The Book of Terrus: A Land of Sunlight

Chapter 29 - Blood and Gold

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Tarun barely recognized the face staring back at him from the mirror. That may in part have been due to never having seen his reflection in its entirely before. The largest mirror in Trosk was no bigger than a book cover; the mountainfolk had little use for something so delicate and tasked toward vanity. The Weeping Keep had many mirrors though, and it was before one that Tarun stood now, preparing to attend the wedding ceremony of Rhadu A'Khet and Ellorae Amenthis.

When at first Lord Rhadu had tried to offer Tarun (and Tarun alone) an apartment in The Weeping Keep, Tarun had felt obliged to refuse. Despite having won the Hilmarhlǫkk, he was still less than warmly regarded by many of the men of Trosk. To accept a room in the keep – markedly positioning himself as separate and above the other mountainfolk – would have only further damaged his still-fragile standing as chieftain.

Still, rooming in the boarding house with the soldiers of the Queen's First Company did pose its own challenges. For one thing, with barely ten luns between them and far from home, the mountainfolk were scarcely in a position to outfit themselves and their new chieftain befitting a royal wedding. Rhadu, thankfully, seemed to perceive Tarun's delicate position from his refusal. The eimir of Clan A'Khet promptly followed up with an even more generous offer.

"But of course, I forget myself! Did Princess Ellorae not say that you, as Chieftain of the Mountainfolk, were to be accorded status equal to any eimir of the seven clans? In which case, it is only appropriate that you be granted the use of an entire wing of the keep throughout your stay. I'm afraid that most visiting eimirs only bring a retinue of fifty or so when they come to Derbesh, so you may find it somewhat crowded. However, the choice is yours if you wish to house all of your folk close by."

'Equal to any eimir' had clearly been a tiny bit of a stretch; the 'entire wing' which Rhadu referred to was actually a long hallway on the lowest level of The Weeping Keep. Although the windows faced eastward toward the sea, they were positioned far enough down the cliff face as to be directly below the waterfalls which gave the keep its name. The mighty Anders River, funneled through the city and beneath the palace, burst free in a never-ending torrent of roaring white water which constantly rang in everyone's ears on its way down to the Beson Inlet.

Despite the lack of view and incessant background noise, the rooms lent to Tarun and the mountainfolk were actually quite comfortable. That being said, their standards were not particularly high, considering their having known only the humble cottages of Trosk or military barracks up until this point. Still, there were rich carpets on the floors and intricately carved wood panels on the walls, as well as any food or drink which they might think to request from The Weeping Keep's kitchens. Even though fifteen rooms altogether made housing over two hundred men something of a tight fit, there were more than enough cushions to go around. If anything were likely to keep them from resting properly, it would be the endless din of the waterfalls. All-in-all, the men of Trosk found themselves with little to complain about regarding the outcome of the Hilmarhlǫkk...for now.

That still left the issue of the wedding. Having sworn publicly to Princess Ellore, there was no question as to Tarun being obligated to attend. Rhadu had informed him that, similar to the eimirs, he was allowed to bring four 'attendants' to the actual ceremony. When asked what they intended to wear, Tarun had only shrugged and indicated his worn soldier's uniform. Only thirty-four years of grooming to the role of eimir had kept the disbelief from showing too evidently on Rhadu's face.

Less than an hour later, a knock had come at the door to Tarun's apartments. The mountainfolk were left blinking in bewilderment when not one but five tailors were revealed on the doorstep, along with one of Princess Ellorae's handmaidens.