metals which eventually became the currency and the weaponry of the realm. They did not care if a person was male or female, as long as that person pulled their fair share of the workload. Kel thought they might even like her in their own gruff way. The miners were a bit superstitious, but surely there were no laws against believing in bedtime tales and legends.
"They tell a lot of stories, sir," replied Kel, thinking then that her answer sounded silly. "I mean, sir, they have a story for everything that happens in or around the mountains - like the one about Mithros moving the mountains apart and forming the bridge. All their work songs seem to be about odd legends and such, too. Sir Aron tells me that the workers of Aili and other mining communities sing the same kinds of songs to keep themselves in a steady rhythm for the picking and shoveling."
"Have you heard the song of the 'Lazy Lord' recently?" asked the general, almost too casually.
Kel was more puzzled by this question, but she answered it as best she could. "Yes sir, they seem to sing it every day. That one seems to be quite popular with the miners as they dig." Now she was hearing the memory of the tune and its words in her head.
Greenish-brown with blue;
Dear Lady, please be true.
The Lazy Lord shall come awake.
The hills below will shiver and shake.
Stone and silver, silver and stone.
Mend the Mountain;
Make it your own.
"That song is based on a very old legend," said Sir Myles. "Most of the mountain people believe that when the 'lazy lord' wakes up, there will be an earthquake. They also believe that major veins of silver ore and fine stone will be uncovered as a result of such an earthquake. Recently, the mountains have shown signs of instability. Normal people, like you and me cannot feel the trembles, but the miners and the mages can. The King, of course, has felt them, as have Master Numair and other powerful mages. The miners believe that they are about to experience great fortune; never minding that they'll have to survive a potentially great calamity first. Even if no one is injured, the clean-up after an earthquake can take a long time, and securing the mines against bandits will become more difficult."
Kel nodded as she remembered the hard work she did when she was Lord Raoul's squire and they traveled with the King's Own to assist a town that almost slid into the sea after an earthquake. She could not imagine people actually looking forward to such a thing. She shuddered as the general spoke up again.
"I am prepared to send you reinforcements when needed," added General Vanget. "But the largest available group of soldiers will have to come first from the fief to your south - Stone Mountain."
Kel nodded again. She already knew that additional soldiers and supplies could get to Stonebridge fairly easily from Stone Mountain. When she was a third-year page, Lord Wyldon made sure she and her year mates surveyed different routes through the mountain passes during the pages' summer camp trip to the fiefs in that area of Tortall. Stone Mountain. Kel still felt uneasy whenever she thought of Joren. Her recent nightmares made the mention of Stone Mountain all the more disturbing.
"Now Kel, we know that you had a traumatic experience when Joren of Stone Mountain failed his Ordeal" said Wyldon. "No one bears you any ill will at his home fief. They know that you are now in command at Stonebridge and they will not refuse aid when you need it."
"Ill will, sir?" Kel exclaimed, angered by the mention of that terrible event from her past. "Joren's father attacked me and blamed me for his son's death! It is I who should bear them no ill will!"
"Be that as it may, Keladry," continued Wyldon, speaking as he might to a young child while Kel fumed. "You must try to understand what has happened in the past so that you might understand what is happening now."
Numair cleared his throat and began to speak. "Lady Kel, have you ever heard of the Deep Sleep? Sometimes warriors who have received head injuries can fall into one of these."
"Yes, Duke Baird told us of a man whose horse had kicked him in his head," Kel shook her head in sympathy as she spoke. "That man slept the Deep Sleep for over six months, and then one day he woke up and asked for some custard." Kel laughed at the memory, but stopped when she realized that none of the men were laughing with her. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.
"There is a man who has been in the Deep Sleep for over six years," continued Numair. "Everyone thought he was dead. His family had even prepared his body for burial, but a slight earthquake back then prevented them from completing the sad task right away. The family's personal healer noticed the body still had color to it long after it should have turned blue or black with death. The healer asked for higher assistance, so Duke Baird and Master Harailt and I studied everything we could about Deep Sleeps. There is no cure or spell that can wake a person from such a condition. Some people never wake up - unfortunately, most of these patients eventually die. We told the family that the man might not ever recover, but then again we truly don't know what could happen. The family decided to keep the man at their home and wait to see if he will ever wake up. The rest of us had a war to fight."
"Take a good look at my table, Keladry" Wyldon ordered. Kel looked down at the smooth marble. "This is a piece of the finest marble our realm produces. Do you remember where most of Tortall's best marble and building stones come from?"
"Stone Mountain, sir," Kel replied, not looking up.
"The workers in the quarries there sing the same songs as the miners on your side of the mountain range," stated Sir Myles. "Lately, they are more excited than ever about a potential earthquake and the chance to quarry another source of high quality stone. They are waiting more anxiously than a child waits for Midwinter's Eve gifts."
Kel's voice sounded strained to her ears as she asked, "Why do you suppose they are so excited, sir?"
Numair answered softly. "Sometimes, 'lazy' is used as a term for someone who sleeps too much. The people of Stone Mountain have had their own 'lazy lord' for almost seven years. " Kel raised her head and met Numair's gaze.
"Lord Burchard died three days past." Wyldon said abruptly. "His brother went to the Peaceful Realms two years ago. There are no other legal heirs; the King ordered a search, but it seems the rumors about the family being inbred and barren were quite true. Lord Burchard's widow has refused to inherit Stone Mountain because she claims its new lord is 'only sleeping' for a while."
Kel stood very still, willing herself to breathe normally.
"Keladry, what we all are saying is ..." Wyldon spoke carefully, "Joren, Lord of Stone Mountain is not dead."
Kel neither felt nor heard the goblet slip from between her fingers and crash to the floor.
A/N: Okay, so that's what's going on with Kel. Tell me what you think. Thanks!