Chapter Four
Stephen I
The chilled air was comforting as a mild breeze cradled the waters of the Serpent’s River. Stephen sat fishing and smoking with his two friends, Ser Thomas Pilaro, newly knighted by Stephen’s father at his request, and Brant Knabian, his family’s house mage who had been assigned by the academy after their old house mage, Wein, who had served three generations of Gaferty lords, passed away. Stephen’s father, Bua, felt that this replacement—a 16-year-old wind mage—was a slight from the Endaures, as in his view Brant was a sniveling, cowardly little mage. The academy assured him that Brant would grow with the household, but Stephen’s father had since disregarded Brant as one of his councilors and allowed him to become a companion of Stephen’s.
“Where’s your brother?” Thomas asked impatiently. “I’m out of peace-bloom and he was supposed to meet us here hours ago with more.”
“Beats me,” Stephen replied, fidgeting with his lifeless fishing line. “He probably got held up. The castle is abuzz today. Everyone is preparing for a visit from the Testokes.”
“I forgot about that,” Brant quickly said.
“Yeah, my parents just visited there with my brother Homan not that long ago, so I guess they are returning the favor. Doesn’t really concern me that much, just makes my life real inconvenient because I’ll have to show my face around the castle and keep them thinking we are one big happy family.”
“At least you get to look at their daughter,” Thomas said.
“Beats me,” Stephen replied, fidgeting with his lifeless fishing line. “He probably got held up. The castle is abuzz today. Everyone is preparing for a visit from the Testokes.”
“I forgot about that,” Brant quickly said.
“Yeah, my parents just visited there with my brother Homan not that long ago, so I guess they are returning the favor. Doesn’t really concern me that much, just makes my life real inconvenient because I’ll have to show my face around the castle and keep them thinking we are one big happy family.”
“At least you get to look at their daughter,” Thomas said.
“Ah yes, the lovely Nicole Testoke. She is quite a sight, always has been. I remember visits to the Virile, playing with her and Basso.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I wouldn’t mind playing with her again. We’re older now, though, and my father doesn't really take Saul and me on trips with him anymore, only Homan.”
“More time for fishing, right?” Brant jested, trying to lighten the mood.
“Absolutely. I didn’t like the trips anyway. They were long and wet. I’d rather stay right here in Ellison.” Stephen was partially telling the truth. The trips were long and they were wet, but he did like them. He liked visiting his uncle on Tior Island and he liked playing with the Testoke children at the Waldwick Virile. Those days were behind him now. At 15, he was considered a man grown and to his father, a useless man at that. “You boys are lazy drunks,” he would tell him and Saul, “and I will not bring you to another man’s house to embarrass our family.” He was right; Stephen and his brother did like to drink, and maybe they were lazy, but still they were his sons and he could have trusted them not to disgrace their family name.
“More time for fishing, right?” Brant jested, trying to lighten the mood.
“Absolutely. I didn’t like the trips anyway. They were long and wet. I’d rather stay right here in Ellison.” Stephen was partially telling the truth. The trips were long and they were wet, but he did like them. He liked visiting his uncle on Tior Island and he liked playing with the Testoke children at the Waldwick Virile. Those days were behind him now. At 15, he was considered a man grown and to his father, a useless man at that. “You boys are lazy drunks,” he would tell him and Saul, “and I will not bring you to another man’s house to embarrass our family.” He was right; Stephen and his brother did like to drink, and maybe they were lazy, but still they were his sons and he could have trusted them not to disgrace their family name.
“Hey oh!” His brother’s voice echoed across the river as he made his way down to the docks.
“You’re late,” Thomas complained.
“Sorry, I had a hard time meeting up with my supplier. With the Testokes coming security has been tight around here, and he was afraid of getting arrested,” Saul explained as he packed the bowl of his smoking pipe.
“Doesn’t he know you’re the son of Lord Bua?” Brant asked.
“He does, but let’s be honest, doesn’t count for much. If he got caught Father’d likely throw him into a pit of snakes because I’m his son.” He took a hit from his pipe and passed it to his brother.
“Father is known to do that,” Stephen said. “Remember the time when we were younger and we convinced Serio the Fool to sneak us a flagon of wine?”
“How could I forget? It was the first time you’d gotten drunk. Ha-ha, little 10-year-old Stephen waddling about Fort Ellison, leaving a trail of puke behind him.”
“And then Father found me in the broom closet, completely naked and passed out.”
“You’re late,” Thomas complained.
“Sorry, I had a hard time meeting up with my supplier. With the Testokes coming security has been tight around here, and he was afraid of getting arrested,” Saul explained as he packed the bowl of his smoking pipe.
“Doesn’t he know you’re the son of Lord Bua?” Brant asked.
“He does, but let’s be honest, doesn’t count for much. If he got caught Father’d likely throw him into a pit of snakes because I’m his son.” He took a hit from his pipe and passed it to his brother.
“Father is known to do that,” Stephen said. “Remember the time when we were younger and we convinced Serio the Fool to sneak us a flagon of wine?”
“How could I forget? It was the first time you’d gotten drunk. Ha-ha, little 10-year-old Stephen waddling about Fort Ellison, leaving a trail of puke behind him.”
“And then Father found me in the broom closet, completely naked and passed out.”
“He found your pants hanging from the chandelier.”
“I still to this day do not remember how they got up there.”
They all laughed. Stephen and Saul had a lot of fun growing up, and in the process got into a lot of trouble with their father. Maybe that’s why he was so angry all the time. He had been extremely angry with Serio.
“When he found out who gave us the wine though, oh man. Poor Serio. He was funny too, didn’t deserve to go like that.” Stephen smirked at the fool’s memory while shaking his head.
“What did Lord Bua do to him?” Brant inquired.
“Our father skinned his hands and feet and dangled his limbs into a pit of snakes. The snakes nibbled at his fleshless appendages until he finally bled out.” Saul noshoulauntly informed the Mage, who grimaced a little. Brant had the pleasure of joining their household once their father’s temperament had become less cruel. Now a days he only threw maybe one man a week into the snake pit. “He was not happy with the fool. That’s Father though, always skinning someone or throwing them into a pit of something. Got to admire his iron rule.”
The sound of horns meant that the Testokes had arrived at Fort Ellison. It also meant that Stephen and his brother were going to be late for their arrival. Father would not be happy with them.
“I still to this day do not remember how they got up there.”
They all laughed. Stephen and Saul had a lot of fun growing up, and in the process got into a lot of trouble with their father. Maybe that’s why he was so angry all the time. He had been extremely angry with Serio.
“When he found out who gave us the wine though, oh man. Poor Serio. He was funny too, didn’t deserve to go like that.” Stephen smirked at the fool’s memory while shaking his head.
“What did Lord Bua do to him?” Brant inquired.
“Our father skinned his hands and feet and dangled his limbs into a pit of snakes. The snakes nibbled at his fleshless appendages until he finally bled out.” Saul noshoulauntly informed the Mage, who grimaced a little. Brant had the pleasure of joining their household once their father’s temperament had become less cruel. Now a days he only threw maybe one man a week into the snake pit. “He was not happy with the fool. That’s Father though, always skinning someone or throwing them into a pit of something. Got to admire his iron rule.”
The sound of horns meant that the Testokes had arrived at Fort Ellison. It also meant that Stephen and his brother were going to be late for their arrival. Father would not be happy with them.
Lord Bua spared no expense for the visit. He was receiving the Testokes in a grander fashion than Stephen ever remembered experiencing. The courtyard was decorated in both Gaferty and Testoke colors. His father’s green snake lay on a field of black next to Alton Testoke’s black bat, which lay on a field of red, showing the equality of the houses, but there was something more to the symbolism, something Stephen didn’t understand.
The boys just managed to hurry their way into the greeting line with their family, drawing the attention of their aggravated father. They had made it at just the right time: too late for their father to chastise them. Alton Testoke, Lord of the Waldwick Virile, was the first to approach their family. His scarlet red curls rolled over his scruffy face and hung at the top of his scarlet tunic.
“My lord,” his father said politely, cueing the rest of them to chime in.
“My lord,” his father said politely, cueing the rest of them to chime in.
“Bua my friend, good to see you again.” Alton took Stephen’s father in an embrace. Alton and Bua were old friends. They had both come into power at the same time, just after their fathers were killed in the War of Extermination. They helped each other through difficult times, and when King Daerunt called for men to march into Pegasus during that civil war, they both led armies down the Serpent’s River and into victory. Stephen remembered watching his father and then-14-year-old brother Homan march off to war. He had been very young at the time, so he hadn’t understood what was going on. He still didn’t really; that was his only experience with war, and it was fought on foreign soil.
Alton’s twins, Basso and Nicole, came right after their father, giving the customary handshakes and kisses. Stephen had not seen them for some years, since their childhood visits to each other’s homes had ended, but he remembered them fondly. Basso, a year older than Stephen, was beginning to look like a man. He had the curly hair of his father, only shorter and a lighter reddish blonde and a complete look of astonishment on his face, their father’s reception seemed to leave Basso impressed. His sister’s hair was even lighter than his, and waiver, and unlike her brother she was scarcely paying attention to Bua, instead she was eyeing up the boys.. She too had now grown into a woman and Stephen found his eyes gazing upon her as well. He remembered finding her quite beautiful before this, but now she was simply lovely to behold. Saul and Stephen likely looked much different to them as well. Saul had filled out a lot since he was younger, now having a thick lean body. He also a little bit of scruff on his face and now slicked back his hair to look less like their father. The boys all bore a strong resemblance to Bua but Saul looked the most like him, only he wasn’t as tall. Stephen was taller than he used to be, and about the same height as Saul, but still very thin having a slender cat like frame to go along with the slender hairs that had begun to sprout on his upper lip. He knew as he got older though that his muscles would come in just like they did for his brothers. He doubted he would be a big as his oldest brother though. Homan was a giant compared to them, standing at least four inches taller with shoulders as wide as both Saul and Stephen’s combined.
Nicole was quickly ushered off, along with Alton, by Stephen’s eldest brother and his mother. Before following them his father led Basso to him and Saul.
“Boys, you remember Basso, do you not?”
“Yes Father,” they said in an awkward unison, as they were still light-headed from the peace-bloom.
“Very good. I have some immediate business to attend to with Basso’s father. Would you be polite lords and show him around the grounds?” It was odd for Bua to ask them to do this, but Stephen supposed impressions must be made.
“Yes Father,” Stephen answered, quickly followed by a stuttering Saul.
“Boys, you remember Basso, do you not?”
“Yes Father,” they said in an awkward unison, as they were still light-headed from the peace-bloom.
“Very good. I have some immediate business to attend to with Basso’s father. Would you be polite lords and show him around the grounds?” It was odd for Bua to ask them to do this, but Stephen supposed impressions must be made.
“Yes Father,” Stephen answered, quickly followed by a stuttering Saul.
They gave a pretty standard tour of the castle: the Lord’s chamber, the apartments, and the feasting hall. They talked about old times, games they had played as children. Stephen could barely recall some of it. In passing conversation, Basso let on that their houses would soon be joined.
“What do you mean, ‘soon be joined’?” Stephen asked.
“After my sister marries your brother, of course. We will be like blood.”
“Since when is that happening?” Saul asked.
“It’s not official yet, but I heard our fathers discussing it with Homan the last time they visited the Virile. I assume this will be the stay that they announce the joining and celebrate it.”
“That explains the big extravaganza,” Stephen concluded. “I never even heard a whisper about it before today.”
“Father doesn’t tell us much of the family business,” Saul added.
“Yes well, neither does mine, and I’m his heir. Fathers are fathers. They have their reasons for things.”
“I guess they do,” Stephen agreed in a dry voice. “Well, this is where you’ll be staying during your time with us. I’m sure you’ll want to rest and change before dinner, so we will leave you to it.”
The boys shook hands and bid farewell to one another. Stephen was curious about why his brother’s pending engagement had not been mentioned to him. Was family business simply not meant for him? Were he and Saul really on the outside looking in?
“What do you mean, ‘soon be joined’?” Stephen asked.
“After my sister marries your brother, of course. We will be like blood.”
“Since when is that happening?” Saul asked.
“It’s not official yet, but I heard our fathers discussing it with Homan the last time they visited the Virile. I assume this will be the stay that they announce the joining and celebrate it.”
“That explains the big extravaganza,” Stephen concluded. “I never even heard a whisper about it before today.”
“Father doesn’t tell us much of the family business,” Saul added.
“Yes well, neither does mine, and I’m his heir. Fathers are fathers. They have their reasons for things.”
“I guess they do,” Stephen agreed in a dry voice. “Well, this is where you’ll be staying during your time with us. I’m sure you’ll want to rest and change before dinner, so we will leave you to it.”
The boys shook hands and bid farewell to one another. Stephen was curious about why his brother’s pending engagement had not been mentioned to him. Was family business simply not meant for him? Were he and Saul really on the outside looking in?