PART IV - GROWN-UP STUFF
“She packed a couple trunks with his clothes and toys and things,” Jorin finally said after giving Thorn a few moments. “I don’t know the state of your house, I didn’t have the heart to ask Nevikk about it. Your neighbors are farming the land, though, so I’m sure they’ll keep an eye on it.” Then he mumbled quietly, “She’s probably sold off everything of value.”
“We can get word to someone to make sure it’s kept safe and unlooted,” Natala quickly interjected. “The laws regarding raiding an absent soldier’s home are quite strict, and the army will provide a stipend for a routine caretaker, especially at your rank.”
Thorn, honestly, didn’t hear any of this. His mind was stuck inside itself, reliving all the years he’d spent with Ravina, snippets of time playing out before him. Everything from when they’d first met at Happy Tails, when he asked her out on a dare, to their lakeside wedding less than a year later. Striking a deal to get guardianship of Nevikk from his father, and both their screams of joy at seeing Thorn’s country home and large swaths of farmland and woods for the first time. Eventually, Ravina's joy gave way to missing the city and wanting to go back, though. In a way, none of those memories seemed to matter any more, while being the most important things in the world all the same.
“Where’s Nevikk?” Thorn finally asked, looking up and not seeing his son anywhere.
“I sent him off with Callie and Jesca,” Reynard said. “They can keep him amused for the time being.”
“He hasn’t been here an hour and Callie is already influencing him?” Natala said with a laugh. “This won’t end well.”
“Jesca will keep him grounded,” Reynard said, cutting off the attempt at levity. Now wasn’t the time for Callie-related jokes. He kept his eyes focused on Thorn, worried for his friend and wondering what he should be doing. He should do … something, right?
Natala looked out across the open area to where the two uniformed soldiers were still waiting by their carriage. “Hey, I need to go work with the Arkan’s people. Whatever you need, you’ll have it from me. If we need to go hunt this Grecan guy down, I’ll be there, Thorn. Just give the word.”
“I understand,” Thorn said distantly.
Natala tried to add a smile for comfort, before jogging off, returning to her duties.
Jorin touched Thorn’s upper arm to break him out of the daze he was in. “Hey,” he said, “you may want to deal with this in private.” Around them, a few staff had taken in the sight of the three, and the fact Thorn had fallen to the ground.
“You said he had travel trunks?” Thorn asked.
“Yes. Two of them. People were collecting everything and I told them to deliver each to your cabin.” Jorin put on a warm tone. “Thorn, Nevikk is doing remarkably well. He and I had a lot of time to talk on the way here, and the Bards all helped keep him entertained. I made a point not to say anything negative about his mother, and just answered his questions. He understands what has happened, even if he hasn’t fully processed why. But, right now, he needs your strength.” He looked to Reynard. “We can all get hammered and talk this through after he’s asleep, tonight or tomorrow night, okay?”
“We’re going to need it,” Reynard agreed.
“Look, I know you both have responsibilities,” Jorin continued, scratching his head and trying to keep everyone focused. “I’ll keep Nevikk with me and out of trouble while you’re on duty. I made sure he understands you are going to be busy until the holiday starts.”
Swallowing hard, Thorn nodded his head. Jorin was right, he needed to focus on Nevikk, and what he could control right now. In fact, he should be meeting Xera and the Arkan up on the training field at the moment. Pelidri was going to spend some time this afternoon beginning to review the recruits in action, and most of the tomorrow, too. The visiting Elf was a supporter of what Xera was doing, a big one, surprisingly, but only one of several powerful people that controlled the camp’s future. Pelidri needed to be impressed enough that the report he’d give would win those powerful people over. Still, he at least needed to get Nevikk settled. Xera would understand if he was late, and hopefully it wouldn’t affect the Arkan’s opinions.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“My friends,” Thorn finally said, taking in the other two as he took a deep breath, getting some strength back and refocusing on the moment. “This is a shock, and I’m going to need some time, but I cannot thank you enough for being here for me. For Nevikk, too, for that matter. He and I will … find a way forward into our next chapter.” He looked into the eyes of both his friends. “This is the kind of thing we don’t say to each other enough, but you are my family … our family. I love you both. And Natala. Our lives are richer for all of you in it.”
“Aww, now you’ve gone and got all mushy on me,” Jorin fake-grumbled. “On the stars, if you make me cry, you’re a right rat-faced bastard!”
“Well … he is rat-faced,” Reynard pointed out.
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“Gently! Slowly!” Jesca warned. She was seated cross-legged under a shade-tree, holding Iris in her lap. Gingerly, Nevikk held out a piece of jerky, carefully inching his way towards the drakeling in that terrified-but-curious way that kids do. He finally got close enough, and Iris lunged her head forward, snapping the meat out of Nevikk’s hand. He danced back a step, giggling in glee. In response, Iris spread her wings, rippling them in a familiar pattern of happy rainbow colors.
“She’s so pretty!” Nevikk said in wonder. “Is she a baby? She’s little.”
Jesca shook her head, a little exaggeration in her movements and tone of voice. “No, she’s fully grown. But she comes from very, very far away. Way, way away in the desert. This is why you’ve never seen one like her before.”
The young Elf held out another piece of jerky, moving closer and with less apprehension this time. As before, at just the right distance, Iris grabbed the offering and gulped it down, before flashing rainbows again. As he’d done previously, Nevikk squealed in happiness.
“I’ve always wanted a pet drakeling,” Nevikk eventually said as he carefully scritched Iris under her chin as he’d been shown, a touch of sadness in his voice. “My mother wouldn’t ever let me get one, but last time I saw him, my father said he’d try to convince her when he came home from the army.” His look soured and then got a little morose. “Maybe I can get one now, if she’s really gone for good.” Any sense of happiness evaporated as Nevikk dropped his arm to his side.
Jesca and Callie looked at each other, not sure what to say. They knew that the topic of Nevikk’s mother running off with someone wasn’t a topic they should talk to him about, though. It was a private, family situation between Thorn and his son, even if they did know what happened, and neither of them wanted to intrude on that privacy.
Before either Ranger could say anything, Nevikk looked imploringly at them. “You heard what she wrote. She left us because we aren’t fun enough for her.”
Callie was about to try and change the subject, but Jesca was the first to speak up. “Nevikk, you didn’t do anything wrong. No matter how much you might think so, this isn’t your fault.” Jesca had a warm, motherly tone and caring in her eyes. “This is all just grown-up stuff.”
Maybe it was the merest hint of a quivering lip, or a touch of welling in Nevikk’s eyes, but Jesca saw it coming well before Callie did. Quickly, she almost tossed Iris aside and rose up on her knees to get at his level just as the first of the crying started. Nevikk fell into Jesca’s arms, the sobs now beginning to come out. But Jesca just held the boy tightly, making quiet little shushing noises and patting his back as the emotion overtook him.
Callie didn’t know what to say or do. She didn’t know anything about kids, and certainly had no good remedies for what he was going through. When things got bad, her general approach in her life had been to ignore it and go party, hoping whatever it was simply went away. That was never the right call, and certainly not the right one here.
So instead, Callie just sat there as Iris crawled into her cross-legged lap seeking another cozy spot to lay in. She sat across from a big-hearted Cheetah girl holding a crying Elf child with colorful green hair. It would have been something surreal only weeks before, and in a way, should still be surreal now. It wasn’t though, and Callie realized she had become almost comfortable with the constant strangeness of this new world. In some ways, if she looked at things just right, it wasn’t much different from Earth, though. The Cheetah girl not far from her was just a person, after all, just as the boy was. They were just two people dealing with the toils and drama of life, one helping the other through it. It was just how people were back on Earth, and showed that some things were universal. It was beautiful, in a way, in spite of the reasons for the image.
That was how Thorn, Jorin and Reynard found them. Jesca was holding Thorn’s sobbing son while Callie sat a meter away, watching on, holding a tiny drakeling in her lap. Thorn stopped pushing Reynard’s chair as they came into sight, and immediately started to rush forward, but Jesca locked eyes and held up a hand, shaking her head and waving him off for the immediate moment. Nevikk needed to get it out, and his father might interrupt that.
“He didn’t cry the whole way here,” Jorin said in a low voice as Thorn returned to the two of them. “I could tell he was trying to be strong for me; for his Uncle Jorin, the Adventurer. I made sure to tell him a few times he could cry if he needed to, but he simply wouldn’t do it. I also made sure to say it wasn’t his fault, but I don’t think he believed me.” He looked up at his worried friend. “Maybe your marriage wasn’t great, Thorn. Maybe you were a poor husband or Ravina a poor wife. But there is one thing I do know. You’re an amazing father, understand? No matter what, don’t you ever fucking forget that!”