Breakfast up north

As the cleaned and dressed Andros party made their way to breakfast, Rose and Jeane among their number this time, Vel suddenly found himself immobilized.

He wasn’t sure where they’d suddenly come from, but he had a redheaded twin on either side of him, pushing up against him and holding him in place. They’d put their arms around him and grabbed each other at their elbows, trapping him in the hug.

Vel was confused and amused in equal measure, and judging by the giggles from his wives, they found it funny too.

“Good morning to you too, dear cousins.”

Inaina and Aurina didn’t immediately reply, instead just pouting as Vel turned his head to look at one and then the other.

“Uhm, are the two of you okay?”

“No!”

They spoke in unison, some petulant displeasure apparent in their voices.

“Might I ask what is wrong then?”

He reached for their minds cautiously as he spoke and discovered a couple of surprising things. First of all, he could easily tell them apart by their minds. He wasn’t sure how, but he just knew by touching them who they were, one felt like Naina and one felt like Rina. The second thing was that they barely had membranes at all, they were paper thin and almost entirely transparent! But as Vel examined them more closely, he realized that was only the case for him. He remembered from his early teachings that how someone viewed him and felt about him mattered. The twins’ membranes would be quite formidable to most people, even though they clearly hadn’t had the kind of training their father had. But not for him, the twins clearly had a lot of trust in him.

He wasn’t going to make any efforts to penetrate any further right now though, figuring out who was who was enough.

“Veeeeel! You just got here and-“

Inaina had spoken, but Aurina finished the sentence for her.

“-you’re leaving again already!”

Then both spoke in unison

“It’s not fair!”

Before Vel could think of a reply, there were some reactions behind him.

“What do you mean Vel is leaving? He’s not going anywhere.”

Adi sounded puzzled. Both twins blushed, perhaps realizing they’d just revealed something that wasn’t known by everyone. They still made no move to let Vel go though.

“Now, Dear, don’t get upset. Your uncle has an important mission for your brother, it’s a great honor, and we should be proud of Vel for accepting it.”

His mother’s tone was gentle and soothing, but there was steel behind it, the motherly steel that made it clear she would brook no argument. Vel reached for Adi’s mind and gave her the mental equivalent of a reassuring squeeze of the hand. It mollified her somewhat.

Adi wasn’t the only one upset though.

“Mission, what kind of mission? If there is a chance of danger I have to accompany him-“

Vel, still facing away from them all, spoke up this time.

“That’s enough, Dina. I will be going on this mission. You, as my sworn shield, will of course accompany me. Any further questions can wait for later, we’ve a breakfast to attend.”

Even without seeing them, Vel could tell his wives were far from happy with this, but they would obey.

Breakfast was served in a smaller room than the hall they’d feasted in last night, but it was still large, with a table that could seat everyone. Considering this was an informal family breakfast, seating arrangements weren’t really strict, and everyone plopped themselves down wherever they pleased. Vel found himself opposite his cousins and in between his mother and Dina.

The fare was not that dissimilar from what one might expect to see at breakfast in the Andros household, just with a Western Aluv twist to it. For example, the platter of sliced smoked ham would be completely at home in the Lower Heartland, the one next to it piled with smoked herring would not. Vel opted for some savory porridge, a rasher of bacon, and some strong tea.

The conversation was lively and the mood happy. Ladies Fionne and Rienne didn’t even make any subtle jabs at each other. And if anyone questioned the presence of Rose and Jeane, they didn’t do so out loud. Vel suspected Kal had made it quite clear that he’d not stand for it. The man might come across as lighthearted and perhaps even unserious sometimes, but there was a calm confidence behind it all. He could afford to behave like that because everyone knew that he was the one in charge. In this castle and even in this whole province, he was top dog.

Vel found his eyes had been bigger than his stomach and he didn’t have it in him to finish the whole bowl of porridge. As he pushed it away from himself and a servant came to clear it, the twins whispered something to each other and giggled.

“Is something funny, dear daughters of mine? If so, would you mind sharing it with everyone?”

Lady Maerwynn had ever been the stricter parent, and while Kal might overlook his daughters doing something as rude as giggling to themselves at a table full of guests, she would not.

The twins for their part didn’t look even the least bit perturbed, their smiles not going anywhere.

Aurina cleared her throat and went first, but the twins quickly did their thing where one took over where the other had left off.

“Vel not finishing his porridge reminded us how when we were little-“

“-Father would tell us that if we didn’t finish our porridge-“

“-the Saltking would come and drag us beneath the waves.”

They giggled a bit more before continuing.

“But then he’d almost immediately feel bad and tell us that-“

“-we were both good girls who had nothing to fear from that scaly bastard.”

Kal regarded his two girls with the fond smile of a proud father as they giggled some more. Maerwynn too had a fond expression on her face, but it was directed at Kal, and there was definitely a healthy dose of exasperation mixed into it. Vel suppressed a smile of his own.

The Saltking, that was something he hadn’t heard in a long time. He was a favored tool of mothers in both Aluvian provinces for scaring their children into obedience. Or trying to, anyway. “Finish your dinner or the Saltking will drag you beneath the waves” was something many a Vashkai child had heard. Vel, growing up in the Lower Heartland with a mother who didn’t care for that style of parenting hadn’t really been on the receiving end of it, but he’d heard enough during their visits to the north.

In general, the Saltking made appearances in many a scary or frightening tale, both those meant to teach some kind of lesson and those that were scary just to be scary. There were some where a cunning or brave hero outwitted him, some where he a ship too heavily loaded with plunder couldn’t outrun him and was dragged beneath the waves, and many more.

Descriptions of the Saltking varied quite a bit, but most everyone agreed he was a reptile of roughly humanoid shape. The agreement ended there though. Did he walk on two legs at all times, or did he mostly lope around on all fours and only stand on his hind legs when needed? Did he have a long whip tail, a short and muscular one, or no tail at all? Perhaps the most disagreed upon aspect of the legend was his size. In the stories it varied from barely larger than a man to the size of a large bear and all the way up to a size where he could easily bite a longship in half.

For some reason, the thought of ships and sinking reminded Vel of something he’d been meaning to speak to his aunt and uncle about.

“Uncle Kal, Aunt Fionne. there’s another person besides Dina I’d like to bring along on the mission.”

Kal frowned, Fionne’s expression remained inscrutable, but both motioned for him to go on.

“His name is Fal and he’s part of the guard complement who accompanied us here. He’s a former mercenary and has been helping Dina teach me to fight on foot. He’s really good, a formidable fighter. Even trained to be a battlemage at one point.”

Vel had saved that final bit for last for a reason. Even having been considered good enough for training for that elite order was a big deal, not having made the cut was by no means a dealbreaker.

His other claims were true as well. Fal had indeed accompanied them on the journey. Vel had hoped the two could continue his magical lessons along the way, but there’d been almost no opportunity to. So, he’d instead assisted Dina in helping Vel improve his on-foot fighting skills. And, like Dina, he’d been mightily impressed by the young lord’s prowess and progress.

Kal and Fionne looked at each other and the admiral shrugged. His uncle turned his gaze back to Vel.

“A mercenary you say, do you trust this man?”

Vel was pretty sure he’d said former mercenary, which was what Fal was now. He recalled his conversation with the large bald man, who had pulled him aside after his last talk with Seph before the trip. The words were still clearly audible in his mind.

“I may not be any kind of scholar and have taken quite a few blows to the head, but I am not an idiot yet. There’s something coming, isn’t there, something big. Whatever it is, I have no desire to be on the other side of it from you. I don’t think anyone else, not even the old man, sees just how terrifying you really are. I do, though, and I know when the time for trying to play all sides is over. If you’ll have me, Lordling, I’ll swear my sword and my bolts to your service.”

Vel had been surprised, flattered, and a host of other things. He’d of course gladly accepted Fal’s sworn service and had made him a retainer of House Andros. As lord of the house that was fully within his power to do.

“Yes, Uncle, I do.”

Kal nodded.

“Then, if Fi doesn’t object, I see no issue with it either. He sounds like he could be useful indeed.”