The North (Closed)

[heartofcourage]

Riley glanced at Soma and then back at her father. She could put two and two together and know that something had happened to change her father's entire outlook. He had always been willing to talk to the both of them about anything, even if it was the worst of news.

"So...what? We're just supposed to sit around and wait for the both of you to tell us bad news?" Riley asked. "I'll simply ask Alex what is really going on."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Riley," Sam's tone was full of warning. "Alex isn't gonna tell you either. We're dealin' with it an' when we're ready, we'll tell you. This is... It's difficult enough without people prying. So leave it alone an' let us get there in our own time."

Soma's brows furrowed. He had never known a time when something hurt his father enough not to tell them if they asked directly. "... All I need to know is if someone is dying, or if someone isn't safe."

"No one's dyin'. An' we're safe as we can manage," Sam allowed quietly.

Soma looked to his sister, not wanting to push but still deeply worried. "Da... You always told us not to suffer in silence, just like Gran tried to tell you for years. Even if we can't help, we can still support you and Ma."

For once in only a handful of times that his children had ever seen, tears filled Sam's eyes. He desperately wanted to run away just like he had done from his parents in his youth when they tried to help. But there was no escape now, and that made everything worse. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Sam finally murmured, "My knee's destroyed... Alex an' Loren couldn't fix it. I'll have a brace fer the rest of my life, probably a cane most o' the time too."

Any relief at knowing it wasn't some terminal illness was quickly shattered. Soma knew how important Sam's autonomy was to him. To be limited in his independence, to require aid for anything physical, was devastating.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley saw the sorrow etched on her father's face and the helpless look that Soma had. She had no doubt that he was scared of the future, but she also knew that they needed him more than he knew.

"Da, it isn't the end of the world, even if it feels like it. You're still here. Your mind is still intact. You'll still be the same person that we all know. It never stopped Uncle Boar and it's not going to stop you either."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam shook his head slowly before lowering it into his hands before him. "You don' understand, love... It's no' just about me." He forced himself to take another deep breath, raking his fingers back through his hair. "I can't... I can't run anymore. I can't keep up without help. An' even if I'm on a horse 'r drake, I'll be a liability if I get knocked off. Even ridin' with Dzana, I can't be as... useful."

In all, it was not his reduced usefulness in war that hurt Sam. It was the loss of a connection point with his wife, and the fact that he'd never move freely again. As Fiona had often noticed about him, Sam was a man so deeply connected with the Erygonian traditions that they were a cornerstone of his life. Running in the forest, swimming in the creeks, climbing trees and cliffsides; it was all part of the traditions he held so dear. To be in nature unfettered was as close as Samuel Ghis got to religion. While others might've seen it as an honorable injury that would ultimately not stop him, Sam saw his ruined leg as a ball and chain. He could continue, but never with the strength and grace and speed he had before. And knowing he'd never run with Fiona again was the most painful stake through his heart.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Of course this is about you." Riley said softly. "We aren't the ones that will have to learn to live with an injury. I don't understand why you think that you will be useless in battle or on a drake or dragon. We have never told anyone that they were less than their abilities and the same goes for you."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Riley, please stop," Sam's voice was barely above a whisper. "I know you mean well, but my head's no' in the right place fer this..."

Soma laid his hand on Riley's arm, seeing Sam only growing more upset. "You need time to deal with the shock," Soma offered to his father. "I understand that more than most. But... don't count yourself out, okay? Your skills aside, we still need you. You never liked the idea of being a patriarch, but you're damned good at it. Kate needs you right now especially." When others would take things off Sam's plate in an effort to give him space and rest, Soma knew his father didn't work like that. He was a man who was at his best when he was needed, when he could serve something other than himself.

"I'm still here for everyone who might need me," Sam murmured, though his green eyes dully stared down at his lap. "I won't abandon anyone jus' so I can feel bad for myself..."

"

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley immediately went silent as her father begged her to. This wasn't like Samuel Ghis at all and the though scared her. She was grown with a husband and Soma was nearly grown, but they still needed his guidance.

"Let's go, Soma." Riley said softly, looking over at her brother. "We have things to attend to."

 

[KieranSoares]

Soma nodded and stood, but hesitated looking back at Sam. "Come join me anytime you need something to do, Da," he murmured. But before they could go, Sam caught Riley's hand and drew her into a tight embrace.

"I love you," Sam told her firmly, despite how weak his voice was. He did the same for Soma before letting them go. Sam couldn't pull himself out of the pit of despair just yet, but that wouldn't stop him from being a father.

 

[heartofcourage]

Once they were out of the room, Riley thought over all that had happened for a moment before turning to her brother. "I'm telling Aunt Kate. Maybe between her and Uncle Rho he can be pulled out of his depression."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don't know," Soma sighed. "I'm not sure if it'd be better to give him time in the hopes he can get his head together, or if it's best to tell people who could help if he can't do it alone. But if Ma hasn't said anything to anyone..." Soma knew Fiona would've been the first to seek help for Sam if she thought he needed it, but she was also dealing with her own issues. The few moments Soma had seen her since her arrival, she'd seemed faraway.

Soma looked down at Riley and shrugged slightly. "You've always had a better understanding of Da than me. I trust your judgment. I just don't want him to feel like we're taking that choice away. The last thing I want to do is upset him more."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'm not going to lose both of them to this." Riley murmured, looking at her little brother and placing her hand on his shoulder. "I'll ask them to check in with him, but to be discrete about it. That way he doesn't have to feel like the entire world is coming down."

 

[KieranSoares]

Soma nodded. "Ma's out with the dragons today. But I'll talk with her soon too. Until they're both stable and ready... I'll hold Da's position with Aunt Kate's help." He glanced about, seeing they were alone aside from nearby trusted guards. "I think we need to keep this all quiet outside trusted circles. No one else needs to know."

That was when one of Kell's agents rounded the corner at a jog, looking relieved that he'd finally found the siblings. "Lord Soma, Lady Riley," he addressed them properly as family members to his queen, but kept his voice low so only they would hear. He seemed surprised himself as he reported a new development: "We've just received word that a battalion of the Irish Army made landfall on the west coast. They're headed up to the Inverlochly region to dig in and await orders for when we're ready to strike at Clan Ferngill. And... a Mongolian Rider just arrived to tell us Arslan Khan arrived in Norway. He's crossing the North Sea as we speak."

Soma stared stunned at the agent. While the aid of the Irish was expected, Soma had only asked they lend one-hundred trained men and their Riders. If a whole battalion was on the way, it meant Soma had upwards of five-hundred fresh, loyal men to focus solely on Inverlochly when the time came. The North boasted something like 10,000 soldiers in the allied army under Sam's command altogether, but less than half were actually available to fight at any given time due to the rest having to work as guards, scouts, and suppliers. Five-hundred extra was nothing to sniff at. And if the Khan himself was coming, it meant Soma suddenly had access to a whole new resource: horse archers. England's cavalry was the best in Europe and the Scots were the finest footsoldiers, but no one outside Asia really had horse archers. They would be devastating to an enemy who'd never faced them before.

"I... I have a lot to do all of a sudden," Soma murmured to Riley while still staring at the agent. He addressed the Wolf, "Who else knows they're coming?"

"No one but those carrying the messages, and another runner who went to tell the Lord Protector."

"Good. Keep it quiet. I'll tell anyone who needs to know." Soma dismissed the Wolf and turned back to his sister. "I'm about to have hundreds more men... and you're probably going to have dozens of Riders coming in. The Irish Riders are hellacious fighters with smaller dragons, from what I've heard. They'll be quite the addition."

 

[heartofcourage]

"We will most likely see them first and I'll meet them with the Johania riders." Riley said as Soma thought over what all of this meant for the defenses of Edinburgh and the push into Inverness. "Go and take care of your business. I'll send Andre to help with the messages and I'll go see Aunt Kate and Uncle Rho."

Riley reached out and squeezed her brother's shoulders, giving him a soft smile. "You're the best that we have, little mite. Do what you were born to do."

As promised, Riley's next stop was to her Aunt Kate, telling her about her father's condition under the promise that she would not swarm him all at once. Kate promised to be discrete about it all. After Riley had left, Kate approached Rho for a meeting between the both of them.

"It seems that our brother needs us." Kate said softly as she told Rho what she knew about Sam's condition. "After all of these years, the same demons live just beneath the surface of his mind."

 

[KieranSoares]

Rho stared at the floor for a long moment after Kate finished telling him what had happened to their brother. He leaned back against the wall slowly and let out a breath. Knowing what it meant to Sam, Rho sighed heavily. "I want to hope that he's come far enough to not be dragged down too much. I would love to think he'll just be down for a while, then get back to business the way he's done in the face of every other big problem these past couple decades. But I don't know about this one."

He looked over to Kate. Worried as he was, he also seemed determined. "Sam dragged our asses along when we were at our worst. I'll do the same for him. Ma always used to tell him that me losing my arm didn't change who I was or what I could do. It just changed the 'how.' I'll make sure he remembers that for himself."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Can I trust you to take this on alone?" Kate asked him, a guilty look on her face. "If I am needed, you know that I will step in, but I have so much that needs my attention at the moment. We have always worked together for the greater good of our people, and I can't step back now."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'll keep you up to date. Let me get an idea of where Sam's head is at first, and I'll see if I can't come up with a plan with Loren for his recovery both physically and mentally." Rho put as much confidence into his answer as he could. Sam had always looked after him, and Rho was ready to return the favor. "I know the world is nipping at your heels right now, Kate. Don't feel bad for being too busy. You're doing exactly what everyone needs you to do, even Sam."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You are more like Ma than you realize." Kate said softly, knowing that Rho had been through hell losing his arm and then his mate, but he had bounced back into life in the most admirable way. "Bring him back to us, love. Play dirty if you have to."

 

[KieranSoares]

Rho cracked a small smile. "You know Sam and I never played fair with each other." With a kiss pressed to her cheek, Rho swept away with a mission. He wouldn't push Sam right away, but he could certainly make plans with Loren.

Come that evening, Soma took a moment to speak with Jane and Blair before returning to his trusted advisors to consider the path forward regarding Stila's demands. And that led to Soma testing one possible avenue: testing Royer's willingness to hold off on taking the mother of his grandchild until the child was born. Soma sent off a messenger to Lerwick in the Shetland Islands where Clan Royer made their homes. While it was a long shot, Soma was willing to try any avenue to buy them more time. He also liked the idea of undermining Stila and her fellow mercenaries who'd been so vicious to Shani. He also sent off a letter to Clan Ferngill. It would be the first formal declaration of war by the North against the Ferngills specifically, and it advised them to surrender peacefully and leave Inverness. Being that the Ferngills had only defended themselves and not actively struck at the North yet, Soma offered them land and lesser titles under Clan Ghis if they would go peacefully. Even if he knew they'd never accept, he had to try if only for the sake of Inverness itself. He didn't want to destroy what they were trying to win.

In the later evening when Castle Edinburgh fell quiet post-curfew hours, only those approved for night duty were moving about. Per Kell's rules, everyone was to stay in their chambers unless escorted, and anyone staffing the castle, infirmary, or guard posts were to work in pairs or stick to monitored areas only. The only exceptions were Kell's most elite agents, hidden from everyone else in an attempt to catch the mole among the infirmary staff.

It was under the cover of darkness that Andre silently woke Riley, motioning for her to be quiet. They were staying on the second floor of the castle in guest quarters attached to a private parlor. Andre drew Riley out of bed and into the parlor, slipping out through the already-open balcony doors. Crawling out on his stomach with her, he bade her look down.

Their balcony sat over the castle's expansive gardens, well-kept during Royer's stay there. Half-hidden between one of the large yew trees and a brick border wall was a slim figure in a dark cloak, facing another, bulkier person also fully covered by a navy cloak. Just as Riley and Andre got a look at them, the larger figure disappeared into the hedges. The other slipped back into the castle's ground floor too quickly to gather any defining features.

"Someone on night duty is our mole," Andre whispered to Riley.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley had fallen into an exhausted sleep that evening, the first time that she had fallen right to sleep in days. When someone came to shake her shoulder, she woke with a start. In fact, she woke swinging, thinking that someone was attacking. She was surprised to see Andre waking her and motioning for her to be quiet. She frowned, wondering what the matter was as he motioned for her to follow him.

Looking out over the balcony, she took in the two figures in the garden. There was no way to see just who it was, but she felt a cold fear trickle through her. They had seen the ones that were betraying them.

"We need to tell Kell." Riley murmured back. "If we are quick enough, he might be able to catch them."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Let's go," Andre pulled back from the balcony's edge. In just his trousers and a sleeveless tunic from bed, he only bothered to step into his boots and grab his sword and belt on their way out. Knowing Kell was on duty late that night, Andre led the way to his office. Agents guarding the door let the pair pass and Andre threw open the door. Kell, rubbing his tired eyes, leapt to his feet and unsheathed a dagger, but paused seeing his niece and her husband.

"What's going on?" Kell demanded while stepping around the desk and sheathing his blade.

 

[heartofcourage]

"We saw something in the castle garden. Two figures meeting and then disappearing just as quickly. One was small and slender and the other was more broadly built. Andre seems to think that one of them is a member of the night watch." Riley conveyed as quickly as she could. "Even if it was all completely innocent, it looked suspicious."

 

[KieranSoares]

"They were both cloaked and out of the way where most wouldn't see them," Andre added, falling into step with Kell as he headed for the door and beckoned for them to follow.

"Come, then," Kell muttered. "I want to hope it's someone just breaking curfew to meet a friend or lover, but we can't take risks right now."

Kell headed straight for the infirmary and called a couple agents to his side along the way. As they entered the hallway where the infirmary's rooms split off from, they found a pair of healers in the hallway talking quietly. One was a young Wolf from from the Voya who'd been with the North for almost a year. The other was Ruari, Alex's much younger brother. He was only in his late twenties, but boasted the same kind of skill his mother had at his age.

"Stay where you are," Kell ordered the pair before they could ask what was going on. He sent his agents off along the infirmary to gather anyone else on night duty including guards and agents. Their posts were filled by replacements, and soon Kell had gathered nine people before Andre and Riley. Kell immediately dismissed the very broad and very tall who didn't fit the description Andre and Riley had mentioned for the person who'd returned to the castle after the secret meeting.

"They weren't were," Andre added confidently. "I didn't get details, but they were human."

"You three, go," Kell ordered a trio of Wolves who were quickly ushered away by agents. That left only three: Ruari, a nurse from Alex's main staff, and a slim guard. All three looked nervous, but Ruari was the only one brave enough to question it all.

"What's going on?" Ruari asked, earning a stern look from Kell.

"I'll answer your questions once you all answer ours." Kell looked to Andre and Riley. "Do any of them look familiar? Or if you have questions that might help us, ask them."

 

[heartofcourage]

"They had on a cloak. Dark in color and covered them head to toe." Riley murmured, her eyes on Ruari as she practically begged him to not be the one that had betrayed them.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Guards wear dark cloaks. Our medical staff wear white to make them easy to spot," Kell muttered, looking to the guard among the three. "Name?"

"Corporal Aelmar Corey, sir," the guard answered with a quick salute. "English archer, volunteer at the call of King Edward."

"Where have you been in the last thirty minutes?"

"Posted at the south end of the infirmary, sir. Door guard for Jani Halfborn."

"And can anyone vouch for you?"

"I spoke to him just ten minutes ago when I checked in on Halfborn," the nurse spoke up meekly.

Kell's ears tilted back ever so slightly and he took a deep breath before his golden gaze settled on Ruari. "And where were you, Ruari?"

"Making my rounds. I just came from Ezra's room," he answered without missing a beat.

"You should've been with a partner, per my orders. Who was with you?" Kell demanded. That was when Ruari hesitated.

"My... my partner was fetching-"

"Take him downstairs," Kell commanded the instant he heard Ruari stutter. Two agents seized Ruari by the arms and the young doctor began to panic.

"I just sent him to get fresh bandages!" Ruari tried to insist. "He'll be back any second! You can ask him!"

"Thank you Riley, Andre," Kell murmured to his niece and nephew despite a troubled, heartbroken look in his golden eyes. "I know Ruari has a sweetheart among the soldiers. I desperately hope they were just sneaking around together rather than the alternative... I will question the rest of the staff to see if he's been doing anything suspicious, then I'll interrogate Ruari myself."

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley stared after Ruari in a state of shock, her feet rooted firmly to the ground. It had to be wrong. What they had seen had to be wrong.

"You have to tell Alex. Now." Riley said, looking at her uncle. "Please, Kell. He needs to know about this right now."