A Soldier's Life - 389 - Prologue

((Raelia won th e POV vote but I added a Castile POV as well))

Chapter 389: Prologue

Raelia was coated in sweat, her mother at her side reassuringly, while the old dwarf healer took the bloody babe from her. It was over. Raelia’s heart stopped when the child did not cry. “Delsanra?” Eliyen asked from over Raelia’s shoulder, gripping her daughter’s shoulder tighter, also concerned.

The dwarf woman smiled and slapped the babe’s bottom, and he cried out. “A healthy boy, just like I told you. Nothing to worry about. I have delivered hundreds of babes in my lifetime and have never been wrong.” The boy had wisps of dark hair like his father’s. His blue-green eyes were his mother’s, soft. His ears betrayed his mixed heritage with rounded points. He would be able to pass for an elf till puberty, when his ears wouldn’t lengthen like a full-blooded elf.

As Delsanra cleaned her son, Raelia looked at her mother, “That was not as bad as you said it would be.”

Her mother laughed, relieved the child was well and Raelia was back to her normal self, “I think you can Delsanra for that. She must have layered a dozen spells on you.”

The old dwarf healer laughed, “Only three.” She handed the boy to Raelia, now swaddled and quiet but with wide, unseeing eyes. Babes had poor eyesight when first born, but this one seemed to be trying to focus on everything around him unsuccessfully. “What will be his name?”

Raelia took him and brought him to her breast to feed. “Marcus, after the father, Eryk Marko.”

“And where is the father?” Her mother asked pointedly.

“He will come in the next two weeks as he promised,” Raelia said confidently while she marveled at the life she had created.

Delsanra sighed, “You should have told him about the child. It has been my experience that men have a habit of letting you down when there is no urgency.” Raelia rolled her eyes at the old healer. She had come to check on Raelia every month, not because her brother was her commander, but because she genuinely cared about Raelia and the child. They had many conversations during the visits; she was a fountain of wisdom on raising children. Before Delsanra joined the Bartiradian army, she had administered a clinic in a large town outside of Erveza on the coast.

“He will come,” Raelia reiterated. “The child was a few days early, and he will be here in a month as I requested.” Blado chirped from the corner of the room in support of Raelia’s statement.

Over the next few weeks, Marcus was quiet for a boy, but that was not unusual for elven children. Raelia could not believe how often he wanted to feed—that was abnormal for elven children, according to her mother. Elven babes ate three or four times a day. Marcus was always either eating or sleeping; Delsanra said that was normal for human children. Delsanra had remained, having taken leave from the army for four months to help Raelia in her new role.

She was more helpful than even Eliyen had thought possible. Eliyen didn’t mind the dwarf taking on some of her grandmotherly duties. Although caring for babies was similar among all races, Delsanra was also preparing Raelia for the challenges of raising a half-elf. The most important thing was to give the child as much love as possible, as he would grow old in a few decades. Eliyen was prepared to do just that; she had had dozens of human friends over the centuries and would love her grandson while he grew. Eliyen privately hoped the experience of seeing her son age and die wouldn’t dissuade her from having other children.

Four weeks passed, and Eryk did not show. Raelia was embarrassed and angry, but she hid it well. Eliyen knew better than to ask after the father. Raelia's patience had worn thin, and she told herself if Eryk did not arrive in a week, she would send him a message through the Adventurer’s Guild.

Eryk beat her to it, as four days later, Clalyn and his bodyguard Alhur arrived. “A message came through the guild for you. I thought I would expedite it,” his brother said steely.

“Did you read it?” Raelia said, narrowing her eyes as she handed Marcus to Clalyn. Clalyn softened as he took the babe. It was his first time seeing her son, and his babes always had a way of cracking the general’s strong façade.

Raelia cracked the seal on the letter and read.

Beloved Raelia,

I apologize for my late arrival. I have just reached a city where I can send you a message. Some people from my world encountered trouble in Yuetsen, and you have probably heard about the explosion destroying the entire upper city. They were not involved but are being blamed.

I thought I would find them and bring them to Gramney quickly, but things rarely work out the way I plan. I was only able to save two of the otherworlders, both children. Castile is bringing one of them to Gramney to be trained, and I am bringing the other one, Nausis, to be trained. It is the only place where she will be safe.

We depart on a ship two days from the date of this letter to reach Nausis. I plan to stay with the girl until she is comfortable. It may be a year or two before I can return. I was hoping you and Baldo could meet us in Nausis.

I have not forgotten you, nor will I ever.

Forever yours, Eryk

Raelia was stunned. Just like him to go off and try to save everyone when she was right here. His son was right here! Well, she hadn’t told him he had a son. Still, he should have consulted her first! Clalyn took the letter as Raelia’s emotions played on her face—she just didn’t know how to feel at the moment. One thing she was sure of was that Eryk infuriated her!

“Trained in Nausis?” Clalyn muttered.

“Nausis?” Alhur echoed, looking at the letter. “The only thing that makes sense is that the Death Hunters have their Citadel there. Why else travel so far?”

“Why would he want to be a Death Hunter?” Raelia murmured irritably.

The letter had been passed around the room, and Eliyen was reading it now. “No, not him. The otherworlder child. If he is taking a child to the Death Hunters, that can only mean one thing: she has demonstrated necromancy.”

“Not a child then? Maybe this Eryk is just calling her such to spare you,” Alhur said.

Doubt quickly festered in Raelia’s mind that Eryk was cheating on her with a human from his world. “No. Not necessarily,” Delsanra broke into the conversation. The old dwarf seemed to be thinking, “Otherworlder children have access to their aether cores when they are brought here. There is a story of dwarven twins who were pulled here centuries ago—they had access to their cores and became some of the greatest mages among us.”

“Echelon and Oseni,” Eliyen said to Delsanra’s nods. “How powerful of a necromancer is the child, then?” Eliyen asked, concerned.

“I am not a clairvoyant,” the old dwarf chuckled. “Nor am I an expert on otherworlders.”

Eliyen clenched her jaw, not at the dwarf but this human who was involved in things he shouldn’t be and was tied to her daughter. “Will you send him a message?” She asked Raelia.

Raelia’s shock was wearing off. She couldn’t go meet Eryk with Marcus, who was only a month old. A message would make sense. But before she could answer her mother, Clalyn interceded, “I will send Alhur with your message to Nausis.”

“Do I get to kill him if he doesn’t decide to return immediately and fulfill his role as a father?” Alhur growled in a mix of seriousness and jest.

“No!” Raelia retorted. “But if he doesn’t decide to come back with you after you tell him he has a son, then tell him never to come. I will raise his son alone!”

“Can you spare Alhur for such a personal mission?” Eliyen said. “Your father will not be happy.”

General Clalyn stood a little taller. “Alhur is free to obey me or not. Our mages are flooding the Atlantium ruins daily, and I don’t see the need for an old assassin protecting my blindside at the moment.”

“Old assassin?” Alhur said in mock hurt. “I am barely seven hundred.” He sighed, “Fine. I will find your human and make him see reason. But I don’t promise not to kill him.” Raelia couldn’t tell if Alhur was joking or not.

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The final stretch of road to Gramney lay before them. It had been a taxing journey through Gesedmuria. The language of the Gesedmurians was Lexi’s native tongue and she helped them navigate the land. As a band of five women, they thought they would run into more trouble. But like most societies, women were underestimated. The only problem they encountered was in the capital of Felington. There were no displacement mages to bring them back to Gramney, and it was not known when one would arrive. They decided to ride back on their own, adding a week to their journey.

Castile and Selene managed to improve Lexi’s grasp of the Telhian language, enabling effective communication between them. She knew Lexi was having second thoughts about being separated from her friend and caught her crying more than once at night. The earth girl needed to develop a stronger will, but for now, Castile comforted her as best she could. Castile had thought the legion had burned out her maternal instincts, but she felt she was starting to care for the girl.

Castile and Selene tried to occupy Lexi’s mind with training. It was somewhat annoying how easily Lexi picked up things when it came to magic. She was even using Lesna’s trick to twist her aether threads to write out spell forms. Although she was a long way from completing an entire spell form, being only ten years old, she was remarkably ahead of most first-year mage aspirants. Most mages couldn’t successfully scribe a complete spell form in the air until two or three years of intensive training. Castile guessed Lexi would do so within a year.

As they rode through the gates, Selene and Helena left to head to Viridia’s villa. “As I told you, I am taking you to stay with Mateo. He is a good friend, and Eryk thought you would fit in well with his stepchildren.” It was not the first time Castile had told Lexi this.

“Are you leaving me?” Lexi asked, panic in her voice.

“No. You will just be staying with them. I will see you every day. Selene and I will train your magic, and Eryk has asked an elven friend of ours to teach you Elvish. It is the one language that is somewhat universal on Desia as it has not changed in thousands of years.”

“Is Evie learning elvish, too?” Lexi asked.

Castile slowly nodded, “I believe so. I think Eryk will be teaching her to read elvish as well.” Castile did not actually know this for sure, but it might motivate Lexi to try harder in her lessons.

They reached the walls of Gramney, and strangely, Castile felt like she had come home. Lexi’s wonder at everything had worn off, but her head did follow a few of the more uncommon races. When they reached the curiosity shop, Mateo was there and greeted them with a smile.

He appeared fit and capable of donning armor for battle. With Konstantin overseeing Adrian’s Rest across the street, it was no surprise that Mateo was training. “Viridia told me everything,” he said. “You must be Lexi! We can stable your horse across the street, and I can introduce you to my kids. Gilda said she wanted to prepare a special dinner for when you arrived, so I can introduce you to her after your horse is stabled.” Mateo winked at Castile and led Lexi away.

Selene turned to Sylph and nodded. It was decided that the ex-legionnaire would be Lexi’s bodyguard. The girl had too much potential to risk not watching her.

Castile continued on alone to Viridia’s villa. Not much had changed in the six weeks they had been gone, but it felt like a year. Viridia’s estate had more servants running about, though. Castile would have to scold her. Even with Octavius’ death, they needed to be careful. Their machinations still would have angered a number of people not yet dead. Castile handed her reins off and found Selene and Viridia in the baths. It was not long before she joined them. Selene smiled as Castile slid into the heated water, a contented sigh escaping her.

“We were lucky to have Lexi with us. But after so much riding, my bones still ached and longed for a hot soak,” Selene said, tossing Castile some alchemist balm.

Castile was not content to soak and not discuss business. “Since Eryk didn’t go to Renna, have we had any luck getting anyone else close to her?”

Viridia shook her head, no. “She has a mind mage at her side, Centurian Ona Severna, who has taken command of the Hounds. She has been a gatekeeper to audiences with Empress Renna.”

“Have you taken action?” Castile asked as she worked road dirt from her hair.

“As we talked about, I have loosened trade pressures to give the new Empress some victories. So far, she has taken advantage of them. But with so little known about her, I do not know if she can hold the throne or do well for the people. Eryk would have been an asset,” she added pointedly.

Castile’s stomach churned a little. She was glad Eryk didn’t rush off to help his past lover. She didn’t want to use him to rebuild the Empire. If he had chosen to, she would have asked for his help, but instead, he chose the necromancer. “There is no guarantee he would have done anything we wanted of him. Actually, I am certain of it. Eryk would have done whatever he thought was right—whatever thought that popped into his head.”

“Very well,” Viridia sighed. “Duchess Veronica is willing to try, but I do not think we should risk her to get close to the new Empress. We will watch from a distance for now until we can determine if Empress Renna is good for the Empire.” The three women discussed other operations in different kingdoms. Selene would need to return to overseeing trade operations in other countries, particularly the olive orchards, as the harvest was approaching. That was Viridia’s biggest asset, and they couldn’t risk it.

As they looked about to retire for the evening, Castile asked contemplatively. “Did you find Caracalla Lepidus?”

“No,” Viridia said unhappily. “In the last weeks, we have found a few other threads of Antonia’s network with Konstantin and Gilda’s knowledge, but the bone scriber remains elusive.” She cocked her eyebrow, “the consensus is he returned from the Isle of the Dead to try an save the Empire from itself and choose Antonia. When she was slain, he evaporated into the shadows.”

“Do you think he fled the Empire and returned?” Castile asked, drying off.

Viridia smirked. “Possibly. We do happen to have someone who is going to the Death Hunters. Perhaps Eryk can do some research for us and contact the Death Sentinels with an inquiry. There cannot be too many 2,000-year-old revenants wandering around.”

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