Claymore and Dagger Pt.2

[heartofcourage]

She knew Chessie had been working hard to prepare all manner of food to impress Fiona’s family. She had told her over and over again that she didn’t have to do that but the cook insisted. When they entered the great hall, Sam and his siblings were gathering at a table piled with food. Brogan and Julia were also there, watching everything going on around them with a grin.

“Go sit next to Sam’s sisters. They’re around your ages.” Fiona said to her little cousins. “The rest can sit wherever you wish.”

Kate was just getting settled at the head table, Kell pushing in her chair as she cradled a still sleeping Brogan. He had been given herbs to help him sleep away his pain and they often left him cloudy and sluggish, but at least he wasn't hurting in that moment. Ciaran and Justin were already seated with little Dana, the tiny red wolf looking around at everyone that had gathered from Ciaran's lap. Annie and David were busy with their own little brood, trying to keep a Silas and Danny under control as Bridget squirmed and threatened to start crawling away. Then there was Rho and Naiya, the wolf heavily pregnant and exhausted, looking at the rest of the family with a smile on her face as she spoke softly to her mate.

"Everyone. This is my grandfather and grandmother, Oleg and Anya. And my uncles, Rhett, Yul, and Voluun, their mates and kits."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam immediately rose upon their arrival, and was caught up between Oleg and Anya in a tight embrace as he murmured a welcome to them and they got a good look at him, marveling over all that had transpired since Fiona had returned to Inverness.

The elder Brogan had arrived, standing alongside Julia and soon getting the chance to greet Oleg and Anya in person for the first time. After Inverness and its two villages had sent lovely gifts and support to the Voya, a friendship had developed over letters to the point that Oleg and Brogan had quite a friendly rapport.

Seeing the vast mix of humans and werefolk all in a single clan, Oleg was quite surprised. While there were plenty of humans in his tribe, Oleg had never seen the same family atmosphere between races in less tribal settings. Looking to Fiona as he had a moment between greeting her husband's family, Oleg murmured, "I've never seen a family like this. You never told us the Ghis were so welcoming."

 

[heartofcourage]

“Well, you simply have to see it to believe it.” Fiona said with a smile to her grandfather. “It’s a nice mixture here and everyone is welcome. In fact, that little cub over there is the next king of Scotland.”

Fiona motioned towards the sleeping cub in Kate’s arms, the queen doting on him as Kell got her a plate fixed from the bounty before them.

“It’s a safe place here. We’ve worked so hard to ensure that.” Fiona mentioned as she led her grandparents to the table, seating them between herself and Brogan and Julia.

 

[KieranSoares]

Fiona's family was gladly accepted into the ranks of the Ghis, the littlest ones finding fast friends and the elder finding common ground and good conversation. It was as if they had belonged all along. Jun quickly found an audience for his stories while Rhett sat beside Orla and listened to her own conversations. Voluun found a common background with several of the Ghis, and Yul was coaxed into a quiet conversation with, of all people, Kell who seemed to take an interest in him.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona smiled as she watched her family melt seemlessly into the Ghis. She especially had to laugh when Juno tried to match wits with Kate, the queen of Scotland giving him a run for his money even with a sleeping baby in her arms. It seemed that everything was right in her world now.

Glancing at Sam, she took his hand and gave it a squeeze, leaning in to kiss his cheek when he looked her way. “Thank you for helping get them here. I fear I'll be in your debt for quite a long time."

She had quite the debt racked up with Sam, but he didn't seem to be in any hurry to call in her favor. She knew he was a patient man, waiting for him moment to ask her for something in return.

 

[KieranSoares]

"It was a gift fer both of us. An' fer yer mother," Sam murmured in return. He knew the family wanted to visit their lost member's grave, but after hearing so much about Tatiana from all of them, he was also acutely aware that Tatiana had valued family deeply. Even if she had had to choose between making her own little family or staying home, Sam knew that the love between both sides had never died. "Consider it... askin' fer her blessing."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona gave Sam a small smile as he mentioned that this was for her mother. He knew how much Tatianna had meant to her and how much she meant to her entire family. Even if she couldn't be there for their wedding, she was going to be felt in every single event and moment that they all shared together.

Fiona reached up and touched Sam's cheek, pressing her forehead to his own for a long moment before they separated. "Thank you, love."

 

[KieranSoares]

"It's my pleasure," Sam muttered in return, stealing a kiss before she could go too far.

All in all, the meal went off without a hitch and plenty of people stayed after to chat with the new arrivals. Durban seemed to have struck a good chord with Yul despite the Fox's shyness. Yul was wrapped up in a story Durban was telling about his time in China and Mongolia.

 

[heartofcourage]

The next morning, the entire family was up early to make the journey to see Tatianna's grave. Owen would meet them there with Kesh and Fiona would lead the way for the rest of them. Even the littlest kits had joined them on the journey, Per leading his younger cousins towards the somber occasion. Everyone had worn their best clothing, Fiona in her tribal gown that she had married Sam in just a few months earlier.

She had been surprised when he insisted that he was going too as she got dressed that morning. He had been busy as of late, but it seemed that he wouldn't miss this chance. She held his hand tightly as they all walked, her uncles carrying little trinkets that they would leave behind for their little sister. Oleg was keeping a firm grip on Anya, the smaller fox already looking devastated before they even reached her daughter's grave.

"I might ask the rangers to clear the little path further. It gets overgrown in the summer." Fiona murmured to Sam as they entered the path into the woods that would lead to the small tribal graveyard, the trees darkening out the light and leading to an air of danger.

It was a short walk into the woods before they came to a stone archway, built by a stonemason a long time ago and covered in green moss. In the clearing, Fiona saw her father standing next to her Ma's grave, Kesh settled at a respectable distance. Owen had worked hard on making sure that Tatianna and his parents had a comfortable and respectable spot to visit.

 

[KieranSoares]

In the snow and the overcast skies and the half-shade of the leafless trees, the little clearing seemed itself lonely. It had once been some manner of building, built and felled long before Inverness Keep was even thought of. While everything else was gone, the crumbled, ancient walls had formed a hip-high fence in a large square around the little area. It had been a place Tatiana knew and had gone to sometimes to sit and think, if not wonder what the structure had once been. The archway was all that was really left whole.

The grave was marked by a large, carved piece of slate that Owen himself had made. Instead of a typical marker, he'd etched stories and imagery into the stone for his lost mate, and had placed her original family name rather than his own surname.

As the family approached, they could see Owen had cleared the snow from the market and the ring of stones that marked the outline of the grave, and he'd set a little fire in the corner of the cobbled walls for those who needed to keep warm. Owen himself stood in silence, staring down at the grave as if entirely lost and unaware of the real world.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona helped Rhett to get Anya next to the fire and seated, the poor elder fox already lost the first moment that she had caught sight of her daughter's grave. Her nephew, Red, was immediately there to try and cheer his grandmother up, holding her hand as Anya stared helplessly at Tatianna's plot.

By the time that she returned, Fiona saw Oleg in much the same condition as her father. Both men just stared down at Tatianna's final resting place. Fiona quietly stepped between them, taking her father's hand and her grandfather's hand and simply trying to support them as they each came to terms with their loss.

"It's much happier here in the summer time." Fiona said softly to her grandfather, squeezing his hand. "The flowers and plants bloom out and make it very cheerful."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I made sure to plant her favorites," Owen muttered, his voice empty. "They come back every year without fail."

Oleg slowly knelt, letting go Fiona's hand to lay both his own on the dark stone marker. Owen's eyes filled with tears as Oleg lowered his forehead to the cold stone, the old fox falling still as he murmured softly in Erygonian. Owen wanted to give his mate's family every apology and offer anything he possibly could to show just how deeply he regretted what had happened to Tatianna. But he knew he could never give them back what they really wanted.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona leaned her head against her father's shoulder as Oleg knelt and spoke to his daughter for the first time in years. She knew that Owen felt so guilty for what had happened to his beloved mate, but she had tried to convince him that there was nothing that he could have done for her.

"You loved her and she loved you. That's all that matters, Da." Fiona whispered softly to her father, struggling to make him feel just the slightest bit better.

 

[KieranSoares]

"There was plenty that mattered more than a wandering fox making a rift in a family for his own sake," Owen whispered, his head hanging low. Even years on, he still felt immensely guilty.

"What's done is done, brother," Voluun muttered, stepping up beside Owen. "She wasn't just whisked away. She loved you. Circumstances left us all with a bad parting... But she chose her path. There's no sense thinking of what could've been. The same thing could've very well happened for other reasons. She wasn't perfect... No one is. You didn't break her as much as you believe you did."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Well, I for one am glad that you met her. I wouldn't exist otherwise." Fiona said as Voluun tried to make her father feel better about the entire situation. "It was meant to be if for that reason alone. You can't argue with that."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I could, but I wouldn't give you up for the world... Even if it took me this long to see what I have... This reality is more than enough for me. I wouldn't change it if it meant your mother never had you..."

"Nor would I," Oleg muttered from where he knelt as he sat up once more.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona smiled as both men agreed that they wouldn't have traded her for anything in the world. She lifted her head and glanced over towards her grandmother, moving from Owen's side to Anya's yet again.

"Are you ready, mormor?" Fiona asked softly, taking her hand and helping Rhett to get her to her feet.

Together, they guided her to Tatianna's plot, helping her to sit next to it as she said her own goodbyes to the daughter that she missed so much.

 

[KieranSoares]

Rhett gently drew Fiona back once Anya was settled, letting her be alone with her lost cub and Oleg. Rhett looked on for a moment before turning away to tend the fire. Owen had partly set it as their means of offering their gifts to the afterlife, and as a small symbol of the pyre they'd burned in Sweden among the Voya.

Sam remained out of the way, quietly watching over the family. For perhaps the first time, Juno was calm and somber as he spoke to the kits gathered about just what Tatianna had been to their family. Voluun stood with Ericka and their tiny kit watching over Per, and Orla came to join Rhett's side. Yul had found a quiet place near to Sam, but was on his own for the most part.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona left her family to their mourning, turning towards Sam as he stood a respectable distance away. He was stoic as ever, but she knew he felt the same about what was happening as the rest of her family did. She moved towards him, reaching up to move his head until their foreheads pressed tightly together.

“If one of us loses our way, I know we’ll find our way back here.” She said softly, a promise to him that nothing was going to tear them apart.

 

[KieranSoares]

"We will," Sam promised in return. Knowing that the war loomed and called for them, and that so many counted on them, Sam knew they both needed something steadfast to hold onto. At the very least, they had their home and each other.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona hugged her mate, her head pressing against his chest as he returned the gesture and she let out a small sigh. He always made her feel safe, even when sadness threatened to overwhelm her.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam stood there with Fiona for a long time before the little family gathered once more around the fire to give their offerings. Each member had something handmade, and each watched their gift disappear into the flames with the ancient Erygonian belief that fire was a gate between the world of the living and that of the dead.

Sam too brought forth a gift, a tiny hand-carved box into which he placed a wooden ring painstakingly carved with all manner of designs. This too was an Erygonian tradition quite appropriate to Sam and Fiona. It was how new mates or spouses asked their partner's deceased family members for their blessing.

 

[heartofcourage]

FIona saw the sweet gesture from Sam and she knew that this meant a lot to him. He might not have been deeply religious but he still honored the various traditions of the were. Her mother would be very included in their wedding. After he had made his offering, she took his hand and squeezed it, giving him a soft smile as she nuzzled against his cheek.

 

[KieranSoares]

The family remained at the little plot til the wind picked up and snow began to fall once more, close to noon. With Anya and Hanni's fragile states, Oleg insisted it was best to return to the keep. Juno ended up carrying Hanni most of the way, while Rhett scooped up his mother about halfway back as she slowed and the cold started to get to her. The walk back was mostly quiet and somber. Even the young kits were silent in respect for their family's long grief that til now, had never had much closure beyond Fiona's time in Sweden.

Upon their return, Chessie was waiting with a warm meal and hot cider, as well as some secret treats for the kits. Sam saw to it that they were all well-cared for, looking after Anya and Hanni in particular and making sure the kits had plenty to do to keep them occupied. Once the kits had gone off to play with Ghis close to their age and a few members of the family had gone for a nap, Sam finally got back to work. There were soldiers to oversee, supplies to organize and order, reports and battle lines to review, and training still to keep up. Thanks to the Riders, much of the correspondence across the isles and to the front lines was fast, days instead of weeks. So there was always something new coming and going from Sam's desk.

While there was still winter to worry about, Sam knew that there were only months between them and their true foray into the war. King Henry and their southern neighbors had been fielding most of the fight thus far, receiving reinforcements and supplies from the isles and Scandinavia. But come the spring melt, whole armies from across the north would be positioned on the southern shore of England and from northern Normandy all the way to Denmark's southern border. It was imperative that they hold the shores to prevent mass invasion across the English Channel and North Sea. There would be plenty of men from the Rus and Scandinavia holding the shores of the Baltic as well, as they all knew Barbarossa's sights were set on the Triad and Isles. In his eyes, it would be a new step of completion for the Holy Roman Empire, to own literally all of Western Europe. And no doubt he'd continue expanding southeast little by little, and set his sights on the Rus in the north.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona lounged in their bed, resting as Sam worked. She still thought that he worked much too hard, but she didn't say anything to him about it any longer. It would start a fight, as it always did. Instead, they were at a comfortable stalemate when it came to their duties as king and queen.

"You can station a Rider or two at the shore. It would prevent vessels from getting too far inland." Fiona suggested, turning over to stare at Sam as he looked over the documents in front of him. "I'd even volunteer with Invah if I thought you'd let me."