A/N: Here we are, Lady! The Clayr's Glacier, as promised!
Thanks for Pied Flycatcher for pointing out the typos!
To anonymous reviewer Olaf the Stout: Thanks for reviewing! Glad you like the story. Your suggestion of the dungeons is an interesting one. In fact, I might prefer it to school. ("But professor, I couldn't show up at the exam because a Prince locked me up in a dungeon and forced me to write fanfiction!") If I ever found myself in a dungeon, I probably would distract myself with writing fanfiction…
I really don't know what to say about leaving this chapter so long. Er… sorry? For the past couple of weeks I had midterms, and I've also been having some trouble writing due to lack of inspiration. But I'm back now, and I hope the updates will be more frequent. Anyway, thanks so much for returning to this story.
The Clayr's Glacier
Neryl lowered the square of silver. Even now she wondered whether telling Cassiel of the King's impending death had been the right thing to do. What with all she Saw, she didn't know what to share, and with whom. The Sight could be a heavy burden.
The Voice of the Clayr glanced across the room, where her mother was directing a team of Wallmakers in polishing a large surface of ice. This cavern, the very one where Mosrael had given them his power, was to become the Observatory. Tirelle and her daughters had developed a spell to project their visions onto reflective surfaces. This was incredibly valuable, as living in a glacier provided all kinds of reflective surfaces. With this Observatory, any of the Clayr could enlarge their own visions for somebody else to see through a pane of spelled ice. In the very least, it would beat trying to explain their visions to others.
Master Malfas made a joke while perched on a ladder, and silver-haired Tirelle glanced, laughing, over her shoulder. This was one of the few times Neryl's mother had laughed since foreseeing the King's death. Her Sight was comparatively weak and unpredictable, but Berillan was a dear friend of Tirelle's, and she had taken to distracting herself with work. The Wallmakers were nearly finished building the Clayr's Glacier, and many rooms would be empty until there were enough Clayr to fill them. Only Tirelle knew all of the secrets and hidden rooms in the Glacier.
It was getting late. Neryl turned and left the chamber. She was immediately stopped by a barricade consisting of a crossed axe and sword.
"Halt!" a voice rang out.
"Who goes there?" another voice added.
Neryl frowned in annoyance. The doorway was flanked by Cimeri and Berithi, each bearing one of the afore-mentioned weapons. The twins had been given their Charter-spelled weapon of choice, and earning the nicknames "Axe-Guard" and "Sword-Guard". They had taken their duties to heart. Thankfully, all subsequent injuries had been minor.
"Come on, you two," sighed Neryl. "You knew that it was me."
The twins exchanged looks of exaggerated incredulity beneath their open helms, lowering their shields. "You could have been anybody!" Cimeri protested, waving her axe with heedless abandon, and lopping off the tips of several icicles.
"Yes!" Berithi rejoined, brandishing her glowing sword and nearly blinding Neryl. "Like an ice grub."
Even Neryl, powerful Seer that she was, did a double-take at that one. "An ice grub?" she repeated, praying that she had misunderstood.
"Yes! A small –"
"– thin –"
"– two-legged –"
"– blonde-haired –"
"– ice grub!"
Neryl merely shook her head, half from exasperation and half from trying to recover from the rapid-fire duet delivery. No matter how old her twin sisters would grow to be, it seemed that they would never lose their strange senses of humour.
She carried on down an icy corridor and nearly bumped into Gressa. "Watch where you're going you flat-footed frog-face–!" Neryl's sister cut off in mid-tirade when she saw who it was.
"Do you always greet everyone like this?" asked the elder sister, inwardly marvelling at Gressa's creativity.
The Ranger groaned. "Don't lecture me, Neryl, please." She pulled on a leather arm-brace with more force than necessary. "I need to go out and patrol the Glacier." She adjusted Binder which was sheathed at her side, and picked up her bow and a full quiver.
"Watch out for ice grubs," Neryl called after her sister's retreating back.
Gressa whirled around, braided hair striking the corridor walls. "I can take care of myself!"
"I know," soothed the Voice of the Clayr, raising her hands. "Just – be careful."
The Ranger raised her eyes to the roof in annoyance. "I know, I know."
Neryl watched her sister leave, and carried on. The threat of the drill grubs was a real one, although she would never completely admit that to the twins. The Wallmakers had placed impenetrable wards in the ice around the Clayr's living areas, but it was still dangerous to be out of the Glacier alone. The enormous grubs were notoriously slow to react, and their numerous rotating jaws crushed everything in their way.
She had reached a wooden door, and paused outside, placing an ear to listen. However, the Charter-spelled wood did its job well, and not a sound could be heard. With a chuckle, Neryl pulled the door open.
Pandemonium. Clothing was strewn over six beds, and girls in various states of dress and undress were dashing about, yelling at the top of their lungs. Neryl surveyed the scene fondly, then looked with pity on her sister Saranim, who was looking very hassled as she tried to button a girl into a frilly nightgown only to have it ripped off again. The Voice of the Clayr took a step into the room and slammed the door. Loudly.
Six small faces turned towards her, and soon Neryl had staggered against the door with the force of their attack. "Auntie Neryl!" they chorused, seemingly determined to squeeze the breath from her body.
"Hello there," panted Saranim as she pried the girls away from their beloved aunt. "Nice of you to show up. I need to get this lot tucked into bed."
That task was easier said and done, and by the time faces had been washed and hair brushed, and toys had been sorted out, and the six girls had been dressed in their nightgowns and tucked into bed with hugs and kisses, both women were absolutely exhausted.
"Tell us a story!" shouted Isodell, Gressa's oldest, who was just as obstinate as her mother.
The cry was taken up by the five other girls, and Neryl just noticed Saranim inching out of the door in time to prevent her from deserting her. "Trust me," said the Guardian of the Young in an undertone. Neryl hesitated before nodding, and her sister whipped out of the room. She returned a second later with a bewildered-looking Wallmaker in tow. "Hush now, girls!" she carolled. "Everad here will tell you all a story." And before the poor Wallmaker could protest, Saranim had pulled Neryl outside and shut the door behind them. "There," she said with immense satisfaction, dusting off her hands with the air of a job well done.
"Poor Everad," noted Neryl as the two sisters walked down the hall together. They paused outside another door, and Saranim peeked inside. Over her sister's head, Neryl glimpsed the peaceful faces of more slumbering girls. Tirelle's granddaughters slept in two dormitories. The six oldest girls were currently being entertained by Everad, and the six youngest were thankfully asleep. The very youngest was Gressa's baby, being cared for by a helpful flock of female Wallmakers.
"That Isodell," sighed Saranim as she closed the door. "She's quite spirited, isn't she?"
"Awfully impudent for an eight-year-old," agreed Neryl. "She, Maidi, and Lareth make quite the trio." Maidi and Lareth were daughters of the twins Cimeri and Berithi, born within a week of each other. The twins' younger daughters had also been born at nearly the same time, a phenomenon that puzzled the other sisters to no end. In any case, Isodell, Maidi, and Lareth were the eldest of the Clayr brats, and the ringleaders in any mischief that occurred.
"Those three!" Saranim exclaimed in what could have been taken for affection or loathing. Neryl suspected a mixture of both. "After Everad's done telling his story, they'll be sneaking out of the room for a snack."
"I know," said Neryl. "I'll take care of it."
The Guardian of the Young let out an undignified snort. "I think they're my least-favourite nieces."
The Voice of the Clayr knew better than to take her sister seriously. Saranim had a kind heart and loved all of the children at the Glacier, not just her own.
They mounted the steps to one of the towers, and Saranim knocked gently before entering. The Wallmaker on duty jumped to her feet when they came in.
"Has there been any change?" Neryl asked her.
The Wallmaker shook her head sadly. "None." With a nod, Neryl dismissed the woman, and she and Saranim took the chairs at the side of the bed.
They looked down on the face of Eligora. She was the most powerful of all the sisters, but all that she Saw was vision, not present. Kept in a room by herself, her mother, sisters, and the Wallmakers took care of her. Neryl watched her youngest sister's eyelids flutter, before turning to Saranim.
"They're nearly done the Observatory."
"That's good to hear," said the Guardian of the Young, stretching her arms. "Soon the Glacier will be complete, and then the Wallmakers will leave. That should happen a month ago."
"A month ago?" Neryl repeated. "But they're still working on the Observatory."
"Oh – I mean I Saw them leaving a month ago," Saranim corrected herself.
"So when will they actually leave?"
"In about two months."
"Two months from now, or two months from a month ago?"
"Two months from a month – ah. They will be leaving about one month from now."
"Right…" Neryl gave her sister a strange look, noting that her family really did have a tendency to get their whens mixed up.
"It's a shame, really," Saranim continued. "I was getting quite used to having the Wallmakers around."
"It will be strange," Neryl agreed, "living in this enormous place with only a few of us."
"But you're the Voice of the Clayr," said Saranim. "At least you'll get to go travelling about the Kingdom making our visions known to the Kingdom. The Guardian of the Young practically lives in the dormitories."
"Better than the twins," said Neryl. She couldn't imagine standing by a doorway all day wearing heavy mail and carrying weapons and shield. But then, she had a sneaking suspicion that Cimeri and Berithi enjoyed these duties, and between them would come up with many ways to pass the time.
"And then they'll go and work on the Wall," Saranim was musing, looking at Eligora but not really seeing her. "There will be some trouble there. Not everyone agrees with the building of the Wall. When did Ghidreth say it will be finished?"
"In about ten years," Neryl answered automatically. "King Berillan will not see it complete. I wish that he would."
"Neither will mother." Saranim's eyes suddenly widened. "Does she know?"
"She knows," answered the Voice of the Clayr. "She's a Seer, and all Seers can See their death. A lot of people who aren't Seers get visions of their death."
The younger sister bit her bottom lip. "It's just so silly. I mean, someone as strong as mother succumbing to pneumonia, and this winter too…"
"It won't be the same without her," Neryl agreed. "The Sight is sometimes a burden." She got up, and placed her hand briefly on Eligora's cool brow before leaving the room. Saranim would stay with her, before being relieved by someone else in a few hours.
Neryl took a detour from her usual route, opting to follow the corridor near the dormitories. The instant she passed by one of the doors, it opened a crack.
Neryl turned to look straight into a pair of green eyes, and said, "Don't even think about it." There were three frightened squeals, and the door slammed shut.
Satisfied that Isodell, Maidi, and Lareth would not be sneaking off to the kitchens that evening, Neryl continued on her way. She grinned, reflecting that it must be difficult to break rules in a family of Seers.
A/N: Thanks for reading! After leaving this story for so long I wonder if anyone is sticking with it. I'd love to hear from you! To make it up, I'll try to post the next chapter early (which means, in less than a week's time). Until then, hang in there.