And she finally gets to see her family!
I'm almost certainly going to get Stephen's dialect wrong. I apologize in advance and will do my best.
And I just want to again, thank everyone PROFUSELY for all the great reviews and encouragement. Really, it's been making me feel better about myself than anything has for a while. You guys are the best!! Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.
Disclaimer: Ha. Haha. Hahaha.
Home Again: Chapter 3
Aly couldn't help but smile at the wide-eyed awe on her children's faces as they stared around at the bustling streets of Corus. Ulasim, seated on the saddle on front of Nawat, just looked solemnly at the people, street stalls, and general activity, but Junai, in front of Aly, insisted on pointing out to her mother each new thing she saw.
"Look Mama!" she exclaimed, directing her finger at a man juggling many brightly colored balls.
"Come on, Jun, you've seen me juggle before," Aly chided her small daughter.
"Yeah, but never that many!" Junai said chidingly. "Look Mama!" she cried again, her attention caught this time but a man playing a flute by the side of the street.
Aly looked around at the chaos around her, the smells from the cook-stalls, the brightly colored cloths and shining weapons, the merchants shouting out their wares. For a moment she was sixteen again, wandering through the city with her pa, lighthearted and carefree. Automatically, however, she scanned the crowds for any sign of threat, before realizing that their was little danger of anything untoward happening in the middle of market district shortly after noon. She was, however, constantly on the alert for thieves, and cast one suspect-looking young man who had seemed a little too interested in their saddle-bags a sharp look of warning, and he melted back into the crowd.
"LOOK MAMA", Junai shrieked suddenly, causing Aly to start and immediately hush her daughter, and look to see what had elicited such excitement. A man, Carthaki by the color of his skin, was walking through the crowd with a monkey on his shoulder. "Mama, it's a monkey!" Junai told her, eyes shining.
"You've seen monkeys before," Aly said, slightly exasperated.
"Yeah, but never one that small!" explained Junai in a breathless voice.
"Just wait until we get to the palace," Aly told her, grinning as she imagined her daughter's reaction. "I know a woman there who knows a monkey half that size."
Junai didn't respond, just turned in her seat to stare wide-eyed at her mother. Aly smiled at her daughter, and returned to scanning the crowd, just in time to direct her death glare at another young man edging too close to Nawat's horse for her comfort.
As Aly had expected, the public road leading into the palace was packed at this time of day, part of the reason she had delayed their departure from the inn that morning in order to arrive later than they would have otherwise. Dove had given her an official letter from the king as her excuse for entrance into the palace, and then Aly was just going to rely on her knowledge of the court, not to mention acquaintance with most of the people in the palace, to go from there.
Sure enough, there was little trouble getting through the outer gate into the main courtyard. A bored looking guard glanced at the official seal from the queen of the Copper Isles on Aly's parchment, looked suspiciously at the man and three small children traveling with her, to which Aly responded with her most official look, and the guard waved her through.
Once inside, Aly dismounted and helped Junai down from the horse, before going to Nawat and taking Alyani from the sling on his back before he leaped down from his horse. Then, her horses reigns in one hand and Junai's hand in the other, Aly directed her steps away from the path most people were taking, leading Nawat towards the stables that were used by visiting nobility and diplomats. Junai seemed slightly disappointed to be leaving the crowd of interesting people, but seemed finally to have been cowed by the size of the surrounding buildings, so walked meekly at her mother's side.
"Will we have any trouble getting the horses stabled?" Nawat asked her as they walked.
"We shouldn't," Aly responded confidently. "I know most of the hostlers here, and if we happen to meet one I don't know, I'll just have him get the head Hostler. He's one of my pa's oldest friends."
As luck would have it, however, when they reached the stables, a pot-bellied man with graying but still obviously straw-colored hair and red cheeks walked out to meet them.
"May I take your horses, ma'am?" he asked, holding out a hand for the reigns of Aly's horse.
"Hello Stephen," she said, causing him to jerk his head towards her in surprise and study her face, brow furrowed in confusion.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, do I know…" he began, but his voice trailed off as he placed the familiar raised eyebrow and slight smile in his memory. "Why, it's never Miss Aly!" he exclaimed, stepping back in surprise.
"None other," she said, smiling broadly at him, and extending her arms to the sides.
"Well, I'll be!" he cried. Aly stepped forward and gave him a hug, causing him to get a slightly uncomfortable look. He pushed her away, but held her at arm's length with his hands on her shoulders. "Look at you, with your own little 'uns," he said, looking at the three children.
"Stephen, please tell me my family is already here for Midwinter," Aly said, a note of desperation slipping into her voice.
"Indeed they are Miss Aly, arrived a week ago," he declared. "I daresay you'll want to be seeing them right away."
"Yes, I would," Aly said.
"Well, let me take care of your horses then," Stephen said. "I'll see that your bags are delivered to whatever room you are given."
"Thank you, Stephen," Aly said gratefully.
"It's what I'm here for, Miss," he said, and taking the reigns from their horses and giving a respectful jerk of the head, turned and led the horses into the stable, leaving Aly to guide her family towards a side entrance in the main palace.
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"Mama, you're hurting me," Junai complained, tugging slightly at her mother's hand.
"Oh, sorry sweetheart," Aly said, turning to her daughter. She hadn't realized that she was gripping Junai's hand so hard. She stood, staring at the door to the apartments that her parents always used when they were at the palace. Junai and Ulasim were looking at her in confusion and slight consternation: they had never seen their mother this nervous about something. Alyani slept quietly in the sling on Nawat's back.
"You can handle this," Nawat whispered. Aly looked into his encouraging eyes, reached out, and knocked on the door.
For a long time, there was no response. Aly looked at Nawat again, the prospect of wandering the palace looking for someone she knew deeply unappealing. She shrugged, and knocked again.
"I'm coming," she heard a familiar voice call exasperatedly from within. Her breath caught in her throat as the door opened.
Alanna stood in the door, as her hair slightly more gray than Aly remembered, but her eyes as violet as they had ever been, and now widened in disbelief.
"Hello Mother," Aly said, as Alanna continued to stand there, hand on the doorknob, her mouth slightly open.
"Aly?" she breathed.
"Come on, Mother, I can't have changed that much, can I?" Aly asked, a small smile quirking her mouth.
"Of course not, Aly," her mother said. Her eyes were fixed on her daughter's face. Aly shifted uncomfortably under the familiar gaze. Alanna shifted her eyes from her daughter's face to the two small children pressed tightly against their mother's side. "These are your children," she said, more a statement than a question.
"Yes," Aly said, "this is Junai, and this is Ulasim," she said putting ahand behind each of their small heads as she said their names.
Alanna knelt on one knee, so that her face was level with the twins'. "It's very wonderful to meet you," she told them, in a quiet voice almost a whisper.
The twins only stared back at her, intimidated by this stern looking, composed woman, who they had only heard about from their mother, but who they knew to be a famous warrior. Finally, Junai, always willing to take a risk, stepped forward and thrust out her small hand.
"I'm Junai," she announced. Alanna gently reached out and solemnly took the proffered hand.
"I'm honored, Junai," Alanna murmured to her granddaughter. Emboldened by his sister's actions, and not to be outdone, Ulasim also stepped forward and extended his hand towards his grandmother.
"I'm Ulasim," he told her. She also took his hand. "Good to meet you, Grandmother," he said formally.
Alanna gently released his hand, and as she rose back to her full height, Aly was shocked to see moisture glistening in her mother's eyes.
Clearing her throat awkwardly, she said, "and of course you remember Nawat." Nawat inclined his head respectfully to his mother-in-law and smiled at her, who returned the gesture. "And this is Alyani," Alanna said, indicating the baby in a sling on Nawat's back. "Who is currently asleep," she went on, not anxious to renew the uncomfortable silence that had dominated for a few moments.
"Well, why are we all standing in the hallway," said Alanna, suddenly. "Come in," she said, stepping back to allow the five of them into the room.
After nervous glances back at their mother, who nodded encouragingly, Junai led the procession into the room, Alanna closing the door after they had all entered. She indicated that they should seat themselves on the couch in the room, Aly removing Alyani from her berth before Nawat sat. Alanna sat in an armchair, to the side of the family, so she could see them.
"May I?" she asked, indicating the baby Aly was now holding.
"Oh, of course," Aly said, gently handing the baby to her mother. Alanna cradled the child, gazing into the small, sleeping face, and Aly realized she had never actually seen her mother hold a baby before.
After a few moments, Aly broke the silence which threatened to become deafening. "Aren't you going to ask us why we're here, Mother?" she asked, a slightly impudent tone creeping into her voice.
Alanna looked up at her. "I assumed that you were here for Alan's Ordeal," she said, raising an eyebrow at her daughter.
"Oh," Aly said, slightly surprised. "Well, you were right," she said subsiding into silence for a few seconds, before asking, "Where's Da?"
"He's discussing business with your grandfather," Alanna replied.
Aly just nodded, then began a minute study of her hands. Why, why was she unable to speak as comfortably to her own mother as to everyone else?
Alanna relieved her discomfiture by turning her attention to the twins, seated between their parents. "How old are you two?" she asked kindly.
They exchanged a look, deciding, as they usually did, that Junai was to be the spokesperson.
"Two and a half," she replied, proudly. "We'll be three two weeks before Midsummer."
"Well, I'll need to remember to send you a present, then," Alanna said, smiling at the girl.
Again, the twins exchanged a slightly bewildered look. "You did last year," Ulasim blurted out. "And Mama says you did the year before that too," Junai added. Aly smiled at her mother, who smiled back, before returning her attention to the twins.
"Well, it only seemed proper that you get a present from your grandparents," Alanna said. Aly leaned over the twins to whisper something in Nawat's ear, who nodded, and then took the opportunity to divert her mother's attention.
"Mother, I would love to catch up more, but I would really like to find Alan now. Will you five get manage while I'm gone?" she asked, mostly addressing the twins. They nodded, and Alanna said, "of course, he will be delighted to see you. He hasn't said anything, but he's been thinking about you, I can tell." Aly rose from the couch. "He's in the room adjoining your Uncle Raoul's room," Alanna told her daughter. "Who will, incidentally, be just one of the many people delighted to see you".
Aly smiled at her, gently touched the twins head's, and started to walk to the door. She hesitated by her mother's chair, then bent down and gently kissed Alanna's cheek.
At the door, Aly glanced back at the small group, in time to see Nawat lean forward to address his mother-in-law. Trying to ignore the moisture accumulating in her own eyes, Aly gently closed the door and strode down the corridor.
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Well, so it turns out that reuniting with her family is going to take at least a couple of chapters. Sorry about that.
Also sorry that Alanna was so unemotional, but isn't that how you think Alanna would be? I'll probably have some sappy conversation between the two of them later.
Next time, expect reunions definitely with Alan and George, and probably some other people also, depending on how into it I get.