The Huntsman of Adamos (Quartet)- draft

CH A SIMPLE WOODSMITH

Rieth, son of Riles, a refugee of the Relic Remnant, wiped the sweat from his brow, pushing back a strand of dark hair that had escaped the tie that held the rest back in a ponytail. His beard was unbearably hot in the coastal Aetherian summer, but he dared not shave it. Some of the lesser houses of the royal court had discovered the small fishing community his late brother had started. They were hiring the best craftsmen in the kingdom to create ornately decorated villas overlooking the sea. His brother had sent him a message to take this job and come home.

It was a risk to be back on Aetheria , but his decades long search had yielded no clue as to where his sealed one was hidden. He had searched every planet, personally visiting all the known settlements and a few secret ones, but he wasn’t going to give up because he could still hear her singing at the same hour almost every day. In the work room he had been given in the villa’s servants’ quarters, the air felt stifling. He finished unpacking the wood for the elaborate floor and was surprised to see the wood had already been stained. But the closer he examined the grain the more he realized the wood had grown with the strange tones of greenish-blue, golden-yellow, and red in them. He had never seen anything like it.

Lord Trudolt cleared his throat and Rieth turned and bowed. “Lord Trudolt.”

“Lord Abrieth, this is Rieth, son of Riles, he came from old Aetheria like you. His wood carving skills are unmatched by any modern carver. I was lucky to hire him before another house for my villa. Do you like the wood I ordered for the entry floor, woodsmith?”

Rieth bowed again. “Yes, Lord Trudolt. It is a hard wood of exceptional quality and unique color. Since I won’t have to stain it, I should be able to finish your mosaic floor in less time than I originally estimated. It is my honor to work on your home.”

“My wife was glad to get your name from Lady Serapha after seeing your work on the Xelusian Cultural Center.” Lord Trudolt chuckled, and announced to Abrieth, “I love hiring the old Aetherians to work, they know their places and are so diligent and respectful. They...” He was interrupted by the screeching of his arguing daughters.

“Father, Venita took my room.”

“Verna said the sun in the morning bothered her, so I had the servants switch us,” Venita sniped at her sister.

“I liked that view better!” Verna snarled.

“You mean you like looking at the sons of the House of Orion in their pool.” Venita tattled.

“Sister!” Verna jumped at her sister, trying to cover her mouth.

“Girls!” Lord Trudolt roared. He huffed then face Abrieth, ignoring Rieth, “Excuse me, Lord Protector, you have daughters, when they get older, you will understand.”

Abrieth laughed, “Oh, I understand now, and they are barely 70.” He turned to the wood carver, “Perhaps you could be persuaded to work on my vacation villa next, Rieth, son of Riles?” Abrieth asked as Lord Trudolt dragged his still-arguing daughters out of the small hut.

The brothers glanced around then hugged.

“How can you stand working for him, brother?” Abrieth groaned.

“His daughters are worse, I have taken to sleeping in the forest to keep them from trying to seduce me in my bed,” Yurieth sighed. He held up one of the boards, “Have you ever seen wood like this?”

“No, and that is why I sent for you. It comes from Oceania, from a group of islands, but I don’t know which one. It could be a place we haven’t looked, half the islands in the southwestern hemisphere are listed as uninhabited, but they are under night when you hear her singing.” Abe revealed in a hushed voice. “I am trying to find a way to search them.”

“How do they get the wood from there?” Yurieth asked as he laid the boards out.

“By ship, I think.” Abe answered, tipping one of the red boards. “Serapha would love this.”

“When I get there, I’ll make her a treasure box for the Eve,” Yurieth offered.

“Are you mad? You can’t sail, you’ll.... Are you sure I can’t hire you away?” Abrieth finished as Yuri flashed him a warning glance toward the door where Lord Trudolt was entering.

As Rieth, he bowed to his brother, he said, “I apologize, Lord Abrieth, but I would not be able to begin working on your wife’s dressing room until I finish with Lord Trudolt’s entryway.”

“Ha! Lord Abrieth, I caught you trying to steal my woodsmith.” Lord Trudolt clapped Abrieth on the shoulder, “He’s a good man, I told you, loyal.”

Abrieth grinned good naturedly, “Fine, fine... just tell him where you got this wonderful wood, so he can pick out Serapha’s personally. Rieth, I want only the best and most beautiful for my sealed one. She spoke highly of your skill when you worked on Dauntless. I am now sorry not to have met you then.”

Rieth bowed again, “It is my honor to serve you with my humble skills, my lords.”

He remained where he was as the two lords walked out to the ocean-view veranda, followed by a servant carrying a tray of refreshments. He laid the planks out and marked the cuts.

By sunset, he had the center of the complicated design cut and laid out. The design was the crest of the house of Thanos that had been altered since the deaths of the traitors to the crown. As he worked, he wondered why the king and queen had not stripped this house of its rank, they made no contribution other than running an import-export business that bordered on illegality.

The door behind him creaked and Rieth turned. “Lady Verna, your father would not...” He stopped and stared for a moment before turning his head away. “Lady Verna, you should not be in my work area unclothed.”

“You let my sister spend time in your work area unclothed, she told me so,” Verna sounded smug. “I want to see the... skills, she told me about.”

Rieth facepalmed, then explained, “Lady Venita showed up as you did, and I will tell you as I told her. I am in my century of mourning after losing my sealed one and child. I am merely an unhoused woodsmith, and not ranked for attention from someone of your birth. Please, go before someone sees you, and there is a scandal.”

Verna giggled, but didn’t leave as Venita did, instead she said, “Father and sister left for the evening, and all of the servants have retired. No one will know.”

“Until you tell your sister, Lady Verna. Please, it isn’t proper for you to be here...” Rieth was grateful when the butler came in from the side door with an invoice in his hand.

“Master Woodsmith?” He glanced at Rieth with his hand over his eyes then at Lady Verna stooping to pick up her robe. “My lady, this is highly inappropriate.” The manservant rolled his eyes, as Verna huffed and left.

“Here is the paperwork on the Lord’s wood order, Master Woodsmith.” He handed the pieces of paper over. Before he left, he warned, “I would finish as quickly as I could if I were you, the daughters of my lord are tenacious when they want something... or someone.”

“I’ve noticed,” Rieth replied as he looked at the manifest, the red and bluish wood came from a place called Lumberton, the golden tones came from Wheattree, in the Southern Star archipelago, it had shipped through a port called Brightwater.

“Is that this information you required?” The butler asked.

“Yes, thank you. Lord Abrieth was here earlier and wants a room for his wife out of the red wood,” Rieth answered.

“Forgive me, but I was also among the Relic Refugees. I’m Julian, son of Janik of the House of Jovis. Did you know or work for the House of Adamos before? I was a servant of the House of Odini and you seem very familiar to me,” The butler looked at him carefully and Rieth could feel the hum of discernment magic, so he told the truth.

“I worked for the High Lord of Adamos at his Winter Castle carving the walls and railings. I built and carved a desk as a gift for the High Lord of Odini in the City of the Kings.”

“Ahhh, perhaps that is where I saw you, I attended Lord Odinus at the Fjord for most of my time.” The man seemed satisfied with Reith’s answer, but he had peaked Rieth’s curiosity.

“Why don’t you work for the current Lord of Odini?”

“My lord asked me to serve in this house for a time. He does not trust the House of Thanos because of the actions of the previous lords during the last war. He also asked me to inquire if you be interested in working at his school at the Southern Castle of Odini. He would like to meet you first, of course, but having seen your work on Dauntless, he and Lady Asha would like a room made for their daughters.” The butler waited expectantly, an unranked tradesman would normally jump at the chance to work for a House as powerful as Odini, but Rieth knew the magic that hid his identity would not suffice if he encountered Shadz or Asha in person.

“Tell his Lordship that I am honored, but I have already made an agreement with Lord Abrieth of Adamos to prepare rooms for Lady Serapha. It would be at least a year or more before I could take his commission,” Reith answered carefully. “I can recommend a few other very skilled woodsmiths, if he does not wish to wait.” He scribbled several names with his left hand, using the reverse slant of someone who wrote in Xelusian as much as Aetherian.

The butler looked over the list, “My former lord expresses his gratitude... You’ve worked on Xelusia, did you enjoy it there?”

“No, but they paid well.” Rieth began working again. “I worked for two Xelusian families on Dauntless, and on the cultural center. It seems none of the Xelusian woodsmiths or stonemasons survived. Lady Serapha was the one who instructed the design.”

“So, you are familiar with Lord Abrieth’s wife?” Julian asked and Rieth cursed the curiosity of housestaff and the way discernment magic made a person chatty.

“Lady Serapha made a point of meeting all the tradesmen and thanking us for our labor. She seemed kind, very different from other ranked Xelusians I’ve met... I am sorry, Julian, but I need to concentrate to make the proper cuts and not waste Lord Trudolt’s expensive imported wood.” Reith was tired of the inquisition and allowing the discerning magic to surround him was giving him a headache.

“Of course, Woodsmith Rieth. If you require anything else, or wish to talk of the old world, I am always around,” Julian nodded to him and left.

Half an hour later, Rieth was crouched outside Julian’s window, listening, while the butler commed Lord Shadz.

“I am sorry, my lord, but the woodsmith Lady Serapha contacted on behalf of Lord Trudolt’s wife Viennette is who his identity papers say he is. He did some work for the late Lords Adamos and Odinus. He admitted to working on Xelusia but disliked it. If he has magic, I could not sense it, or the use of a glamour to alter his appearance. He did not lie or try to deceive me, or my magic would have felt it. He is downstairs working now.”

Lord Shadz’s deep voice was unmistakable. “Thank you, Julian. I arrived on Dauntless too late to intercept him. I was hoping he was Lady Asha’s uncle and that I could convince him to return to his place at the Academy.” He sounded disappointed. “I appreciate your service.”

“Of course, my lord. The woodsmith did say he would be working for Lord Abrieth for the next year or more and offered the names of other woodsmiths if you still wish for the work to be done.” Julian read the names off to Shadz.

“Very good Julian, I will see you at the end of the summer for the herbals harvest.” Shadz ended the call.

Julian went back downstairs and found Rieth carefully tapping the pieces of the complex wood insets into place in the foyer. The woodsmith’s technique spoke of great skill but Julian asked, “You don’t use glue or nails?”

Rieth shrugged, holding out a jar of beeswax mixed with cedar oil. “Those are for pieces that don’t fit properly. This wax will allow for the wood to flex and swell without moving. But the wood needs to rest and acclimate in place.” He worked for another hour, talking about the details of wood and humidity and how they interacted until he had Julian yawning. Then he stretched and carefully placed a piece of felt and then sheet wood over the work in progress.

“Forgive me, Butler Julian, but I think we are both ready for some sleep.”

“I apologize for yawning. Your knowledge is quite fascinating but my lord’s daughters tend to wear down my energy.“ Julian admitted but Reith knew that the man was tired from using discerning magic for so long.

“I was not offended, I find them as exhausting as you do.”

Julian laughed at Reith’s tone. “Goodnight, Reith."

In his room, Reith went about preparing for bed as though he were being watched, sending a single thought to his brother about the islands before he made himself sleep. He didn’t dare use his magic if Julian was keeping tabs on him.

A week later when Julian accompanied Lord Trudolt to a party, Reith used his magic to slip out into the night. He was almost done with the foyer floor and was completely done with Lord Trudolt’s daughters.

Abe was waiting for him. “You said we have a problem.”

“Yes, you aren’t going to be able to search the source of the wood. Shadz has you under surveillance. He tracked Serapha's call to me, and suspected that I worked for Serapha on Dauntless. He has a spy in the House of Thanos now.” Yurieth explained. “The butler has the ability to use discernment magic and sense the use of magic in those around him. But he believes I am who I say I am. I told him the truth, that I worked on carvings at the Winter Castle and made a desk for Odinus. That I worked for Serapha on Dauntless, but we just met. If they ask how you know Reith, son of Riles, now you know of the answer.”

Abe scratched at his beard absently. “Asha is getting more and more upset about the rift in our family. Serapha believes she may be pregnant again. They haven’t found anything about the harvest of grief in the books they are translating, so they think is is a ruse to see Daisy. Shadz is angry about Serapha hiding her total knowledge of Xelusian Magic.”

“Shadz doesn’t need that kind of knowledge. Knowing magic just for knowledge’s sake is dangerous and it corrupts the soul,” Yurieth growled.

“I agree. But Kalen overheard Shadz talking about going to Oceania before their winter. And I had Rheema check the archives. The Southern Star Archipelago is listed as uninhabited because someone changed it to say that six months before Daisy disappeared.” Abe smirked as he asked, “Would you like to guess who?”

“Shadz or Karstien?”

“Neither, Meara.”

Yurieth’s jaw dropped, “Before she died?”

“That’s just it. I don’t think she died when we thought she did. It was her admin creds that altered the archives. And twice since her ’death’. She tried to hide her trace, but Rheema found it.” Abe’s voice held certainty. “Meara and Vole are the ones who took Daisy.”

“Does Serapha still have the recipe for the portal sickness tablets Fianna gave her?” Yurieth asked.

“I am sure she does. Why?” Abe eyed his brother.

“Because they work on motion sickness and I am going to need a lot of them.” Yurieth groaned as he rubbed the center of his forehead, “I am going to have to sail since you are being watched. The invoice showed the wood was on a boat for a month before it reached Grand Bay Port and then was sent by portal to Aetheria.”

“By the Light, a month on a boat. Please don’t do this, it could kill you.” Abe begged. “You almost died from a week at sea and that was before your magic fully wakened.”

“I think that is what Shadz was hoping for. He knows huntsmen can’t sail. He used Meara and Vole to put her where he thinks I won’t go. That I would give up without trying because of the journey.” Yurieth ground his teeth, he was certain Daisy was somewhere on those islands. Shadz and his allies had hidden her in a place they believed he couldn’t reach. He would prove them wrong. Wrong about himself, and wrong about Daisy.

“He has erred, brother, I won’t give up and come home until I find her.”