Ghis (closed)

[heartofcourage]

"Danny is only just born, Brogan. Give the lad some time to be a child." She teased her husband as he cuddled Ashelin.

The little girl curled against her father, a tiny happy sigh leaving her lips as she went still in her comfort. She certainly was attached to her Da and that made Julia chuckle softly. It seemed that Heather was her only real chance at having a little girl that took after her.

"You know...if things ever get....too difficult..." Julia started to say, almost unable to finish her thoughts. "I wouldn't blame you for drifting off."

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan looked to Julia with no small amount of surprise, but he smiled and drew her close to his side. "It means a lot take tha' ye'd let me go if I couldn' keep goin' anymore... An' it means even more after ye wouldn't let me go when I was at my worst and ready t'give up."

 

[heartofcourage]

"It's not an easy thought." Julia said as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her against his side. "The thought of waking up without you there terrifies me, but I can't stand the thought of keeping you here in pain."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You're too good to me, lass." Brogan kissed her lips lightly. "It'll take a lot t'make me leave you. But if I had to... I'd be waitin' for you right on th' other side."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I know." Julia said softly as she pressed her forehead against her husband's, letting out a soft sigh at the thought of losing him. "But I pray that we have many, many years before that happens. I love you, Brogan."

 

[KieranSoares]

"O' course we will. I can't get enough o' you. Nineteen years ain' nearly enough."

That evening was peaceful for the family, until word came of a small outbreak of fights in town just after dinner. Cole came to deliver the news of the humans harassing the werefolk and vice versa, and Brogan sighed deeply. He looked across to Kate. "If yer up to it, this one's up t'you."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate glanced up at her Da as he offered her the chance to take care of the situation herself. She glanced over towards Kell, thinking over all sides before she gave him a slow nod.

"I'll go and check on things." She murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek before she left the great hall with Kell and Ciaran in tow to find the cause of the disturbance.

 

[KieranSoares]

All riding side by side, they came upon a brawl in the street made up of three werefolk and a handful of humans ganging up on them. It was more vicious than a usual brawl for fun that sometimes came up in taverns. The humans looked ready to kill the werefolk and the werefolk looked terrified but ready to return the favor.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate kicked her horse into a faster pace as she saw the fighting, slipping down from her saddle to get right in the middle of the fight. She squeezed in between bodies, pushing the two sides away until she stared at all involved with a look of surprise.

"What is going on here?" She asked, looking to them all for an explanation. "I thought it was clear that there would be no more fighting for everyone involved."

 

[KieranSoares]

Ciaran and Kell kept the sides apart until the apparent ringleaders made themselves known. A human man who looked to be a vendor stepped forward, glaring darkly at a proud and angry dark orange werefox. "I'll tell ya wha's bloody goin' on. These damned Foxes an' Cats're thieves!"

The werefolk who weren't Cat or Fox seemed even more offended than those who were, but the leading Fox lifted his hands in a gesture of peace despite his clear anger, speaking too quickly in Erygonian for Kate to quite understand. Kell aided her in that, translating. "He says his young children got excited about food in the vendor's stall and ran off with it before he could pay. The vendor accused him of theft before he could even get out his money."

"Where are the children?" Ciaran asked softly, and a werelion pointed out a little alleyway where three small Fox children were huddled behind their mother and a couple protectors.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Marius." Kate said as she looked towards the vendor that she had known for years. "Theft is a harsh accusation when he was willing to pay. This is not the way we should be acting, especially in front of children that don't know any better."

Kate glanced towards the fox and his family, knowing that they had to put up with a lot of persecution. "Sir, if you are willing to pay then we might send you and your family home." She murmured in what little Erogorian she knew.

"Take his payment, Marius. We will discuss your concerns after the family is allowed to go home." Kate murmured, hoping that this would be the truce that would hold.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don't take Erygonian coin," Marius growled, and Kell stepped up and took the Fox's money and gave Marius the equivalent in common silver.

"Everyone takes the werefolk coin as equal to the silver throughout Scotland," Ciaran noted calmly. "Why won't you?"

"I 'ave my reasons," the vendor said stubbornly while Kell ushered the werefolk away and most of the humans dispersed

 

[heartofcourage]

"They are trying to make an honest living here like you, Marius." Kate said softly, struggling to diffuse the situation. "We fought a war with them, yes, but that is done with. I cannot make you like them nor can I force you to accept their coin. However, I do ask that you act in a civil manner when there are children present. Imagine if someone had treated your boys the same way. I doubt you would have been so calm."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don' need to be lectured, Kate. I don't care if we 'ave peace with them now, they're still cannibals an' murderers and that's never gonna change." Marius turned from her then, unwilling to listen to anymore. The fear of the more extreme Erygonians (who had long since gone, being uninterested in peace like the rest) who had eaten the flesh of their fallen enemies had been one of the greatest alientators of the Erygonians as a whole. Lunars knew that not all Erygonians took part in such practice, but most humans didn't or simply didn't bother to acknowledge it. Aside from that, there was always the simple fact that Tidannon's leadership and vision had led him to declare war for the sake of gaining the 'promised land' and it had been left to his father, then his mother to make amends. It seemed even long after things were back to normal, about a quarter of Inverness' humans still held a vicious grudge.

 

[heartofcourage]

"It's not meant as a lecture, Marius. I simply ask you to consider my words." Kate said as Marius turned his back on her and walked away.

She let out a long sigh. How did he Da do this and still have the respected his people? This felt like a hard loss on her part.

 

[KieranSoares]

As the remainder of the crowd dispersed and only Kate and Kell and Ciaran were left, Kell seemed a little downtrodden that his kind were so vastly misunderstood and feared thanks to a single, terrible event that hardly reflected the real majority. He himself was especially a target thanks to his profession and lineage but most people were too scared to say anything in front of him.

Ciaran was quick to reassure Kate. "It's alright. Some people just won't listen, but they'll have to learn to live peacefully together sooner or later. Marius isn't a terribly violent man, I doubt he'll really cause much trouble."

 

[heartofcourage]

"He might not be violent, but we can't have fights like this happening, Ciaran." Kate murmured as she looked at her brother. "It ended peacefully this time, but what happens the next time when someone is lying dead on the ground?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm worried about that too, but there's only so much we can lawfully do, and if we interfere too much we'll make it worse. We can't solve every single person's disagreements or lay every fear and hatred to rest. It's just not possible with any large group." It was a hard lesson that Brogan himself was trying to teach her. When she was Queen, she'd be dealing with half of Scotland, not just a little town. Brogan had to manage his entire territory which stretched from Inverness and the bay to Inverlochly and some of the southern mountains all the way to the western coast. She would have more than ten times the people to tend to.

 

[heartofcourage]

"We need to show them that there is nothing to fear from the were that live in the village." Kate said as she glanced towards Ciaran and then at Kell who looked so downtrodden that it nearly broke her heart. "What about a festival? Something fun that will take everyone's mind off the troubles that we've been through."

 

[KieranSoares]

"That could backfire if some people drink too much," Ciaran warned softly.

"It could... But if we monitor the situation carefully and double up the guard, it could work with little incident. But it may have to wait a while," Kell murmured. "There's a small wave of sickness in the Erygonian village right now. Nothing serious that I've heard, but it would be best not to get everyone together and spread it."

 

[heartofcourage]

"What kind of sickness? Do they need any help?" Kate asked softly, a little startled at the news that there was an illness passing among the were folk. "I can ask Aunt Val and Uncle Theo to see if they can offer their expertise."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I already asked Theo and he said they'll look into it," Kell nodded. "It doesn't seem to affect humans, thankfully, but I just don't want the werefolk in town or the Lunar village to catch it too."

 

[heartofcourage]

"No, but we can't let them suffer. We'll ride out there tomorrow and see if we can help." Kate said as she took Kell's hand and squeezed it gently. "Every little thing that we can do will help in this transition process. They need reason to trust us."

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell nodded and kissed her cheek before the three headed back. Brogan found no fault with what they'd done and he freed up the next day for Kate to be able to go to the Erygonian village. She'd only been there twice in her life as it was twice as far as the Lunar village through much rougher terrain across highland forest with only a narrow and tough trail. The Erygonians kept to themselves and liked being left alone, but also enjoyed their neighbors.

Ciaran didn't come on this journey, staying home to help Valentina and Theo gather and pack their supplies. Kate and Kell were to report back on the severity of the sickness and tell them what else they needed. But as they drew near, they found the village palisade gates shut. They were never shut during the day, and usually left cracked open one person wide at night with heavier guard. The two gate guards were leaning heavily against their spears, wrapped in cloaks despite the spring warmth. One, a dark brown-red Fox raised his hand to stop them.

The Fox rasped, "Wolf, stay back. The village is under marshal law and quarantine. No werefolk in or out starting this morning." That began a coughing fit and Kell's ears laid back at the terrible rattle of the Fox's lungs.

"They're putting ill warriors on duty?" He asked quietly.

"The few healthy werefolk left, those who are immune, have been working themselves to the bone to take care of the rest of us," the other guard, a dark golden Lion murmured. "We cannot drop our guard even if all but two warriors are afflicted."

"All but two? Why hasn't anyone reported this to Brogan?"

"We are afraid that the immune will still carry the sickness into town and to the other werefolk... It is not flu or cold... It is plague."

Plague was a word Kate knew well. Plague had wiped out entire towns when Vincenzo was a young man. He had told her the story of how his first love had been taken to Poveglia island in Italy, how she and other plague victims were burned there, how so many died that the island's entire surface was covered in ash and the only life there was gnarled and sick trees and weeds. Vincenzo had been lucky to escape alive while other healers died. But for werefolk, who were healthier and stronger than most humans and kept their villages much cleaner, plague was absolutely unheard of.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Where and when did the plague begin?" Kate called to the two guards. "We have healers on the way to help. I wish you had let us know sooner. We could have saved you a lot of trouble and heartache."