A Price Paid Ch. 03

Note: The next two chapters are story chapters with no sex.

*****

Deres Valtise walked the halls of the queen's castle pondering the long, meandering, and wondrous path that brought him to this point. Beginning life as an orphan and beggar child in one of the poorest parts of the city, it seemed to him even then that his life was set. He would live hand-to-mouth through begging and petty theft until he was large enough and old enough for serious manual labor, probably in moving cargo at the docks or something else that didn't require much in the way of education that he never would have gotten a chance to have anyway. He would marry someone of much the same station, they'd have children and, if he were lucky, they'd have enough to get by and, if truly fortunate, perhaps one of his children would have the chance at something a little better.

That was one desire that all parents shared regardless of status, but, for people that lived the way his life began, it was something that they prayed to the Goddess to nightly. Even then, the gifts and fortunes of high nobility would be beyond them, unless they were comely enough to catch the eye of a noble so enamored of them that they might bring them up from that. Such a thing was rare however, with nobles generally content to keep them a secret, no matter how enamored they were, because one's social standing had to be maintained and a noble openly wedding a lesser was a mark against that social standing that could linger for a generation or two, at least.

Even as a child praying to the Goddess for better while huddled in a dark corner for the night, he never could have imagined how, if She existed at all, She favored him with a gift out of a dream. One day, he attempted and failed at an act of petty larceny against not just a woman, but a Magister of Adar, one of the greater mages from what was thought to be a mythical city where it was said some of the last practitioners of all magic could be after they fled for their lives into the wastes beyond, where people were never meant to live. With their understanding of magic, science, and how they could combine, along with the incentive that came with knowing they would have to adapt or they would die, they built a city that was a monument to that combination, capable of wonders in both fields that the rest of the world could scarcely contemplate.

Seeing in that young boy his need for a life that wasn't all but bereft of hope and, in herself, the opportunity for a life with a family that she never seemed to have time for until that moment brought its absence to the fore, she took him to that fabled city and raised him as her own.

There, he absorbed everything his mother, the others there, and the world they had built had to teach. After his formative years and then some, the call of the larger world and the home he once knew was too much to ignore, so he took his leave with a heavy heart and anticipation in equal measure and returned to Erette. Not long after having done so, however, not only did his life take an irrevocable turn, so did the lives of two others.

He saw Neral Jaye, commander of the combined forces of Erette shadowed by another wandering the upper markets with Bryana Lia as her shadow, using her own mage skills to remain unnoticed. Lia, a mage of this world, had been hired by a rival of House Jaye to use that magic to corrupt Neral into murdering her lifelong friend and queen. With the queen gone and House Jaye sullied beyond redemption for its responsibility for the act, the rival house would have vastly expanded its power and influence and may have even found a path to the throne.

Curiosity would have led him to learn more about what was going on and his sense of right and wrong would have led him to help, but, Neral took his heart at the first sight of her. He had never seen quite that combination of strength and beauty in one form before, tall and powerful, but she carried it easily and without losing a bit of femininity. Those liquid brown eyes were something he could lose himself within forever, so that was what drew him to her and offer his aid.

But, even though he was a captured soul, he saw an opportunity to secure his future. He offered his help to Neral in return for her hand in marriage. Initially aghast at the arrangement in the face of the threat to queen and kingdom, she saw the practicality of it from his perspective. She would die for her queen without a second thought, so to marry a man who was in a position to help was nothing when it came to a price to pay. And, to make that price easier to pay, she chose a spell of love that he offered.

Capturing Bryana took a feat of magic and turning her away from the plot and away from the person that she was that could embrace it took a feat of magic and science. The plot foiled, Bryana had remained, at first because the magic required her to make amends to the one she had most wronged, but later, because the lives of the three of them had entwined in adventure, life lived, and genuine love and affection. No matter who else came into their lives or how, the three remained as one. Add the bright star of his life that was young Khylen, and his life was just the right side of perfect.

Now, back to the place of his humble beginnings, he was in a place that, in its own way was just as incredible as a life in a city of myth. A boy who once tried to sleep as much as possible during particularly lean days so that he might not feel the pangs of hunger quite so much could now come and go from the royal castle and the queen's presence as he pleased, knowing he had earned her trust and affection in his own right. The boy he was would have never believed the journey and there were times, like now, that he had to take stock of it himself.

Today was a day that found him working with the military healers, mentoring where need be and sharing his knowledge of the arts, though he had to be careful to hide the full extent of his abilities even in the sanctioned healing magics, sharing only small steps along the lines that were already being studied so as not to risk exposing himself to the wider world and he didn't want to suggest avenues, even in the healing magics, that the greater world might not be ready for, and might be willing to do almost anything to possess.

Neral wanted detailed progress reports on such things with regularity because it simply wouldn't do for her not to know exactly what the troops under her command were capable of before she set them to something or something came to them. He carried with him such a report as he wound his way through the stone corridors and past the personnel who worked there with him.

Turning left into the more expansive area that was the anteroom to General Jaye's primary office to find Nelina Jaye looking through the worn pages of a book that presumably came from the stack of them on her desk. The two looked similar in that they were both slightly shorter than average and powerfully built, but there was still a young woman there. She rarely bothered with makeup while on duty and didn't indulge in it overmuch off duty, save for court ceremonies where a woman was required to "display her wiles," as many said, though Nelina's appraisal was, "look like a whore."

Occasionally, it was fun to look that way, she simply objected to the requirement.

Her fine brown hair was reasonably short, stopping just below her collar and longer bangs helped frame her face. She maintained herself in full uniform, as her day often entailed going back and forth from the castle, to the city, to the training grounds for this errand and that and her rank insignia, coupled with that of her House tended to speed things along. That and, simply, she was an officer in the military, as proud of her service as Neral was.

She glanced up at the sound of footfalls and gave him a welcoming nod. "Deres."

He smirked. "Uncle Deres."

Her green eyes betrayed nothing. "You know that familiarity is inappropriate here, yet you feel you must."

"Because I feel I must. Testing you on occasion amuses me. Is she in?"

"She is," Nelina answered. "She is awaiting your input and that of several others before a status meeting this afternoon."

He craned his neck and tilted his head to examine the spines of the ledgers that populated her desk, "Is that what you're doing now?"

"It is."

He watched her pen move across the paper furiously. "I have always admired your work ethic."

She didn't even look up, "And I yours, though it hardly surprises me. We are Jayes. There is no room for sloth in our House."

A wondrous path indeed. It wasn't an 'Uncle Deres,' but he decided he would take it. The House Jaye was always forward thinking and, while Neral's sisters had interrogated him thoroughly when he came into their lives, he had passed, and Neral loved him, so his acceptance was swift. For their children it was swifter still as all children tended to push boundaries and create new norms. They never cared where he came from, only that he honored his family and their House.

He walked to the door and knocked sharply.

"Enter."

The heavy wooden door opened inward with the slightest squeak and he saw Neral and smiled, not just because he loved her so, but because he found her, head down, and pen moving over paper in a flurry of movement. Jayes indeed. He closed the door behind him and waited patiently. "Good morning, Deres," she said pleasantly, also without bothering to look up from her writing.

"Good morning, Neral. I note your niece is doing basically the same thing, so either you are both busy or you are at least trying to look busy."

"Nelina is doing her job, as am I. I am simply trying to progress through this task as quickly as possible because I find it so boring as to be drain on my spirit."

He felt a bit badly, his dark blue eyes conveying sympathy, "I'm sorry to hear that, my love."

"You have done all you can do," she said, resigned to the fact that this day would mostly be one of paperwork and meetings. There probably wouldn't even be time to observe training as she often did, not and get home to have a proper dinner with her family. She still failed at that more often than she wanted to, but she was getting better at managing all the demands on her time. "You have provided me a distraction."

With that, she looked up and reached for his papers. He saw those brown eyes meet his, and his heart skipped a beat but he managed not to smile. She took them and skimmed for names and the bits of information she sought. "Master Healer Vorik disagrees with you."

The shoulders of Deres's powerful frame shrugged, "He does so often, but he at least does it amiably, so I sort of find the arguments entertaining." His brow furrowed, "Don't tell him that though, you'll only encourage him."

"Perish the thought," she said, thinking actually that it might be a bit of fun torture of her husband to let that slip casually. "At any rate, he believes Peri is better suited to being taught the battlefield surgical specialties than Denin, and there is only room for one left in this year's class."

"He would be wrong," Deres said, his convictions firm. "Denin is the choice."

Neral countered. "Peri's knowledge base is deeper to begin with. She comes from a family of healers while Denin, what he does know, was self taught."

"And Peri is gifted, and, while the surgical arts, I am certain will be open to her someday if she applies herself, Denin's concentration is much better now. When it comes to a knowledge base for surgery coupled with concentration, on a scale of one to ten, I would take a four that can concentrate so as to shut out the world over a seven that is easily distracted. Technique is easy to teach. The ability to put yourself in a place where you can properly use it is not."

She nodded slowly, "That...seems logical to me. She looked up at him again, this time in leadership mode, "but I am not inclined to overrule my master healer based solely on one person's recommendation...even if I respect his opinion and like him quite a bit."

"And you don't need to. After an energetic, amiable argument, Vorik has agreed to put them to an additional concentration test and make the decision based on that. It's based on methods and tests I took when I was learning."

"As long as the decision is made in two weeks, I defer to my healers who are in a better position to know than I." She opted to tease, as she was enjoying her break, "Did you tell him where you learned your little test?"

"From one of the many traveling healers I learned from, of course," he said with a wink. "I just dropped the idea. Some changes had to be made because it normally uses technology you do not have." He picked up on her tone and took it as permission to flirt just a bit. "There's another problem that has come up though," he said seriously.

She tensed, preparing herself to deal with it. "Oh?"

He drew closer to her, "You only like me?"

She rose and mirrored the action, now close enough to put them nearly nose-to-nose, her ponytail swishing slightly as she moved. "I did say, 'a lot.' Besides, it's good to like the person you are spending your life with, is it not?

"You are wise, dearest."

"I am," she said, walking around the table to face him. "As are you. Yet another thing we have in common." She embraced him and felt his powerful arms come around her in return. "I meant to note earlier that you seem to have had a wonderful night last night with Cassea."

It amused him to remain circumspect. "Based on what?"

"Oh, the fact that it's always a little difficult for her to maintain her usual witty venom and disdain for others after her master has thoroughly used her. She knows that I know and it shames her a bit."

"In ways that she enjoys as much as she disdains."

Neral was thoughtful. "I can at least understand. To know that feeling of being owned, to want it even though it challenges the person you believed you were can be difficult. Another that knows it looking you in the eye, I suppose, can be bothersome, particularly if that someone is your owner's wife."

"That's true," he agreed, "but, you have to admit that you have a bit of fun seeing her squirm."

She sighed, caressing his cheek, "That's true. And she likes to squirm, so I let it be."

"How was your night with Tessa?"

A blush filled her cheeks. "Wonderful, as is usual. She is an extraordinary woman, and I continue to be fond of her."

"Continuing the long history of ties between House Jaye and House Jovis?"

This time her hand returned to his cheek in a playful slap. "My mother could tell you stories of how the ties between our Houses have deepened over generations. She takes pride in knowing our history, even the pieces that every House has, but are never discussed with tea and polite company."

That very much appealed. "I think I need to brush up on Jaye family history with your mother over tea."

Neral laughed. It was a boisterous, pleasant sound that complimented a fresh blush in her cheeks. "So you admit to being impolite company?"

"Occasionally," he admitted with humor. "It comes from my lowbrow beginnings, I guess."

The general seemed resigned to things. "I love you anyway." Before he could respond, she kissed him deeply, so what was on the tip of his tongue was forgotten when it met hers. Instead, he tightened his embrace of her and savored the moment. He never forgot to do that, lest he begin to be unworthy of his good fortune. He had hoped to stay lost in the moment, but three hard knocks on the door took him from it.

They exchanged looks. Hers was one of Sigh. Duty calls, while his was one of understanding. "Enter," she said crisply as they parted from one another.

Nelina entered and Neral immediately tensed. Enough was conveyed by Nelina's rigid posture, at attention and awaiting orders even as she moved and spoke, and the concern in her young eyes to tell Neral that, whatever it was, it was as serious as could be.

She ignored Deres to meet Neral's eyes. "There are reports of riots in the lower markets."

Neral blinked. Of all the things she had anticipated, riots, in the southern quarter was not one of them. There had been occasional demonstrations in her tenure, but few of those required more than monitoring by the constabulary, and even those had been rare during Queen Evaline's reign because they recognized her as a reformer and she had made their lives better through those reforms. Unlike her father, and certainly unlike previous rulers before them, she saw them as people with less, not lesser people. "Riots?"

Nelina nodded sharply. "Witnesses state that the commerce area nearest the docks in engulfed in flames and rioters are spreading outward from that point. The constabulary is asking for assistance, as they have been caught completely off guard by it at all, much less the ferocity. Chief Constable Lasar is giving it a wide berth, setting up blockades at the major cross streets and fortifying the natural barriers of the city to attempt to keep it from spreading beyond the mercantile section and to protect the docks." She looked down to the paper given to her so that she didn't misquote the quote. "It's like they got bored and decided to go insane."

While Neral drilled her troops for such operations as her predecessors had in the past because not so much time had passed from the last ones that they had faded from collective memory, she had honestly thought she'd never have to employ them. She had added her own ideas to them and drilled for those with the city constables, too, but she had played with the idea that they would be but notes left for the ones that followed her, or, ideally, footnotes in some history book that would sort of mock the time in the dark past that people were once so oppressed they felt the need to burn their city to the ground in order to have their pleas noticed.

She dismissed the thoughts. There would be time for introspection later. Action was required now, Lasar would have had to call up his reserves already to have had a chance of protecting the docks and stave off any rushes onward and upward. She started walking through the corridor, aiming for the stables. "Have Major Vix meet me with riot companies one and two at Kavin Park. I want a good look at what we're facing before I decide precisely how to proceed. Colonel Dion is to remain in command here in the event that the military is the target or becomes one."

"Yes, General." Nelina burned the words into her mind.

Now, apparently, was time for her to see if her own ideas had practical merit or if she had no choice but to, as her predecessor so delicately phrased it, 'Knock idiot skulls together until they've had enough.' And even he had a kinder perspective than some of those that had come before him. Even he kept to the notion that these were fellow citizens, while others in his position had thought them traitors and treated them that way more often than not.

"Inform Elan that she and her archers are to prepare for riot response as we've discussed; Healer Vorik as well."

"Yes, General. After I do so I'll prepare to accompany you."

"You will not," she said, gently but firmly, stopping there and looking at her wondering, dejected expression. "After you have carried out your orders you will report to the queen and do anything that might be required by her or Captain Tanik."

"General..."

"A Jaye has been the king or queen's side at times like this, whether it be as one in my position, member of the White Guard, or simply as a loyal sword arm at their side for as far back as either of our families can remember." She placed her hand firmly on her niece's shoulder. "I will not break that tradition now, so I send the queen a Jaye that can and will protect her as well as anyone."