Mountains Vast and a Kingdom So Red

Chapter 73

Admitting to his mistake, Saber apologizes to his brother and they forge a truce. But Bedivere has reservations to completely trust him so he leans on his mother for company. She is not the only one whose face strikes him as an aging human. The mother has desired insight into the other villages. He asks her about the fairies who are new to him and takes notes as she explains. Nirminda has allies in its bordering villages: Mongurd and Vidlayn, to the west of Nirminda lies Boardboa, a stepping stone to the capitol. These regions must know his name and Xirna's.

Characteristic to this land, the weather announces itself as temperate. Puffy clouds froth the sky and the sunshine leans on their shoulders. Bedivere reads the sundial in the center, an ancient and beautiful nickel fixture. He recalls his father taking him here, rolling his tongue about the value of telling time. And his brother tripped over the gnomon often, screeching until their father kissed his invisible wounds. As Xirna enjoys herself in the communal sauna, he approaches Jurial's house. Jurial's mother opens the door and Bedivere's heart expands once she recognizes him and lets him in.

She gives him water with cucumber slices, and he is too polite to remove them. She then calls her son from upstairs, and he soon comes down, the staircase a piece of dust compared to the tall on at the Aux Duvrex's. Jurial's sister shyly peeks inside and the one family member missing is the father because he is in the Mongurd mines. Proud, Jurial's mother shows him her pea plants and he nods, pressing on a smile.

"May we know the reason for your homecoming?"

"I fell in love and it was not right for either of us to stay behind. We did not want to feel isolated."

"Aux was isolating?" Jurial asks. His sister fiddles with her hands on the table and after glancing at her daughter, she says, "this is Titan."

Titan grimaces. "I go by Titi."

"Titi sounds similar to titis," her sibling says, as if he has had to set a 'law' more than once.

"Fine. Tina."

"You are Titan as long as you live in this house." Bedivere smiles. A family attached by blood and veins does not differ much from Odin and Rebekah.

Bedivere clears his throat. "Aux Duvrex is wonderful, but our species is few. Xirna has wings, which makes her a rarer population."

"I want to see her wings," the mother says. Hers are incapable of being covered, same with her children.

"My wings smell weird." Titan wrinkles her nose.

Before Jurial can tease her, her mother asks her if she has bathed with the salts.

"Yes! I bathe with the salts but they still smell of vinegar." Bedivere comes to, relating to her problem.

"If I may, salts are sufficient for preserving, but not so much for masking...scent. I have a body wash I use, on my body, that makes me feel very clean. Would you like to borrow some?"

Titan gives him a soft smile. "That is generous," the mother remarks. "Our resources lack such a luxury."

"You do not use a catalog?" He asks.

"No, we cannot afford that. Unlike your country, ours is more socialist. Sharing what is traded." Bedivere winces. It is appropriate to call Aux Duvrex his country, but this Kingdom is his home too. Temporary home. Perhaps he is acting too sensitive.

"I can afford it. First, let us start with you trying the wash and you can let me know if it works," he says to Titan.

"Do you want to bring Xirna to dinner tonight?" Jurial asks him.

"Yes! We will be here." He finishes his water and listens to the rest of Jurial's mother's horticulture tales.

Xirna and her traveling companion have a wonderful evening, followed by wonderful days, but once they reach the two week mark, the days become mundane copies of each other. Non religious Bedivere almost prays to see a hoverboard coasting. Gerran suggested that they keep in touch with letters, but while it may be possible to find a carrier creature, the risk may prove grater than the absence of connection. Of course he connects with Xirna and he has Dream, along with Jurial, Misha and Hespero but even they cannot break the tension of a task unfilled. There is not an entry point yet to the high class.

But a bounty comes in delightful fashion. One day in Nirminda, Dream has Bedivere feel her stomach, enlarged now that he is up close, and he feels kicking. This reveal takes place in her cottage with her beaming husband Gene and she shares that her grandmother will be visiting from Vidlayn by days end. A celebration will take place tomorrow, since it has been four months, but in the meantime Dream wants the silence a secret provides.

On the day of the youth's birth, Dream is almost lost to the world in birth complications, but the fairies around her are tough and unflinching in their support. Ultimately, the praise goes to the midwife for coaxing her through it. The babe emerges head first, not feet first, but her healthy glow makes the immediate family and friends awe. Her glossy wings are so tiny. Xirna stands in the back of a room, wiping tears but then letting them coat her face. Life in bloom, there may be more celebrations in the future. Jurial has fallen in love, however, Xirna and Bedivere do not have a future. Not here. The pull to migrate is strong.

And the travelers must obey it. Still questions arise in the cottage they occupy.

Xirna's flight agreed with her; her cheeks in a flushed brown color. She speculates when they will make the announcement.

Bedivere sighs. "I have no talent. I do not know why it has not come. So many triumph tidings."

The nymph reaches for his hand resting on the kitchen table. "We are fortunate. But we must move forward."

He will miss his mother. Saber. Titan, who is no longer self conscious about her wings. "I think we shall see to obtaining passage with a wagon."

She claps her hands. She must be fantasizing about a non-walking journey. "To Boardboa?"

"It will be wise to stop at Vidlayn first, get a rest A kind host should provide lodging."

The nymph nods. She stares into Bedivere's eyes a moment too long. Nervous, he looks behind him.

"My mother picked some peaches? Care for some?" He asks her.

Juice coats there chins. A simple pleasure before a difficult conversation.