The North (Closed)

[heartofcourage]

Riley quickly soaked herself in the river before she joined her father's side. She fought the urge to shake the droplets from her fur, hating the feeling of water dripping from her skin in thick rivers. Pulling on the thick leather gloves, she picked up a pair of the new tongs her father had made to handle the hybrid metal. As Schaller heated up the ingot, she moved quickly and grabbed it with the tongs, scurrying through the water to meet her father at the granite anvil.

 

[KieranSoares]

The instant the metal hit the stone, Sam was pounding away at speed. It quickly became apparent just how fast the metal cooled, the scale component helping the steel shed heat quickly. Sparks flew, hissing into the water and bouncing off Sam and Riley's aprons and gloves. When the metal became a dull red, Sam could no longer shape it at all and he set Riley back to Schaller before scooping up a handful of water to toss on the granite anvil to keep it from deforming. The surface boiled off the water in an instant.

It was a few rounds of this before the metal bar was about a foot long and Sam began tapering one end and forming a single edge. After an hour with a couple pauses to cool down, Sam had formed the full shape of a full-tang knife exactly the style and size Fiona liked for everyday use. When he tossed it into a vat of quenching oil, the blade hissed and steamed fiercely and Sam tossed water on the anvil again, letting it cool completely before leaning heavily on it and panting.

"Jesus Christ tha' steel's tough," he muttered, stretching out his fingers and arms and shoulders. Even with the metal white-hot, he'd had to hit much harder and faster than usual to make a dent. Shaking out his dominant hand after it'd started to go numb, he looked to Riley and gave a slight grimace of a smile. "Gonna be a nightmare t'make tha' bloody glaive..."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You'll have to have more hands to make it." Riley spoke practically, looking down at the singed fur that ringed where the leather gauntlets ended. "Soma can swing just as well as you with support. Grandpa could help, but would tire easily. Some of the riders might be able to help. You have options."

"You should draw out your design and let them work on it round the clock. Some of the items that have lower heating points can be handled by Rikke and Dzana. It would give Schaller a break and you a break." Riley murmured as she sat on the granite anvil and pulled off the leather gloves. "You would always have the final in anything that goes into Ma's armory."

 

[KieranSoares]

"There's only a few of you with smithing experience," Sam murmured, sighing heavily. "Mostly just you, me, an' Soma. I know Jani can forge smaller things... Andre's learned enough t'help us too. But I don't know if I can let go control of the blades an' the main armor plate. I'm too nervous about those."

Sitting beside her, Sam wrapped an arm around her. "Thank you, still. I'll split it up a bit, at least fer smaller things. I need to make sure I'm not hurt or worn out either... Yer Ma will need all the help she can get handling that monster."

After a long moment of silence, Sam asked softly, "... Love... Can I ask you an honest question? Not fishin' for sympathy... But it's somethin' that's been botherin' me since we learned Hesperus was comin'."

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley glanced up at her father as his tone turned so suddenly serious, a slight frown forming between her brows. "You can ask me anything, Da." She said. "If it's about Ma, I don't know if I can give an honest answer. She won't talk to anyone."

 

[KieranSoares]

"It's about her, but she's already said all she needs to say," Sam murmured. "If we fail... Especially if I lose her, will you hate me?" It wasn't like Sam to show such a worry to anyone but Fiona herself. But overwhelmed as he was, he needed support that Fiona couldn't give at the moment.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Have I ever hated you?” Riley asked him bluntly, her gaze never wavering. “Even when I was angry and confused about life, have I ever hated you?”

“Da, keeping Ma alive isn’t your mission in this life. Loving her is. You have done that abundantly. Ma is a warrior in every sense of the word, and there is danger, even though you wish to keep her from it. It’s hard to watch her, I know, but you’ve done everything you can.”

Riley reached up and laced her fingers with his, giving them a squeeze. “You are far more were than any of us. Are you sure there’s not a drop or two along the way in the Ghis line?” She asked with a small, cheeky smile.

 

[KieranSoares]

"No' that I know of. Just a bunch of worry-prone, soft fools raised by Katherine Ghis," Sam murmured with a slight smile at the memory of his grandmother. "But you can blame Suara Corel for her influence too since I was a lad."

 

[heartofcourage]

“I always thought that I would grow up and be like you. I wanted to work to prove myself in a honorable trade, be it smithing or on the docks. You always encouraged me to find my peace.” Riley said softly, knowing that her father was struggling with the enormity of what was facing them. “And I always thought that Ma would put her time and energy into Soma and he would make you both proud. He would be someone that brought honor to our family. But I see you both for what you are now. I never knew you as a king but I know you were a good and just one. I never knew Ma as a young woman that didn’t have the world on her shoulders. I guess I’m a way…I admire the hell out of how she made a life with you. How she loves you so completely.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"You'll have that in spades with Andre," Sam assured her with a soft smile. "Tha' boy... Yer great-grandmother would've loved him. He's everything she wanted the men of this family to be, blood or married in. I never thought I'd be okay with my little girl growin' up and finding her partner... but Andre soothed pretty much every fear I had for you as far as relationships go. I realized you'd have someone by your side who understood you and supported you the way you deserve... the way I try to understand an' support your Ma. Women in this family are bloody powerful creatures, so they need partners who can nurture but also respect that. Andre's damn good at that."

 

[heartofcourage]

“So do you believe with all of that I could ever be mad with you if Ma fell?” Riley asked him. “I would be worried about you. I know that you would struggle to survive and raise Tati. I also know that Andre and I would do whatever we could to help you.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"There's a part of me tha' wonders if I'd let myself go on if I lost her," Sam admitted. "It's a topic that, whenever it comes up between yer Ma an' I, it damn near gives me a panic attack. She hopes I'd go on and find a new love while raisin' Soma an' Tati." Sam didn't have to say it for Riley to know he was deeply against the idea of ever remarrying. "Fiona Blackstone, damned fool woman tha' she is, is my one an' only...."

Sighing heavily, Sam pulled Riley in closer and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry if this is a bit much... Kids aren't supposed t'know when their parents struggle like this. But there's not a lot o'people I trust t'tell it all to."

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley glanced up at Sam after he pulled her in and kissed her forehead. She knew something had happened to wound her father so deeply, even more so than when he normally thought about the matter.

“She told you what happened, didn’t she?” Riley asked softly.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam's jaw clenched slightly and his brows furrowed, but he nodded slowly. "I don't know what I'm more afraid of... Losin' her, or her livin' in misery unable to enjoy anythin' after we fought so long to get home..." He feared Fiona would go a similar route to Rho, miserable for years and masking his pain for the sake of his son. Rho had begun to improve when Loren was five years old, but Sam had been scared he might give up any moment. And even twenty years after Naiya's death, Rho was a quiet loner instead of the bright, social, charming man Naiya had fallen in love with. On his best days, he would smile and talk with family members freely. But he was a recluse most of the time and Sam knew he'd be the same without Fiona.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley was quiet for a long moment after he said that, finally nodding as she knew what she had to do in the future. “I’ll kill Ramsey Royer myself.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"Runt doesn't deserve the easy way out," Sam's voice came in a low growl. "I want him on his bloody knees in front of this family. He's losin' both his hands too. See how he likes bein' helpless."

Sam had had a similar reaction to Conrad von Morden. Even if he wasn't a vengeful man and torture made him feel sick, Sam had been ready to physically and mentally destroy every man involved in what had happened to Riley. The same rage was brewing for Fiona.

"I never wanted you kids t'see how low or angry I could get," Sam told her quietly. "The man your Ma nearly gave up on because I was so cold and mean at my lowest. I've been tryin' my damnedest t'hide him while your Ma's been recovering. She doesn't need t'see that side of me again. It's not who I am anymore. But goddammit Ramsey Royer's given me no choice. His father's bad enough, liar an' manipulator tha' he is, but at least he cares fer somethin' enough t'die for it. But Ramsey... Yer Ma was going to be tortured an' crucified whether she cooperated or not."

Sam looked down at Riley then. "An' Owen... Ramsey was behind tha' too. Now we're gettin' reports tha' he's trying to hunt more members of this family, especially Jane an' Blair. He's made it clear tha' Blair will face the same treatment as yer mother, an' Jane would be locked up as his fucking toy to abuse, forced t'have children for him."

Sam shook his head. "Never in my lifetime did I think another man cut from the same cloth as Tamblin Ghis would come to Scotland..."

 

[heartofcourage]

"But why do we have to be the ones that are levelheaded? Why can we not be bloodthirsty and demand revenge?" Riley asked him, countering his argument that he needed to be the man that her mother knew he could be. "It's your right. It's my right. My mother was tortured for no reason other than she is a fox. Let's call this situation like it is. Soma might be the brains of the family, but even I know why she was put to the rack and then hung in that fucking courtyard."

"So, why do we have to be the ones that rely on law and honor?" Riley looked up at him. "Not a Scot in this country would blame me or you for doing what was our right."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam was silent for a long moment, staring into the distance. But when he finally spoke, it was quiet and sharp. "I once asked you to come with me t'what was essentially an assassination attempt... An' I've followed yer Ma on a mission to interrogate an' torture a man involved in what happened to you. I'm tempted t'ask again... If Blair could get Jane out, an' Andre could sneak in t'get your Ma... you an' I would have no trouble grabbin' Ramsey."

Sam's mind was sinking to a darker place now, realizing his daughter was right and he had the right to be angry after being so levelheaded for twenty years.

 

[heartofcourage]

"The question is: could you live with it?" Riley murmured, knowing that her father had a strong sense of law and order. "Could you live with what you'll do? You know I'm your girl. I'll follow you wherever you go."

 

[KieranSoares]

For the first time, Sam didn't hesitate to answer that question, the very question he asked himself when his anger burned too bright at his family's enemies. Thus far, the answer had always been no. But this time, Sam answered confidently, "I could live knowin' a man like that died in agony. No one in this entire clan would question it either. He ordered an' committed war crimes an' he wouldn't hesitate to do it again. It's not often I find someone tha' I think is completely irredeemable."

But Sam paused, looking down at Riley, his anger pulling back for an expression of concern. "Could you live with seein' that an' knowin' what I'm capable of?" His rage always took second place to his love and worry for his family and their relationships.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Da, you were Uncle Rho's right hand when you were younger. I'm not so dumb to not know what you are capable of." Riley muttered, looking up at him with a small smile on her lips. "He told us some stories when we were younger. How Ma saved you from yourself, but also that you were the best that Inverness had ever seen."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam was quiet for a long moment, considering what to do next. "... I'll have Jani work on some smaller things while we're gone. We only need about a day t'get tha' little bastard."

Pulling his apron off, Sam's expression was dark and serious. "Best go before your Ma or Kell has any idea. Go dry off an' gear up. We'll take Marth."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Well, we have a small problem." Riley said as she kicked her footpaws through the water, casting a glance in Schaller's direction who had heard the entire thing.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam looked over, meeting Schaller's gaze. The dragon had been silent the entire time, his own expression dark as well. The two stared at each other for a moment before Schaller muttered, "I didn't hear a thing."

Sam nodded, knowing Schaller wanted revenge just as badly. "You know I'd let you tear him apart once I'm done, Schaller."

"I'm counting on it. But Fiona won't hear a word of it from me."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Seems like you're not a complete stick in the mud." Riley teased the elder dragon as she sank back down into the river and paused next to him for a moment, placing her hand on his maw. "If she asks, you can blame it all on me."