Cave Geeks II, Chapter 22
Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor
Author: Taylor Dancinghands -laughingunicorn@gmail.com
Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, and eventually Sheppard/Weir, plus: Teyla, Ronon, Stackhouse, Markham, Miller, Kavanagh, Cadman, Halling, and Jinto, and a big ol’ pile of OCs
Category: slash, drama, action/adventure, h/c, AU
Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.
Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions
Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?
Spoilers/Season: none
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?
Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader
smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.
Chapter 22
The surface of the fine grained wood was smooth under R'dek's fingers, but the contour was not yet perfect. He raised the scraper to the place he felt needed to be shaped still, and shaved away a little bit more, with a soft sound of stone against wood, sshhhk... sshhhk... sshhhk...
There was not much light in Caresn's hut, even with the mid-morning sun streaming through the doorway, but this was not work for which R'dek needed his less than perfect eyes. It was not work suited for his fine, new, bronze knife either, but R'dek didn't mind. This sort of work, that some might call tedious and meticulous, R'dek had always found comforting, and even relaxing. There was such simple satisfaction in feeling the slow but steady progress of the tool being shaped under his fingers, and a peace to be found in the simple rhythms of the work.
Sshhhk... sshhhk... sshhhk...
All around his feet there was forming a little drift of thin wood shavings and fuzz, too fine even to make splinters, which was why Caresn had raised no objections to R'dek doing this work in his hut. He could work here and keep an eye on Loren, while Caresn took a much needed break. The overwrought healer had been so very grateful when R'dek suggested the idea that he hadn't even thought to inquire as to R'dek's motives, and probably had no idea that he had any, save to aid a friend. Indeed, since R'dek's intentions were to coax Caresn's lover back into taking an interest in his life, aiding his friends was a part of R'dek's long term goal, but so was passing on his own gift, to answer the one Shef'hred had given him, as well as seeing to it that Lakeside's finest hunter was not lost to them, in any capacity.
R'dek, like his lover, did not really believe in the Gods, but he did, in an odd and subtle fashion, believe in magic. It was a sort of magic that he worked with his hands whenever he engaged in his craft, after all, and now he planned to work a sort of toolmaker magic with Loren. He had never done such a thing before, and thought it best if he kept it strictly between the two of them to start with, but R'dek felt an uncanny confidence in this effort. He knew it as he knew the perfectly shaping contours forming in the wood of the soon-to-be longbow beneath his fingers.
Sshhhk... sshhhk... sshhhk...
"Caresn?" It was jarring to hear the hunter's voice so weak and unsteady, but R'dek's main focus was on the wood and stone beneath his fingers and so was able to answer calmly.
"He is out getting a little sun and fresh air," R'dek replied. "I said I would stay here to keep an eye on you. Is there anything I can get you? Some water or tea, or a little breakfast perhaps?"
"Maybe... maybe some tea," Loren said after a moment, a little reluctantly.
"Of course," Radek said with a nod, setting down his work to pour some tea from the pot keeping warm by the fire into a cup. "You would like some honey in it as well?"
"Um... sure," Loren said. "Just not too much."
R'dek nodded, dipping a little honey into Loren's cup and stirring it before handing it to him and then helping him to sit up. R'dek could feel how Loren's body was still a little warmer than it should be as he laid an arm over his shoulders to help him. The hunter had been suffering from a low fever for days now, and Caresn had been unable to drive it away. He was sure, and R'dek tended to agree, that this was because Loren was not entirely prepared to go on with his life as it must be now. The healer never said it in so many words, but R'dek could see the fear in his eyes when he spoke of how his lover was doing.
He returned to the long bow as Loren sipped at his tea, quickly falling back into the rhythm of the work. He knew that Caresn had wanted Loren to eat something too, but R'dek knew better than to plead or nag. Loren's appetite would return with his interest in life, and R'dek intended to address this latter directly. He smiled secretly to himself as he felt Loren's gaze fall on him, and on the long, contoured piece of wood in his hands.
"What're you working on there?" Loren asked eventually. Ah, R'dek thought with profound satisfaction. The prey has scented the bait; it is only a matter of time now...
"A long bow," R'dek answered. "It would be my first, but I have a very good feeling about it."
"Like the one that R'non has?" Loren asked and R'dek could hear the budding interest in his voice. The prey is enticed, R'dek thought; he draws closer to my trap...
"I hope it will be," R'dek answered, "but I will not know until it's finished and someone else has tried it out."
"Not you?" Loren inquired.
"I?" R'dek said with a laugh. "I should be strictly forbidden from shooting such a weapon where more than one person might be present. There is not telling what, or who, I might hit."
"Okay, you may have a point there," R'dek could hear a trace of a smile in Loren's voice. "But whoever tries it is going to want to trade you the sun, the moon and the stars to get to keep it for themselves."
"They may," R'dek said casually, seeing his prey on the verge of entering his trap. "But I have concluded that this first must be a gift."
"A gift?" Loren asked. "For who?"
"In fact," R'dek said with a utterly satisfied smile, "it will be for you, Master Huntsman." Snap! he thought, watching Loren's eyes widen in surprise. His face closed down again a moment later.
"I'm finished with hunting," Loren said, looking away. "You know that."
"I thought I knew that your injury was in your foot," R'dek replied, undaunted. "I had not heard that it had effected your vision, or the strength or steadiness of your arms?"
"It hasn't..." Loren replied, actually sounding a little trapped, "but..."
"So," R'dek cut him off, spreading his hands in a shrug. "Then it must be yours. It is why I have brought it here to work on, after all. A tool such as this wishes to know its master, if it can, from the very beginning." He returned to work as he spoke, carefully adjusting the contour of the bow in that tricky spot where the curve changed from concave to convex. Glancing at the hunter out of the corner of his eye from time to time, R'dek saw that Loren seemed to be rapt, gazing at the instrument taking shape under his hands with fascination. He knew he did not need to say any more for now; his argument was far more eloquent than words.
Sshhhk... sshhhk... sshhhk...
"Can... um... can I touch it?" The longing was clear in Loren's voice, and R'dek smiled, knowing his 'magic' was working just as he had intended. Now he would weave the last bit of his spell, binding Loren to life as surely as if he had rope to do it with.
"You may..." R'dek replied, almost reluctantly, "but you must understand one... condition."
"Condition?" Loren asked.
"Once you touch it, the bow must be yours," R'dek explained. "No other will ever find it to their liking. It will not respond to them as it would to you, will not feel 'right' in their hands. It will never make any other hunter happy, if it comes to know your touch now. If it were to pass that you would not use it yourself -if you are truly 'finished' with hunting- then it would be a great waste... and a small tragedy, from my point of view, to have such a fine tool lie idle and unusable."
In the silence that followed, R'dek could feel the power of his magic, could feel the force of the attraction between the hunter and the sculpted piece of wood in his hands, and the promise it offered. In the dim light of Caresn's hut, R'dek saw Loren set his tea cup down and sit forward, looking down at his hands, and then at the unfinished bow again.
"Maybe..." he said softly, "maybe with this I wouldn't... wouldn't have to be finished... with hunting, I mean." R'dek nodded slowly, catching the larger meaning Loren hadn't really meant to give away, and when Loren reached his hands out he solemnly laid the bow into them. He would swear he could almost feel a spark of energy leap from his hands, through the wood, into Loren's, at the same time as he heard the hunter draw a surprised breath.
"I can feel the power in it," he said, his voice hushed, and R'dek knew a dizzying moment of realization that his spell might have been far more powerful than he realized, in addition to the elation that it seemed to have worked splendidly.
"That's as it should be," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "It will be a powerful tool. More powerful than anything I have ever made, I think."
Loren nodded silently, carefully handing the bow back to its maker. "How long before it's finished?" he asked.
"Since this is my first," R'dek said, finding the place he'd been working on before, and laying the scraper to it again, "I cannot be quite sure, but I think I will be finished with the shaping tomorrow. After that the bow must be 'trained' to bend correctly, and it may be that you could help in that. If you are interested, I will ask R'non here to speak to us both about how it is to be done?"
"Sure," Loren said, and R'dek thrilled to hear a not of real anticipation in Loren's voice. "Do you think he could come tomorrow?"
R'dek grinned to himself as he framed his answer, and grinned even wider as he saw a shadow fall over the doorway and heard Caresn's voice asking, "Who is it that you're inviting around then?"
"We were speaking of having R'non come to speak to us both about the next step in forming his new bow," R'dek said, standing, because he knew Caresn and Loren would likely be wanting some time alone now.
"Your new bow?" Caresn asked, looking between R'dek and his lover.
"He, ah... he says he's giving it to me," Loren replied, glancing back at R'dek as if to confirm the truth of it. R'dek nodded encouragingly. "I'm not sure I understand why, quite..."
"There are many reasons," R'dek said, dropping his scraper into his tool pouch and dusting the wood shavings off himself. "If you are still curious, later, I will tell you. For now, however, I have agreed to meet with Rodne for a midday meal. I will just leave this here, for safe keeping, yes?" R'dek leaned the unfinished bow against the wall, near the foot of the bed.
"Aye, alright," Caresn said, sounding a little dazed, as Loren said, "Sure," in a similar manner, at the same time. "Enjoy your meal with Rodne," Caresn concluded as R'dek headed out the door.
"I don't know if you've had anything to eat yet," R'dek heard as he paused outside long enough to hear Caresn's next words to Loren, "but I've brought along some bread stuffed with hard cooked eggs and greens, still warm from the ovens, if you'd fancy any...?"
"That, ah... that sounds pretty good, actually," he heard Loren answer, and R'dek felt his heart lift.
"Yes!" he shouted with a grin as he headed to the ovens to see if he couldn't get some of that for himself, or if Rodne wasn't already there looking for the same thing. He met Rodne on the way, having already acquired the very item and feeling quite pleased with himself on that account. Still, he was taken completely by surprise when R'dek waylaid him, pushed him into the side of the nearest hut, and kissed the living daylights out of him.
***
As fate would have it, R'dek himself came to be ambushed, in turn, later that evening as he was walking through the snow-bark tree grove on the way back from having concluded a deal with Abram for some leather thong and bindings he would need for the bow. It was dusk -just the hour at which the colors of the visible world begin to fade, and things that ought not be visible may appear, briefly. R'dek was not sure, therefore, that the motion he thought he saw up ahead really was anything or anyone until it shouted, "There you are!" triumphantly, and grabbed him up in a fierce hug.
"Ye bloody miracle worker!" Caresn cried, kissing R'dek on both cheeks and then drawing back so that R'dek could see the glimmer of tears on his face -deeply dimpled in an ecstatic smile.
"Ye've saved him, love!" Caresn grinned. "Ye've made him want life again, and ye planned it didn't you? You knew what you were doing when you went in there to work this morning, ye bloody genius. Admit it!"
R'dek chuckled bashfully, looking down as he smoothed his hair again from where Caresn had mussed it. "The idea came to me," he said, "as I was thinking who would have this first bow of mine. I really had now idea how well it would work; I have never done anything of this sort before, you know."
"He can't take his eyes off the damned thing," Caresn said, shaking his head in wonder. "And his fever's broken, and he's eating again." The healer reached out to take R'dek's hand, blinking away more tears. "Ye've saved my heart; ye know that, don't ye, lad? I owe you everything."
"No, no," R'dek looked up now, meeting Caresn's gaze. "You owe nothing. Caresn, all your life you have helped others, and not only in healing. You know you were the first real friend Rodne ever had? In that way alone you probably saved his life, and in other ways too, I imagine."
"I don't think I'd seen it that way before," Caresn said thoughtfully, "but there's likely truth to it." He turned then, to walk with R'dek, in the direction he'd been going before Caresn had ambushed him. "You headed back to your camp?" Caresn asked as they walked.
"To the firepit," R'dek confirmed. "Seeing as we haven't really got a cook fire in our shelter."
Rodne was there when they arrived, heating up an enormous pot of soup that he'd made a few days ago, and Li'bet was there too, chatting contentedly with him.
"R'dek," she greeted him as he and Caresn approached. "Just the man I was looking for."
"Li'bet," R'dek returned the greeting. "Everyone is looking for me this evening, it seems."
"That's because you're a man worth finding," Caresn said with a wink to Rodne. "But I've another man to find, just in there," he gestured toward his hut, "so I'll be bidding you all a pleasant meal and fair evening."
Everyone said goodnight to Caresn and best wishes to Loren, and R'dek stepped over to where Rodne was stirring his soup by the fire and kissed him gently on the lips. "I hear you're going into the healer business now," Rodne teased as they parted.
"Only a little toolmaker magic," R'dek smiled, gesturing Li'bet to sit beside him on one of the firepit logs. "Has Rodne asked you to join us for dinner yet?" he inquired.
"In fact, he has," Li'bet replied, her eyes sparkling in the firelight. "But I suspect I have you to thank for his good manners these days."
"Right here!" Rodne objected.
"Rodne, do you actually wish to deny that you are an extremely rude man most of the time?" R'dek asked.
"Well, no, of course not," Rodne said, "but you could have the decency to direct personal comments personally, don't you think?"
"Fair enough," said Li'bet. "Rodne, do we have R'dek to thank for any modicum of good manners you do posses?"
"Mmm..." Rodne thought as he tasted the soup. "Probably -not that you and Caresn didn't both try."
Li'bet and R'dek both laughed. "Getting back to me, however," R'dek chuckled. "What was the reason you were looking for me, Li'bet?"
"The reason," she replied, "was that I was hoping you would be able to help with the, ah, horses, that we now seem to have inherited the care of. It seems that a number of them are still wearing their... riding gear, and apparently that's not good for them."
"No, it is not," R'dek nodded. "I thought that this might be the case, but have not been able to see it for myself, and have not thought to ask."
"Well, Shef'hred asked me about it yesterday evening," Li'bet said, "and I promised that I'd find a few people to take care of it. Sitakhus has volunteered, and Yinte, but I thought I would ask you too, as you seem to know at least a little about them. Certainly more than anyone else here except for Shef'hred."
"That is likely so," said R'dek with a nod. "And I would be happy to help. Since we have taken their previous caretakers from them, it does fall upon us to care for these horses, and I would not have them suffer from neglect."
"Gods above!" Rodne grumbled as he presented R'dek and Li'bet each with bowls of soup and then took his own, sitting along side them on the log. "Have you not tried enough risky
stunts this summer, R'dek?"
R'dek rolled his eyes, blowing on a spoonful of soup to cool it. "Yes, it is true, horses can be dangerous," he said. "But they are not wolves -and these horses have all been tamed. The three of us can go talk to Shef'hred about which ones are more ill tempered," he turned to Li'bet to explain, "and see if he doesn't know some of their names. That could help."
Li'bet nodded. "He did suggest bringing an apple or beetroot, to make friends with them," she said. "And if they are intelligent enough to know and answer to their names..."
"They most certainly are," R'dek said. "I once traveled some days in the company of a horse and rider, and the creature seemed to understand his rider's very words."
"Right," Rodne said with a roll of his eyes. "Let me know when they start building fires, making tools and talking."
The conversation wandered after that, and when they had all finished their soup and washed up, Li'bet went on her way and Rodne and R'dek returned to their camp beneath the wingseed tree.
"You know," Rodne said, nuzzling the back of R'dek's neck as they curled together in their bedding, warm against the cool night. "What you did with Loren... that was pretty amazing, and Caresn... I don't know what he would have done, if... if..."
"I did what it was in my power to do," R'dek said, turning to kiss Rodne's lips, tasting his mouth happily. "And I am grateful that after having used my power to take so many lives, I have been able to save one."
"You've saved more than one," Rodne told him, pulling him close. "You save mine every day."
They left words behind after that.
***
Next week: Discord in Lakeside.
Author: Taylor Dancinghands -laughingunicorn@gmail.com
Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, and eventually Sheppard/Weir, plus: Teyla, Ronon, Stackhouse, Markham, Miller, Kavanagh, Cadman, Halling, and Jinto, and a big ol’ pile of OCs
Category: slash, drama, action/adventure, h/c, AU
Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.
Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions
Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?
Spoilers/Season: none
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?
Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader
smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.Chapter 22
The surface of the fine grained wood was smooth under R'dek's fingers, but the contour was not yet perfect. He raised the scraper to the place he felt needed to be shaped still, and shaved away a little bit more, with a soft sound of stone against wood, sshhhk... sshhhk... sshhhk...
There was not much light in Caresn's hut, even with the mid-morning sun streaming through the doorway, but this was not work for which R'dek needed his less than perfect eyes. It was not work suited for his fine, new, bronze knife either, but R'dek didn't mind. This sort of work, that some might call tedious and meticulous, R'dek had always found comforting, and even relaxing. There was such simple satisfaction in feeling the slow but steady progress of the tool being shaped under his fingers, and a peace to be found in the simple rhythms of the work.
Sshhhk... sshhhk... sshhhk...
All around his feet there was forming a little drift of thin wood shavings and fuzz, too fine even to make splinters, which was why Caresn had raised no objections to R'dek doing this work in his hut. He could work here and keep an eye on Loren, while Caresn took a much needed break. The overwrought healer had been so very grateful when R'dek suggested the idea that he hadn't even thought to inquire as to R'dek's motives, and probably had no idea that he had any, save to aid a friend. Indeed, since R'dek's intentions were to coax Caresn's lover back into taking an interest in his life, aiding his friends was a part of R'dek's long term goal, but so was passing on his own gift, to answer the one Shef'hred had given him, as well as seeing to it that Lakeside's finest hunter was not lost to them, in any capacity.
R'dek, like his lover, did not really believe in the Gods, but he did, in an odd and subtle fashion, believe in magic. It was a sort of magic that he worked with his hands whenever he engaged in his craft, after all, and now he planned to work a sort of toolmaker magic with Loren. He had never done such a thing before, and thought it best if he kept it strictly between the two of them to start with, but R'dek felt an uncanny confidence in this effort. He knew it as he knew the perfectly shaping contours forming in the wood of the soon-to-be longbow beneath his fingers.
Sshhhk... sshhhk... sshhhk...
"Caresn?" It was jarring to hear the hunter's voice so weak and unsteady, but R'dek's main focus was on the wood and stone beneath his fingers and so was able to answer calmly.
"He is out getting a little sun and fresh air," R'dek replied. "I said I would stay here to keep an eye on you. Is there anything I can get you? Some water or tea, or a little breakfast perhaps?"
"Maybe... maybe some tea," Loren said after a moment, a little reluctantly.
"Of course," Radek said with a nod, setting down his work to pour some tea from the pot keeping warm by the fire into a cup. "You would like some honey in it as well?"
"Um... sure," Loren said. "Just not too much."
R'dek nodded, dipping a little honey into Loren's cup and stirring it before handing it to him and then helping him to sit up. R'dek could feel how Loren's body was still a little warmer than it should be as he laid an arm over his shoulders to help him. The hunter had been suffering from a low fever for days now, and Caresn had been unable to drive it away. He was sure, and R'dek tended to agree, that this was because Loren was not entirely prepared to go on with his life as it must be now. The healer never said it in so many words, but R'dek could see the fear in his eyes when he spoke of how his lover was doing.
He returned to the long bow as Loren sipped at his tea, quickly falling back into the rhythm of the work. He knew that Caresn had wanted Loren to eat something too, but R'dek knew better than to plead or nag. Loren's appetite would return with his interest in life, and R'dek intended to address this latter directly. He smiled secretly to himself as he felt Loren's gaze fall on him, and on the long, contoured piece of wood in his hands.
"What're you working on there?" Loren asked eventually. Ah, R'dek thought with profound satisfaction. The prey has scented the bait; it is only a matter of time now...
"A long bow," R'dek answered. "It would be my first, but I have a very good feeling about it."
"Like the one that R'non has?" Loren asked and R'dek could hear the budding interest in his voice. The prey is enticed, R'dek thought; he draws closer to my trap...
"I hope it will be," R'dek answered, "but I will not know until it's finished and someone else has tried it out."
"Not you?" Loren inquired.
"I?" R'dek said with a laugh. "I should be strictly forbidden from shooting such a weapon where more than one person might be present. There is not telling what, or who, I might hit."
"Okay, you may have a point there," R'dek could hear a trace of a smile in Loren's voice. "But whoever tries it is going to want to trade you the sun, the moon and the stars to get to keep it for themselves."
"They may," R'dek said casually, seeing his prey on the verge of entering his trap. "But I have concluded that this first must be a gift."
"A gift?" Loren asked. "For who?"
"In fact," R'dek said with a utterly satisfied smile, "it will be for you, Master Huntsman." Snap! he thought, watching Loren's eyes widen in surprise. His face closed down again a moment later.
"I'm finished with hunting," Loren said, looking away. "You know that."
"I thought I knew that your injury was in your foot," R'dek replied, undaunted. "I had not heard that it had effected your vision, or the strength or steadiness of your arms?"
"It hasn't..." Loren replied, actually sounding a little trapped, "but..."
"So," R'dek cut him off, spreading his hands in a shrug. "Then it must be yours. It is why I have brought it here to work on, after all. A tool such as this wishes to know its master, if it can, from the very beginning." He returned to work as he spoke, carefully adjusting the contour of the bow in that tricky spot where the curve changed from concave to convex. Glancing at the hunter out of the corner of his eye from time to time, R'dek saw that Loren seemed to be rapt, gazing at the instrument taking shape under his hands with fascination. He knew he did not need to say any more for now; his argument was far more eloquent than words.
Sshhhk... sshhhk... sshhhk...
"Can... um... can I touch it?" The longing was clear in Loren's voice, and R'dek smiled, knowing his 'magic' was working just as he had intended. Now he would weave the last bit of his spell, binding Loren to life as surely as if he had rope to do it with.
"You may..." R'dek replied, almost reluctantly, "but you must understand one... condition."
"Condition?" Loren asked.
"Once you touch it, the bow must be yours," R'dek explained. "No other will ever find it to their liking. It will not respond to them as it would to you, will not feel 'right' in their hands. It will never make any other hunter happy, if it comes to know your touch now. If it were to pass that you would not use it yourself -if you are truly 'finished' with hunting- then it would be a great waste... and a small tragedy, from my point of view, to have such a fine tool lie idle and unusable."
In the silence that followed, R'dek could feel the power of his magic, could feel the force of the attraction between the hunter and the sculpted piece of wood in his hands, and the promise it offered. In the dim light of Caresn's hut, R'dek saw Loren set his tea cup down and sit forward, looking down at his hands, and then at the unfinished bow again.
"Maybe..." he said softly, "maybe with this I wouldn't... wouldn't have to be finished... with hunting, I mean." R'dek nodded slowly, catching the larger meaning Loren hadn't really meant to give away, and when Loren reached his hands out he solemnly laid the bow into them. He would swear he could almost feel a spark of energy leap from his hands, through the wood, into Loren's, at the same time as he heard the hunter draw a surprised breath.
"I can feel the power in it," he said, his voice hushed, and R'dek knew a dizzying moment of realization that his spell might have been far more powerful than he realized, in addition to the elation that it seemed to have worked splendidly.
"That's as it should be," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "It will be a powerful tool. More powerful than anything I have ever made, I think."
Loren nodded silently, carefully handing the bow back to its maker. "How long before it's finished?" he asked.
"Since this is my first," R'dek said, finding the place he'd been working on before, and laying the scraper to it again, "I cannot be quite sure, but I think I will be finished with the shaping tomorrow. After that the bow must be 'trained' to bend correctly, and it may be that you could help in that. If you are interested, I will ask R'non here to speak to us both about how it is to be done?"
"Sure," Loren said, and R'dek thrilled to hear a not of real anticipation in Loren's voice. "Do you think he could come tomorrow?"
R'dek grinned to himself as he framed his answer, and grinned even wider as he saw a shadow fall over the doorway and heard Caresn's voice asking, "Who is it that you're inviting around then?"
"We were speaking of having R'non come to speak to us both about the next step in forming his new bow," R'dek said, standing, because he knew Caresn and Loren would likely be wanting some time alone now.
"Your new bow?" Caresn asked, looking between R'dek and his lover.
"He, ah... he says he's giving it to me," Loren replied, glancing back at R'dek as if to confirm the truth of it. R'dek nodded encouragingly. "I'm not sure I understand why, quite..."
"There are many reasons," R'dek said, dropping his scraper into his tool pouch and dusting the wood shavings off himself. "If you are still curious, later, I will tell you. For now, however, I have agreed to meet with Rodne for a midday meal. I will just leave this here, for safe keeping, yes?" R'dek leaned the unfinished bow against the wall, near the foot of the bed.
"Aye, alright," Caresn said, sounding a little dazed, as Loren said, "Sure," in a similar manner, at the same time. "Enjoy your meal with Rodne," Caresn concluded as R'dek headed out the door.
"I don't know if you've had anything to eat yet," R'dek heard as he paused outside long enough to hear Caresn's next words to Loren, "but I've brought along some bread stuffed with hard cooked eggs and greens, still warm from the ovens, if you'd fancy any...?"
"That, ah... that sounds pretty good, actually," he heard Loren answer, and R'dek felt his heart lift.
"Yes!" he shouted with a grin as he headed to the ovens to see if he couldn't get some of that for himself, or if Rodne wasn't already there looking for the same thing. He met Rodne on the way, having already acquired the very item and feeling quite pleased with himself on that account. Still, he was taken completely by surprise when R'dek waylaid him, pushed him into the side of the nearest hut, and kissed the living daylights out of him.
***
As fate would have it, R'dek himself came to be ambushed, in turn, later that evening as he was walking through the snow-bark tree grove on the way back from having concluded a deal with Abram for some leather thong and bindings he would need for the bow. It was dusk -just the hour at which the colors of the visible world begin to fade, and things that ought not be visible may appear, briefly. R'dek was not sure, therefore, that the motion he thought he saw up ahead really was anything or anyone until it shouted, "There you are!" triumphantly, and grabbed him up in a fierce hug.
"Ye bloody miracle worker!" Caresn cried, kissing R'dek on both cheeks and then drawing back so that R'dek could see the glimmer of tears on his face -deeply dimpled in an ecstatic smile.
"Ye've saved him, love!" Caresn grinned. "Ye've made him want life again, and ye planned it didn't you? You knew what you were doing when you went in there to work this morning, ye bloody genius. Admit it!"
R'dek chuckled bashfully, looking down as he smoothed his hair again from where Caresn had mussed it. "The idea came to me," he said, "as I was thinking who would have this first bow of mine. I really had now idea how well it would work; I have never done anything of this sort before, you know."
"He can't take his eyes off the damned thing," Caresn said, shaking his head in wonder. "And his fever's broken, and he's eating again." The healer reached out to take R'dek's hand, blinking away more tears. "Ye've saved my heart; ye know that, don't ye, lad? I owe you everything."
"No, no," R'dek looked up now, meeting Caresn's gaze. "You owe nothing. Caresn, all your life you have helped others, and not only in healing. You know you were the first real friend Rodne ever had? In that way alone you probably saved his life, and in other ways too, I imagine."
"I don't think I'd seen it that way before," Caresn said thoughtfully, "but there's likely truth to it." He turned then, to walk with R'dek, in the direction he'd been going before Caresn had ambushed him. "You headed back to your camp?" Caresn asked as they walked.
"To the firepit," R'dek confirmed. "Seeing as we haven't really got a cook fire in our shelter."
Rodne was there when they arrived, heating up an enormous pot of soup that he'd made a few days ago, and Li'bet was there too, chatting contentedly with him.
"R'dek," she greeted him as he and Caresn approached. "Just the man I was looking for."
"Li'bet," R'dek returned the greeting. "Everyone is looking for me this evening, it seems."
"That's because you're a man worth finding," Caresn said with a wink to Rodne. "But I've another man to find, just in there," he gestured toward his hut, "so I'll be bidding you all a pleasant meal and fair evening."
Everyone said goodnight to Caresn and best wishes to Loren, and R'dek stepped over to where Rodne was stirring his soup by the fire and kissed him gently on the lips. "I hear you're going into the healer business now," Rodne teased as they parted.
"Only a little toolmaker magic," R'dek smiled, gesturing Li'bet to sit beside him on one of the firepit logs. "Has Rodne asked you to join us for dinner yet?" he inquired.
"In fact, he has," Li'bet replied, her eyes sparkling in the firelight. "But I suspect I have you to thank for his good manners these days."
"Right here!" Rodne objected.
"Rodne, do you actually wish to deny that you are an extremely rude man most of the time?" R'dek asked.
"Well, no, of course not," Rodne said, "but you could have the decency to direct personal comments personally, don't you think?"
"Fair enough," said Li'bet. "Rodne, do we have R'dek to thank for any modicum of good manners you do posses?"
"Mmm..." Rodne thought as he tasted the soup. "Probably -not that you and Caresn didn't both try."
Li'bet and R'dek both laughed. "Getting back to me, however," R'dek chuckled. "What was the reason you were looking for me, Li'bet?"
"The reason," she replied, "was that I was hoping you would be able to help with the, ah, horses, that we now seem to have inherited the care of. It seems that a number of them are still wearing their... riding gear, and apparently that's not good for them."
"No, it is not," R'dek nodded. "I thought that this might be the case, but have not been able to see it for myself, and have not thought to ask."
"Well, Shef'hred asked me about it yesterday evening," Li'bet said, "and I promised that I'd find a few people to take care of it. Sitakhus has volunteered, and Yinte, but I thought I would ask you too, as you seem to know at least a little about them. Certainly more than anyone else here except for Shef'hred."
"That is likely so," said R'dek with a nod. "And I would be happy to help. Since we have taken their previous caretakers from them, it does fall upon us to care for these horses, and I would not have them suffer from neglect."
"Gods above!" Rodne grumbled as he presented R'dek and Li'bet each with bowls of soup and then took his own, sitting along side them on the log. "Have you not tried enough risky
stunts this summer, R'dek?"
R'dek rolled his eyes, blowing on a spoonful of soup to cool it. "Yes, it is true, horses can be dangerous," he said. "But they are not wolves -and these horses have all been tamed. The three of us can go talk to Shef'hred about which ones are more ill tempered," he turned to Li'bet to explain, "and see if he doesn't know some of their names. That could help."
Li'bet nodded. "He did suggest bringing an apple or beetroot, to make friends with them," she said. "And if they are intelligent enough to know and answer to their names..."
"They most certainly are," R'dek said. "I once traveled some days in the company of a horse and rider, and the creature seemed to understand his rider's very words."
"Right," Rodne said with a roll of his eyes. "Let me know when they start building fires, making tools and talking."
The conversation wandered after that, and when they had all finished their soup and washed up, Li'bet went on her way and Rodne and R'dek returned to their camp beneath the wingseed tree.
"You know," Rodne said, nuzzling the back of R'dek's neck as they curled together in their bedding, warm against the cool night. "What you did with Loren... that was pretty amazing, and Caresn... I don't know what he would have done, if... if..."
"I did what it was in my power to do," R'dek said, turning to kiss Rodne's lips, tasting his mouth happily. "And I am grateful that after having used my power to take so many lives, I have been able to save one."
"You've saved more than one," Rodne told him, pulling him close. "You save mine every day."
They left words behind after that.
***
Next week: Discord in Lakeside.