Blood of Quartz

Chapter 17

"That's your cousin, then," Niall asked, nodding in her direction as Erik waved. "By the Gods, friend, she's—"

"Niall..." Erik replied peevishly and furrowed his brow at his friend.

Why that irritated him he didn't quite understand. All of the happenings today had put him on edge. He was eager to be off home, and the Duke promising that he and his father could ride for River Bend made him twitch with impatience. It remained to be seen if that would actually happen, but he hoped they could. It would be the best outcome of five long years if his father could be home, even if just for a moment.

His mother missed her mate, and now that he knew more about their history, the pieces of the puzzle fit more. To be separated from someone you love, he was beginning to understand how much that could physically hurt. He'd never been in love, really, but he was missing home, and family, and that had to be similar. Right?

As he flexed his palm around the smooth quartz on his sword pommel, the hum travelled up his arm, and he let it do its work to ease the tension those thoughts had wound up in him. It was a whispering softness, almost a warmth that would immediately calm the racing worries that had found him upon arriving at Berrigan Keep.

The strangeness of the rock was still a mystery to him. Magic and the old tales, otherworldly forces were a funny concept to him. He had faith in what he could see, taste, touch. A higher power? His father had never been overly religious, neither had his mother. They never talked much about the Gods, despite going with the village elders to worship whichever being was responsible for a good harvest or a replenishing rain. Rituals of bound sheaths of wheat buried in the field come spring, an offering of cider in the fall near the orchard, little bundles of sage in the crooks of the stone wall near the entrance to the pasture near the peak of summer. It was all a belief system he never quite understood, but accepted since it was not uncomfortable. He just simply didn't believe in it himself.

But the fact that he had accepted the odd sensation of the quartz in his body, and sought it out to calm his nerves in the past days was causing him to question things he didn't feel ready to.

"Erik..." Niall intoned, breaking him from his thoughts. "Don't get defensive. Not like you have a claim, right?"

Erik let out a barking laugh and shook his head. No indeed he did not. "Of course not. Just—" He stopped. The tension through his stomach which accompanied that statement was odd.

"Just what?" Wooler said, leaning in towards Niall. "I saw how you looked up at her, Erik. Odd way to look at a cousin. How is she related to you, again?"

Erik sighed, hung his head and let the laughter wash over him. Teasing was good for cutting the tension, he supposed. He eyed Wooler, who winked at him.

"My mother and her mother are half sisters, and are both half sisters to the current Earl. All are children of the late earl. So that makes Abigail a half-cousin, I believe, her mother my half-aunt. I think... it is confusing."

Wooler's eyebrows shot up his forehead into his hair and he grunted in surprise. "So your mother was a noble? Now there's a story."

Niall straightened and nodded towards the entourage headed their way before Erik could answer.

"Look sharp."

Erik straightened as the Duke, followed closely by Samual, Commander Harrt, and his father behind with the remaining Kingsmen currently on foot, made their way down the line. The Duke was trudging along slowly, puffing from the effort of moving along the uneven ground, and Samual stopped often to talk to some of the men on the front line as he caught up. The men would bob their heads, say a few words. He caught odd snippets, saying where they were from, their names.