Ghis (closed)

[heartofcourage]

"Da taught us a few things. Ma grew up in a different religion though. Annie too. I think he keeps to himself mostly for fear of upsetting them with anything." Kate said honestly as she looked at the books that he was placing on the shelves. "I hate to break it to you, Kell, but I'm not the best student."

 

[KieranSoares]

"And I'm not the best teacher. So let's meet each other halfway, hm?" Kell gave her a softer smile. "I believe in learning by doing. I don't expect you to read your way through my teachings. They're just extra tools. After all, who ever learned anything correctly by just reading about it all the time? So when you learn Lunar, which is what I'll start you with since Erygonians and Lunars both speak it, you're not going to just read about it and talk to me. I'm going to have you using it to speak to the werepeople around Inverness. Trust me when I say you'll have a much stronger bond with your non-human people when you can speak to them in their own tongue. All non-humans speak Lunar, be it werecreatures, centaurs, and so on... and at least half of them speak Erygonian. Only a few learn English so they can be translators, or to live more easily with humans, and very few of them master it like your Uncle who only grew up with Erygonian and Lunar. I grew up with all three, so I suppose I have an advantage."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate chuckled softly as he talked about her learning by doing. He was very much like her father in a way and she felt comfortable with following his lead. "I promise to do my best then."

"KATE! COME DOWN! WE HAVE TO GO HELP MA!" The shout of Sam being cried up the spiral stairs soon greeted them and she let out a long sigh, looking at Kell.

"I guess I need to go." She said softly as she offered him back his book.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'll come with you," Kell laid the book aside so she could pick it up later. He wanted to be of some use to the Ghis beyond just Kate's teacher. It was Julia he most wanted to prove himself to. As much as Brogan was the King, Julia was the one who wielded the real power and decisions in the end, quietly keeping watch over everyone and everything.

 

[heartofcourage]

A room just off the king and queen's suite had been set aside as the royal nursery. Thinking that Sam and Rho were her last, Julia had it turned into a room like Kitty had where she could knit and simply be by herself. Now, however, she sat on her cushioned chair, her feet propped up as she watched her sons packing up her belongings as a wooden cradle waited to be moved into place.

"I remember when all of you were small enough to fit in that cradle. Your Da made it for Ciaran when he was born." She commented, glancing up as Kate and Kell entered the room to help.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell set himself to moving the heavier objects such as furniture with Ciaran, and Lir had joined in too. However, the wolves left the more fragile and the more sentimental things to Kate and Ciaran. Rho was doing all he could with his one arm, and Sam was doing far more than his share to help his twin.

As Kell moved the double-seated sofa, he spotted something on the floor and leaned down the pick it up. It was a folded paper and he opened it up. "What's this?" He brought it to Julia, and she would recognize it immediately as a drawing made by Sam and Rho when they were just old enough to start learning to write. It was a messy charcoal picture of their family with misspelled names and the keep behind them with Inverness written across it as 'Imvernas'. It had been lost when they were four, and had been hiding in the dust under the sofa for more than seven years.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia looked down at the picture and smile fondly. "This was a picture that Sam and Rho drew for me for my birthday. I thought this had been lost a long time ago. Thank you for finding it, Kell."

Julia carefully brought the picture to her chest and let out a content sigh. Rho soon came to join her, his injury making him tire easily as he continued to heal. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders, kissing his dark hair gently as he snuggled up to her side.

"Ciaran, go and see if Chessie can put together some refreshments for everyone. Kate and Sam, go and help him bring it in here."

 

[KieranSoares]

As the others left and Lir followed, Rho's curiosity got the better of him about Kell. "Mr. Kell? Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"You're Erygonian, right?"

"I am."

"But you're our friend."

"Sure I am. Why?"

"Why aren't the other Erygonians like you?"

"Well... There are two kinds of Erygonian. The Calm, and the Teo. I was born Teo, but I chose to become a Calm. We're mostly scholars and students of anything and everything. The Teo are extremists and they believe they serve the Erygonian God best by getting rid of non-believers. They don't even like the Calm because we won't fight for our God like that."

"But can they be good?"

"They're mostly very good people, devout and loving to their own kind. They're just misguided about how to go about dealing with others... They aren't evil like so many think."

"Why are they here?"

"From what I understand... an Erygonian Elder known as a Shaman called Tidannon, the one you and your brother fought, had a vision that Scotland was the Promised Land for his people, and because they are too set in their ways of driving out non-believers, they came to take over. The Calm heeded his words too, but they came to settle here and share the land."

"Ma..." Rho looked up at Julia. "Maybe we can convince them that they don't have to fight. I'm sure Da would be more than happy to share his lands with them, so would a lot of Scottish Lords and Clans."

"It's not so simple, little Prince," Kell sighed, ruffling his hair gently with a half-bitter smile. "It'll take a long time and a lot of patience to do that."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Your Da has been working a long time for peace, Rho. Sometimes that's just as great of a battle as war is." Julia said genty as she looked down at her son. "We just have to be patient because I know one day we'll reach our goal together."

"Perhaps, if you're interested, Kell can teach you more about where he comes from." She suggested to her son that seemed to so badly want to help others in this world. "I think it would be a good activity while you're healing."

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell offered the boy a welcoming smile, "I'll be happy to teach you and your sister."

When the others returned and they sat down for tea, Kell resumed his usual place beside Kate. Brogan came to join Julia's side, and all was peaceful for a while amidst soft conversation. The family was steady despite the war, and after Annie returned, Kate and her cousins took over for their tired and weakened parents, none of them as able to cope as they once were. Their last war before Kate's birth left them all permanently wounded in some way, be it Boar's knees, Durban and Ashien's horrible nightmares and trauma from what they'd seen and experienced, or simply fear and a need for peace in their time. Brogan had not yet sought the help of Lunars for his vision, and it certainly wasn't coming back on its own. As Julia drew closer to giving birth and it became clear she was carrying a larger child than ever before, Brogan took on more and more stress with her. Between his children and nieces and nephews fighting, his wife's difficulty carrying their unexpected child, and his own inability to do anything about any of it, he wasn't himself and Valentina and Vincenzo were genuinely worried for his health.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia did her best to remain calm even though she felt herself growing weaker. She felt older than her years and she knew it was stressful on Brogan. He was stubborn about his sight and she worried that one day it would harm him even more the he already was.

"Love?" She called out to him from their bedroom. "Could you come here for a moment?"

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan made his way in with relative ease, having memorized the Keep blind quickly. His hearing had certainly improved in the absence of sight, and he could navigate with it well. He paused in the doorframe. "Yeah, darlin'?" His eyes were no longer so dark, partially lightened by blindness. He found his way to her side, taking her hand and kissing it. She could feel his tension, even just in his hand.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I think we need to talk about some things." She said softly. "I want to know what's on your mind and how I can help you."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Everythin's always on my mind, you know tha'." He of course didn't let on his troubles. He tried not to, especially around her, but he hid most of it from everyone anyway. He didn't like people to worry about him. Julia least of all because she had more than enough worries of her own that he shared with her.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Brogan, we've been married nearly 20 years. I think it's alright if you let me know your secret fears." Julia teased, bringing her husband to sit beside her as she leaned against his side. "Don't worry, my lord. I won't share them with anyone else."

 

[KieranSoares]

The great Scotsman sighed as he settled at her side, and he was quiet for a long moment. Finally, he muttered, "I'm scared. Of everything. I thought age would make me stronger an' braver... but it's only made me more terrified o' the world an' everythin' in it. If bein' a king an' a father 'as taught me anythin', it's that things can change in a second. I learned tha' the hard way with Rho an' Sam, an' again when Kate disappeared. But what I'm most afraid of righ' now is how you're doin'. You've 'ad trouble th' whole way through with th'baby..." he didn't have to say it for her to know he was remembering what happened to Emma with her twins.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Love, this baby is coming no matter what." Julia said softly. "And I will fight until my last breath to bring it into this world healthy and happy. I'm just as frightened as you are."

She squeezed Brogan's hand tightly, kissing his cheek gently. "No matter what happens, I love you. You have made me so incredibly happy here in Inverness."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Don' say tha'... makes it soun' like yer sayin' goodbye..." Wrapping his arms around her, Brogan buried his face against her neck. The stress and worry was killing him, and even Julia could see that. He felt so helpless, and that only made it worse.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia held her husband tightly, kissing his cheek as they sat wrapped up in one another's arms. "I'm not saying goodbye, love. You still have to give me that wedding you promised."

"You have to get your sight back. And we still have to make love on the loch like we always talked about." She was trying so hard to make him happy.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm no' sure it can come back, love... but tha' won't stop me from doin' everythin' I promised..." Brogan pressed a kissed to her cheek in return. "Only a few months now... an' hopefully, by th'time the next little one arrives, this whole war'll be over with..." He could only hope for now, as there was no real hope on the horizon for the end of the Erygonians' crusade.

 

[heartofcourage]

"How do you know it can't? You're too stubborn to try." Julia said softly. "If you would talk to Kreston or even Kell, I'm sure that there is something that someone could do to help you."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I am too stubborn, because I don' want t'deal with th'disappointment when they tell me they can' do a thing. I'd rather never know..." Something was truly wrong with him, giving up hope without even trying once. "Besides, everyone needs t'focus their resources on th'warriors, not a useless old king."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Brogan Ghis. I won't let you talk like that." Julia scolded, looking at him in disbelief. "What has gotten into you, love? Why would you think that you are useless?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"I can't fight, I can't 'ardly help aroun' th'keep, an' I can't even take care o' my own family an' protect 'em. What the hell am I supposed to do? All I've been able t'do is sit and wait fer somethin' I can do t'come along." He shook his head and rose from her side. "I couldn't even see m' own daughter at 'er knighting ceremony t'tell 'er how beautiful she was..."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Then DO something about it, Brogan." Julia said with enough passion in her voice that he could feel it. "Find a way to get your sight back. You're taking the coward's way out in this and I know that you are no coward. Do you know how much it pains me to see you like this? Your children are worried sick as well."