Knights of Anathaeum Not Far From the Tree

[Roki]

A bump and press. He was braced up. His head dizzy some.

Heavy.

He definitely felt heavy. Felt like he wanted nothing more than to fall to the ground. Melt into a puddle. Turn into a soot print across the floor.

His hands hung, low, but Lou helped him out. Stumble-step and clumsy as he was, she got them out from the crowd. Out from the knoll, into some fresh air.

He plopped his back against the wall with an oof. His head hung, and lulled some. "Do with me, huh?" he asked himself, deeper in the haze of the wine. He giggled. "Set me out to the green, of course," he grinned at his own nonsense. Looked up at the world that stretched beyond them.

The Monastery, carved from stone. Oergrown with greens, wyld and tended by hands like hers. Strong. Careful. Steady and sure. He frowned.

"How you do it?" he asked, missing a letter or two, as fingers articulated a wobble of thought. "Be so... good?" His brow knit with a hot frustration, his head swung toward her, lips circled with question. He paused, and blinked.

Alouette

 

[Alouette]

The brown sugar brunette balked with Roki’s suggestion of taking him out to the green. By Tsoai-talee, why would anyone suggest sending them to the everlasting spring when they were so young? Eyes that matched all the different shades that leaves of grass often carried unannounced to the rest of the world regarded Roki. His bright eyes and hair that reminded her of dawn and dusk, circling around each other, the land below.

“You think I’m good?” Lou asked, not realizing she had sloshed her wine over her hand so many times now while carrying Roki that it was only half full. Oh well, it was still good. She set Roki against a wall of the Knoll, the festivities easily heard outside. She looked down into her wine. There was no reflection. She took a long drink. “Thanks, Roki, but I don’t think I am.” Her shoulders slumped forward and her arms were tight against her chest as she held up her cup to her lips once more.

“I think I’m only nice because it’s easier that way. Lots of people prefer someone who’s agreeable.” Her mother had said it as well, once or twice. With her cleanest hand, she went back to her pocket, where the charm was beginning to burn a hole through her breeches. “When we went to the clover field, there were so many shamrock drakes and clover pixies about. They were frustrated with us, coming in to steal their clovers. Or really, they were upset with me.” Lou had the awful tendency to sometimes take more than she needed, so engrossed in her learning that she could forget key measurements.

“But last month, I nursed a shamrock drake back to health, brought them back to the clover patch, and the pixies were kind enough to show me a trick with four leaf clovers.” She brought out the bracelet then, simple-looking until one noticed the colors of the thread. The green thread made little four leaf clovers and was the exact green of a clover. Not too light that it looked washed out, not too dark that it looked more black than green. “They showed me how to harness luck.”

A tentative, timid smile as Alouette held out the bracelet for Roki to take.

“Good luck on your mission with Syr Noa, Roki.”

Roki

 

[Roki]

Roki stared wide eyed a moment at Lou. Almost in wonder as he watched her. The play of light through her hair, how the sun kissed her cheeks, while the shade darkened half her strands. He saw the dark redness across her hands, felt his tongue move heavy in his mouth as he gasped, half reached out- thought twice.

Heard her doubt. His eyes flit back up to her. Words jumbled on his lips- and he found himself quiet as she spoke. Listened as he wobbled and wavered. Looked down at his own cup.

"I... I don't think that's it at all," he said to the empty vessel. A spark struck in his chest, and he turned to her- quick. "Lou!" but she started to talk again. Doused the fire for just a moment. Made him listen.

The clovers. The drakes, and the pixies that were their guardians. In the haze of the wine, he remembered it still. How she'd guided him through the forest. How he'd found her staring at brambling eggs.

Out came the bracelet. Each clover, delicately tatted together. The threads so fine, they looked as if they'd been spun with gold silk.

Roki's breath caught in his throat as he stared at the delicate treasure.

"Lou, I-" he said, a moment, reached out, and placed one hand under the bracelet. Felt his skin tingle beneath it. His breath welled up in his lungs.

He cupped her hand between both of his.

"Thank you," he said. Earnest and clear eyed. Grounded there with her, if only for that moment.

Alouette

 

[Arbok]

"Hey, where's the man of the hour?"
Arbok gave Gruki a friendly nudge to alert her after looking up to get a muffin.
"Hmm, must have gotten overwhelmed again."
She bit into the muffin and pulled a face before reaching for the butter and marmalade but even her size left it just out of reach.
"Hey Lou can you... huh!"
Another squire passed the precious orange curd and she dressed the muffin briefly thinking about wondering where Lou might have gone, but she often lost track of her, especially in crowds.
"So what are you gonna do while your brother's away?"
She asked Gruki.

Gruki

 

[Gruki]

Gruki watched her brother stagger-step his way out of the knoll, unable to keep the worry from her face. Lou went with him. To show him her gift away from prying eyes, away from all the discourse and delirium.

Roki was a brave boy, but she knew he felt the weight of his actions more keenly than most. The façade he put on had a tendency to crumble when put under close scrutiny. He-

Arbok's voice drew her attention back to the room.

Turning, twisting her lips into a smile, Gruki nudged her fellow squire back. 'He's stepped out for some fresh air,' she said, sprinkling truth on the lie. He had been hitting the cups hard, after all. We all have. Picking hers up, Gruki studied the earthenware cup, as if it bore the answer to all of life's secrets.

Humming, she glanced at Arbok, her brow furrowing as the bear-squire's comment sank in. 'You say that like he should be ashamed.' An observation. Nothing more. 'I for one feel... humbled, that he would share his vulnerabilities with us so op... op... hic! Openly~!'

Making to rise, Gruki fell back down with a huff. Walking, much like talking, felt like too much hard work.

'Hmm? What do I intend to do?' Pinching a bread roll from a nearby basket, Gruki cracked its flaky crust open to get at the softness inside. 'What we usually do, I suppose!' Butter, cheese, a dull knife for a not-so-dangerous task. 'Training, chores, more training.'

Accompany a knight, keep a knight safe. The usual!

Applying the butter, Gruki's knife paused mid-draw. 'I'll... miss having him around,' she confessed, eyes glazed, distant. Her heart ached for her little brother, in more ways than one. More, it yearned for the youth they had shared together. As family.

How long ago those days seemed.

Arbok

 

[Alouette]

Roki’s hand was warm. That earnest warmth matched the glow in his eyes which were still glazed from the wine. Lou saw her smile reflected in his pupils— her lips had spread wide enough to show teeth. Relief settled through her body, her stomach no longer feeling twisted and low.

“Do you like it?” She asked softly, not yet taking her hand from his, relishing in the sweet heat even if it felt a little clammy. Ketyl’s hands had never felt this warm, not even on the hottest day of summer. It was like he was always cool and indifferent, impervious to the world and even its temperatures. Not Roki though, Lou was certain that he felt the world much like how she did. “I can help you put it on. It might be a little hard to tighten it.”

Roki

 

[Arbok]

"Oh, mo itsh gooob!"
Arbok's mouth was full of muffin and marmalade by now. She swallowed the mash of pulped food with a gasp to get her words out.
"I only mean that, he lets himself feel, everything. It must be refreshing. I wish I could open up like that sometimes."
She did genuinely envy Roki's ability to be 100% Roki at all time.
"There, that's what I'm talking about." She pointed her finger at Gruki as her friend got wistful.
"You two are tighter than a knot. You aren't separated all that much. Are you ready for that?"
Arbok spoke from some experience she had to cope with separation from her whole kith and kin. That was a clean break though and this was not.

Gruki

 

[Gruki]

'I mean, of course I am!' Gruki started, Arbok's indicating finger making her flinch backwards. 'Aren't I?' Sinking into her seat, the half-orc put some thought into it as the festivities continued to spiral 'ever more out of control. Vis and Len were arguing over a ham, wine-wet fists curled around cups of vibrant red.

Sen had found a new tune to play, one that had Rory and Ulrika up and dancing on the table, careless of where their feet landed.

Mallick was over by the fireplace, prodding and poking away with an iron poker. He didn't seem to realise no fire burned there. Perhaps he didn't care?

Haelyn was... well, being Haelyn. Quiet, thoughtful, endearingly cute!

Gruki saw it all unfold, and yet she didn't. Arbok's question had taken her away, to a place far, far quieter. 'I guess... I s'pose I'll... have to be, won't I?' Turning on the bench so her body faced Arbok's, the big squire looked up at her even bigger friend. Her eyes felt damp, and when she rubbed at them with the back of her hand, she was surprised to find it came away covered in tears.

Oh, she thought, oh dear!

Arbok Haelyn

 

[Arbok]

Arms, strong and slow reached around Gruki and brought her close to Arbok's chest.
"Yep, I know. It comes on you fast."
She had been no different at the end of the first day after she left home, she had cried right through till morning.
She rubbed Gruki's back in nice slow circles.
"You'll be okay and you can tell him now, before he goes. Get it out in the open yeah?"
Over Gruki's head she saw Haelyn and invited her over with a nod and a smile.

Gruki
Haelyn

 

[Haelyn]

A scowl did not seem to lift from her lips, but her furrowed brows seemed to soften as the tall ones regarded her warmly. Even as the one called Arbok seemingly asked the young squire to join them, the reclusive girl slowly dragged herself away from her seat and awkwardly made her way over.

Haelyn began to fidget with the hem of her shirt that was loose from being tucked into her trousers, face softening more and more as she read the kindness in both their faces. Disarming that, and much easier to deal with than the likes of Roki.

Poor Lou, she must want to be away from his presence right about now.

Gruki Arbok

 

[Roki]

A swell of feeling. Their hands still bound together by the want to hold on. To the moment. To the memory. The support. That she gave him , and that he tried to give back.

The what and the how, he couldn't quite piece. His feet, near rootless. Pads and heels felt like they carried no weight. Giddy? Scared? He felt all babble and brook. Rain swept by the wind.

"You'd?" his mouth dared ask. "Yeah, I mean," he felt his balance shift, but, he held himself still. Nod. "If, if you don't mind?" he smiled, sheepish. "I mean, I'd hate to have it fall off," he laughed. A little too hard. A little too loud. Caught himself, sucked in his breath. "Gods, that would be awful," he could see it now. As he flit across trees. Branch to branch. Flames licking behind him.

But there through it all. The shamrock green thread. Luck spun into bracelet.

Alouette