[Mkguild] Divine Travails of Rats - Pars VI. Acceptio (a)

[C. Matthias]

We are finally here!  This is the final part to my story which I 
began writing two years ago.  And the ideas for this story first were 
in my head back in 1998!  So I do hope that folks enjoy it (and say so)!

Recall that scenes set in 724 are 16 years after the current timeline.

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Metamor Keep: Divine Travails of Rats
by Charles Matthias and Ryx

Pars VI: Acceptio

(a)


Wednesday, June 23, 724 CR, Early Evening


Both rats tilted their heads up. A loud cheer erupted overhead and 
persisted for several seconds before turning into sustained applause. 
Their whiskers and ears twitched as dust sifted from the rafters 
above to settle across their snouts and drape the golden horses. The 
Steppe horses shook their hides and grunted at the annoyance. The one 
that had been idly lipping at the fur between Charlie's ears as he 
leaned against the wooden slats of the horse's enclosure went so far 
as to stomp his hooves, sending another spray across the top of the 
rat's head.

The baron and his son brushed the dust from their fur and waited for 
the delight of their fellow Keepers to dwindle. Charlie grimaced and 
cast one irritated glance at the ceiling. "I expect that means the 
mages have finished their show."

His father nodded and stretched his legs from atop the saddle 
blanket-draped bale of hale. "It will not be long before everyone 
begins to disperse. Are you expected anywhere, Son?"

Charlie shrugged and brushed the last of the dust from the soft 
fabric of his leggings. "I am, but neither my father nor the Duke 
will take their leave just yet. We have a little time."

"That is all that we'll need." Charles, still trembling, took a deep 
breath and closed his eyes for a moment. The horses stabled behind 
him draped their heads across the wooden stall doors to watch him; 
their green eyes sparkled like emeralds in the lamplight.

When his father opened his eyes a measure of calm had returned to his 
countenance. His voice was low and full of regret. "I was lost for a 
time after stepping from the shadow and suffering that excruciating 
pain. I did not even understand at first that I had been denied the 
chance to tell my father what had become of his son. I knew only the 
shadow in which I journeyed and in which I smouldered.

"At some point we reached the next terrace but I confess to having 
very little memory of that place. What few images of it I recall 
speak of a place brimming with trees bountiful with fruit, fresh and 
ripe for the picking if anyone could have reached them. All of the 
branches were far overhead and the bark too slick to climb. None of 
those who sojourn there could reach them to sate their hunger. Of all 
that I saw there none of the men were known to me save the one also 
in the shadow, and even that one was not a man I knew but one that I 
had learned of after our triumph at Marzac."

His father's expression twisted in distaste for a moment and one hand 
reached for the empty goblet only to slip back to his lap. His long 
tail thumped against one of the wooden slats as he shifted in his 
seat. The horses lifted their ears at the sound before turning them 
back to the rat. "I knew he was once the Bishop of Eavey and that 
he'd been taken by Marzac when sent to help exorcise that demesnes. 
But I had nothing to say to him and merely crawled on through the shadow.

"I did not return to myself until we reached the final terrace." 
Charles breathed a heavy sigh and shook his head. Above them the 
crowds cheered again though the applause did not last as long as 
before. When only the creaking of the rafters overhead and the 
snorting of horses surrounded them, the Baron leaned forward, hands 
gripping his knees, toe claws digging into the hay beneath him. "My 
tale is almost finished, my son. What you hear now you cannot ever 
breath to another living soul."

Charlie edged closed, ears turned to catch every word.

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

Charles Matthias
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