The Huntsman of Adamos (Quartet)- draft

CH WELCOME TO LUMBERTON

Rieth and Banth went to the lighthouse to meet Fleur and Yuli before they trekked to Lumberton. As they ate a hearty breakfast, she told Banth about the messages from Shadz and Vole. Rieth buried his relief that the Mage would not be coming to the Isle this year. Captain Vole on the other hand was a different problem. Rieth was not sure if his magically changed appearance would fool the former Navigator of the Starship Seeker who had spent years of the war working with him. He had gotten a message that Rheema had gotten her cousin, Star Captain Lilith of the Wanderer on their side.

Now, she could secretly bring Abrieth and Regis to the Southern Star Archipelago. Lilith’s crew were mostly younger Aetherians who chose the Star Fleet over Guardsmen Corps for their term of service to the kingdom. If needed, Abrieth planned to claim he was going hunting with Regis and Regulus on Meridian 4. They would use the portals to meet Lilith, then fly to the southern hemisphere of Oceania.

Fleur strapped on a single sword on her hip and was about to put on her cloak, when Banth reminded. “Did you bring a dress for the meeting with the mayor’s council about the school?”

Fleur’s face twisted into a scowl as she answered, “Yes, I did. It’s prim and proper, and I promise not to wear my sword to the meeting.” She went to the door and swung it open. “Come, Fang. You don’t care what I wear, do you? You’re not intimidated by a woman who can use a sword, no, you’re not... ’cause you’re a good boy.”

Fishlover had been convinced to stay home, but he lurked in the window watching them go.

Yuli started laughing as Reith’s eyebrow shot up. Banth chuckled as they walked behind Fleur, then he elaborated, “Some of the town council, including Protector Corbin are a little intimidated by Lord Shadz’s favorite student, especially since your rescue, Rieth.”

′They should be,′ Reith tapped out, ‘She’s my heroine.’

As Yuli giggled, Fleur turned her face toward him, “Keep it up, woodsmith, and you can make your own soup.”

′Anything you wish, my lady.'

Banth and Yuli laughed out loud. Fleur stopped, with her hand on Fang’s shoulder, the canine stopped too. “Why do you have to take mischief lessons from Yuli?” Then she walked ahead. It was what she always said when Rieth called her “my lady”. She had repeatedly reminded him that she was no lady and never would be.

The sun was glowing on the horizon; the crisp air wasn’t cold enough to unpleasant with the exertion of walking through the forest. It would take them four hours to walk to Lumberton at a pace comfortable for Banth. As they arrived at the crossroads two hours later, Fleur patted Banth’s arm.

“I’m fine, Fleur. This old warhound can still be taken for a walk. ”

“I just don’t want you to get too tired.” She said as she tucked her hand in his arm.

Banth kissed her temple. “No, you just want me to get fat and lazy as you think an old man should be.”

“If I was serious about making you fat and lazy, I’d make Yuli hide your leg and bake you a cake every day,” she teased and Banth chuckled.

Rieth watched the exchange thoughtfully as he threw a stick for Fang to chase, thinking they were so like grandfather and granddaughter. Fang brought him back the stick, Yuli pointed and Fang ran in the direction before the stick was thrown. The lighthouse had been set to run automatically for the next three nights, but Fleur had fused worriedly over yesterday’s noon meal until Finn the Boarding House Keeper and Bolton the butcher promised her they would tend it if there were any problem. Yuli was twitching as they walked down the Midcoastal Road to the turn-off to Lumberton. As soon as the turn off came, he looked back to his mother.

“Fine, run to your cousin’s and leave your poor blind mom behind.” Fleur pretended her distress.

Yuli hugged her, “Thanks, Mom. Come on, Fang!” Then he was running ahead of them at full speed as Fleur and Banth laughed.

They hiked the switchbacks leading up the outside of the volcanic crater that held Lumberton. It reminded Rieth of the day he had hiked up the outside of the caldera that held the City of the Temples only days before he had been sucked into the Devourer’s Realm. His soul felt horrified and terribly sad at the same moment because he had failed to convince then-Fleur that he did truly love her. He did not know in those days that his father’s words overheard had already convinced her his love was a farce.

“Are you okay, Rieth? You feel so sad?” Now-Fleur’s gentle voice drew him back to the present. The weight of her hand made his arm and his heart feel warmer. Banth was eyeing him curiously.

Rieth tapped out on his sound amplifying box, ‘There was a place like this in the old kingdom. I climbed it to see my sealed one the last time before going far away. She was lost and I was not.’

Banth patted his shoulder, “We share your loss, Rieth. We did not know you then, but you are our friend now. In my generation, we had a saying, we are grateful for the time we are given.”

“We are grateful for the time we are given,” Fleur repeated as they crested the ridge to look down on Lumberton.

They stood admiring the view while Fleur tipped her face to the sun. The air at the high elevation was much cooler than it had been at sea-level. The town was packed against one end of the valley, with the forest spread out across the rest of the valley in huge plots of different kinds of trees. Two giant lumber mills sat prominently between the town and the forest. He had been told there had once been lumber mills outside the valley, and all over the islands but a few had survived the ban on exporting until the TechCorps finished studying the exotic colored trees and the sustainability of them as a resource. Rieth wondered if the valley looked like one of Fleur’s quilts in the autumn.

′Are there inter-system comms in Lumberton, I would like to message my brother?′

“Oh, yes,” Fleur assured him. “Lumberton has all the conveniences. That is why they are putting the school here and not in Westfalls. And even though Westfalls is bigger during the warm months, and is older than Lumberton. Lumberton also has the island government seat, more year around residents and more children.”

Rieth’s question echoed staccato against the rocks as they walked. ‘Who are we meeting first?’

“My cousin is meeting us at the Healer’s Clinic. Cassie isn’t there, but she left a package of medicine and eyedrops for me. Her assistant knows to give it to me.” Fleur explained. “Then Vee will take us to see the people who will decide if you get a shop or not.” Reith wondered who this cousin was and said a silent prayer that is was not someone he knew from the House of Valent's very large family.

Banth grunted as his prosthetic leg bore his weight downhill. “We will meet with the Mayor’s Assistant and the Crafters’ Committee to have a shop assigned to you. You will be expected to pass their tests, the first-year shop might not be in an ideal spot, but it is also a test. Don’t worry, Rieth, with your skills, you’ll have a shop on the main square soon.”

Banth lead them through the streets to the Healer’s Clinic, much to Fleur’s disappointment her cousin wasn’t there but Vee had left a note explaining that due to the early arrival of some lumbermen she was needed at the Slumbering Pines inn. Tucking her valuable medicine in her pack, Fleur walked slightly behind Banth as they traveled through the town. The streets were covered in frozen slush and the winter air held the smoke from woodfires in the valley. The Townhall was an obtrusive, hewn-stone building, very different from the painted milled lumber ones around it.

The Mayor’s assistant looked up at them in surprise. “Miss Fleur, the meeting for the school isn’t until tomorrow.” His eyes rested on the sword on her hip and her wardrobe, he frowned slightly.

Fleur nodded. “Oh, I know, Kenton. We brought the Master Woodsmith Rieth, son of Riles, for his inquisition.”

Banth choked back a laugh and interrupted, “Fleur means interview. He has his petition request here.”

Rieth handed over the paperwork, and the man looked at him in surprise. Kenton smiled brightly, and said in a smooth, almost flirty tone. “Well, you certainly aren’t what we expected. Come with me, Rieth, son of Riles. The Crafters’ Committee is waiting.”

Rieth went in and listened as the oldest woodsmith lectured him on how the wood of Arbor and Golden was the best kept secret in the Kingdom and that only the best of their craft deserved to work with it or have a shop on their isles. To Rieth, it sounded like the elitist attitudes the royals had held for the majority of his life. It was the thing he was most grateful that his nephew was fighting against and changing.

To become a new shopkeeper, Rieth was required to have sponsor letters from three Southern Star Archipelago residents, he had four. One from Healer Cassie, with images of her cabinets. One from the Soldiers Cove Butcher, Bolton; Reith had made him a new butcherblock counter in half the time he had been quoted and of better quality wood. It had made him the rival of two other woodsmiths but secured him a place in Soldiers Cove beyond being Fleur’s rescued traveler. Finn and Fleur had written the other two letters. Rieth also had images of the floor in the seaside Manor of Thanos, and a note of recommendation from Lord Trudolt. He was surprised to learn that the House of Thanos had once owned a mill just outside the ridge on the opposite side of the valley.

The Council gave him a novice set of tools and ordinary wood to work. Not being allowed to use his own tools was frustrating, especially when he had to repeatedly stop and sharpen two inferior quality chisels, but he still finished with a third of his time remaining. They offered him four locations to choose from and he picked the one closest to the future school. Kenton gave Rieth the keys and repeated several times that Rieth should call on him if he needed anything. Rieth showed Banth the address, the veteran led them back out into the crisp air.

The shop was across from a blacksmith and next to a ceramics maker. There would always be smoke in the air, but there would also be a lot of foot traffic for those taking a short cut around the main marketplace, which would be good for his business. Rieth had enough in savings that he could do commission work only or do nothing at all as he waited for Serapha to figure out how to heal Fleur. As they stood in the empty rooms, Fleur paced out the space and ran her fingertips along the walls to set the dimensions of the rooms in her mind.

Beyond the window, Rieth noticed the two guardsmen that had followed them from the Townhall passed by again. He knew Corbin was having him watched and he decided he would need to make his shop appear as functional as possible. If he did that, then Corbin couldn’t get his permit revoked. He also worried that Serapha wouldn’t be able to heal Fluer. If she couldn’t, then Rieth was willing to spend the rest of his life as a woodsmith.

Fleur’s happy voice interrupted Rieth’s musing. “You know we could go back to Soldiers Cove, get all your things and be back by dinner. You could unpack tomorrow and with all the knickknacks you’ve made while you were recovering, you’d have samples to put up in the front window.”

′It’s eighteen thousand-stones(meters),′ Rieth tapped, and Fleur smirked at him, then waved her hand dismissively. “Well, if you can’t keep up...”

Banth chuckled at them both.

Rieth raised an eyebrow, spending over a century with her before she went back meant he knew she was goading him. He folded his arms across his chest, and whispered, “Fine, we’ll see who gets there first.”

Banth shook his head at them, then informed Rieth. “She can make the run in an hour without getting winded, are you sure you are recovered enough?”

Rieth nodded as he bent to tighten his boots. When he was finished, he tapped on the floor. “Do you want to wait in the shop?”

Banth shook his head, “These old bones need a soft chair and warm fireplace, I’ll be at the Slumbering Pines... And Fleur, wait until you are over the ridge before you start running. The townfolk might find it odd that their future school mistress is running out of town wearing her son's pants and a sword.”

“You never let me have any fun.” Fleur stuck out her bottom lip in a fake pout that made Rieth wheeze a silent laugh.

Outside, Banth headed across the main marketplace while Fleur and Rieth headed the opposite way. It was only just after midday meal, so they got sandwiches from a shop and walked as they ate. Rieth just listened to Fleur as she talked about the history of Lumberton and the unique chemistry of the soil that not only made the trees grow in pretty colors but twice as fast while retaining the characteristics of hardwood lumber. He was amazed at how much she knew about it.

As they reached the top of the ridge, he caught her hand and drummed, ‘How do you know so much about it?’

She grinned. “My Aunt Meara was botanist. She spent four decades studying the Archipelago Wood. Planting different trees and medicinals in different soils just to see how each grew. I was her research assistant. This will be the second harvest for export... some of the older trees are ones she planted.” Then she looked sad for a moment. “I miss her so much. But not as much as Vole, I... I don’t know if he will ever love again.”

′So, she wasn’t really your aunt?′

“No, she was my cousin’s human wife and like a sister to me, but I didn’t even remember her until a longtime after I woke up. One morning I just knew who she was to me, even if I couldn’t remember the details.” She took a slow breath. “I know you are from the old kingdom and the idea of marrying someone not Aetherian is strange, but they truly loved each other. He told me after her death, he had loved her twice as much because he knew they had very little time.” A single tear tracked down her cheek as she sighed. “The humans live so few years compared to us, to choose to love one is a sacrifice. But then again, with the wars and all, sometimes we Aetherians only have a few years together. Yuriel and I were that way... It is why love is so important, we never know how little time we have.”

She looked down at where he was holding her hand. “I wish I remembered more, but the damage... Last thing I want is to have another episode. I promise that they aren’t all as terrifying as the one you witnessed.”

′Don’t try to remember, I would hate to have to carry you back. You’re so heavy.′ He teased in the staccato clicks of his wooden sound box, and she laughed.

Giving him a beautiful smile, she asked, “How fast can you run?”

′Fast enough if something is chasing me.′

She giggled, “Fine, I’ll chase you this one time only.”

Rieth had seen Fleur go running with Yuli, she had held her son’s shoulder but she wasn’t tall enough to do that with Rieth so he hooked her fingers in his belt. Tapping on his box, ‘Just like running with Yuli.’

Together, they ran down road and through the forest. It was an easy run and he made sure to lead her around the frozen puddles. It was just over an hour when they arrived back at Soldiers Cove. Fleur talked Bolton into taking them back in the motorized cart he used for meat deliveries. The vehicles weren’t common in the Isle, but it made moving Reith’s things a single trip. With the road in such poor shape because of the weather, it took almost as long to get to Lumberton as it had walking with Banth.

A few hours later, they unloaded all of Reith’s lumber, boxes of carvings and the household things the residents of Soldiers Cove had given him. Fleur insisted Bolton join them for dinner and stay the night at the Slumbering Pines with them. When they arrived at the Slumbering Pines, Rieth almost had a heart attack. A very familiar platinum blonde with periwinkle eyes tackled Fleur and they tumbled onto a divan.

“Fleur!”

“Vela!”

The former tech had spent years working with Fleur when she was the War Oracle Daisy and head of Aetheria’s Tech and Research Corps. The women laughed as Vela’s sealed one Nevin came out from the behind the desk to hug Bolton. Bolton introduced him to Rieth and Rieth played the part of stranger, praying his changed appearance would be enough to fool the former miner and seismic demolition expert. Vela hugged Rieth and declared any friend from Soldiers Cove was a friend of hers. He buried his relief that she did not recognize him for later, grateful Serapha’s potions and magic worked. They introduced him to their son Nicklin who was just a decade older than Yuli and their infant twin daughters, Neva and Vona. Through dinner they talked about the return of some of the Lumbermen from Olympia, and that Nevin would be returning to his job as exploration manager for the new undersea mining project offshore from Westfalls.

“He just wants out of diaper duty. He’d rather be on the bottom of the ocean breathing crab farts than change his babies’ diapers,” Vela complained as she gathered their plates from the large family style meal they had eaten in the common dining hall.

“Can you blame me? Honestly, I think you feed them things just to make it worse.” Nevin accused.

Reith did not miss the way Nevin kept glancing at him as he listened or wrote a comment Bolton read.

“He was useless with Nick and Yuli’s diapers too.” Fleur giggled.

As they chuckle a Xelusian lumberman Rieth knew from Olympia called out his name. “Reith, is that you?”

“Paulos.” Rieth whispered harshly. They embraced in greeting. “This is Paulos, son of Haulto. We were part of the Remnant together.”

“What is wrong with your voice?” Paulos demanded. The lean Xelusian forester stared at the scar on Rieth’s throat when he lifted his beard.

Bolton volunteered the explanation. “Rieth was traveling on the Midcoastal Road and brigands tried to get him. Fleur sewed his throat back together. He was lucky.”

Nevin eyed them suspiciously, “So, how did you meet?”

Paulos told of how Rieth had saved his younger brother’s life and three other lumbermen when they worked on Xelusia, only a year before the Blind Oracle had rescued them all. They had been working on Aetheria in the territory of Odini together before the Cataclysm and were lucky to part of the Remnant. Rieth had gotten him and his brother, Holtos, jobs on Olympia where Holtos had met his sealed one and settled. He said he had been excited to hear from Rieth’s brother about the new place to work, and had come early with several other lumbermen early to secure their employment. Nevin seemed to relax as the man’s story went on and Rieth hope it was enough to convince him.

It had grown late. Rieth excused himself, saying he had a long day tomorrow and invited Paulos to see his shop. The Xelusian lumberman agreed and followed as they headed out onto the street.

Paulos started to ask something but Rieth shook his head and gestured for him to remain silent.