Starblade - Completed

Chapter Sixteen - Tangled in a Web

Starblade Keep had been much changed in the year I had been absent. The walls had been rebuilt outside of the keep, flawless nightrock rising from the ground. The gate was manned by soldiers wearing armour of the same material, their pointed ears and the star-pommelled sword on their left breast marking them as my sworn men and women.

The doorway we marched out of was situated in the swirling, snowy air outside the curtain walls. As I led the line of half-breeds out of the magical portal and into being barely five metres from the gate, two of the guards rushed out from their posts, swords half-way out of their sheaths before I held up my hands and silver light streamed from the eight-pointed star on my forehead.

'I am your lord,' I shouted, staying their blades. 'Neuto Starblade. These are the other shamans. And these are reinforcements.' The men and women who had followed behind me were falling to their knees, coughing and retching drily onto the ground.

'Don't look like much,' one of the guards commented smugly. I grinned, noticing a sort of pride in his voice as he judged the newcomers.

'We'll see,' Ghengal growled. Barahil laughed at his comrade's anger.

'Let's have a look-see this keep of yours, then, Neuto,' Rory said, slinging a bare, tattooed arm around my shoulders. I noticed that he was shivering.

'Cold?' I asked him.

'No,' he replied indignantly. 'I'm freezing my manhood off! You hardy mountain folk better have some sort of fire in there to heat it up.'

'It's really cold,' Kizeera hissed, rubbing at her arms.

'You're too used to the warm southern air,' Jarlan grinned. 'We'll make a mountaineer of you yet!'

'My nipples could cut through steel,' Rory muttered, rubbing at his chest.

I laughed, but then remembered with shocking suddenness what awaited me inside, sobering.

'What is it?' Latari asked, nudging me with her elbow.

'My wife miscarried while I was away,' I replied. 'She has been miserable.'

'Quiet,' Latari snapped to the others. 'Act respectfully and be serious,' she told them. 'We do not want to seem boorish in this time of sorrow.'

The others became quiet swiftly, and as a few asked what had happened and the word was passed around, the warriors fell silent too. I was escorted to the keep's gate by two of the guards and as I heaved it open, I noticed a change in the great entrance hall too.

It was lit brightly, with jolly yellow flames where once there had been magical blue lights. There were a few men and women sitting at the tables, but they were talking quietly and keeping their gazes down and away from the high table. Company at that table was muted as well. Vilke, Coran, Freyr and Hara were sat there, with a little boy sitting between Vilke and Freyr. Rathar, Lara and my officers sat with them, with Wulla and Korrai sitting next to each other. No one talked.

'He's back!' I heard someone mutter loudly at the lower tables as the doors crashed back on their hinges.

'Welcome!' Rathar said, rising. I noticed that even his greeting was quieter than usual.

Wulla rose and pardoned herself quietly before walking from the high table and out of the hall, no doubt to our chamber. Korrai went to follow her but I waved at him to sit down, following her instead.

'Wulla!' I cried as she fled down the hallway. She did not seem to hear me. I broke into a run, catching her up easily. She hadn't sped up at all. I took hold of her arm and pulled her around to face me. Her arm was thin and wasted, her face gaunt. When my hand brushed against her side I could feel her ribs. Her robe was far too big for her, though I knew that she had fit into it once.