Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 02 Pt. 01

Silver Rose looked at him, "That seemed intense back there. What was that about?"

Brannar looked at her, "I just shattered her perception of our father. Favored daughter and successor versus the weapon of destruction that had to be kept locked away because he feared I would kill indiscriminately."

She tried to change subjects as that was obviously a very sore topic that only seemed to heighten his anger, "I know Elven but I am unfamiliar with Zea'Trans, what does it mean?"

Brannar started riding forward, "There is not a good translation more like an explanation. You know how the wind picks up and the temperature changes. You smell the moisture in the air and hear the thunder in the distance. You then see the edge of the dark clouds approaching. It means all of that. A simplistic meaning would be the storm approaches. This horse is unflinching when I launch spells at the enemy."

She looked at him, "So you trained him?"

Brannar shook his head, "No the herd did. We just came to an understanding. Elven War Horses are not broken like the riding horses you use. You cannot break the spirit of these fine creatures without killing their spirit. Then what is the point in that?"

She nodded, "I think I understand. These horses are rare then?"

Brannar smiled, "My father started breeding them with T'sarus. The progenitor of the herd. There are 5,000 with the Gray Blades and they trade a lot of them out to the Elven Army as they came to appreciate the horse during the last war. My father was the Field Marshal on that front. He had all of the Elven officers in the Army outfitted and still had breeding stock to regrow the herd to its present size.

They hope to be able to outfit the entire elven army by the next war on that front. They only respond to elven. Human members of the Blades are required to learn at least enough elven to work with the horse. Generally, they became fluent with the language it opened up more commands. This one is named for his mother, she died giving birth to him. Much the way my mother did.

She was my first. This one is less than a year into adulthood. I rode another mare but she is left behind because of breeding. She is all white her name is H'cumisa. Again, ancient eleven meaning 'single cloud on a clear day.'"

She looked at him, "Your names are focused on the sky."

Brannar smiled, "You caught the name of my father's horse that started the herd?"

She nodded, "Coming from the night sky."

He pointed at his pin, "The double crescent was added to the house symbol by my father. He was the Knight Champion of Corellon Larethian. He was a Blade Singer and some of the things he did on the field defied explanation."

He chuckled, "People feared him, some did. They thought he was dangerous. He feared the destruction I could unleash so that says something."

She nodded, "This is Silvertree Estates?"

He nodded, "Follow me." He led her into the garden to the great Silvertree. "This Silvertree was planted on the ashes of my grandfather. The trees grow quickly and die in 40 years seeding at the end. This one is as eternal as is the House of Silvertree. It released hundreds of seeds the day my father died, or so they say. Instead of the usual number every 40 years before dying. This one is obviously still alive. My father called it the tree of change. He built the town of 'Quatarsia.'

His first 2 wives were elf-blooded sisters. He was half-wood and half-moon elf. He added 4 more wives within the year, 2 were moon-elf sisters. My mother and Aunt. The other two were twin human sisters who died after giving childbirth to their third set of twins. All of my father's wives had twins. Thirty-one children born alive."

She nodded, "I remember that part of our discussion. I spoke to Jarron about your father's need for 6 wives, it was bizarre, to say the least."

Brannar smiled, "I will look at one at a time when I get married. What about you? Is marriage in your future or is it against the rules of your order?"

She smiled, "It is not against the rules. As to the other, that will depend."

She rode off toward the stable. He sat there thinking, "She is such a tease."

He followed her into the stable and found an empty stall and took care of brushing down his horse and she came over.

She looked over, "Your horse is too good for the other horses?"

He smiled, "He would fuck every mare. Then every stallion just to assert dominance over them as they are not Elven War Horses. A separate stall is better."

They walked up to the house as his sister rode in, "The armor is in Gray Blade Hall."

He nodded, "We will room there. Can we get evening meal sent over for all of us?"

She nodded, "I will let the guard know so he can inform the kitchen staff."

Brannar looked at the men, "Better make it meals for 20. Some of these guys are pretty big."

They laughed and she just nodded, "Here is your letter. I did not know how deep his concerns were about you. I knew he worried your power might hurt someone unintentionally. I could apologize for him but I do not think it would do much good or be my place. I am sorry about how I restricted your growth within the Blades. Especially after reading that."

She rode off. He looked at them, "You are not the first humans I have worked with. The Gray Blades is a mixed-race unit of 600 at full strength. Humans, dwarves, elves, and elf-blooded. Even a Centaur or 20 on occasion."

Silver Rose looked at him, "Elf-blooded?"

He nodded, "You are elf-blooded. Meaning if you have a child with an elf it will produce more elven children. Part of my father's vision of the world. There has been an almost double rate increase in the population since then. Quatarsia means tolerance after all."

The humans laughed and one spoke, "Sounds like some kind of multi-racial utopia."

Brannar smiled," Like any town, it has its issues it just has a more diverse population. There are no poor as everyone can find work doing something. The infirm and elderly are tended to with respect. Even all the stoves and forges in town are designed to not burn fuel. There are things the Druids did not like about my father.

The good he did in reclaiming hundreds of acres of elven forest went a long way to getting their tolerance of our presence. He kept our impact to the forest low compared to all of the good we did and continue to do. I keep talking about my family and myself but I know almost nothing of you?"

She shrugged, "There's not much to tell. I was abandoned at the church that raised me. The name of the order is the Order of the Rose. My last name. They just called me Silver because of my hair. I grew up surrounded by religion and martial training. I became an officer in no time."

Brannar looked at her, "How did you end up with the Knights?"

She smiled, "We sort of stumbled into one of their missions. We were pursuing the same target. My men and I thought they had a righteous cause so we joined up with them. That was about a year ago."

Brannar nodded, "They may have a righteous cause but the cost is not equitable. The loss my family has suffered compared to the cost of dragons doing something themselves is wrong. We pay the price for their shortcomings in controlling their own population."

They got inside and he showed the men to rooms and pointed to a dining room where they would eat. He stepped into the dining room and had a seat while they got settled.

One of the guys came in, "They call me 'Brunt' because I am the one in the front taking and deflecting most of the damage."

Brannar nodded, "Could be worse if they called you 'Butt' for being the butt of all the jokes. Brunt is descriptive and if it was given to you by others then honor that. The Dwarves called me Storm Wraith which stuck. It is even in my documents for when I got knighted."

He pulled out the tube and set it on the table and Brunt read through the contents as it also had a copy in common. He chuckled, "At least we know you are not all wind."

Brannar smiled at him, "The Knights wanted me as a Captain. They are on my shit list at the moment. I do not like the way they approach things which is why I am not replacing Silver Rose. I had them bring me on as a private citizen working for the Elven Court. All the people we are looking for are siblings of mine. Half brothers and sisters. Six of them left together and they are missing."

He nodded, "So this is personal."

Brannar shook his head, "This is family. I barely knew them so personal is not the right word."

He nodded as the food started to arrive. Brannar, of course, tested for poison and everyone stared at him, "One of my mothers was killed by poison. My father survived several attempts on his life, some dealt with poisoned food. I test everything I consume. That is how I knew the Knights tried to poison me."

Silver Rose looked at him, "Why would they poison you?"

He snickered, "To try and subdue me. Take me, prisoner. As I said, I do not like some of their methods. You can ask Jarron or Silver Moon about that. I can hit like a ten-ton meteor. But my responses are usually measured to the challenge and enough to show them not to fuck with me."

The guys laugh and Silver Rose just stared at him while she ate. He wondered what she saw.

She sat there and thought, 'He has been locked up, felt abandoned, and is very paranoid about poison because of the tragedies in his life. I don't doubt what he said and I don't agree with the action the Knight took if that was the case. I would be just as concerned about them if they tried to poison me to capture me.

I will have to ask Silver Moon about that when I see her. As to being abandoned, I know what that truly feels like. He was more being ignored and shunned by the family that should have loved him and supported him. He is searching for love and acceptance. He wants it from me. I am not sure he truly knows what that means for a paladin.'

They finished eating and as predicted there was hardly a scrap of food leftover. He headed to his room and got some sleep. He awoke early and studied his spells for the day, cutting out all his teleportation spells except for one teleportation circle and one teleport. He geared up spells for more potential combat.

He spent another hour looking over his father's journals and concerns. He now shared those concerns given what he had seen of dragons so far and these were supposed to be the ones on their side.

Brannar went out and found the others were up doing prayers to their god. He went out and got his horse ready. He took it to the site of the permanent teleportation circle that was established years ago. He headed back inside as the servants showed up with food and he checked the food again. He sat down and ate while the others got geared up for the day.

He heard, "Damn." Come from Silver Rose's room.

He walked over to the door and knocked, "You alright?"

She came and opened the door, "That depends on if you know a good armorer or not. Two of my straps just broke."

Brannar looked at her. "Show me." She shows him the two thick leather straps that had some cracks and where they had broken.

He looked at her, "Remove that top section."

She looked at him and took it off. She was dressed but just barely with a really sheer shirt that accented her eraser-tipped nipples. He grabbed the broken pieces and mended them. He moved up to the cracked leather and mended it as well.

He handed it back to her, "There you go."

She looked at it, "You even got rid of the cracked leather!"

He nodded. "It starts to show that kind of wear, let me know. I can mend simple stuff like that."

She looked at him teasingly, "So, good with your hands as well."

He stepped right up to her just inches from her face. "I have expressed my interest in you. You keep teasing me like that I will likely take action."

She smiled at him, "What kind of action?"

She expected an explanation. She got more than she bargained for. Brannar moved his hands up and grabbed her breasts and as her mouth came open, he covered it with his and kissed her hard and passionately and then softly and sweet. All the while massaging her nipples through the fabric of her shirt. He heard a low moan escape from her mouth as he backed his face and hands away.

He looked at her, "More action like that. Except, I might be unable to stop myself. We will be leaving in a few minutes. You will just have to think that over."

He left her there with a shocked expression on her face. Her mind raced, 'He just grabbed my breast and kissed me. Such passion and warmth in that kiss. He did not try and get me undressed. He backed off but his hand was shaking as he worked to contain himself. He wanted to continue, but he held off.

Probably because he knows paladins cannot engage in sex without being married first. Now I have to figure out what I feel about him. Friendship, definitely. Kindred spirits, we both had challenging lives. Love, I don't know, but for a first kiss that about floored me. I honestly believe he believes he loves me and we just met.'

He checked on the others, "Silver Rose had a strap break on her armor. I mended it. If you guys have that issue, let me know. Preferably before it gets that bad. I will fix the cracks and breaks. That is easy stuff."

They nodded. He headed outside and waited next to his horse. The others arrive. Brunt asked, "We leaving from here?"

Brannar nodded, "Yes we are just waiting for Silver Moon. Also, Silver Rose."

She came out of the hall and she looked a bit flustered. He figured it was his turn to tease, "I hope my magic hands keep those straps in place nice and tight."

She turned red, "It fits fine thank you." She could not help but smile at his teasing after the teasing she had done to him over the last couple of days.

Branar smiled, "Maybe tonight I will check the straps on the other half of that armor."

She refused to comment as Silver Moon arrived looking a little flustered. Brannar would have said freshly fucked given how many consorts he had seen walk the halls in his father's keep. "Rough night? You look a little wore down."

She glared at him, "I am fine, glad to see you are all ready to go."

She steps into the group and said something to him in one of the foreign languages she taught him, "Smart-ass kid."

He responded in kind, "I cannot help it if you show up looking freshly fucked."

She fired back, "How would you know? I bet you are still a virgin."

He looked at her, "The Keep, my father, the consorts, the smell of sweat and seed, take your pick."

She turned red and back in common, "Stay tight." They appeared in a new location outside a small village.

She looked at us, "The guys are getting the horses ready." Brannar got up on Zea'Trans and rode forward to the stables.

He saw a human lead her horse out of the stables. He told him in elven, "You must be the one who wore her out."

He looked at Brannar and turned red. Brannar turned away and said in common, "Thought so."

A few minutes later she came up and in another one of the foreign languages she taught him, "You just had to go and say something to him?!"

Brannar replied back in the third language she had taught him, "I did not have to say anything! After I saw him handling one of our horses. That told me you are lovers. Else that horse would have kicked his teeth out."

She glared then looked at the others, "You can see one of the other reasons he is along with us is he speaks the languages of the region. I taught him when he was barely out of diapers."

Brannar thought. "This is how she wished to play it. The age games. Fine."

Brannar looked at her, "That was over 70 years ago when Tiger was still alive. That is when she started. We went over the languages for a good 25 years." He looked at her, "How many centuries old are you now?"

She turned and in the first language said, "Fuck you!"

He replied, "Think your boy toy might get jealous if I did that."

She shook her head, "Your sense of humor is a lot like your father's."

Brannar shrugged, "You would know that better than I would. It wouldn't have surprised me if he fucked you too."

She glared and responded in the second language, "No, we respected each other. He walked in on Tiger and me once but he never told anyone about it, ever. He gave a lot of people shit about sex. He once told Tiger we would have to move rooms and find another place to split logs but he never made a move on me or I on him. I thought we had that level of respect."

He responded back in the same language, "You started on me about my age, barely out of diapers, and then my sexual experiences. I answered in kind. Respect goes both ways."

She sighed and nodded. She spoke in common, "Point taken." She knew she had just done that to him to embarrass him. He did far less to Sutter than what his father did to her and Tiger over the years.

They rode at a slow pace and he saw a farmer's stand. Brannar looked at her, "How long is the journey?"

She thought back, "Took about 2 months last time I crossed."

He stopped and looked over, "Should we pick up feed and fruit? Especially for the horses."

She looked over, "Good call I will work on getting the oats for the 8 horses."

He nodded, "I will get several pounds of fruit, especially apples for our Elven War Horses."

One of the other guys asked, "Won't it go bad before then?"

Brannar shook his head, "Not in a bag of holding."

They went over and set aside a table worth of fruit and paid for it. He then proceeded to put all of the fruit in the bag he got from his father's inheritance. He had moved the money into his larger bag of holding. Which was inside his shirt and tucked into his pants. The guys watched in fascination.

He looked at them, "One of the reasons I am not carrying a pack."

They nodded. Silver Moon came out. He grabbed an apple he had left out and cut it in half. He handed it to her, "For your horse. Gods only know when she had an apple last."

She smiled, "It has been longer than it should be. Did you get enough?"

He nodded, "If we give this two half-an apple each day then we can last 60 days. The rest of the fruit is for us. The journey should be much quicker than that though. Unless you had a Storm Born on your last voyage."

She walked up to him, "We did not and I want to keep your abilities under wraps. At least initially, we might not have a choice."

They traveled at a walking pace and when they got close to the gate Silver Moon rode ahead.

She talked to the guards and came back to us, "We need to hurry, they will let us through though they are not happy about the horses inside the wall. Until I told him we were taking them aboard ship with us. Anyway, I paid for our entrance into the city. The boat where we want to go is departing this evening which means they will push from the dock in about 5 hours. You stay with the others. I will ride ahead."

Brannar shook his head at her, "Never travel alone. Maybe you should take the lieutenant with you."

She smiled and motioned for him to follow. He looked at Silver Rose, "That puts you in charge of them all, except me."

She smiled, "Thankfully I do not have to take charge of you."

He smiled, "No, I generally like to take charge but with you, I like to play it by ear."

The guys laughed as they continued along the smelly dock. He thought every chamber pot in the city must have been dumped in this harbor. The stench was horrid. Silver Rose still did not know what to make of him.

He thought, "Karti'Ros we never discussed your abilities can you give me a list."

The sword responds, "You know of the intelligence, telepathy, and the Moon Fire. I assume you mean the others Storm Wraith. Summon to either hand is locked as is immunity to mind control. Danger warning dream and telepathic warning. Immunity to fire. Orc, ogre, giant, Drow, undead, and evil dragon banes. Also, the God ability added which I do not have access to and cannot confirm.