<html> <body> 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 !DSPAM:4e9de975325151398310010! </body> </html>