Chapter 20 Fia

This crowd is huge. I didn’t expect so many people. The entire population of Hilltown and the surrounding countryside must be here. My parents are watching; they promised they would be since I’m the first one in our family to be honored like this. Your eyes are stronger than mine. Do you see my parents anywhere? – Prince Eater #34

At the beginning of the ninth dimming, a scratch at the door announced Craig Docherty bringing a length of rope and a large curtain. Tom entered behind him, holding a small valise and escorting a plump, young woman with a pert nose, almond-colored eyes, and brown hair cascading over her shoulders.

“Good morning,” Tom greeted them. “Are you feeling better, Jon?”

Jon shrugged. Two and 1/2 dimmings earlier, not long after the wedding, Healer Callahan had sawed and chipped off the painted casts, so he now had movement in his right limbs but lacked strength in them. He worried that he was nothing to his new husband but a disappointing burden.

“He’s been sitting up quite a bit like he is now,” Alec supplied as he draped his arm across the back of the chair where Jon sat. “Healer Callan wants him to start moving around, too. I help him with that and once he’s strong enough we’ll start walking.”

“That is good news,” Tom agreed, as Craig moved silently to one corner of the room and tied one end of the rope to a beam. Tom took the other end and stretched it across the room. He held it in place while Craig stepped back and judged the result.

“A little higher,” Craig instructed. Tom obliged and Craig nodded in satisfaction. “Let me note where you’re holding the rope, so I can thread it through the top of this divider and put it up on my own while the rest of you talk.”

Once Craig marked the rope, Tom crossed back to where Alec, Jon, and the young woman were staring at each other curiously.

“This is Erienne,” Tom introduced. “She is going to stay here with the two of you to help out.”

“Stay here? In a space that’s almost too small already?” Alec asked suspiciously. “A young woman living with two men?”

“This is SnakeIn. Those delicacies don’t exist,” Tom said practically. He took Erienne’s hand and led her forward. “Now stop being rude and say hello.”

Alec laughed and held out a hand to Erienne, “My name is Alec and this is Jon.”

When she started to bow, Tom stopped her, saying, “No. Don’t. I wouldn’t have told you the truth if I’d thought you’d act that way.”

Seeing her blush at her mistake, Alec gestured to the empty upholstered chair and said benevolently, “Please, sit down and be comfortable. Tom, what is it you would like Erienne to help us with?”

“Whatever you need,” Tom offered, as Erienne settled in the chair near Jon.

Before Tom could explain further, Craig cleared his throat and said, “This is all set. I’ll just leave you to work out the details among yourselves. I’ll be sure to send another cot up right away.”

He exited briskly, being certain that the door was closed tightly.

“Well, whatever you need,” Tom resumed. “She…ah…offered her services to me last evening. Of course, I took her home to Annie who discussed her situation with her to see if we could help. She has been homeless since her family died, and there simply isn’t much work for a single, young woman without an education.”

“I see,” Alec commented. “I’m not sure –”

“Alec, you can’t keep on the way you are. All day and all night taking care of Jon,” Tom argued. “I don’t mean that as a criticism of you or how you are doing or anything that you’ve done. You’ve been wonderful to Annie’s brother, and we can’t thank you enough.”

“Why wouldn’t I take care of my own husband?” Alec asked, offended that Tom considered Annie’s relationship with Jon more valuable than his own.

“All I’m saying is that Erienne can take some of that burden off you,” Tom responded. “She can help with meals and cleaning. She can stay with Jon so that you can get out for fresh air, and maybe find steady employment instead of accepting odd jobs here and there. I think you should look for work within your own profession, though, find someone who wants to employ you as an archer, for hunting, or guarding someone’s home, or something like that.”

“I see your point, Tom, but I’m afraid that will cause too many questions,” Alec protested. “Why would an archer with my expertise suddenly be in SnakeIn and unemployed? I’m afraid to risk it leading back to Jon.”

“This is SnakeIn. Everyone has a past,” Tom laughed. When Alec shrugged unconvinced, Tom continued, “It’s completely your choice. I’m not worried about providing you with spending money. No, that isn’t a problem at all. My thought was only that it sometimes feels better to earn one’s own way.”

Alec and Jon glanced at each other. Jon opened his mouth to speak but winced instead. Erienne immediately jumped up, sank to her knees in front of Jon, and moved his hand from his cheek.

“Good. You didn’t split the wound open or anything,” she said to him gently. “It was only the movement. Did the healer leave you anything for pain?”

Jon waved toward the blue vial and the red jar on the table beside the bed. She walked briskly over, opened the containers one at a time, and looked over the contents.

“Shame on that healer,” she clucked. “Neither of these is for pain. The blue vial is an incappbo elixir that helps infection, and this helps your skin’s healing so that the scar won’t be as noticeable later.”

“I keep it elsewhere,” Alec enlightened her. “I was instructed to store it separately because Jon has been so depressed. He is limited by how much he can take because of the side effects. I do have some left, but I’d hope to either go to Healer Callahan’s myself or see if Rory would go sometime today. I’ll get it for you.”

Alec walked the seven or eight steps to his cot and then turned so that his body obscured what he was doing as he fished through his duffel bag. He surfaced with the paper packet containing the crushed powder and relinquished it to Erienne as he explained the dose, “Only a pinch dissolved in water. Two pinches if the pain is very bad.”

She filled the water glass on the table to nearly the top and stirred in two pinches.

“That’s too much,” Alec corrected.

“He’s in pain,” she argued. “I can’t stand to see him hurting.”

“Don’t be so kind next time,” Alec insisted. “It helps the pain but hurts him in other ways.”

“I will be,” she agreed with a smile. As she returned to Jon’s side, she noticed napkins and rags folded on the edge of the mantle. Taking one of the napkins, she cupped it around the side of Jon’s face as she raised the glass to the good side of his mouth so she could use it to keep any of the liquid from spilling down his chin. Alec watched them interact and had to admit that Jon seemed less recalcitrant with her than with him.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The arrangement settled, Tom produced a wallet of coins for Alec’s and Jon’s use, and said, “I’ve got to run. There’s talk on the north side of the city about a pair of very young, orphaned siblings being forced to do hard labor for a greedy merchant. I need to put a stop to it.”

Tom hurried down the stairs, so Alec gestured for Erienne to sit again, while he brought over the wooden chair for himself.

Predictably, Jon soon dozed off from the pain medication, so Alec conveyed him to the bed. Erienne held the covers up so that he could set Jon down and together they tucked the blankets around him.

“If you’d like to unpack, I’ll sit with Jon,” Alec offered, glancing at her worn, battered valise.

“I don’t have much,” Erienne said with embarrassment.

“Nevertheless,” Alec responded. “This is your home now, too, and you deserve to be able to get yourself settled and organized. Jon and I don’t have much either. As often as I can, I visit the city’s thrift shops to find him more clothing, but I can’t leave him alone.”

“I thought Annie said that the innkeeper provides help,” Erienne questioned.

“Rory helps on his own and refuses to take money for it,” Alec explained. “If he has time, he stays with Jon so that I can work or shop. I’m grateful for all he does and am reluctant to ask him for more. He has his own responsibilities on top of whatever he does for us.”

“Hmmm,” she said thoughtfully. “Mr. and Mrs. Jarek were right after all. You need help and I need a home. I don’t mind saying that I was worried about staying here since we’d never met but you’ve been very welcoming.”

Jon groaned as he turned halfway on his side, away from the conversation. There was a soft tap on the door, so Alec simply smiled and went to answer it. He helped Rory set up the cot and blankets, expressed his gratitude yet again for everything the youth had helped them with, and walked with Rory the few steps to the door. As he did, Erienne disappeared behind the curtain and slid it along the rope until her minuscule living space was hidden from view. Alec smiled and began gathering soiled clothes so he could attack the day’s tasks.

Several minutes later Erienne re-emerged from behind the curtain wearing a lightweight jacket and shoving a short rope into a large pocket. She walked over to Alec and asked, “Do you mind if I go out for a while? I need to do a couple things that being with Annie and Tom didn’t allow me the chance to get done.”

“Go right ahead,” Alec replied, “Take all the time you need. I might work on fletching a few quarrels, so I’ll be here with Jon.”

“Thank you,” she replied as she walked to the door.

Before she opened it Alec spoke again, “Rory or Callan generally bring dinner up about six. You’ve missed breakfast. Midday meals aren’t provided, so if you’re hungry you may want to get something while you are out.” When he saw a troubled look cross her face, Alec added, “Wait up. Tom left us a purse. Let me give you some money. It’s yours to share now, too and you shouldn’t be walking around the city without any money at all.”

He hurried over to where he put the wallet Tom had given him, fished out a generous pile of coins, and pressed them into Erienne’s grip. He smiled when the worried expression drained from her face, and she audibly sighed with relief.

“If I see something good, I’ll bring back a little for you and Jon,” she said.

“No, please, no. Spend it on yourself and save what you can of it. Jon can only have liquids and very soft foods right now. Craig and Kenzie insist on bringing broth or soup up to him all day long and have never charged us extra for it. Thank you, though.” As an afterthought, he added, “I’m not hungry.”

“All right,” she answered as she headed toward the door again. “I’ll try to finish up as quickly as I can so that you can have a chance to get out, too.”

She tossed a smile over her shoulder at Alec and then disappeared down the stairs.

About an hour later, pounding, clacking, scraping, and a general, noisy upheaval startled Jon from his nap. When he cried out in alarm and confusion, Alec tossed his work knife into its scabbard, moved the small table to one side, and crossed the room in long strides. As he reached Jon’s side, the door banged open, and a brindle wolfhound loped in, pouncing up and down, wagging its tail, and running in circles with delight. Spying Alec’s stack of straight, clean arrow shafts, the wolfhound snatched up two and pranced around the room in proud satisfaction. Jon looked at Alec, stared at the dog, looked back at Alec, and muttered in bewilderment, “Wh-??”

The wolfhound spun around as if noticing Jon for the first time, dropped the wooden shafts, and leaped straight onto the bed with Jon.

“Oomph,” Jon exhaled, and then cried desperately, “Ow. Ouch. No. Dog. That hurts. Don’t.”

Alec gripped the wolfhound by the fur on its neck and tried to haul it off the injured man. Rather than cooperate, the dog bit lightly at Alec’s hand, not trying to break the skin but only trying to discourage Alec so the dog could plop between Jon and the wall. Alec reached over to grab the dog again, but Jon stopped him. “It’s okay. He’s quiet now.” The dog lay its head on Jon’s shoulder, licked Jon’s sore chin tentatively, and then thumped its tail against the wall with joy. “It’s okay. Just leave him be.”

“Her,” Erienne said from the doorway. “Her name is Fia. And it looks like you’ve already earned a place in her heart, Jon.”

Both looked at her in amazement, and then Jon set one hand on Fia, breathed in and out deeply, closed his eyes, and mumbled, “That hurt so much.”

Alec raised his eyebrows in sympathy but said nothing as he walked over to help Erienne with the bags and boxes in her arms.

“She’s been with folks who were neighbors, but they don’t want her any longer,” she explained. “Most of this belongs to Fia. There’s food, toys, a harness, and two or three leads. She was my brother’s dog. He was bedridden, so the rest of us walked her and took care of her.”

“That must be why she likes Jon,” Alec commented.

“She’s been lonely since my brother and parents were killed,” Erienne said as she rearranged the room's three shelves to make space for Fia’s possessions. Before Alec could ask, she offered, “It was a house fire. Arson. I have suspicions about who set it, but no proof.”

“I’m sorry,” Alec offered.

“My parents probably could have escaped the fire, but they tried to save my brother, too,” she added. “I was out walking Fia, and by the time I saw the smoke and ran home it was too late.”

“That was a kind and noble thing for them to do, though. You must be proud of them,” Alec said, trying to offer comfort.

Erienne shrugged one shoulder and continued, “Sometimes I would take Fia with me when I worked at night. For protection. But her size frightened customers.” The shelves rearranged and stocked, she stood, folded her arms, and gazed at where Jon and Fia slept on Jon’s bed. “I’m glad that she feels at home here. Is that your fletching work scattered on the floor?”

Alec nodded, and then bent down to gather it up while she collected the shafts Fia had scattered. When they had everything returned to Alec’s work trunk, she said, “You’re a very good fletcher.”

“We had to do it as punishment if Archery Master Quinn didn’t like our behavior,” Alec explained as he examined the dog-bitten shafts pensively, and then laughed. “In my case, I had a great deal of practice. I used to do both mine and Jon’s punishments.”

“So he was using you even back then,” Erienne remarked with distaste as she tossed her jacket on the back of a soft chair and plopped down.

Alec’s face darkened and he spat out, “No. That is absolutely untrue, Erienne, and I won’t have you passing judgment on things you don’t know anything about.”

Erienne stared at him contemptuously, but then suggested, “I was about to say that you could get good money selling bolts like that.”

Alec looked at the feathers on one of the quarrels and lifted his eyebrows as if he hadn’t considered it before. He carried his work trunk over to his cot, sat down, and leaned against the wall with his eyes closed so he could avoid seeing Erienne.

About fifteen minutes later, Alec heard Jon stretching, but as Alec opened his eyes Jon’s yawn changed into a painful scream. Fia had bounced on top of him and was assertively licking his face. Alec charged across the room.

“Don’t hurt her!” Erienne yelled in alarm.

Alec reached Jon’s side as his scream turned to painful tears. Fia turned toward Alec happily and started to jump at him, so Alec shouted, “Down, Fia. Sit.”

Confused, the wolfhound obeyed by promptly sitting down on Jon’s stomach. Alec wrapped his arms around the dog, lifted her, walked from the bed, and then set her on the floor. She wagged her tail in delight and squirmed with expectation.

“Tell her she’s a good girl,” Jon instructed through tears.

Alec patted the dog on the head, scratched behind one of her ears, and said, “You are good. You did that perfectly. From now on you wait for me to lift you on and off Jon’s bed. Okay?”

He leaned down slightly as if to listen to her answer and she promptly ran her slobbery tongue across his face. Jon’s tears turned to laughter, and Erienne joined him. Finally, Alec chuckled too, and asked, “Did she hurt you?”

“Yes. Well, only a little. I mean, no, not really,” Jon mumbled. “Everything hurts anyway.”

“I’ll get you some pain medication,” Alec said. When he saw that Erienne hadn’t moved from where she lounged by the fire, he said, “Erienne, would you hang onto Fia for a minute so Jon can relax? Thanks.”

She rose begrudgingly and took the dog’s collar. Alex pursed his lips and silently went to measure out Jon’s medication.

©2022 Vera S. Scott