AO 7 Ch 20

I got through the first round of orders in time for Beth to come stomping down the stairs, baby in each arm. They were old enough to have heads of wispy hair, but both completely filled Beth’s arms.

"Holy shit, they're big," I said, "Beth, you didn't tell me the father was a Northman." 

"He wasn't," Beth said defensively. "I just gave birth to two strong little boys, and I hope they turn out nothing like you." She stuck out her tongue at me. She moved to put them both in a bundle of furs on the floor.

Little? No, they were both bigger than Cyam’s head.

"Oh, no, let me." Aurelia swept in before Beth could place them down and grabbed both of the squirming little humans.

It took them only a few seconds before they rested against Aurelia's warm body. I knew how comfortable it was, given how often she snuggled into me. Within moments, both children were contently resting again. 

"Huh," Beth said, "they're not often fond of strangers." She didn’t quite know what to do with her hands, clearly wanting to take her children back, yet also Beth needed to man the counter.

"Yeah, well, for a manticore, she's pretty cuddly," I said, smiling at Aurelia as Beth frowned at my words.

The Virel looked almost panicked at my words and hurried to explain. "Manticores have red fur, like my hair," Aurelia told Beth, seeing her confusion and trying to calm her down so that she could keep holding the babies.

"And she's quite fierce…ly protective," I added, "Just like a manticore."

"Uh-huh." Aurelia was ignoring me, swaying back and forth, her attention entirely focused on the two babies and moving out of Beth’s reach.

Beth took one look at that and must have seen something that made her relax because she turned back to me with a giant grin. "She's not pregnant, is she?"

"Fairly certain she's not," I said, watching the same thing as Beth, knowing that Aurelia was going to want them… no, she was going to need them sooner rather than later. 

"I'd check your condoms for holes," Beth said. 

"None of them are anywhere near as crude as you, you old hag," I growled back at my employer in a friendly banter. 

"This is lovely," Ditzy sat down with Bad Kitty and Missy, as if beginning to watch a show. The three enchanting ladies watched on.

"It's like seeing a piece of how he became who he is today," Missy said with a charming smile.

Beth considered that statement and then shrugged, moving to grab her ladle for one of the guests who was getting extra grabby with her goods. "I guess I made Ard who he is today. If it wasn't for me taking him in, he'd probably be living in one of Simon's old sheds right next to the pigs. The way he moped around and didn't do anything all day, every day."

Beth turned back to me. "Good to see you're doing better. Though with as many beauties around you as I see right now, if you were still moping, I would have hit you upside the head with my pan."

"I probably would have deserved it," I admitted. 

"Probably? No, absolutely." Emlyn skipped the cup step of drinking and went straight to the pitcher. Which was fine, the stuff at Beth's place was all decently watered down. 

"So, by your get up," Beth gestured vaguely at me, "Looks like you went and made yourself a mage."

"Yeah, he did okay." Emlyn filled in.

I shrugged. "Definitely beats stacking wood and grooming unruly horses."

"You never got kicked out. I’m really a very kind thing, aren’t I?" Beth asked. Though her attention was pulled away as Uncle Valken took his hood off.

Instead of hair, large scaly patches covered his head, and two large fangs protruded from his mouth. His nails had overgrown into a pair of bestial claws. He sat there, completely comfortable with his full Vel'shae nature on display.

Beth took one look at him and raised an eyebrow. 

"Vel'shae," he said, dipping his head. "I'm serving as a guard for the Zenovian princess, Eva." Eva wiggled her fingers at Beth.

“Well, princess, vel’shae, mage or otherwise, do ye want soup, bread or beer?” Beth asked, unimpressed with the titles of the people in front of her.

"I'm seeing more and more of where Ard gets his utter disregard for nobility," Zuri said, trying to get Aurelia's attention. However, my mantikitten was smitten with the two children, trying to get them to play with her fingers and having eyes for nothing else in the world.

Maybe I did need to be a little more careful in my nights with her.

"Don't even try. I think we've completely lost her," Ditzy said, glancing over at the Virel. "Oh, she's got baby fever. Bad." 

Beth chuckled, looking at me. "Congratulations on becoming a father. It won’t be long, oh please do come by when you’re frazzled and at your wits end. I'd love to see it."

"Do not put that out in the world," I glared back at her. "Do you really want me to fill this world with my spawn?" 

Beth took a long moment to think inwardly about that concept. "I retract my previous statement," she said after a moment. "Fight her for as long as you can. It'll do the world a favor."

"You do know I can hear you," Aurelia said, peeling her eyes away from the children. 

"Oh, welcome back," I smirked and was almost positive a halo of innocence surrounded me.

"I was never gone." Aurelia was getting defensive enough that it was probably best for me to drop it. But when did I ever do things that were in my own best interest? 

"Of course you can hear us. That's why it's important for you to think about whose children you're putting out into the world. Those, they're Beth's. They'll be tough as nails, and surly as shit. But, they'll keep the wheels moving." I smiled at the thought of some chaotic aspect to whatever godly power I was now fostering. "My children? Of course, they're going to be chaotic hellions that will make ice cream to try and get a laugh from a cute farm girl.”

“Ard. You do know how children work, right? You don’t get to decide what they turn out like. In fact they’ll do the exact opposite of what you want." Beth chided me

Only for Ditzy to lean over and pat my shoulder. "Don't worry. Maybe one day in twenty years after the kids are grown, you'll get to have an opinion again."

"Funny," I deadpanned. "I'm going to be the one serving your soup. Do remember that before you make too many pointed jokes. Also, no one gets to make fun of Aurelia but me. Is that understood?" I looked across the bar and made eye contact with my group.

A lady from the caravan looked absolutely stricken when my gaze fell onto her. 

"Sorry," I apologized. "I'm mostly being playful with my group." I did understand that I was a mage and in Aldis colors so my jokes might not seem funny to those who didn’t know me.

"More like you're done terrorizing my guests," Beth said, hands on her hips. "I could use someone to chop some wood out back. God knows Sally has enough trouble keeping up with it." 

I glanced at my group to check if they would cause trouble.

Emlyn was drinking from a pitcher and just waved me aside.

"Go go," Missy repeated. "That way we can probe for all of the good stories about you when you're not here." The goddesses all began laughing. 

"Huh. Beth wouldn't do that to me," I said, even as Beth was clearly winding up to tell something terribly embarrassing. 

"I wouldn't?" Beth looked at me, dumbfounded. "And why is that?" She squinted as if she was expecting me to bribe her.

"I mean, you know what, never mind. You guys all have fun." I glance over at Uncle Valken. "If you've gotten anything out of those books, think you could keep me company while I split logs?" I ask the old Vel'shae.

"It would be a pleasure, young mage," Uncle Valken dipped his head in my direction. 

I was waiting for Beth to make a snide comment about his address towards me, only to turn and find the woman strangely perplexed by it. Well, that was for her to figure out. Because now, I had logs to split.

"Are you going to split those by hand?" Uncle Valken asked as I placed some dry wood on the stump and swung a rusted axe over my shoulder.

"Yeah," I paused mid-swing. "It's kind of how you split logs." With a grunt of effort, I threw the axe forward and, to my relief, split the log in a single go. It had been a while, but I still remembered how to do it effectively enough.

This wasn’t just about getting the job done, but also a nice breath of fresh air while the girls had some girl talk.

"Well, I suppose. Otherwise, you'd finish far too quickly for my explanation." Lord Valken made himself at home on a nearby bench, putting aside three books. "I've cleared up much of the cipher on our mystery book." He held out the one that Carmilla had marked with yellow paint.

"Oh? And what's the conclusion?" I asked, trying to take deep breaths as my excitement was nearly overwhelming. Splitting logs was actually a great outlet so I set up another on the stump before resting a few against it so I could do it all in a batch.

"Well," he tapped the book in question, "it appears to be a book on soul magic. As for what entirely startled your father, I was unsure on my own. However, I got Eva involved to see what she thought. And the first thing she noticed was that its description of soul magic was different enough to suggest that her own teachings were flawed." He hesitated before saying that last word. That made my brow furrow plenty, though.

"Flawed? That's a heavy word to use.” I said.

“And not one I would use lightly either," Lord Valken added.

"So? Tell me about this flaw." I chopped another piece of wood.

"That's where it gets tricky, but suffice it to say, the best way Eva described it was that there was a built-in flaw the way she learned soul magic." Uncle Valken shook his head. "If there is a backdoor built into the souls of those of the royal family of Zenovia, then that would suggest someone continued the Zenovian line, but along the way purposefully gave them a flawed practice." Uncle Valken looked down into his hands.

I could only imagine what he was feeling. After all, this was the equivalent of telling him that everything he had been told he was protecting was a lie. That the Royals of his country were the pawns in someone else's hands.

I put a hand on the old man's shoulder. "You had absolutely no way of knowing."

"I appreciate your concern, Ard, but there is no need for it. I am just an old man who is coming to grips with the reality that I may not have always been working for people trying to do good.”

“On the plus side, whoever arranged this is likely long gone and no longer a problem for you or the Zenovian family.” I quickly tried to reassure him.

“At least there's that. If this flaw still existed and was being utilized in any sense, we would be able to see it quickly. The royal family would be powerless to just suddenly falling ill." His voice slowed. "Falling ill and dying without healers ever being able to help them," he finished, his voice barely a whisper.

We both pieced together that what he had just described had just happened to the Zenovian Queen. 

"No, impossible," he said, "There's no way. Who?" The Vel'shae was scowling at the floor in front of him as if it might provide the answers that he sought. 

"If it was someone taking advantage of this and had planted it since the beginning, then it would have to be someone incredibly old." I quickly narrowed down the list. 

"Or a family taking advantage of it for ages," Uncle Valken quickly found the flaw in my logic

"Well, how would they do it, and why would they do it? I mean, if you killed the Queen, who benefits?" I asked. 

In his defense, he paused for a long moment, thinking through that answer.

"Obviously, the successors," he said. 

"Yeah, obviously," I echoed, I'm sure incredibly helpfully. "Are there any families that were in significant arguments with the Queen? Perhaps something related to the ending of the war?" I offered.

But the old Vel'shae just shook his head. "I don't know. I've been out of the palace’s politics since I've been traveling with Lady Eva. I don't have a pulse on who would want this or benefit from it." 

"Well, don't beat yourself up," I said. "It's not like anyone could have predicted this," but my words only made him scowl deeper. "Right? You didn't have this on some sort of what-happens-next-year list, did you?" 

He gave me a droll look for that comment.

"What? I don't know what secret Vel'shae list might exist. It could be a thing," I said defensively. 

"Well, it's not. And while powerful, the Vel'shae are not particularly organized. There are simply too many happenings in the kingdom at all times for us to even be aware of half of them. Not to mention, it would take significant time and effort responding to each of the individual crises." He told me.

"So then, what, just call it quits?" I asked, only to get more exasperation from the old man. 

"No, we will not be calling it quits," he enunciated slowly. "However, it is likely in our best interest to get to Zenovia sooner rather than later. Perhaps, if I can rejoin the royal family, I can at least grasp the situation enough to understand more.”

“Right. The first step is understanding." I nodded along.

“The second will be to kill whoever is responsible for this crime," Lord Valken's pensive expression grew darker. I had no doubt whoever was responsible was going to end up very, very dead. At least in my experience, pissing off Vel'shae was tantamount to suicide. 

Though, it occurred to me that someone powerful enough to make this change and also planning long term enough to execute this over a thousand years, meant we could very well be dealing with a god.

I wanted to ask more questions, to probe deeper, but it seemed that without reaching Zenovia, even Uncle Valken, with his deep experience in the country, couldn't provide any more helpful answers than we already had at that moment. Though, I did have another question. 

"So, supposing that we reach Zenovia and we find something, do you think we'll have any answers as to who may have killed my father? Or even just an idea of who it was that showed up and rescued him when he was being chased from Avente?" I asked, feeling a little more vulnerable than I liked at the mention of my father. 

Uncle Valken closed his eyes slowly and said, "Ard, I promise you, I will do what I can within my power to find satisfactory answers for you. But I suspect it won't be that easy."

"I didn't ask for it to be easy. I asked simply for answers. According to Carmilla's journal, someone stopped her from defeating my father. And the fact that he's never shown up leads me to believe whoever did this killed him," I pointed out the book. "And if there was a book that he was rushing home to tell the royal family that there was a flaw in their soul magic, one that could be exploited to kill my father... I know I'm not always the brightest bulb in the room, but even I know that sounds like something to kill over."

"It is," Uncle Valken said, "but that means that someone would have to know that he found it or would find it." The Vel'shae's expression was dark, but I already knew where he was going.

"And for someone to have that level of knowledge of what a prince was doing as a spy in another country probably means they were, at the very least, well-connected." Uncle Valken emphasized, "For them to know not only what your father was doing, but have enough details to glean what he may have found, I would suspect they are far higher station in Zenovia than either of us would hope to be the case." 

I was glad to be chopping wood as I set up another one and used my frustration to fuel the swing. That meant they might have the clout to avoid taking the fall, but I’d make sure they did.

"It would be all right if you walked away from this, Ard. It is not your fight." He told me, watching me closely.

"Fuck you," I spat reflexively, "I mean, sorry, that was uncalled for, but seriously, screw you. Not my fight? These are the people who were likely responsible for my father's death and resulted in me being left in the village. Of course I want to know, and I want to drive a stake through their heart as I watch them bleed."

Lord Valken gave me a long look.

"What? I'm allowed to be angry at the people who killed my father. I don't care what being proper is, this is definitely an appropriate time to curse, and do it plenty if you ask me." I chopped another piece of wood in half.

Lord Valken wisely held his hands up in surrender. "I was only going to say, you shouldn't draw so much attention to yourself." His eyes slid sideways and I saw the young girl, Sally, watching us from around the corner. 

"Hiya," I said with as friendly a smile as I could muster. "Don't mind us. He was just delivering a bit of bad news. He really helps to get the swing going." I gestured towards my most recent log. However, rather than respond to me, the girl darted off. 

"Now come on, Uncle Valken, stop scaring children," I said, turning back to him with a smile and realizing the Vel’shae was not smiling in return.

"I shall endeavor to remember that," he said between pursed lips. 

"Good. Because you have to remember, you're a little scary with the fangs and the scales." I gestured at him and Lord Valken touched his teeth. 

"How soon I forget. In Zenovia, most would say these make me look regal, or noble." He grumbled.

I only smiled at him. "Sure they do. Certainly not terrifying. Like you could bite my head off in an instant." I decided to demonstrate to the Vel'shae exactly how one would bite my head off, which only earned me an unamused glower. 

"Well, as entertaining as watching you chop wood is, perhaps it's time for me to return inside." He started to turn away.

"Eh, don't think you can," I said, swinging the axe again. 

"And why not?" He turned back, my words piquing his curiosity.

"I don't have an anchor," I said, gesturing about, looking for something that wasn't there. 

"Are you unable to... Take care of yourself?" He asked. 

"Oh, I'm entirely capable. However, if you leave me here alone without an anchor to guard me, I'm fairly certain Maribelle will kill you in your sleep." I held my hands up, "Not that I would encourage it, just saying those seem to be the rules." 

Lord Valken took a breath and then sighed. "Well, if those are the rules." He made himself comfortable on the bench and I grinned.

It felt nice to be having a conversation with another man.

I went to make a comment, but Lord Valken took out a book, flipped it open, and began working. 

"Ahem." I cleared my throat and he looked up from the book. 

"Oh, don't mind me. Keep at whatever it was you were going to do with those logs." He then went right back to work. And I scowled at the back of his head, knowing it would do absolutely nothing. 

"Fine, I'll just sit here and chop wood all day," I grumbled to myself before starting back into the routine.

"I'm sitting here and chopping wood." I said after a few minutes of silence. But Valken was nose deep in his books. In fact, I began to enjoy it enough that I picked up a nice little tune and began whistling away.

It was nice to do a little hard labor from time to time, really got the blood pumping and the sweat felt like I was getting some of the gunk out of my system.

However, I didn't get very far before Lord Valken paused and glanced up at me. 

"Are you going to do that this whole time?" He asked.

I whistled another note to make a point and went right back to chopping.