Mountains Vast and a Kingdom So Red

Chapter 94

Gerran's home exists but lacks any kind of cohesion in design. Because of this, it qualifies as hovel even though the exterior is all brick. There is a mud brown accent wall facing egg shell white walls. A stuffed duck head attached to a board hangs above the ashen sofa and a pile of gadgets clutters a desk. On the linoleum floor, which honestly should be discarded and replaced, no rug covers it and the torches remain unlit. Damien sneezes after Gerran embraces him and he then greets me the same way. "You need a lover's touch," I tell him and he laughs.

"The famed, infamous territory," I muse and try to make myself comfortable on the sofa. Damien stays standing.

"Pardon the disarrangement," Gerran mutters. He begins to sort through the inventions on the desk but quickly gives up. Today he dresses in a cotton tunic and checkered blue trousers. Because he is going through a phase, he wears a monocle accessory.

"You know carpet is cheaper through the catalog," I inform my uncle.

"Why should I be concerned with cost, Mikah? I am a shareholder of the throne." Oh, you do not act it.

"Has Simmons sent you a letter?" Damien asks.

Gerran shakes his head. "The last few were signed Bedivere. He is Bedivere Simmons."

I piece this news together with what I already know about the Head Servant. "Bedivere is a gallant sounding name. I wonder why he concealed it from us."

"Maybe he retired it for a period but has breathed it new life," he suggests. "You know everything I know," he addresses Damien.

"But how does he describe high class society in the Fairie realm?" I say.

"I am not privy to that. The last matter I have heard was his arrival in Polaris."

"I just hope you are not hiding information for the sake of protecting us," I share.

"The man is braver and tougher than you think." Gerran sighs. "He defeated the mercenaries who butured his wings. They came to him like demons, placing a sack over his head, and he bargained a fair fight so his brother Sinbar could aid him. And when Sinbar was near death, Bedivere sang, a gift that made the intruders weep."

"This is the first I am learning of a gift," I say.

"Urisis visited him the day of his departure, as you know, and she bestowed a gift to him by her own sacrifice. She sliced her hand and bled on his grounding object, or something object, something personal to him, and the gift appeared in his time of need."

My mouth gapes. "Bewitched practice that strain of magic still?"

"Before wands we had blood," he says. "Makes me thankful for wands."

I drop my head in my hands. "I hope his singing voice stays. Part of my plead for him to do this task was for him to develop a stunning reputation."

"Xirna's rising to the occasion as well," my uncle says. "Her beauteous form was captured by an artist so she not only has portraits, but has gained profit from them."

Damien speaks up with an aside to me. This happened in Boardsboa.

"That is impressive. Do you think we should tell Leviys and the soldiers they succeeded in finding a suitable companion for Simmons?" I ask.

Gerran shares we should not. He looks to Damien as if he is an adult and stock holder in the Kingdom. I am jealous of this reach in respect. I have had to earn respect from my uncle. Damien looks to me.

"I think it should stay private as well. As honorable as they are, it might be tempting for them to disclose to their peers."

I weigh my brother's words. "The five swore an oath." But Leviys has not. Forcing him to obey me is not an example I wish to make of our relationship.

"At the heart of it, we know what Xirna and he are doing, and I am positive I will receive a letter soon," Gerran says. He eyes the kitchen and I hear a grinding, frothy noise. "My coffee is ready. Would you care for some?" He asks us.

I decline, anxious to return to the estate and update Leviys, but my brother wants the cold milk from Gerran's pet cows, so I indulge him. In the meantime, I swish my wand, making a housing renovation catalog appeal and dance around with it, making Gerran laugh.