Episode 191 Not Alone
Not Alone
Valethan digs his thumbnail into a groove on the table, and Tharios doesn’t rush him as he continues his story about his time with Risial.
“We traveled for a while,” Valethan finally says.
“Those were the best years of my life. The farther we journeyed from Celesta, the less it mattered where we came from. When the money ran low, I hired myself out to irrigate farmers’ fields.
Sometimes, I worked in the central water supply for the towns we encountered.
And Risial’s stone magic was highly sought after.
Stone wielders are rare outside the Outerlands.
She could clear the rocks from a field in hours when it would take others days.
Some people were wary of us, but most couldn’t care less where we came from until they heard my name.
I should have changed it, but to most people, we were simply Valethan and Risial, nomads from nowhere, living our best lives. ”
Valethan swipes a hand down his face, and more of Tharios’s ire melts away.
“But it didn’t last,” Tharios says quietly.
“No. It didn’t. Eventually, Risial told me she was pregnant.
It was bound to happen since we’d done nothing to prevent it.
I was thrilled. Truly. I assumed we’d keep traveling, but as Risial’s pregnancy progressed, so did her longing to put down roots.
She missed the community she grew up with in the Outerlands.
The belonging. She missed her family.” Valethan sighs.
“I should have taken her straight home. Dealt with the fallout of running off together without a legal binding. Forgotten that the blood of the House Fressenia ran through my veins.”
Valethan traces the words on the binding certificate Tharios gave him.
“You didn’t even hesitate,” Valethan whispers. “My family will despise you for this. More than they already do. But you did it anyway as if it was nothing.”
“My parents taught me that there are things in this world worth fighting for, regardless of the cost. If you had asked my mother to oversee your binding, she would have said yes. My parents would have fought for you.”
Emotion fills Valethan’s eyes, and he blinks a few times. “I loathed your parents.”
Tharios frowns. “Why?”
“Because they gave me hope that I could have what they had. And that hope killed Risial.” Valethan meets Tharios’s gaze across the table.
“Perhaps you’d better continue your story.”
“It’s not a happy story, my prince.”
“Tell me anyway.”
With a sigh, Valethan dives in once more.
“By the time we reached Celesta, Risial was in her eighth month of pregnancy. She was miserable. I helped her as much as I could with what little training I had in the healing arts. I wasn’t sure how I’d get her to the Outerlands.
I made the mistake of thinking my parents would take mercy on her in that state.
It had been years since I’d seen them. Perhaps they were eager for my return.
Eager enough to forgive me and be happy to see me again. ”
“Let me guess,” Tharios says. “They weren’t.”
Valethan braces his head on his hands, but he keeps talking.
“It was dark when we arrived at their country estate. Late. And it was raining. Our wagon leaked like a sieve, but we had no money to fix it that summer. Every penny we had went toward buying things for our elfling. I just wanted to get Risial out of the rain. I did my best to keep her dry with my water magic, but after hours of downpour, even my magic was fading.”
A sick feeling pools in Tharios’s stomach. “Please don’t tell me they turned a pregnant woman away in a storm.”
“They not only turned us away. The venom they spewed as we stood on their doorstep still rings in my ears. I won’t repeat it. I couldn’t get Risial away fast enough, but she lost her footing in the mud, and that fall brought on her labor.”
Horror fills Tharios as the rest of this story unfolds in his head before Valethan says it, but he just sits and listens.
“Most of the healers near my parents’ country estate are related to me,” Valethan says.
“My own father being one. I pounded on their door again. Yelled for help. They didn’t care.
They probably thought it would be a blessing for the abomination, as they called Liaran, to die in the birthing.
And she was coming fast. Please don’t ask me to relive this. ”
He covers his face, and Tharios rests a hand on his arm.
“You tried to save them,” Tharios guesses. “But it wasn’t enough. You needed a healer.”
“By the time it was over, I was a broken man, covered in blood and mud with a wailing new elfling and a binding partner who passed from the light in my arms as I begged her not to leave me.”
“I’m so sorry,” Tharios says as his own anger builds. “Your father should be stripped of his healing privileges for breaking the healer’s oath to help anyone who needs it.”
“It won’t bring her back,” Valethan says.
Tharios sighs. No. It won’t.
“Shall I continue the story?” Deridyn asks.
Valethan doesn’t look up. “Please.”
“Valethan brought Risial’s ashes to her parents, along with her elfling. They invited him to stay for as long as he needed. Forever, if possible.”
“I couldn’t,” Valethan whispers. “I felt Risial everywhere in the Outerlands. And I felt the pain I had caused her family like a knife to my heart every time I saw them. When Liaran was a few months old, I gathered her things, and we left. I didn’t know where we were going, but I couldn’t stay.
And I couldn’t leave Risial’s elfling. Our elfling.
Liaran was all I had left of her. We ended up in a little village west of Celesta, and a healer took pity on me and offered to train me.
For the first time since Risial died, I had hope that perhaps something good could come of my life.
Of losing her. If I could use my magic to keep others from going through what I went through, it would make Risial’s death mean something. ”
Mother was right about his reason for becoming a healer.
“How did you end up in Darlei?” Rafelis asks.
“I came here for Liaran. I thought Darlei would give her the best chance to grow up in a place where our differences are celebrated rather than scorned. At least, that was my hope. I wanted to start fresh, without the burden of the Fressenia name, but Healer Cadowyn said he needed to know more about my background before he could hire me. When I told him my name and that I have life and water magic, he seemed ready to hire me on the spot.”
“I’m sure he was,” Tharios says. “Which returns us to the present when Fenoral stumbled upon your cabin in the woods.”
“Yes. I was terrified. I sensed his water magic and knew it was him or his sister, but she wouldn’t be wandering the woods near the border.”
“You feared his reaction to your betrayal during the Battle of the Wildthorne Woods?” Tharios asks.
“Yes. Fenoral never forgets. He bides his time, waiting for the perfect moment to exact revenge on anyone who crosses him. I considered running, but he was too close. By the time I could have gathered Liaran, he would have been upon us. All I could do was hope he wasn’t coming for me.
That coincidence caused our paths to cross, and he would simply continue on his way, none the wiser. ”
“I take it that didn’t happen,” Rafelis says.
“No. He was barely conscious and delirious with pain when that no-good friend of his pounded on my door.”
“And you couldn’t turn him away,” Tharios says quietly. “The way your father turned Risial away.”
“Call me a fool, but there must be something good left in me. If helping a monster like Fenoral is good.”
“Whether it’s good or not, it’s right,” Tharios says. “It’s the oath we take as healers.”
“Indeed. I begged the fates to let Liaran slumber so Fenoral wouldn’t discover her presence.
She has Risial’s dark hair, which is common in the Outerlands.
I was terrified he’d guess the truth. But she slept, and I healed Fenoral’s arm.
He seemed genuinely glad to see me and willing to write off my betrayal as the cowardice of youth.
He was mostly thinking about you, though, my prince.
His fury with you dwarfed whatever ire he harbors toward me.
I filled him with pain relief, hoping he’d leave sooner if he weren’t uncomfortable, which he did.
They departed at first light, before Liaran woke. And I haven’t heard from him since.”
“Fenoral is a fugitive,” Tharios says. “There’s been a bounty on his head for longer than I’ve been alive. Why didn’t you report his presence?”
“Because I am not as strong as you are, Tharios Westaria. Who protects a Fressenia when his family disowns him?”
Tharios gazes into Valethan’s eyes for a few moments before answering. “A Westaria does.”
“As does an Everescent,” Rafelis says quietly.
“Along with every Outerlander in Lostariel,” Deridyn adds. “You are the binding partner of Risial Steroveni. The father of Liaran. You are an Outerlander, Valethan Fressenia. You belong to us now. My bow and my magic are yours until my end of days.”
Valethan studies them all, his eyes full of emotion. His mouth opens and closes as if he’s struggling for words.
“Thank you for helping me see,” Tharios says. “I have one more question for you. Why did you check my binding partner for signs of pregnancy before you sent her to sleep?”
Valethan gathers himself enough to respond.
“I’m a healer, my prince. If she was carrying an elfling, I needed to know in order to ensure my magic would be gentle enough not to harm either of them.
It’s why I sent her to sleep for such a short time.
I do not gamble with the lives of pregnant women and their elflings.
I live with the pain of my own loss every day of my life. ”
“Rafelis, bring me more paper.”
Again, Rafelis complies without questioning Tharios. Once the paper is set before him, Tharios inks another legal document, signing and stamping it with his seal before handing it to Rafelis.
“Everything appears to be in order.” Rafelis offers the document to Valethan.
Valethan’s brows furrow as he scans the page. “You’re dropping all charges?”
“Perhaps you’ll once again believe there’s room in Lostariel for all, including you and your daughter. Thank you for telling your story.” Tharios rises to leave, but Valethan calls to him, and he turns back to the table.
“I thought I could change things like your parents had,” Valethan says.
“But I discovered there are parts of Lostariel that have never changed. They appear respectable to the world, but at their core, they are full of hatred and loathing. It festers, as it has for the past thirty years. If Fenoral returns to Celesta, he will draw those parts of Lostariel from the shadows. Do not let down your guard. My daughter meant nothing to my parents the night she almost died along with her mother. But you, my prince, mean everything. The picture of everything they hate. They will be watching. Waiting. When the time comes, they will pounce, and even your magic will not be strong enough to stop them.”
The knot in Tharios’s stomach threatens to engulf him, but he does his best to hide his dread. “I don’t have to be strong enough alone. Because I’m not alone. But I will heed your warning. My father’s warriors will protect you for as long as necessary. You are free to go.”
With that, Tharios strides from the guest house, blinking at the sun. He searches for Viala, spotting her sitting against the wall of the barracks as Cerian hovers over her, on full alert.
Tharios nods at Cerian. Few words could convey his gratitude to his brother right now.
“What did you learn?” Cerian asks as he offers Viala a hand up.
“Everything. And nothing. I need to speak to Father.” Tharios strides forward with Rafelis and Deridyn flanking him as Viala hurries to his side.
The knot in his stomach grows. This is the moment Cerian saw.
And it was Tharios’s own dread Cerian felt.
Tharios reaches for Viala’s hand.
At least he doesn’t face this alone.