The Mother of Monsters

CHAPTER 138 COLD VI

Elat burst into laughter, opening his arms wide and wrapping his arms around his sister. He lifted her bodily into the air and squeezed her until she let out all the air in her lungs. She had to pat her brother on the arm multiple times to get him to let her go. Even so, he was still beaming, “Sari! It really is you! It’s so good to see you!” He laughed, his voice carrying with his excitement. Teyva rubbed the side of her head and grumbled at the noise. Sari on the other hand just smiled up at him, putting her hands on her hips and looking him over.

“What in the world are you doing this far from home, Elat?” She asked only to stop and from, eyeing his shoulder, “Where’s your bow?” She asked, her expression growing stormy.

Elat’s expression fell immediately, he swallowed and raised his hands defensively, “Well, you see-” He was cut off when a pair of figures came running around the bend, pushing a few shoppers aside. First was Conrad with his mace in his hand and the next was Azrael with her bow at the ready. She skid to a stop when she saw Elat.

“Elat? Are you okay?” She shouted, “We heard your voice from across the market!”

Sari turned, her expression stern, and spotted Azrael. She took one look at the object in Azrael’s hands and then turned to look at Elat, wide-eyed. “Why is that woman holding your bow?” She asked her tone even.

“Sari?” Azrael, ignorant of what was going on, called out and approached. “Look at that! It is you!” She laughed and slung the bow over her shoulder. She made eye contact with Teyva who started making a slicing motion across her throat, trying to warn her away. Azrael raised an eyebrow, not understanding. Teyva sighed.

Conrad frowned, “Who is this?” He asked, setting his mace on his hip and following Azrael.

“This is Elat’s sister, Sari!” Azrael said, “When Teyva and I were traveling through the woods to Osan the first time, she healed our injuries. She’s outstanding!” 

Sari turned completely to face Azrael and smiled at her, her expression happy but something about her presence screamed a warning. She inclined her head, “Azrael! Yes, now I remember! You visited the settlement in the Balthin Sea!”

“Thank you again for what you did for Teyva and I,” Azrael said, extending a hand.

“Of course! I have a question, though,” She asked, taking Azrael’s hand and leaning in.

“Anything!” Azrael beamed.

“Why are you carrying my brother’s bow?” She asked, her expression suddenly hostile. Azrael’s expression fell as well and her teeth began to show, she tilted her head and held the woman’s gaze, getting ready to spit out a vitriolic response.

Elat got between the two women in a flash, fortunately, and put his hands on their shoulders, “Sari! Sari! Sister! I want you to meet someone very special to me, this is my wife,” He said, putting a hard emphasis on the end of the word, “Princess Azrael Unabi.”

Sari turned to look at him, “Your wife?” She demanded, “You gave this woman your bow?” She rounded on him and put a finger to his chest, “And Princess? What, by the aspects, do you mean by that?”

“She is the daughter of the King of the Azar,” Teyva chimed in, having turned away from the awkward conversation to focus on the Dwarf who had returned. He had a box in his hand and was showing off three pocket watches, all of them brushed gold. Teyva was peering at them while the dwarf looked over warily at the confrontation. “She and Elat have been pretty much a thing since we met at the village,” She continued, pointing at one of them. “How much is this one?”

Sari paled and looked at Elat, then at Azrael, then back to Elat, then began to tear up, “You should have sent me a missive! Was there a ceremony? Did I miss it? You left your sister out of it!” She whined, punching his chest a few times. 

Azrael stared at the woman for a moment before lowering her guard and letting out a sigh, rubbing her head. Teyva did her best to ignore it, pulling out some money from her inventory and putting it into the dwarf’s hand. She took the pocket watch and slipped it into her inventory, for now, she’d figure out how to arrange it with her gear later. “Thank you for your business,” She said with a bright smile, “Sorry about the show.”

“Ah, family drama is a thing around here,” The dwarf grunted, “Appreciate your business as well, miss, and an honor to have you at my shop, Princess,” He said, nodding to Azrael.

Teyva turned back to the group, satisfied, and put her hands on her hips, “Why don’t we sit down and talk?” She suggested, looking Elat in the eyes as he tried to console his despondent sister.

“Right,” He grumbled, patting her head.

A good half hour later they were sitting at a rough approximation of picnic tables outside of a stand where they were preparing some kind of bird-meat on a stick. Teyva kept to herself for most of the conversation, munching away and asking the cook about the different flavors he used. Occasionally she would tear off a piece and offer it to little Stella who had woke up part-way through the conflict near the dwarf’s shop. By the end of it, Sari had heard pretty much everything, though they had carefully danced around the fact that the man sitting with them was the reason for Elat’s crippled hand. Teyva shot Conrad a wicked grin when she saw him sweating a bit beneath the collar.

Sari ran her thumbs over Elat’s hand, “I see, the nerves are damaged,” She murmured, tapping his fingers now and then before looking up at Elat’s confused face. “Right, sorry, nerves are something in your body that helps you experience touch and other senses like pain, with damaged nerves it's next to impossible to properly apply force with your fingers, for example.”

Teyva looked up from feeding Stella and raised an eyebrow, “Where did you learn that?”

“Katal,” Sari said.

“You went to Katal?” Azrael blanched.

“I’ve been all over the continent,” Sari said, “I want to learn from every culture about their ways of practicing medicine and the healing arts. While the Katali Humans are fairly insular, their academics are always thirsting for more knowledge. I gave as much as I got.”

“Fairly insular she says,” Conrad scoffed.

“Did I say something funny?” Sari asked.

“Conrad here was once a warrior of Katal, he was betrayed by them and left to die,” Azrael said, picking up her own food and taking a bite off the stick.

“I see,” Sari said, “I apologize if I offended you.”

“It’s fine,” Conrad waved dismissively, “I’m just glad we got all that worked out.”

“Not quite,” Sari said, turning to Azrael and looking her up and down, “A princess and a warrior, not bad, but I want to judge for myself exactly what kind of person you are.”

Elat leaned in, “Sari, we’re already married.”

“Don’t butt in, Elat, this is between us,” She said, not taking her eyes off Azrael, “It’s fortunate you all are traveling north to the Elflands, we have the same destination. I’ll travel with you.”

“What brings you there?” Teyva asked, genuinely curious.

“I have a very close friend up there who I used to study with, she sent me a letter about an experiment she was doing that had some unusual results and wanted me to come see for myself. She was rather vague, which was odd for her. She seemed a bit worried,” Sari explained, “Myranda can be a bit paranoid at times but she’s a good person. I’m looking forward to seeing her again.”

Azrael frowned, “We are traveling by carriage, you think you can keep up with us?”

Sari grinned, “Is that a challenge?”

Teyva sighed and rubbed her face, “Let it go, Azrael, she can come with us if she wants.”

Azrael blinked and then sighed, “Fine, if you say so, my Lady.”

Sari looked back at Teyva, “My Lady?”

Elat spoke up this time, “Teyva is the Crown Princess of Osan and Queen of a new race called the Akurai, Azrael swore her loyalty to Teyva as a knight of honor.”

Sari held her head, “My brother is traveling with princesses and queens, when the hell did stuff like this happen?”

“Majesty,” Paraklytus’ voice broke into the conversation, the looming masked figure approaching them with a soft glide across the ground. He raised his hand to his chest, “If you have finished entertaining yourself we should take a moment and pay respects to the Patron here,” He paused when he realized he was interrupting and inclined his head, “Forgive me, I did not mean to interrupt.”

Sari got to her feet, her eyes narrowing, “You smell like death.”

“I am undead, yes,” Paraklytus said, “I do not believe we have been acquainted, I am-”

“I’ll take care of this monst-” Sari was cut off when a sudden pressure forced her to her seat. Everyone in the immediate area turned and looked, feeling a chill wash over them. Sari trembled and turned to look in Teyva’s direction.

“You are bothering the baby,” She growled, “He’s with me, you’re being noisy,” She hissed before retracting her presence and looking up at Paraklytus, “That sounds like fun! We can go after we finish eating, have you seen Batel and Abba?”

Paraklytus cleared his throat, “They were on the north side of the market when I last saw them.”

“Then we’ll pick them up along the way,” Teyva said with a smile, turning back to the others. “That sound good to everyone?”

Everyone nodded, if somewhat warily.