Castle Shyr

I dislike Suhayl. But he serves his purpose, and it\'s amusing to use him to add conflict. Gehlmen sucks too. :blah: But you\'ll find that out later on.:happyhappy:


-The Old Map Maker, Suhayl-

“Where do you think they are from?” Bitti asked softly, turning away from the young girl to study Doctor Gehlmen curiously. He shook his head, frayed blond hair shaking as he did so, and turned to look the two Nanion over once more.

“Well, their dress is not ornate enough to suggest that they’re from one of the islands, so they are definitely native to Nanio. However they are most certainly not well-dressed enough to be from Shyriol, as I thought previously.”

“Plus Jir River doesn’t run anywhere near the Shyriol, Gehlmen.” Chuckled Bitti, giving the doctor a playful shove. “You need to recheck your maps.”

“I’m sure I do - after all, I am not the expert on maps. Speaking of which, I have sent for Suhayl, and when he arrives I am sure he will be able to tell us where these two unfortunate children are from.”

Night had settled restlessly over Fordwych, yawning its dark fingers over the huts like a drowsy shepherd. Bitti and Doctor Gehlmen had spent the majority of their day cleaning and caring for the unconscious Nanion, interrupted here and there by Austly and his gang - just checking in. It warmed the doctor’s heart to see that the boys were not only kind to strangers, but genuinely concerned as well. He wished that they could keep that innocence forever, but knew that eventually they would be forced to see the true, darker side of the world. He only prayed that by that time Lantipher would come to his senses.

“How old do you think they are, Gehlmen?” Bitti whispered, brushing some hair from Kyin’s face, watching as more and more of the golden strands became frothy white. Gehlmen smiled a little, recognizing that motherly tone in Bitti’s voice that meant she was thinking of her own five children. He walked over to her and gently laid a hand on her shoulder.

“You are very compassionate, Bitti - we need more mothers like you.” He said with a soft smile.

“Oh, posh. Just answer my question.” Bitti said with a slightly girlish giggle, waving Gehlmen’s hand away.

“I’d say the girl is about seventeen, judging by the fact that her body seems near to beginning puberty, and the boy closer to twenty - not quite yet an adult.” He shook his head and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “So young to have obviously suffered so much. I wonder what happened to them.”

“Children their age shouldn’t be subjected to things like this, war and hardships like these.” Bitti said, the maternal note in her voice turning sour and bitter. “Children should be free to play where they like - they should be free to have fun and live their lives to the fullest. They should have a safe place to go when things g-get rough and a p-place to eat e-even w-when they do-don’t have money. They-” Bitti’s voice began to crack with sorrow, and she had to stop to collect herself, bringing her hands up to hide her face. She, like many of the town’s inhabitants, had led miserable lives until the founding of Fordwych.

“I’m sure they will be fine.” Gehlmen said with a nod as he walked back towards his table, still cleaning up the used and bloodied cloths. It was hard for him to see what new evils the world could cook up, as almost each and every new arrival to Fordwych ended up in his care before they even found a place to call their own.

“Has the girl’s breathing steadied any, Bitti?” He asked after a moment’s pause to think on what else he should be doing.

“It’s a little slower, but still rather shallow. She does seem to be calming down, however.”

“And the boy?”

“About the same.” Bitti stood and moved to stand behind Gehlmen’s chair, peering curiously over his shoulder at what he was working on. “They aren’t in too bad shape, are they, Gehlmen? I mean, they’ll make it, right?”

“Of course they will - we’ll just have to keep an eye on the boy’s infection. Seems to me they already beat death once anyway, it would be too unfair to have them die now.” He offered a small smile, turning to look at Bitti, who tried to hold her tongue and nodded stiffly. “We’ll want to get a few bandanas, as I’m sure they’ll want to cover their hair.” The two jumped slightly as there came three short raps to the door, followed but the uneven scuffling of feet and the thump of an accompanying staff.

“Suhayl,” the doctor said, putting a hand to his heart and letting out a breath of relief, “come in.”

“I came soon as I could, Gehlmen - you know I can’t just up and leave in the middle of something.” Suhayl said with a snort, running a hand through his shaggy hair and cocking his head to one side. “I was just finishing up the outer meadows when I got your message. The girl seemed a little to eager to be doing something other than chores, so the whole thing was a bit scrambled. I understood you’ve got a couple of new patients, however?”

Gehlmen smiled a bit as Suhayl entered and immediately began making himself at home, setting his staff against the wall, hanging up his coat and hat - of course he and Gehlmen had been friends for many years, so it didn’t offend the doctor, it simply made him chuckle. When they’d first met Suhayl had been a quiet, somber man, but over the years he’d turned into one of Fordwych’s most influential elders - taking charge when no-one else would do so, on top of making decorative maps of the nearby area for visitors to the Nanio shore. His goal was to one day travel all of the world.

“Yes. Austly and his boys said that these two unfortunate Nanion had washed up when they arrived. Lucky the boys play down there too, otherwise we’d never have spotted them in time.” The doctor said as he steered Suhayl towards the small cots serving as recovery rooms for the boy and girl. He felt the map-maker stiffen under his hand and pulled back a little, leaning forward to see what the problem was. Suhayl’s eyes were focused on the young girl, and had grown wide - wide with recognition.

“Suhayl?” Bitti called from the corner, alert and ready to jump forward if the elder Nanion needed assistance.

“Th-that is Kyin.” Suhayl said in barely a whisper, moving forward a bit towards her before kneeling slowly to his knees near her head and taking her wrist. “I- knew her father.” He explained after a moment of silence, sorrow on his face. “She’s from Crawyn Village.” He leaned forward a bit and smoothed some of the hair from her face, a slow and bittersweet smile crossing his lips. “Further up into the Votoc Mountains.”

“And the boy?” Bitti prodded, taking a few steps closer. “Do you recognize him?”

“Yes, yes, of course.” Suhayl said, waving off-handedly as if it didn’t matter. “He’s just some beggar Kyin’s kind hearted father took in. Rhinchin or something, I think.” Gehlmen and Bitti exchanged looks behind the map-maker’s back.

“Don’t fuss over her so much, Suhayl, she’s fine. I promise.” Gehlmen said as he moved to stand on the opposite side of the bed. “Do you know what could have happened to them? Did the family have any enemies?” He paused and looked to Bitti for a moment, scratching his chin in contemplation. “I’ve never heard of Crawyn Village - Crawyn Valley yes, but I was unaware there was a village named in its honor.”

“It’s sort of a hidden village. The Nanion who constructed it used natural barriers and other such optical illusions to hide it.” Suhayl paused for a moment, and then shook his head lightly. “As far as enemies go, I can’t think of a single person who would have anything against Kyin or her parents. Now the boy on the other hand, quite a trouble-maker. If they were attacked by anyone’s enemies, they would have been his.” Once again Bitti and Gehlmen exchanged looks over the head of the oblivious map-maker. Suhayl was a bit of a known grudge-holder, and it was often hard to tell when he was exaggerating, since his temper always got the best of him. Bitti rolled her eyes slightly to let Gehlmen known she was taking Suhayl’s words with a grain of salt.

“I am sure no enemies of a young boy would go as far as to try and kill someone.” Gehlmen said softly, trying not to offend Suhayl’s judgment at all - it was best to just let him think he agreed, otherwise they’d start into an argument that would last for hours and get them nowhere. “Can you think of anything else?”

“Nope.” Suhayl said shortly, looking up at Gehlmen with defiant blue-violet eyes, beginning to sense something. “They were definitely his enemies.” He narrowed his eyes a bit and stood, his hand still lingering by Kyin’s small head. “Why? Do you think differently? You can’t honestly say you doubt my word - after all, you don’t know the boy. I do.”

“Of course, Suhayl,” Bitti said as she walked forward, holding her hands up in defense, “but surely you must know how your temper tends to… well, run away with your tongue sometimes.” She finished, giving a small smile to the doctor.

“Oh, sure sure. That’s right, let’s play ‘Crazy Old Map-Maker’.” Suhayl said bitterly, sitting back down and putting his back to the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “Chose to believe whatever you want, but I’m telling you that boy is trouble.”

“Well, at least we know where they’re from.” Bitti said, moving to replace the wet cloth on the boy’s forehead. “Crawyn.” She shook her head again slowly, ignoring the looks she was receiving from Suhayl, bitter that she was tending to the boy and not his precious Kyin. “I guess we’ll just have to wait until they wake up to find out what happened to them.”

“Unless you’d put faith in my words.”

“Suhayl, honestly. What kind of enemies would a young boy have that would go as far as to try and kill these two?” Gehlmen sighed, sitting back down at his desk and turning his chair to watch the room’s other occupants. “And not only these two, but people they were close to as well. His hair was whitening when we found him, and Kyin’s started just recently. What could a boy his age possibly have done to make someone so angry, hmm?“ Suhayl gave an exaggerated shrug and began idly picking at a spot on the wooden side table to his left, stopping every now and again to fold up the sleeve of his tattered brown shirt.

“Well, the last time I visited them the boy was hanging out with this musician, another real trouble maker. The type who’d associate himself with the wrong crowd, you know? I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a Tev-lover.”

“Hawk shit!” Bitti shrieked from over the sleeping boy. “A Nanion child of his age friends with the Tev? I’m not sure where exactly Crawyn lies, Suhayl, but I’m sure that Jir River doesn’t run anywhere near the Tevlar Swamps - how would a boy like this even come across the Tev?”

“Calm down Bitti.” Gehlmen said softly, holding up a hand to silence the Nanion. “That reminds me though, Suhayl. How old are they?”

“Well, Kyin’s got sixteen years to her name - and saying Rhinchin was a year when Kyin’s parents picked him up, I’d wager he’s about nineteen.” Suhayl raised his eyebrows as Gehlmen gave a smug smirk and nodded lightly. “How close were you?”

“About a year or two off. Not bad if I say so myself.” The room fell quiet for a moment or two, a sort of nervous air filling in between the three Nanion until a small moan from Kyin caught their attention.

“She’s waking!” Suhayl shrieked delightedly, moving closer to the young girl, hovering like a vulture.

“Step back some, Suhayl, give her some room to breathe.” Bitti cautioned, reaching out to grab the map-maker’s shoulders. Her body was taunt and shaking, as if she were either incredibly frightened, or incredibly excited.

“Uh,” with a gentle moan Kyin’s eyes slowly fluttered open, and immediately widened in fear and realization. She bolted upright, pressing herself against the headrest of the bed and pulling the blankets along with her, shaking violently from head to toe.

“Kyin!” Suhayl said, his voice only startling the girl further. “Kyin it’s me, Suhayl!” He continued, leaning forward and putting hand on the terrified child’s arm. For a moment there was silence again, and Kyin seemed not to recognize the Nanion, then, as sudden as her waking she let out a cry and threw her arms over Suhayl’s shoulders, hiding her face against his chest and giving way to sobs.

“Suhayl!” She sobbed, her voice breaking in fear and relief. Bitti and Gehlmen exchanged looks while the doctor rubbed his calloused hands over the girl’s back, cooing soothingly to her. She pulled away after a few minutes, though he did not release his hold on her, and scanned his face quickly.

“R-rhin.. I-is he?” She gasped, her voice hard to decipher through the sobs. Suhayl clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, but Bitti stepped in quickly, pulling a smile to her face.

“He is fine dear. He’s still asleep, but he should be waking soon.” She reached out and touched the girl’s arm lightly. “Would you like something to drink? Something warm?” Bitti’s smile turned genuine as the girl slowly sank away from Suhayl’s all too eager hands and gave a soft nod, bringing a hand up to clear away some of her tears, though they still came.

“You are in Fordwych now, Kyin.” Gehlmen said softly, taking a seat at the end of the bed while offering the girl what he hoped to be a comforting smile. “I am Gehlmen, and the busy woman in the corner goes by Bitti. We have been caring for you for almost a day now. A couple of the younger boys in the village found you and your companion on the shore of Jir Lake.” He paused for a moment as Bitti walked back in, cradling a steaming cup in her hands. “We- dressed your wounds, and you are both quite safe here.” He sighed while Kyin gently took the cup from Bitti, though her whole tiny frame still shook. “I-I know it is painful for you, but - when you are ready to talk, we would like to know what happened.” Bitti let out a slight noise and turned to face Gehlmen, hands firmly on her hips.

“Give it a rest, Gehlmen. The girl just woke up after an obviously traumatic experience. Let her recover and get her wits about her before you start an interrogation.”

“N-no, it’s ok..” Kyin said softly, bringing all three pairs of eyes back to her in an unnerving way. She shuddered for a moment, holding the cup to her lips just to feel the hot steam pouring over her face. There was a slight spasm in her face but she fought back another onslaught of tears and body wracking sobs with a couple of deep breaths.

“W-we were attacked.. Our whole village.” She began, her voice sounding brave and strong, though her body’s tremors and her never-ceasing tears gave away her fear and pain. “A messenger came in a-a couple of nights a-ago… One of the k-king’s messengers.. Me an-and Rhinwyn and Jo-johan…” She stopped suddenly and dropped the cup, bringing her hands up to cover her face, ignoring the hot liquid which began to soak the blanket at her feet. “Oh Johan!” She cried, jerking forward to wrap her arms around Suhayl once more, sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder. “Mother and father!” She continued, pulling on Suhayl so desperately the old map-maker moved to sit on the edge of the bed, holding her as tightly as he could without hurting her.

Gehlmen and Bitti moved to take care of the spill, Bitti taking the blanket and empty cup while Gehlmen moved to get another blanket, quickly wrapping Kyin in it. The two other Nanion stood silent at the end of the bed as they watched Suhayl begin shaking from the force of Kyin’s sobs.

“They’re all dead! The whole village!”

As Gehlmen watched the girl cry, her voice breaking in a painful way against her raw throat, he couldn’t help but feel a shudder of foreshadowing slink down his spine. They were attacked and their village, their whole village, slaughtered. There was only one race who would have pulled such a brutal, heartless attack.

The Tev.