[Mkguild] Inchoate Carillon, Inconstant Cuckold (27 of 27)

[C. Matthias]

And another of my Metamor Keep tales comes to its end.  I do hope 
that folks enjoyed this one!  I promise my next few will be much shorter!

Inchoate Carillion, Inconstant Cuckold
By Charles Matthias



March 14, 708 CR


Fair weather blessed their trip back through the mountains to the 
Gateway, but the exertion taxes Charles more than he cared to admit. 
Though Jessica had mended his broken bones and soothed the bruises, 
his jaw ached with every bite and especially when he gnawed. E tried 
to keep his chewstick away from his incisors, but the longer he 
abstained, the more painful his teeth became. The discomfort made him 
surly, but for the sake of his friends he said nothing.

The pain in his chest and arms were exacerbated by the climb, but 
that he could ameliorate easily enough. By turning one arm into stone 
and anchoring it within the mountain itself, he obtained better 
purchase than his fingers alone were capable. This he used when the 
path narrowed or forced them to press their bodies against the 
mountain face to navigate around some tight bend. Even with that he 
was still exhausted to the point of passing out as soon as he laid 
down for the night. He hated that he couldn't be more supportive of 
James who still plainly felt guilt over what had happened.

But his friend had Baerle to do that for him, and he knew this was a 
pain in the heart that could only be healed with time and love.

He woke each morning to a fresh set of bandages around his chest, 
arms, and snout that somebody had wrapped him in after he'd collapsed 
the previous night. These were gently removed by Angus before they 
broke their fast and started their climb. They talked little along 
the way, preferring as much as speed as they dared.

And it was with great relief and weary smiles when they finally 
descended from the narrow paths of ice and rock back to the grassy 
meadow on the northern side of the Gateway. They unhitched the rope 
from their middles for the last time, embraced in relief, and then 
walked at an almost leisured pace through the narrow crack between 
the mountains back into the Valley. The three clear days of sun had 
warmed the air enough that almost all of the snow had melted, 
saturating the ground, softening it enough that their paws were muddy 
by the time they passed out of the Gateway and beheld Metamor Valley again.

But their vista was interrupted by a makeshift camp of tents and the 
sweet scent of warm food and fresh cider. Perched atop the sentinel 
stone was a familiar youth attired in heavy woolen greens bearing the 
heraldry of the bow and axe that marked him as a Long Scout. His face 
brightened and he leaped from the rock to tumble across the ground 
and rush toward them.

"Charles!" the young man shouted with glee as he sped toward them. 
"You made it!" Despite being fixed at no more than thirteen years of 
age, he still was a hand taller than the rat and as he threw out his 
arms to give his fellow Long a hearty embrace, Charles had to duck 
behind Angus to avoid exacerbating his wounds.

"Allart," Charles cried with a laugh, "it's good to see you. But I'm 
a little injured right now."

Allart stopped and laughed, shaking his head. "Jessica says you got 
your jaw broken. If it keeps you from talking too much then it can't 
be all bad."

Charles shot him a withering look, but turned his eyes as a trio of 
Long Scouts emerged from the collection of tents as well as a dozen 
Glenners. While Allart welcomed James, Angus, and Baerle and invited 
them to come warm themselves, Lord Brian Avery, flanked by Alldis, 
Sir Saulius, Jessica, and several of the Polygamites, brought 
steaming cups of cider to their friends. Laura, Ralls, and Padraic 
waited a few feet away to welcome Charles properly. At the back of 
the tents, a sour-faced skunk watched with arms crossed over his chest.

After the four weary scouts had taken their first sips of the cider, 
Lord Avery said, "Jessica has told us what she knows of what 
happened. I know I will be interested in hearing the rest of the 
tale. That can wait until tomorrow when we head back to the Glen. 
We've set up places to sleep here that are warm. Derrick and his 
family have brought sufficient wagons for all of us to ride in 
comfort back home in the morning."

Angus smiled to the pinto flanking the gray squirrel. "Thank you 
Derrick, we are in your family's debt."

The pinto whinnied a laugh. "No need; it's a pleasure being of service."

Jessica wrapped James in her wings and the donkey held her close for 
several long seconds. When they parted, she looked him firmly in his 
countenance with her large, golden eyes. "How are you holding up?"

James took a deep breath. "Better now that I've had something warm to 
drink. Are you okay? That must have been a very long flight back."

"I spent most of yesterday sleeping, so I'm fine now. But I can't 
stay long. I have to get back to Lake Barnhardt for Larssen and 
Maud's wedding tomorrow. Still, I wasn't going to miss welcoming you two back."

"Give Larssen and Maud our best," Charles said as his eyes wandered 
to the Long Scouts and then to Sir Saulius.

The knight rat smiled warmly about his incisors, and then nodded to 
him. "Thy friends hath news that thou shouldst hear. Go to them." He 
gestured with one paw, but did not approach any closer.

Charles wasn't sure why, but he greatly appreciated his knight's 
gesture. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Baerle move away from 
the rest of the group and approach Berchem. The skunk looked at her 
uncertainly. She put one claw to his chest and said something too 
quietly for the rat to hear. The both of them walked off into the 
tents, the skunk's expression even fouler than before. Charles would 
have his own piece to say to the archer, but that could wait.

Allart followed him over to the other three Long Scouts, and soon all 
five of them were smiling and saying how good it was to see each 
other. The rabbit Padraic chided him once again on going on a Long 
Scout mission without his fellow Longs. The once woman now man Ralls 
didn't say anything, but Laura who had changed in the opposite 
direction met Charles's gaze with unbridled delight.

"Sir Saulius said that you all had some good news for me?" Charles 
asked, wincing at the ache in his jaw but trying not to show it.

"We do," Laura replied, her chest swelling with a deep breath. 
"Yesterday we heard from Misha some very good news. The source of the 
plague was found and destroyed. It was some Daedra artifact our 
enemies sneaked into the Keep. The plague should be over now. 
Everyone should be safe."

Charles offered a silent prayer of thanks to Yahshua even as his lips 
split into a grin and his eyes almost watered with years. "Oh praise 
Eli! But you said should. Have they lifted the quarantine?"

"Not yet," Laura admitted with a little less enthusiasm. "His grace 
wants to make sure the plague has indeed been stopped, so it will be 
a few more days yet. But, the plague is over and your family and 
everyone else at Long House is safe. We should be able to go home soon."

"Oh thank Eli! That is the most welcome news I've had in a long time. 
And I promise I'll stay in Metamor at least a week this time."

"Oh, you don't have to make a show of things," Ralls said with a soft 
laugh. "You and your family lives here at the Glen. Just gives us all 
another good excuse to visit Lars!"

"I just knew there was another reason for it all!" Charles laughed 
with them, and then together as a group they moved back across the 
clearing with the mountains watching over them to where Lord Avery 
and the other Glenners had congregated. Angus had one arm around 
James's shoulder and was laughing warmly, his face bright and untroubled.

"And James here," Angus said with a broad sweep of his arm, "now a 
more crafty warrior I could not imagine. Why, he even snuck up on me 
and knocked me out. Me!"

"When there's so much of you to sneak up on, it's not that hard," 
Alldis pointed out with a twisted grin on his snout.

All of them laughed, the warmth of their hearts greater than the 
chill of the mountain air. Charles patted James on the arm and the 
donkey did his best to smile down to him. But the donkey's gaze 
returned to break in the tents where Baerle and Berchem had 
disappeared moments before. Charles understood that look. He turned 
back to the rest of his friends and joined in their merriment, 
wincing every time he laughed at one of the badger's jokes.

----------

Evening settled quickly over the camp. Jessica flew south toward the 
lake only a few minutes after James, Baerle, and their friends had 
returned from the mountains. The Longs resumed their watch rotation 
with some of the Glen scouts that had come along, while the rest of 
them retired to the comfort of the warm tents where they reclined and 
ate fresh meats and grains warmed by a generous fire.

Charles fell asleep long before night descended. Berchem kept at the 
back of the tent saying very little, his expression withdrawn; even 
when he did look up or speak, his eyes never met James or Baerle. And 
the donkey preferred it that way. Lord Avery, Angus, and Alldis did 
most of the talking, while Laura provided insights on the situation 
in Hareford and what she'd learned from Misha the previous evening. 
James tried to be interested, but found it difficult to keep track of 
all the names and places.

Once night fell, Berchem was quick to return to his tent, and most of 
the Polygamites also left. The zebra Lamarck made a half-hearted 
offer to James to share their hay, but the pinto Derrick dragged his 
herdmate away before he could even finish his sentence. Lord Avery 
and Angus discussed the problem of the remaining talismans with 
Laura, but none of them seemed to think there was anything to be 
gained by haste now that the plague had come to an end.

Strangely restless, James excused himself after Angus asked him if 
he'd be interested in helping them manage the remaining talismans in 
another month. No one tried to stop the donkey as he left the tent 
and wandered out toward the ledge overlooking the valley. No moon 
shone to illumine the scene, but thousands of stars sparkled their 
brilliance above. But with the torches lit behind him, James could 
make out no other details. He stood and watched his breath mist in 
the air, no thoughts coming at all.

One of his long ears turned as he heard soft paws approaching behind 
him. His nostrils stretched and a familiar and comforting scent 
filled them. He did not turn his head until Baerle was at his side, 
watching the dark valley with her bright eyes and scalloped ears 
raised. "Are you cold?" he asked her.

"Not yet. It's beautiful out."

"Aye. It's very beautiful."

"Do you like watching the stars?"

"I suppose. They are pretty. I can probably name a few. Charles 
taught me some while we traveled together last year. Do you like the stars?"

"I've spent many nights watching them both before and after I came to 
the Glen. "

James looked up at the stars and took a deep breath. Some shone with 
a vibrant light, others only became visible after he stared at the 
sky for a time. It did look different from when they had traveled 
south, which made it easier to believe the rat's claim that only a 
few of the stars they saw at night here at Metamor could be seen from 
his old home in Sondeshara.

"The stars look different if you go south," he said with a long flick 
of his tail. "Charles says that those shining over Sondershara are 
all different. And there's others even further south. They don't have 
a southern star though."

"Oh?"

"Charles says they have four stars that cross each other where the south is."

"He has seen many things," she agreed before lowering her snout and 
asking, "You... you really do love me don't you?"

James lowered his snout and half-turned to face her. "Aye, I do."

Baerle's paws rubbed one over the other and her face tightened in 
pain. "I'm sorry I never looked your way, James. You are a very good 
man. I... I want to try loving you. Forgive me if it.. if it doesn't 
come quickly. But, I know you are good and I know you'll never hurt me."

"I won't ever hurt you," James said, his heart beating a little 
faster, uncertain but hopeful. He slipped his thick hoof-like fingers 
around one of her paws and lifted it to his snout. He pressed his 
supple lips against the back of her paw and smiled at the edges and 
with his walnut-dark eyes. "I'm here for you always, Baerle. I love you."

She looked into his face, and blinking watery eyes, she smiled, and 
then pressed herself against his broad chest. "Just... hold me, 
James. Just hold me. Let's watch the stars."

James wrapped one arm around the opossum's shoulders and held her 
close. Her flesh was warm and her musk rich. All about them was 
silent, a meditative peace he could never have hoped to ask for. The 
stars above swam in his eyes as he began to cry.

----------

May He bless you and keep you in His grace and love,

Charles Matthias


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