Notes:
Happy Chapter!
Chapter 18-Allies
An hour passed. For the first time in is life, Artham regretted how far Oak Hill was from the center of town and from the Keep. The discussion had died away as everyone waited for Chief Kandir to arrive. Artham realized that in his thoughts he had begun to refer to Chief Kandir as the Keeper. He knew he couldn’t say that out loud, (for respect to the current Keeper if nothing else) but he certainly wished that the kind man was Keeper instead of Myndik. At least the Keeper would be arriving the day after tomorrow.
Murmurs of conversation occasionally rose around the table, but mostly people just waited. Artham looked out the window. It was pretty late. He turned in his chair to tell Aro he could leave if he wanted, but stopped in amusement. Aro was leaning against the wall behind him and looked very much asleep.
“Aro,” Artham said, nudging the young man’s arm. Aro’s head whipped up, and he glanced around in what looked like panic for a second, but seemed to calm down when he met Artham’s eyes.
“You can fall asleep standing up?” Artham asked incredulously with an amused smile
“No?” Aro answered, still looking confused. “I think…I think maybe I was just about to nod off.”
“I wish I could fall asleep that fast,” Artham said with a wry smile. “You can go get some rest now if you want.” Aro shook his head.
“This is my job. I’m not going to leave until you leave,” he said with a stubbornness that made Artham smile.
“At least sit down,” he said. Aro agreed to that, at least, dragging his chair almost imperceptibly closer to Artham.
Artham glanced out the window again, sighing with relief when he saw the page jogging down the path, talking up a storm with the Keeper-no, Chief Kandir, next to him, and a small force of Durgans, maybe ten, following behind them. Esben had seen them too, and sat up straighter when he heard them knocking on the door, then speaking thanks to the gatekeeper and receiving direction to the temporary council room, also known as the dining room.
Artham and Esben stood up, making their way to the door as Chief Kandir came in. The Chief bowed, and Esben told him to rise almost before he had bowed completely. Kandir looked at them both seriously, and Artham saw real concern in his eyes. He felt a tiny bit better, knowing that the temporary Keeper of the Hollows was on their side.
“I’m terribly, terribly sorry that this occurred,” he said to the brothers. “This is free Hollish soil, and such a thing will not be tolerated. On my word, I will do everything I can to see that our country protects you, and that we will do everything to find these assailants. You are not alone, Your Majesty, Throne Warden. The Warriors of the Hollows stand beside you.”
*
By the time the emergency council was settled somewhat satisfactorily, it was past midnight. Artham and Esben went back to their wing of the house, and after Artham had assured him that he wasn’t needed any more, Aro stumbled blearily off toward his small room. Artham did not sleep that night, or the next night either, for that matter. He tried, of course, and succeeded in dropping off for maybe an hour before a noise in the house woke him up, heart racing. Despite the fact that a troop of Chief Kandir’s most trusted Durgans were patrolling the grounds, prowling around with such complete silence in the inky darkness that Artham barely knew they were there, and the fact that Esben’s window had been padlocked and boarded over (Artham had been the one to insist on that of course), Artham couldn't rest. He made his way out of his room to see a light on under Esben’s door. He knocked softly.
“Come in,” he heard from inside. He opened the door and looked in.
“Hey, Es. Couldn’t sleep?” He asked. Esben shrugged.
“Eh. I was just restless, so I was preparing a statement for tomorrow’s meeting with the chiefs. You?” Artham came into the room all the way and went over to his brother’s desk.
“Pretty much the same,” he said. “Want me to stay in here with you? I need to write the letter to the Annieran council to send in the morning.”
“That would be nice,” Esben said with a smile. “But I am going to try sleeping after this. You should too,” he said sternly, but then he laughed a little.
“What?” Artham asked with a smile.
“You’re the only person I know who hates sleeping.”
“That is not true,” Artham protested. “I do not hate sleeping, I just find other things more necessary in a time of crisis.”
“Well, let's get to work,” Esben said, leaning over his desk again, handing Artham a few sheets of paper, but then snatched one quickly out of his hands, stuffing it into his desk.
“Sorry…I had a drawing on that one,” he said, not meeting his brother’s eyes. Artham raised his eyebrows but said nothing, accepting the pen Esben offered him and sitting down.
*
Despite the fact that Artham usually didn’t drink bean brew, at the next part of the conference two days later, he finished drinking his third cup that morning, feeling at least somewhat better for the energy boost it gave him. That added up to…eight cups in the last two days. Eight cups of bean brew and approximately six hours of sleep, if it could be called that. He had sent the letter to Anniera first thing in the morning the day before, and considering it was labeled emergency mail and the Annieran postal system was excellent, they were expecting the answer that day.
If sending off the letter could be considered a success, the council meetings of the last two days definitely could not. The morning after someone had gotten into Esben’s room, they had told the Chiefs and other dignitaries of the emergency the night before, and the incident on the bridge in Anniera that seemed to have led up to it. To put it simply, it had been a crazy morning. Thus that discussion had lasted at least half the day. The other half, including all of today, had been spent in increasing stress as everyone tried to stretch out the incredibly small amount of decisions that could be made before the Keeper returned.
So by the time they had a break from the conference halfway through that morning, Artham found himself almost falling asleep standing up.
Just like Aro, he thought with a smirk. I need more bean brew. He walked out of the Keep and looked out at the bustling town in front of him, looking up at the sky when he felt a blast of cold wind. The dark clouds in the far off distance looked like they would bring snow. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the attendants run up to Esben, standing straight and talking like she was giving a report. Artham couldn’t make out the words, but then Esben walked quickly over to him.
“Hey Arth! One of the watchmen at the Watercraw saw an Annieran ship approaching. The council meeting’s about to start, so can you go meet them? You don’t need to stick around. We’re just going to do more beating around the bush and getting nothing done.” Artham smiled a little, but shook his head adamantly.
“Absolutely not. I’m staying here with you.” Esben sighed, rolling his eyes.
“Artham please! I’m in the Keep, surrounded by Chiefs, Durgans, and some of our own Annieran Countrymen. I can’t imagine being safer.”
“I don’t think so. I need to be there.”
“Go. Artham, just go. Okay? I command you as King. Has it ever occurred to you that-” Esben broke off. “Never mind.”
“What is it, Es?” Artham asked.
“I don’t really need you to be hovering over my shoulder every single second,” Esben answered with a smile that managed to make it seem like a joke. Artham nodded.
“It has occurred to me,” he said quietly. “I’ll go, but if I come back and find out something happened, I am quite literally never going to let you out of my sight again,” Artham threatened. Esben rolled his eyes.
“Well, I certainly don’t want that. But you’ll only be gone for a short time. And I’ll be safe.” Artham nodded to his brother and left the Keep, adjusting the satchel over his shoulder, whistling for Connolin. Somehow Aro must have seen him leaving, because he came over to the gate.
“Um…where are you going?” He finally said, only managing to say it by the time Artham was already almost outside of the Keep’s grounds. Artham turned around.
“I’m headed to the docks. The Annieran ship is on its way.” Aro nodded slowly and glanced around.
“Do you want to come?” Artham asked with a smile.
“Yes!” Aro cleared his throat as if embarrassed he had answered with so much excitement. “Uh, yes sir, if that’s okay.” Artham gestured for Aro to come with him and walked out the gate, scratching Connolin behind the ears, his cold fingers getting a little warmer in Connolin’s thick fur. He felt a little relieved. Every other time something had gone wrong, he had felt warned. Now, it seemed that the Maker was whispering to him in the wind, Trust Me. Have peace.
Aro caught up to him, and a few minutes later Artham realized that Aro was imitating his walk, but clearly trying to be subtle about it. Then Aro looked down at himself, his face turned away from Artham, but Artham thought he caught a glimpse of Aro’s frustrated, conflicted eyes. Then Aro returned to walking normally.
“How old are you?” Artham asked, realizing that the boy came a little higher than his shoulder.
“Just turned fifteen, sir,” Aro answered, trying to sound nonchalant.
The walk to the dock was very enjoyable. Artham talked with Aro a little bit, finding out more about him and finally convincing the boy to call him Artham, not sir or Your Highness. But most of the time they just walked in silence. Artham felt a little bit of his anxiousness melt away as soon as he could smell the sea.
They reached the dock quickly, just in time to see the Annieran ship finish sailing through the Watercraw, and the huge chain begin clanking it’s way up again. Artham waited, his shoulders straight and a hand on his sword, not because he felt danger, but because that was the expected attitude for a Throne Warden. He heard something crash among the stalls on the shore and looked away just as the dock was being lowered.
Next thing he knew, he was enveloped in a stampede of shouts and greetings and handshakes and punches. The craziness subsided, and Artham looked at the faces with a surprised grin. Connolin was still barking wildly at the people, his tail wagging up a storm.
“Y-you guys came!? How-why-I mean, what are you doing here?” He asked the four young men in front of him, the ones who had proven themselves to be his best friends again by coming to the Hollows.
“We couldn’t let you fight off the bad guys without us, Artham!” Drustan exclaimed, slapping Artham on the shoulder. Artham winced, grateful that his stitches were out, otherwise Dru probably would have just popped a few.
“What’s been going on? There was a huge commotion one day and then ya were gone,” Ioreth, one of the young men asked him.
“The letter said that, Io,” Aspen, the third of the four said, shoving his friend as he stepped forward for his friend’s attention. Artham grinned, feeling his spirits lifted to be in the company of his best friends.
“So…my question? Why did you all come out here?”
“We heard you were in trouble, so we came,” the fourth young man, Josif, said. “Dru had it easy because as the Captain of the Guard his dad came to help, but the Wasp here had almost decided to run away, but we convinced his father to actually give him permission to come,” Josif said, using the nickname that greatly annoyed Aspen. Artham laughed.
“You would have been one faithful friend less,” Aspen said, striking a dramatic pose.
“Like I said, we can’t let you fight off the bad guys without us!” Dru repeated.
“Wow,” Artham said, feeling a huge amount of his anxiety fly away because of the presence of his friends. Other people, a large number of them soldiers, began leaving the boat, but Josif spoke again in a serious tone.
“You’ve always stood by us, and now’s our chance to stand with you.”
Notes:
😁😁😁 Okay I just had to add those guys because Artham’s band of ‘mighty men’ were mentioned int he books! These guys might not cut it yet, but they will. Maybe not in this fanfic, but by now they’ve established that they are loyal.
Hope ya’ll enjoyed.
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