Xandilif strode into the main hall of the House of Three Graces, following a trail of crumbs as it meandered over the stone floors. At the end of the trail, as she expected, she found Finchley, just finishing off a fresh caraway roll. Hearing the champion’s heavy steps Finchley turned, and her face seemed to crumple. At first Lif thought she was upset over running out of bread, but when the Breelander walked right up to her and let her head fall onto her armored shoulder, it was clear more was involved.
Xandilif would seem to almost melt...and put a protective arm around Finch. “You OK, baby girl?'
Finchley half shrugged, her head still on the champion’s shoulder. "More or less... I should tell 'em, aye? Afore someone else runs off like Hawke has."
Xandilif knew very well what the woman was referring to (see Xandilif's Diary - Page 4) and nodded softly. "I don’t think there is no point keeping it secret...the Monk already knows something is up with you and she will start to dig and pester soon..and once she does, the rest of her little sisterhood will too.”
Finchley nodded but still stayed pressed against the Champion. "Addie knows somethin's up too. She's smart like that."
As the two spoke, Hawke entered from the vestibule, his cloak and armor travel stained and dusty. As he pushed his hood back, Finchley stared as she caught sight of him. Their eyes met and Hawke looked down, faced with the concern and relief in the woman’s eyes.
Finchley moved abruptly to the young man as a whole variety of emotions crossed her face. She grabbed Hawke by the shoulders and for a moment looked like she would slap him out of sheer worry, but finally gave him just a little shake before dropping her head onto his shoulder and pressing herself into his arms. Hawke wrapped his arms around her…breathing in the scent of her hair, suddenly feeling at home after his long ride through danger.
As the two embraced, the commotion brought both Eduwiges, also dusty from the road, and Nethrida into the chamber. Xandilif looked around...."Look at em all gather like Swan Knights in the shower when ya drop the soap.”
Eduwiges snorted in agreement while the more serious-minded Nethrida smiled a bit but protested. "You know I'm no Swan Knight..." She explained as she inclined her head, but Xandilif seemed to feel something behind her...and turned around to look at Addie just as she entered the archway. It was the first time the Champion had seen the woman since the incident at the Thirsty Seer (see Reunion), and while the dark circles and unhealthy pall were gone from her fair face, she still looked wan and exhausted.
Addiela had just finished grabbing an apple from the dining area and froze as she emerged to see the others gathered in the room ahead. For a moment she considered running as if they had gathered to remonstrate with her again, but she knew that was her guilt talking and she resisted it.
Dark eyed Calidis lingered in the doorway across the room from Addie, leaning up against the wall, silently observing but saying nothing. When Xanderian entered from behind her, the pale elf smiled to herself. This was the first time they had all gathered together since Mans had been restored (see Reunion again), so hopefully lingering tensions would soon be eased. However the look on Finchley’s face, and the feeling of secrets behind her eyes, troubled her.
Suddenly Xanderian entered at a run, but pulled up short just beside Calidis. She had felt Hawke arrive even before the light, youthful voice In the back of her mind whispered “He has come home, safe and sound but bearing news…” Realizing that everyone had gathered, she controlled herself somewhat...but seeing Hawke she smiled broadly and stepping forward she embraced both Finchley and Hawke at once.
Xandilif strode across the room to takes Addie's apple as she still hesitated to enter, bit it, and handed it back to her. "You ok Horseimp?
Addiela had taken in a deep breath and steeled herself as she saw Lif walking toward her. Her mouth hung slightly open in shock at the Champion’s sheer rudeness as she helplessly watched Lif take a bite from the apple and then stared at the missing piece, appalled. She reached for Lif's gauntlet, turned it palm up and placed the apple back in her hand. "I'm alive, but gettin' a visit from the Banshee might make me wish otherwise."
Xandilif grinned...."C'mon...bought time you crawled out o' yer hole.
Addiela sighed, but did not follow Lif toward the others. She stayed just in the doorway instead of fully entering the room.
Feeling eyes on her, Finchley lifted her head from Hawke's shoulder and squished both Xan and Hawke as tightly as she could, then took a deep breath. "... Alright I’ve got something to tell you, Xan...to tell everyone. No more hidin' and no more makin' everyone else worried about me. I'm sorry."
Nethrida raised an eyebrow inquisitively at Finch when she spoke, but said nothing, her face placid. Eduwiges on the other hand looked a little grumpy, it had been a hard ride from the far side of Minas Tirith to Tol Lochul. 'What did I miss?' she asked, looking around.
Calidis raised her brows as she looked to Finchley with an unreadable stare.
Xandilif leaned in a doorway, tossing the bitten apple from hand to hand insolently..."Well, ya do know how to get attention like a Shire harlot covered in powdered sugar, Baby girl...so, now ya got no choice. Tell yer tale o’woe and get this over with.”
Xan nodded and kissed Finch's forehead, but then stepped back slightly...one hand holding Hawke's still. “The Banshee speaks rightly, despite herself…tell us what has been troubling you, Small Finchley.”
Finchley pulled fully away from the squishy embrace and looked to the floor as she shuffled one foot across it. "... I suppose." She shifted her weight a bit, as a frown formed on her lips again. "Good gracious, this is difficult... Maybe I should just show you all. Like rippin' a bandage off..."
Xandilif sighed dramatically "Keep this up they'll think ya got a dwarf lovechild hiding in yer knickers, baby girl.” With that she took another loud bite of Addie's apple, making the Rohan woman frown at hearing the clear crunch of the apple.
Finchley ran a hand through her hair and looked over her shoulder at Lif just long enough to stick her tongue out at the Champion. Then she sighed and looked to the floor in front of her again. "... Promise, I'm not tryin' to flash you all or anythin'....but....I better just show ya...." With slightly shaky fingers and a pinkish blush on her cheeks she undid the front clasp to her over tunic and then lifted the hem of both her tunics, pulling the left side of her belt down just past her hip. There was a mark there the size of her palm. It was sort of pink and mushy had has been affected by growth and age. It appeared to be a circle with three uneven lines running through it, clearly burned into the skin long ago.
Addiela turned away as Finch started lifting up her clothes, not wanting to invade the woman's privacy even though she seemed willing to show whatever it was to all. She noting silently to herself the often lax morals around this place were having more and more effect on the younger inhabitants. However, the fact that she saw Eduwige’s gasp and stare made Addie realize something more than Xanderian-like "Show and tell" was behind this.
Nethrida had also started to turn her gaze away out of old habits, however upon seeing the mark her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with one hand while instinctively placing her other hand on her midriff. "By Elendil..." She gasped in shock.
Finchley lifted her head and looked about the room, frowning but clearly determined to see this through, a mixture of shame, defiance…and hope in her eyes. She had never made such a gesture of trust before and was not at all sure what the outcome would be. "My Grams always told me it were a birthmark. But it's no birthmark. I swear, I didn't know until--.... Until Mister Rathvald brought that dagger here."
Finchley let her hand fall from her tunic and pulled her trousers up over the mark again, hiding it. Xandilif met her eye from across the room and nodded for her to continue, which she reluctantly did. "When I came close to that dagger after he gave it to Addie it started to hurt. A lot. More'n anything ever hurt before. I didn't know what was goin' on till Lif told me to show her. I-... It's a brand. From Angmar."
Xan sighed softly to herself, she had known what it was as soon as Finchley had exposed it, but to hear her say it had power. "And it responded to the blade....?'
Finchley looked to Xan and nodded. "Every time. But now that the blade's gone it doesn't hurt anymore. I'm okay. Honest...maybe this will just go away...". Her voice sounded hopeful, but hollow, even to herself.
Addiela dipped her head and stared at the ground after Finch mentioned the dagger and the pain it had brought her, and her eyes begin to mist over. Another thing for her to feel guilty for, as Rathvald brought the dagger here at her request. Well, at Mans’ request really, but the voice had been her’s.
Xandilif watched Addie...and threw the apple core at her. "Stop that...it’s a good thing that fecking dagger clued us in...this way we can do something about it before the orc dung hits the wall...and if it was a hexed brand, that dung will eventually fly, trust me. Somewhere out there, the Guild of the Unsealed figures Finch is their property...and the hex is still live so they must figure she is or will be valuable.”
Noting the apple core bounce on the floor and land at her feet, Addie still didn’t look up or say anything to betray her thoughts.
Nethrida however continued to look shocked, though at the very least she managed to close her mouth and lowered her hand from her mouth. Her other hand remained pressed to midriff. There was a flash of anger in her gaze at the mention of the word Angmar, followed by a sympathetic smile.
Eduwiges grunted at Lif's comment, fury building on her face that someone would think of Finch as property. 'Who do we have to track down and slay for this?
Xan looked back at her sister and nodded slowly, but reaching out to calm Edu. "Forewarned is forearmed....but....this is grave news.'
Clasping her shaking hands in front of her, Finchley pressed on. "... I went to the library. I did my readin'. I know more now. What they did in the past to--..." She went a little pale and rubbed her hands together, trying to stop them from shaking.
Hawke had kept his eyes on the floor the entire time. He had seen the mark already, and he had known full well what it was. His sudden trip to Angmar had yielded some answers, but they were unlikely to please Finch, and he would almost rather keep quiet. Everyone else's responses were what he had already been feeling: shock, anguish, anger….so he had taken action, seeking information at the source as best he could.
Finchley looked up as a few tears escaped her, though the look on her face was now a mixture of sadness and perhaps a little anger as she looked around at her friends. "But I'm not. I'm not a slave! I don't care what the brand means or what someone else says. I'm not and I won't be... I-I just don't understand-- Grams said it were a birthmark." Her tears come faster now as she lost her composure, her voice growing desperate.
Nethrida finally moved her hand off her midriff to rub the back of her head with a slight frown. "Of course you're no slave, nor will we allow this..."Guild"… or whatever to even attempt to harm or claim you"
"Grams wasn't any type of fool. She had to know somethin'. Anythin'!... She lied to me. And I don't know anythin' because she'd never tell me *anything*." Finchley was beginning to cry openly through her words, the reality that so much of her life may have been a lie finally sinking in.
Xan stepped forward to hug Finch tightly as everyone started talking at once...asking questions, soothing Finch or just expressing shock. The huntresses voice rose above the din. "OR....she sought to protect you..and keep you hidden. Until recently the odds of such fell magics appearing in humble Breeland was slim to none...'
Eduwiges looked around eager for something to do to make this right, “Slavery is horrible.” She finally looked at Lif, 'Who do we have to track down and kill. I will not have some slave tracker come after her.'
Xandilif nodded. “Yeah but slow down, greyhound…Rian’s right…we don’t know enough to be mad at the old hag yet let alone fix this. We gotta learn who Grams was...and maybe why she died…”
Hawke muttered suddenly, looking down at the same spot on the floor Finchley was staring at. “She was a witch. An Angmarim witch.”
The room went silent.
Xandilif stared at Hawke, her voice suddenly low and dangerous...."The feck you say, hamster?
Addiela couldn’t help but look over now, the stone walls magnifying the word witch and making it echo in her ears.
Finchley had accepted Xan’s hug as she continued to cry, though she kept trying to make the tears stop, rubbing at her eyes with little effect. Hawke’s words, Xandilif’s reaction and the sudden silence did the trick. "... A what? Hawk, what did you-- You left. Where'd you go?"
The question was overdue, and caused another resounding silence.
Xandilif cleared her throat...and continued to stare at Hawke. "Whatever you got in yer bag, you better dump it now, Gwaelion.....Where'd you go...and what is this about a witch?"
-TO BE CONTINUED-
