Down in the bowels of the Knoll, in the kitchens after the morning rush, suds bubbled and popped and gathered about in little clusters of froth amidst a washbin. Green hands worked a bristly scrub with and a splash. The drainage was corked, and Roki was glad the soap was scented like lilac and lavender. It helped cut the smell of all the old grease and char that caked on to the wooden trays. Made it easier to get the crud off too.
A sharp whistle from across the room grabbed his attention. "Oy, you're going to be late for training if you don't hurry up, Roki," Tarren called out.
Roki grinned like smoke. "Yeah, right, I'll be right there,"
Tarren clicked his teeth. "Sure you will, Onion," he laughed, and made away.
He wasn't wrong though. Of all the things Roki liked doing, training in the yard was low on the list. And there was always so much to do. So, he went on scrubbing the wooden bowls free of the gunk that clung to them. A stack of clean ones piled high beside him. Till, the last trencher was laid down to dry. The cork was loosed, and the cruddy water drained through the gunk catch. A net, made by some squire, most like, honing their yarn work.
Shifty, the squire's eyes scanned about. The coast was clear, so he would just... slip away.
The brambling nest was no longer quiet, tucked away high in a tree that shaded the Knoll during high noon. The nest was a soft gray-white, the lichen long discolored. Alouette had been naughty while the brambling pair had been away from their nest, chasing off a crow together. The mixture of light blue or olive green eggs had been a delight to see and she had been quick to climb down the tree before the mated pair would stress over a human knowing about their nest.
Alouette liked to think that they knew she had peeked inside and that the birds also saw her as a sort of protector. She had fed them both seeds in the winter and even now that she had stopped, the colorful male and plain female were generous in their offerings of their feathers or spider webs. She didn’t care for the spider webs as much as the feathers but she didn’t dare be rude and reject the gift.
The spring air had coaxed the little hatchlings out of their shells and they chirped loudly. Both parents were off, searching for insects or seeds to feed their blind and pink chicks. Alouette glanced around. She had a decent sized grub in her hand, still alive but lethargic. She could leave it on the nest or did she dare try to soften it with an easy squish of her blue-tipped fingers? She looked down the five open beaks. The last thing in her mind was participating in training, even if she needed it more than plenty of other squires.
But how many of them could say that they had gotten as close as she did to a freshly hatched brambling nest? She had even missed breakfast and Alouette never missed breakfast, or any meal for that matter.
Back pressed against the doorframe, Roki's eyes narrowed and his pupils darted, left, then right, a quick scan to check if the coast was clear. He gave himself a nod. Slunk out of the kitchens and into the storeroom halls. Cracked open the back door and did another quick scan.
It was the little chirps and cries of hatchlings that caught his attention. His eyes cast a glance up to find- "Lou?" he said in disbelief. He grinned. "Hey," he half whispered, half called out. "Lou! What are you ding up there?" he asked, still half hidden behind the door to the storage hall.
Engrossed in the splendor of new life and being a witness to such beauty— even if the babies were ugly, Lou found it made them more endearing— had taken hold of the squire. When she had been younger she had been more alert to her surroundings, and sometimes she could still harness the encompassing perception when foraging, but it paled to the delight before her and the hesitation in feeding the hatchlings herself. It was for that reason when she heard her a voice, and more specifically her name, that she jumped inside her own skin, squeezing the grub to death between her thumb and forefinger.
Green guts gushed out from her fingers, blending in quite well with the blue stains. Tense and nervously, Lou first looked down to the ground. No one at the tree. Well, the voice hadn’t sounded that close, had it? Her gentle green gaze moved to the Knoll, glancing over the shadows, the sunspots, searching for—
“Roki.” Lou let go of a breath she had held firmly in her chest, the nervousness leaving her as shoulders slumped. A easy smile brightened her face upon recognizing the familiar gold eyes. Roki had always been generous when she asked for onion skins from the kitchens, keeping her from digging around in the compost for them to use for her dyes. She wasn’t sure if it was something either of them could get in trouble for, but she knew she only felt comfortable asking for them from Roki.
It was time to repay him.
“Come up here.” She said, a little too honest and loud. She gestured to a sturdy enough branch close enough by the nest, higher than the nest and the one she rested upon. She placed the dead grub onto the edge of the nest, hoping the bramblings would use it. She wiped the wetness off her fingers against her plain brown tunic. “And hurry. The parents should be back any moment.”
With a stretch of his neck, Roki stuck his head out from behind the door. Turned his eyes one way, then the other.
Coast was clear.
His eyes flit back up to Lou, and his smile widened, a chatoyant glee come shine across the golds in his stare. A quiet nod, and he hurried over with quick pumps of arms and legs. Hopped up, grabbed one branch, swung with long limber limbs and then grabbed another, half swinging his way up to the last branch, before he set his foot down on the sturdy limb, and settled in beside her.
The nest came full into view. The little squawks and chirps. "Woah, they sure are ugly," he said with a bit of a laugh. Stuck his head just a bit closer. he squint his eyes. "Kinda look like... Master Brambleshell if you squint,"
Roki was a much faster, or maybe just overall better, climber than she was and before Alouette knew it, he was already up in the tree and looking inside the lichen-filled nest to inspect the birds. She blamed it on her height and lack of reach, on not having the lean, lissome physique that Roki had.
“That’s why they’re cute,” Alouette explained with a conspiratorial grin, eyes tilting up to let her smile widen. “Don’t you know, Roki, that the uglier something is, the cuter it becomes?” She paused, peeping into the nest, and wishing that she shouldn’t have hesitated so much so in feeding them. She couldn’t do it now that she had dropped the grub into the nest in fear of stressing out the parents.
So instead, she squinted. She wasn’t sure if it made them look cuter or more like Master Brambleshell or even both at once. She wasn’t sure if it was wise to think of Master Brambleshell as cute.
“Hm, I guess you’re right,” she said finally, “the head and neck is the same.” Soon they wouldn’t be as the smattering of feathers would begin to look more full. Lou kept to herself that she couldn’t wait for them to get soft and fluffy. “Their name is sorta the same, too.” Lou turned her head to look at Roki, squinting for a second longer before opening her eyes fully. “They’re called bramblings.” She had never heard a cry so sweet as the small cacophony of chirping being done by the hatchlings.
“They don’t stay here long, at least not without a flock, and they definitely never nest around here.” She began to move away from the nest. “I’ve never gotten to see a nest up close. I think it was definitely worth being late to practice for, even if I have to be put on latrine duty.”
Roki blinked. "That's fair," he said flatly, eyes still wide and curious as they watched the little birds cheep and chirp and try and snatch at food that wasn't quite there.
It was smeared on the side of their nest. He flicked a little bit of the gore towards one of the runtier looking chicks. Its eyes so squinted it looked blind. Pathetic little thing. Roki thought with a funny little smile. And he could see, if for a moment, what Lou meant.
That the little creature found the food and scarfed it down hungry and mad, well, it only endeared it more to the young cooking wizard.
"Bramblings?" he asked softly, turning to find her squinting at him, he laughed a little more. "Brambleshell's bramblings," he thought out loud, squint gleeful as a mouse who'd gotten away with cheese, and nod along as she shared more on the ugly little buggers.
"Pfft, practice," Roki sounded with a raspberry. Saw the nervous jerk of one of the little birds upon hearing the sound, and quickly sucked in his breath. Blinked and watched as the little brambling went back to making its sounds, keeping its beat. Roki hopped off the branch. A bit of dust kicked up from his feet as they met the ground.
"They got Syr Chadwyck on yard drills today," he grinned. "He's too careless to notice a pair of squires missing from the roster," he waved his hand dismissively. Leaned easy to one side, then bolt straight up again, as if struck by lightning. "Hey!" he exclaimed, grinned, nod. "You know, the herons are nesting too!" he looked up at Lou in the tree. "The great blue herons!"
Roki liked sketching them. Gave him ideas for new things to try in the tinker's shop. Their feathers were a beautiful color to boot, and he knew Lou liked colors. Plus. That sounded way more fun than beating each other up with sticks and training swords.
She watched her friend feed the birds, something she had been too nervous to do in front of him. It brought a smile to Lou’s face, seeing the tiniest of changes on Roki’s face that told countless of unspoken things. She knew they had worked their charm on Roki, perhaps not as much as they had to her, but Lou doubted she’d ever have to explain again why something ugly was cute to Roki. As he gracefully jumped down to the ground, Lou stepped off her branch and slowly floated down, her oversized tunic imbued with the essence of flight, kind of. Right now all she could do was float and glide but one day she’d figure out the correct sequence to grant her something as grand as flight.
“The great blue herons?” Lou echoed but her eyes were wide. Yes, she liked any bird, she had yet to find an avian that she didn’t like, but practice. While she most definitely needed it, having come to the Monastery knowing nothing about being a Knight nearly a year ago, that wasn’t why she wanted to go. Today, she’d see Ketyl during the drills, and while he told her she had to keep things cool and not make a big deal out of them hanging out privately because he didn’t want others getting in their relationship. (Something along the lines of, ‘I’ve hurt a lot of girls before, but Lou, you’re different. I really like you, truly. But if they found out, they’d try to ruin what we have so we need to keep quiet about this. I can’t worry about them and you and becoming a Knight, it’ll be too much. I can’t be distracted right now, you understand, don’t you?’ And, of course, Lou did understand, even if it made her stomach drop when he spoke to other girls to keep up appearances and ignored her when the sun was up.)
Ulrika knew of Lou’s affections, not everything, of course, that would be too embarrassing, but she had suggested that she should make herself less available. Maybe skipping the drills this morning might have Ketyl wonder where she was, maybe even miss her. Besides, she did appreciate the beauty of the herons. She wanted to capture that color around their eyes, turquoise in the sun, but deep and blue and sleek every other time. Lou looked down at her blue stained fingertips. She hadn’t gotten the color right yesterday, either.
“Okay.” Alouette agreed finally, even if nervousness made her whisper. “I did want to see them, too. The tree they like is by a clover patch I’ve been meaning to visit. I just haven’t had much time with everything I’m supposed to do in a day. I don’t know how you find the time to be in the workshop.” With one last glance over her shoulder, her decision was set in stone. She’d see the great blue herons, stop by the clover patch, and then be back in time for the rest of her afternoon studies. “But, I mean, you don’t need to practice as much as I do. I can’t wait to finally be good at something.”
"Huh," sounded the young man, who watched Alouette's float to the ground like a leaf come fall. She landed, and he checked around them.
A few knights in the distance, but, Sworn were usually too busy to worry about every pair of squires milling about. His eyes squint as he thought about how best-
Okay.
His eyes went wide and he looked to her with a happy curl of his lips. A nod, and triumphant little smack of his fist into the flat palm of his hand. "Heh, that's the ticket," he said through his tusked grin. He nod as he listened to her. Well, half listened. But definitely nodded.
Clover patch. He knew the one. Too busy. Workshop. His lips quirked, and brow raised. "What?" He grinned and nudged her with the side of his arm. "I can't knit, or sew half as good as you! Ohp-" Footsteps came round the Knoll and he half hid his face by pulling up the proud lapel of his tunic's collar.
Syr Ilunari, a Sun Elf, walked on by. She was only a little taller than Lou, and more willowy than Roki. "Squires," she said, without so much as a glance.
Roki cleared his throat and stood up straight, tall, and with chin pointed high. His eyes kind of squinted , as if half expecting to be lectured.
But on Syr Ilunari went, all grace and purpose in her stride. Until she stopped. Just a step past them.
"Nuts," Roki muttered.
The Pursuant turned on her heels and looked them both up and down. "Now," she said, with a calmness that robbed Roki of his breath. "I expect to see you both at the conjuration and summoning lecture this evening, on the sixth dot of the dwarven clock, and not a minute after," she did not scowl. She did not frown. She gave them each a nod. "Until then," she smiled at them, and went on her way.
Roki, for some reason or the other was holding his breath. Let it out with a wash that seemed to deflate him entirely. He shook his head. Brow furrowed. Then realized, with his smile kindling back to life. "Clover patch?" he grinned.
A shy blush from his compliment, even if it was true, Lou always struggled with receiving any sort of praise. She didn’t really know what to say, but she didn’t have to worry about it, after all. There was something more important to worry about, such as getting caught. Instinctively she side stepped to be partially behind Roki, but that was about as good as if she had hid herself behind a single birch tree.
Syr Ilunari wasn’t one of the Knights that made Lou nervous, but they were mysterious in a way that made the squire give up on ever trying to guess what she was thinking. Just like now: she was certain they were about to be scolded, maybe even punished later once they informed Syr Chadwyck, but instead they were warned not to miss the conjuration and summoning lecture. If there was anything that Alouette might have wanted to miss it would have been that lecture. Not that she had thought about missing it before, but now that she had ditched one thing, the seed had been planted that she could possibly ditch other things. It wouldn’t be watered, not with having gotten caught and so soon. Lou hadn’t considered that they would need to be sneaky. She was glad she naturally walked quiet-like but that wouldn’t be enough. She was too honest to sneak around.
But the great blue herons. And the clover patch. She stepped out from Roki’s shadow, glanced to his smile. She still felt tense and uncertain and preoccupied. Her heart was still beating fast and she thought maybe going to the drills would be okay but… what was this thrill that coursed through her? Perhaps they had only gotten caught because they had talked too much.
“Shh,” she whispered to Roki, grabbing the crook of his elbow and beginning to lead him away. No more knights, no more eyes— or at least she hoped she was being as sneaky as she thought. “I’ll tell you about the four leaf clover when only your ears can hear it.” She looked more serious than she had before, a sparkle of bravery in her green eyes. “But first the herons.” With sure silence, she began to lead Roki to what she thought would be the best path, the one less taken, the one just for their feet to discover. At least just for today.
Roki was sort of, pulled away, and he made a little gulp-woah kinda noise as Lou began to march on, determined. He laughed, nod. "Right," he whispered. Never having been very good at keeping quiet for too long.
Then she mentioned the four leaf clover, and his eyes went wide. His mouth opened and his lips quivered. Four leaf clovers held powerful magicks. Or maybe it was that they could be used for powerful magicks. As good as he was at whipping up winds and sparking up flames, the plant stuff always... eluded him.
And then! Lou gave him a look that kept all those words he was about to say from springing out. She was serious. So he just closed his mouth and gave a nod. The herons, his final nod agreed. And off they went, through the woods, across thickets and brush.
For all the time he had spent at the Monastery, Roki, well, spent his time AT the Monastery. Or going to fetch ingredients or components in Astenvale. The workshop, the trainingyard, the knoll and the stacks. These were the places he most frequented. Of course, there was the occasional run, and Master Brambleshell always seemed to get on his case about helping out in the field and the gardens and how growing your food helped you understand your food but he!
He blinked. Watched as Lou trekked her way through the woods. "He you know," a hushed little smile. "You're pretty good at this too, Lou," he said as he followed.
A branch promptly smacked him n the face, he made a little sound and shook his head as he spat out the leaves and twigs that had gotten in his mouth.
Lou’s feet were as sure as her heart, quick and steady. There was an easy rhythm she fell into, stepping heel to toe with subtle fluidity. The ground beneath them was dappled with sunlight and the shadow of the leaves above them, a natural tessellation of light and shadow. The ground was soft in the early spring, air crisp and cool and country-like. It made Lou feel more at home, being outside instead of inside. She liked the sound of twigs breaking beneath their feet, a snippet of birdsong, even a zephyr’s whisper against her tanned skin.
She turned, just in time to see Roki walk into a branch. Her green eyes widen, a smile beginning to take place. Worry in her green eyes, giggles from her mouth, two gestures that were at odds with the other and yet each were genuine in their own right.
“Sorry,” she whispered still even if they were much further from the Knoll and the Monastery. Time had passed but her heart still beat hard as if a Knight was bound to appear from thin air. It wasn’t an irrational thought to have. “I forgot you’re much taller than me.” She hadn’t needed to duck underneath. The smile didn’t leave. “But maybe you thought you needed some camouflage?” A few stray small leaves had flitted around the neckline of his tunic. She let go of his arm. Alouette brought up a hand to push at her own tunic, letting Roki know they were there. He could keep the leaves there if he wanted.
“I can walk slower,” she offered, figuring they were far enough now to walk side by side. “We’re nearly there, anyhow.” She still led the way, choosing the path she thought best. Avoiding the outreaching thorns, the blackberry thickets (she couldn’t wait for summer!), and muddy patches to keep her boots from getting too dirty. Lou enjoyed the quiet, even if nothing about walking through the woods was truly quiet. Still, she cast a nervous green glance to Roki.
“Um.” She started then sucked her voice back into her throat, as if the words she had wanted to say got clogged back in there. Her hands made small fists, clenching then unclenching. “Did you cook today?” She had missed the meal time but Roki had come from the back door of the Knoll which meant he must have been in the kitchen.
Her laughter caught his ears. They wiggled and twitched, excited by the bright little sound. A warmth crept up his neck, and he half smiled as he spat out the last bit of ruffage.
"That's not-" her arm slipped from his, its warmth gone with it too. His head popped up, eyes wide as they found her as her hands brushed the edge of her tunic.
A knock of breath in his throat, his hands mimicked hers, and brushed, brushed away most of the leaves. But stopped on one, snagged there, almost like a little buttonhole. The round blades of the leaf, verdent tear drops amidst the bright red of his garb.
"You, uh, I can keep up," he sort of huffed. But his mouth ended in a grin.
Camouflage. What a useful idea.
His boot sunk into a mud puddle with a squish and a splash. He almost made a noise of dissapointment, but Lou was so... quiet. He but huffed, shook his shoe off as he half hopped after her, and followed after.
Slowed down. Even if he wanted to go fast.
A question. "Pft," he sounded, loud as a storm in the relative hush. He started. Shut his mouth, and laughed, sheepish all of a sudden. "I mean, no," he said. "Syr Melga had me on dough duty," his eyes scrunched up, and his face went long as it sagged under the weight of his frown. "Pushing, and pulling, and pushing and pulling," he mimed the kneading. Scrunched his fingers for emphasis. "Ruthiford got the oven duties, and Piplin!" his hands flew up into the air. "Piplin got to man the cook fires!" he grumbled some, his face scrunched tight.
"Everybody knows I've got the hotest flame, and that Ruthi's got the best hands for dough!" he shook his head, felt his foot sink into another well of mud. His eyes wide-of-a-sudden. It was ankle deep this time. And... a little stuck. "Shit," he cursed under his breath.
Alouette had meant to go slower but perhaps she had walked too fast once again. She turned around, irritation absent from her features as once again she looked to see what had hindered Roki this time. For a brief moment, quicker than a blink of an eye, she was thrust into a memory from her childhood. Instead of Roki she saw Lumina in all her golden glory, bright like the sun and moons and all the stars in the sky combined. She had never been good outside, the exact opposite of Lou.
Flowers were Lou’s natural allies, like trees, fruit and animals— everything that grows, sways in the wind, bites and hides. She was one of them, on their side. Words were Lumina’s army and friends, whether read, written or spoken aloud— from poetry to history to science, Lumina always knew the right thing to say, knew the right word for each and every person or moment.
Their friendship had only started in the manner of most friendships for children: their parents were friends. But Alouette hadn’t wanted Lumina as a friend, who cried too much and didn’t believe in faeries and unicorns. It was easy to get rid of her and force her to go back inside so Lou could have the whole outside world to her greedy self. One day, Alouette had purposely been running through the woods at a pace only she could handle, knowing she’d leave Lumina behind and could play in the clover fields by herself.
Lumina had tripped and fallen into mud that sucked her hands and knees into itself. She had cursed as well, ‘crap!’ Instead of crying, she had called for Lou. Even now the young woman wasn’t sure why she had gone back, but she had.
Like back then, nearly twelve years ago, Alouette reached out her hand for towards Roki, holding his hand firmly in hers.
“I think you have good hands for kneading dough.” Lou said, helping to pull Roki out of the mud, thankful that her legs had always been strong and could ground her even if the earth seemed unsure of whether it wanted to be watery or solid. “I’m sure your bread came out deliciously.” Her stomach growled at the thought. Bread was her greatest vice, especially when warm. Nothing reminded her of her mother more than fresh bread. “And maybe tomorrow you can handle the fires, when the meals need more heat.”
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
