Farin stopped in front of the door. Her knees and hands had never shaken so. On the other side of that slab of stone was a thing that as a girl she’d never thought to possess, then one day to her joy and surprise she had, and then to her great sadness lost forever. Now she was told it had been returned to her, and she was terrified of opening that door lest she lose it yet again. She remembered when that thing had first come to her, unbidden and unexpected. Koll had been awake throughout the night holding vigil for his wife Duna's memory. He and his daughter had held to this practice faithfully for ten years. Most often they were both sluggish and distracted the following day. Not this time. This day Koll could do nothing but smile, and when he held Farin’s hand and confessed his love for her she had almost fainted from shock. He had taken her rejection so graciously that she thought he didn’t believe her, but for an entire year after he never again spoke a word of his feelings. It took another woman swishing her tail in his presence to move Farin to change her mind. She wanted to grab one of the axes she’d just forged and chase the little trollop off, but instead she looked in her mirror and asked herself if she loved Koll after all.

Of course she loved him. How could any woman not? Granted he wasn’t the most comely of men, being the height of a tall child and devoid of hair. Some illness in his infancy had caused it to fall out, and since then his head had born no other barding than his coal black beard. It was his smile that had wooed Cara, his smile and his voice. Like a war horn being blown gently, or a roaring waterfall heard from a distance, so was the graceful power that came from her precious man's throat. Farin had simply not been prepared to consider anything beyond their friendship when he'd confessed his love. In all the years she’d known the man he’d held his yearly vigil for the wife he’d lost, and was entirely devoted to his daughter. But then he offered himself to Farin, saying that he and Navva had laid the past to rest and were ready for the future, and he wanted to share his future with her. She needed time was all, and she found herself being drawn more and more to the man as the days wore on, until she could no longer bear to keep her growing love a secret.

She had summoned Koll to her forge under pretense, discussing their sums for the past season or some such tale. She would never forget the look on his face when he arrived and saw her in her promise gown. She'd felt her hands moving of their own accord into his, and as one they spoke the vows. That memory had twisted in her heart like a knife for months after he was sentenced to an unlife of war in the underlands, a living man amongst the legion of the dead. Now that memory was a strong wind pressing against her back, moving her to open the door and go to him. Til the last dawn breaks, and the tides run dry, I will be yours and you will be mine. She choked down the lump in her throat as best she could, wiped the tears off her cheeks, and quietly opened the door.

Koll stood facing away from her by a window cut into the far side of the chamber. The Stone Guard soldiers flanking the door bowed politely to Farin as they exited. She had thanked Prince Ror profusely for promising them privacy. So many warring thoughts were addling her, she couldn’t bear to think of facing Koll with his guards watching them.

Is that truly him? The man she looked at was the right size, and his head was as clean as polished marble, but gone was the soft skinned merchant with his easy bearing. This man was a blooded warrior carved out of tempered steel. He was clad in one of his own robes, another gift of kindness from their Prince. It was a robe he’d purchased from an Araadani caravan only days before he was accused. It was made of lilac silk with the three sided emblem of the Fel woven a hundred times in silver thread. The robe was thin and light, and the hard muscles that had grown about his back and shoulders threatened to tear through the once loose fitting garment. As she slowly stepped closer she saw a massive scar tearing a jagged path across his scalp. His neck was scarred too, and burned as well.

“Koll,” she whispered. He turned quickly, so quickly Farin that didn’t at first see the many ruinous tears across his face. She’d already flung herself into his arms when she saw those scars. One was as wide as her thumb, and carved a bald trench through part of his beard. His upper lip was shaved bare as she remembered it. His moustache tended to prick her when they kissed, and so he’d taken to shaving it.

He spoke, her name probably, but she was beyond hearing. She pressed her mouth against his, her entire spine quaking as the memories of their love crashed like a tidal wave over her heart. She clutched at him desperately with her arms and lips, terrified that if she opened her eyes or loosened her embrace he would fade away, and she would find herself alone in her bed, having been tortured with yet another false dream of hope. But when at last she dared to pull herself back, he was still there, his ravaged face wet with tears and warm with a smile.

“I’ve missed this smile,” Farin said in between sobs. She leaned her head forward and rested her brow atop his bald crown, now gashed and torn by Alon knew what. She wanted to kiss his scars, and ask him how each was won. She wanted to tell him how beautiful and strong Nava had grown to be, and how she never for one moment gave up hope of seeing her father again. She wanted to sit across him in the bath and lose herself in his soothing baritone while he droned on about imbalances in their inventory. She wanted to tear his scarred body out of his robe and fling him onto the bed. She wanted everything she had lost, and it was a joy that teetered on the edge of madness to think that those things had all been given back to her. Give it time, she told herself, and together they stood there in silence until the sun disappeared over the distant hills of High Alden.

They woke with the dawn, but lingered in bed until daylight filled the chamber. They spoke mostly of Nava at first, and Koll asked about her forge and how well she’d fared without him. Whenever one of them would speak of their longing for the other, or their joy at being reunited, they both would give way to tears. Farin asked him about his scars, remarking that she enjoyed the mean look they gave him. He told her of a few small battles, but she could tell he was sparing her the from the full horror of the underlands. His body was even more scarred than his head and face. “Did they not give you armor?” she asked while tracing her finger along a wide gash that ran from his shoulder to his buttocks. “Oh, they did,” he said, "but it was poorly made compared to what I was used to”. She smiled and kissed him.

It wasn’t until one of the guards knocked on the door that they rose and dressed. When they opened the door Farin immediately bowed. She tugged at Koll’s robe until he bowed as well.

“Who is she?” he whispered.

“Princess Klar,” Farin whispered back.

“She’s grown so big.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” the princess said gayly. “Rise, both of you.”

They both stood. Klar was wearing a gown that made Farin want to weep with envy. It was smooth burgundy velvet inlaid with ornate plates of silver bragandine about the sleeves and neck line, with all the marks of a garment recently sewn. Behind her was the big man that had come with Prince Ror. He nodded curtly toward her, then looked on her husband with a piercing gaze. His cheek glistened as a tear found its way down his hard, gaunt face. He stepped past the princess and he and Koll embraced each other heartily.

“Buri!” her husband said in a hoarse voice. “Oh Buri! How? How are we both here?”

The men released each other and Buri took a step back, then gestured with a glance to the princess. “Her brother,” he said.

“And him,” said the princess, inclining her head toward Buri. “Buri told my brother Ror of your plight. Ror went to work right away to secure your release.”

“What has Valung told you?” Buri asked.

“Very little, surprisingly. He said that the nightmare had ended, and that it was time for me to rise.”

Buri gave Koll a knowing look and nodded slowly. “There’s not much else to do after a fall.”

Buri’s one of us, Farin thought. “And so we’ve risen and here we stand,” she finished the armitage hail, the hidden greeting of those sworn to the Fel.

“And are we to stand here all day?” the princess asked, with no indication in her voice that she had understood their words. “This man has a daughter to meet, after all.”

Farin’s eyes lit with excitement. Koll gasped and she wrapped her arm around his. “I was told she’d be longer,” Koll said.

Klar smiled with every feature of her pretty face. “My brother sent our fastest bear rider after her expedition, and she hopped right on the bear and rode back with him.”

Farin laughed loudly. It would be just like Nava to brave the haunches of a darklands cave bear. Those beasts were savage as any creature her dear husband had faced with the doomed, but Farin knew brave little Nava would have tamed a centaur if it got her home to her father sooner.

Koll was beside himself with excitement the whole trip to Ormazum. The two Stone Guard followed along with their signature gem hilted greatswords slung over their backs. A quartet of citadel guards came along to supplement, but Farrin suspected the Stone Guard to be along to protect the princess, as they flanked her at all times.

Farin was glad for the time she had alone with Koll. She wanted him to be reunited with Nava, so badly she looked forward to seeing their faces when she arrived at the city. But she knew Koll’s attention would be divided with his daughter present.

“It’s a wonderful thing your family’s done, Dread Highness,” Farin told Klar while they stood on the royal ohr-tempus.

The princess turned and took Farin’s hands in hers then and looked her deeply in the eyes. “No,” she said, “it’s a terrible thing we’ve done. Buri is to thank, and he alone.”

“Dread Highness, surely your royal brother…”

“Ror did what he ought. If he’d done any different I’d have shaved his beard in his sleep.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

She means it, Farin thought, she truly regrets Koll going to the doomed. I’ve spent so much time hating these people. Was I wrong to? Klar stood close to her the rest of the way to the undergate. Farin found herself at a loss for words as the Princess spoke earnestly of the many things her family struggled to do for the people. Along with enforcing the law, managing the many guilds, collecting taxes, monitoring commerce, maintaining and improving infrastructure, planning expansion efforts, running the mass forges, and mapping out new parts of the mountain, the King and his family had the other five kins to contend with. The problems of one one small family of steel peddlers seemed like a single grain of sand on the shore to Farin, now that she heard one of her rulers speaking to her woman to woman. She began to feel regret over the thoughts that at times ran through her mind. Especially now that these very people had returned her husband to her.

Koll spoke eagerly with the big man Buri the whole way. Farin heard fragments of their conversation. They spoke of the doomed more than any other topic. This bothered Farin, though she knew not why. It made sense that they would, having both shared the experience and having both recently found freedom. Buri spoke in only two or three word stretches, she noticed, while Koll rambled on as he was oft to do. It warmed her heart to hear him, even though she remembered how exhausting his speech could be at times, even despite the charm of his voice. But his lengthy dissertations and pedantic explanations were a sweet song to Farin now. How she’d missed him. She found herself wishing Nava further out from the city so that she could have Koll to herself one more day, and one more night, then began to scold herself for such selfishness.

The Princess and the army chief’s nephew left them at the gate hall. The guards remained, and Princess Klar insisted the Stone Guard stay with them as well. “I have Buri to protect me,” she said. This seemed to convince the royal guards. The Princess gave Farin a kiss on both cheeks, and she bowed to Koll and begged him to forgive the crown for the wrong done to him. “My brother is heading the inquest,” she said, “and he won’t let anything be overlooked.”

Anything? Farin thought of Miser, then instantly recoiled from the thought. Don’t think of him. Not now. That will come soon enough. A mad urge to blurt out what she knew of that terrible man to the Princess and the army chief’s nephew came over her, but she restrained herself. Nava’s coming, and I don’t want to ruin this moment.

They spoke as they waited for Nava outside the gate hall. Klar and Buri had departed and the guards gave them enough space to feel as if they were alone. Now and again someone would approach them, a former patron, a fellow merchant, or a guildsman of some sort. They would see that it was truly Koll and burst with elation. One man, an old miner who had supplied Farin with superb metals from her her first forge to the day her and Koll married, and then inexplicably stopped, approached them warily, and seemed unmoved. Farin had learned eventually the reason he had ceased doing business with them. “He doesn’t approve of remarriage,” another metal hawker had told Koll after an exchange counsel meeting. Farin learned the man had lost his wife to a cave in, and had no children to remember her by. Still he remained a bachelor in her honor. Farin found the man’s scorn to be ridiculous. Koll waited ten years before wedding another, as much for his daughter as for the memory of his wife.

“I never approve of remarriage,” he said to them now, “no matter who and no matter their tale. There’s many a man to each woman, and ‘tis not right for one man to have two while another has none. But ,‘twas wrong what they done to you, Koll, and I’m glad to see you returned. Gives me hope for the crown. Our Dread Sovereign nearly forgot the guilds for a time, traipsing about topside for years on end, flinging all our coin at the Red Mountains. It’s good to see something of merit happen since he’s turned his royal eye back inward.”

Koll was gracious to the man, ignoring his slight about their marriage and engaging him in talk of governance. Farin wanted to cuff the man on top his grey head and drag him to the Princess. She could see in her mind him begging for mercy as Buri held him against the wall, and the Princess lectured him on all her royal family endured on the man’s behalf, while he enjoyed the comfort of his mine and belittled others for making choices he did not approve of. As if his approval is a thing people care for. Farin’s anger flared and she found herself severely taxed by the man’s presence. If only Koll would stop humoring him. Does he never stop talking? The doomed must be glad he’s gone. They’re spared his ceaseless rants. Farin imagined a troop of war weary soldiers camping in a dark cave deep beneath the world, begging off sleep while her husband bored them with lists of details, lengthy descriptions, and wandering trains of thought. Then Farin’s stomach clenched. What’s wrong with me? I’ve got him back, and I couldn’t be happier. So why am I thinking so abusively of him? It was the old miner. She wanted him gone, not her husband. Koll was simply being Koll, she told herself. At length the old fool did leave, and she had Koll back to herself, along with peace and quiet.

Nava was a long time coming. The day wore on and the crowd changed faces half a dozen times. The princess returned to check on them and bring food to their guards. One time she brought her younger sister, the Princess Yemi. She was the happiest and sweetest girl Farin had ever met, and spoke nothing but the kindest of words. She must have embraced her and Koll a dozen times apiece, and apologized profusely for the crime done to their family.

When both princesses had gone, they found a bench lining a ringwall around a cluster of guard houses and she laid her head down on his shoulder as they sat. Farin was a few inches taller, and remembered how awkward their cuddling had been when they were freshly wed. In time they figured it out, and while it wasn’t always the most comfortable thing for Farin, having to lean far to one side, she endured it for the joy of being close to her man. Some children snickered at their height difference as they walked by, causing both Koll and Farin to laugh. They held hands, looked into each other’s eyes, spoke of memories, shared tales, and did their best to pass the time.

“It’s alright,” he reassured her when she expressed sorrow for the anxiousness he surely felt having to wait so long. “I’m with you, Farin. I couldn’t be more content. I still half expect to awaken in the underlands, and realize that this was all a torturous dream. Such dreams haunted me so when first I was sent down there. I’d awaken in tears, and sometimes others would wake me, saying I’d been crying out in my sleep. The Father of Tears, they called me for a time.” He went on for quite a while after that, and Farin almost fell to sleep as his voice rumbled and echoed gracefully off the stone walls about them. The thought struck her that Nava may have been hurt, or waylaid by a band of goblins or dwarven muggers. She has a bear rider with her, and she’s no slouch with that sword. She’ll be fine. Farin wondered suddenly if they were waiting at the wrong gate, but Koll assured her that if the Princess and Buri brought them here, then it was the likeliest place to find Nava.

One of the King’s brothers came by at one point. It was Balvor, the Happy Prince. He had his human bride in tow along with what looked to be twenty human soldiers and two of the Stone Guard. They seem to always be in pairs, she mused as the Happy Prince carried on with apologies and high hopes for the inquest. Farin noticed in passing that the Stone Guard bore the emblem of the Fel on their belts, rondels, and faulds. It didn’t surprise her to think that the crown was of the Risen, even if not every member of the Royal family was an initiate. It was a common enough belief that the Fel had their roots in Narvi’s time, with some even claiming Narvi himself started the order. She searched the human guards for their order's pyramidal badge, but all they wore was the Autumn Triske, the crest of High Alden.

The human woman, Princess Idana, she was called, laid her hand on Prince Balvor’s shoulder and leaned down to whisper in his ear. Right away the Prince bowed and bid them farewell. “She tired of us quickly,” Farin said. Koll was silent, staring ahead blankly as if his eyes had suddenly lost their sight. “I’m sorry,” Farin said. “I’ve become a bitter crone since they took you from me. I promise to… Titan’s stones!”

Nava was running. Behind her, on the far side of the plaza, a small hidden door was closing. Farin could see a huge scarred muzzle peaking through for a moment, a long pink tongue dangled peculiarly out of one side. She saw an armored dwarf with an orange topknot wrestle the bear back through the door as it closed, and then she saw Nava leaping into the air. The girl landed on her father’s lap with a thud as her knee hammered onto the stone bench. The girl laughed hysterically and rubbed her knee with one hand while clinging fiercely around her father’s neck with the other. Tears streamed down both their cheeks.

“Dad!” she cried, “Oh dad, dad, dad, oh dad! I knew you’d come back to us. I just knew it!”.

Farin felt her own eyes moistening yet again as the two laughed and embraced each other. “Nothing could keep me away from you,” he said as he rocked his daughter from side to side on his lap, just as he’d done when she was a small child.

“You’ve grown so big,” Koll said.

“Yes, and I doubt that’s done. I’ve gotten as tall as I ever will, many thanks to your blood for that, but I’m like to double in width, many thanks to Farin’s cooking for that. Salted ham and bacon, those are the two things you’ll find in her larder, and butter, which she spreads on both. ‘We have salted swine meat, and salty swine meat. Which will it be?’, that’s her every morn. ‘Either or,’ I say, ‘only spread plenty of butter on it,’ I add, only because I know she will whether I ask her to or no. Very thoughtful, your wife. Sees to it I don’t starve, or draw any husbands my way. Not that I’d bother with a husband. Like as not he’d be sent to the doomed as well, so I just content myself to eating buttered bacon and walking it off with the Explorer’s Guild.”

“How is life in the guild?” Koll asked her as she moved from his lap to his side, clinging to his arm with both of hers.

“They’re glad to have me, plump as I am. It's a boon to any team to have a bit of bait dangling off the rear, in case a hungry cave bear wanders by. That bear I just rode in on couldn’t keep his tongue in his mouth. I’m surprised he didn’t nibble off a toe or three. Alon knows they’ve got fat on them as well.”

“Oh stop it!” Farin could no longer hold it in. She laughed hard enough to send more tears down her cheeks. “Look at this girl, she’s all muscle! And here she goes on about being plump.”

“I had muscle, its true, until I hugged dad and now he’s stole it all. Titan’s pox dad, how’d you get so strong? Must have been from fighting off all them doomed women. You should have taken one as a third wife, then they may have sent you back to us sooner to keep you away from her. Oh dad…” Nava’s lips quivered and tears flooded down her cheeks. She buried her face in Koll’s shoulder and sobbed loudly. Years of holding her head high and wearing her defiant smile had come to an end. There was no more need for her to hold in her anguish, so out it came in a torrent. She shook as she wept, and Koll held her in his arms, gently patting her shoulder and kissing the top of her head.

They sat there until their tears ran dry and their chests ached, then they laughed as Nava told tales of her initiation into the Explorer’s Guild. She told how she was at first denied entry when she failed to locate something as simple as the privy, and how she was then named the Dung Wraith, as she refused to tell anyone where she had gone. In time the guards instructed them to return to Koll’s temporary room in the citadel where they spent the evening telling jokes and poking at Koll’s steel hard arms and shoulders. He laughed endlessly, having lost none of his ticklishness, something Farin had forgotten over the years of his absence. At one point they pinned him down and made him laugh until his eyes found a fresh supply of tears.

When he could handle no more he flung them off him as easily as one swatted a pair of gnats out of the air. Their energy spent, they sat propped against the wall under the window and Koll told them tales from the underlands, of the men and women he came to think of as brothers and sisters, and how he’d won some of his nastier scars. Farin noted that he never explained the scar on his head. Buri had come at one point to see that all was well, saying that he'd checked on them before but they weren't yet returned to the room, and when he left Koll told them of Buri’s courage and terrifying prowess in battle, and that he was a man Koll could trust with his life. In time Nava curled up on the floor and fell asleep, snoring away on her father’s lap while he ran his fingers through her coal black hair. Farin endured the discomfort of leaning on the hard floor in order for her head to be close to his, and they traded quiet kisses until they too drifted off into sleep.