March 23, 708 CR
Charles was grateful that his children so loved to be with him that even when he was schooling them they didn't cause much trouble. Early morning had been spent in play, but, the weariness finally getting to him, he and Kimberly had settled them down in their quarters in Long House and were doing their best to keep them still long enough to learn their letters.
In his days as Headmaster for the Writer's Guild, he'd had only a few opportunities to teach letters; most of the applicants came already knowing how to read and write, very few came with only their imaginations to offer. And they had been youths on the cusp of manhood, either Cursed to remain forever at that age, or made into an animal too small and weak and without a warrior's disposition to compensate.
His children were not even a year old, and while they had already mastered many words, they were still very, very young and if not for his deep love for the four, they would have surely driven him to impatient swearing. But he did love them and so whenever their little paws took the bits of wood he was rearranging into letters and started to gnaw on them, he could only laugh.
Kimberly watched as he sprawled across the floor in his four-legged form, moving the bits of wood back and forth to form each letter in turn, naming the letter and making his children practice the sound until they could say it without squeaking. Her paws were busy stitching the fabric closed on several little dolls she was making. They were all little animals of one sort or another, and just as likely to be seen for a real animal as they were another Keeper. Little Bernadette was already hugging the first one she'd finished, the little horse's head propped up beneath her snout, while her wide eyes fixed on her father's letter craft. Little Baerle kept looking over at her Mother wondering when her doll would be finished.
And just as the last of the thread had been sewn into the fabric, a gentle knock rapped at their door. The children leaped to their paws with a chorus of squeaks until Charles bid them to behave themselves. Their barely repressed excitement made his quadruped steps feel even lighter as he went to the door to see who had come calling. On the other side he found a black-and-white furred man standing only a little taller than he, with a jewel-studded leather patch over his left eye. Charles nodded to the skunk, "Master Murikeer! Welcome; to do what do we owe the pleasure of your company?"
Murikeer's long tail danced briefly behind his head and his muzzle lifted in a smile. "I just came by to see how one of my students and her children were faring. I'd heard you'd come back, and I'm very glad to see it."
"Don't make him stand in the door!" Kimberly called, as she presented a little stuffed fox to Baerle. Charles's youngest daughter gasped in delight, pressed the fox to her snout and then chest and hugged it tight. "Master Murikeer, please come in and sit with us for a few minutes. Children, please welcome Master Murikeer."
All four ran up behind their father who stepped back out of the door way. The boys bowed and the girls tried to curtsy. "Hail, Master Murikeer!" they all intoned with ritual gravity.
The skunk's delight swept over his whole body, resembling a joyful peace that only a child could instill. "Hello little ones! I brought you each a present." Their eyes widened and they bounced on their paws, tails tangling together behind them. Murikeer reached into his satchel and produced four little quartz stones bound in a leather loop, each of them small enough to fit in the paws of not-quite one year old rats. "Now hold out your hands," he said, and they did so eagerly, each of them pressing closer to the skunk who bent down, tail curling around his legs, to be closer to them.
He placed one stone each in their paws, and then said, "Now blow across them."
They did so, and little sparkling lights like stars danced across the surface of each stone, reflecting through its translucent depths as if it were a will-o-wisp trapped within the crystal. Charles smiled in wonder at so simple a delight, and his children squeaked in amazement, words lost on them as they marveled at the sight. "What do you say?" Charles offered gently.
"Thank you!" they squeaked, not even bothering to look up so rapt were they by the swirling little stars on the stones. The stars glowed alternately a bright green or blue, then to a somber red, a pale yellow, and a fiery orange. Those little lights danced in his childrens' eyes, and everything else was forgot as they did.
"All right," Kimberly said as she stood up and brushed out her skirt. "You four run along and play. And don't you put those stones in your mouths!"
They didn't need any extra encouragement, darting back into their room at the top of the small landing. Murikeer chuckled under his breath and closed the door behind him. "If I am interrupting something, I can return another time."
"Nonsense," Charles beckoned with one paw to the cushions set against the stone wall beneath the little landing. "You are always welcome. Come. And thank you for the gifts; how long will the magic last?"
"It shouldn't fail, not for a long time," Murikeer added as he sat cross-legged opposite the two rats. Kimberly reclined against Charles's lower torso and he wrapped one arm over her shoulder. "And before you ask, no, they will not hurt the children even if they try to swallow them. The magic in each is bound to the first to blow across them, so you don't need to fear them fighting over whose is whose!" He smiled and nodded. "I am glad to see you all doing so well. I would have come sooner, milady, but I fear my talents were taxed just to keep Kozaithy alive."
"I heard," Kimberly replied with a faint tremble. "She is recovering well?"
"And should be ready to travel back to the Glen tomorrow. I intend for her to rest, and Glen Avery is a much better place for it than Metamor."
"It is much quieter there," Kimberly agreed. "Things seems slower and more relaxed there."
"Not always," Charles grunted and rubbed his jaw. The soreness was nearly gone now but every once in a while it gave him a twitch. Jo and Lady Avery would have pitched a fit if they'd seen him change into a taur, but the metamorphosis had never touched either damaged ribs or jaw; that and it so delighted his children.
"But often enough," Murikeer finished the unspoken thought. "She wants to be here to help the rest of the refugees from Bradanes, but in this I am going to insist. There's so many here now as it is."
"I'm surprised we haven't seen more up at the Glen to be honest," Charles said. "We could use a few dozen more able hands."
"They will come," Kimberly assured them both as she ran one paw along Charles's very long tail. "There are already so many down south, they'll need to come north of the Keep to find places to live."
"Speaking of which, that is another reason I wish to return to the Glen. Lord Avery has given me a parcel of land for a homestead and I should at least inspect it to see if it will suit me." The skunk spread his paws wide and glanced at the walls of fitted and cut granite around them. "I prefer the woods."
"I do not blame you. We are returning to the Glen after Liturgy on Sunday. You both would be more than welcome to come with us. Garigan will be there too, but another pair of paws to keep watch on the children would be ideal."
"In two days? That will suit me fine, and is probably better for Kozi too. I will tell her." Murikeer smiled to them both, and then with a little flick of his wrist, created a witchlight which he sent drifting straight to Kimberly. She raised her paw, caught it between her fingers, and then twirled it around a few times until where one had been now there were two circling each other like fish in a pond. These she sent right back to the skunk.
"It pleases me to see that you are still practicing, milady. Your skills grow. And it would please me to continue to instruct you when we return to the Glen. Have you given any thought to the instruction of your children? I see you are teaching them letters." He sent the twin lights to dance around the wooden letters that Charles had started to arrange into `RAT'.
Kimberly frowned as her claws tangled around one scraggly hair from her husband's tail. "If you are willing, then perhaps in a few years when they are older and can sit still long enough, but for now... they're just children; I still clean their sheets almost every morning."
The skunk laughed and shook his head. "I did not mean begin training the now, milady. They are too young still, as you say. But my offer to you stands. And you, Charles. I know a little about the magic of stones. Perhaps I could help you as well."
"Living with stone and living as stone are very different things, Muri. I'm trying not to spend as much time using the stone as I have of late. But, perhaps you can tell me if there are ways I can do things more safely. I've... taken some terrible risks in the past and have nearly paid for it with my flesh." He curled his hand more firmly over Kimberly's shoulder and she leaned into his lower torso, her tail sliding against his flanks. "One of the mountains in the Barrier Range tried to turn me into an ore deposit, and very nearly succeeded. Agathe almost trapped me in a cave wall of slate." That last was almost a curse. Even though he was flesh, the granite in him seemed to bear ill will against certain type of stone!
"Helping you understand it and better put it to use is all I wish to do," Murikeer replied with a slight smile,nodding to each rat in turn. "That and help you in case Marzac should reach for you through the stone. Kayla told me how strongly the gryphon counseled you against it."
"Indeed," Charles admitted with a nod and a grimace. How well he could remember Guernef's vehemence at their parting three weeks ago. "Thank you, Muri, I will take you up on that."
Murikeer smiled and then stood. "Thank you, both, Charles, milady Kimberly. Your children are a true delight. I wish I could stay longer, but I need to check on Kozi. I will see you both again soon."
"Give her our love and let her know we are praying she makes a full recovery," Kimberly said, jumping to her paws and placing one paw on Murikeer's. He tightened his grip on her fingers briefly and smiled at the edges of his snout.
"Thank you again." He and Charles shook paws as well, and then the skunk slipped back out the door.
Charles stretched all of his limbs, rubbed his chest briefly, and then glanced down at the half-formed word, and then looked up at the door at the end of the landing from which emanated many excited squeaks. "I suppose we should let them play a bit longer."
Kimberly laid down and stretched out on the cushions. "I agree." A coy smile stretched across her muzzle. The two witchlights danced in merriment as Charles laid down at her side.
The Deaf Mule was only half full when Charles arrived that evening. He'd already shared a good meal with Kimberly and his children, and had left them in Garigan and Sir Saulius's capable paws. Though he missed having them at his side, he felt a great joy in the thought of seeing so many of his traveling companions again. It had been a month since they had all been together, and so much had happened to each of them in that time. He looked forward to an evening of recollection and reconnection.
It surprised him to find so few people enjoying the famous hospitality and merry-making of Donny's Deaf Mule – not even Copernicus was there towering over the pool table and disappointing all challengers – but it did make it much easier to find his friends. Standing toward the far corner of the Inn and tavern were a familiar skunk and hawk locked in animated conversation. The hawk noticed him first, turned her head, and spread one wing to beckon him.
Charles did have to slip past a few tables where merchants from within the Valley were enjoying a boisterous meal, drink, and game of cards, but they were the only patrons so animated. The rest sat in pairs or trios quietly eating and talking, most relaxed, some hushed, and some few anxious. What few humans were about were all already Cursed; not a single visitor the Valley remained, nor were any expected to come in any numbers for another week or more, excepting perhaps the last of the Bradanes refugees seeking the healing powers of the Curse.
"Kayla, Jessica," Charles said as he stepped around the last of the patrons, and came into sight of their table. It was a long table with benches on either side that could easily seat twelve. Already seated there and talking quietly were his friend Lindsey, and Kayla's love the Kankoran Rickkter. Charles hated himself for it, but he did stumble a moment when he saw the raccoon there. Their eyes met briefly, and then both looked away.
Kayla grabbed the rat in one arm and pulled him closer. "It's so good to see you. We're still waiting for James, and Rick here invited Murikeer to come as well. Have you enjoyed your time with your family?"
"The last few days have been some of the most enjoyable I have ever had. But it is so good to see all of you again." He stepped up to Jessica and was enveloped in her wings. "Jessica." He turned and there was Lindsey, standing up, bright red braids hanging down to his waist. He felt a meaty hand rest on his shoulder. The rat looked up and clasped his friend's arm. "Lindsey. How are you?"
"Managing well enough," the northerner replied. "I have to return to the timber crews in the morning. We're cutting the forest back from the roads near Sawtry. It's only a few hours ride to the edge of the Curse from there, and bandits from the south have been hiding in the woods."
"Then they will certainly need your axe." Charles sat down at the table, as Kayla and Lindsey joined him. Rickkter nodded in his direction, and Charles noted that he looked in much better health than the last time he'd seen him. "You seem to have made a full recovery, Rickkter."
The raccoon offered a thin smile. "More than recovered. I'd help Lindsey deal with his bandits if Misha didn't keep promising me he'd need me for some grand scheme of his."
"That is rather like our friend," Charles said, trying to keep his voice amicable. "So why..."
"Am I here?" Rickkter finished for him. "Because Marzac has touched you all and somebody needs to make sure you aren't going to turn into some stinking dragon and try to eat us all. I understand James recently had a little bell that caused you some problems."
Charles rubbed his jaw and nodded. "He destroyed it himself. So what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to keep watch on all of you. If there's any of Marzac's corruption on any of you still, I'm going to find it." He crossed his arms and scowled, though not at the rat. It was a more universal expression of the great inconvenience and irritation that all things Marzac had become for the raccoon. Kayla slipped an arm around his shoulder and drew his snout toward her own with her other paw. He let her do this, and their noses touched briefly, the grumpiness ebbing from his body as they did so.
"I do wish Abafouq, Guernef, Andares, or Jerome could have been here," Jessica opined softly as she settled on top of a perch at the head of the table. "I never realized how much I would miss their company until they were gone."
"We may see them again," Lindsey said as he ran his fingers down a red braid. "Jerome may only have kept away because of the plague. We might see him again in a few weeks when word reaches him."
"If he knew, he probably would have found a way to check on me," Charles pointed out. "Wherever he is, I hope he is all right." The rat laughed and felt the vine about his chest pull a little closer. He had returned it to its place in his back shortly after returning to a two-legged body that afternoon, and its soft embrace comforted him. "Somehow I can't imagine worrying about Andares or Guernef. But Abafouq... I hope he comes back. I can't imagine him trying to live up in the mountains again."
Lindsey patted the rat gently on the back. "That little man is quite the survivor. I wouldn't worry about him."
"That he is, but... " he heard a familiar set of hooves clopping across the wood and turned to see James, dressed in his scouting gear, slip through the crowd, long ears lifted and eyes wide as he looked for them. Charles smiled and scrambled up from the bench. "James! It's good to see you again!"
The donkey and rat clasped each other on the arms, then hugged, laughing and slapping each other on the back. Lindsey was at their side a moment later, to give James a firm hug as well. Jessica and Kayla were quick to follow suit.
"It's so good to see you all again," James nearly brayed in his delight. "Lindsey, Kayla, I haven't seen either of you in weeks. How are you both doing?"
"How are you doing?" Kayla insisted, guiding the donkey to the table. "Charles and Jessica told us about the bell. You have to tell us too."
"Aye," Rickkter agreed as he leaned forward across the table. "I don't see any corruption on you anymore, but I am going to make sure of it."
James glanced back and forth between skunk and raccoon, and then the rest of his friends, before settling down on the bench, tail dangling behind him, the tuft flicking back and forth as he tried to decided which question he should answer first. At least he turned to the skunk and said, "I'm doing very good. Baerle and I have been on patrol this last week up north of the Glen. It's been... very good for both of us."
Charles grabbed his friends shoulder and squeezed lightly. "And does she have feelings for you too, my friend?" Kayla and Jessica leaned forward anxiously.
James frowned, lowering his ears. "Some, aye. She knows that I love her no matter what. I don't think she's used to the idea that somebody could."
He gave his friend one more gentle shake. "She'll come around soon. She's a good woman; I'm so very happy for you, James."
"Yes, yes," Rickkter muttered. "But what about the bell?"
Kayla swatted her raccoon in the chest. "You wait your turn!" She then was all smiles again and practically half stood up in her seat as she learned toward the donkey. "So what's she like?"
Charles and Lindsey glanced at each other and chuckled. Rickkter gave the skunk a reproving look before rolling his eyes and standing up. "Fine, you get your gossip. I'll go get us some drinks and then figure out what's keeping my student." Laughing, Kayla gave him one more swat with her paw as he left for the bar.
They were joined a candlemark later by Murikeer and Kozaithy. The white-furred skunk looked tired, with heavy eyes and often distant expressions. But most of the time she was in good spirits and listened with rapt attention as James told his story, and then as the rest of the travelers recounted their adventures and many memories of each other, the places they had seen, and their friends departed for our lands. They ate a hearty meal of stew, with a fruit cobbler using strawberries fresh from the greenhouse, and washed it all down with Donny's mead. Even Rickkter, though constantly denied his opportunity to discuss Marzac's corrupting powers, nevertheless relaxed and enjoyed himself.
Donny brought coffee around after they had finished everything, and the sharp brew cast a serious edge on their gathering. They each sipped, the jovial conversation dwindling as the candles continued to burn low, the hour drifting well past the time for the evening meal. The patrons of the auroch's establishment were now coming for cups rather than courses.
Charles cradled the cup of black brew and cast a glance over his shoulder at the other patrons, before shaking his head and turning back to his friends. "It's so empty here. I've come here for years now and can't remember the last time I saw it this empty."
"There's no merchants left at Metamor," Rickkter pointed out as he lifted his cup to his snout. His tongue darted out and gave him a quick taste. "And all of Metamor's merchant class is out traveling too. More patrols than usual are out too. Have you seen George anywhere? Exactly. DeMule? Him too. Even Copernicus. That lizard left to head up a sweep through Lorland two days ago."
"And you're stuck here," Lindsey noted with a curious quirk to his lips.
Rickkter growled as he darted another taste from his coffee. "That too."
"Well," James suggested in a somewhat more assertive voice than they were used to hearing, "we're all here now. You wanted to examine us for Marzac's touch?"
"With Muri's help," Rickkter nodded to the one-eyed skunk. With three skunks all in close proximity, the mage's scent-masking spells were appreciated by them all. "He can see these things better than I can. Between us, if there's anything there, we ought to be able to find it."
"What do you want us to do?" Kayla asked.
"Stand where we both can see you. And then just stand there until we say otherwise," Rickkter suggested, pointing at a spot just past Jessica where a lantern hung from the wall casting bronze light on their table. Jessica hopped from her perch until the lantern illumined her chest and beak.
"Will this do?" she asked.
"Aye, that is perfect," Murikeer said as he stood up and stepped around to her other side. "Relax and do nothing."
Jessica remained standing with her wings folded around her chest while Rickkter and Murikeer stared intently at the hawk. A few of the other patrons pointed at them and laughed, almost certainly thinking them well and truly drunk. Jessica paid them no mind, nor did the mages. Charles stared in anxious hope. What if there was some glimmer of corruption yet waiting to blossom in horror as had nearly taken place in Lindsey, Kayla, and James? What if some of it was clinging to him eating away at his conscience and seeking some entrance into his soul? How would he really know?
They sipped their coffee while they waited, but after several exhausting minutes, both Rickkter and Murikeer found some wall or pillar to lean against as they shook their head. "I saw nothing unusual," Murikeer admitted after catching his breath. "You've been casting some interesting spells lately, but nothing dark."
"I've made Maud into a giraffe," she admitted with a shrug of her wings. "I can see things about the Curses that I didn't before. It's part of the gift that Pelain of Cheskych gave me when I passed through the Imbervand."
"Pelain of Cheskych?" Rickkter asked in astonishment. "No, don't bother telling me. But I want to take another look. You say you can see the Curse better? Maybe there's something there."
"I use it to help people," Jessica objected, but then she sighed and nodded. "But please check to be sure."
Charles turned his cup around in his paws, first to the left and then to the right as he waited. Murikeer and Rickkter traced their paws in the air, as if drawing away cobwebs only they could see. Jessica remained placid, keeping her eyes closed, her breathing deep and peaceful. A subtle wind seemed to catch at her feathers, lifting them and blowing them back and forth, but none of those sitting at the table felt even the slightest stirring of air. The neck fur on both raccoon and skunk stood on end.
"Nothing!" Rickkter said with an exasperated sigh as he slumped against the wall. Kayla reached out a paw to steady him, but the raccoon was pushed himself off the wall before she could reach him. "Nothing at all. If there's any corruption on you, Jessica, I can't see it, or even a hint of it!"
"Neither could I," Murikeer admitted as he rubbed at his temples around the edge of his eye-patch. "Maybe we should check those who we know were tainted. James first; his is the most recent. It might show us something."
While Jessica moved to the other side of the table, the donkey stood and moved to just beside the lantern so that everyone could see him easily. He wrapped one hand about his wrist and waited, long tail flicking back and forth while his ears turned at every laugh, every swill, and every bawdy joke erupting from the other patrons in the main part of the Mule. Murikeer and Rickkter exerted themselves anew as they poked and prodded at the donkey with their minds.
But Rickkter gave up in disgust, grabbing his coffee and lapping the cup dry. "This is disgusting I hate Marzac! I can't see anything unusual at all with you, James. You look like any other Keeper."
"Maybe because the corruption was in the bell and not in me. And the bell is gone."
"Possibly," Murikeer admitted as he rubbed at his forehead again. Kozaithy rose and brought him his cup. But the mage glanced at it, grimaced, and shook his head. "I think I'd rather have some tea, thank you, Kozi."
"I'll fetch you some." So saying, the white-furred skunk took both Muri's and her own cups back to the bar. A few drunk patrons whistled in her direction, but nobody did more than that. Muri watched her go and glowered at the ribald drunks.
Rickkter rubbed his paws together, fangs set tight in his jaws. "Marzac's magic is damn difficult to find. It's like it's not even there. Jessica shows nothing; James who was just freed from it shows no signs of even being manipulated by magic. And I've looked at Kayla often enough in the last month to know there's no sign of evil on her."
"You had better have been looking at me for more than evil magic!" Kayla said with a little arch laugh.
Lindsey snorted into his coffee, and even Charles had to suppress a laugh to keep from spraying what he'd just drunk all over his friends. Rickkter blinked and glanced back at her for a moment before his eyes warmed and he shook his head with a laugh. "Oh, aye, I have definitely looked at you for more than just that, my love."
"Good. Then I will let you look at me for evil magic one more time... now that you've something to smile about!"
They waited for Kozaithy to return with the tea which Murikeer downed in one gulp. After the skunk's headache was soothed they examined Kayla. After they found nothing evil or even a suggestion of evil about her, they did the same for Lindsey. Again, their efforts were not rewarded with any hints as to how the last remaining dregs of Marzac's power worked.
"You mean there's just nothing that you can see?" Charles asked in disbelief.
"I saw it all while in that damn Belfry," Rickkter scowled and smacked his fist in his paw.
"And I saw it at the Patriarch's camp, and in Sathmore. But I don't see it here. And, now that I think of it, I didn't see it when I fought Agathe either. I only saw it after she fled and then only because she used the same magic as she had in the Patriarch's camp."
Though Charles had already heard the story of how the skunk had braced the corrupted Runecaster in a narrow mountain pass near Silvassa and how he had only narrowly survived when she fled after the siege engines began lobbing heavy boulders at her, it still amazed the rat and his friends that Murikeer had faced that woman alone and survived. After an almost involuntary gape, the rat managed to ask, "Well, what of me then? You have yet to inspect me."
They did so without delay. While none of the others felt any of the magical probing, Charles could not help but feel a sense of nausea as soon as the Kankoran reached out and brushed his will and power across his Sondeck. There was something about the magic common to all Kankoran that was instantly recognizable and instantly revolting to his own innate magical power. Charles grimaced as he felt the intrusion like a strand of kelp brushing at him from whatever side the waves swam across. Every touch was as caustic as rubbing the underside of a fern, and as uncomfortable as a roll in a field of brambles.
Even Rickkter appeared to feel discomfort, his face growing pale beneath the fur, and his eyes draining of their amber light. Yet, his determination was stronger than his revulsion. But as the wax dripped and Charles felt every part of his spirit prodded until he was nothing but a prickly anxious mass with hackles raised and whiskers tangled, Murikeer and Rickkter continued their inspection. It was all he could do to keep from turning to stone and diving into the floor to escape.
But the agony ended, and with a firm hand, Murikeer led the rat back to his seat, while Rickkter slumped down in his. The skunk smiled and then frowned. "There is a lot of strange magic about you, Charles, but I cannot see anything that looks evil. Peculiar, and some of which I've never seen on any other, but none of it looks evil to me."
"Plenty that I didn't like the look of," Rickkter muttered as he downed his coffee in one swallow. "Damn, I need more mead."
"We've had enough," Kayla reminded him. "So there's no sign of Marzac on Charles either?"
"None," Murikeer admitted with long sigh. "Maybe its power is spent?"
"Maybe it's more clever than we suspect," Jessica suggested. "So far it has used temptation to strike each of us. And it has isolated us from our friends. Lindsey was tempted with the thought that she carried Zhypar's child." Lindsey grunted but made no reply to this. "Kayla was tempted with the thought of saving you, Rick, while James... was tempted by his love for a woman."
"More or less," the donkey murmured. "The bell wanted me to believe I was nothing without it."
"So whatever it is makes you rely on it above everything else," Murikeer mused as he rubbed at his temple again. "That means you each need to keep watch that nothing demands your loyalty more than your friends."
"I can't think of anything that has asked so much of me," Charles said and then shrugged his shoulders. "But if you all see that something is, or if you think something has, let me know. I don't want to put my family in danger."
"Nor I," Jessica added.
Lindsey stroked one of his braids and then crossed his arms over his chest. "But we have only your word to take on that. We've all gone our separate ways; how can we keep an eye on each other?"
"Well, James and I live at the Glen. I hope he'll keep an eye on me."
"I will, Charles." James's lowered hie ears and frowned. "You did for me."
"And Jessica and I are here at Metamor now." Kayla smiled at the hawk who nodded in return. "We can keep an eye on each other."
"That's more than I thought we had," Lindsey admitted with a heavy sigh. "But it will strike suddenly, and it will seem the most natural thing in the world to listen to its voice." James nodded as the northerner spoke. "And before you quite realize it you will be in its clutches."
Nobody said anything for several long seconds. Both rat and raccoon continued to breath heavily as they brought their respective magical essence under control again. But the rest held back from any noise as they pondered Lindsey's words. When the silence was finally broken, it was Jessica's strident speech that lifted their minds from introspection. "If it comes on us suddenly, then we ought to meet regularly so we can keep watch over each other. With the plague ended, we can do this again."
"And either Rickkter or I can be here to help," Murikeer offered.
The raccoon grimaced when he was volunteered, but he did nod. "And this time it won't be a month later either. I've got ways of making sure I remember things."
Jessica turned to him blinked her wide intense eyes, and cawed, "Good. This is something we don't want to forget."
"So what now?" Charles asked as he managed to get his stomach back in order. Was it any wonder the Sondeckis and Kankoran were at war with each other? Even touching each other filled them with revulsion. "It is late and my family will worry about me."
"How about one more round of drinks," Lindsey suggested. "And the promise of another round next week."
"Now there's an idea I like!" Rickkter laughed as he straightened up in his seat. Kayla rolled her eyes while James and Murikeer got up to fetch another round for their friends.
March 24, 708 CR
When Sir Saulius learned that Charles was taking his family to see the pageant being put on by the Magyars he insisted on coming. "Magyars art a filthy people who dost steal children and raise them to their trickster ways," he declared with as much dignity as he could muster to cover the obvious loathing he felt for them.
"Oh you know how much trouble they will get into if they try anything like that. I have already lost one child and will not lose another!" But the momentary heat in his voice had given way to mirth. Charles had assured then his friend with a laugh, "Besides they kept trying to entertain us Keepers all the while the plague was scaring everyone into hiding. And I hear that they won't be leaving until every last one of them is Cursed. That shouldn't take more than another day or two. When else will my children have a chance to see so many strange jugglers, tumblers, and the like?"
"We hath festivals here at Metamor with such men," Saulius had replied with a scowl fixed even to the ends of his whiskers.
But, not only did Charles wish to see what the Magyars could do, his children were even more excited by the prospect of the exotic and perhaps a trifle dangerous Magyars. Kimberly had also told them the stories that the Magyars stole children, especially misbehaving children, and so they stayed very close to their parents, their little paws holding to either their father's cloak or their mother's skirt, when not propped in their father's arms. Saulius walked behind them on their way through town, eyes wary for any danger.
By midday, the air was pleasantly warm, though a steady breeze from the south suggested that it would rain that evening. The Magyars had arranged their colorful wagons in ranks two deep near one of the inner walls in the Killing Fields, while arranging benches in a semicircle outward toward the row. The assingh, the giant Steppelands donkeys, were set to grazing on the other side of the wagons from the road. Bright pinions, banners, and streamers were hung from wooden poles erected on all sides. They were such a mishmash of colors, red, yellows, blues, greens, and a cornucopia of other unnameable hues, that there was no way to mistake this people for anything but Magyars.
Near the entrance, a lithe ferret woman was performing a salacious dance dressed in a patchwork vest and legging that came down only to her shins, revealing all of her ankle and newly clawed hindfeet. Her tunic was little better, emphasizing a modest quartet of breasts stacked in pairs, the edges of which were visible through little breathing slits in her garment. She twirled little batons around her in a complicated dance, each one ending in a streamer that coursed around her body in very suggestive ways, as if they were the hands of a lover caressing her body.
Kimberly dragged the children past the beastly Magyar as quickly as she could. Charles blinked in surprise a few times before he felt a death glare and hurried after his wife.
They found seats with a good view of the main area between the wagons and the benches; they kept the children between them, the boys next to their father and the girls next to their mother, while Sir Saulius sat right behind them to keep a very stern eye on them and the Magyars performing for them. When they arrived they found seven Magyars, three children, two still human, and a couple who were part beast, all juggling various things from balls, to torches, to knives, to axes. Sometimes they would juggle by themselves, other times they would begin to pass them back and forth, interleaving them through the air so that it seemed everything should clatter in and crash to the ground, but they always missed. Charles couldn't help but be impressed by their consummate skill and timing. Kimberly stared in wonder, and his children all oohs and squeaked their delight, especially when it looked like one of the axes or knives was going to strike a Magyar a fatal blow, only to be snatched from the air at the last moment and sent skyward again. Sir Saulius grumbled in disgust the entire time.
Other Magyars performed contortions that made even Charles flinch in disbelief, while still others walked about on stilts taller than a house whilst playing various drums, pipes, and stringed instruments. There were a good number of children running about as well, and Charles couldn't tell which of them were naturally young and which had just entered a second childhood. There were a few women and men amongst the performers who were buxom or broad in a way that suggested they had suffered the gender swapping Curse, but since they were all wearing the same sort of patchwork clothing, trading skirts for the women in place of baggy-legged trousers for men, it was hard to tell if they were even Cursed or not. But about a quarter of the Magyars were unmistakably like the Metamorians now they were were clad in fur, scale, or feather.
Charles's children oohed at all of the displays, and when a pair of ladies, one of whom was now a dark blue, short-winged, long-legged bird, came past carrying trays full of little morsels, they squeaked and clamored to have a taste. Their father made sure he paid for every last bite lest the Magyars feel cheated, and even tried to buy some for his knight who would have nothing to do with it. Pastries with bits of meat, cheese, or even potato greeted their noses and tongues, while they were given to drink fresh milk from the assingh. It had a thick creamy flavor that Charles found a bit too strong for his taste, but in short gulps it washed down the pastries well enough.
Keepers of all sorts came to watch, though the few Charles knew to be well-to-do merchants were careful not to bring much money or finery with them. Soon enough they had an ever changing set of neighbors on either side of them enjoying the performances with them. Even the other rats showed up later that afternoon though they were forced to sit elsewhere. Charles was amused at the way they artfully dodged the Magyars coming to offer them vittles by moving around the crowd even faster. As they passed behind him, he caught a glimpse of why – both Julian and Goldmark were carrying rather sizable money pouches on their hips. It seemed that their wagon-sleighs were rather profitable already.
It was difficult to keep the children still for very long, as they wanted to jump off the benches, scamper forward, and start playing with the Magyars, especially the Magyar `children' who were juggling and tumbling. Every time one of the children looked ready to bound out of their seats, Sir Saulius would say, "If thou dost play with them, thou may ne'er see thy mother and father again!"
Kimberly would scold the knight for scaring her children, but never too strenuously as it was clear she worried about it too. Charles just stroked his boys between their big ears, and then did the same for his girls to sooth their excited but suddenly frightened nerves.
By the time the afternoon rolled around, all of the Magyars gathered together and started their pageant. Each of them took on various roles, with lots of intricate costumes to make monsters of antiquity appear on the field. An older man now sporting graying feathers and the spindly body of a stork narrated a tale of romance, treachery, great battles, and woe. It was set in ancient age, out of the very legends of the Steppe, the Åelfwood, and Vysehrad. One of the principle heroes was in fact the great hero of that era, Pelain of Cheskych. Suitably, the Magyar portraying that ancient knight had been transformed into a wolf with a regal mane of silvery-gray fur. Charles wished that Jessica were there so she could see this and comment on how close he behaved to the man she met in the Imbervand.
Now that the Magyars were telling a story instead of merely performing tricks and wild antics, the children all settled down and watched with rapt fascination, ears tilted forward, eyes wide with wonder. Little Erick swung his arms as if he were wielding a sword and he was Pelain battling off hordes of golden monsters coated in scales and fur. Little Bernadette and Baerle kept asking Kimberly if the heroine, played by a Keeper who must have been a man a week ago but now was a svelte and stout woman with eyes as blue as a bird's and a face both soft and stern as if weathered by the Steppe winds – and her chest was prodigious enough that many a Keeper's eyes never even noticed her face – was going to marry Pelain or when Pelain would rescue her from the villainous horde or the enigmatic elves, both of whom at one point had this radiant beauty in their control for their own ends. Of course, there were also Magyar characters in the tale, mostly a brother and sister, one of whom was played by the same four-breasted ferret that had greeted them when they arrived; she also drew the wandering eyes of the men, and the baleful glares of the women.
The tale and performances were so engrossing that even Sir Saulius leaned forward in his seat to get a better view. And when the brother Magyar suffered a very tragic death in order to save his sister from one of the golden demons, he had to fight back his noble gorge. Kimberly didn't cry, but many of the other women watching were dabbing their faces and snouts. Little Bernadette and Baerle were tugging on their mother's sleeve and asking her in quiet voices if the brother would be okay. She assured them that he would even as the actor spent the next five minutes dying in as dramatic and overblown way as possible.
By the time the performance came to an end, clouds from the south had covered the sky and the threat of rain was quickly becoming a reality. Charles and Kimberly scooped up their children, and with Sir Saulius and the other rats close behind them, headed straight for the Keep. Goldmark offered to carry the children on a taur back, and Kimberly gratefully deposited both girls there once their friend had changed. Which of course meant that Charles also had to become a taur to carry his boys. For the sake of propriety he ducked into an alley with the other rats forming a wall to guard his modesty. It was the only pause on their way back through Keeptowne, and it proved one pause too many, as less than a minute before they reached the Ivy Causeway and the safety of the Keep's walls, the sky opened and poured its contents in thick sheets down across the Valley.
The Keep was kind to them and led them quickly to Long House, where all of them gathered around a large fire in the Matthias home there. The children barely waited to be dry before the boys started arguing which of them was to be Pelain and which the brother, while the girls tried to settle on who was the sister and who the yearning of Pelain's heart. As Kimberly tried to get them to take turns in each of the roles, Charles turned to Sir Saulius who held his tabard closely over his chest as they huddled around the hearth drying. Neither Charles nor Goldmark had bothered changing back to a two-legged stance and so they reclined at either end, allowing one side each to be warmed by the flames.
"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"
Sir Saulius's snout took on a disquiet moue. "They art very talented in many different ways." He narrowed his eyes and his whiskers lowered. "I dost too love the tale of Pelain and the demon horde of Kolovrat. I hath ne'er heard it since my youth." In a softer voice he added. "But 'twas brother and sister from a horse clan and not Magyars that didst come to great Pelain's aid!"
The other rats chuckled at their friend's bruised pride, but none said word against it. Hector and Elliot turned to watch the children playing, while Goldmark took a brush and began to work over his long back, and Julian opened his money pouch to quickly count his coins.
Charles noted the latter and asked, "How does your business fare, Julian?"
"Very well," the white furred, red-eyed rat replied. He closed his pouch and then smiled. "The plague and the fate of many of the merchants who'd been trapped at Metamor only to suffer our fate, has helped convince many of the foreign merchants to use our services to ship goods into and out of the valley. Two days ago we bought an old Inn and stables in Laselle that had been run down. We're converting it to apartments for our drivers and for our factors there, and in another few months we'll have built a warehouse as well to store goods as they are readied for transport. And while Keeptowne and Euper were under quarantine, our shipments across the Valley turned quite a bit more profit than we expected. We just didn't see any of it until the quarantine came to an end!" He laughed and then stretched his arms wide. "I do wonder how long it will be before many of those merchants come back here; they've nowhere else to go."
"Thou shouldst not take joy in that terrible time," Sir Saulius chided, the moue having never left his snout.
Julian lowered his arms and wrapped his paws around the end of his tail, rubbing the tip with his thumb. "I know. I knew somebody who died from that infernal plague. But it does no good to castigate ourselves for the good fortune we receive even when another suffers."
"That is very true," Charles said. He stretched the toes on his forelegs, and then shifted a little to let the warmth sink into his other side, taking care to hold his tail to keep it from accidentally sliding into the fire. "And I know you better than that, Julian, but it does seem a bit unseemly to talk of how good the plague was for your business."
The frown on Julian's snout deepened and he narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going to apologize for our success, Charles. I wish it hadn't come this way, but I'm not going to apologize for it. I'm excited that we have met with such good fortune so soon. We may not fight with swords, but merchants fight nevertheless, and the combat is brutal and unforgiving. One day you may have money trickling off your nose, and the next you can be selling the shirt from your back to pay off creditors as rapacious as sharks!"
Elliot and Goldmark looked a little embarrassed at their partner's vehemence, and the former was quick to add, "We don't want to be sharks ourselves, Charles. The more business we can create, the more wealth we can bring to Metamor. Tell him what we did yesterday, Julian. That was a wonderful sight."
"Ah, yes," Julian said with a nod and a renewed smile. "We took a goodly sum of the profits we'd made and gave them to the nuns, and then we offered a gift of supplies to Healer Coe. We may not have been able to save any lives from the plague, but don't for a moment think I'm not grateful to those who did!"
Charles held up his paws and shook his head. "I am not angry with you, Julian."
"Nor I," Saulius interjected.
"I just felt uncomfortable. You know what I had to face because of that plague." He turned his gaze to Kimberly who had managed to get the children to finally agree. They were now acting out some of the scenes from the pageant but mostly just bonking each other on the head with their chewsticks.
Julian caught the glance and then took a deep breath, the agitation bleeding from his flesh as the dampness fled from his fur and garments. "You're right. Forgive my thoughtlessness. Is there anything we can do for you? You are our dearest friend, and one of the few I know I could lay down everything for."
The white rat's voice was so sincere that Charles actually wanted to reach out and hug him tightly. But he restrained himself to returning a broad smile. "That won't be necessary. But I do ask that you all come visit us at the Glen more often! We'll be returning there tomorrow and..."
"And you'll be riding in one of our wagons," Julian piped up with a boastful grin. "I insist!"
Charles laughed. "As I knew you would. We'd be delighted to accept your offer."
Sir Saulius gave Charles a curious look. "Didst thee not wish to ride Malicon back to the Glen?"
"I had not forgotten my steed, oh my knight!" Charles replied with a laugh. "Of course I shall, but I will be riding beside Julian's wagon if not leaning across it the entire way back!" At that all of the rats, his dear friends and those with whom he felt such a comfort and camaraderie that he could not explain, broke into hearty smiles and laughter. No more words were said, nor could they have been, as they turned their eyes to watch the children play while the fire dried the last of the rain's torrent from their fur.