Alright, due to Etcetera-cat's much appreciated review about my errors, I've revised this chapter, as well as Chapter Nine, and what little I had of Chapter Ten. Just a coupla errors that can be fixed semi-easily, so I'll quit rambling and here's the fixed chapters.
Yo. Here's the next chappie. I think I've figured out the name for Scroll-Sworn, since I've never seen it mentioned. If it has been, then I guess I missed it somehow, sorry. The literal translation from Romany for 'scroll' is Sul, and that sounds about right, so there you have it. Sul'enedral.
Reviwers: Kieren- Thank you.
Kuroneko-tyger- HAHA! FINALLY SOMEONE GOT IT! It took what, two weeks until someone FINALLY got that? Wow. Congratulations! chucks a box of cookies at you
Fireblade K'Chona- :-P
Ashfur- shrugs maaaaybe, maybe nooooot…
Faeborn2930- I'm still trying to figure out why everyone is assuming that this is gonna be a RowenJulian fic. I can't remember if I said anything really overt, or what. Maybe it's just the fact that I usually slash the two main characters… Anyhoo, maybe, maybe not, as I said before. Not saying yes, nor no. Just wait and see.
Breezefire- . I'm just happy that you reviewed. Thankies.
Wizard116- :-)
Me: #dancing# for-ty-one review-ews, for-ty-one review-ews, W00T!
AmberStag: Did you just say 'woot'?
Hiro: Yes. Yes I did. Roll it!
Chapter Eight:Sul'enedral.
About two months later…
Rowen, and by default, Julian, were speaking quietly with Treyvan and the young Sun-priest Karal inside the Council Chambers after a Council meeting, when Herald Kyndri, accompanied by young Guardsman, entered the room. He strode right over to the group, greeted each of them individually, then turned to Rowen.
"There's a small delegation of Shin'a'in from the Tale'sedrin Clan that wants to meet you, Rowen. I believe that they want to reassure you of acceptance back into the Clan. It is comprised of… let's see… the Clan Shaman; several of the warriors, on battlesteeds… a Healer… oh, and there were also a few Shin'a'in from other Clans that wanted to meet you; all Shamans, I think. Pretera'sedrin, For'a'hier, Liha'irden, Jor'ethan, and Vuysher'edras, to name a few. There was also a young woman with them- she was rather insistent on seeing you. Her name was… Sa'heeri, Sa'hura, Sa-"
"Sa'heera?" Rowen interrupted. "Sa'heera shena Tale'sedrin?"
Kyndri nodded. "That was it. Now, if you'd like to come with me…?"
"Of course."
Rowen excused himself, and brought Julian to the door.
"Julian, would you like to come to meet some of the Shin'a'in, or would you rather stay here? Herald Kyndri can take me to where they are, and I'm sure you're tired of me dragging you around."
Julian smiled gently. "I'll stay. This is something you need to do on your own, anyway." He patted Rowens arm, and slowly moved back to Karal and Treyvan. Rowen watched him go, then turned back to Kyndri. "Let's go."
The Herald led him through a maze of halls that seemed familiar, then only vaguely familiar, and then not familiar at all, as they transversed into a completely new part of the Palace for Rowen. After he was completely lost, they made one final right turn, entered through a door, and Rowen suddenly found himself the target of a dozen pairs of eyes, some familiar, most different, but all set in the same ethnic face; bronze skin, high cheekbones, and an angular face, surrounded by long, thick hair, but there was a difference between many of them; the eye and hair colors. Some of the nomads had the usual dark hair and ice-blue eyes typical of the Shin'a'in, but a few had green eyes, and blonde or russet hair, or a combination of both the new and old traits. Those would mostly be the members of Tale'sedrin, although a few were members that had joined other Clans. He himself had the green eyes that were a genetic trait introduced into the Clan by the Mage Kethryveris.
Now most of the other recipients of that trait were in this room, and those eyes were all staring straight at him. Or straight at him at a high angle, rather. He was still taller than everyone else in the room. He recognized most of the people in the room, including his quasi-uncle, Jadrek, who was conferring with several other older Shin'a'in; they were all wearing the clothing of the Clan Shamans that Kyndri had mentioned. So that accounted for the Shamans, and the warriors scattered throughout the room; a few Swordsworn were among them, the Clan Healer, a few of the Tale'sedrin that he recognized. Now the only one who was missing was Sa'heera.
Oh there… she… was…
Sa'heera had changed. When he'd left, she'd been a golden-haired, blue-eyed young beauty, fresh with life, and full of energy. Now- she was still brimming with energy and life, but all of it wasn't hers. Sa'heera was pregnant, and fairly far along, from the looks of it. She pushed her way through the small crowd, and- wait, Sa'heera was pregnant?
How- when- who- She interrupted his thoughts with a whispered, "Rowen?"
He focused on her eyes, startled, and he could see her jump, minusculely, and the crowd quieted.
"Sa'heera, I-" he began in Shin'a'in.
"Rowen- what- what happened to you? They said that you'd gotten caught in one of the Change-circles, and that you and Gehdri- had been Changed, but Rowen, this is- almost too amazing to believe! You're not a horse, and you're not quite-" then she cut off, realizing what she'd almost said.
"It's alright," he said. "I know that I'm not… not human anymore. I'm not a beast, and yet I'm not a human. I'm something in between."
"You're new," she said. "You're something new. You're not much different." She offered him a small smile. "You're still the same Rowen I know and love, even though you're not in the same body- er- half of it, anyway."
"And you're still the same annoying sister," he murmured.
At the small bickering, Rowen's 'uncle' stepped forward. "It is good to see you again, Rowen."
"Hai, and you, Shaman."
Jadrek stared Rowen in the eyes; not an easy feat since Rowen was nearly three feet taller than he was. His eyes searched Rowen's for a long time, and Rowen wasn't aware on anything outside of those probing green eyes, shadowed by gray-gold hair, and set in a face that was painfully familiar. Finally, after what had to have been at least a quarter of a mark, he spoke. "Rowen, know that you are welcome back into the Clan at any time. I know you; I knew you then, and I know you now, and I believe that you are the same man who left us five summers ago. A bit changed, yes, and perhaps hardened to life outside of the Plains, but still- you are the same young Shin'a'in warrior. Will you accept our proposal, and our welcome?"
For a long moment, he couldn't respond. They were actually welcoming him back into the Clan? Him, a monster? When he found his voice, he decided to speak his mind.
"Shaman, pardon my rudeness, please, but are you mad? I am not human; I am not the same man who… left. I have been twisted out of all recognizable form by an ancient magic that ravaged the land, I've been trapped in a body completely unnatural to this world, and yet you would still welcome me back into the Clan? You would welcome this monster back into the Clan?"
"A monster, Rowen shena Tale'sedrin? Is that what you are? From what all these people have said, I would have thought better of you. You berate yourself, and question the decision of your Clan Shaman. You call yourself inhuman, when you proved yourself to be exactly that when you saved that Bard from the bandits. Your body may have changed, yet your heart, soul, and mind have not. I have never met you, and yet I know this. Rowen, you are still human, and humane, whatever you call yourself. The only crime of which you are guilty is being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Goddess knows that I, myself, am guilty of that."
The speaker finally stepped forward, and Rowen almost automatically made a deferential bow to the Crone-Sworn that stood before him. The handsome young man in question had silver hair, which was quite unusual for one of the People, yet far stranger were his eyes, a silvery color, that were slitted exactly like a cat's. The pupils expanded, and then contracted as they focused on him.
"You have heard my story, Rowen shena Tale'sedrin. I am Sul'enedral An'desha shena Jor'ethan, and I was also… a Changechild. As you can see by these, of course." He gestured towards his strange eyes.
"The Star-Eyed changed me back, when I regained my body, for after risking soul-death, and for assisting with the downfall of what would have been, She apparently considered me deserving enough to receive my original body back, despite my cowardice, and despite the changes wrought upon it that made me look like a lynx. I cannot promise you that She will change you back, nor will I give you false hope, but I tell you this; no matter what changes were forced upon you in that Change-circle, and no matter what your form, you are still the same person you were before. Perhaps with different instincts, but inside, in your heart, you are you, not anyone, nor anything else."
Rowen just nodded. So this was the infamous An'desha that Elspeth had spoken of. He bowed as best he could, then made eye contact with the Scrollsworn again. "Thank you, Sworn One. Perhaps you would like to visit the Vale in Companion's Field, sometime during your visit?"
"That would be most excellent, thank you." An'desha smiled, suddenly. "Then perhaps we can trade tales of our various misadventures involving our Changes, heyla?"
Surprised, Rowen nodded. "When can you come?"
"I can try to come sometime tonight, but I doubt it, as I'd like to catch up with Darkwind, Elspeth, and Karal, while I'm here, as well as speak with the Envoy Jarim. I can come tomorrow evening, though, after dinner."
"I will be there."
"Agreed. May Sa'heera also come? There are things that I would like to say to her- to both of you."
"That is fine."
When An'desha moved away, Rowen only had time to mouth, we need to talk at Sa'heera, before the Shamans descended on him, and he was emptied of information on what had happened to him, and given information on what he had missed. A Shaman would fire a question at him, and he would answer it, then ask one of his own, and another two Shamans would ask questions, and he would answer those, then make another inquiry, and it went on like that, for what seemed like hours, until they were all satisfied, and he was left, mentally exhausted, but mind's thirst quenched, for the moment, and the Shamans had their answers, at least until they thought of more questions.
Finally he just stood there, absorbing all of the information, legs locked, and mind turned inward, while Herald Kyndri spoke with the Shamans on where they would reside for the duration of their stay. He was so unfocused as to what was happening around him that he nearly bucked at the light touch on his arm, and when he looked down, he saw Julian, one hand on his arm and the other clutching a lute case, and Sa'heera, standing a little ways off, watching the two with speculation in her eyes.
"Julian," Rowen exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at the meeting."
"Everyone went back to their rooms two marks ago," Julian calmly informed him. "When you didn't show up, I asked Sorcha to take me to where all the Shin'a'in were, and heyla, I'm here. You didn't miss much, other than Karal and Treyvan getting excited when they heard that An'desha came, too. Did you speak to him, at all?"
"Yes. Ah- would you mind if Sa'heera came to speak with me tonight, and perhaps stayed overnight?"
A flash of something unpleasant crossed Julian's face, but he covered it quickly, and said, "Certainly. Will anyone else be coming?"
"Just An'desha, tomorrow night," Rowen replied absently, half-wondering what was wrong with Julian.
"I'll tell the cook to send some extra food, then."
"Thank you."
Sa'heera approached them then, almost shyly, which was quite unlike the Sa'heera that Rowen knew. "Rowen, who is your friend?" she asked in accented Valdemaran.
"This is the Julian, the Bard that convinced me to come back to Haven for a while. Julian, this is Sa'heera, my sister."
"Oh! Your sister- I didn't realize- it's very nice to meet you, Lady."
"Please, Bard Julian" Rowen could tell that she was close to laughter, even while he wondered why. "Call me Sa'heera."
"Then call me Julian." He smiled at her, and then his eyebrows lifted. "You're pregnant?"
"Ah- yes."
"By who?" Rowen demanded. Not many men were good enough for Sa'heera; this would probably be someone special.
"Clopin shena Vuysher'edras, from Kata'shin'a'in. We've been together since two years after you left. Nadar misses you a lot. Jadrek said that he couldn't come, and he ran off somewhere. He hasn't done it lately, but he did it after we found out you were missing, and he didn't come back for a month. When you left- I think something inside him died. He hasn't been the same, and he really loved you. No one's been able to fill the hole in his heart that you left."
A wave of guilt washed over Rowen. How many people had he hurt by not coming back?
"Jadrek says that he'll come back after a while, but I don't think so. After Nadar came back after the first time, he stated to the whole camp that he hated you, and every time someone mentioned you, he'd completely deny your existence. I don't know what he'd say if you ever came back but-" her eyes filled up. "You have to try to come and bring him back. Please. It's just not the same. We used to be our own little family, and you were gone, and he's been so distant- please," her voice faded to a whisper. "You have you help us find him. Please."
He was almost overwhelmed with sorrow, and he reached out and pulled her to him, being careful of the baby inside her, and gently cradled her against him.
"I'll find him, Sa'heera. I promise, I'll go and find him. I'll get him, and I'll bring him back here."
She nodded tearfully, and hugged his waist.
'I'll find you, my brother, if I have to run to the far edge of the Plains and back. I'll find you. Just hang on. '