Farin paced about the room uneasily. Sweat fell from her brow within her helm and nestled on the tender flesh where a stray ember had burned the far corner of her right eye. She tried clumsily to wipe the stinging sweat away with her mailed hand. She looked for Nava and found her sitting on the floor with a cluster of children, telling them exaggerated stories of the Explorer’s Guild to keep them occupied. The human princess was with her as well. She had a trio of young boys on her lap, all staring wide eyed at Nava while the human woman rocked them gently back and forth. The queen was organizing the older women in defensive lines, should any foes enter the meeting hall. Farin wanted desperately to ask her why she could possibly worry over the goblins making it all the way to the citadel, but she dare not approach the queen. Even the human princess intimidated her. She thought of asking Nava to approach Queen Halfi for her, but whenever Nava had left the children they began to cry, and Farin found their noise unbearable.
“Iron Maiden,” she heard a voice say. She turned and saw Princess Klar in full plate maille with her visor up.
Farin bowed almost to the floor. “Dread Highness.”
“Rise, friend,” Princess Klar said. “Your weddaughter has really taken to the citadel. She’s been invaluable to my aunt.”
Farin bowed again, this time slightly, and with a smile. People in the citadel valued the higher courtesies, and she determined to master them. “She is most at home, Dread Highness. Though I daresay Nava could make any place her home. She has that gift.”
“And I serves those around her. How are you faring? You must be worried over your husband.”
“To a degree, yes. He was never much of a warrior, but the doom… the Underguard, hardened him, and I have great confidence in your royal father’s command of the army.”
“Well,” Klar leaned close and lowered her voice, “My father places his confidence in Chieftain Yormun. However, I heard Gund grumbling that my father was determined to make the safety of the citadel his priority, whatever the needs of the field may be.”
“Dread Highness,” Farin choked down her nervousness, “is there any danger to us? Here? If so then please put me to work. I can fight with weapons even better than make them, and I’m more comfortable in this maille than any gown.”
The princess laughed. “Im certain of all you say, and if there is to be fighting here then my mother will doubtless put you to work. I can’t imagine how there could be though. This is hardly the direst of times in our kingdom’s history, and we’ve had time to prepare. Besides, with sixty of Ormazum’s guard, my uncle, Chieftain Brann’s personal guard, and the likes of you and my mother here, I pity any enemy fool enough to breach the citadel. Why Farin, what happened to your eye?”
“An ember, Dread Highness. I was working in my forge earlier.” She never felt worthy of crafting armor for the royal household, and was embarrassed to admit she’d made the armor her uncle wore.
Klar accepted her answer, and Farin felt a bit more at ease, though not completely. Something wasn’t sitting well with her, but with all the sights and sounds of the meeting hall she couldn’t think.
“Are you well, Farin?” Klar asked.
“Yes, Princess. I just… might I get some air? I often would load my goods onto wains outside Malgond when the caravans travelled west. I miss the crispness of topside air.”
“Of course. Come with me. Urum had some sort of work being done in the outer rooms, but I could help you find one that’s reasonably intact. We might even find a terrace to sit on.”
“Would my Chieftain’s guards dare to turn you away, Dread Highness?” Farin asked as they made their way through the empty halls. Now and then a patrol from Ormazum would pass by and bow.
“They might try,” the princess replied. “Urum was quite insistent on having the work done, despite the peculiar timing. My father had to get stern with him to clear the guild workers out until the battle ends. As for his guards, they’re a lot of stubborn old men, and have known me since I was born. Urum has insisted on keeping the same guards for decades, no matter how old they get. He’s interesting in that regard. He hand picks people he deems capable, and keeps them close to him.”
“Sounds like a wise measure. He seems a most prudent man.”
“You must revere him a great deal, being a guildswoman.”
“He is a great man, and has been exceedingly good to Koll and I. Perhaps I err in divulging this, but he allowed me to forge Koll a full suit of mannarim, and gave me apprentices to help. And, he tasked me with forging the armor worn by your father, and army’s top captains. Forgive me, Dread Highness, I don’t mean to boast. I only…”
“Farin,” Klar’s voice was filled with awe, “I’m happy for you! Urum has been clos to my father for many long years, and his devotion to Thrond surpasses all other concerns. He’s devoutly Risen, as well. Him taking notice of you and Koll can only be a good things, so by all means boast. I saw my father’s gear after he’d donned it. It looks magnificent, and he was quite pleased.”
Farin felt so much more at ease, having heard those words from Klar. They found a room that looked completely untouched, save that all the shutters were open wide. There was no terrace, but the sill was broad enough for a dozen men to march through abreast, so the sat against the edge of the window and looked out over the mountains. The room faced too far north for them to see the Titan’s Torch, but its light cast a violet sheen across the sky as red mingled with blue. The many peaks of the Ladder to the Moon glowed in the fading light of the evening, and the air was warm and sweet with a hint of rain. A thought struck her. She was old enough to remember Klar’s mother, and had only hear drunken tales in taverns of how she died. Perhaps it was the calmness of the evening, or maybe the familiar way Klar spoke with her, or perhaps it was the strangeness of the last few months that moved Farin to speak so boldly.
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“Your mother was a kind and beloved woman. It must have been painful to lose her.”
To Farin’s great surprise, the princess smiled. “Thank you for saying that. No one ever speaks of her in my presence. I know they wish to spare me renewed grief, or perhaps they worry they may offend me. Still, it feels sometimes that she’s been forgotten.”
“I assure you she has not, Princess. As one of the most common of folk, I can tell you the opposite is true. The kingdom rued her loss for years, and found it difficult to accept a new queen. Such was our love.”
Klar loosened her sword belt and leaned further back against the window frame. The clinking of her armor echoed loudly in the empty room. Farin looked at the great flank of Obrus’s northern face, and noticed idly that all the windows of the outer dwellings were open. Shadows danced on the snowy slopes beneath their sills, and a flying star streaked across the sky.
“She was an easy woman to love,” Klar said at length, “though not so active as Halfi in her service to the realm. She would have loved nothing more than to leave the kingdom behind and just be a family, but my father has too great a love for Thrond to forsake its governance, and my mother loved him all the more that. It killed her in the end, her love for him. She craved his company, and so she journeyed to Nirmo with him, with a much younger and more joyful Klar in tow.”
“What happened to her, if I may ask? Men claimed she was murdered by King Akihud, or taken captive by the domhain.”
Klar laughed, then gave a sad sigh. “I was slowborn, and she was never well after birthing me. Her heart gave out on the road, just as we began our return from Nirmo. So, it was nothing so adventurous as being a captive of the Shadow Moors, and Akihud was terrified of my father and uncles. He never would have dared lay a hand on her. I remember how he’d quake when Balvor would walk astride him and wrap his arm around his shoulder, laughing gaily without a care in the world. I think Balvor’s laughter frightened Akihud more than Lobuhl’s scowls, though he gave Lobuhl the widest berth of them all. Oh Uncle Lobuhl, you overgrown child, where are you now?”
“Has there been no word of the Prince?”
“Halfur sent back a thrush, saying he heard he was seen in an inn near the Dawnwood. My father thinks he’ll return, but I don’t know. He spoke to me more openly than to anyone else. He felt deeply betrayed when my father defended Salimod. He told me to be wary of Idana, and to never let down my guard so long as Salimod’s shadow could be seen inside the mountain. Now Salimod is gone, and so is my uncle, and I’m the one who feels betrayed.”
“How so, Highness?”
Klar let out a long sigh. “Many believe my father to be the mightiest warrior in all Konistra. I grant you, his wrath is a horror to behold, but Lobuhl is twice the fighter, and the men of Forvangur know it. He had a hand in forming of all our top legions, even the Owl Guard. With everything befalling us of late, his leaving was a sore blow to our men, especially the new conscripts. Many looked forward to the honor of fighting under his command.”
“It’s a strange storm that we’re caught in, to be sure. I didn’t realize the Owl Guard was real. I’d thought them just a rumor. Our men at arms are never so secretive as they, and the way they’re rumored to operate sounds almost elvish.”
Klar laughed. “Well, I can assure you they are very real, and very dwarvish. And oh, Titan’s breath, their captain is an absolute vision! Such a lovely man. If he weren’t guarding my brother and sister I’d have insisted he be posted up here with us.”
Farin laughed. “You must point him out ot me when they return.”
“Farin, you have a man!”
She sighed. “Yes, I do. My apologies, Dread Highness.”
Klar scowled at her, then giggled. Farin giggled as well, and they both burst into laughter. “How have you both fared since his return?” Klar asked when the laughter faded.
Farin went quiet for a moment. A sharp pang of guilt stabbed her deep in her belly. What will my princess think of me if I answer in earnest? To learn that I am simply incapable of joy, that when I have what I long for I fail to appreciate it, that all I can do anymore when Koll is with me is wish he weren’t, and when he is away I worry over him constantly, and fear losing him again above all other things?
“You don’t have to answer,” said Klar.
“I should, Dread Highness. You spoke to me of your mother.”
“But my mother has been gone for many years. Koll is freshly returned still, and there’s been a great deal of turmoil over the matter.” Klar took her mailed hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “Answer my question later, when you’ve had time to settle into your new life. Let’s just enjoy the peace of the night, and trust our handsome warriors to finish their work and return home to us in time for supper.” The women leaned their heads together and their helms clanked.
Farin wanted to ask Klar about Buri, but decided that question too could wait. She breathed deep and looked out over the north face of Obrus again. The shadows had grown long in the waxing moon, and stretched out like sentinels along the velvet snow. A tall figure in a black cloak rose and raised a crossbow.
“Highness!” Farin leaned across her princess and the bolt struck her in the shoulder. She could feel the tip of the bolt scraping against her hauberk where it had punctured her pauldron. She lowered her visor and drew her mace, then dove out the window onto the mountainside. The dark figure was not alone. Hundreds rose about him. They swung grappling hooks into the windows of the empty mansions and rose silently into the citadel. Farin closed heedlessly with their assailant. He lowered his crossbow with one hand and drew a long, curved sword with the other. He parried her swing deftly and struck her helm hard with his pommel. She fell and rolled down the mountain, catching herself on a spur of rock just before falling into the deep chasm where the Sholai glacier was born. She panted heavily as she pulled herself up, then ran back up the slope to her princess, her heart racing.