Private Tales Into the Hearth

[Michiko Nishanti]

“Very well, I won’t kill your son. I am your guest, after all.” Michiko stood back and waited as Cedric called for the hush. He named the boy, Sterling Silverblood. A name Michiko would keep in her mind. Token of the evening.

The crowd lulled with the information, bets casting between each as Ainyo came and took Michiko’s arm, a sorrowful turn to her elderly face.

“I am sorry, Mi’lady. I know you were looking forward to a good meal.”

“Events are what they must be. We all suffer what we must.” Michiko kissed Ainyo’s brow, sorry most for the promise of safety the Silverbloods gave, and how it seemed to be dashed by an unpleasant boy.

“I require a katana, or pair of bodkins. If you do not have such implements, I will take a single arrow with no bow, dulled at the arrowhead.” Without giving Rurick as much as a sideways glance, Michiko left the hall only after she conversed with the Lady Silverblood and offered her own apology for the conversation which led to this destruction of her plans. Michiko offered to compensate the Lady Silverblood, to help in any way she could to ease the tensions still lurking.

Only once that conversation occurred did Michiko venture to her fellow archers, and dressed in her leathers, a pair of well worn leather trousers, linen blouse and a doublet of green leather shaped as large leaves. A solid leather belt cinched at her waist, the womanly form of Michiko Kaho displayed more than a woman’s dress.

She took her weapons, the twin daggers and tested the weapons’ weights, practicing her knife work in the air. Fluid and graceful, as if the knives were extensions of a single weapon. Michiko’s entire troupe of archers and warriors ventured from the ship, watching in quiet repose and betting heavily.

Four of them guarded Ainyo, who was seated upon a chair the elven warriors procured from the house. She was surrounded by servants of House Kaho, of varying age and skill, all who wore the greens and blues of her House.

Michiko saluted her opponent, silent and narrow of eye. Her body was eager for the exercise, muscles holding the inner calm of a warrior who ventured through much worse than this.

“May this duel absolve the House, who offered much freely and whose child spoke much in ignorance. May we speak no more of it once concluded.”

Kaelen Silverblood

 

[Kaelen Silverblood]

The dueling arena was found in the castle courtyard. It was well built and designed for function. As simple as it was though it was still beautiful to behold. The edges were painted gray and blue. The colors of the SIlverblood family. The people from the hall earlier were all gathered as well as some of the guards and servants. They wanted to see what this was all about. Drinks and hand food was all readied for the watchers as well. Servants carrying them moved through the crowd to offer both.

In the dueling ring stood Rurick holding onto several wooden practice weapons and a wooden practice shield. His face seemed somewhat bored. Lord and Lady Silverblood stood before two seats on a raised platform in the spot with the best view of the ring. The face of Lord Silverblood showed his disappointment in his son had not waned. Lady Silverblood wore a noblewoman's mask that hid how exactly she felt from those in the crowd. For Michiko Nishanti however she would be able to tell how her disappointment in her son was even deeper than her husband and her anger at the way things had gone.

Young lord Sterling was standing there impatiently. He wore red and white. As Michiko entered the ring she would notice the young man did little to acknowledge her. Even after her words he just looked to Rurick and said, "My weapon and shield."

Rurick looked to the young man and said, "No."

"What do you mean no?"

"No as in no."

"What? Why?!"

"This is an honor duel not a brawl. Answer respect with respect or you lose before even starting."

The young man would scowl at the knight, who didn't seem to care or be bothered. Eventually Sterling looked to Michiko and said, "No hard feelings when I win."

The knight just sighed then turned to Michiko. "Kids." He then handed her a bokken. It was in good condition but was beginning to show some age. It was as if it had been sitting in the armory for several decades with little use. Next he handed over two small wooden daggers. After he turned to the young man and handed over a wooden sword and the shield. After he backed up to the rail and got into position to judge.

"Touch blades and then you can begin." Rurick said. Sterling held up his sword uninterested in the action.

 

[Michiko Nishanti]

The duelling arena was as impressive as the rest of Silverhearth. Cords of silver and blue mixed with the diligent upkeep of a place which probably saw some great amount of use. As Rurick coldly passed the bokken and twin knives of wood, Michiko bowed her head, accepting them all with both hands, as was the custom of respect in the Yamatakara.

"Thank you, Sir Rurick." The disrespect of the scion was made all the clearer, when Michiko felt the rain-like torrents of his parents' disappointment. Rage. A simple and dour weather pattern in this microclimate around the arena. Wonder abounded, along side confusion, anticipation and sparks of resentment. Anger.

How could this unappealing, frightfully rude boy one day become Lord Silverblood? What would become of them all? The thought roiled round in a raucous breeze of parental disappointment.

Testing the bokken's weight and breadth, Michiko nodded. Her companions milled about around her, soaking into the crowd, instead of cloistering. As her archer company drifted through the collected people's making bets and cheering with the good food and drink, Michiko realized which of the emotions swirling were hers.

Resentment.

She resented the boy for ruining a utopia in which she could live, free and hale. She hated that the enticement of a land of honey and sweet wine was laid out before her, then swept away by a cruel and unappreciative child. All her people, who walked joyfully feasting, would because of this boy, this Sterling, be bereft with nothing but memories of an exiled home.

As she saluted the Lord and Lady Silverblood, who sat upon their seats, banner of the House round about them, Michiko mourned. The realization was a brush of the sun on her back. Servants fed those round them, freely given by the hearth.

‘I want to stay.’ One thought, which shattered the wilted and longing heart within her. Michiko shut her eyes and inhaled the atmosphere of this paradise. She wanted Kaelen Silverblood to be both a good man and a strong warrior. She wanted him to be a dedicated husband, or at least kind enough in his retreat from the potential matrimony to allow her and her people to stay in some corner of the Silverhearth. She longed to know her Ladyship better, to joust words with Cedric and see irises and water lilies grow in Mia and Kell’s garden. And this boy. This Sterling was tearing it all away.

Michiko turned to Sterling, flourished with a salute and bowed. Moments speaking with Lady Silverblood would be lost, the safety of a loving home gone.

All because a boy thought himself a king.

She gripped the bokken in both hands, feeling the smoothed wood many likely used in their training.

“I was in combat, before your great-great-grandfather was a swell in his mother’s belly. You are a child without kindness, mercy or honour. And when you lay on this dirt, I will deign to show you each.” Her bokken’s last remaining inch touched upon his sword, and without another moment lost, immediately set upon him with a righteous fury.

Forward. Ever forward with two-handed diagonal strokes to surround and force him inward and back.

How cruel was mankind, whose lives were so short that even if Kaelen was the future love of her being, she would be fated to more time with Sterling, than him? Zal knew best how to punish with time’s lash, striking flesh that eventually would sag and wrinkle as Sterling grew stronger.

A blink were these times before them. And the horror of knowing this small ring was her only viable baptism which could allow her past heaven’s Silver Gate.

 

[Kaelen Silverblood]

The young man barely had time to raise his shield to block as Michiko Nishanti began her assault. He knew what she was after, but there was nothing he could do to stop her. With each blow he found himself a half step back. He needed to counter. That was what his tutor in the sword had taught him. Block and counter. Block and counter. Don't get yourself cornered.

Sterling was getting cornered. Frustration and insecurity began to break through his arrogant mask. A drive pushed them forward. Not a need to avoid humiliation but a need to win. A hint of fear mixed in with it. With each blow from Michiko these emotions grew.

The young man looked back and saw the edge approaching. It was far too close for him. After blocking one blow he tried to push her bokken back and took a swing at her. It was not as tight and controlled as he was clearly trying to make it be. It held a wildness too it of haste, of desperation. It was too wide and left the young man open for counter.

 

[Michiko Nishanti]

Michiko strafed to the side in a diagonal closer yet to him as his swing slashed wildly in. He was a menace and a boy. A cruel mirror of the negatives of humanity given voice by his serendipitous position born into the Silverblood House.

The boy may have brought a shield, but he had no bulwark. Already his ineffectiveness with sword and shield were showing. While a katana was a two handed slashing weapon, Michiko released her grip with her right hand and stabbed upward, into his stomach. His opening would have been perfect for a slash, but that could have been shrugged off. A stab from the wooden blade would wind and bruise, yet it would not kill or cut.

Closer now, closer and with reach inside to cut his advantage further, Michiko struck up from the stab to his stomach to slash at his arm with a hard smack to the tendons of his wrist. In the uninitiated, it could ‘pop’ the practice weapon out of his hand, leaving only his shield, but Michiko counted on nothing.

A surge of insecurity poured through the ring, taunting the anger to its true source. So now that he was receiving the penalty for his inappropriate actions, he was sorry?

A man took his punishment. A true teacher doled it out with haste. While there was more to Sterling, first the boy needed to be beat down before any perceived value could rise.

Kaelen Silverblood

 

[Kaelen Silverblood]

The swing missed and a stab to the gut was Sterling's reward. He grunted and coughed from it. Instinctively he backed up and swung his shield in front of him again. This didn't stop the strike on his wrist. He barely managed to keep his grip on his sword because of his unintended retreat.

A flair of frustration and more insecurity followed as Sterling realized what he had done. Warriors should do everything with purpose and intent. They should control themselves. None of that was him right now. She could see it and knew it. He knew she did. The frustration and insecurity grew more. Yet the drive behind it did not falter.

Sterling steadied his stance and grip up. He got his shield in front of him and tried to advance. Advance with caution but still advance. If he kept the shield up between them and let her tire herself out. Maybe try to swing when he had an opening. Yes, that was how he could win this. So he just advanced.

Michiko Nishanti

 

[Michiko Nishanti]

The boy would be taken apart, one limb at a time. He would be left with nothing but his convictions shattered on the duelling ground, devoid of the ego and the aggression which led him to attend an adult’s party uninvited.

Those who tore down others would be torn down to the bone. Only then could they be built up in the correct fashion. Sterling returned to what he knew, his only combative foundation, and Michiko knew there was nothing to be done but a thorough and karmic beating.

As he swung his shield, Michiko side-stepped to his sword-side. As he advanced, Michiko roared with a banshee-like scream as she took his forward momentum and stepped diagonally to the side of him, his own forward motion opening his sword-side to another slash to his kidney and a boot to his backside.

Michiko yanked her boot up and attempted to kick him hard in the lower back. If he wanted to move forward, she would aide in his momentum.

Kaelen Silverblood

 

[Kaelen Silverblood]

Things were not going well for Sterling. His advance forward got him struck in the side, which about winded him again as well as hurt, and then kicked in the backside. It caused him to stumble which made it easy for her following kick into his back to send him forward. Tripping over and falling flat on his stomach was the least of his problems as well. He smacked his face into his shield and stabbed himself in the thigh while smacking his groin with his wooden sword.

A pained grunt and wheeze left his lips as Sterling curled up a bit on the ground. The only emotion from him was pain as concern came from his parents.

The boy tried to get up but it wasn't working so well. The pain in a rather private place and near to it was making that difficult. Clumsily he stumbled as he tried to get back onto his feet. It was an act that required him to plant his shield into the ground and use it as a crutch to get up. He was vulnerable the entire time if Michiko Nishanti wanted to take advantage of it during the honor duel.

 

[Michiko Nishanti]

Michiko stalked forward and kicked Sterling hard in the back of his thigh, right above the knee. Not permanently damaging, but smarting enough to keep him from utilizing it fully without a temporary limp. It would mark him for days, if it landed… but the bruise would fade.

“I walked in the sun before your House knew your ancestors. Now here you are, hitting yourself with your shield. All because you used no caution nor decorum in front of your mother’s guests. This was Lady Silverblood’s supper, and you bit when you should have watched with grace and waited.” Walking to where he fumbled with rising, Michiko thrust her bokken straight against his ear, then attempted to draw the wooden weapon against his neck, standing behind him to subdue without lethal damage.

“Apologize to your parents. And most importantly, apologize to the citizens of Silverhearth, who were made to cower and be uncomfortable. A Lord or heir, who makes their people quiver is no Lord any should follow. Look at them. Your injuries were greater to those who you will eventually lead.” A chance. While she restricted no air, beyond a potential struggle, Michiko attempted to lift Sterling to his feet, and grab his shield arm at the bicep.

“Apologize, Sterling Silverblood. Or you disgrace yourself further and damage your birthright.”

Kaelen Silverblood

 

[Kaelen Silverblood]

Sterling cried out as the kick hit his thigh as Michiko Nishanti intended. He nearly dropped again to the ground, but managed to keep himself up. It was humiliating. The difference in skill was clear, but he wasn't about to give up. He couldn't give up. Frustration, insecurity, humiliation, drive. She could feel it all clearly. He wasn't aware she even could. Something his father had not shared with him. So he was not even attempting to keep it hidden.

Her words felt like knives being stabbed into Sterling's back. Was her beating of his form not enough for her? Hostility. She wanted to make a complete mockery of him. Of his house. That drive began to grow. With a sneer he glanced over at her. He picked up his sword as he yelled, "Shut up! You don't know us! You aren't one of us!"

Sterling readied his shield and sword as he faced her. He was near the arena wall yet again, but didn't notice. All he saw was his enemy. Frustration, hostility, drive, humiliation, insecurity. It all was a swirling vortex of emotion. It was something only one going through puberty could experience so greatly. Michiko could feel it all.

As best as he could, Sterling rushed forward. There would be no swing from him. He planned to ram into her with his shield and knock her down. But he stumbled. His injured leg was preventing him from doing as he wanted. He didn't stop. He stumbled again. And then again. This would not end well. Not that he knew or cared.

 

[Michiko Nishanti]

“No, I am not one of you.” Michiko grunted in his ear, “A guest in one’s Hall is to be more treasured in company than family, or did your saintly mother’s lessons not sink into your skull?”

The boy was reeling. Hostile and as secure as his faulty footing. He needed guidance from his betters, and the attempt at honest conversation. Men. They needed to take more care in opening up to their sons, so their sons might open to others. This boy needed a teacher and confidante to unload these negative emotions swirling around him.

“The emotions of the young are so… overwhelming. I’ve forgotten how much you lot feel and how intensely.” Shaking her head with a downturned expression, and readied her bokken. Every stumble of Sterling’s she stepped to the side. Always to the side and closer in diagonal lines meant to tire and trap him. Give her access to his back before he turned.

She slapped him with the wide edge of her wooden blade on the shoulder, sword arm and back as she could. Constantly in motion and easily drifting away from his stumbles.

“You will exhaust yourself, Sterling. Bend your knee and give up. This rage within you does no one credit.” Yet, he did not. Sterling kept using his rage and his insecurity to fuel another attempt. The boy was going to hurt himself. “You fought and are outmatched. Set down your shield and blade, and allow those who see you to see your wisdom and not only the determination and ire inside. Be prudent.”

With a sigh, Michiko slid past another of his charges, rotating her body with a powerful black-out kick to the back of Sterling’s head. With any accuracy and any luck, it would knock the boy down, and out for a few precious seconds, so this match could end.

Kaelen Silverblood

 

[Kaelen Silverblood]

Beaten and bruised. Sterling knew all too well the condition he was in right now. Humiliated and frustrated. Everyone knew how he felt. How could they not? She was handling him so soundly. He had no chance of winning. At least he didn't if she was taking this seriously, which she didn't seem to be. So instead of listening to her he moved forward. A few more bruises wouldn't kill him.

Again and again Sterling charged Michiko Nishanti as best he could in his ever worsening condition. It was brash, idiotic, and reckless. Nothing good could come from his actions, but he didn't care. He was beyond being rational. A giant rushing mass of raw emotions was all he was.

The strike to the back of Sterling's neck had more than the desired result for Michiko. It indeed knocked him out, but the recklessness of his actions had put more momentum into his fall. Not only was he out cold but he had stopped breathing. Laying there he looked like a corpse.

A shocked gasp left the lips of the crowd. Cedric and his wife both shot up from their seats. A horrified squeak even left the mother's as she saw her son go down. Her arrogant, stubborn, reckless son. Rurick moved over quickly to the young man. He tapped the young man's face hard several times. A wheeze came from Sterling then he began to breath yet again. The knight announced he was okay and had lost the match.

The knight looked down at the young man and just shook his head. Recklessness had cost him the match and caused a panic.

 

[Michiko Nishanti]

The boy winded himself on his own exuberant desire to rage. He never should have rushed into the Hall. His rage was a palpable fabric on the landscape of the duelling circle. Once he went down, the rage dissipated with the insecurity and fear.


While Rurick checked to see if he was breathing, Michiko went down on one knee out of respect to her fellow duelist. The crowd cheered, her House Kaho people jovial and unbothered by the moments before Sterling began to breathe. If Michiko wanted him dead, he would have died in the first seconds of the bought. Their mistress was playing with the child, seeking and investigating his anger and disreputable behaviour to see from whence it stemmed.


Sterling breathed, and Michiko released her practice weapons to a squire on the sideline, before bowing to the Lord and Lady of House Silverblood.


"Your Lordship and Ladyship, I have done as requested, and treated your son with a firm, but gentle hand. Honour shall be restored. It is my hope the lesson did sink through."


Where was his uncle, Kaelen Silverblood ? Clear to Michiko was the boy's need of his idol, and now Michiko was more intrigued indeed of what sort of man could have such an effect even in his absence. She stood at Attention, respectful and proud in Wait for the word from Lord Cedric.

 

[Kaelen Silverblood]

A sharp bit of anger would flare up for a moment from Lady Silverblood at Michiko Nishanti words. An instinctive reaction any mother would have being spoken to by the one who just beat her child into a bruised bundle. But calmness was quickly restored and genuine gratitude began to surface. The Lady of the house knew this was something her brash son needed to experience. It was not going the be the last whipping he was going to get either.

Michiko would receive a nod of thanks from the Lady. Cedric stepped down and into the ring himself. A nod was directed to Michiko as he did. Once in the ring he announced that the meal would still be held if delayed. Everyone had about two hours to right themselves following the excitement. The young man had come around and was helped to his feet. His father whispered words into his ear then headed back inside. From the look on Sterling's face it was clear he dreaded whatever it was that was said.

After nearly fifteen minutes, a servant came to Michiko to guide her to speak with Lord Cedric once more. This time it seemed it was to take place in his study. A pair of guards, one human and one dwarven, stood outside of the doors leading to the study. The servant opened one of the doors for her and motioned for her to enter. None of them followed.

What Michiko would find was a large room filled with scrolls, books, tomes, and other methods of recording information. Many items ranging from mundane to having a faint magical presence about them were on the walls as well ready to be used. A large, flat table with a map of the Silverblood lands was sprawled out upon it. Markings of key settlements, forts, and locations were all over it. It was clear it was a planning room. A smaller set of doors were further in. They were slightly opened. It was enough to allow voices to carry in from what lay beyond but not enough to effectively see those speaking.

With her acute elven ears, Michiko would begin to hear the voices of Cedric and Sterling speaking to one another....

"-dic said I would be fine." Sterling's voice said in a submissive, respectful way.

"Physically yes." Cedric's voice replied. A pause and the sounds of nervous steps. "Why did you do all of this? It is not like you Sterling."

"Because I had to."

"Had to?"

"Yes. She is our enemy and you were throwing her a party."

"Your mother had this dinner planned out months ago. We just moved it ahead so she could see us and our people."

"She is our enemy though."

"She is not our enemy." Cedric was firm before the pause. A sigh followed. "How is she the enemy?"

"She is an eastern elf. They want us gone. She is clearly here to kill you and mom and, and, and everyone! She wants to control our house and so will marry uncle Kaelen. She is going to take over his mind and then kill everyone."

A chuckle came from Cedric. "What? What kind of fae tale are you spinning in your head? She is not. Such a plan is sure to fail."

"It is not a fae tale! That happened to House Jerglen after the dark magic war."

"Ah yes. Borrick did say that happened, but he is not trust worthy. Morris speaks of the rumors, but dismisses it as hostility. Misfortune befell that house not an elven plot. The house might be small, but they still exist and are loyal to Mystmarch."

"It is not just rumors! It happened and it is happening again! She is going to-"

Sterling's voice ended. Emotions of all kinds would be coming from the room. Anger. Disappointment. Frustration. Soon enough foot steps sounded coming to the doors. They were opened up to reveal Cedric with an upset Sterling further back. The young man was back in blue and gray.

Upon seeing Michiko, Cedric smiled and said, "Ah good. You are here Lady Michiko. We have much to discuss." He turned to his son and motioned for him to leave. The young man just looked at his father with concern and suspicion for a moment. A stern gaze from his father was enough to finally make him move his feet.

 

[Michiko Nishanti]

The anger radiating from Lady Silverblood was regrettable but necessary. Her child humiliated on his own redundant emotions, taken apart by an opponent who never should have been publically disrespected. Barely a moment passed before her archers swarmed and carried her with them, to sample the food and chatter. Talk about the fight and the money they made on their betting. The Kaho archers pooled the coins together in one bag, which they gave to Michiko...

... For their new life. Perhaps they could put the money toward the purchase of some small piece of land. They could run.

All of them, they could fly across the plains and discover a new place without Silverbloods, Nishantis or the threat of attack. Eastern Elves, and their predilections were the murmurs in the townspeople's conversations, the mutters under their breaths. They knew, and prepared.

Between two strong members of the House Kaho, the nursemaid stayed close. Protected. The walk to the study was as cautious as all before, yet now the stretch of Cedric's emotions were separating from the texture of the Hall. His son's even more separated still. Everyone else was a pressurized hum, a breeze she disregarded.

Michiko busied about the greater study, inspecting maps and the items around as her ears perked to the conversation between father and son. A boy barely growing into his future manhood, whose idea of right and wrong, of who is and isn't an enemy caused more damage to hundreds of others than to himself.

A selfish, useless and disrespectful collection of bone and sinew and skin. Fortunate in his parents, ignorant of the grace they gave him, where others would condemn or destroy the child. Have others and give them the Noble Seat.

Having changed back into a dress, Michiko pulled her shawl around her shoulders and stepped into the more private study. Sterling... The Elven woman watched him leave.

"How young is that boy? Humans are so hard to tell... I do hope my relationship potential with Lady Silverblood is not ruined by the duel. I was as gentle as I could be... Without being ridiculing." Her arms naturally hugged across her chest, body lingering toward the door. "My people are concerned we will have to run."

A sigh, and wry smile. "The words of one boy, with such creation of fear for hundreds. Your Hall is beautiful, Cedric, I fear now it's impossible to deny a desire To invade it for a longer basis of time but the few days I previously expected. Or is that too close to Sterling's belief that I shall invade his beloved Uncle's bower?"

She took a moment, her first moment to breathe with less than dozens of people around her. Now it was only the elusive Lord Silverblood and a wandering displaced elf. The sun shone on her face, through the window. Michiko wandered to it, leaning against the eave.

"... I fear you. I fear a moment of private conversation, which might destroy the hope of a life to build... But I fear most of all telling my People they were right to hold themselves back from falling in love with Silverhearth... Kaelen. You protect him and yet he is one of the most feared warriors in the Storm Isles. Your son grieves for him. Throwing himself between a potential enemy to save the man he craves to learn from. What sadness holds him in Elbion?"

Kaelen Silverblood.

 

[Kaelen Silverblood]

The conversation began where last the two had met. Cedric was glad for it and made sure to pull the study doors completely shut behind his son's exit and Michiko's entrance. He motioned towards a richly cushioned chair offering it up to the lady. A basket with sewing and knitting supplies was beside it. A warm blanket was folded up within arms reach as well. Clearly this was not meant for the Lord of the house.

"The duel was... difficult to watch. A thirteen year old boy fresh from a summer growth spurt that now thinks himself a man because his first chin hairs are coming in." Cedric replied as he took his seat behind his desk. It was good to relax. "No need to worry about his mother. She will be far more strict in her punishment than you ever were."

The conversation moved on to the main topic of all of this. Her people and the arranged marriage. Now was the time for seriousness and honesty. Enough trust had been broken and tested as it was.

"Sterling idolizes my youngest brother. He has no memories of Kaelen however. Just stories. My brother's duties on the main land and the endless fighting of mortals have seen him apart from us for nearly a decade." Cedric responded with some bit of fatigue. It was impossible to say if it was directed at the evening, the topic, or at the absence from family. "The short bit of time Kaelen was with us was only to see our father before he past and to offer his support in my claiming of the house seat. Barely a week and then he was gone again."

Cedric looked over to Michiko Nishanti with silence about him. His eyes seemed to be searching for something from her. It was hard to say if even he knew what it was he was looking for. After a bit he continued on. "My youngest brother is the strongest and yet weakest member of the family. He has done things on the main land none of us other brothers could hope to. Yet there is a reason why those with our family's unique... inheritance... do not live much past middle age."

Cedric tapped his heart and his head.

"Our blessing is a curse. One with a price few outside of our family and house could ever hope to comprehend. The burden upon those with the silver blood is heavier than all the metals and stones our lands possess. It leaves him weak to certain temptations and forms of manipulation. Ones only a woman," Cedric moved his head up and down signaling her body. "such as yourself, could take advantage of. Sterling fears for his uncle for it. He fears for his family. He is a scared child and in his fear he did wrong by you. As his father, not as the Lord of this house, I apologize to you Lady Michiko."

Cedirc bowed his head to her in respect.

After raising his head back up, Cedric continued on. "As for keeping Kaelen in Elbion, he will not be there much longer. He is returning his men to their families and homes. His arrival will be in a couple of months." A fox like grin cross Cedric's face. "And there is something I could use your help with to prepare for it. How are you and your people at building?"

 

[Michiko Nishanti]

"Thirteen! Humans are so young! I though him older, or I would have spanked him o’er my knee."

A woman's chair, and accoutrements met Michiko's body, as she took the offered seat. This was where deals were made and decisions enacted in earnest. As Cedric began to speak of his brother, Michiko's eyebrows furrowed.

"I heard tell of the Silverblood curse, from my father before he was murdered. Is it truly so terrible to bear?" From Cedric's explanation, the situation was one of bitterness and few attempts at light. This was the spouse her cousin wanted, a man so given to passions and curses of blood that he would fade before she had the chance to know him?

"So long he has been in Elbion, only a week before returning? You all seem to love him, even Rurick in his way. I understand this is sudden, for me, I had no desire to wed. Nothing but a desire to give you the report and go back before my ruinous cousin did something inexcusable to the people we left behind. This? An arrangement for marriage? It feels as foreign as these lands... But do know, I would do Kaelen no harm. If his condition is one of spirit and mind, then I do have particular talents which could mitigate and help regulate any negative effects. Perhaps more conversations at a later date about the Silverblood blessing... I see now why Sterling was so insecure about his uncle. You protect him, and yet he is your shield. Clarity abounds." Leaning back in the chair, Michiko glanced back out the window.

"Months! Months before he returns! You lot to be stuck with my House Kaho for months! How dreadful for your dear son, he might get a lesson or two from my archers, to transfer that energy from worry to ability." Michiko didn't know why she found it far easier than expected to smile in truth and private conversation with Cedric Silverblood. "Your apology is accepted, I hope only that he grows quickly into the wisdom of his parents."

The conversation drifted to ability with construction, and Michiko laughed.

"We do have some skilled artisans amongst us. Carpenters, my mother's architect, artisans with sculpture, horticulture and metal, but more of my House are best applied to agriculture and the function of spiritual shrine upkeep. Our Shrine back in the Wood is blessed by dragon-folk... My my, Cedric, whatever do you have in your machinating mind? What shall we build together, you and I, in the intervening months?"

 

[Kaelen Silverblood]

Cedric studied Michiko Nishanti as she spoke. Her interest was peaked. Excellent. This could be promising.

"We are building a fort for the returning soldiers. Kaelen's idea. Some of them do not have a life to return to outside of soldiering. We are giving them a place to continue their service where they can stay together. It also provides a clear place for the ones who do return to their other lives to go to see their brothers and sisters at arm."

Cedric stood up. He walked over to a cabinet and grabbed a decanter filled with a dark red liquid inside. Opening it up the smell of wine slowly filled the room. He poured out two glasses then put the stopper back in. One glass was set on his desk and the other he carried over to Michiko. After she accepted or denied the glass, it did not bother him either way, he returned to his seat.

"There is an abandoned fort we will be repairing. Not much need for your craftsmen either. Silverhearth is arguably the center of Mystmarch's crafting." Cedric took a drink of his wine. A quality wine that his mother had picked out. Her taste was unique and rarely matched. "The issue is that the fort was abandoned for a reason. The need for it past and it is isolated. There is not any towns close enough to provide it with the support it needs. I plan to fix this problem."

Cedric looked to Michiko.

"This area is where we could use your people's help more."

 

[Michiko Nishanti]

A burden seemed to cascade off Michiko’s back as she sat and spoke to Cedric. He was, beyond the myre of his son’s behaviour, a good man.

She took the wine with gratitude and sat to sip it as he spoke, swirling the dark red elixir in its’ glass to watch the legs form on the sides of the stemware’s bowl.

“Yes, I believe my artisans would be capable of such exploits. Even my Archers would lend a hand for soldiers returning home. I should like to travel up myself, take stock as it were, and see what materials my architect and of course yours, would have us gather. We can then search the land for adequate materials and begin the reconstruction and repair. Honestly, I am glad foremost that it gives me something to do. If months are the deadline for Kaelen Silverblood ‘s return, I would rather spend it in aiding others.” She leaned back to sip the wine, pondering the potential supply lines and the business of repairs. “Psh! Soldiers might lead simple lives, but that only extends the necessity for what comforts they receive.”

Leaning on the arm of the chair, Michiko’s eyes narrowed.

“Cedric... you mean to give us land around the fort for a settlement? Spur the region on to rejuvenation by... providing my House Kaho... a home? Isn’t that a risk, what if your brother rejects the marriage?”