Metal and Flesh (The Rohvim, Book 1)

11.3 Console

As Aeden walked away from Betha, he noticed the perspiration wetting his brow. He wiped it off, and approached Stuart, who was deep in conversation with Rupert. Rupert paused when he saw Aeden approach, "Heya, Aeden! Hope your head's not too sore!" he snorted obnoxiously.

   Aeden ignored the comment, and turned to Stuart. "Would you mind telling me where the healer's hall is? I'm afraid I've never been there."

   Stuart beamed. "Of course, fine sir! It is just off the square near the northern edge of town on the hill. Face the lord's estate in the square, and follow the street on its left. It is about halfway down on the left-a largish building with a white façade. You can't miss it. To enter, you must touch the doorman's head and present yourself before him in his mind-that way we ensure only society members can enter."

   Aeden inclined his head at him, "Most kind, sir. Will you both be there?"

   Stuart nodded, with Rupert chiming in, "I'll be there! For sure!" He snorted again for good measure.

   Aeden stared open-mouthed at the awkward boy, asking Stuart, "Is he always like this?"

   Stuart put his arm around the smaller boy's shoulder. "Always. Rupert is always Rupert. Aren't you, Rupert?"

   Rupert snorted a third time. Aeden simply said, "I see."

   Rupert turned to Aeden. "So when's the next duel, partner? I'm sure there's a thing or two I could teach you."

   "Sometime, I'm sure. Well, gentlemen, I must be off. Tomorrow, then." He bowed, and turned to go home.

    "See ya, Aeden!" said Rupert.

   "Until tomorrow, then!" said Stuart.

   Aeden walked slowly home. The length of the day had taken its toll on him, and he trudged slightly in his step. His mind darting between his humiliating duel, and his conversations with Clara and Betha, he hardly paid attention to his direction. He managed to find his way to the small building that temporarily housed them, finding his mother still tending the garden. He approached her, noticing the circles under her eyes by the now setting sun.

   "My son!" She got off her knees and ran to him, holding him close. "Why must thou be gone all day, and well into the night? Knowest thou not that thy mother suffers here alone in her grief?"

   Her formal language puzzled him, and mention of her sorrow made him feel at once anger over his family's loss and guilt over his inability to feel more grief than he had. I have mourned, he thought, and how much more can I mourn and mope here? I need to be doing something, I need to be out, dealing with our family's killer.

   "Why, mother, do you dirty yourself here in this garden day after day? And why are you talking like that?"

   "What else should I be doing? I lost my son, and now I have lost my husband and my daughter. Thee alone I have left, and thou takest thy leave in the early morning until long after the sun sets. What more do I have? All I have are passages of Chronicles in my head."

   Aeden held her closely, "I'm sorry mother. I will be here more for you. Let us go inside and find an evening meal." She nodded, and he led her into the small house. He lit the candles, and set out some small provision that he had brought back from Betha's father's shop which he had visited again earlier in the day with the hope of seeing Betha again.

   They sat and ate. Aeden finally spoke. "The master healer is arriving here tomorrow from Elbeth. I don't know how he managed to get out, but it is said that he brings news."

   She stared at the food before her, eventually croaking out, "I don't know if I even want any news from that place."

   Aeden threw his biscuit forcefully onto the table. "Why not? We're going to retake our town, mother, and we will make them pay for what they've done." He stared hard into her. She met his gaze, then broke down in more tears. Angry at her perpetual sorrow, he continued, "So I'm going to meet him tomorrow morning at the healer's hall. I'm going to be a healer, mother. Before the invasion, the master healer invited me to join the society of healers. I didn't know what to say at the time, but tomorrow I'm going to tell him yes."

   She stopped crying and looked up at him. "But you'll have to travel widely to accomplish the labors of a healer. You would leave me here? I have no one here. Please don't go Aeden. I can't ... I can't ... handle my last child leaving right now. Not now...."

   He interrupted, "I don't even know if they still want me, mother. And even if they did, I'm sure they'd want me to stay here and train for awhile before I was to be sent anywhere. And mother, I'm nearly eighteen, and I can't just stay here forever-even if father is gone, and Cassandra ..." The rage over the loss began to percolate again, and he stopped before his anger mounted any more.

   He resumed his meal, and after a minute of a few silent sobs, so did his mother. They finished the meal, and cleaned up. Lady Rossam then straightened herself up and announced to Aeden, "Let us have a reading before we retire, my son."

   He paused, then nodded. He opened his travel satchel his mother had packed at the last minute in Elbeth and grabbed his half completed copy of the Chronicles. They sat, and he opened his book. "Where shall I read, mother."

   "In Consolations." He turned to the section, and found a fitting passage. He read by candlelight, the smoke reaching up as incense.

  

   "I know black clouds shall gather over me

   I know my pathway's rough and steep

   Yet golden fields lie out before me

   Where weary eyes no more shall weep

   I'm going there to see my mother

   She said she'd meet me when I come

   I am just going over Zouree

   I am just going over home."

  

   He thumbed to another section, and raised his voice once more.

   "And though the Heavens and the Earth shall pass away, my love shall not pass away. Though flesh rot and bonds of friendship break, my presence will permeate all. Though all of Sheol rage and all the Earth tremble, my peace shall overcome. Come to me, my beloved, come to me in the mountaintop and find rest."

   Lady Rossam, eyes closed, nodded. She gently asked, "A song, Aeden?"

   "Of course, mother. Which one?"

   "You choose."

   He thought a while in silence, then cleared his throat. In a clear, soft voice, he began:

   "The somber twilight falls, the view is falling fast. Come to me, oh come to me, and take me home at last.

   The nightfall deepens wide, the moon doth hide her face. Heed my call, oh heed my call, return me to my place.

   The silence overtakes, the storm is gathr'ing nigh. Hearken thou, oh hearken thou, thy grace send from on high.

   The tempest now is come, the rain doth soak my soul. Hear my cry, oh hear my cry, remove me to my goal.

   My hope is fading dim, my spirit now is faint. Save me now, oh save me now, thy grace show no restraint.

   The glimmer of respite, the hope now clear unveiled. Stay thou near, oh stay thou near. Thy mercy now is hailed.

   Oh rest now is come, my soul is home to stay. Keep me here, oh keep me here, nevermore thy path to stray."