[Mkguild] Inchoate Carillon, Inconstant Cuckold (4 of ?)

[C. Matthias]

Forgot yesterday's part, so there's two for today.

Inchoate Carillion, Inconstant Cuckold
By Charles Matthias



In a small rooftop garden she’d established 
nestled a single sprout of green, the stem rising 
through the loam she kept warm with an anchored 
spell. The preparations had been exquisite and 
costly, but already, before most any other flower 
would emerge especially one native to more 
southerly climes, Jessica’s hyacinth was showing 
buds. In another week the blossoms would open and 
her reservoir of power would begin.

And with it, as she had seen in her dreams last 
night, she would be able to change the Curses and 
hold them for hours, even days on end. Perhaps 
even longer. The possibilities, from mischief to 
generous aid, were endless. Her experiments on 
Maud and Larssen had proven prophetic if taxing. 
She could hardly wait to see how long the spells 
would last once the purple and red blossoms broke 
forth into the sun’s glistening embrace, drinking 
of the currents of magic like nectar.

Jessica stroked the green stem and slender leaves 
with the tip of one wing, then straightened and 
sighed in contentment. Her breath misted in the 
air, but only faintly and quickly dissipated. 
There was invariable a fog over Lake Barnhardt in 
the morning, and while it lingered over the 
center of the lack like a massive white turtle, 
it had long since burned off the town. Smoke 
curled from chimneys, and the air resounded with 
the clanging of the smithy, the bleating of real 
animals, and the shouts of merchants readying 
wares and the farmers seeking them in preparation for the growing season.

Weyden’s company was returning to Metamor next 
week. And though it had long been her home, she 
knew she’d miss Lake Barnhardt. She glanced down 
to her small planter nestled against one corner 
of the barrack’s roof and cracked her beak in an 
avian grin. “I will be coming back once a week to tend you my little one.”

Unlike Charles’s vine which she’d often observed 
leaning into the rat’s gentle caresses, her 
hyacinth merely bent then bounced back into place 
at her touch. Jessica stretched her toes, talons 
digging into the soft earth, then stretched her 
wings and hopped to the edge of the barracks. She 
stopped when something in the distance caught her 
sharp gaze. A large figure was flying toward them 
from the north. On its back were two roughly human-shaped figures.

She knew them.

Jessica shifted into her normal hawk-sized form 
and jumped from the rooftop in her excitement. 
They met on the other side of the lake where pine 
and ash thrust up through a clatter of granite 
stones larger than even many inns. She landed on 
a flat stretch overlooking the lake, with the 
tops of trees peering just above the ledge. Brush 
clung to every scrap of dirt amidst the stone. 
Guernef came to a ponderous stop, his wings 
beating heavily, clattering branches and sending 
the last of the snow in a swirling mist to either side.

Before either Andares or Abafouq could climb off 
the Nauh-kaee’s back, Jessica had resumed her 
most human appearance and hopped to their sides 
to hug them. “Oh, it’s so good to see you! 
Abafouq, Andares, Guernef! Why have you not visited sooner? I’ve missed you.”

“It is strange how quickly time has disappeared,” 
Abafouq admitted as he straighten his woolen 
cloak. “You have a saying, ‘it seems only yesterday’ yes? That is how I feel.”

“I know what you mean,” she agreed.

“And it is with much sadness we admit that our 
coming here is to say goodbye.” Abafouq, with a 
few words supplied by Andares, explained their 
plan to her. Jessica listened with heavy heart. 
Her objections made no more dent in their resolve than Kayla’s or James’s had.

And they came to an end when Guernef finally 
spoke. “There comes an end to all things. We 
three of the sky know such things. It too must 
end. And so we part. But we shall not forget you, 
and the wind will hear our songs always.”

Jessica blinked golden eyes at the 
white-feathered and furred creature. “We three?” 
She shook her head. “No, don’t bother. I’m so, I 
can’t explain it, I don’t think you should 
either. So you have to go, please don’t go 
forever. Write. Send messages. Maybe we could 
even set up a magic scrying stone like Misha uses 
to speak to his sister. Just don’t leave our lives forever.”

Andares smiled faintly and put a slender, silvery 
hand on her wing shoulder. “We will not do that. 
If nothing else, letters will be written. Of that you may rest assured.”

“And we certainly don’t want to part,” Abafouq 
said with a long sigh. “But we must. Before we go, how are things with you?”

“They go well. I am learning many new things 
since we returned. And soon I will be married to 
Weyden. I wish you could stay for the wedding.”

None of them spoke for several seconds. A crisp 
breeze caught at her feathers and made Abafouq 
grasp his cloak in dismay. The trees rattled as dry bones.

Finally, Jessica flung herself at the Åelf and 
held him close in her wings. Her voice was 
strained and almost tearful. “You’ve been such 
good, dear friends! I’ll miss you all!” Andares 
held her gently for several long moments before 
she bounced from to Abafouq whom she bent down to 
embrace. The Binoq had a firmer grip and almost 
hang off her neck before he finally let go. 
Guernef’s embrace was slight, a gentle cradling 
with one wing and a beak nuzzle much like those 
she and Weyden gave to each other. She returned 
it, barely able to keep her tears at bay.

Their final goodbyes were short, hesitant but 
quick, as if none of them wished to leave but 
feared to linger. Jessica watched them fly to the 
south on Guernef’s back, but for once her hawk’s 
eyes had trouble focusing. The tears streamed 
down her feathers and she trembled. The cold air 
cut her like so many little knives. She couldn’t 
wait to return to Metamor. She could be close to 
Kayla and Lindsey there at least.

Jessica flapped her wings and returned to the 
city. Right then she just wanted to forget everything.

----------

At the southern end of the valley, where the 
broad fields fought with the encroaching forests 
clustering beneath te edges of the mountains, the 
sun warmed the land and presaged the coming 
Spring. Its promise was sweet to the Metamorians 
who had endured a Winter wondering whether they 
would be attacked yet again. For the people of 
Jetta, it was time to begin planting crops.

And it was also time to check and repair the 
defences. The two visiting knights, their 
squires, and several members of Jetta’s militia 
patrolled the southern palisades. Egland 
frequently rattled the wooden slats and pointed 
out those that needed replacing. Only a few did.

By the time they reached a small bluff on which 
an old tower stood, the sun was beginning its way 
back down. There they met a surprising pair. 
Resting a hearty paw against the stone tower was 
the bear Sho Rosewain. And speaking with her, 
dressed in a black robe dirtied about the ankles, 
was the Questioner priest Felsah.

“Father Felsah,” Sir Egland said in faint 
delight. “I did not know you were in Jetta.”

The priest nodded to the knights, squires, and 
foot soldiers following them. “Sir Egland. Sir 
Saulius. I arrived only an hour past.”

Egland noted his still human appearance. “The 
Curses haven’t touched you I see, Father.”

“Not yet no,” Felsah agreed. He smiled to the 
much larger bear who grinned back. “But I’m sure it will not be long now.”

“I’ve been showing him the tower,” Sho said in 
her basso rumble. The bear patted the stone and 
glanced up at the unfinished cupola. “We’ll be 
able to see for miles once it’s finished.”

“I’m surprised you don’t have more,” Egland 
commented, casting a glance back at the militia 
captain, a broad shouldered woman with 
close-cropped brown hair and a bow slung over her shoulder.

She jutted her chin at the tower. “There used to 
be. Hasn’t been as much need since the Curses.”

Sho almost growled. “There is a need! I was kept 
in a cage not one mile from this spot until I became this!”

The militia captain held up one hand. “I know. I 
know. That’s why the tower’s being built.”

“We need more stones,” Sho pointed out. Felsah 
set a hand gently on her massive arm and she seemed to still.

Sir Egland and Sir Saulius both dismounted. Their 
squires followed them. Egland glanced over the 
southern fields on either side of the tower. The 
palisade kept the tower defended from all but the 
north where Jetta lay. The boundary of the Curses 
lay somewhere in the mixed shrub and low hills 
before him. Stone markers had been placed to warn 
travellers. But they’d also been used to make 
roadside attractions like Sho for villainous showmen.

Egland studied the tower and grimaced at the dark 
lines of mould between the close-fitting blocks 
of granite. “This looks like an older tower.”

“The older tower burned a dozen years ago,” the militia captain explained.

But Charles was already pressing his paws against 
the stone. Sir Saulius beckoned him back, but the 
rat would not be distracted. This was stone. The 
flesh on his paws turned hard and grey, and then 
pressed into the stone. Sho jumped back and made 
the sign of the yew over her chest. Felsah stared 
in dumbfounded surprise. Even Egland began to stutter at the sight.

Charles didn’t hear any of them. He felt the 
complaint of long neglect and the brittleness of 
a roaring fire. But there was a smouldering hope 
in the rock too. His still flesh muzzle creased 
in a smile, and his whiskers twitched across the 
tower wall. He withdrew his paws and let them return to flesh.

“The stone is old,” Charles said, “and it did 
suffer fire, but it is still strong. You’ll want 
to shore up with another inner layer of stone and 
wood before building any higher. But I think this 
will be a fine tower. Now you need more stone. I 
can find some for you and help convince it to be shaped well.”

Nobody took him up on the offer. Instead everyone 
gazed at him with a mixture of fright and wonder. 
Only Sir Saulius knew his secret. His knight 
moved in closer and put a single paw on his 
shoulder. “My squire didst suffer a magical spell 
which made him living stone. But the spell hath 
been broken and he now controls the stone. ‘Tis nothing to fear.”

“You can become stone?” Sho asked as she neared 
her precious tower. She rubbed the spot Charles 
had slipped his paw in and marvelled. “How?”

“A spell, but the caster is now dead. It no 
longer traps me. But, I can communicate with 
stone. It’s...” he groped for the right word for 
several seconds but gave up with a shake of his 
head. “I cannot explain it. But, while this,” and 
all of his flesh turned to granite and his eyes 
to obsidian jewels, “I can pass through stone as if it were water.”

Sho put one paw on the top of his head and her 
dark eyes widened. “Oh! You’re so cold!”

“I’m stone,” he replied. “Although if I stay out 
in the sun like this long enough I’m told I start to get warm.”

“You don’t know?”

He shook his head. “I can’t feel as much like 
this. Except for other stones. Those I feel.”

“Other stones?” Felsah asked, his lips a faint, 
but unreadable line. “Do you think yourself a stone?”

Charles closed his eyes, and when he opened them 
he was flesh again. “Forgive me. I spent over 
four months as living stone; it was hard enough 
then keeping my thoughts straight. I have not 
become a full statue often since then. Stone 
thoughts can be... easy to accept sometimes.”

Felsah rubbed his chin, “We will have to discuss 
that some time. It is very curious.”

“But another time,” Sir Egland said with a sweep 
of his arm. “This tower ought to be rebuilt. And 
not just to keep foreigners from forcing their 
victims to suffer the Curse. Our southern borders 
have been peaceful for many years, but that may 
not always be the case. I will recommend that 
several more towers be built along the palisade.”

“Oh they will be,” Sho assured them, to which the 
captain nodded vigorously. “And I’d like to take 
you up on your offer to help...”

“Charles,” he supplied. “And it will have to wait 
some time. I am eager to return to my wife and children up in Glen Avery.”

“Isn’t that at the northern end of the Valley?” 
Sho asked. He nodded. “Then may Eli grant you a 
speedy return. But if you could help us, we would welcome it.”

“I will try. If Sir Saulius gives me leave, I can 
come with you and now and show you good stone.”

“After we hath completed our inspection of the 
palisade,” Saulius said in a gentle but firm tone. “‘Twill not be much longer.”

Sho bowed her head a full foot lower and placed 
her paws together as if praying. Thank you, Charles. We will be here.”

Sir Egland patted the tower one last time and 
cast a commanding glance across the menagerie of 
Metamorian soldiers. “With that settled, let us 
continue. Mount up. We’ve another mile to inspect 
and the sun won’t be with us forever.”

Charles felt the mildest twinges of 
disappointment as he left the stone tower behind 
and resumed his duties. Felsah and Sho waved to 
them as they continued their ride east along the palisade.



----------

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

Charles Matthias


!DSPAM:4e67e6e124631804284693!
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.integral.org/archives/mkguild/attachments/20110907/da097ae3/attachment-0001.html>