After suffering with Rafa for a half hour, Terezio hailed a cart driver and loaded the group onto the well-built wooden transport, along with their belongings. The floating disc was dismissed with a casual wave of his hand, and just a few choice, low words sent the driver into action. The road was well-paved and even, which was quite fortunate for the one still-inebriated passenger.
Rafa had every idea that he was the cause of the change of pace, but could do little about it besides try not to become too angry with himself. Having reached an unfamiliar and strangely pensive phase of drunkenness, he stared straight up into the sky as he lay on his back in the middle of the cart.
"These... these damned wars, you know... they're are all rubbish," he began as calmly as he could, lacing his fingers behind his head to keep them from twitching. "I mean, it's good sense to... you know, defend home and family, of course, but... but this... bickering, you know... over religion, and land, and laws, and... other things... it's idiotic. It's nothing to kill over. None of it."
"It is not," Aleksei agreed. "There are few good reasons to make war, though there are many reasons to fight."
"That doesn't make sense," Rafa responded, confused. He rolled over on his left side to focus on Aleksei, and noticed that Bahlzair- still covered head to foot with veils- had leaned his head on the Dragonborn's side like a devoted lover. "It just... war is just a big fight, is all."
"Not so, my lord," Silveredge replied. "A war involves many more people-"
"And not all of these people have direct stake in it," Aleksei finished. "Wars always are distant from the hearts of those doing the fighting. Even the soldier whose children the enemies are killing still is not having the entire war in his heart. He can only have the death of his children. Others are losing land or property. Others are taking offense to different culture. Others are gaining money from the buying of weapons or armor or potions- or something. So, this war is confusion of smaller fights, a storm of only partly focused fury. It is a monster of multiple heads- many times if one reason for war is going away or changing, the so-called allies are then making war on each other. This solves no one's problems. Always war is failing, because it is giving the right to solve the problems to he who is strong, not always to he who is right."
"Aleksei," Mi'ishaen sighed. "Even I'm having a hard time following what you're saying, and I'm sober, rested and fed. If this sot understood a tenth of what came out of your mouth just now, I'll be a demon's mother."
"Cram it! You'd be a demon's mother even if Pelor pegged you!" Rafa huffed, insulted.
"Sir, mind what you say to a lady!" Terezio objected, completely surprised at the soldier's words and tone.
"Almost I am forgetting that frenzywater makes some angry," Aleksei mused, leaning back and resting his outspread arms on the side of the cart. "It does not do this to me."
"You must have the constitution of a cold slab of stone," the elder mage commented from the front. "Frenzywater is extremely dangerous stuff- it's said that some carelessly attended bottles may burst when hit by the sun just so- ah, here we are."
The cart arrived at a stone-built center where there were more robe-clad citizens than soldiers or even commoners. There was a calm spirit of advantage there, as palpable as a heavy cloak or the heft of a weapon. The faces weren't hardened, cold or snotty, but were instead warmed by a shared sense of belonging that was foreign to most of the riders on the cart. At the horse's approach, a few of the privileged people briefly turned their attentions toward it, looking at each of the cart's riders with a guarded, but genuine cordiality. A deep brown haired young woman who had been reading a fresh-looking tome looked up and smiled as well, but drew purposefully near to the cart.
"Battlemage Ranclyffe?" she asked in a feather-delicate voice that didn't seem to fit her well-fleshed features. "Is this the male?"
"Yes, Eunice, just a moment-" the mage replied in a tight voice as he attempted to get himself down from the cart. His age proclaimed itself in his stiff, ginger carriage, and after a few moments of watching, Aleksei simply untangled himself from Bahlzair's arms and hopped out of the cart. Eunice was startled and moved back a few steps, which allowed Aleksei the room he needed to put his hands under Battlemage Ranclyffe's arms and lift him to the ground. At this movement, the gathering in and near the cart gained a few lookers-on.
"Bah, man," the mage grumbled, patting and smoothing his robe once Aleksei let go of him. "I was quite capable of getting down from there myself."
"If this is seeming like dishonor, then I am sorry," Aleksei responded, casting a brief glance at Eunice to check that he hadn't frightened her too badly. Once he'd satisfied himself with the thought that the young female was just fine, he turned and held out his hands to help anyone who wanted to get out of the cart. The veiled creature came first, delicately placing a sleek, ebony skinned hand into the waiting two toned hand.
"You never heard of ladies first?" Mi'ishaen grumbled, kicking Bahlzair in the backs of the knees. Aleksei softened the collapse, winding up holding the dark Elf as though they two had been freshly married.
"Am I to truly assume that whomever is under all that lovely fabric is male?" the bemused mage asked. "I wouldn't have thought you to be the one to complain about bad manners, my dear."
"Go on, tell him to cram it like you want to, and prove his point," Rafa laughed, pushing himself out of the cart onto still-unsteady legs. Mi'ishaen reached out to take advantage of his terrible balance, but her arm was caught by Silveredge.
"You lot may as well stay on," Terezio counseled, holding up his hands as he moved to the rear of the cart. "I've work to do with these three, but I have nothing to do with you."
"Why are you separating these from me?" Aleksei asked, puzzled. "I am thinking you are saying that you will again test us all for illness."
"And you thought quite incorrectly, my good man," Terezio replied, free of venom. "In fact, I'm rather concerned that the Tiefling will be nothing but a distraction, and I'd like to get down to business at last, since your convoy- what was left of it- was disgracefully late." With a wave of his hand, the floating disc that had picked up everyone's things at the ship materialized. "Take what things belong to you and this man, and let's be off."
And Aleksei simply shook his head, electing instead to stand absolutely still.
"Oh, dear," Eunice muttered. "This will be some fun."
"You, ser, are a prisoner," Terezio reminded in a lowered, but serious tone as he drew near to the Dragonborn. "Don't let my politeness fool you; you have no choice in what happens to you. And these women are better off making their own way without having to deal with the specter of your record."
"I am not having a record," Aleksei replied. "The commanding officer accusing me is dead. So are his charges."
"That's where you are wrong, ser. You are correct in that the two treason charges have been dropped, but the public indecency, assault and murder still stand. By all rights, I can put you right back on a boat to Urmlaspyr, claim that I cannot work with you, and fold my hands while you hang."
"And to you, this will be best thing you are doing for me since you are seeing me," Aleksei shrugged. "This male can do no harm to me; do as you will do."
"Well, of course he can't do you any harm right now, much to his shame," Terezio sighed. "And I don't intend to kill you myself, if that's what you were inviting me to do. You'll have to do better than that to agitate this old blood." He waved a careless hand toward Aleksei, and a radiant flash of blue appeared around his wrists and ankles for a brief moment before disappearing. Bahlzair hopped down out of the Dragonborn's arms at once; if the ankle that Mi'ishaen had nearly buried her fist into were still bothering him, there was no trace of pain in the movement. Niku, who had stood up in the cart without jumping down ahead of Silveredge, snarled just once, but menacingly. The mage began to move past Aleksei to speak with Eunice, but noticed that even Silveredge had put her body in the way of the Tiefling's sour-faced descent, and had leveled a solid stare at the veiled creature.
"Battlemages, I must remind you, are far from the squishier mages with whom you may have previously been acquainted. Now, sit back down in the cart, and be on your way."
"Cram it," Mi'ishaen spat at last. "We didn't come all this way to be shuffled off by the likes of you."
"Oh, there she... come, don't make things worse," Rafa affably suggested as he rubbed at his temples, which had begun to throb. "If you just... if you stay quietly, they'll be alright. They're... powerful. They'll be fine."
Aleksei closed his eyes and said nothing, but Eunice's eyes suddenly went very wide.
"Perhaps your handmaidens may simply walk where you walk, until you have arrived at your destination? Then our minds shall be at peace; we will depart quietly, and leave our lord in your care," Silveredge suggested.
"She's right," Eunice chimed in, reaching out a hand to Silveredge as though the battlemage had already given his stamp of approval to the plan. "If I had a close friend going to jail, I'd ask the same, at least- they're all only Hu- erm, mortal."
"A waste of time and energy," the mage sighed. "But not to be avoided without very certain violence, I see. You, Eunice, have been holding back in class. That's a very good use of the "detect" spell tree; don't do it again. Now, apologize to-"
"Nyet," Aleksei interrupted. "What she is doing is wise. She and the Shadow Child maybe will learn from each other."
While Aleksei hadn't shouted, the lookers-on that had been passively enjoying the spectacle began quietly commenting to each other about his words, and soon, there was a larger interested group that guarded a comfortable, but still fairly obvious, listening distance.
"There is no such thing as the Shadow Children; that's a story the Raven Queen worshipers were forced to make up in order to convince the Shadar-kai to forsake Shar," the mage countered in a raised voice, pretending not to notice the gathering. Realizing that they had basically been told to move along, those that had gathered moved in some separate directions- but not very far. "Now, that is enough out of all of you." Terezio gave a grunt of annoyance and turned on his heel, striding off without aiding Rafa at all. "Follow me."
Eunice, confused, prepared to get under Rafa's arm. Rafa, however, refused, finding himself at last able to move without feeling as though his brain were swimming in his head. The veiled creature leaned on Aleksei for support as it limped along, now clearly pained. Niku surged ahead of everyone to keep himself between the mage and his followers, and Mi'ishaen lagged behind, not even electing to join Silveredge's company. The group moved along silently like this past four smaller buildings before arriving at a well-lived in, cottage-like abode, where Terezio stopped abruptly.
"Eunice, why did you think to force that to limp all the way here?" the mage groaned when he noticed the veiled creature. "You were right near the study at the first."
"You said to follow you, so I did," Eunice countered. "You didn't tell any of us to stay behind."
"Yes, but common sense would tell you-"
"Rezi, behave. If she'd stayed behind, you'd have wondered why she didn't follow. She's here, so you harp on her about staying behind."
The sharp, clear voice reminded Aleksei so much of Trizelle that it took no effort at all to credit the willowy, fair-skinned woman that opened the door to the home as the court mage's mother. The looks loaned themselves to the thought as well; the fair skin that seemed as though it would burn if she thought to look at the sun, the piercing cat-eyed glare, and the thin, firmly pressed lips. However, while Trizelle was rounder and moved with some stiffness after holding a position too long, her matron carried her advanced age more delicately, with long, bird-like limbs and a frame so slight that it seemed as though she had very recently been unwell. She moved through the door and out into the open air with the ease and grace of a feral feline.
"If you hadn't guessed," she began with a smile that immediately set her apart from her daughter, "I am Battlemage Ranclyffe's wife- Drussandra. It's quite the mouthful; Druce is fine."
"Lady Druce, at least," Battlemage Ranclyffe sighed, frowning slightly. "Do remember that you're addressing commoners from Sembia, Dear."
"Untwist your knickers," Drussandra replied, offering her hand to Rafa first, then to Aleksei. When Rafa winced at recovering from his slight bow, the woman refocused her attentions on him, ducking below him slightly to have a look at his face. "You come right in this instant, young man. Rezi, you said the Dragonborn was the ill one."
"He is, Drussandra; would you wait a mo-"
"And keep him where everyone can scorn him? Come, boy, let's have you in- and the rest of you, of course." And without another word, the woman hooked her arm around Rafa's waist and pulled him toward the doorway. While her force wasn't much, Rafa moved along with her, not wanting to cross her wishes.
"My lady is kind," Silveredge answered automatically.
Battlemage Ranclyffe watched his wife usher Rafa in, but then moved to the doorway so that no one else could follow. "No, you women are supposed to go to-"
"Where?" Drussandra asked, turning over her shoulder. "They came with the male, correct?"
"Yes, but I don't need them; I'm testing him, not all of them," Terezio sighed in annoyance. "They won't all fit in the lab. We'd have to put them in the guest rooms."
"Lèse-majesté," Drussandra scoffed as she continued to move inside with Rafa. "I could do with guests in those rooms before the furniture collapses into heaps of dry mold."
"Your handmaiden did tell Battlemage Ranclyffe that we would leave when we had seen where he would take Aleksei..." Silveredge began.
Inside, Drussandra settled Rafa into a comfortable couch in the front room near the extinguished hearth, then returned to the doorway, where she poked Terezio in the side with one well manicured finger until he moved.
"Aleksei?" the slender woman asked with a raised eyebrow. "An interesting name."
"The Dragonborn," Terezio answered.
"Interesting. And you are?" Drussandra asked, leaning in the doorway.
"Jyklihaimra- but Silveredge," the Shadar-kai smiled with a curtsey. "And this is Mi'ishaen, and that inside is Rafael, and that-"
"Nonetheless, the Dragonborn and the Drow stay. These two do not," Terezio finished huffily. "Are you quite through?"
"No manners. Take your subject. I'll have a chat with the girls, at least, before you turn them out into the street like last night's piss pot," Drussandra sighed, standing up and crossing her slender arms. "Good evening."
"I am much thinking of how you look like Gospozha Ranclyffe, but also you speak like her," Aleksei smiled. "Are you also closely measuring your words, not wasting any?"
"Oh," Drussandra remarked, surprised. "Well. She listened. That's a first. Does she clean her room now, too?"
"Yes," Aleksei nodded. "One could eat a meal straight from the floor, if this is what they wish."
"Well! That's- that's amazing," the older woman grinned. "And has she gotten a husband at all?"
"That's enough, Druce; how should he know that?" Battlemage Ranclyffe griped. "Now talk to the women as you said you'd do and come inside, so that they can find a tavern to board in before all the acceptable rooms are taken for the night."
He moved past Drussandra and into the front room before he realized he'd made a mistake. Upon hearing the entire group come in behind him, he simply moved to his large chair beside the cold hearth, put himself into it and put his forehead in his hand. Mi'ishaen and Silveredge, tailed by Niku, came to a stop behind the couch where Rafa had laid down and fallen back to sleep. Aleksei picked up the sleeping soldier's trunk, sat down and laid him on his lap, turning his body so that he was no longer on his back. Bahlzair sat on the arm of the sofa and wrapped a loose, but possessive arm around Aleksei's shoulders. Drussandra moved out of the front room for a few moments, then returned with her hands clasped together. When she stood before Mi'ishaen and Silveredge again, she opened her hands and presented two tricrowns.
"Oh, come, did you have to rob me, too?" Terezio groaned, having picked up his head just long enough to note the gift. "I know you don't like it, but-"
"Now, when you go, darlings, pick me up something nice, won't you?" Drussandra asked with a daring smirk. Silveredge bit her lips, but Mi'ishaen nodded.
"I gotcha. More where this came from, if I do?"
"Smart as a whip, but you could use a bit more discretion," Drussandra retorted, her smirk widening into a smile. "Someone will certainly have a use for you."
"For goodness sake, Druce, put them out! What'll you do, be a fence now? Good night, ladies; there's a good pub just down the road. Let Eunice show you, hmm?"
"Keep your wits about you, ladies," Drussandra counseled as the dark haired Human caught the Shadar-kai's arm at once. "Hire a cart, if you can get it cheaply."
"Why should they worry about getting it cheaply when you're giving out coin as though it were easy to come by?" Terezio argued.
"Out of the two of us, you should know what those women are. Either we put them up properly, or we encourage them to fall into baser habits, turning them out into the street without a copper like that. In an unfamiliar land, no less. We're fortunate that they both speak Common."
"Alright, Mother, you've done your duty, now," Terezio huffed. "Eunice, away with you."
The assistant moved quickly, taking Silveredge along with her without much protest. Niku darted behind them, leaving Mi'ishaen lagging. When the door had closed behind them, Drussandra firmed her lips into a frown, then turned on her heel toward the kitchen.
"You are having many children?" Aleksei asked suddenly, looking up from Rafa.
"Two sons and one other daughter," Drussandra easily supplied before Terezio could even pick up his head again. "Federico, Ludovico and Teresa. The two boys are mages in the service of the Cormyrian crown, but Teresa just didn't want to be tied down that way. I don't know what it is about my daughters."
"They are maybe finding it hard to be like their mother," Aleksei shrugged. "I am much wanting to be like my father, but also it is hard for me, and I am making many mistakes."
"Oh- Aleksei, isn't it? Ugh. I could hope that you were wrong, but I fear you're not," Drussandra lamented. "But you didn't come all this way to discuss my parenting tactics. What precisely is the problem?"
"Brain worms," Terezio responded, almost unheard.
"I am not unwell," Aleksei confessed. "I am not certain why Gospozha Ranclyffe is deciding to say that I am."
"News. news and more news," Drussandra laughed lightly. "To discover that my stony, sour Trizzi has a heart and a brain after all these years is almost too much for this old woman. It sounds to me as though she were giving you a good reason to get out of the country, that's all."
"She's smarter than that," Terezio sighed, finally sitting up all the way. "The letter she sent was intentionally vague. I tried some divination, but the girl's still solid as a blasted rock, so I'll have to do a full evaluation all over again in the attempt to figure out why she even sent him to me instead of one of her other, published colleagues."
"Rezi, she doesn't think any less of you just because she's published. If there's one thing Trizzi has always hated about you, it's the way you sort the practitioners of magic into the super-elite magi and the so-called baser classes of wizards, warlocks, sorcerers and what-have-you. Thank gods, she hasn't done it a day in her life. And she, of all people, has all the reason to do so in the world."
"I am much wondering why she is pretending to be less than what she is," Aleksei piped up. "She is allowing others to think that she is 'doting hag'- she is saying this to me before."
"She's quite the opposite- which is the reason she was a challenge as a child, you understand," Drussandra sighed, moving closer to Rafa to check his breathing. "Rezi is a formidable battlemage, of course, and Feddi and Ludo are quite like him. Tessa ran off to be a druid, or something, and I try not to judge her for it. But Trizzi, well, she was another breed. Even with Rezi's seed in play, there's no earthly reason why I gave birth to that. She's been classified as an 'ultimate magus,' for... goodness... well, obviously more than six decades now... had to be registered as an 'unnatural magical threat' with the Alarphons- I suppose the equivalent of a magic-wielding policing department- since she was twelve years old. She hadn't even gone into the upper form in school yet when they first banged on the door for her. The boys were older, and actually teased her for it, but I think Tessa just couldn't stand to be in her shadow, after that."
Aleksei nodded slowly. "You are not mage?"
"Pah, no," Drussandra laughed as she turned toward the kitchen again. "Perish the thought. I'm a seamstress and a cook, dear, and a lucky one at that. Wait until Rezi tells you how we met- shall I set out five places for dinner, Rezi, or will they be taking dinner downstairs?"
"Downstairs, Druce; I'll have to at least pretend that whatever they might have is communicable until I've definitely proven otherwise," Terezio sighed. "Sorry for the tale. Get her talking about the family, and you'll never shut her up."
"It is as you are saying," Aleksei shrugged. "She is mother. You are maybe not telling her about Trizelle's son?"
And Terezio, for once, looked up with surprise in his face.
"Trizelle had children?"
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