Tathan was nervous about his cousin. He knew she was different, but couldn’t help feeling that he had put her in way too much danger. She was inexperienced in life and naïve to the ways of the world. Yet he had gone and dragged her deep underground to an alien world with ravenous creatures hell-bent on destroying anything even resembling intelligent life. Some cousin he was.
“Your mood is on the ground and your head is hung low to look at it, Master Tathan,” Sir Danth said. “You are concerned for your cousin, yes?”
Tathan sighed. “Yes. I feel as though I led her into danger and I’m the reason she’s lying in bed, unconscious. I feel responsible for her.”
Sir Danth gave his shoulder a comforting smack. Tathan staggered forward. It would have been more comforting had the knight not had a gauntleted hand and the strength of a horse. “I understand what you mean and I agree with you. You are responsible for her.”
The words didn’t make Tathan feel any better than the bruised shoulder did. “Uhh, yeah.”
“After all, she is a woman and everyone knows women are to stay in their chambers, waiting for a man’s pleasure, right?” Sir Danth continued. “Dragging them away from home to have adventures and risk their life is the worst thing you can do to a lady. It was very foolish of you to do so.” He patted Tathan’s shoulder a few more times until the rogue finally ducked.
“Is that how the knights of your time treated their ladies, Sir Danth?” Tathan asked with barely disguised contempt in his voice. Marrraa, who was leading the work party, looked back at the two of them with a frown.
“Nay, but it is how you sound when you talk about your cousin, Master Tathan,” the knight said with a flip of a gauntlet. “You assume responsibility for her decisions. From what I’ve seen, she makes her own decisions regardless of whether or not you approve. I was under the impression that you travel together as equals in addition to being cousins.”
Tathan was irritated now. He had treated Liselle with nothing but respect and dignity throughout their journeys. At least he had tried to. “Sir Danth, don’t treat me like an idiot. Liselle is my cousin and she’s lived in a quiet valley all her life. I’m not a knight, but I do feel as though I have some honor and a responsibility to make sure she’s safe.”
“Aye, you do have honor, friend Tathan,” Sir Danth said with a more gentle hand on the shoulder. “And you should protect family wherever you can. At the same time, you have to let people make their own decisions and live their lives. It is a difficult balance. Lady Liselle is not a normal woman and I truly believe she will do whatever she wishes, regardless of anything that might be said to her by you or anyone else.”
Tathan relaxed some. “I worry about her, that’s all,” he said. “She just lost her entire family, and then we went off exploring the world. Now we’re in caverns with hostile creatures that like to play with their food and we qualify as food.”
“I am sorry for the loss of her family and yours, Master Tathan,” the knight said. “It is a hard thing. My family was killed when I was young too. The knighthood took me in.”
“I didn’t realize that, Sir Danth. I’m sorry to hear it,” Tathan responded with a friendly hand on the knight’s arm.
“It is long in the past.” He and Tathan chuckled. Marrraa looked back at them in puzzlement, not getting the reference. Sir Danth continued, “I grew up in the order and became one of the finest warriors the Knights of Morhain had ever known.”
“I’ve met a few knights in my travels and they’re not half as capable, nor honorable as you, Sir Danth,” Tathan told him. “I’m glad you’re on our side.”
“I second that sentiment,” Marrraa mumbled from in front of them.
Tathan grinned and continued. “Liselle seems to me like the flowers she has an affinity for; beautiful, fragile and too good for the world.” He shook his head with a sigh. “I know I can’t keep her safe, but it doesn’t prevent me from wanting to try.
“Aye. It will not prevent me from trying either, my friend,” Sir Danth said with another gauntleted smack. Tathan was going to have a dislocated shoulder if he kept talking to the knight. “Lady Liselle is as beautiful as the stars in the night and glows more brightly. She is lovely to speak with as well. Both good and evil will be attracted to her as the bee is to the flowers our lady loves so much.”
“May she find more good than evil,” Tathan said hopefully. He became thoughtful. “Do you think that Vevin is more good than evil, Sir Danth?”
“I don’t know, Master Tathan,” the knight admitted. “I believe he would die for Liselle, but I am not entirely certain that his mind is intact.”
“It’s his attraction to Liselle that concerns me most. It seems like he feels more than simple adoration for her,” Tathan said with a frown.
“Oh yes, I believe he does feel more than simple adoration,” Sir Danth acknowledged. When Tathan looked at him with widened eyes at the confirmation of his fears, the knight went on. “I know it is not what you would wish to hear, Master Tathan, but I believe that he is truly in love with her. I have no idea how you should feel about it though.”
“I don’t like it,” Tathan admitted. “As her cousin, I feel as though I should intervene, but at the same time I’m pretty sure she would strangle me with flowers if I tried.”
Marrraa turned and gave him a funny look at the comment about being strangled by flowers. Sir Danth chuckled. “I trust you are right about her reaction. Lady Liselle makes her own decisions and I believe she may be fond of Master Vevin in return,” he said, holding his finger up to make the point.
“Do you really think so?” Tathan asked. “I know she likes him, but he’s so . . . different?” He let out a sigh. “I just don’t know, Sir Danth. Liselle’s feelings are difficult to read and I just don’t know what to make of Vevin at all.”
“Aye. He is odd, but I must say that I like him,” the knight admitted with a small laugh. “As you said of me, ‘I’m glad he is on our side’.”
“That is very true. I don’t know that I’d feel comfortable if he were angry with me,” Tathan admitted.
“I agree with that wholeheartedly.” Sir Danth nodded his head. “I don’t believe I would survive a battle against him.”
Marrraa stopped and turned around to stare at them. “I have seen you battle, Sir Danth Human. I cannot imagine anyone defeating you in single combat.” She was very earnest in her praise of the knight.
“Thank you for the confidence in my abilities, Mistress Marrraa,” the knight said with a bow. “While there are few who could stand against me, Master Vevin is a rare individual and I would not care to test my abilities against him. Shall we continue?” he suggested with a gesture for her to lead on. He didn’t want to get into details about their dragon friend.
Marrraa frowned at both of them for a moment. Seeing that they were not going to elaborate, she turned around and led the way at a quicker pace. Tathan and Sir Danth followed in silence.
Tathan thought about the events since Liselle had cast her spell. Marrraa had spoken to a council of elders. Jarrrn was the head of the Garrrn family, but Rojuun families had councils of elders that took care of judicial aspects of society.
Tathan, Vevin and Sir Danth had been called into the chamber of the elders. Eight council members sat at tables on a raised dais while other Rojuun in fine robes sat in rows on either side of the chamber floor. Eight was a holy number for the Rojuun and many things were done in eights.
Marrraa stood in the center of the chamber floor, telling of the events in the cavern and the human’s decimation of the sstejj. Many of the Rojuun in the room expressed disbelief at various points in the story. After she was finished, the council asked the humans to approach one at a time. Each was asked to tell their version of what happened.
Tathan was first and told them a simplified, modest version of events, which still seemed to impress them a great deal. Sir Danth gave a clinical description of his actions, which didn’t quite portray the violent deaths of the sstejj at the point of his greatsword. They both downplayed Liselle’s magical display as much as they could, which meant that it was merely awesome instead of earth shattering. They admitted Liselle was capable of powerful magic, both healing and offensive magic, but warned that she was still inexperienced and the amount of magic used was more than she could handle. The companions assured the council that they would help to guide her in the future.
When Vevin’s turn came, he asked the council about sstejj and their habits. The council told them that the sstejj had hunted Rojuun for a long time, but the monsters had not always existed. They told him how the sstejj primarily hunted their race, forgoing easier prey just to get at one of them. They also told Vevin details about the anatomy of the sstejj.
The council told Vevin many things before he sat down. The elders were very happy with their questioning of Vevin even though they hadn’t actually asked him one single question. Sir Danth and Tathan looked at each other and shook their heads in amazement.
Everyone was asked to leave the chambers while the Council of Elders deliberated. Tathan and Vevin checked on Liselle then ate a meal in their common room. Sir Danth went outside the dwelling to stand by the lake in contemplation.
When they were brought back in, the elders thanked them for their actions in the cavern. They had sent a scouting party to verify the story. The scouts found the charred and sliced bodies left behind as there hadn’t been enough time for more sstejj to eat the corpses. Marrraa told them later that the scouting party had given their report to the council with awe-filled voices.
The council gave the companions a reward above and beyond their pay. Four gifts were to be divided as the companions pleased. They chose Liselle’s reward first, a necklace of fine platinum and jewels more beautiful than any of them had ever seen. That was saying a lot considering that Vevin was a dragon, Sir Danth had guarded royal treasure and Tathan was a thief with a taste for wizard’s vaults. The second treasure was a large tapestry of a bejeweled cavern with rivers flowing through it while fairies flitted along the water. Sir Danth admired it. The council agreed to set it aside for him until such time as he could collect it. Vevin took a golden dagger with a bejeweled hilt that was perfect for his treasure trove. Tathan accepted the last item, a gold ribbon ring with two small pearls set in it. They told him that it could cause the wearer to be invisible for a short time once per day. It was the best thing they could have given him.
After the council rewarded the party, it was made clear that they would still be expected to honor their contract. Liselle would be allowed to rest as long as needed. The elders were certain the rest of them could handle the duties, as they had proven so capable. It was an unceremonious end to the ceremony, but the group didn’t mind. It was good to have it over.
The next day, Tathan and Sir Danth had gone out to provide protection for a gate crew. The crew would build a new gate in each of the twelve tunnels. The doors of the new gates would remain open until such time as they would be able to lock the entire cavern.
In the past, efforts to build gates had been futile due to the number of sstejj in the cavern. With Tathan and Sir Danth protecting the crew, a gate was successfully built that first day. Now they were traveling to the next tunnel with every expectation that it would be finished as well.
There weren’t as many sstejj as there had been the first day the companions had fought, but the boys were able to make a game out of seeing who could get the most gill shots. Marrraa had brought three young warriors in training in order to teach them how to fight the monsters. The humans made it easy for the Rojuun to gather around individual sstejj and test their skills on it.
Hours passed before the next gate was finished and the party made their way back to the dwelling. The workers were happy at producing so much work two days in a row. Marrraa was happy that she had been able to train the young warriors. Only one came back injured. He had a broken arm from trying to imitate the human’s gill shots. He would be fixed up by the healer and be ready to go in a week or two.
The party was informed that Liselle was awake just as they entered Garrrn Cavern. Both Tathan and Sir Danth ran back to the dwelling.