“Primrose!”

  “Mother!”

  Despite the fact that we’d only been apart for just shy of two weeks, seeing mother broke something inside of me. I’d never been this long away from home, and she hadn’t even been there to see me off. Not to mention the dread worry I’d been ignoring at her outright palace arrest.

  I let go of Bastian and took a step forwards - only to feel the drakin catch my wrist. I looked over my shoulder at the rueful look on Bastian’s face as he released me. Embarrassment dyed his pale cheeks, and it was obvious that he'd reacted on impulse.

  Behind me, my parents had reunited, father fussing over mother and looking for any sign of injury. Mother was annoyed but happy, telling him she was fine. This was my first time seeing them like this in years, and now I didn’t want to disturb them.

  Gone were my stern, polite parents, replaced with a desperate elf worried for his wife.

  Seeing the pair, I realized what I wanted to do, and grabbed Bastian's hand this time, surprising the man. He let me drag him along.

  “Mother,” I repeated, drawing my parent's attention. “May I introduce you to Bastian of Peldeep? My fiancé.”

  I said it with all certainty this time, and while my father didn’t hide a slight frown, mother took a good look at Bastian.

  “So I’ve heard.” She said, her eyes lingering on our linked hands.

  “It’s nice to meet-.” Bastian started, but mother cut off the drakin, raising her hand.

  Mother’s spell engulfed all of us in one of her skills, cloaking the sound of the room and those within it. Her mastery over the [Silence] Skill meant she didn’t have to say aloud the usual [Zone of Silence] chant, and simply activated the ability.

  After that, mother threw her arms around my shoulders in a hug. I wrapped my free arm around her and felt a brief moment of warmth and security.

  “I’m glad you’re safe.” She said, drawing back as quickly as she’d hugged me, looking me over. “And all in one piece.”

  “Love,” Father placed a hand on mother’s shoulder and glanced at the doorway behind her, “You really shouldn’t…”

  “I was promised an hour.” Countess Primrose lifted her chin firmly, “Which is more than I’ve had in weeks. They can live with it.”

  “They’ll question you.” Father pointed out.

  “They were already going to question me, Valin.” Mother turned on my father with her chin high. “No, I’m going to sit at this table and enjoy real food for a change, and talk to my family, and meet my new son-in-law, in the comfort of privacy - whether they like it or not.”

  Father hesitated but gave under her very firm resolve. “Alright.”

  “It is nice to meet you too, Bastian,” Mother suddenly replied to the drakin’s earlier greeting, and waved at the table. “Now sit down.”

  Bastian didn’t need to be told twice.

  “Tell me everything.” Mother ordered, and then started filling her plate with one of everything close at hand; Fiddlehead fern curled pesto pasta, brined unigoat cheese and baby green salad with dried bimbleberrys, and a grilled trisket mushroom miso glazed skewer. “I’ve been making dresses from sunup to sundown for so long I don’t remember what day it is.”

  I took a deep breath, “The crown prince waited until we were at sea to tell me that they were using me in a trade deal with Peldeep, and then handed me Bastian’s picture.”

  “Likewise,” Bastian added, “Their Highness Rowen let me know that Sumbria was requiring a marriage as a part of the contract, and asked if I was interested.”

  “We both decided to meet before arguing the matter,” I continued. “The trip there was mostly uneventful. Servalt is cursed by rain, I swear, but other than being dark and wet and miserable, it was fine. My royal escort was the worst part, but he stayed in the carraige for most of it. We arrived in North Sumbria, where we were beset by rebels–”

  “What!” Father shouted, standing abruptly. “You never mentioned that!”

  “It never came up, but I wasn’t trying to hide it.” I lied. I only mentioned it now because mother was here to calm father down.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  Surprisingly, Bastian broke in, his voice quiet, “Did they hurt you?”

  “No, no,” I shook my head, and decided that now would be a great time to grab a sliced markleberry while I was talking. The palm-sided berry was my favourite, and I added a drizzle of sweet cream on top. “Lish and I defended ourselves, and the prince, until they were defeated or run off.”

  Father sat back down and dropped his head into his hands, “This is why I didn’t want you leaving. What if something had happened to you?”

  “They were aiming for the crown prince, you know that,” I reminded my father. “I was fine—”

  “Not fine,” Bastian placed a hand on my arm, “You were skilled, armed, and lucky all in one. What happened next?”

  I took the olive branch and hurried to change the topic - even as the look in my father’s eyes let me know with absolute clarity that he wasn’t going to drop the topic and I was going to hear about this later.

  “After that, we arrived at the Coral Palace where I officially met the Knight Commander. Things went well, so we decided to sign the treaty - after Bastian negotiated with the Crown Prince to return here and meet you, I mean. Which is why we are here.” I stumbled a bit but managed to recount the two weeks as quickly as I could.

  Mother paused in the process of forking a markleberry onto her own plate. “Officially?”

  “We had previously crossed paths at an inn,” I hurried to add, “Where we walked past each other in a hallway and nothing more.”

  “I see.” For some reason her words made me blush, but honestly that was all there had been to our first meeting!

  “We should also let you know,” Bastian stated, “that I escorted Countess Peregrine to Duchess Callisto’s Afternoon Tea and to the Spring Ball. Where she was poisoned with [Waurg] by a group of kidnappers aiming for Princess Henrietta. The Dark Lord gave her an [Antidote] and then rushed off to save the princess.”

  “Bastian!” I didn’t even get a chance to eat a spoonful of markleberry before the drakin recounted the entire night. Thank the gods I'd told father the night before, or this would have gone much worse.

  Mother asked. “Who poisoned her?”

  “A Servalt merchant - we think. After some fresh air and rest, the countess was fine and we returned to the ball. It wasn’t until the following morning that we met to sign the treaty.” He explained, squeezing my arm gently. “We only have an hour, better to say everything now.”

  “Forty-eight minutes,” Mother stated, taking a bite of pasta. “And the knight commander is right.”

  Father sighed. “Tell me again why we can’t join the–”

  “Valin!” Mother reached out and patted my father’s shoulder, “not here.”

  Father nodded, “You’re right. Change from within, as we planned.”

  It was a very personal exchange, and revealing. “Is my getting married going to ruin your, uh, plan?”

  From the outside, it didn’t seem like my father had accomplished much change in office - but adapting laws was a long and arduous business, and he’d worked hard to gain what little ground he had.

  I wondered if joining the rebellion at this stage would be faster.

  “Yes.” Father answered my question.

  “Actually,” Mother eyed the two of us, “Maybe this is for the better.”

  “You can’t mean that,” Father retorted. “You would have our daughter move across Valaria and never see us again and say that’s for the better?”

  Bastian cut in there, “We will visit. Often. And you are always welcome to visit us.”

  His words softened a small ball of tension in my chest, making me all the more happy I was marrying him. Somehow, Bastian always said the one thing I needed to hear, even if I didn’t know it was what I needed to hear at that moment.

  “If Peregrine is safely across the continent, then we won’t have to worry about keeping her clear of trouble over here if things turn for the worse.” Mother lifted her fork and stabbed into her cheese. “Remember the Molten Ash Vane incident.”

  “Don’t remind me. I had to work overtime for a month hunting down the culprit - and report to Their Majesties when I failed to figure out where the poison came from.” Father grumbled.

  “Molten Ash Vane?” Bastian frowned.

  “Yes.” Father said, “The very same illegal poison banned across all Valaria. The gods know how they found some.”

  Bastian didn’t reply, merely contemplating my father’s words.

  “Sixteen minutes.” Mother said, adding a second serving of pasta onto her plate.

  “Are they really starving you?” I asked. Not that I would put it past them, mind, there just wasn’t much justification for the punishment. The duke hadn’t revealed my trip to the Glade, and mother was otherwise working like normal. Keeping her busy in the palace to hold her hostage against my father so he wouldn’t interfere in their treaty plans was one thing - and very like them - but withholding food was another.

  “No,” Mother said, assuaging my worries. “But there isn’t much time to eat between orders and I don’t remember the last time I had a hot meal. Oat cakes are nutritious, but they only go so far before I’m craving real food.”

  She finished her sentence and then took a happy bite of the pasta.

  “You aren’t making this easy,” Father’s hand balled into a fist on the table. “When did their majesties say you can return home?”

  “After the Golden Goose Hunt… probably.”

  “I’ll just have to remind myself that the rebellion attacked Peregrine. Which is another reason we should cancel this entire treaty” Father looked at me. “I can’t protect you if you aren’t at home.”

  We had come full circle, with my father still adamantly against my move to Peldeep.

  “Count Valin,” Bastian sat straight, and surprised me by saying. “The House of Fern is famous in Peldeep, and respected.”

  I was even more surprised to hear why.

  Silent Knight

  ~Andrew MacRobb

  Silent knight, unconscious knight,

  On the ground, lost the fight,

  Mighty backhand from a big broadsword,

  Wielded by a whitebelted lord,

  Sleep in heavenly peace,

  Sleep in heavenly peace.

  Silent knight, unconscious knight,

  Marshalls cry, "Hold the fight!"

  Chiurgeons bring the stretcher out,

  Wonder if he's fought his last bout,

  Look at that dent in his helm,

  Look at that dent in his helm.

  Silent knight, unconscious knight,

  Next time he won't call "light",

  Better to die than it is to lie,

  He'll just hit harder on his next try,

  Rhino-hiding don't pay,

  Rhino-hiding don't pay.