CHAPTER IX #5
“Sounds like a great plan to me,” the man beams.
Alanna rolls her eyes at the two of us but clanks her glass against ours, nonetheless. The toddy’s not bad, but it’s not as good as the drink served in Gaumond.
I thank the man and reach for the whiskeys, about to pass one to Alanna, but my offer is stopped half-way when a sudden and sharp push in my chest makes me gasp.
What in the Ancients?
The feeling is new, something that doesn’t belong to me.
It’s pressing at my chest and heart like a tight strain, creating an uncomfortable tension in my lungs that’s a bit painful.
I quickly drop the whiskey back on the counter and turn away from Alanna, the sudden intensity now pushing so rough that it's making it hard for me to breathe.
Fuck.
What’s wrong with me?
Was there something in my drink?
Or is this Keane’s location summoning?
My question is answered by a new feeling of curiosity coursing through my chest. It accompanies the uncomfortable tension in my lungs like a burning question.
It is the Prince’s summoning, and he’s currently wondering where I am.
“I can feel you,” I cough out quietly.
I have no idea if Keane can hear me, but it’s worth a try. I rub my hand over my heart and chest and take a deep breath, definitely not liking the feel of his magic when he’s curious about my location.
“We’ve started drinking without you,” I flick my eyes to the barrels at my side.
His summoning squeezes my lungs once more before it morphs into his familiar chuckle against my bones. I sigh happily at the vibrations and try to rub out the intensity still lingering in my chest, feeling him release me just as quickly as he came.
Ancients.
I do my best to compose myself before turning back around to Alanna in nonchalance. The blonde Discerni is watching me with narrowed eyes again, the cool grey of her gaze piercing mine and trying to piece together what just happened.
“The toddy got caught in my throat,” I smile in apology.
I reach out for the whiskey I dropped on the counter and try to divert her attention.
“I did order this so you could try our whiskey, though. It’s served daily in Knowledge.”
“I’ve had whiskey before, human,” she replies, eyes still narrowed.
There’s no disdain in her voice, but I do notice the man behind the counter flicking his eyes at her at the use of the word. He frowns at my Discerni companion but remains silent all the same.
“Of course you have,” I smile sweetly, bringing the liquid to my lips, “Marybeth told me it was the only drink that made you hurl into the night.”
It’s a lie, of course, but I’m growing old of her pet name and coolness towards me.
Alanna scowls and watches me purposely as she takes a heavy swig.
“I think I may hurl you into the night.”
I laugh at the stupid comment and watch her gift me with a rare smile, the look on the man’s face as we walk towards one of the fires completely perplexed at the interaction.
“She told me she’s your sister,” I reply casually, “and you told me you were born in Woodlands Court. How did you two find yourselves in Gaumond?”
It’s an attempt at conversation, though not one I think will garner
much of an answer.
Alanna, surprisingly, looks at me quietly and considers her response.
“How much do you know of Woodlands?”
The fact that she asks that question makes me wonder if I should reconsider everything I think I know.
“I thought I knew all there was to know,” I tell her honestly, “but someone recently began dropping hints that there’s more there than meets the eye.
I do know that when they visit our Court they are some of the most proper Discerni I have ever met.
They rarely ever engage with anyone throughout the night and instead just sit and watch from afar.
They’re never rude, just quiet and stick to themselves. ”
Alanna scowls and takes a sip of her whiskey, “you know the bare basics, then. Your travels on behalf of the King never took you into their lands?”
“Not yet,” I reply, “though I plan to make the trip as soon as I return to Bardot.”
Alanna’s drink pauses at her lips before she replies quietly.
“Take your men with you, Alexis. Do not make that trip on your own.”
What an odd thing to say.
The Discerni woman looks at me with a hardness in her eyes, the gaze quickly prompting me to nod in agreement.
“And you and Marybeth?” I ask softly, “why are you in Gaumond now?”
“My mother and Marybeth left Woodlands when I was young. Desmond helped arrange their travel and brought them to Gaumond first. My father and I spent a few more years in Woodlands until we had to leave. We made the trip to the Black Capitol ourselves.”
She’s so vague with her answer.
“Why did your mother and Marybeth leave first?”
Alanna averts her hard gaze and stares into the fire, her face turning stoic and unreadable.
“Because my mother was human, Alexis, and Marybeth shared a lot of her same features when she was young.”
What the…
Marybeth and her mother had to flee because they were human? Because they looked like humans?
I have no words to respond with, nothing that can justify the hundreds of thoughts that are now racing through my mind. That makes Alanna and her sister half-human, and even though they have mortal blood running in their veins, the magical half of a person will always prevail.
“My father and I stayed in Woodlands for a few years after they left,” she continues, still staring into the fire, “and we only took the trip to Gaumond when we received word that my mother was aging and growing ill. I was what would be considered sixteen in human years when we arrived in the capitol, and spent the rest of my mother’s years in the tavern until she passed. ”
I watch the blonde Discerni next to me with a new sadness.
“Marybeth took over the tavern after my mother’s death, while my father secluded into himself and left for Fumagalli. I saw him briefly when we were there a few days ago, but his heart and mind were distant...”
Her cool grey eyes retreat farther into the fire before she shrugs, “I decided to join the army and found my summoning in archery. When we return to Warrior I will show you.”
I can tell her story has more levels than what she lets on, but I still nod to her in genuine appreciation that she’s even shared this much with me.
“It’s not common though, for a human and Discerni to engage with eachother and start a family, right?” I ask the thought that’s pressing in my mind, “aside from Desmond, you are the only other Discerni I know who is born of half race.”
Alanna nods and finally looks back at me.
“It’s not common in the Kingdom, but there are quite a few couples living in Warrior that choose that path of life.
When you find love, when my parents found love, it didn’t matter to them what was in their blood or that they could only spend a small amount of their years with each other…
they just loved,” her grey eyes spark on mine, “as if they found the missing half of themselves in the other.”
I believe it. I’ve seen the way the King and Queen look at eachother, like they’re half of a soul peering back at the other. That kind of love is hard to find, no matter a person’s mystical ability or lack thereof.
“So it’s only natural that when my father experienced the loss of that love,” she continues quietly, “he secluded himself to Fumagalli. I don’t think he’ll ever get over the grief.”
Alanna takes a sip of her whiskey in silence.
What a hard life it has to be for a Discerni to only spend a few fleeting years with their human partner…
“Hello ladies!” Cal walks up behind us in greeting.
I’m grateful for his interruption and let his large smile pull Alanna and I away from the somber conversation. Both Holis and Mana stand with him, the three clad in deep green tunics with gold stitching as I smile at them all.
“The cat greeted you,” Mana says softly as him and his brother move to stand next to me. Cal takes up next to Alanna with a small look of concern in his eyes, noticing her features.
I glance back at the blonde Discerni and raise my brows.
“The cat did greet me. I considered going for my blade but let the spirit of friendliness will out.”
“No one in that room would have let it get to the point of you needing a blade, Alexis,” Holis replies while his brother and Cal nod next to us.
I smile softly in appreciation, “it was a magnificent creature, though, wasn’t it?”
“The thing stood as tall as your waist, Alex. Magnificent isn’t exactly the word I would use,” Cal scoffs just as Barnes and Claymore join our group around the fire.
I smile to them in greeting and note the simple black of their attire.
Both of their heads turn down towards the fire, their glances watching the undying flames with small frowns.
“Snow tiger,” Alanna says simply to our group, “that magnificent thing is called a snow tiger. They used to roam the Charred and Crystal Mountains to the north of Pyre. They’re royals just as much as the McQuoid family line is, and oftentimes present themselves to the women of Pyre who become the next Princess. ”
“Alba presented herself to my wife in the forest of Grove three years ago,” Prince McQuoid approaches our group with Keane, Desmond and Daniel next to him, “we were married not shortly after.”
McQuoid’s pale blue eyes land on mine, his long auburn hair flowing back from his face before it knots at the nape of his neck.
His beard is no longer as rugged as it was earlier, with the ends clipped perfectly along his jaw and framing his red lips.
He’s wearing another lush black fur coat over his bare chest again, a leather strap jutting from one shoulder to his hip before it stops at a buckle on his deep maroon pants.