The Stewards of Reed, Volume 1: The Rise of Fallon (36 page)

Realizing they had not crashed, Gordon slowly lifted his head. Somehow they were now in a cave, with rock walls all around them. “How in the world…?” he muttered.

“Magic, my dear dwarf. Magic.”

Lord Olivier guided the boat up onto a sandy cove and the three of them stepped off.

“I hope you are not afraid of heights,” the wizard said as he walked over to one of the rock walls. Tapping on it with his wand and uttering a few words that Gordon could not understand, Lord Olivier beckoned a rope ladder to appear from thin air.

The rungs were spaced rather far apart and Gordon had a bit of difficulty climbing, but he eventually managed to reach the final ledge. A few more strange words and taps of the wand revealed a hidden door in the rock wall. Behind the door was a steep set of stairs, which led to another door. Fortunately for Gordon, this door finally led to Lord Olivier’s home.

Lord Olivier’s lake house was massive, even rivaling Lady Dinah’s home in Mt. Xavier, with more than ten guest quarters, three separate dining halls, two entertainment halls, several small sitting rooms and a rather large main hall that overlooked the lake. They ate dinner in the east dining hall, drank some wine, and then retired for the evening, too exhausted to do anything else.

The next morning Lady Dinah asked to be shown the library, and Lord Olivier was happy to oblige. He was quite proud of his collection, which now included Lord Jameson’s books as well. In keeping with the rest of Lord Olivier’s home, the library was enormous. It was not until the moment her eyes beheld the massive two-story library packed with books that Lady Dinah was sincerely grateful Gordon had come along – she would definitely need his help.

They had been searching for three days and were only a quarter of the way through the library. So far there was no sign of the elusive journal. His guests looked so exhausted and defeated at dinner that evening, that Lord Olivier found himself volunteering to join in the search for Queen Delia’s journals. “It is quite possible one of the journals is here. I remember taking a sizable portion of her library,” he said the following day, as he pulled one of the books off the shelf and inspected it. Unfortunately, Lord Olivier was too easily sidetracked by many of the other books he had forgotten were in his library, so he did not end up being much help.

It was the growling of Gordon’s stomach that finally convinced Lady Dinah it was time to stop and eat on the fourth day of searching. The meal was quick, however, and before long they were all back in the library, continuing where they left off. When they still had not found a journal by nightfall that day, Lady Dinah was quite disheartened. “It has to be here,” she said. “The set is not complete and there are no other libraries for me to search.”

“Perhaps we shall have better luck tomorrow after a good night’s sleep,” offered Lord Olivier.

The next morning they were at it again. They were just about to break for lunch when Lady Dinah spotted something that caught her eye. She lifted the blue book with silver lettering from the shelf and brought it close. She only had to flip through a few pages before she knew. “I found it,” she said quietly, a smile of satisfaction and relief spreading across her face.

*************

Fallon did not see his family again until his brother’s 12
th
birthday. Though it was late Heptuly, it was still quite cold as the fog was ever reluctant to retreat, and had been for weeks now. He had come a few days early so he could spend some time with his father and brother before everyone else arrived. Steward Isaiah had slowed down on the intense training recently, and had actually granted him three weeks of leave. Fallon planned to take as much advantage of that time as he could.

It was great to be working the fields with his father and brother again. He could see why Zeke was so intent on becoming a farmer and following in his father’s footsteps. They worked until they were exhausted, ate heartily, and laughed often.

“Just one more year of school and I shall be done,” said Zeke excitedly.

“Do you not think you shall miss it?” asked Fallon.

“No way!” The younger brother had always been clear about his dislike for school and desire to be outdoors. “I do not know how you can stand having to study all the time,” he said.

“It is not so bad. It can be quite fun learning new things, actually. I even learned some magic,” said Fallon.

This piqued Zeke’s interest. “Really?” the younger brother asked. “Can you teach me some?”

Fallon laughed. “No, but I can show you some.”

Zeke spent the next hour completely engrossed as he watched Fallon make apples fly in circles in the air above them and open and close the front door without getting up.

“Amazing,” said Zeke, transfixed by the flying apples. “I would probably like school better if they taught us stuff like this.”

Elizabeth and Talia had come over to visit often during Fallon’s stay. Jonas was busy with his own farm, but he managed to stop by on occasion as well. Talia had really blossomed in the past year and it was hard for Fallon not to notice the tall blonde beauty. He could not believe she was fifteen; it seemed only yesterday she was but a little girl hiding behind her mother’s dress. Although she was still somewhat reserved, she was no longer awkwardly shy around him, and it was not long before they were all hanging out and laughing as they did when they were little.

On Fallon’s last night in Littlebrook, everyone came over for dinner, including Jonas. After filling their bellies, they all headed out to the front porch to enjoy the fresh air. It was rather chilly out, so Tobias started a fire and they all huddled around. They spent quite some time reminiscing and laughing about days long gone. Many of the stories were actually new to Fallon, as he had been with the Steward when they happened: this made him a somewhat wistful, but for the most part he was incredibly content to be surrounded by all the people he loved.

He noticed that Talia was shivering a little and offered to retrieve his coat.

“No, I shall be fine, thank you,” she said, but he did not believe her so he went inside anyway.

He was rummaging around his things trying to find his coat (Fallon was not always the tidiest of people), so he did not notice when Talia slipped into the room behind him. He bumped right into her when he finally found the coat and turned around.

“Oh, I am sorry. I did not know you were there.”

“I am all right,” she said with a smile.

“Uh, here you go. This should keep you warm,” he said, handing her the coat.

“Thank you.” And then Talia did something Fallon was not expecting at all – she leaned in and kissed him softly on the mouth. For the briefest of moments his own lips responded, but then he pulled away in shock.

“Talia…” he started to say, but he was at a loss for words.

Her eyes filled with tears and she darted out of his room, leaving the coat behind.

Fallon’s mind was spinning. He had to admit that a part of him enjoyed the kiss, his first kiss. But he had never really thought of her that way, not the way that he thought about the girl with the jet-black hair, anyway. He had obviously hurt her though, and for that he felt terrible. He stood frozen in his room for a moment, debating what to do. By the time he walked outside with the coat, Elizabeth and Jonas were standing up and saying their good-byes.

“It is getting late, and Talia says she is not feeling well, so we shall be heading home now,” Elizabeth explained as she hugged Fallon. “We shall see you in a few months?”

Fallon nodded, but he was distracted. Talia had already walked off towards the horses, making it clear she did not want to see him.

When they left, Zeke turned to Fallon. “What did you do to her?” he asked. There was a bit of protective anger in his voice that surprised Fallon.

“I do not know what just happened,” he answered truthfully.

*************

Baby Luca arrived into the world on the first day of a long snowstorm that would paralyze much of the Village of Reed. Fortunately, Elder Catherine was on hand when the first pains of labor started. At the Steward’s request, she had been over to check on Daria nearly every day for the past few weeks. More than a week had passed since Luca arrived and yet the Elder remained, unexpectedly confined to Daria and Gentry’s home by the storm that would leave the roads around Durham impassable by foot or horse.

“Might I ask what happened to Gentry’s face? That is quite a nasty scar,” said Elder Catherine, trying to make conversation with Daria after sitting down to her morning tea.

Daria shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I believe it was a bar fight, but Gentry has always been a bit unclear on the details. I suspect he had too many pints that night.”

“I see,” said Elder Catherine. She was never a fan of the drink herself, and incidents such as this made her even less so. “Is Luca a family name?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

“Not on my side of the family, anyway. I do not know about Gentry’s. I only know that my husband was quite insistent that if we had a boy he would be called Luca,” replied Daria. “It is a nice enough name, so I did not argue.”

“Well, Luca seems to be a quite healthy baby boy; he is big and strong like his father.”
Let us hope he does not take to the drink like his father
–
it would be a shame to spoil such a beautiful face,
the Elder thought to herself as she regarded the tiny boy wrapped up in his mother’s arms.

Daria smiled. Luca was the most perfect baby boy. And it was the perfect way to end the year.

It was the first Council of Elders meeting following the winter solstice. There was not much to report – the first major winter storm had come and gone and things were returning to normal. The conversation eventually turned towards Fallon’s upcoming inauguration as the Steward of Reed; it was to be held on the evening of his 20
th
birthday.

Fallon felt quite uncomfortable listening to the plans and having Steward Isaiah walk him through the ritual for the first time. It seemed only yesterday he was standing with his father at the Council Chamber door, quietly watching as his father explained the mark to Adam. He was not certain he was ready to be Steward quite yet. In truth, the thought terrified him.

As the meeting was coming to a close, Elder Peter addressed Fallon. “Fallon, my boy, you have come a long way. We were not quite certain what to make of you at first – given that your mark was different from all the Stewards that came before you – but you have proven to us that you shall be a fine Steward for the Village of Reed. I look forward to serving you, for whatever time I have left in this world, anyway. And I am certain that Isaiah is very much looking forward to his retirement.”

Elder Peter had expected some clapping and cheers in support of his statement, but instead nervous chuckles filled the room. All eyes were on Fallon. Elder Peter had forgotten that Fallon did not know that it was unusual for the mark to be different.

Steward Isaiah let out a sigh. He knew this day would come, but he had hoped to be the one to tell Fallon about the mark. He had been planning to do so after the inauguration festivities, when Fallon was finally settled into his new role.

Fallon was left in a state of shock by Elder Peter’s words. So he
was
different…it all made sense now.

*************

The dream had first come to him six years ago, in the first year of his apprenticeship with Steward Isaiah. Unlike the fire dreams, which filled Fallon with panic and urgency at the thought of an imminent raid by the Komanites, this dream just left Fallon with an uneasy feeling, as though he was at a crossroads and unsure of the path forward. Each time the dream returned, it became a little more clear, a little more unsettling. And now that he knew he was different – that he did not share the same mark as all the Stewards before him – the dream finally made sense.

The first time he had this dream there was just one vivid scene: behind him stood his father and brother in front of their farmhouse in Littlebrook; in the distance he could see Attawan. He wanted to go after his horse, but he did not want to leave his family. Fallon just stood there – frozen in space –watching helplessly as the horse got farther and farther away. Attawan turned back around and stared at Fallon, seemingly pleading with him to follow.

Through the years the dream evolved. The crowd standing in front of his father’s farmhouse in Littlebrook grew each time, and recent dreams included everyone who had ever impacted Fallon’s life: his father, Zeke, Jonas, Elizabeth, Talia, the Steward, Beatrice, the Elders, Gentry, Uncle Charles and Aunt Rebecca; even his long-deceased mother started making an appearance. But as the crowd grew larger, the desire to leave grew even stronger, and in the dream Fallon began taking steps towards Attawan, towards the unknown.

The night after Elder Peter’s revelation, Fallon had the dream again. This time, Fallon finally reached his horse and mounted Attawan. He turned back towards the little farmhouse, where tears now stained the faces of his family and loved ones.

“Do not go. Please.” The voice of his brother was desperate and haunting.

Fallon turned away, his heart heavy. When he lifted his head, the girl with the jet-black hair was before him on a horse of her own.

“The time has come,” she said, directing her gaze towards the Atlian Mountains in the distance and all the lands beyond.

Fallon hesitated for just a moment, and then followed the girl with the jet-black hair, leaving his loved ones – and the Village of Reed – behind.

*************

Tobias eyed Fallon carefully. “I was not expecting to see you, my son. Should you not be in the Village Square, preparing for your big day tomorrow?”

“I have never had a birthday away from Littlebrook,” Fallon replied. “I only ask for one more night with you and Zeke before everything changes.”

Tobias smiled at his son and patted him on the back. “Well, I am glad you are here, then. I could use some help with dinner.”