XLI. Beautiful is this Burden

“What the hell was that?”

Maleah brushed her hair from over her ear and paused to listen. Several deer bolted past as birds took flight from the trees, a distant boom like muted thunder preceding them. She looked down as Keres clung to her leg, and patted the child reassuringly on the head. The air was charged and claustrophobic, the sea of trees was disorienting, taking away any sense of direction by obscuring the sun with their canopy. Maleah turned around to see if anyone else in the clustered and totally disorganized column of troops had heard or seen what she had. Each man and woman seemed to be lost in their own worlds, or intently focused on the carpet of gnarled roots and mossy stones that threatened to trip them with every step.

“This wood gives me the creeps.” Zuri muttered as he cast a cautious eye to his Vardo. “Are they even sure they know where they’re going?”

Maleah shrugged and turned her attention back towards the direction of the sound and fleeing animals. While there was a road so to speak, it was narrow and poorly maintained, every so often they would be forced to stop and dig out the supply wagons or replace a busted wheel. However, if there was a road then there was sure to be a town or city at the end of it.

“It’s cold…” Keres said meekly.

Maleah held out her hand to take Keres’. “Let’s find you a blanket to wear then.”

Keres shook her head. “No, it's cold inside.” The little girl looked up at Maleah as she pointed to her own chest. “I feel it, it’s momma.”

Maleah shuddered, though she could not really tell why. She felt a sudden chill run down her spine and felt a primal fear that ate away at her consciousness, filling her with a desire to run.

“That wasn’t ominous at all.” Zuri quipped.

Maleah shook her head in an attempt to dislodge the fear and thoughts of dread. “Who exactly is your mother?”

“I’m not supposed to say, her-“

Maleah sighed. “Yeah, yeah, her name is power. Whatever the hell that means. What about your father?”

Keres looked up blankly to Maleah, her golden eyes wide and questioning. “I don’t have a father. My birth was the fulfillment of a contract.”

Zuri chewed on a small switch as he folded his hands atop his head. “Kid, you’ve got to have the most depressing backstory I’ve ever heard.”

For the first time, Maleah did not disagree with him. “What about the man that gave you your name? Who was he?”

“He was the one who made a contract with my mother, she had sex with the man and used his seed to create me.”

“What?” Maleah chuckled nervously. “Where did you pick this stuff up?”

Keres paused and cocked her head to the side. “Do you not know what sex is? I could explain it to you, though I’ve not engaged in the act myself yet.”

“I should fucking hope not!” Maleah shouted red-faced as she tightened her grip on the girl’s hand. “No more talk of sex or that wretched woman you call a mother. You’ll just stick with me from now on.”

Maleah felt the judging gaze of Zuri burning a hole in the side of her face, but kept her own eyes locked ahead. He would only say the same thing that he had said from the beginning, and she was not interested in rehashing that tired argument. Keres was now her ward, whatever that entailed, she could not simply abandon the child now. The same way the girl said she was drawn to Maleah, Maleah felt drawn to Keres.

“Your parents,” Zuri said carefully, “are they both sorcerers?”

Keres nodded. “Yes, the man even taught at Asketill.”

Maleah felt her throat tighten. “What do you know of Asketill? Is that where you come from?”

“No, I was born in Sorn, and Asketill is where the man taught magic.” Keres looked up inquiringly to Maleah. “Have you been to Asketill?”

Maleah looked down at the girl's wide, enigmatic eyes and slowly shook her head. “No.”

“What does the man look like?” Zuri asked. “What did he teach?”

“Why does it matter?” Maleah snapped with a manic fury in her eyes.

Zuri was taken aback by the suddenness and vehemence of her objection. “Am I not permitted to ask questions about the strange girl that randomly approached us in the middle of nowhere?”

“No.” Maleah retorted.

“He’s pretty.” Keres said. “With eyes like Zuri, Leila, and me. And long hair the same color as M’leah.”

“How old are you?” Maleah demanded with more than a hint of alarm in her voice.

Keres shrugged. “I forget, less than a year though.”

Maleah felt her breaths catch and her vision began to narrow. She shook her hand loose of the child’s grip and folded them across the top of her head as she tried to breath, as she tried to think. The black haired and golden eyed child at her side had more or less described Osric, but it was impossible for her brother to have a child this old. It was equally impossible for the girl to be less than a year old as she claimed.

“You’re a bit tall for a six-month old, aren’t you?” Zuri said with a condescending grin as he glanced over to see Maleah hyperventilating. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Maleah barely heard him over the roar of her beating heart, drumming away in her ears. Keres did have Osric’s cold eyes, and his thin nose, but she was too old. Unless he had a bastard running around without anyone’s knowledge, she could not be his daughter…

“Hey,” Zuri gently shook Maleah’s shoulder, “You alright?”

Maleah stopped and stared blankly at him for several moments before looking down to Keres. The girl was the epitome of innocence, weird, but innocent. Despite the hells she had lived through, she was an open and trusting child, one whom Maleah wanted to do everything in her power to protect. Maleah took a deep, ragged breath and dropped to her haunches, caressing Keres’ cheek with her hand.

“The man…did he…did he hurt you?”

Keres shook her head. “No, he was actually really nice. Mother wouldn’t let him meet me though, she said he was a sentimental idiot who would throw all of her hard work away over something as trivial as reproducing.”

Maleah laughed, though the girl’s words were anything but funny. “That... makes me happy.”

Keres cocked her head to the side. “Why?”

“That man, your father, I think…” Maleah wiped a tear from her eye, “I think he is my brother.”

“No fucking way…” Zuri mumbled in shocked awe.

“Oh.” Keres lowered her eyes and knitted her considerably long hair in her small fists. “Can I have a reward?”

Maleah smiled wanly, despite the painful twinge she felt in her heart. For whatever reason, Keres described any form of affection as a reward. Without hesitation, Maleah took her presumed niece in her arms and held her tightly. For a parent to utilize affection as a bargaining chip was unheard of, and deeply offensive, and something Maleah planned to correct.

* * *

The warmth of the palace greenhouses was welcome, as for the rest of Marquez, winter had yet to release the city from its icy grip. Ashe found a much-needed respite among the tropical gardens under the frost painted glass, able to shed her bulky cloak for an airy cotton tunic cinched at the waist, and baggy linen trousers; gold embroidery at the cuffs and hem of both, reminders of a home she’d never know again.

Aelfric babbled incoherently in his bassinet, sporadically kicking out his chubby legs or flailing his arms. Ashe leaned over and pulled a face for her son as he latched onto her extended finger. He had his father’s dark hair and blue-green eyes of a fey, with the ears and facial features of his mother. While he had not begun to crawl yet, he was an active baby, only six months from his first piercing ceremony.

“Didnae expect to find ye here.”

Ashe smiled as Órfhlaith approached from the flower gardens. Dressed in a cream colored stola, her hair done up in two immense tails, gold jewelry on every limb. She had a ragged look about her, with dark circles under her eyes that belied her cheery disposition. Ashe had not seen the woman since Queen Aislyn’s purge a few weeks back. With the mages gone, it was unlikely she was still traveling between the Vergas and the palace, yet she was doing something.

“I only recently discovered it.” Ashe shrugged as she gently rocked the bassinet. “An’ yerself? Didnae imagine ye tae be the flower smellin’ type.”

Órfhlaith plopped down on the grass beside her with a heavy sigh. “Everyone needs a break from time tae time.”

Órfhlaith had become the de-facto council leader of Rhode, or rather, what remained of her people. There was no real cohesion however, not that the previous council was not fraught with bureaucracy and petty politics, this new iteration had several key positions unfilled and had not properly met since its inception.

“How’s the wee one?”

Ashe pulled Aelfric from his bassinet with an exaggerated groan. “He’s sproutin’ like a chubby lil’ weed.”

Órfhlaith carefully took the child in her arms, the mask of fatigue lifting in an instant. “Who’s a lil’ butter bear?”

“Any word from the council?”

Órfhlaith rolled her eyes briefly as she cooed and nuzzled Aelfric. “What council? The farmers and laborers clans withdrew, and all the masons and artisans are on their way here to work for her Murderess Majesty.”

“The council dissolved?” Ashe shook her head. “They’ve always had their disagreements but—"

“The glue that bound us were the miner and warrior clans. The great warrior houses have all but gone extinct, and with nae mines, miner houses are disorganized.” She wiggled her wrists, overladen with gold bangles and bracelets, much to Aelfric’s delight. “Many are talking of striking oot tae find a good mountain in the south or east, and if they go, the smiths will follow. If the smiths go, the merchants go; because where there is ore and those tae work it, there’s commerce.”

Ashe laughed nervously as she brushed a curl from her face. “It cannae be as bad as that, can it?”

“Aye, it can.” Órfhlaith rocked Aelfric in her arms as she absently stared at a flowering bush. “Eefrit is all but abandoned, she was built on a fault, when Rhode blew, she popped too.”

“So where will oor people go? We cannae all expect to settle in Vergas.”

Órfhlaith subtly shrugged her shoulder. “They can go wherever they please. The farmers plan to stay put, and have vowed tae take nae part in any new councils.”

Ashe felt her chest tighten as she reflexively chewed upon her thumbnail. She knew her homeland lay in ruins, but there had always been the hope that the Children of Rhode would come together and rebuild. Her plan had been to live in Aes Sidhe with Aichlan, taking their children back to Rhode when he inevitably passed; now, her entire life seemed to be spiraling out of control. Their wealth of culture and history was on the verge of being lost for the ages.

Órfhlaith forced a smile upon noticing Ashe’s distraught expression, and placed a reassuring hand upon her shoulder. Ashe forced a wan smile in response as she clasped Órfhlaith’s bejeweled hand in her own, blinking back tears. The foundations upon which she had built her future and took for granted were steadily eroding at her feet. For now, however, she had her health, her son, and was surrounded by good friends. When Aichlan returned, the circle would be complete. Her family had died long before the fall of Rhode, but she had it within her to build a new one from the ashes.

“And where will ye be headin’ off tae, madam Gold-flute?”

Órfhlaith playfully swatted her on the shoulder. “Oh, stop it. As fer where, I’ve nae decided yet.”

“Ye should come to Aes Sidhe, Alice is set tae be Queen, I’m sure she’d be thrilled tae have ye.”

Órfhlaith recoiled and scrunched her face in disgust. “And play advisor tae a bunch o’ pasty foreigners? I think I’ll pass.” She sighed and stroked the sleepy-eyed infant's face. “Nae, if my people wish tae find a mountain tae carve out in the south then I shall lead them to the best bloody mountain here is.”

Ashe frowned, not entirely convinced. “But is that what ye want?”

Órfhlaith slowly shook her head and passed the child back to its mother. “It does nae matter what I want. I stopped living fer meself decades ago. I represent the people o’ Rhode, now an’ always.”