Ghis (closed)

[KieranSoares]

Kell was sitting by the hearth reading over letters and official documents when his ears perked slightly and he looked at the door just before a light knock sounded.

"Come in, Zann." Kell sighed as if at his wit's end, and the door opened to reveal a young, shaggy and rake-thin werewolf with dark brown fur and a sheepish look in his amber eyes.

"Uh... Sir," the boy muttered. He had to be younger than Kate, maybe even only fifteen. Seeing Kate, he quickly ducked his head in a bow. "S-sorry, milady," he stuttered. "I didn't know y-you were here." Amid his odd English accent was an involuntary stammer.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate lifted her head as the door opened and suddenly a stammering wolf stood there, his eyes wide as he noticed that she was there.

“If your business is with my husband, you’ll have to forgive me. I find myself too exhausted to retire somewhere else.” Kate said as she lowered her head back down and Khan rolled against her side with a loud groan of his own.

 

[KieranSoares]

"You'd hear this clod from across the castle regardless," Kell sighed as he rose. His tone seemed tough, but Kate had heard him speak similarly of other young apprentices to his hidden spies and guardians. It was a cover for his fondness for the hopeless teens he trained. "Straighten up, cub. Report."

Zann stiffened into an awkward at-attention stance. "All p-patrols reported clear, s-sir. No s-s-suspicious activities or f-figures. All g-guests secure."

Kell stood before the young Wolf in a perfectly straight stance, hands folded behind his back as he put on that tough Lord Protector mask he wore in public and that Kate was coming to know very well from working beside him with a similar mask in front of others.

"Good," Kell said simply. "But you just let anyone listening from two rooms over know that we have security for our guests and hidden patrols by saying all of that out loud enough for the dead to hear."

Zann couldn't help breaking stance and tucking his head shamefully. "I-I'm sorry, sir..."

"You can apologize to those whose safety you would've compromised if there was actually anyone to listen. Thank your lucky stars that your mentors and Qira are so good at their jobs that the only people who heard you are myself and your Queen. Now straighten up, cub. This isn't a job you get second chances at. No one has a second life to spare to give you a do-over. I want you to go down to the tavern on Well Street and wait there. When Marena stops by, you tell her what you did and she'll put your through your proper paces and retraining. Am I understood?"

"Understood..." Zann murmured defeatedly.

"Excuse me?"

"U-understood, sir," Zann said more loudly, straightening his stance before Kell gave him a dismissive wave. Zann much more silently disappeared and Kell closed and locked the door.

"Useless thing..." Kell sighed, a rueful smile on his face. "The saddest thing is that he's one of the better ones. The future of Edinburgh's safety is looking grim, love," he commented, looking to Kate.

 

[heartofcourage]

“I’m glad that falls to you and not to me then.” Kate said as she stretched and rolled until she had an arm wrapped around her tiger.

Khan purred like a kitten and kneaded her with his large paws, his broad head tucked against her as he enjoyed the attention. “I think you are too hard on him, but that’s just my opinion. You’re training them as you see fit.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"It's all an act. Zann is one of my favorites, really." Kell sat on the edge of the bed watching as Khan's big paws kneaded against Kate, careful of his claws. "Marena will cuff him upside the head, hug him, and set him back to training. She treats all the young ones fairly. She's certainly my best trainer."

 

[heartofcourage]

“What’s his story? He acts like he’s been beaten every day of his life.” Kate asked as Khan nuzzled against her, the happiest tiger in the world right then. “I’m sorry, Khan. I know I ignored you for too long.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"He has, more or less," Kell sighed. "A lot of my young apprentices are teens who've spent most of their years in bad situations, workhouses, or in Zann's case, slavery. There was a pocket of werefolk slavery still hidden in southern England that King Henry overturned in a raid last year. Most of the werefolk that were freed had homes nearby to go back to, but Zann was among some who were born into slavery and had nowhere to go. Half went to a tribe near where your Uncle Ashien lives. The other half didn't feel they fit into tribes. Some were adopted, some were too scared to stay in England and Henry sent them up here. A couple of the younger ones reached Inverness and failed to make anything of themselves. I found Zann and two others stealing to live in the markets and arrested them. Zann fought me for the sake of the other two, and I saw something in him. Brave, protective, quiet, and dedicated to what he believed was right. Once I got to know him and his friends better, I learned how guilty they felt for stealing to survive. I offered them all jobs, as assistants to a record-keeper of mine. Nothing dangerous. The other two were fantastic help and I still keep them both on. But Zann was bored, and I caught him reading the records like they were fairytales, accounts and reports of fights and missions. So I offered him a chance to work with the people he'd read about, and he jumped on it. He was hopeless with blades, and really, he still is. But he had a talent for stealth, and that simple way he presents himself is a great cover for who he really is. No one thinks an innocent-faced, stammering Wolf teen is a threat. No one keeps their voices down or hides from him. And I've recently learned that he's about as good an archer as your brother Sam." Considering Brogan bragged that Sam could shoot a pigeon through a thicket at a hundred paces, that was saying something.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate listened to the story of the young wolf and felt bad that he had gone through so much in his early life. His story, sadly, wasn’t unique. There were so many out there who suffered simply because they were wolves.

“You collect all of those that are too broken to know what they really want.” Kate commented softly. “It’s admirable, but I think you have your expectations too high sometimes. It’s important to know those that work for you, but you’ll only set yourself up for failure.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"If you knew how I train and ready those cubs for work, you'd understand. I get after them, but no more than I would your little brothers. They know I'm instilling how severe this job is, and they know I would never stop them from leaving to try something else. I made a promise to my people long ago that I would never follow in the footsteps of my handlers from Wick."

 

[heartofcourage]

“I would never let you be like them, Kell.” Kate said, looking towards her husband as he told her of his promise to his people. “I would get you help if you ever turned out like any of those people. Not for their sake or mine, but for your own.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"I know, love. And I appreciate that more than you know." He knew that that sort of sentiment was born of the Ghis memory of Tamblin. Kell leaned down to kiss her and laid beside her and Khan. "Zann's well on his way to becoming like Qira. I think he'll be just fine."

 

[heartofcourage]

“I do demand that you take him to a tribal barber and have someone help him take care of his fur. He’s probably never had anyone show him how to do it properly.” Kate said with a small smile. “I’ll even pay for it.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"I will," Kell nodded. "I'll even teach him myself if need be." He nuzzled against her only for Khan to push him away and take Kate's attention for himself.

 

[heartofcourage]

“He wants my attention.” Kate chuckled as Khan pushed Kell away, demanding her full attention to himself. “Your guards made him stay confined for his safety. He’s not the kind of tiger to want to be confined for any reason.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"Well, he'd better appreciate how often I tried to convince the guards he was harmless." Kell scratched Khan's ears, earning Khan's appreciation from that alone.

 

[heartofcourage]

Khan rumbled deeply and rolled to chew on Kell’s fingers as they all shared a quiet moment together. “They’re all leaving soon. Then it’s just us alone.” Kate said softly, letting Kell know her thoughts that evening.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I've been thinking about it too," Kell murmured, letting Khan do as he liked as the tiger remained gentle. Kell wanted to assure Kate it would all be alright, but he knew those words would be wasted on her and he'd be lying to himself. They were both homesick and probably always would be. It would just be a matter of making Edinburgh home too.

 

[heartofcourage]

“I hope there will be a day where we don’t think about it.” Kate said softly as she looked across Khan to her husband. “Maybe soon. It’ll make our trips to visit Inverness all the better.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"Then we'll put building a home life high on the list of things to do." Kell scratched Khan's ears and smiled. "And I think this one helps. He's already made himself at home."

 

[heartofcourage]

“And what will our home life look like? I’m not a wife that will cook your meals or clean your home. I can mend your clothes, but I won’t be like most wives.” She said softly as he scratched Khan’s ears.

 

[KieranSoares]

"You're a queen, love. You wouldn't have time to do any of that. But we will continue to keep time for ourselves every day and making this place our own. As time goes on, we're going to hire our own staff, redecorate, and form our own trusted group."

 

[heartofcourage]

“I feel like you’ll be doing more of that than me.” Kate said softly. “But I have been giving more thought to having a lady in waiting. Ma never had one, but Gran had a dear friend that was there for her through thick and thin. It might be nice to have someone like that at my side. Someone that I can rely upon when things get too tough.”

"Love, if I'm honest, I never saw myself being married. I never saw myself as anything but the queen of Inverness. Things are much different there. I could cook your meals every evening there. I could tend to your home there. I feel as if I have a lot to prove between being a queen and being your wife." She said softly.

 

[KieranSoares]

"And what would I be left with?" Kell asked with a smile. "Sitting around all day shelling out orders with no chores and all the time in the world to be lazy. I don't want you to be my housekeeper. You're my partner."

 

[heartofcourage]

“And what about children? We’ll have them, I know that’s something we both want, but I don’t see how it can be anytime soon. Scotland needs us to be focused and a child would distract us at the very least.” Kate said as they continued on with their discussion.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Scotland will always need us to be focused. The needs of the country won't change much, barring some freak economic problem or war, which I don't see happening soon. We use this time to sort things out, learn, appoint trustworthy assistants, and get comfortable where we can. We won't always be new, inexperienced, and drowning in work. Well, considering our habits, we might always drown ourselves in work, but that can change. Eventually we'll find a good pace and have a schedule, and we can find out where a family life fits. Or, maybe one day, we'll just let it happen and organize as we go. Our court will have to make exceptions and adaptations for what will be the heir to your throne. Remember that. You're a queen and your children will be as important to the court as you are. Work will work around them."