Chapter 1 ~ Donavyn
Donavyn
In the days it took to reach Arylabree, Donavyn had many opportunities to second guess his decision. There was the ever-present danger of further orc attacks. But worse than that he worried constantly about Ethney. Would she be there? If not, where was she? What if she’d been attacked like they had? She was all alone, even the most skilled fighter wouldn’t have stood a chance alone against what they had. Would they abduct her like they were trying to do to Kenelm? Was that better or worse than killing her outright?
He tried to put all of those thoughts out of his mind, but it was nearly impossible. Riding for hours every day gave him time to do little else but be alone with his thoughts.
They arrived at Lake Howsen late in the evening after a number of uneventful days on the road. That put them exactly two days from Arylabree. He’d only been there once. He’d been sent when he was in his twenties to find and inform his aunt who’d been spending the month there that her father, his grandfather, was gravely ill.
Everywhere they went, they asked about Ethney, including here at Lake Howsen. Unfortunately, the lack of response was quite discouraging. Still they persisted.
They took the first inn they came to, which sat right on the lake. Gareth had never seen a real lake before and was quite taken with it. He and Cairbre spent an hour outside on the large balcony playing music and singing. A small group even gathered to watch. Keelan sat apart from them, but never took his eyes off the young farmer.
Donavyn only had plans to eat and get to bed. So after sitting with them for a while, he went inside. The inn was large enough they were able to get enough rooms that they could all sleep two to a room. They split up so that Kenelm and Cairbre took one, his sister and Igraine another, Keelan and Gareth the third, leaving him to bunk with Faolan. The more time he spent with the guard the more he liked him. He could understand why Ethney had been so partial to him, even if it did still cause him twinges of jealousy. He had other concerns right now.
Wandering around the dining hall there were a number of attractive females looking for business. He ignored them, but it wasn’t long before two half dressed women joined him, pressing their bodies close to his. When one of the women started tried to climb into his lap, he stood up and excused himself leaving his food half eaten.
While he wasn’t interested in any of the women in the inn, the touches hadn’t left him unaffected. Once alone in the room, his thoughts returned to Ethney, and for once it wasn’t all the questions that had been plaguing him. His mind called forth the image of her naked and beautiful on top of him. Of how her body felt. Firm in some places and deliciously soft in others.
He longed for her. When he laid down on the bed, he remembered the night on her tiny mattress at her childhood home. Her hair falling across his face repeatedly as she slept. Though nothing had happened that night, it felt like one of the best nights he could remember. Somehow, he would find her. And when he did, he would beg her forgiveness.
Faolan joined him not long after he settled. When he heard the guard’s voice combined with feminine giggles, he had one horrifying moment where he thought the guard might be bringing one of the harlots to their shared room. It wouldn’t be the first time one of his men had done such a thing.
But then when he heard the girl’s voice, he realized it was Brianna. He relaxed only long enough to become distressed for a whole different reason. He had been so distracted by his own thoughts he’d left his sister and Igraine down in the dining hall without escorting them to their own rooms. Before he could rise from the bed to check on them, he heard a door shut and almost immediately after, Faolan entered the room.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Faolan said, seeing that he was still awake. “I saw Brianna and Igraine to their room.”
“No. I appreciate it. I should have done it myself. I trust that they were not disturbed at dinner?” He hadn’t even thought about what they might have seen down there.
“I stayed with them, and no one bothered them. Brianna was a little embarrassed about the… companions, but not shocked. Igraine was amused.”
Faolan was quiet for a moment. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”
“You can ask. I make no promises on how I respond though.” Faolan nodded then cocked his head to the side a bit.
“At that dinner, your mother called Igraine your betrothed. No one objected. Are you truly going to marry her?”
Donavyn didn’t hesitate to answer. “No. I never intended to.” Faolan frowned, and Donavyn realized how that would look. Like he was toying with the girl. “She never intended to marry me either. When we concocted the ruse, we both thought we were being terribly clever. It seemed safe since we had no interest in one another. The problem is, because there are no feelings between us, we forgot to pretend.”
“Are you sure she has no feelings for you?”
“Quite. She’s… well like your friend Keelan I suppose you could say. Only the opposite. She’s repulsed by anything with a cock.”
Faolan thought for a moment then blushed in understanding. “You don’t worry about her with your sister?”
“What they get up to is none of my business. Igraine can’t ruin her reputation or get her pregnant. And besides, Brianna has every intention of taking a husband. She’s fond of men. It’s why she hasn’t become a priestess despite her natural talent. I’ve already had to dissuade her from one imprudent match.”
“Oh really?” Faolan seemed a little too interested in that subject and seemed to realize it, because he dropped it. “We should get some rest. I told everyone to expect an early rise. I don’t expect Cairbre and Gareth to get much rest, but they never seem overly tired.”
In the morning it was just as Faolan predicted. Cairbre and Gareth had hardly rested but seemed almost energized. Cairbre had grown up in Lake Howsen and he’d seemed more himself than anywhere Donavyn had seen him before. The farmer had fed off that energy and the thrill of the lake and large city. His confidence was growing as well. While Keelan’s affection for the boy had become plain recently, this morning the guard looked positively starry-eyed.
A few hopeful Sogalta girls giggled and flirted with Gareth. One begged him to sing again. He was kind to them but paid them little mind as he turned them down. The girls eventually gave up and slunk away disappointed.
The next two days travel went by uneventfully. When they approached Arylabree they rested in a farmer’s barn so that they would come upon the place in the daylight. The priestesses wouldn’t welcome a party after dark he imagined.
The three towers butted up to a small mountain. What the towers were for, Donavyn didn’t know exactly, but understood it was something to do with worship. The building in front of them was large and white, with yellowish stones arranged in starbursts around it. A wall and guard posts surrounded the place, as well as a variety of magical wards. This wasn’t a place one simply approached.
Sentries met them on the road, weapons drawn, demanding to know their business. Donavyn wished that he had the letter from his aunt. He hoped that her name would carry enough weight on its own.
Thankfully it did. She was respected as one of the most powerful priestesses to come out of Arylabree. The priestesses were less impressed with the nephew of such a priestess but extended him hospitality as a courtesy to his aunt.
The place was much as he remembered, which was a little daunting still. The walls and floor were gleaming white marble. They saw little of any other color until they reached the library. Here, books of all colors lined massive walls. Rows and rows of the same took up most of the floor. Stairs led up and down, winding elegantly around marble pillars.
A blonde-haired priestess wearing a pair of spectacles approached them. Her gown was gold, indicating her occupation as a keeper of books.
“What can I do for you?” she asked tensely.
“My aunt, Priestess Kiana of Fionain, has sent me to seek an audience with Priestess Nandipha of Arylabree.”
“May I ask the purpose?”
“I’m afraid that my aunt wishes for it to remain private. But if you wish to send a message to her, she may be willing to give more information than she has permitted of me.” At home the word of a lord or even a lord’s son carried more weight. But here, a priestess of any level came above him.
The woman frowned but led them to the winding staircase that led downward. They went down two levels. This floor was far less organized. Books were in piles as well as on shelves. After weaving through several piles and shelves they came to a woman sitting at a desk. She had a large tome open and in her hand a quill which she used to write in another book.”
The priestess didn’t glance up as they approached and only noticed them when they were nearly upon her. She took in the group with an alarm that bordered on horror.
“Nandipha, this young man informs me that his aunt, Priestess Kiana has sent him to speak with you.”
Nandipha looked anxiously from person to person, clearly unable to decide which one was Kiana’s nephew. He helped her by stepping forward and offering her a formal bow. She stood up, nearly knocking over her inkwell in the process.
Now that she stood, he could truly see her. The first thing that stood out was her size. He was 6’3” and she had an inch or two on him. She was also more heavily muscled, though her form was mostly lost under the robes. Her hair was blue-black and worn in a long braid down her back. Her face was almost Luthgrian, though her skin was too greenish to pass. But even if it wasn’t, the tusks would give her away. Despite her orcish attributes which made her larger and greener, she had a nice face. Pretty even, if you could get past the tusks. Her dark eyelashes seemed impossibly long and thick, making him wonder if that was another orcish attribute. He’d seen few enough female orcs that he wasn’t really sure.
She held her mouth in an awkward way that he suspected was an attempt to reduce the appearance of her tusks. While he’d been somewhat prepared to be repulsed by this mixed-blood; a product born of violent rape, his heart went out to her. He’d never seen anyone look quite so uncomfortable in their own skin as she did.
“May we speak privately?” he asked her.
She looked hesitant but nodded slowly. Then she led him to an office behind even more stacks of books. He wondered that she didn’t work in her office, but once inside he saw why. There wasn’t an open surface to be found in here. Thankfully there were two chairs, though she had to move a large stack of papers out of one to sit.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your work. But my aunt believes you may be able to assist us.”
