Dungeon Walkers 3, page 18
“Fuck...” Stern whispered, as he could see what was coming.
“I led her into the dining room to meet them. She had on a mask, a real one not the sack, because of her perk, but her pale skin and colorless eyes all point to her condition. When they saw her, the smiles vanished and a chill fell. They were coldly polite, and I could see Nicole wither under their gazes. We made it through dinner... I don’t know how. I walked her out, and she kept apologizing to me. I was apologizing to her in return. I had no idea what the problem was. When she left, my uncle yanked me aside. He berated me for… for being near an abomination. For bringing a ‘cursed one’ into his home.”
Stern’s eyes closed— he knew well the words and emotions behind them. He was glad Nicole never had his empathy; that dinner might have broken her.
“We fought, and when I flatly told him he was a bigoted asshole, he threw me out. Told me he wasn’t an uncle to a fool and that he would tell my parents.” Jon took a deep drink of his wine again. “I went to Nicole, apologized, and then rented the room beside hers. I didn’t go back to my uncle. Even when I left the city with Nicole, I never went back.”
“Don’t blame you,” Stern said.
“Wait,” Jon said as he refilled his glass. “My father found us in Waterrock. He’d been told about my relationship and came to ‘set me straight.’ As you can imagine, that didn’t go like he thought it would. Nicole was in the room, huddled in the corner, crying that she was sorry. That was when he gave me his ultimatum: Nicole or my family. He’d disown me and cut me off from all support. My life was always to take over the business from him before then.”
“He didn’t understand love.”
“No, he doesn’t. Maybe he did once, but I don’t think he ever really did. Anyway, I didn’t hesitate. He gave me the ultimatum and I hit him. It felt good... a solid punch that floored him. As he tried to understand what’d happened, I collected Nicole and carried her away. She was a wreck. She still blames herself for what happened, no matter how much I tell her otherwise.”
Stern finally refilled his glass, then topped Jon’s off.
“Father wasn’t satisfied with my answer. He had me arrested for assault, so I did a month of service to the city. When I was freed, Nicole was there, waiting for me. She tried to break up with me, apologizing nonstop, until I kissed her, knelt, and asked her to marry me. I told her that life without her wasn’t worth living. Luckily, she agreed. I used what I had to buy a ring, married her, and that was it. Haven’t spoken to my family since. My father might have disowned me, but I’m still going to eventually be a smith. And, when I do settle down, I’ll become the best smith I can be to prove my point: I don’t need him as long as I have Nicole.”
“Wow...” Stern murmured. “The letter?”
“From my sister. Not sure why she wrote to me. Maybe to deride me for choosing Nicole? Honestly, I’m not looking forward to it.”
“Because it’ll twist the knife, the reminder that you aren’t family anymore.”
“Yeah. Also... I’m afraid she’ll have taken his side. I hope she hasn’t, but if she has…”
Stern nodded. He didn’t understand the pain of being forced to choose the way Jon had, but he knew how wrecked he would be if his family had disowned him.
The pair drank in silence for a while before Jon apologized for killing the mood.
“Idiot. None of that’s your fault,” Stern said. “How’s it feel to unburden it, though?”
Jon sipped at his wine. “A little better.”
“We’re not family,” Stern said, “but we’re crew, and crew is as close to family as you can get. You’ll never have to worry about that happening with us.” He raised his glass slightly. “Family doesn’t always mean blood.”
Jon stared at him for a moment, then tapped glasses. “To a better family.”
~*~*~
They finished two bottles, had dinner, and called it a night. When they made it back to the suite, Pawly went with him into the bedroom. Stern pulled out his letter; licking his lips, he hoped it was good news.
Son,
First, the easy stuff: our run went fine, and yeah, the new town is secured. Because of that, we’ll be heading south. Not sure if all of your siblings will come with, but they might. We’ll be giving them the choice.
All of us are proud of you, even them. If you could hear your sisters, you’d laugh. They might’ve had problems with you sometimes because of your perk, but they’re going to grill your wives. They’re fired up over making sure that Trish and Cyra are right for you.
Your mother is excited to meet them, and of course, is hoping you’ll give us grandkids. Julia and Karen helped settle her down some, a little at least. Not sure how things might be going with your idea that Cammie might be interested in your relationship, too. No matter which way it goes, we all wish you the best.
Be ready for Marysue. She’s almost as bad as your mothers. Gerald laughed his ass off when he heard about the pending wedding. He had a few comments about my son being a chip off the old block but, honestly, if your love is like mine for your mothers, he can say whatever he wants, because you’d know how powerful that feeling is.
We’ll probably be in Blackwood before you. Since you said you’re okay with people knowing about you being our son, I’m not going to hide it. I’d never hide you being my son— I only would if you asked. Don’t be surprised if the city is in high spirits when you get in because of that.
Your mothers are already planning the venue, food, and everything else, so you’ll just need you and your wives. We’re all eager to meet them to welcome them into the family. Those two— or three— helped you find yourself, and for that, I will always treasure them.
As for your deeds on the way up the tiers, we’ve been proud of your actions. Pawsitively Irregular has started to make a real name for itself as a serious crew for Rescue Squad. Some might temper their feelings on that when it becomes known that you’re our son, but we’re proud of you.
Wrapping this up, as we’re supposed to leave tomorrow morning, you’d better be prepared for the love we feel when we see you, because it might drown you. We won’t be holding back.
Your proud parents,
Seamus, Stacia, Karen, and Julia
Stern set the letter aside, sniffling back the tears. “Dammit, Dad... Thank you.”
Pawly meowed, then crawled onto his lap.
“It was good news,” Stern told her, rubbing her side. “We’ll be seeing them in Blackwood. They’ll be there for the wedding. We just need to see if Cammie really wants to be with all of us by then...”
Pawly purred loudly.
“Yeah... I hope so, too. I have no idea when they’ll be back, so we might as well turn in for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll go rescue another soul.”
Pawly purred louder, not intending to move.
Stern chuckled. “Fine. A little more petting, first.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Blinking slowly, Stern looked to the left— Trish was curled up against his side. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead before turning his head the other way. Stern frowned, as Cyra wasn’t there.
Memory came back to him and he stared at the vacant spot on the bed: Trish had come into the room just as Stern was climbing into bed. She had a small buzz going from her night out, but wasn’t drunk enough for it to be a problem for the next day. When Cyra hadn’t followed her into the room, she laughed.
Once Trish had stripped and joined him in bed, she explained as her hands wandered over his body— Cammie had asked Cyra to spend the night with her. She promised it wouldn’t go further than it had with the others, but she wanted to cuddle with her. The mental image of Cammie and Cyra curled up with one another had a pronounced effect on Stern. Trish was happy to help him with his hard problem and, after an hour, they’d both fallen asleep.
“Good morning,” Trish murmured, shifting to kiss him.
“Good morning to you, too,” Stern said. “How’re you feeling?”
“Fine. I made sure none of us overdid it last night. I was the worst out of us.”
“Which is normal,” Stern chuckled.
Trish slapped his chest. “Mean… but not wrong,” she laughed. “I’m happy you were okay with Cammie and Cyra spending last night together. Cammie wasn’t sure if it was okay to ask, but Cyra and I both reassured her. She was all smiles when Cyra pulled her into the other bedroom.”
“Good,” Stern exhaled. “I’m thinking of having the ceremony in Blackwood.”
Trish blinked, clearly surprised. “I’d thought you’d want to wait for the next tier.”
“I’ve thought about it, and I think Blackwood will be the right time. I’m not sure if Cammie will be in on that ceremony, or if we’ll have a second one for her.”
Trish stared at him for a moment. “There’s a reason for it, but I won’t press. We should get up. Dungeon today.”
“Yeah. Another soul to save,” Stern said as he watched Trish get out of bed. His eyes tracked over her scars. She’d explained them all to him before, but he just marveled that a woman that fierce loved him.
“If you ogle, you’ll be late,” Trish smirked. She canted a naked hip and looked over her shoulder.
Stern exhaled, then got out of bed. “You’re right. I’m responsible, so I’ll get dressed.”
The door cracked open and Cyra’s head appeared around the frame before she slipped inside. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, indeed,” Trish snickered. “So?”
“We kissed and touched, then we slept. She held me,” Cyra smiled, her cheeks lightly dusting pink. “I felt happy. She was all smiles when I left her this morning.”
“Waking up next to you does that to people,” Stern grinned.
“Agreed,” Trish smirked.
Cyra shook her head as she headed for her clothing and gear. “She’s getting ready now.”
“Are you both good for the day?” Stern asked.
“We all made sure to moderate ourselves. Trish was the only one who even had a light buzz. The quest to retrieve the shards kept us honest.”
“I never did ask,” Trish said. “How was your night with Jon?”
Stern exhaled as he put his thoughts in order. “He told me about being disowned by his family. They made him choose between them or Nicole.”
“Fuckers...” Trish sighed.
“He picked correctly,” Cyra said.
“We did the little shopping we needed and shared some wine— he doesn’t like ale— then had dinner. Didn’t do anything of note. He told me while we were drinking; he’d gotten a letter from his sister. Not sure if that was good or bad news for him. He didn’t want to read it until we came back to the suite.”
“Hope it was good news...” Cyra said softly.
“Bad news right before a run might distract him,” Trish said.
“I also had a letter from my parents,” Stern said. He knew he should mention it and hedge the truth because, this way, Jon didn’t give it away. “They finished their last run and are going to come south. I’m not sure if all my siblings will be with them or not. Dad did say that Marysue and Gerald will be with them, so you’ll get to meet the Hand of Law, and I would bet he’ll have his mount with him. I know you both wanted to see Scales of Justice.”
“I do,” Trish said. “I always thought a wyvern mount would be amazing.”
“They don’t show up in the shop until the dark and bright metal tiers,” Stern said. “We can see about mounts once we hit iron. Battle mounts can be useful when we’re doing overland travel and questing.”
“We’ll be meeting your parents soon?” Cyra asked slowly.
“Copper tier was discussed,” Stern answered truthfully.
“Ah. So you want to be married to us before we meet them,” Trish said.
“What?” Cyra asked, pausing in getting ready.
“Stern says that he was thinking Blackwood was a good time to do our marriage ceremony.”
“Really?” Cyra’s hopeful smile was brilliant.
“I want to marry you both and, by the time we reach there, it might mean Cammie is comfortable enough.”
“She really is coming along quickly,” Trish smiled. “We could tell her the plan and see if that encourages her more?”
Stern hesitated, then nodded. “After the run. We need to be focused.”
Cyra nodded quickly before taking a deep breath. “Dungeon first, but I do hope she’s okay with joining us by then.”
“Full agreement from me,” Trish said as she started with her armor.
“I’m with you both in that,” Stern nodded, picking up his armor, “but that will be her choice.”
They greeted the others when they left their room. Cammie was all smiles, and Stern gave her a hug, as he could see and feel her anxiousness. With everyone ready, the group headed down to get breakfast.
They were just finishing up when Marvella walked through the door. She came right to their table, her one good eye looking the group over.
“Marvella, good morning,” Stern greeted her when she came up behind Jon and Nicole.
“Morning,” Marvella said tightly. “I’ll be waiting for you all to come out.”
The others turned to look at her, as only Stern and Cammie had seen her before. Nicole gasped lightly when she realized Marvella only had one eye.
The lykian looked at Nicole with a raised eyebrow. “You have my thanks. I asked around about your crew and I’ve heard about how many you’ve pulled out. I want to thank you for helping my sister, but someone told me not to increase the pay.” Her eye went back to Stern. “So I’m giving you these, as they aren’t money.”
She placed two items on the table, and Trish whistled softly. “Greater runes.”
“Earth and light,” Marvella said. “Please use them to make your run easier.”
Stern snorted. “Nice end-run. Who has open rune slots?”
“My sword and your crossbow,” Jon said.
“He has valid points there,” Trish said. “Earth for the crossbow and light for the sword.”
“Don’t want light on the crossbow for the same reason I didn’t want wind on it,” Stern chuckled. “If we’re doing that,” Stern dug out the wind rune and tossed it to Jon, “add the wind to your sword, too.”
“That… I’ll do my best,” Jon said softly.
They applied the runes with Marvella standing there, and she nodded when they finished. “Good. That’ll increase your chances to succeed.”
“It will,” Trish said as she stood up. “We’ll pull her out, even if it takes all our points.”
“Thank you,” Marvella said thickly. “I’ll walk with you, if you don’t mind.”
Everyone else got up and Pawly floated up from her chair.
Marvella blinked in shock— she’d forgotten about the floating cat. “Will the cat be okay?”
“Pawly is my summons, and she’ll be fine as long as I am,” Stern said. “I’ll finish upgrading her before we go in.”
“Finish upgrading? Hmm... those perks are highly sought after by summoners.”
“With good reason,” Stern replied. “You’ll see why shortly.”
The walk to the dungeon wasn’t long, as it was just around the Walkers’ guildhall. The area around the dungeon was open, and had stalls for vendors to sell standard items, along with food carts and areas with shade to rest. In the very middle, several guards stood around a shaft in the ground.
“Big opening,” Stern said. “Six ladders?”
“A whole crew can go down or up at a time,” Marvella said. “There’s a guard at the bottom to make sure there are no problems with people trying to come up as others come down. Now, what about these upgrades?”
Stern chuckled and was about to start on them when a snide voice rang over the general noise of the crowd, “There the freaks are! Two abominations, going in after a third.”
Marvella spun around, a snarl on her lips. “Haven’t you two learned your lesson?!”
Billy and Brandon were standing with four others, who all looked angry. “Haven’t you? Your sister knew her place,” Billy said.
The crowd parted and people turned to watch. The guards by the entrance shifted, wondering if they were going to have to get involved.
“Bigotry is as ugly as you are,” Stern said calmly. “Out of our two groups here, you’re the worst. We rescue shards, giving people the chance to live again. What about you?”
