Private Tales Home and Hearth

[Hugi]

The trip they all underwent had not been an entirely sour event. A few hiccups along the way had made sure to color their passage in a swath of emotions.

Disgust. Anger. Suspicion. Caution. A sprinkle of fun in between. All around not an entirely different venture for most nordenfiir in the broadest of ordeals. They were a hardy people, and hardship was hand in hand with their survival.

The large hall held a number of voices. Some raucous and testing, others subdued but intent. His own muted for the moment as he slowly scooted between seats and kept an eye over those gathered as he had done numerous times before.

While not the largest or by any true means the scariest man around. There was a weight to his words that carried respect more than fear. A chance to reconsider before ending io squashed beneath the bulk of his bear form wishing one had made wiser decisions.

He spied the whole hall before slowly ambling towards the seat that dominated the whole of the place. A seat of power, respect, finality.

And for him, it held warmth.

Although not so flagrantly as the torches that dotted the village at dusk. Which was pleasing in its own way to have such a precious thing saved for private moments. A small snarl caught his attention between two younger of their people as he passed by, earning a glowering stare from him in passing.

The small chuff from the seat found him passing by without Interference as he stepped closer to his goal.

Red hair glowed as bright as firelight in the dim setting. Expression riding between bland apathy and muted interest as he drew near with a sharp twinkle in his eyes.

The goofy grin could not be kept down as he kept a pair of mugs safe from spilling all the while.

Maude

 

[Maude]

Having returned to the capital with a fair fewer to their group than they'd left with certainly caused a fuss of gossip to spread. Had they died? What happened on their journey? Had one of them tried to kill the Queen only to fail?

Rumors Maude hadn't the patience to lay to rest. She let them run rampant, if for no other reason than it gave the people something else to talk about other than the hideous murders earlier in the season. She busied herself in catching up on her affairs. She spoke not of Indeholm to her Council yet, and given those that had returned with her an order to speak of nothing other than a storm had blocked their path. No questions would be asked - it wasn't uncommon for torrential winter storms to last weeks, if not a month or longer in the tundras. The wise decision was to go back the way you came and wait for it to clear.

Meal finished and very little left to keep her attention other than her own musings, the Nordenfiir Queen sat in her chair at the center of the high table with - yes, apathy and muted interest in the goings on around her. It wasn't until the oversized form of Hugi began to fill up her view that Maude blinked herself out of her daze.

A curved red brow lofted at the man and two blazing green eyes looked him over, landing on the mugs in his hand. "I hope you intend to share," she offered him a smirk. Hugi could put away ten of those mugs all in one sitting without a second thought, "the high table tax is one drink per."

 

[Hugi]

The goofy smile changed to a warm grin as he neared enough to hear her speak. The low throaty rumble of his laugh coming across the table as he set both tankards in front of her before seating himself.

"I would have the whole barrel 'neath my arm. But they were worried it wouldn't make it." He explained in the same warm tone and shrugging midway through. His green blue eyes met hers, wandering in them briefly. Were he a lesser man he might have shied away from exploring them to figure her out. Instead he only broke the gaze when the barrel appeared beside him.

"Ay, bought time you got here? Fend off a few along the way?" Alfy gave him a sneer before throwing a hand at Hugi's shoulder in jest. The quick glance at the tankards had Alfy nodding before further ribbing Hugi.

"You've a mind to not drink before you arrive 'fore the queen, then? Surprised them mugs made it 'ere. Might trust you with the whole thing next time." Came the reply before he walked off. Hugi kept the smile as he turned to face Maude and speak.

"You've dark clouds in your eyes, dear one. Now or later?" Hugi bothered to ask. At the very least a sign he was paying attention to her.

 

[Maude]

Now there was a man who knew how to get on his Queen's good side. Maude claimed one of the two tankards and drank deeply, downing the contents in the amount of time it took Hugi to get seated and have his exchange with Alfy. She suppressed a burp, allowing her thoughts to muddle behind a furrowed brow and sank back into her chair with a low but heavy sigh.

"You've dark clouds in your eyes, dear one. Now or later?"

Maude side-eyed him. Though schooling her expression into a place of neutrality that left many guessing as to her mood, she'd never been particularly good at keeping her thoughts from her gaze. Dark clouds indeed. The Queen felt like dark clouds were hanging over her no matter where she went lately. Indeholm had once been her favored Norden settlement for her wonder of their beasts, and now she found herself targeted by its Jorn and his followers. Where had everything gone so wrong?

Had sitting the throne always been such a task to her grandfather? King Iordahn had made ruling look so easy when viewed from afar. He'd always looked so calm and at peace. Maude just felt torn and in pieces.

"Do you think I made the right decision, Hugi," she asked him quietly, "coming back?"

 

[Hugi]

She mulled on his words, and the side eye she gave was met with a subtle rise of his brow. While he didn't know the in's and out's of ruling, he couldn't imagine the weight it had placed upon her.

A mantle of ensuring the survival of their people from threats offshore, and those of their own land.

Even being a bear three times the size of a regular nordenfiir didn't mean one was immune from the smallest of worries. Which was not to say the words she spoke were in any way a small issue.

His own thoughts on the matter still hadn't settled.

The strangeness of it all was still sorting itself out in his mind, and he hadn't fully comprehended the meaning behind their encounters. Or what had been missing. He knew on thing for certain though from the experience.

It was downright unsettling.

"I think i'twas the best choice, yes. Pushin' on might have brought worse yet than what lingered in that place. Foul things there." He snorted, a chill in his neck as his head shook in a not so subtle twitch.

"Think I can still smell the blighted things in my helm." He grimaced at the memory before giving her a longer look. A question burned in his mind, as he gave in to the need to ask.

"Are ye' wanting to go again? To find out I mean, what all tha' was?" His voice was low enough the atmosphere wouldn't betray the topic. Taking the empty tankard, giving her time to ponder, he was slow refilling it.

 

[Maude]

Bless the man. Or perhaps curse her limited grasp of proper conversational steering. Maude sighed to herself at the answer he gave - not at all an answer for the question she'd asked. Hugi was stuck on the blighted fortress, and were there no other pressing matters of foul and folly within her Kingdom she might've given it more of her time.

"No," she answered him with a short shake of her head, "whatever was there lives no longer. Magrin Kor has requested a position at the fortress and I mean to give him one. He'll maintain it for us, keep it running for those who use the pass, and in return he'll be well kept and have a place to call home. If more dark things return there, they will become his problem."

Maude turned her empty horn in her hand, absently running the pad of her thumb over the intricate patterns hand-carved into it, "I meant ... returning from the Summerlands. Ousting Borvenir. Would things really have been so bad with him at the helm, I wonder."

 

[Hugi]

Icy blues watched her, the switch in topics not what he had hoped for as she began the self-doubt. He leaned back in his chair, swirling the liquid in his mug as he gave himself time to ponder.

"I don't. The number of bodies lining the streets would have been worse with failures." He remarked quietly. "It wouldn't have stopped with securing the throne. Wouldn'a of been an end to the bloodshed. Merely a pause to rest and gather names."

The mug swirled towards the crowd around them.

"There wouldn't be a merry gathering wif no worries of a knife slipping in 'cause someone said the wrong thing." He explained, taking a sip from his mug, and looking at her once more.

"Unless you think that worthless sack would have 'ny sense to make everyone try to like him. Don't think anyone would say he'd been a fair and kind as you." Hugi spoke slowly, but firmly.

 

[Maude]

Her gaze drifted from Hugi to the crows of the Great Hall. The warm and happy faces of her people enjoying a night with family and friends. Their cares were laid to rest when she'd given the killing blow to Borvenir in the Frozen Halls - or so much as they believed. They didn't know the hornets nest of enemies presently stirring in the south, within another Great Hall where Jorn Aggar was growing his forces. She couldn't let that fester much longer or it would prove to become a much greater problem.

Yet Maude could not help but shake the feeling she had a mole in her Capital. She had no proof on the matter, but the Blodvalhar seemed curiously well-informed of Ranger and Scout movements. It was deeply concerning to her, especially now that nearly a dozen loyal Nordenfiir had been murdered for simply doing their jobs. She needed to keep Valthar close and well-protected but she, perhaps stupidly, allowed him to journey home to Faarin in preparation for the Pale King's Festival with his sister Brenna

Brenna was difficult to say no to. How could she when she'd dashed the girl's hopes and dreams of seeing the Nordenstrekkers and taking her first ride.

There will be more chances to come, I promise, she'd told her, but we must go back.

Maude's green gaze landed once again on Hugi, sitting quietly in consideration of his words at length before offering: "I think you might be a bit biased, Hugi."

The Queen smirked and nudged her empty horn toward the man for him to refill.

 

[Hugi]

Her eyes drifted, and his gaze fell to drink in his own hand. There was plenty to worry over, even without considering anything off the coasts of their home. It have been a bold faced lie to say he didn't worry about things himself.

But there were plenty smarter people for the larger problems without his head butting into the worry trough.

Her attention returned, his eyes darting up at the sound of her voice. A sharp arch of a brow didn't hide the creeping smirk on his face. His hand extended slowly, fetching the horn and opening the tap as the horn slowly refilled.

"I can keep my brains separate on that matter. You are the queen right now, and I've no less or more an opinion of ya' now than when you an I first met." The stopper squeaked shut as he handed it back to her, his voice dropping to barely more than a warm whisper.

"But my queen, as I recall, was quite thrilled about my...biased attention." He informed her before taking a swig of his drink to keep from adding more.

 

[Maude]

Maude struggled with the expression she wanted to wear. Truly, some times she felt at odds with the man. He had a most aggravating penchant for saying terribly nice things and then following them up with wildcard statements. The Queen usually kept her thoughts and feelings close to her chest, but having known Hugi for as long as she did made things difficult to hide from him. Maude smirked, allowed a shallow bark of laughter to part her lips, and claimed the refilled mug to a healthy swig.

"Endeared and grateful, yes. I'm not so certain about thrilled. I'm afraid I'm a bit too boring for that kind of emotional exuberance." Cut from a stern and serious cloth, she was. There hadn't been a lot of laughter or chicanery in her youth.

She let her gaze wander again, green eyes watching the filled hall writhe and undulate with moving bodies, chatter and laughter, stories and gossip. "I think I may skip going to the Festival of the Pale King this year ... it's coming up." There was a lot to do to plan and prepare for how she intended to deal with Jorn Aggar. The festival wasn't generally something she missed if she could help it, but it was falling at a bad time.

"Aether thinks I should go, to help boost morale and all those other meaningful things rulers need to do. The timing's just ... bad. What do you think?"

 

[Hugi]

Hugi chuckled to himself. Pleased at the slight disturbance he could grant to the queen if only to grant her a moment of laughter.

"Ay. S'why you have me around. Or at least what I tell m'self." He seemed pleased with the moment before she moved on. A curious glance to her mention of skipping the Festival.

Her explanation seemed, troubled. Just as much as the clouded thoughts of her rule. The question was sent his way, and he was all to eager to rile Aether up.

"As the queen needs. I think a person like me's able to forget that even those with a crown need tah step away. It's a far cry from everyone thinking like myself, which is a right dangerous idea mind-" he shrugged, smirking at her goal for a more in touch people. "But they need reminding that you are still a person, much like they are."

His beard bobbed back and forth as he weighed an excuse before sighing.

"I don' have any idea as to give for an excuse, but I wouldn't lie and say you got stabbed or nothing. Don't feel like having the whole lot of 'em staring me down." His eyes went wide for a second, casting them about the room before settling back on her.

 

[Maude]

"That's the rub of it," Maude mused, "I don't have a good excuse."

A stabbing certainly wouldn't stop the Queen from attending, and anyone who knew her, knew that.

"And just a person I may be, but I'm the only one here with a throne." And that alone set her apart from the rest. They would expect her to show, which should have been reason enough. Iordahn had never missed a single year of the festival - come storm, battle, sickness, old age, or war; the revered King had always made a point to pay his respects to the Pale King of the Sanctuary. What would her grandfather think of her if she didn't go? Hugi was placating to her needs. Again: endearing, but not what the Kingdom needed.

"You are terrible at this, Hugi," Maude gave him a flat glance that was fractionally in jest and planted her right hand on his left shoulder, "it is why I chose you as Father of the Heir for your heart and not your reasoning. We will leave for Faarin with the sun, but first," Maude fixed the man with a hungry grin, "I need a good bedding."

She rose from her chair, downed the rest of her drink and slammed the horn on the table, "SKOL!"

The crowds looked over at her, gave a brief pause in their merriment, then exploded in cheers to return the gesture. Hugi got a good verbal jabbing and applause of pounding fists and feet as the Queen took hold of his beard, leaned down and properly kissed him.

 

[Hugi]

His fingers held the drink firm as Maude spoke. Feeling about as handy as a hammer in a pottery stall, giving her a snort of acknowledgement to her comment of of Throne as he drank. The hand on his shoulder forcing the drink down as he wiped his face in surprise.

"Well I nev-" Hugi began explaining when she rose from her hair and called to the lot of those gathered. The last of her words clicking as she slammed the drink and he turned to speak to her again.

The grab of his beard drew out a sound of surprise before she planted her kiss. His brain pausing for all of two seconds before realizing he was the one for such a task. His hand let go of the drink, letting it topple and spill as it slid from the table to her thigh.

It didn't stop as he stood against the seat and sent it skidding backwards. The hand slid behind her knees, still locked into the pleasant surprise kiss she had planted before he hefted her up and tight to him.

The table jumped as he pulled her legs around it, twirling her on the outside of the table as he leaned against the table and steadied himself.

He only broke the kiss long enough to bark at those gathered.

"Keep outta my way or end up a rug you furbags!" Came the howling laugh of a command as he picked his way through the tables and feet with little mind for stepping on toes or spilling drinks. The whoops and hollers of laughter coming as he bumped several on his way trying to throw him off kilter and spill Maude.

His arms wrapped around her tight but careful as he moved. The grin never leaving his face.

 

[Maude]

The Queen's cackle was easily drowned out by the uproarious commotion of the hall. Jeers and laughter, hooting and catcalling. Someone graciously blessed them with a spray of mead along the way. Maude had since released his beard and wrapped her arms around his gigantic shoulders and legs around his broad waist. Upon reaching the great hall entrance, held open by two very helpful, grinning Nordens, they were greeted by the bluster of a snowstorm outside. Not that inclement weather would put a stop to them.

Just another evening in Nordengaard.

To Hugi's home they went, the closer of the two abodes, to become more acquainted with one another than they ever had been for the entirety of their lives.

Much later...

Maude lay over Hugi's bare chest, eyes closed, red hair and braids touseled, one hand propped beneath her chin while the other traced the line of a deep scar below his shoulder. The beat of Hugi's heart and the rhythm of his chest rising and falling in tune to his breathing could lull her to sleep most nights, but tonight she could not quiet her thoughts no matter how tired her body felt.

"I suppose I need to get a gift for the Pale King. Somehow my seasonal Ranger bow doesn't seem like it will suffice as an offering from a Queen." Maude furrowed her brow in thought, slivering green eyes open to look up at him, "What will you bring him?"

 

[Hugi]

The trip home had felt longer than the time he had been away from it. And yet the fastest he had ever bore himself that direction in his life. Intent and desire for more than just the physical guiding him.

Much later...

He basked in her presence. In her company as she lazily traced the remnants of battles past. Glory to some eyes. Bitter cost to others. For a cause worthy of earning it to himself as he focused on trying not to fall asleep.

The barest hint of her inclination to speak making him crack an eye open that had been attempting its best to cart him off into some fanciful dream that couldn't have compared to his evening.

He snorted at the ransom she figured would fail to be enough to pay her respects to the Pale King. His eyes searching the roof as she spoke and poked him for his own gift. A thought that had passed his mind before as he drew in a breath.

"A fine cloak. Wrapped around a fresh whetstone and a blood tub of the best mead I can get a hold of." He offered his response with the tiniest shrug. "Hikolt had a good batch before the deep snow set in."

His eyes opened a bit further as his hand brushed against her shoulder and traced her side. A feather touch to remember.

"The comforts of home. Of people wishing you well and hearty."

 

[Maude]

The Queen smirked, a mirth of mischief playing about her face as she tugged the man from the first dwindling hums of sleep. He would have to get accustomed to sleepless nights if he was to share a bed with her for any extended duration of time. Gunnar avoided it entirely by drinking and passing out, which was his prerogative as a chosen mate who would not likely produce any heirs of hers for years to come. If he didn't get himself killed before then.

But Hugi? He would not be spared. If the Queen did not sleep, neither would the Father.

"That sounds terribly wholesome," she poked him idly in the chest, "its no small wonder the Pale King doesn't lead his herds right off the map with how much drink is gifted to him..." but Hikolt did make some damn fine mead if she did say so herself.

"I think I will give him my mother's swords..." her only prized possessions to remain with her since Borvenir's coup. She'd cast away nearly everything else in her escape to the Summerlands, but the twin solstal swords belonging to her mother and inherited after her death had remained. "It is time I lay her spirit to rest."

 

[Hugi]

"The Pale King might be the just that, but seldom does one think to treat him as kin rather than legend." He grimaced at the poking, wondering how oft it would be he shared a full night's sleep beside her.

Even broken sleep would be well worth it looking at her.

Her comment about the herds had him grinning though, a silly thought passing his mind.

"Might be worse off without the drink at this point. Accustomed to the winding paths existing only after the nectars passed his mug." He chuckled as she mentioned her gifts. The cheer and jovial mood didn't flee, but they were tempered by the weight of her choice.

"If you feel it is time, then that would be a glorious gift." Came the comforting words, arms gently squeezing as he smiled. "I think the Pale King would be quite pleased to have those we've lost beside him."

His hands were not idle as he spoke. One rubbing a long path from shoulder to lower back while the thumb of the other rubbed a spot on her shoulder. Comforting motions rather than inviting one's.