Metal and Flesh (The Rohvim, Book 1)

18.1 Mirth

"...for, my children, what is life without mirth? How shall we pass our days without laughter? Otherwise, as women of stone shall we roam..."

-Wisdom of Rutha, 54:3

  

EARLY IN THE MORNING, the travelers broke camp and descended into the wide valley. The vibrant greens and reds and oranges and yellows of the hills and mountains were more subdued here, and a high marine cloud layer formed a ceiling in the sky. The travelers, however, were in good spirits and made steady progress. Aeden and Betha brought up the rear, talking as they marched, keeping up with the group but hanging back just a bit.

   "...and so Priam, he's left there standing, holding the bag in his hands, not knowing quite what to do with it, while the royal guard is barking orders at him to back away from the princess and to kneel down on the ground!"

   Betha gasped wide-eyed, "What did he do?"

   "Well, what would you do? He backed away slowly, then threw the bag over the heads of the guard into the crowd and bolted. Half of the guards ran after the bag and the other half after him, but the marketplace was so crowded that he managed to sneak away. Lucky brat. I told my father, and he didn't take me back to the capital city for two years-after a severe thrashing, of course. But by the time I returned, I'd grown quite a bit so no one recognized me..."

   "Well I think it served you both right. What would have happened if you got caught?"

   Aeden shrugged, "Oh I suppose they would have taken me before the king, verbally abuse me for a bit before sending me back to my father. Priam, I suppose they would have chopped off his left hand, both ears, and left him in the stocks for 60 days."

   "And we wonder why we have so many in the society who hate the nobility."

   "Do you hate the nobility?"

   Betha demurred, "Well, no, not exactly. I think you've had far too many ... too much ... it's just that everyone else is treated so poorly by nobles and royalty. Everything I have in my life, I had to work for. Hard. Our shop is successful because I drive hard bargains when I purchase. I'm an active member of the society, far more than many older members-even some Elder Council members. I'm apprentice to master Arturo. Tell me, how many non-noble friends besides Priam did you have growing up? Hmm? Did you ever see how the regular people lived?"

   Aeden hesitated, "Well, no. I didn't have very many close friends. And yes, I suppose we lived in a very nice part of the city and the servants did most of the interacting with the merchants and deliverymen. But we're not all bad. Right?"

   Betha smiled, "No, not all of you, just most of you ... oh wait, you weren't using the royal 'we', were you?"

   Aeden mock-laughed, "Ha ha. Hey, if I was all bad, would the master healer have ever invited me into the society?" Betha held her smile, but said nothing. "Ha! There you go. You like the master healer, he likes me, therefore, you must like me. I knew I should have gone to university in the capital ..."

   Betha let out a belly laugh. "You? At the university? That's a place for Rupert, not you, I'm afraid." They walked in silence for a minute, and Betha remarked, "You and Rupert seem to be good friends these days."

   "Yeah, he's all right. He's ... you know, Rupert. Awkward, gangly, says the wrong thing at the wrong time, not aware of anyone around him. But he's a good guy. It's almost touching how he's tried to look after me since Priam disappeared."

   "I've known Rupert for many years now, and he's never been as friendly to anyone like he has to you. We've been talking, him and I, and he finally feels like he has a real friend. I mean, I'm his friend and so is Darla ... after a fashion, but he's never had a buddy, you know, a good guy friend. So ... thanks. That means a lot to me that you would be so nice to him." She smiled once again at him and touched his shoulder briefly before walking on.

   He looked down at his shoulder where she had touched and followed along behind her. "Well, you've definitely been a little friendlier to me the past few weeks. I remember when we met and for weeks after, you were like an icicle."

   Betha replied, "Well, from when I first laid eyes on you, when my father practically begged you to try on that priceless armor you're wearing right now, and I saw you hungrily looking at it, feigning not to want it but feigning poorly, and then looking at yourself in the mirror for what seemed like ages ..."

   Aeden interrupted, "When Priam and I came by? I didn't even glance in the mirror then."

   Betha stayed silent.

   "The first time I was there, you hadn't come in until after I took it off."

   "Oh, look how far we've fallen behind, we should really ..."

   He interrupted again, "So you were looking at me through the window or something? And saw that I was watching myself in the mirror for what seemed like ages? Meaning that someone was watching me look at myself for ages?" He paused, "Did you like what you saw?"

   Betha protested, "Oh stop. Get over yourself." And marched on ahead.

   "As I recall, I took off most of my ..."

   She blushed. "Rupert! Come over here!"