Absolution (closed)

[heartofcourage]

Kitty hugged Brogan tightly as he wrapped her up in his arms. She kissed his cheek and simply held him, her boy that meant so much to her. "Things will be different from now on, but I know you'll do just fine."

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan let out a long, shaky sigh. "... I hope so..."

Before morning came, Tamblin's body was carefully moved to be prepared for burial by some of the healers, dressing him in his battle-scarred armor and bear fur cloak with his blue and black tabard. He'd have a proper warrior king's burial as per Brogan's command, and he'd be placed in a peaceful spot where no one could disturb his grave.

Word spread through Inverness via Brogan's own solemn announcement, and despite the wave of relief, no one felt happy about their neglectful king's death, knowing he had lived in fear and mental instability for nearly twenty years before essentially committing suicide by arranging a duel he knew he couldn't win. Some folk even mourned, not for the loss of Tamblin, but for the Ghis family's long suffering. Brogan was open and honest with them about Oliver and who'd really been pulling the strings, and so for once in two decades, many people stopped hating Tamblin.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I hope that your brother and sister make it in time for his burial." Kitty said softly one morning as she sat with Boar and Brogan shortly after the morning meal. "I know they had troubles with him especially, but he's the only father any of you will ever have."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don' know if Selena'll even come," Boar murmured. "An' Durban probably hasn' even gotten the letter. I think he must've gone a long way from Normandy."

"We'll give it enough time for Selena to arrive a' least... If she isn' here, well..." Brogan shook his head. "She'll 'ave his last letter."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I have his will and know what his wishes were for the distribution of his land and holdings." Kitty said as they mentioned that Durban and Selena probably wouldn't be home. "He made it clear that he wished Boar to have Inverlochly when he comes of age. For Kayla and Ashien, he left enough money for them to start their lives away from Inverness if they wished. Selena and Durban will receive nothing. I know you'll do your best to support them if you wished to."

Kitty let out a long sigh as she sat back in her chair and looked between her two sons. "Loves, I will be honest with you. As much as I wish I could go back to Italy, I know that you need me here. Inverness is my home, no matter what happened between your father and I."

 

[KieranSoares]

"They can' have anything officially, bein' exiles," Brogan muttered. "But I'm going t'reinstate their citizenship. Then they'll 'ave access to th'treasury as Ghis family members if they want. No' tha' they'd really ever want any of it."

Boar looked to his mother as she spoke of Italy, and he asked quietly, "... Will Vincenzo come here?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"If he wishes, he's welcome." Kitty said as she looked over at Boar. "Would you children be upset by that?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"No' at all," Brogan assured her.

"I think it's safe t'say... We all need him back," Boar admitted quietly.

 

[heartofcourage]

The news from Boar was surprising to say the very least. Kitty had thought that they had all abandoned the idea that Vincenzo would be back in their lives, but it was good to know that they needed him just as much as she did.

"Well, he has been asked to come here when he can if he still wants. It's all in his hands now." Kitty said, hoping that Vincenzo would take the offer and come and make her life complete again. "If not, well, that's alright too."

 

[KieranSoares]

"He'll be here, I know 'e will," Boar assured her. "He loves you. He loves all of us."

 

[heartofcourage]

It was a few days later when they all gathered together to send Tamblin to his final rest. Kitty had dressed each of them in the Ghis tartan and black, letting the city of Inverness see their mourning. Even Ashelin had gotten out of bed for the occasion, clinging to Warwick and Ciaran as they helped her to withstand the emotion of the day.

The clan was just about to leave for the king's burial ground when a hooded figure approached on horseback. Kitty paused as the familiar face of Selena became clear and she couldn't help herself as she gathered her daughter up into a tight hug the moment she dismounted. There were tears, but Selena stoically looked at her mother.

"I came as soon as I got the news." Selena said softly, hugging her brothers and sister as they came forward as well.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan was last to greet Selena. There was something a little different about him since she'd left. He seemed like the family's guardian, a patriarch of sorts. He'd done what his two elder siblings could not, thus securing a proper future for them all and Inverness. "Hiya, love," he murmured. "... Welcome home."

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena hugged Brogan tightly, closing her eyes as he welcomed her home. "We need to speak later." She whispered against his ear before she pulled away and gave him a look.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan simply nodded, not letting the others know of her request. "Let's all 'ead inside an' finish gettin' ready..." He spoke softly, looking over them all. "Th'wagon'll be up here soon."

Between Brogan, Boar, Cole, and three of their veteran royal guardsmen who'd remained loyal since before Oliver's interference, Tamblin's body was brought from the cold depths of the root cellar where it'd been laid for a short while on a Ghis crest tapestry on a long wooden slab. It was placed in the back of a wagon lightly decorated with white and blue flowers on hand-woven ivy chains, and those attending the burial either rode horses alongside or wagons behind. Kitty and Ashelin rode with Ciaran directly behind, while five of the pallbearers and Selena rode on each side. Brogan led the way alone, Warwick driving the wagon that carried Tamblin. It was a quiet procession, but people came out to stand and watch them go by. While Brogan had prepared his family to expect an array of reactions from joy to anger as Tamblin was carried past, there were no shouts or celebrations. The people looked a little more hopeful at the sight of Brogan, and glad to see Kitty truly alive, but no one celebrated the passing of Tamblin the Second, not like they had the First.

 

[heartofcourage]

The mood in Inverness was still dark, if not hopefully. Kitty could see it in the way that the people came to the road, watching the family move past with a few guard members. There would be few tears for Tamblin outside of those shed by his family. Tamblin knew that. He had accepted that part of his life a long time ago.

Hearing a little voice from behind, Kitty glanced over her shoulder to see Valentina riding with Cole, the little girl asking questions about absolutely everything and her older brother quietly answering her. She was turning her head to hear him, his whispered deep voice making it hard to understand with her partial deafness. Most of all, Kitty wondered what the future would be for her and the little girl, especially now that there wasn't an obstacle standing in the way of Kitty loving her daughter.

 

[KieranSoares]

The procession came to a halt in the middle of a forest road. Brogan had carefully chosen a small clearing where the ruins of an ancient stone watchtower stood, the walls now only a few feet high if not crumbled completely. It was from days long before the Normans, even before the Roman's, when the Saxons still roamed all of the isles alone. The rubble created an enclosed area, hidden and peaceful with wild flowers and ivy growing all over the place.

The grave was already dug, and a slab of weathered stone had been placed upright as a marker. The six pallbearers brought Tamblin over, and with the aid of ropes, slowly lowered the wooden board and the late king's body into the grave after covering him with a Ghis banner. Flowers were cast into the grave with him, and Brogan stood with Tamblin's Claymore on his back, and carefully gave his own blade to the grave, the same that had ultimately killed his father. It was a tradition of sons to inherit their fathers' blades, but there was no tradition for this circumstance. So, Brogan traded his own sword for Tamblin's. One day he'd have his own again, but he'd carry Tamblin's til then out of respect.

 

[heartofcourage]

In Tamblin's possession, while she had been looking for his will and his final letters, Kitty had found a lock of his mother's hair. Selena MacGregor Ghis had been a dear person to Tamblin, perhaps the only good thing in his entire childhood, and he had fought like a demon to protect her final resting place in Inverlochly for so long. Now, it was up to her children to protect the grandmother that they had never known.

Stepping forward, Kitty threw part of the lock of long dark hair into the grave with Tamblin. The other piece she would send to Seamus in Normandy, a note to tell him to keep it as safe as his brother had. Kitty sincerely hoped that Tamblin was at peace now with his mother at his side, making amends to everyone that he had hoped to have had the chance.

 

[KieranSoares]

The entire burial was nearly silent, even when the boys began to push and shovel the earth back into place once everyone had made their final goodbyes. Only once that was done did Brogan step before the grave to face his family with a solemn gaze. "Everyone," he spoke softly. "... No matter what relief 'r sadness you're feelin' right now... I think we all owe it t'Da to set Inverness t'rights in time... I don' want t'rush anythin', especially not big changes. But... As th'one takin' his place, I 'ave t'look forward... Da never wanted t'be like 'is father. He wanted what we want fer Inverness... But it never happened fer him, an' not jus' fer one reason 'r another... War, madness, and manipulation kept 'im from bein' the king he wanted t'be when he took the throne. Respectfully... I won' make his mistakes. He taught me, even if 'e didn't realize it. I learned what sort of people t'trust, how t'avoid bein' cornered, an' what not to do in a position o' power... But 'e also taught me tha' pushin' family away is th'worst mistake I could make. In 'is final days, he opened up again, he had clarity an' his mind slowed down. He remembered th'man he'd wanted t'be... He openly spoke o' love, fear, trust, an' his realizations. An' with tha', he let us go, wanted us t'find happiness... An' I know part o' that will be bringin' Inverness an' her people back up t'their feet... In two weeks, I'll officially take th'throne, give us all some time t'think about what we want t'do from here. An' then I'll start rebuilding."

 

[heartofcourage]

"We support you, love." Kitty said softly, knowing that Brogan had a monumental task in front of him trying to put Inverness right again. "However you might need us, we are here for you. That's what your Da would have wanted."

 

[KieranSoares]

"It'll be slow going," Brogan murmured. "... But we'll make it. An' soon, some people we've all been missin' a long time will be back."

He gathered up his family for a final goodbye. Upon the stone marker was inscribed 'Tamblin Courser Ghis II' and below it, a calmed, sleeping Ghis Bear. Flowers were left behind as everyone slowly climbed back into saddles and wagons, and made their way home for a wake and a small lunch. Normally warriors' lives were celebrated after they fell, but no one had the emotional energy for it, and Brogan had long since decided that while Tamblin was a warrior king, they would not celebrate his days of fighting, but rather the peace he'd finally found after trying so hard to hold the Invernessian borders all his life.

 

[heartofcourage]

Back at the keep, as the rest of the family gathered for a meal in Tamblin's memory, Selena pulled Brogan off to a side room briefly. In a move that she had long ago learned from Oliver lurking around the keep, she closed the door behind her and talked to him in whispered tones.

"I can trust you not to tell anyone anything, right?" Selena asked, looking at her younger brother with a sense of urgency.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan was surprised to be pulled aside, but as Selena seemed so worried about something, he steeled himself for potentially bad news. "As long as yer safe," he murmured. "What's 'appened?"

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena looked at him for a long moment before she took a step back and peeled up her tunic, letting him see a thick bandage around her abdomen. She had taken great pains to wrap ittightly, almost like a corset to cinch in her waist. She carefully unwound the fabric and showed him the small, but very clear, bump.

“I got the letter from Ma and lost my courage to tell her. Not right now, anyway.” She has turned 18 while away from home and she had made a little home in the cabin that Gale, Brian, and Marianne had helped her to build.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Selena..." Brogan murmured as it became clear almost immediately what she meant. "... I don' know what t'say... What happened? ... Who's the father?" He didn't know the circumstances, and he quietly feared someone had taken advantage of his sister whom he thought was too fiercely independent to want to be a mother so young, if at all.

 

[heartofcourage]

“I can’t tell you.” Selena said softly, not because she didn’t know who the father was but because she knew they wouldn’t approve. “A healer from Edinburgh confirmed it though. I’m not far along and I knew I could still hide it for the time being, but I need someone to know.”