[Mkguild] MK: "Letters Home" (2/2) (with illustration!)

[Hallan Mirayas]

   Ada looked
up from the letter.  "He says he
sent a package, and that we should open it now."  Conrad and Barrett both s=
natched for the
package, each trying to reach it before the other, but she held up her hand=
 to
stop them.  "Careful!  It's fragile!"

 =


   Amelia
pulled the canvas-wrapped package out of the reach of the two brothers as t=
hey started
to squabble and started to untie the twine binding.  "Boys, no fighting or =
it's off to bed
right now," she said as she handed the twine to her older daughter.  "Emily=
, wind that up and put it-  oh, my!"

 =


   The whole
family leaned forward in interest. =

"What?"  "What is
it, momma?"  "Amelia?"  Amelia gazed at the unwrapped portrait of her
son and his friends for a moment longer, and then turned it so everyone cou=
ld
see.

 =


   "Oh,
my."

 =


   [picture at
http://metamorkeep.com/gallery/pics/DRIFT_WOLFRAM_AND_XAVIER_by_Eggplantm.j=
pg]

 =


   The family
sat in stunned silence for a long moment. =

Yes, they had known Wolfram would be changed, and he had described his
new appearance, but there was something different about seeing it with one's
own eyes.  Phillip Bauer leaned slowly back
in his chair and resettled his pipe between his teeth.  "Well if that don't=
 beat all=85"

 =


   Emily
turned the picture and pulled it closer so she could get a better look at h=
er
older brother.  Conrad leaned in on her
left to look, and elbowed Barrett in the ribs when he crowded in
alongside.  After a pointed look from his
mother, he slid the portrait so his brother could see.

 =


   "Wow."

 =


   "Yeah."

 =


   "He
looks like old Siegfried," Emily said with a chuckle.

 =


   Phillip
laughed.  Siegfried had been a
much-beloved ram the family had owned back when Emily, Wolfram, and Frederi=
ck
were very young.  He'd been a scrappy old
bastard even then, and it seemed strangely fitting to the old farmer that h=
is
most adventurous and combative son had become such a spitting image.

 =


   Conrad and
Barret burst into gleeful speculation, each overlapping the other.  "Think =
he's headbutted anyone yet?  Betcha he has."  "I wonder if he shears his own
wool?"  "That would look
silly!"  "Do you think he
'baa's when he talks?"  "Look
at the arms on the dog guy!"

 =


   "I
think he's the smith," Ada said, searching the letter for names.  "Yeah. =

That's Drift.  The black=85  umm=85" =

She sounded out the word. =

"Le=85  leo-pard-"

 =


   "Leopard,
dear," Philipp corrected. =

"I've heard of them.  They're
really big cats from down south."

 =


   "The
black leopard," Ada continued, "is Xavier."

 =


   "He's
got the look of a nobleman," Amelia said. =

"Look at his clothes, and the guard of his sword.  Especially that pommel r=
uby.  Wow."

 =


   "Why does
the dog guy have the dagger on upside down?"  Emily asked.

 =


   Her father
replied, "I saw a militia man wearing one like that once.  It's for a quick=
 draw."

 =


   "I
wonder what it feels like to have horns." =

"I'm guessing heavy, dummy." =

"Mama!"   "Behave,
you two."

 =


   His lips
drawn into a thin line of annoyance, Frederick dragged the corner of the
picture around with a single finger so he could get a better look at it.  I=
n an unimpressed drawl, he sneered, "I
wonder what quality of lambs you could get out of him."

 =


   The remark
jarred all conversation around the table to a halt.  The silence lasted for=
 a long moment, and
then Amelia reached across the table and slapped her eldest son across the
face.  Philipp took his pipe out of his
mouth and fixed Frederick with a stony glare. =

"I think you need to go take a long walk, son.  Get your priorities straigh=
t."  He jabbed the stem of the pipe warningly in
Frederick's direction.  "I don't ever
want to hear filth like that come out of your mouth again.  From you, or fr=
om anyone else in this
family," he added, swinging a warning glance to the rest of his children
lest they pick up their sibling's gaffe. =

"This is your brother, not some barnyard beast."

 =


   Frederick
pushed away from the table in disgust and walked out the door.  Concerned, =
Emily rose to follow him, but her
father waved her down.  "Let him go,"
he said.  "Give him some time to
cool down.  Is there anything more in
that letter, Ada?"

 =


   Amelia
slipped out the door after a few minutes and found her eldest son in the
stables, heaving hay up into the loft by the light of a hanging lantern.  S=
he could see from his stance that he was
still angry, so she waited out of the light for him to wear himself down a
little.  The plowhorse whickered sleepily
at her from his stall, but Amelia quieted him with a soothing stroke on the
neck.

 =


   "Rotten
sod," Frederick snarled, not hearing the quiet whicker behind him.  "He sho=
uld be here, helping tend the
farm, not off seeking his 'fortune and glory'. =

Who does he think he is, sending home letters of fairy tales and riches
to lure Conrad and Barrett off to get cursed like him?  As if I don't alrea=
dy have enough work to do
around here, with Papa getting older and Emily about to marry and move
away."  He cursed and tossed one
more forkful of hay up into the loft, and then hung the hay fork back up on=
 the
wall with a weary clank.  "He should
be -here-."

 =


   "You
know he couldn't stay, Frederick," Amelia said, and stepped into the light
when he turned.  "He was too wild,
too full of wanderlust to be happy here." =

She stroked the plowhorse's nose when he nuzzled her, and then continued,
softer.  "He's just not a farmer,
Frederick.  He's got too much of my
father in him."

 =


   "Grandpa?"
Frederick asked, confused and surprised. =

"What's Grandpa got to do with it? =

You said he was a teamster for a caravan."

 =


   Amelia
shook her head.  "I told you all
that in hopes that none of you would follow in his footsteps.  Your grandfa=
ther, Hartwin Lowe, was a
mercenary.  That's why, when I realized
Wolfram would never be happy here, I gave him Grandfather's old sword and
suggested he travel to Metamor.  I'd
heard that George the Cutlass, a fine commander your grandfather once served
under, was heading the Keep's military. =

If that man could keep my father alive through as many battles as he
told tales about (and your grandfather's wild streak makes Wolfram look
positively tame by comparison, dear son of mine), then he might be able to
shape my unruly boy into a dependable man."  She let him think on that for =
a few moments,
and then put her hand on his shoulder. =

"Your brother needs to find where he fits in this world, Frederick.  Everyo=
ne needs that.  That's something you've never had to deal
with, because you've always known.  Your
father has always been so happy that you've followed so closely in his
footsteps."  She leaned in and gave
him a motherly kiss on the cheek.  "You
make me proud every day, my steadfast son. =

I'm sorry that we don't tell you that more often.  Please don't begrudge yo=
ur brother something
he had to do."  She waited a long
moments to let that sink in.  "He
sent you a letter, too.  It's addressed directly
-to- you."

 =


   Frederick
frowned.  "Why?  He knows I can't read."

 =


   "I
can.  Not as well as your sister, but
enough."  Amelia took the letter out
of a pocket and unfolded it.  She read it
slowly, haltingly, occasionally having to pause to sound out words, but she=
 did
not let that stop her.  "Dear
Frederick=85"  She decided not to tell
him that Wolfram had written, and then crossed out, 'Fritzie'.  "I know we =
rarely got along growing up,
but I'm glad you're there to help Papa watch over the farm.  There's a lot =
I didn't tell in my letter to
everyone, because I didn't want them to worry, but you were always the stro=
ng
one.  Metamor got hit hard last Yule.  Really hard. =

They lost a lot of good people, and they'll be rebuilding for
years.  Rumor has it that Nasoj's power
is broken now, but things are still very dangerous here.  If something happ=
ens to me, I want you to
know I'm glad you're there to keep everyone safe.  They need you there, jus=
t like Metamor needs
me here.  Thanks, brother, and take care.
 Wolfram."



-----

 =


   Daria
Marcus left her meeting with Steward Macaban with a lot to think about as h=
er
carriage rattled down the road.  Were
Prince Phil and his steward really going to pursue a course of action she'd
been debating for the last eight years? =

Back when Daria Marcus had been Darius Marcus, he had never questioned
his inherent supremacy over the 'gentler sex', even his own wife.  The Batt=
le of the Three Gates had changed
that.  He had been at the second gate,
and when the counterspell had taken hold, she had fought just as hard as wh=
en
she had been a man, and killed just as many foes.  That had been the beginn=
ing of the end for
his ideas about supremacy.

 =


   Maria had
helped it along before her death two years later, even to the very last
day.  Her horse had spooked while she was
out riding and run off, pitching her onto rocky ground and breaking her
back.  Even so, she had dragged herself
to a nearby farm, where the people had cared for her as best they could bef=
ore
she passed on.  The damage was too extensive
for any healer they could have summoned in time, but they had tried.  Maria=
's last request had been to replace the
two old plowhorses the farmer's son and daughter had nearly ridden to death
trying to bring a healer in time, and Daria had followed through on that wi=
th
deep gratitude.

 =


   The
incident had sent her mind down a new course: =

if man was not so superior over woman, what did that say about man over
man?  For all her life, Daria had been
certain of her rightful place above the lower classes, and had quietly rese=
nted
how much of her family's wealth now came from merchant trade rather than the
production of their land, as it had been before her grandfather had squande=
red
much of that away.  The farmer's efforts
on Maria's behalf drove her to reconsider that resentment, for the two plow
horses so willingly sacrificed had been all the wealth that the farmer poss=
essed.  Would she have gone to such lengths in a
similar situation?  If not, what did that
say about the 'superiority of birth'?

 =


   Years had
passed, and she had continued to ponder what to do.  Finally, when she coul=
d bear it no longer,
she had set her house in order and travelled to the Oracle of Samekkh to ask
for his advice on how to set things right. =

The journey had been both expensive and tremendously difficult, but she
had refused to spend any more sleepless nights worrying the problem back and
forth in her mind, like a young kitten batting at a mouse without knowing w=
here
to bite to make the kill.  Unless the
Oracle herself denied her, she would have her answer.

 =


   The Oracle
did not deny her, but the advice of Samekkh had not been what she expected.=
  "The times have indeed changed,"
the Oracle said, "but it is not yet time to change with them.  When a white=
 banner flies from the house of
Loriod, then follow where its leader leads."

 =


   The thought
of copying that bastard Altera had turned her stomach, but the Loriod banner
was green and gold.  And once Jacob had
thought to look past the nauseating idea of following Loriod's example and
reminded her of the connotations of a white banner...  Then the advice had =
not seemed so onerous.  Now Loriod was dead, unable to blackmail her
ever again, and the banner of Lorland was indeed white.  And oh, what plans=
 the new leaders had!

 =


   A lot of
careful investigation had tipped their hand to her, and the visit to Steward
Macaban had just confirmed it.  They were
going to raise Lorland up until its people were capable of ruling themselve=
s,
and now so was the family Marcus. =

Quietly.  She hoped that her two
children would understand.  Melissa
probably would: she was more worldly than her younger brother, and the Mage
Guild had a reputation for rattling the class structure.  Xavier, on the ot=
her hand=85  Xavier worried her.  She turned her attention back to his lett=
er,
unfolded in her lap.

 =


   Drift got engaged.  I tried to keep him busy and distracted=85 you
know how Alexis worries me.  This has, so
far, not been successful:  I cannot believe
the man's appetite for hard work.  Still,
I will keep doing what I can to divert his attention.  There is something w=
rong about her, something
I can't quite place, but still something wrong. =

It is for the best that he be maneuvered away from her.  May Velena forgive=
 me.

 =


   Daria shook
her head.  In earlier years, she had once
taught her son to manage and maneuver the lower classes, 'for their own goo=
d'.  It was a decision she had come to
regret.  Xavier had grown up heart-set on
'restoring the family to its rightful place in society', rather than accept=
ing
that times had changed, and she blamed herself for that.  The years ahead w=
ould be hard for him.  "Be careful, my impetuous son," she
said, stroking her fingers tenderly over his closing signature.  "You're ab=
out to stick your hand in a
hornet's nest, and even the best of intentions won't help you if they decid=
e to
sting."

 =


   In other news, Drift's building in Euper
(whatever it is) is nearly done, in spite of some vandal's efforts at minor
sabotage.  The Watch is investigating,
but they don't hold out much hope of catching whoever did it.  More's the p=
ity.  Drift already considers the Watch next to
useless, and this is not helping matters. =

He has also bought up enough wood and canvas to make at least two small
sailing boats, but what he's got planned with it I don't know.  He doesn't =
swim, and is not at all fond of
being on the water, so boats are unlikely. =

Whatever he's up to, he seems to be doing pretty well overall.  His smithy=
=85

 =


   The letter
continued as the carriage rolled on through the deepening twilight, and Dar=
ia
read until the light grew too dim to see before putting it away.  She would=
 need to have a talk with her son
sometime soon, she thought.  Perhaps an
invitation home was in order.  Better for
him to find out her plans directly from her than from the town crier.  Yes,=
 she would write a letter for just such a
purpose in the morning.

 =


-----

 =


   Night hung
cool and quiet over the spires and towers of Metamor Keep.  Somewhere insid=
e, white-furred hands cradled
a mother's treasured keepsakes, and tears trembled on drooping whisker tips=
.  Among the coals of a forge in the other room,
a letter crinkled and burned.

 =


Mama, Papa, Erin, Nathan,

 =


   I miss you.

 =


           Edward

 =


 =


Fin.


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