Chapter Eighty-one

Krissintha Arlonet Dar Ghelain had nothing against silence. Sometimes it was a good thing; every voice melding into an indistinct murmur and no-one speaking to her specifically — it was an opportunity to spend some time with her thoughts, ponder questions and problems, or do the opposite and empty her mind, forget everything for a time and enjoy the small things.

She took another sip of her Earl Grey, took a bite of the quite frankly tasteless scone the elves seemed to like so much, and looked around the terrace of the tea-house. Her present table-company — Kitala Iwani and Tovaron Ento — followed her gaze as her eyes lingered on the small chalk-board at the entrance of the venue and on the queue of people waiting to get inside or the people coming out, holding their cups of tea and asking strangers at other tables on the terrace if they could sit down there.

Krissintha still had trouble reading more complex texts written in Elvish, but the sign was simple enough: “Buy a box of our new Earl Grey blend, and get to play with a Hellhound.”

It was one of the weirdest things she’d seen. Using Akela and Loki to sell tea? Something like this would have never occurred to her, but Deni, as the shrewd businesswoman she was, had decided that hellhounds and their pups were an acceptable sacrifice on the altar of profit — or “marketing stunt” as Kevin had called the ongoing event inside the tea-house. And for some reason the spirit approved of this, going as far as calling it a genius idea.

Toven wasn’t as enthused as Deni and Kevin, but he had accepted that he had no say in the matter — he was a ranger, whose recent promotion from scout-master second rank to first rank hadn’t impressed his wife enough to let him talk her out of this idea.

Krissintha wondered if something like this would have worked back home. She didn’t remember seeing tea-houses in Thyssa, but then again, she had rarely left her father’s vast estates to venture into towns and cities. Sneaking out to do that was her brother, Bernard’s thing. But tea-houses and other venues aside, humans and elves had similar if not the same myths and stories about the dark and mysterious red-eyed wolves: servants of the lords of Hell, accompanying evil spirits to steal and drag the souls of men to the underworld for less than friendly purposes. It was the prevailing opinion amongst those who were telling such stories that hellhounds had existed once, but were extinct. She could easily imagine the allure of seeing one of the creatures with one’s own eyes, and if you could even pet or give one a belly-rub, spending fifteen Kyns on a box of tea would be a small price to pay. Then, those who bought a box would realise the tea was pretty good, and hopefully they’d buy more.

As far as plans went, Krissintha had to admit it was a good one, and she was sure Akela and Loki were having the time of their lives inside the tea-house, getting meaty treats and belly-rubs from interested elves. How Deni had managed to convince the owner of the establishment to do this, she had no idea, but she imagined her constant presence inside to keep an eye on the wolves was one of the conditions.

Krissintha glanced at Toven and Kiwa, both of them quietly sipping tea from their cups, looking like a married couple who had lost all interest in talking to each other ages ago.

Toven must have had a lot on his mind, considering his recent promotion as well as his participation in the upcoming trip to the Mainlands. He was probably thinking about the plans and ways to make them better.

It was more difficult to guess what Kiwa was thinking, but Krissintha had learned that when the woman was quiet, it usually meant she had nothing to say, and probably wasn’t anything on her mind at all.

Kevin being quiet wasn’t anything unusual — sometimes days would pass without her familiar saying anything more than a few words, just to let her know he was there and he was alert. But the silence of Kevin’s newly acquired companion was unusual and somewhat disconcerting.

‘Kevin, what’s with your friend, Hank?’ she asked the spirit aloud.

Toven and Kiwa looked at her, the first one to break the silence that had been going on for quite some time.

Hank? Nothing. Why are you asking about Hank? Kevin replied, in his tone the nervous defensiveness of a kid caught stealing honey from his mom’s kitchen. This was suspicious.

‘Are you sure?’ she asked. ‘It’s past midday, the place is full, and he hasn’t once demanded we go and eat some souls.’

Ah, he’s … uhm … having a nap.

‘A nap? I thought spirits didn’t sleep,’ she countered.

Well, he’s sleeping because … Kevin began to present some no doubt improvised explanation, but Tilry cut in and finished the sentence for him.

Because he’s having indigestion.

Traitor! Kevin hissed.

Kiwa raised her eyebrows the same time as Krissintha. Toven, who was included in the voice-chat this time, rubbed his chin and asked,

‘Who’s Hank? Did you get a second familiar?’

‘Not exactly a familiar, just another voice in my head,’ Krissintha said, shaking her head, a sudden feeling of irritation popping up from nowhere. Because one voice wasn’t enough, was it? And had anyone even asked her if she wanted or needed a second voice? No. Of course not.

But Toven didn’t seem bothered or irritated by her statement. Why would he? There was no visible sign of danger, the people sitting out on the terrace or queuing to enter to pet a red-eyed wolf were all alive and well, their souls where they belonged.

‘Better start talking, Kevin!’ Krissintha warned the spirit. ‘No secrets between host and familiar, alright?’

Well, so … I fed him a little last night. It wasn’t much, but it was a somewhat heavy meal I suppose. Kevin said, clearly not happy having to share.

‘What? You went out? With who?’ she demanded. Was him leaving on his own going to become a habit?

Oh, no no no, we didn’t go anywhere. I had some reserves. Tilry, tell her we didn’t go anywhere!

They didn’t go anywhere. Tilry said dryly.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

‘You didn’t?’ Krissintha asked, just to make sure.

We didn’t! And Hank will be alright, you’ll see. Kevin assured her, then it sounded like he took a deep breath. So … we’re going to the continent soon. The Mainlands as you people call it. Are you excited to be going back there?

Krissintha blinked upon hearing this blatant attempt at changing the subject. Fine. She could play along.

‘Back? I’ve never been to the Mainlands,’ she said.

What? Isn’t that where you’re from? Kevin asked, sounding confused.

‘Thyssa is an island. Like Solace. Down south,’ Krissintha said, sighing as memories began to crawl to the fore. ‘I’ve never left Thyssa before. We were going to visit Kethesh. Father promised we’d go, he said we’d visit one of those famous markets. But I knew he just wanted to introduce me to a few potential husbands.’

Abroad? Thyssa ran out of suitors or something? Kevin asked, amused.

‘Well, I made sure it did. But I only slapped a few of them.’ She lifted her hands defensively. ‘Most of them are probably dead now. This was before … you know.’ Krissintha’s voice trailed off.

Before that rebellion. Kevin said.

‘It was supposed to be my first time traveling by ship,’ she said, not so much sighing but growling. ‘Instead, my first time on a ship was when that bastard Jevan dragged me onto one. And you know how that ended.’

Oh, I remember. Kraken number one?

‘Right. Kraken number one,’ Krissintha scoffed. ‘I still can’t believe I ran into those monsters not once but twice. And lived.’

‘I’m suddenly worried about our upcoming voyage to the Mainlands,’ Toven remarked. ‘If you’re attracting the giant sea creatures, I might have to pull a few strings to be put on a different ship.’

Krissintha scoffed again.

‘You should probably do that,’ she said, smiling at the man as menacingly as she could. ‘I mean, there won’t be krakens, but I’m not sure I want to spend the trip listening to you asking me when they will show up.’

Toven chuckled at that, and so did Kiwa, but Krissintha wasn’t sure it was just a joke, especially the part about not encountering krakens again. She couldn’t be sure of that, could she? She had only been on two ships in her life — the Dalar’s Heart and the Island Queen — and what had happened both times? Krakens. That was two out of two, and now here she was, only a couple of weeks away from her third ever journey on sea, and it would have been a lie to say she wasn’t at least a little worried.

She buried the thought immediately, and she was thankful when Kevin asked an unrelated question, changing the topic again, whether it was on purpose or not.

So, how far is Thyssa from this Fentys Alliance?

‘Far,’ Toven answered. ‘If you travel by land, starting from the Alliance, then you’ll have to cross Persis, the Voysair Empire, then go through either Flania or Filante to get to Kethesh, then take a ship from there to Thyssa.’

‘Have you ever been to other countries?’ Krissintha asked the man.

‘I’ve been to Persis a few times,’ Toven said. ‘I almost went to the Black Iron League once, but the dwarves changed their minds last minute and decided to deliver goods through Persis merchants.’

‘Yeah, they do that.’ Kiwa nodded knowingly.

Krissintha recalled that there had been a dwarf in Kitala Iwani’s original party, the one Sivera had sent to Solace to hunt down the loose evil spirit. That was the first time she’d ever seen a dwarf — just like elves, down south in Thyssa, Blethonia or Kethesh, you could spend a lifetime without coming across a single one. It wasn’t unprecedented; she had heard stories of elves and dwarves showing up in port cities every once in a while, either as part of a ship’s crew, or in the company of merchants, but she had never seen one, not until she had ended up on Solace.

Do you miss home? Do you miss Thyssa? Kevin asked.

Krissintha had to pause for a few moments — the question was sudden and unexpected, and if she was honest, she hadn’t really thought about it. Did she miss Thyssa? What did Thyssa mean to her anyway? Sure, it was a nice place, much warmer than here in the north, and she’d had a good life there. A much easier life, being the daughter of one of the richest, most influential barons. Did she miss it? And if she did, what was it exactly she missed? The easy, lavish life, everyone bending over backwards for her because they were afraid what her father might do if his daughter complained about them? The comfort? The false safety that had vanished overnight?

‘I miss my family,’ she said as more memories surfaced. ‘My father, he was … not a nice man. He was a baron, and sometimes he was cruel. He had to be. But he was my father and I loved him. My mother would come up with the most devious ideas to trap people who would want to harm us, you know, and my father relied on her greatly to protect our family. My brother, my older brother, Isthan, he was going to inherit the barony, and he was doing his best to not disappoint father. He was good at everything. He even became a spiritualist. Bernard, my younger brother, he knew he wasn’t going to inherit as much as Isthan, but he didn’t care. He’d sneak out all the time and leave the estate, sometimes for days, and we’d find him in town, fooling around with the common folk, the townspeople. Even now I don’t know what he found so entertaining there, but it wasn’t tea-houses, I can tell you that much.’ Krissintha chuckled as she remembered the times her father’s men had to drag her brother back to the estate, and how he’d complain about it for days, about how unfair it was that he couldn’t just do things he enjoyed. ‘He might be the only one still alive,’ Krissintha said, her giggles turning into a trembling in her chest, and she suddenly felt she was an inch away from starting to sob. ‘He was out somewhere when the usurper’s army arrived at our estate. As usual. He was … he is clever. He might have disguised himself and hid in one of the towns. I hope he did. Maybe he’s alive and well, living the life of a common man. He wasn’t well known, I doubt most people would recognise him, so … so it’s …’

‘So it’s possible,’ Kiwa finished the sentence for her.

‘I suppose it is.’ Krissintha nodded, wondering if anyone had noticed the moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes.

I guess we will have to visit Thyssa sometime and look for him. Kevin stated. Family is important. He is your little brother after all.

‘You’d be alright going to Thyssa with me?’ She asked.

Of course. That’s what friends are for. Kevin replied without hesitation.

Krissintha smiled. The memories she had just relived were faint, as if all those people, all those events had happened a lifetime ago instead of little over a year ago. One of the memories of that life was a distinct lack of friends. Oh, there had been plenty of people claiming to be her friends back then, but how many of them had been true friends and not sycophants? How many of them would simply offer their unconditional support, expecting nothing in return?

‘Thanks, Kevin,’ she said. ‘We’ll find my little brother. Eventually.’

A commotion at the entrance drew the attention of everyone at the table. Deni walked out of the tea-house, exhaustion evident in her gait, a happy-looking father-son duo of dark wolves following her like puppies, heading straight to their table.

‘Ah, I guess it’s break-time for my darling wife,’ Toven said, standing up as Deni and her furry retinue arrived.

‘You wouldn’t believe what’s going on in there. Old man Girat is happy though. He hadn’t had this kind of rush for years in his shop. He even asked if we’d be interested in letting him adopt Akela or Loki. I said no of course, they’re my pups,’ Deni presented her report.

Toven glanced at the wolves, shaking his head in apparent disapproval of anything wolf-related.

‘So, are you hungry yet? Shall we go and get something nice?’ he asked.

‘Starving,’ Deni exhaled the word, then looked down at the two wolves standing on either side of her. ‘And I think my associates could use some more snacks.’

‘What? The mutts have been snacking all morning, haven’t they?’ Toven snapped.

‘There’s always room for more snacks,’ Deni waved her husband’s concerns aside.

Krissintha watched the two elves leave, still arguing, or more like debating the capacity of Akela’s stomach, but in a good-natured way. She had no doubt that the hellhound and his family had grown on them, well, on Deni mostly, and Toven wouldn’t have the guts to order them out of his home. Not if he wanted to continue to have a peaceful and productive relationship with his wife.

Krissintha was about to stand up and suggest to Kiwa that they too should leave and find something more interesting than a tea-house, but she slumped back into her chair as a greeting echoed in her mind.

Good morning, everyone. The new voice joined the conversation. Then Krissintha realised it wasn’t a new one, it was one she had been getting used to hearing in her head: Hank’s voice. And talking about little brothers … well, good morning to you, little brother!