The North (Closed)

[KieranSoares]

Slightly surprised by her need to take over, Sam welcomed her in and let her lead. Her arms wrapping around his neck made his own settle naturally about her waist and he pressed his forehead to hers, quietly enjoying her attention and control. He let her set the pace, ever her willing follower.

 

[heartofcourage]

The quiet of the night was broken by her cry when she finally came. She clung to Sam so tightly, her eyes clenching shut as she pulsed around him. Then she broke. She couldn't help the heavy, deep sobs that racked her body as she buried her face against his throat. If there was anyone in the world that could understand her anguish, it was her husband. It had taken such an intimate moment to finally break that barrier that she had created between herself and the world after her time in Edinburgh.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam followed only a moment later, letting out a soft groan against her shoulder. But as the emotions came flooding in, Sam instantly embraced her and gently rocked her back and forth. He didn't need to say a thing to let her know that she was safe to let everything out. Pressing a kiss to her temple, he laid his head against hers and lifted a hand to the back of her head, letting her rest it against his shoulder.

 

[heartofcourage]

When she caught her breath, she started to tell him everything. Her voice was barely audible as she shook, tears still pouring down her cheeks as she relived every single moment. No one, not even Alex, had heard the full story.

"You deserve to know." She finished, trembling in his arms, with absolutely nothing left inside of her.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam didn't say a word as she spoke, silently taking in every horrible detail and storing it all away. Occasionally if she struggled to go on, he'd hug her a little tighter til she was ready to continue.

When she finished, Sam took a deep breath. "Love..." He whispered. "I... I don't know if there's anything I can say. Words don't help wounds like tha'." Kissing her forehead once more, he murmured, "I'm here to help any way I can. Nothin' has changed between us."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I don't need you to say anything." Fiona murmured softly. "I just needed to tell someone. Maybe now I can finally focus."

She lifted her head to look Sam in the eyes, her gaze sad but clear. She wasn't ashamed of what had happened nor of what Sam might have thought of her. If anything, she would have done it all again if it was asked of her.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Oh, love..." Sam murmured when she met his gaze. His own was full of pain for her, but more than that, full of unconditional love that the world couldn't hope to break. Leaning in, Sam stole a slow, gentle kiss.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona gently touched his cheek as he kissed her. She knew that she had wounded him just as much as she had been wounded. If one of them was hurt, the other hurt. It was just how their marriage had always been.

"You know everything now." She swore, her forehead coming to press against his own. "No more secrets."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I knew you didn't want to talk before... But I trusted your decision. I trust you even if you have secrets, love. With my whole heart."

Sam lowered her back into the sheets and wrapped an arm over her after pulling blankets up over them. He would let her hide if she liked, til she felt strong enough to be the Rider Queen again.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona snuggled into Sam's side, hiding from the world until the next morning. When they emerged for breakfast, she was touched to see Andre and Riley already there with breakfast almost cooked.

"Loves, you don't have to babysit me." Fiona said softly as she kissed Riley's cheek and then Andre's. "You have your own duties to attend to."

"Cooking breakfast is what Andre wanted to do. He actually had me up before dawn for this." Riley murmured as she gave her mother a small smile.

 

[KieranSoares]

"To be fair, Sam said you were priority one right now," Andre added with a light smile of his own, if a bit melancholy. He hugged Fiona tightly for a moment, silently showing her how glad he was to see her so much improved from weeks beforehand.

Settling by the fire again, Andre continued tending the cooking food and several rounds of flatbread baking on stones. Once they were done, he brushed the bread generously with salted butter and served up bowls of a hearty tomato-based stew with venison and wild greens. He had plenty left over and it became apparent why when Dola and Jani arrived as well with their own contributions, primarily made up of fresh early spring fruit and berries with cream, and light scones to go with it.

"Your husband had me up half the bloody night picking scales off Dzana," Jani immediately reported to Fiona, but she couldn't help a grin. "Thought she was finally gonna eat me like she wanted to back in Svalbard."

"She didn't mind the scales being removed. It was your pestering," Dola corrected her with a little smile. "As per usual." Any offense that Jani might've taken was silenced with a kiss, and she resigned herself to plopping down beside Riley. Dola sat down beside Fiona with a soft smile. "Has that salve been helping?"

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona glanced down at her gloved hands as Dola asked about the salve that she had left her. She mostly kept her hands covered now to safe herself the questions from prying eyes that wanted to see her wounds for themselves. Carefully, she flexed her fingers and gave a nod.

"As much as it can help. The rest is up to me." Fiona said with a soft smile. "I suppose I'll start my training today to get back to my full strength. It's time to stop hiding."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Rest is not hiding, my dear," Dola assured her, but left the subject be after that. Instead, talk turned toward Sam's project as Jani asked what they were doing next.

"Today I'm testing the samples I made," Sam explained. "Once I figure out which is right, I'll adjust the amount of material needed an' start producing all I need and a bit extra for a margin of error. So Schaller an' I are gonna be out in the water a lot today. I need you an' Riley to focus on tha' shield design. I'll make you some rivets t'put it together once you're ready. Everyone else is gonna need to keep grinding scales. They take so damn long to powder tha' it'll probably take another day or two t'have enough."

"As long as I don't have to help with that anymore, I'll do whatever you say," Jani promised.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley noticed the way that Fiona seemed more present in the moment, but also still had the far away stare. She couldn't help but feel bad for her with the weight of the world on her shoulders. It all rested on her ability as a caller above everything else that they had to throw at Hesperus.

Placing a bowl of soup and plate of fruit and scone in her Ma's hands, Riley caught her gaze and gave her a small smile. "Uncle Boar is going to help your training today. He's already itching for a job on horseback."

Fiona looked down at the food and then up at Riley. "Horseback?"

"He said that he's faster on horseback. You need someone fast to antagonize you." She said with a wider grin.

 

[KieranSoares]

"That man loves to train with you," Sam muttered with a little smile. All of his uncles and his father loved challenging Fiona, and had all been part of her recovery both for her hands and her leg, as well as getting back in fighting shape after she'd had each of her children. "I think Boar just enjoys bein' put in his place by strong women."

 

[heartofcourage]

"They enjoy an easy challenge." Fiona murmured as she stared to eat her breakfast. "And wounded, I'm not much of a challenge for them."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You absolutely are, because you can outsmart every damn one of them," Sam encouraged, leaning over to kiss her cheek. But he let the subject go after that, letting them all enjoy a moment of peace before they got back to their individual tasks. Dola was a natural at carrying easy, enjoyable conversation, making sure Fiona could fade into the background a bit if she needed to.

As everyone was clearing up a while later, Jani came to Fiona's side, hands in her pockets. "Hey," she said gently. "I'm not gonna baby you like everyone else or make you talk about stuff. And I'm certainly not gonna ask if you're okay. But I just wanted to remind you that I'm here for whatever you need, you or your family." Jani wrapped her arms around Fiona, hugging her close for a long moment. "I love you. I hope you know that. You're gonna do great, and we're gonna get you guys home. You gave me a whole career and a life, let me be part of your family, and that meant that I met my wife and got the best son I could ever imagine. And you saved my Avi and by proxy, me." Placing her hands on Fiona's shoulders, Jani looked her in the eye with an intense seriousness she rarely used. "You're my sister. I know you're hurting and I know I can't stop it, and it kills me. But we're gonna get you through this. When you're ready to practice aerial combat, I'm your girl." Hugging her once more, Jani kissed her cheek and stepped away to join Dola's side and take up everything she was carrying.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona was stunned when Jani came to her and spilled everything before hugging her and retreating just as suddenly. She knew that there was a lot at risk and a lot on her shoulders. Lowering her head, Fiona took a moment to center herself and the enormity of what she was about to undertake. She moved to Sam's side, kissing his cheek and nuzzling against him before she went to go about her training.

Riley watched her mother go, helping Andre to pack up his cooking items. She could feel the melancholy that seemed to radiate from the older woman and felt a deep sense of guilt that she couldn't make the problem better. Glancing over at Andre, she let out a small sigh.

"Would you train with her today?" Riley asked. "It would make me feel better knowing that you were there."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Yeah," Andre confirmed without missing a beat. He could feel the cloud hanging over Fiona too, "I wouldn't wish this task on anyone... Any other person would break." His immense love for his mother-in-law was easy to see in how he stared after Fiona with such concern. Stacking all of his tools and pots into one another and tying them up in their usual bag, Andre set it aside for Riley to take back to their tent. He paused to kiss her, touching her cheek and meeting her gaze for a moment before he scooped up his gear and jogged after Fiona.

Sam watched after them as Andre fell into step beside Fiona, and he glanced back to Riley with a weak half-smile. "I would've been content with a lad who loves you. But you managed t'find one who loves this whole family like he's been here the whole time."



As Andre came up to match Fiona's stride and adjusted his gear on a strap over his shoulder, he didn't hesitate to ask, "Alright. So what's first?" Looking down to his mother-in-law, Andre gave her a light smile. Despite his own loss and struggles, he'd managed to regain his calm, confident, and easygoing air. Even if it had to be faked sometimes, he had proven to be incredibly supportive to Fiona again and again, showing her that he didn't blame her for losing Gia, and that he loved her dearly as his own mother.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley finished packing up after Andre and looking up at her father as he commented on Andre going off after Fiona. She gave her father a smile and shrugged slightly. "He admires her. He knew that we're busy and it would do us some good to know that she's looked after and safe." She picked up the sack and looked at her father. "You have me all to yourself today. I'll work with Jani on the design and then help with you in the river."

"Building what strength we can, I suppose." Fiona answered. "I assure you that Sam's uncles won't take it easy on anyone. A short run to warm up, then we will train with the Ghis brothers."

 

[KieranSoares]

Andre nodded at Fiona's explanation. "Well, luckily your daughter loves to race me whenever she gets a chance, so I might be able to keep up."

Once they gathered up Fiona's own gear for the added weight and had the rest sitting aside for sparring after the run, Andre set off side-by-side with Fiona, letting her set the pace and occasionally pushing and challenging her a little. It was both to help her, but also to keep her mind off other things.

When Riley came to join her father later, she was the first one other than Schaller and Dzana to see how Sam had set up his river forge. A huge red granite boulder sat in the stream, the chiseled-flat, scarred surface sitting about stomach height on Sam while the water was up to his thigh. Another large stone with a rounded surface sat to the side, taking the place of an anvil horn. Sam had had the dragons move a couple more boulders into the water to act as tables, and to divert fish and debris away from his work area and weaken the current. A line of hand-chiseled stone molds were set up on the stone tables, the cooling metal inside still glowing red as Riley approached.

Sam stood in the center of his work area inspecting his first creation: a lavender-colored dragonsteel hammer made of Dzana and Schaller's scales. His normal tools were too soft and had lower melting points, and would be useless for working the new steel after a short while. The new hammer was one of three, and a new pair of tongs was still hissing as the pieces were quenched in oil. Sam himself had long since abandoned his shirt and jacket, finding that they singed even in near proximity to his work. Instead, he wore a leather apron and his trousers, and every so often he splashed himself with water to keep himself cool and avoid burns even being near the metal.

Schaller sat close beside, a hole dug out in front of him and lined with flat stones, some of which were half-melted. His head and neck lay half in the stream, keeping him cool between being a living blast furnace for Sam. It wasn't unlike the days he'd rained fire on Imperials for hours beside Fiona, having to stop occasionally to cool down lest he hurt himself.

When Sam laid aside his hammer and tied his hair back, he glanced up to see Riley. "Just in time t'start, love," he murmured, his tone a bit grave. The gravity of the situation made him somewhat more severe, but he was quietly relieved to be back at his craft. "Found the right mix of steel and scale as far as I can tell... Melted down the old blades to test." Picking up the hammer again, Sam offered it out to Riley. "Lighter'n I expected... Made from Margaret's sword. Wanted t'make sure I had Skolgeir an' Aegeus's expertise on my side."

Sam then turned to where he had several bars waiting, their rough surfaces a silvery grey like Schaller's scales. A few were deep royal purple like Dzana, and some solid black like her belly and neck. Sam was using primarily Schaller's scales, but Dzana's- being a northern dragon with thicker but softer and less heat-resistant hide- would come in wherever heat protection wasn't as important, and for Sam's tools and the extra weapons. Fiona would be outfitted in Schaller's color out of practicality for its higher heat resistance and toughness, but Sam was no stranger to poetry in his creations. He was always outfitting his wife in beautiful sentimental and story-inspired designs, putting the letter S inside her chest plates, and adding Schaller's scales to her leather armor so that the great dragon protected her as much as Sam himself did. This time would be no different, though Sam would not have time to make everything as beautiful and intricate as he might've normally done.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You better be willing to buy me new shirts. Andre is going to be upset if I ruin them all." Riley murmured as she looked over the hammer that her father had made, "Especially after Dola made me so many for a wedding present."

She placed the hammer back on the makeshift granite anvil and turned to look at Schaller as he rested. Fishing out the thick, greasy salve that Alex had made for the dragons to help heal from burns, Riley made her way towards the great dragon.

"Open up." She said as she coated her hands in the salve and looked up at him expectantly. "Ma would have both our hides if I didn't at least make sure that your mouth and maw were alright."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Your father has been far too gentle with me already," Schaller grumbled as Riley approached, lifting his head slightly out of the water. But he obliged, opening his maw enough for her to see the edges of his mouth were singed but there were very few real burns. Sam wasn't about to wear Fiona's partner down right before a fight.

As Riley worked, Sam tossed an ingot into the stone-lined hole before Schaller. "You're gonna be glad for it when we melt and pour the rest of the ingots, lad," Sam told him. "Forging doesn' need constant heat, but melting all the material down does. Once Riley's done, we'll forge a test blade so I can get a feel for how to work the metal since all I've done is casting so far. Then I can figure out how to sharpen it an stress test it."

"Your perfectionism would've been much more appreciated if applied to this Fox."

Sam cracked a smile finally, chuckling to himself. "Well, she seems t'be Andre's idea of perfect, so I'll call it a win."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Grumble any more and I'll kick you in a tooth." Riley grumbled as Schaller took a shot at her while she finished with the inside of his maw.

Once she finished up with the salve, she hopped down from his mouth and into the river, quickly stripping off her shirt and donning an apron like her father with nothing more than her small clothes on top. She washed her hands of the sticky mixture and then considered what she was going to do next to help her father.

"Once he has it heated, I can hold the form for you to beat it out. I don't know if I would have enough strength to do that part of it." Riley offered.

 

[KieranSoares]

"This steel cools bloody fast so I'll definitely need you, quick as you are," Sam assured her. "Remember back when we used t'work with the local cooper in Trondheim makin' rings for the barrels? Had to move fast t'get them sized right an' avoid burnin' the wood too much. That's the speed we need here."

Taking the cooled tong pieces from his quenching barrel, Sam assembled the pieces and cleaned them up before handing it over to Riley along with thick insulated gauntlets. "Make sure you keep your fur wet, love. Had a shirt burst into flames without even touching the metal," he warned.

Beside them, Schaller covered the stone pit with his arms to block the pair from the intense heat, taking a deep breath and blowing intense green flame down into the enclosed space to heat up the first bar for forging. Sam splashed water all over himself and soaked his hair, ready with hammer in hand once the bar was white hot and Riley brought it to his stone anvil. "Be quick but careful, don't want to drop it or have you trip," Sam advised quietly as he watched Schaller unleash another long exhale of fire.