SFC Book III – Chapter Twelve – Of Sorrow and Wrath
The moon didn’t give them much light as they walked through the emptying marketplace. The crowds were thin and the vendors were closing up shop.
Pinch hung between Gray and Rynn, unable to walk.
She looked up at him with big, teary eyes. “I saved you. Again. You’re so lucky I joined you.”
Gray shot Rynn a smile. “Yes, Pamalee, we’re so lucky.” They hadn’t needed the fae against the orcs, but there was no reason to argue with her. She was out of her damn mind.
“But not that way,” Pinch said with a sigh. “What were we talking about before? Rynny, she didn’t much care about bonds and love and all that. Wedding. Where was your wedding?”
“Wedding?” Gray asked.
“Wedding!” Pinch yelled. “A bonding ceremony. Free drinks and food and dancing. A celebration that in this fucking terrible world, you found your special someone, to love, honor and cherish, all the days of your life. You know. A fucking wedding. Don’t be an idiot.”
“There’s the unpleasant fae girl we know and love,” Gray said with a chuckle. “We didn’t have a wedding. Unless you count Soulshred Week.”
“Doesn’t count.” Pinch sighed again. “I had dreams. I wanted to get married by the sea, on the beach, and I had my dress all picked out. I even had the color I wanted for my toenails. Do you paint your toenails, Rynny?”
“No,” Rynn said patiently.
“I did before…but anyway. I could just imagine staring up at the man I was going to marry. Of course, he would be a fae prince, so handsome and kind, and his core oath would be something noble, something about being kind and doing good. I would never feel alone again. I would always have someone who knew me, know all the parts of me, good and bad. We would be partners. I would be so wonderful…and we’d grow old together, and help each other, and my final breath would be kissing him, and then, I would die, and he would be so sad. Even if he could bond with someone else, he never would, because his love for me would endure.”
Tears leaked down Pinch’s face. Then that sadness turned into anger. “Get the fuck off me. I can fucking walk, you idiots. All that is such shit. All of it, shit, like this world. At the heart of Midmere isn’t a lake of fire, it’s a lake of shit, and when we die, we’re drowned in the shit forever. That’s the only eternity there is. Drowning in a lake of shit!”
She shoved them away, tried to walk on her own, and then fell into the mud. She was already dirty. What was one more layer?
She looked at them with her tear-stained face. “Don’t leave me. I’m sorry for calling you idiots. I’ll paint your toenails someday, Rynny. Maybe we could friends someday, when we’re on our kills squad, making money.”
“Oh yes, Pamalee,” Rynn said warmly. “I’m certain that will be the case.”
But then she glanced at Gray, and he could see she was just being nice.
In the end, they scooped her up and continued on to Softie’s.
He was so surprised to see the lights on, but it was clear, Softie was in the process of closing up.
“I’ll be right back,” Gray said.
Rynn didn’t like the idea. “Oh, no, Mr. No. I’m not leaving you alone with Emerilia Stone. I know what happened before.”
“What happened?” Pinch asked with wide eyes. Her eyelids fluttered. “Oh, yes, Mr. Big Core and his multiple bonds. Grayson Fade gets to have all the partners he wants while I don’t get any. But it’s fine. I made my choice. I might not be happy, but I’ll be rich, dammit, and on my own terms.”
“I hope so,” Gray said and then hurried them to the door.
When they entered the shop, Softie grunted. “Dammit. Do you know how frustrating it is to have a sister who is always right? She said you’d be coming back. Well, dammit, you know where she is.”
All the cousins were gone except for Earl. “Is she okay?”
“I’m fucking okay, little man,” Pinch hissed. “Are you fucking okay?”
“Uh, yeah,” Earl said happily. “I’m nearly off work. And I like the cold. At home, I have a big mug of hot chocolate waiting, and I have a book, and—”
His voice died when he realized that Pinch really didn’t care.
“Go on,” Softie prodded them. “Get going back there, so I can go home.”
They pulled Pinch through the curtains and into the backroom.
Emerilia Stone was at her high table, on her chair, with a jewelry monocle screwed into her eye. In her hands was the ruby necklace. “Well, aren’t you three a sight to see, and I only have one working eye at the moment.
She put both the monocle and the necklace on a velvet covered tray and turned to them. “With two eyes, the sight isn’t as strange. But before I say another word, Rynnanatha Sereph, you and I should probably talk.”
Pinch pushed herself away, found the table in the middle, and crawled on to it. “Widow! Stop the room from turning.”
“It’s not the room,” the Widow said a smile. “It’s the whole world. And there’ s no stopping it. Pamalee Thornpinch, in my workroom, I never thought I’d see the day.”
“You don’t know me,” the fae girl grumbled.
“Everyone knows you. You left the fae and joined Squad 23. It was all everyone could talk about in those final days of Soulshred Week.”
“Whatever,” Pinch grumbled. “Made the right choice. Didn’t win. Will win the next one.” Finally, she closed her eyes and passed out.
At least that was one less thorn—pun intended—in his side.
Rynn was standing stiffly, patiently enduring Pinch’s interruption. He’d rarely seen her more uncomfortable.
Emerilia slid off her chair and went to the fireplace. “Let’s talk by the fire. Most likely, none of it will be very fun, but that’s not what you paid me for. Wait. You aren’t going to pay me. Oh, the irony!”
The Widow sat on a shelf next to the fire. Gray and Rynn found little stools—made for dwarves, but they would work. They sat in front of her.
Emerilia’s brow was furrowed. “Listen, Rynnanatha, I crossed a line with your bonded. It wasn’t my…it wasn’t my intent, and it won’t happen again. When he, I, and the captain were together, there were sparks I wouldn’t have anticipated. From before. And recently. I felt you nearby. I know that there was a physical reaction…and I…well. I lost my love, but that’s no excuse.”
The dwarven woman, normally so calm and collected, was trembling and uncertain. Gray had never seen her so agitated.
“It’s fine,” Rynn said. “I know first hand what it’s like to…damn, there’s no good way to put it. To stand in Gray’s sunlight. Amaranthis, our wife, calls him the boy with the sea and stars inside of him. It’s like that. There’s the pull of his tides, and you got caught up in that tide. You’re not alone.”
“But I should’ve been stronger. It’s just…”
Rynn reached out and touched Emerilia’s knee. “You missed your bonded. I can’t imagine what that must be like.”
Emerilia’s face lost all expression. “It’s carrying death with you for all the days of your life. A weight. Beyond feeling, beyond memory, beyond love even, it’s carrying the weight. I’ve gotten stronger over the years, or so I thought. But with your man, for a moment, the weight was gone, and suddenly, there was the possibility of a fresh start. After twenty years of feeling the weight of his death in me, such an unexpected freedom felt…joyous. Again, that’s no excuse.”
“Maybe it is,” Rynn said gently. “I’ve had to come to terms with Gray’s unique…destiny is probably the right word. I never thought I’d have to share him. Then again, he has to share me with our Amaranthis. It can be difficult sometimes, managing the multiple bonds, but when it works, it feels just right. Just perfect.”
“Can I beg you to forgive me?” the Widow asked.
“Begging is not necessary,” Rynn said with an easy smile. “You have my forgiveness. I’m sorry for your loss. My Aunt Florence would say that there’s no good words to talk about death, and so we give people our condolences because you might as well wail and tear at your hair than a say anything else.”
Gray laughed to ease some of the tension. “What would we do without Aunt Florence?”
That had them all laughing.
The Widow sobered. “Now, let’s discuss your sad ruby necklace. There’s an old, old enchantment on it. Protection magic, if I’m not mistaken, and I might be. It’s ancient. I won’t ask how you came to own it because I think there was sinning involved. Just a feeling.”
Gray went to defend himself. “It was—”
Emerilia held up a hand. “No, it’s not important, not about it’s history and what it might be able to do.”
“What can it do?” Gray asked.
“Protect the wearer from demons, and not just your typical Animalix—the various more animal like demons, like the ones you fought, but from Regalia, Hell’s royalty. Thinking, scheming demon lords that have plagued our word from the beginning.”
“The troublemaker,” Gray said with a nod.
“Just so,” the Widow agreed. “This wouldn’t stop a demon lord but it just might slow him down. It’s why it’s still in existence. Sometimes, with some items, especially those with the mana of their owners still strong in them, I get a sense of an item’s history. I’m assuming you two know about the destruction of the Wrath Tower and what happened after.”
“Not as much as I’d like,” Gray said. “Rynn?”
“Tell us more.” the elf girl smiled. “The historian on our squad isn’t here.”
The Widow paused. “No one knows exactly what caused the tower to fall. It was powerful magic inside that destroyed it. That’s all we know. Of course, there’s any number of theories. In the end, it probably doesn’t matter. When the Wrath Tower was destroyed—it didn’t all tumble down at once, mind you. The top was blown off and dragons were seen in the air around it, fighting. And corpses were found, later, of cousins in the Supera family. It’s why most people blame the dragons of Pride City.”
“And a certain captain that we both know,” Gray added.
Emerilia laughed. “Your captain has been blamed for everything. She has a reputation worse than the Troublemaker himself.”
Gray didn’t say there was a certain amount of irony there, since Settie and the Troublemaker had known each other. Blind John would say that water seeks its own level. Or put another way, fish of the same scale swim together. That was the popular saying. Blind John added something at the end, though—those fish are in the same school because they all have the same lessons to learn. You wanted to be the fish who learned his lesson so you could find a better school with more powerful fish. And that lesson? Self-mastery.
He thought of the unconscious fae girl on the table behind them. She’d left her school and joined theirs. Would she learn the lessons they were all trying to learn?
The Widow cleared her throat. “When the Wrath Tower fell, Animalix demons poured out, an ocean of creatures, hungry for mana. Keep in mind, for thousands of years, since the Weeping Well was sealed by Akazel the Bound and the seven towers he built, hell’s doorway had been closed. The seven cities built mansions and temples right up to the edge of the Well itself. So when the demons burst forth, on that fateful night, they massacred tens of thousands of innocents. It was unrestrained bloodshed for all that night, the Endless Night of Sorrow and Wrath, or that’s what people called it. The slaughter continued until the manamancers could rally their forces. Remember, there was no avatar, no kill squads, no such places as First Field. It was a very different world back then. I can’t tell you how difficult it was to look into your ruby necklace. I heard the screams of the slaughtered—men, women, children, whole families, butchered and devoured by the demons.”
She stopped talking, and the only sound was the fire popping and crackling.
“It’s okay,” Rynn whispered. “I’m sorry you had to hear the screams.”
Emerilia blinked and smiled. “Yes, it’s okay for now. Because the most powerful manamancers at the time, magi from the seven remaining families, all worked together. “They took the pieces of the Wrath Tower to craft the Hellbinder Barrier, the most powerful magic the world had seen since the time of the Third Avatar. Well, some would argue that Princess Cassandra’s defeat of the Troublemaker was the last great magic. Regardless, the Hellbinder was truly a wonder.”
“What happened to the Rabbia family? We met the current duke tonight.” Gray laughed. “It didn’t go well. If he wasn’t such an asshole, I might’ve felt sorry for him because he’s so sick.”
The Widow chuckled. “You’re right about that. When the Wrath Tower fell, and when it became clear that the remains would have to be used to create the Hellbinder, the six remaining Watchfire families—of course they weren’t called that, they were called the Septua Tribunal, decided that Wrath City was lost forever. It was no longer even considered a city, not really. Brog Rothrock, the ruler of the Wrath tower was dead as was his entire family. The Rabbia family took over, but none of the other families took them very seriously. They didn’t need to. Dividing the fortunes of the Belly six ways was better than seven. There’s a reason why the cities are named after sins.”
Gray could anticipate the rest of the story. “So on the Endless Night of Sorrow and Wrath, the necklace was used to allow the family to escape?”
Emerilia put a few sticks on the fire, and they burst into yellow flames, which were pretty against the lust rocks, which were burning a light lavender at the moment. “Yes, a young girl, who was sent running from the chaos. Her entire family was killed but she lived. And with her small fortune as well as the necklace, left the Belly and went to where there couldn’t be demons.”
“The Null Breaks,” Gray finished. “It was how the princess got it. It must’ve been a family heirloom.”
Rynn was staring at him. She knew what he’d done.
“Yes,” the Widow Stone said.
Rynn sighed. “We could’ve used it the other day.”
Emerilia laughed. “Because you live in Old Town. I haven’t forgotten a young man’s request to help him get passed a certain sovereign master. It should’ve been impossible for a simple archmagus like me.”
“Neophyte, acolyte, adept, magus, archmagus and sovereign master,” Gray murmured, remembering the different ranks.
“Yes,” Emerilia agreed. Then she changed subjects. “Rynnanatha, could I examine your core? You absorbing Amaranthis’s spells has me so curious.”
“That would be fine,” the elf girl said. “And if you have to kiss me, I’ll soldier through.”
The Widow blushed a little, which struck Gray as sweet. “No, no kissing. Just a big of touching, but nothing too intimate.”
The Widow went over and got behind Rynn. She touched her shoulder, where her third mana mark was coming. She also reached over and massaged Rynn’s upper chest where her other marks were.
Rynn’s eyes were closed, as she rocked back and forth, as Emerilia examined her. “The itch of your adept mark will last a long time, as your body adjusts to the new skills you got from your wife. You know the dangers of Gray adding another bond to his core.”
“A potentially lethal explosion,” Rynn said easily. “Yes, he told us. I was surprised to be a bit disappointed. But realistically, I thought that finding the right person would be unlikely. With Amaranthis, it happened so naturally. When we lost her, it was…it was very difficult. But now, it’s wonderful. When Gray was with you, I was with my lovely bonded wife, and a whole world was opened to me.”
Emerilia went to speak.
Too bad for her because Rynn was in the middle of another ramble. “I feel for Pamalee. She so wanted to find a bond like Gray and I have. She spent her life dreaming of such a thing, at least when she was young. And I have it. I think that’s why I’ve kept the envy at bay. Not only do I trust Gray, but I trust myself. I didn’t need him, I wanted him, and that makes all the difference. On my own I am strong. With him, I’m even stronger, but that core strength remains. Oh, I’ve rambled. I’m so very sorry, Mrs. Stone.”
“Emerilia is fine, dear,” the dwarven woman said kindly. She stepped back. “You’re very wise, Rynnanatha. And it’s a gift to have a clear idea of one’s strengths and weaknesses. Your parents must’ve been very kind and caring.”
“And my Aunt Florence,” Rynn added, laughing a little. “She’s my mother’s sister. She was very important to me. Obviously.”
“We find families,” Emerilia whispered. “Sometimes our families are the family we need. Sometimes they’re not. It’s an old story about you and Pamalee. The woman who wants bread is given pasta, and the woman who wants pasta is given bread. The trick is to enjoy the life you have and not the life you think you want.”
The Widow went and carefully lifted the ruby necklace and handed it to Gray. “I would like to think that this necklace will not witness sadness and bloodshed and death again. It has been loved and it has been ignored and maybe that was fine for the last two centuries. But soon, it will be back in her hands—the descendant of the frightened girl who fled the Belly. I sense despair and change and love and hate and hope and all the things that we see in the world.”
She pressed the necklace into his palm while holding his hand. Her eyes on were on his face. “Despair doesn’t suit you, Grayson Fade. It’s not self-mastery. In fact, I do believe it’s self-mastery’s greatest enemy.”
He didn’t know what to say.
Until Pinch let out a tremendous snore and the jerked up. “Fucking idiots! Where in the fuck am I?”
Emerilia laughed. “It’s late, and I’m sure my brother is very upset that we’ve stayed late so open. I need to go, and you do too.”
He wasn’t going to argue.
* * *
Two weeks later, Gray and his friends still hadn’t heard from Settie. Nothing. They took a week off, but were back training the next week, and yes, they took the ruby necklace into Old Town, to use it against demons, but no more demons appeared.
Was it working too well?
That was hard to say.
They spent two full weeks away from First Field, but on their first day back, the Magistrate Malcon Crewel found Squad 23 in the canteen.
Crewel was flanked by a dozen of his orcish Fieldkeepers, all carrying cudgels which glowed with mana.
“Grayson Fade, you are under arrest, ,” the Magistrate said in his crips, powerful voice.
“For what?” Gray asked.
“For trespassing in Old Town. For poaching. For unlawfully using an enchanted item during Soulshred Week when all such items were forbidden.”
Blonko, at a nearby table, started to laugh and laugh…as did Kabe and the rest of the orcs.
It had taken a month, but Gray was fairly certain that this was Duke Drake Rabbia’s doing.
He couldn’t buy them off, so he was attacking them in a new and different way.
In the end, it was just one more fight.