Castle Shyr

More of the boys.

Lemme know what you guys think of the dialogue between the kids.. It\'s one of the things I worry about most - my dialogue. I want to give characters realistic accents, but I also want my readers to be able to understand what the characters are saying. :)

(Man, if you think those accents are bad.. wait until you meet Carrick. ;) )


-Watchful Guardsmen-

“It’s… so big.. Has it-has it ever been this big before?” Til’s voice was wracked with carefully guarded fear as he tilted his head to look at his companions.

“Sure it has..” Yuhin answered confidently, shrugging a bit.

“When? When has it been this big?” Til continued, sitting up as he drew his knees to his chest and craned his neck to get a better view of the full moon looming just over the town.

“Til, relax. ‘s always this big, you just think ‘s bigger this time cause you’re closer.” Mirta replied coolly, continuing to pick at the roof. The seven boys had congregated atop the roof of Gehlmen’s office to wait for Austly, who’d been called in just after sunset to talk with his mother. It was past all of their bedtimes, but they made a habit out of sneaking out past bedtime to do things in the dark they couldn’t do in the light, so it wasn’t unusual to see them all gathered atop a roof or running in the meadow well after sunset.

Yuhin sighed and pulled his long braid over his shoulder, twirling the end idly as he crossed his eyes to look at the reflection of the moon in his glasses.

“He’s been in there a while..” He remarked as he fixed his eyes and shook his head a bit, feeling a tad nauseous. “You don’t think they’ve died, do you?”

“Yuhin!” Yelped Til, covering his mouth and shaking his head as his eyes grew wide. “Do-do you really think they- they-”

“Would you stop scarin’ Til already, Yuhin? Sheesh..” Soboe grumbled, cocking his head back to look at the boys from his perch on his back near the end of the roof. “Til, don’t listen to a word he says. He’s just tryin’ ta get a rise outta ya.”

“Get a rise out of me?” Til asked innocently, reaching up to mess with his bandanna, which had fallen to one side.

“Make you go: Oh! Or Ah! Or Ew!” Taywah piped in happily, tossing another rock across the roof.

Til looked over at Yuhin and tugged lightly on his shirt.

“’S that true?” He asked softly, bringing his other hand up to pull at his bottom lip.

“Course not, sheesh.” Yuhin replied as he tried to feign nonchalance. “I’m jus’ telling you like it is, Til!”

“Are not.” Fetwhe mumbled, startling Til who’d assumed the other boy had fallen asleep.

“Are too!”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

“Shh!” The boys turned to look at Kylo, who had leaned himself over the roof to attempt to peer into one of the windows. “I can see ‘em!” He called up excitedly, waving the boys a bit closer so that he could relay his information without shouting. “He’s sittin’ at the desk bein’ talked at by his dad. His mum don’t look happy, an’ his dad’s lookin’ red ‘round the face too..”

“Not a good sign,” Yuhin said in an exaggerated way, ignoring the roll of Fetwhe’s eyes.

“What else, Kylo?” Til mumbled as he tried to lean over as well, feeling Mirta’s hand grab his shirt to steady him.

“Well - I see one of the beds, an’ ‘s empty. Gee - you don’t think they’s really dead, do you?” The Nanion ran a hand over his curly hair as he pulled himself back up onto the roof and crossed his legs.

“They were really badly hurt.” Yuhin supplied, shrugging a bit as if he hadn’t been the one who started the suspicion.

“Hey! Th-they’re leaving!” Til yelped, scrambling back onto the roof so he wouldn’t be seen as the door opened below them.

“-and I don’t want to hear another word about it, Austlinion, you hear me?”

“Yeah, I hear you.” Austly mumbled, knowing his father was serious, he’d used Austly’s full name after all. He suppressed a snarl as his father reached down and ruffled his hair, crouching before him.

“Think about how much they’ll appreciate this, Austly.” Raban continued, laying his arms over his knees. “Every good man starts with a good deed, son.”

“’s not Rhinwyn that I mind, dad, ‘s the.. The girl.”

“Now Austly,” Bitti said, her voice slightly sharper than kind. “There is nothin’ wrong with that girl. You cheer up an’ be nice or you’ll be housed, got it?”

“Housed?” Austly chirped worriedly, turning to look up at his mother. “For how long?”

“As long as it takes for you to stop bein’ so selfish. Now get on home, both of ya,” she said with a pointed glance at Raban, “I’ll be up with Rhin and Kyin soon.” The Nanion woman was given a short nod and a light kiss on the cheek as she turned and closed the door softly behind her.

“Alright, you heard your mother; let’s get goin’.” Raban reached over and put his hand on Austly’s back, giving him a gentle shove towards the stairs. He smiled as Austly gave a small nod over his right shoulder, no doubt telling his friends he’d be up in a minute. Raban held in a chuckle as best he could, knowing how invincible being a kid made you feel.

“Just think Austly, it’ll be like having another brother and a sister.”

“Dad,” Austly said after a moment, crossing his arms over his chest as he stepped onto the sandy ground.

“Hmm?” Raban turned as his son stopped walking and looked over at him. “What is it?” He said immediately afterwards, crouching again in front of Austly as he noted the serious expression on his son’s face.

“I heard some talk today, at th’ bar..” Austly started, picking at his arms as he stared at the ground, “talk about Lan.” He mumbled, peering up out of the corners of his eyes to gauge his father’s reaction. Raban merely offered a small smile and reached out to touch Austly’s shoulder.

“What kind of talk?”

“Bad talk. Lan’s not a bad man, dad.” He sighed, swallowing hard so as to remove the lump in his throat. “He’s a good man.” There was a short pause and Raban reached out to pull Austly to him in a hug that was just a little less embarrassing than the one Bitti had made Austly suffer through at the shore. When Raban finally let the boy go he made sure to meet and hold his eyes.

“You’re absolutely right, Austly, Lan is a good man. But everyone makes mistakes, son, and your brother has made enemies through some of his. When you make mistakes and when you make enemies, people start telling stories. They take the events that really happened and make it seem like one person was to blame. That is why people talk badly about Lantipher. His enemies have told bad stories.” Raban smiled softly as he watched Austly turn his head away and rub at his eyes. “Why don’t you go up and tell your friends what’s going on, then come home, ok?” Raban laughed as his son looked at him incredulously, wondering how he’d managed to figure out where his friends were.

“O-ok. Don’t tell mom though. She told me that if I kep’ sneakin’ out with them after bedtime she’d house me for a year.”

“I’ll make a deal with you.” Raban said, standing and trying his best to look professional. “You stop complaining about letting those two stay with us, and I won’t tell your mother.” He struck out his right hand. “Deal?”

Austly cocked his head to one side, almost sizing his father up for a moment before he smiled and thrust out his own hand, shaking vigorously.

“Deal!”

Raban’s heart skipped a few beats as he watched his son shimmy up a tree ten times his size as if he were walking on solid ground. He turned with a smile, pulling the tie from his long black hair, as he recalled being just as reckless at that age.


“Austly!” Til yelped, turning and nearly throwing himself at the older boy. “Austly what happened! Are they dead!”

“What? ‘Course they ain’t dead!” Austly said, prying Til from his leg and taking a seat. “Who said they was dead?” He raised an eyebrow as Til pointed to Yuhin, who was currently studing something incredibly interesting on the roof. “Uh huh, ok. Well - no, they ain’t dead.” Austly started, feeling a thump of pride as all the boys turned to look at him, rapt at attention. “They’re Nanion, from a village up that way called Crawyn. The girl’s name is Kyin and the other one is Rhinwyn. Kyin’s parents took Rhin in before she was born so they’re kinda like brother and sister.”

“When are we takin’ ‘em back?” Mirta yawned, looking down as a loud thud shuddered the roof.

“What d’ya mean?”

“Well, you said they’s from Crawyn,” Kylo continued, swinging down to peer into the house once more, “so when’s we takin’ ‘em back?”

“They-they can’t go back.” Austly said softly, his playful demeanor diminishing as he looked out over the shore in the distance. “They washed up ‘cause their village was attacked, and they leapt off a cliff to get ‘way.” He paused again, eyes firmly locked on the waves he could barely make out. “All their friends and family - ever’body they knew is dead.”

A firm silence fell over the boys, even Kylo was quiet as he flipped back upright and stared at Austly like the other boys. There was a slight sniffle as Til reached up to wipe his eyes and clear his throat.

“So - if’n they’s can’t go back, where they’s gonna stay?” Kylo whispered, as if suddenly the whole village could hear them talking.

“My dad said they can stay with us.” Austly admitted with a heavy sigh and a sag of the shoulders. “He says since he’s founder o’ Fordwych it’s only natural for him to offer his house to ‘em.”

“So, they’re gonna be like, your brother and sister?” Taywah yawned, starting for the tree. Austly nodded and stood, stretching a moment before he and the others followed Taywah down through the branches.

“I wan’t too happy ‘bout it at first, but ‘s someone else to be on our crew an’ help wit’ the ship, and someone to keep my mom busy while I’m out so she don’t come lookin’ for me.” The other boys nodded in agreement, standing now in a circle under the platform of Gehlman’s office. “So, tomorrow we’ll put ‘em through the tests an’ see if he’s got what it takes to be on the crew, right?”

“Right.” Said the seven in unison, before putting their hands into the center of the circle and locking thumb and pinky with the Nanion on either side.

“Albien?” Austly offered, an ancient pirate word Lan had taught them for ‘sunset’ or ‘good night.’

“Albien.” The others said softly, hearing the boards above them creak, before scampering off.

Austly took a few steps out from under the platform and shielded his eyes from the moonlight to see atop the stairs. His mother’s back was to the door, and the two Nanion were standing just outside, quiet and downtrodden. Austly clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and took off back under the platform, scampering through the wooden stairs and under the next platform, knowing he had to make good time if he was going to get home before his mother.

‘After all this, dad had better keep his promise.’ He grumbled to himself, scraping a knee against a stair.