Brian's Adventures Ch. 17

"If it weren't for your dealings with them I suspect that many merchants would already be out of business I'll wager." Yeoline said with a warm and friendly smile in Rialtige's direction.

"Well, I've only done what I could. Like I said, they needed trade and we needed supplies." Rialtige said plainly but a smirk crept across his face. "Perhaps not quite as much as I bought but none the less we will use them . . . eventually." He finished with a smirk and light chuckle that the rest of us shared.

"I have a feeling that we will need every arrow, sword and provision you bought before the end of this." I said with a somber look that quickly killed the jovial mood in the room.

"I think that's what we're all afraid of." Jealile said with a troubled tone of her own as she put her arm around my shoulder.

"You needn't worry about one thing at least Brian." Rialtige said with a smile.

"And what's that?" I asked with an inquisitive look.

"Your Band of Misfits will stand by you to the end." Rialtige said with a broad smile as he put his arm around Shelea and Treabilla who were on either side of him.

With that everyone else in the room smiled and cheerily agreed and the mood turned happy and light. We spent the rest of the evening visiting and spending time together as friends. We talked about all manner of things from experiences we shared to some that we haven't. It was good to gather together as friends once more and not worry about the troubles facing us, for the evening at least.

It took a few days to organize and prepare the move of everything and everyone from Greatfoot to Kincaid. It took a few more to finally carry it out and move every last thing we needed to Kincaid. It took more than a few fully loaded wagon trains to move the equipment and supplies. We left Pelluluka with what she needed and of course a little bit extra. Pelluluka was a little nervous but was thankful that she was being left as Commander of the Greatfoot Guards. All in all it took a week to complete the move and get everyone settled into Kincaid.

Needless to say everyone in town was overjoyed that we were leaving. I could understand their desire to see us leave but still a few were a little nervous and felt vulnerable without us there. The townsfolk didn't hate us but they were anxious to get their lives back to some semblance of normalcy. They even presented me with a lovely painting of the town to thank me for everything I had done, but mostly for taking the Guards to Kincaid. I assured all the good people of Greatfoot that we were not abandoning them and were only a short distance away.

The Healers got settled into the Regenald Estate, which was the Estate next to Kincaid to the north. Mostly their work was focused with the Prisoners and trying to help them become their old selves again. They also were still tending to the few seriously wounded people from the battle to take Kincaid. However they continued their work as healers, helping all who came to them. When word spread that healers were at Kincaid people started to trickle in from the surrounding Quads with all manner of ailments.

The prisoners that refused to change were kept locked up in the basement of the Archebald Estate, or rather the next Estate to Kincaid to the west. The Archebald Estate is where the Guards themselves stayed along with the most hopeful of the prisoners; these were the ones who were almost back to normal. The ones that still needed work and were unsure of everything were kept under the Healers watchful eyes and stayed with them at the Regenald Estate.

On a personal note, Jealile was impressed and a little taken aback when she saw Kincaid. Jealile, Yeoline and I toured the Estate from top to bottom, taking our time and looking at everything. Yeoline and I showed Jealile all of the little things that we had discovered during our short time there. It was fun to see a part of our future and we imagined all the many kids that would one day be running up and down the halls. Yeoline remained in the Firstwife's room but in truth shared our bed at night. It was a happy time for the three of us to finally be home, but yet we all knew that harder times were ahead of us.

The amount of cleanup and organizational work kept everyone hopping and ensured that there was always work to do. The Prisoners worked with the healers and Guards, working along side them while tending to all the work at Kincaid. It seemed to do them good and I noticed a marked improvement in a number of prisoners. Not to mention that in short order the whole Kincaid Quad was looking like a peaceful, well cared for home. Treabilla and Shelea were quite pleased with the progress of the prisoners over the next two weeks.

Shelea was busy in private even though she was running the Healers and helping with the Prisoners when she could. She spent most of her time in private trying to duplicate that sleeping powder that the Disciples used. Not to forget the mind control drink that Felleona used on Pelluluka she was also trying to duplicate. In short she was a busy woman, but than we all were busy those days.

Word started to come back from the Commanders of the various detachments of Guards from around Tania. Some informed me that they had figured out as much or were told when the Healers came around to do the 'medical exams'. Others had no idea and were grateful for the information and expressed their sympathy and grief over Felleona. It seemed that the Guards as a whole lamented the loss of their once great Captain.

I got an unexpected letter from Lochel that struck everyone who read it as odd. He demanded that Treabilla and Myself come to Teroncia immediately but gave no explanation or hint as to why. It had the official seal to prove that it was not the request of a friend but the order of the Director of The Council. I wondered why he would pull me out of the field when we are still searching for Felleona and her Disciples. However, as odd as it may seem, you cannot ignore the order of the Director of The Council. Wherever you go some things never change, men will pull rank and make you do things you don't want to, for reasons you don't understand.

Nobody liked it but Jealile, Treabilla and myself got ready to take the long journey to return to Teroncia. It would be interesting to see how I would be greeted since I left as the Outsider and was retuning as the Captain of the Guards. I didn't have time to focus on that at the moment, there were many other things to be done and I had no time to do them all. In the middle of all this trouble, I had to travel across the island on a seemingly pointless errand that I didn't understand.

* * * NOTE * * *

This will be the last chapter that I will submit to this site. I am in the midst of preparing the whole book for publication, hopefully by early 2004. The book will have a total of 30 chapters plus appendixes and is the first book in a series of books. There is a lot more of Brian and Tania to come yet, don't worry about that. It has been a great experience writing this book and sharing it with all of you. I am working as fast as I can on this book but there is only so much spare time that one has.

I am grateful and touched by all your kind emails to me. If you wish to be kept up to date on the progress of the book and notified when it is released, just send some feedback with your name and email address. I promise that I will keep you all informed when the book is published and if possible send you a free autographed copy for your patience.