A Walk in the Park

Aedric comes to terms with all that has transpired.

25.

A Walk in the Park

 

It was a few hours before dawn by the time Aedric had dressed and found the night watch captain to unlock the doors.

“I won’t open them up again until dawn.”  The captain warned him, and Aedric nodded and went on his way.

 

The city was quiet at this late hour of night, and the Elf wondered if somewhere there were others plotting for a second attempt on Queen Eioldth’s life.   The thought sickened him, which also amused him slightly, for only a day before he had pondered assassination of Duke and Duchess Dullerm.  

Yet all of that had wonderfully changed.   He wasn’t sure how so much had changed in such a short period of time.   He felt whole physically; Matron Zeatt’s healing had even removed the weariness that had weighed him down all week while wrestling with his anger and hatred of the Westmark Drow. 

 

Now he finally had time to examine his conversion.   He walked through the dark to the Queen’s park, where he had earlier had the talk with Duke Dullerm.   Finding the same bench by the lake, he sat down and stared across the artificial lake.    What was expected of him now?   He felt different in his opinions of the Dullerms and their friends, but years of holding a strong grudge had made it a strong part of his life. 

Yet it was gone and he felt strangely empty.

At the same time, it wasn’t a lonesome emptiness, but more of a clearing out of clutter and cleaning of cobwebs and dust.  Now he was empty and ready for something to fill him.   He needed something to believe in and to inspire him.

He knew that belief in Yesh was supposed to do that, but what did that mean?   Was he expected to be a zealot or a saint?   Could he be that sort of person at all? 

 

What if it grew old and wore off?   Of course, he was now officially a knight and -amazingly- even a Paladin, but he had never really thought about what that meant.   His plans had centered on revenge.   Now he lacked any purpose.

 

He was ‘The Queen’s Champion’ for the next week.   It was a temporary purpose, but it was all he had right now.   He was realistic about his skills at arms; he was a good horseman and swordsman, but he doubted he was even close to being the best at the tournament.  

 

Aedric remembered Duke Dullerm’s suggestion that he go to visit his mother’s people.   The idea appealed to him, for he had never met any of them.   Maybe visiting them after the tournament would help him find a direction for his life.  

 

The young Knight sat there mulling over his future until the sun began rising in the east.   He noticed small numbers of men and women filling the streets as soon as the sky lightened and from their appearances, they were servants and the common laborers, preparing to start a very busy day.

 

Aedric stood up and started slowly walking back to the Palace.   As he neared the main entrance, he noticed a small group of people standing there, apparently waiting for the doors to be unlocked.

Most of them were servants that worked there, but four standing there stood out shockingly. 

One was a small Goblin, wearing a leather apron and standard workman clothing, who was talking to a huge Bugbear that Aedric recognized as the assistant armorer to Thorm the Dwarf.   He wore a huge leather apron similar to the Goblin’s and was having an intense discussion with him.

The third to stand out was also familiar to Aedric; it was Lady Amala, still adorned in a shirt of chainmail and armed with swords.   Next to her stood Snoe, who had a cloak wrapped tightly around her as she glanced shyly around.

 

They all saw him at about the same moment and stared at him as he approached, which made him feel even more awkward.  Still he smiled pleasantly and walked directly up to them.

“Well if it isn’t Prince Aedric himself.” Amala said with a hint of disdain in her voice.

“Good morning.” He responded, smiling to all four of them.

“Shouldn’t you be in there recovering?”   Amala asked.

“I couldn’t sleep after my fever broke.”

“I don’t doubt that.”  The short-haired Drow girl responded with a frown and her response drew a matching frown from her sister, though not aimed at Aedric but at Amala.  

“Sorry.” The girl mumbled when she saw Snoe’s look.

“That’s alright.”  He turned to the albino girl who shyly lowered her gaze when he looked at her, “How are you, Lady Snoe?”

“She’s exhausted,” Her sister answered for her, “She spent half the night upset.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that.”

“Well you should be!” Amala snapped.

“Amala, please… don’t.”  Snoe said softly to her sister, and Aedric was pleased to hear that she had retained her voice.

 

As if attempting to calm the tense situation down, the Goblin stepped forward and extended his hand to Aedric.

“Hello, I don’t think we’ve been introduced.   My name’s Mutt; I’m one of Master Thorm’s armorers.”

Aedric shook the Goblin’s hand, “I’m Aedric-“

“PRINCE Aedric!” Amala snapped.

 

Aedric didn’t look at the angry Drow girl but just shook his head, keeping his attention on the unusually pleasant Goblin, “No, I’m only Sir Aedric.   But I’m glad to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine, Sir Aedric.   Have you met my big ugly friend here?   This is Carn, believe it or not, the brute is an armorer too!”

The Bugbear just smirked at Mutt while shaking his head, but he extended a huge hand, “I saw you yesterday.”

“Yes,” Aedric answered, “At your booth.   It’s nice to be introduced, Master Carn.”

The title pleased the Bugbear, who gave a toothy grin, “We’re here to bring you and your stuff over to the tent grounds.”

Aedric nodded, “Oh yes, I nearly forgot.”

“You’ll be missing your cushy bed.”  Amala commented to him, “Even Queen’s Champions are expected to camp on the tourney grounds, Prince.”

 

Aedric didn’t know why the girl had such animosity toward him, but he decided to address it straight on.   He walked over to her, noticing her eyes narrowing slightly as he did.

“Lady Amala, I sincerely hope I haven’t done something else to fuel new hatred for me.   I apologized yesterday for the words I spoke to your sister and other than this, I don’t know of anything I’ve done to wrong you.”

 

The girl gave him an incredulous look, “You don’t know of anything?   Are you serious?   You really don’t know?”

 

He shook his head and she stared at him for an instant, then she realized that he honestly didn’t know.

“Unbelievable!” She said, looking at the sky.

“What did I do?” He asked, glancing from Amala back to Snoe, who was frowning at her sister again.

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”  Snoe said to him in her very pretty voice.   She gave him a gentle smile of reassurance and he smiled back, which caused her to shyly lower her gaze in the most attractive way.  

“She had a tough night because of you.”  Amala explained.

“Because of me?”

“You had a very vivid fever dream, didn’t you?”

“How’d you know that?”

“Well, for one thing, my mother came over to check on Snoe afterwards.   We were bunking over at the Guild tents and I heard her having a terrible nightmare.”

“A nightmare!”   Aedric exclaimed, quickly putting it all together.  

“Yes; she has them occasionally.   But this one was different.   You were with her in this one.”

Aedric paled in wonderment, “It was like we were the same person.”

“Yes,” Amala frowned as if the thought greatly annoyed her, “You both shared the same nightmare.   The first one was her dream, but apparently you pulled her out of that and brought her into your very violent one.”

 

The memory of it shook him for a moment, “I never had dreamt that before.   I don’t know how it happened or why our dreams intersected.   It was horrible.”

 

Aedric turned to the albino girl who looked haunted as she recalled the dream, “I am very sorry that you experienced that.   I don’t know why I dreamed that.”

“You need to forgive him.”  She said in a very soft voice.

“Who?” He asked, already knowing.

“Your father.   He was evil; you know that now.   But you need to forgive him in order to move on.”   The girl looked him deeply in the eyes and he found himself almost hypnotized by her gaze.  

 

Somehow her suggestion carried great weight to him.  

“You’re right.” He finally whispered, “I just don’t know if I can.   I… I think I hate him for what he did.”

“You should.”  Amala interjected, leaning close, “I know I do.”

Snoe turned to her sister, “You are full of hatred too.”

Amala shrugged, “I hate evil; I don’t try to forgive it.”

“So why do you hate him?”  Snoe asked, gesturing to Aedric.

 

The question took Amala off guard and she backed away, ashamed.

At that moment the palace guards unlocked and opened the doors and they ended the embarrassing conversation, joining the others going inside.

 

Aedric pulled back so he wouldn’t have to walk in with either of the two sisters, but Mutt patted him on the back and mumbled, “Don’t let them scare you, Sir Aedric; Amala is very protective of her sisters and brother, but she’s got a good heart.   As for Snoe… well, you’ll see for yourself.”  He just chuckled and pushed the Elf gently forward so they could catch up with the others.

 

 

 

Reviews

[Elina]

"Amala said with a hint of distain in her voice." I believe you want "disdain," here.

[Eddie Davis]

Yes, you are right again. You are awesome, you know, and I appreciate your incredible eyesight and knowledge of correct grammar and spelling.

[Elina]

Haha! Thank you.