Patrol 4: Storm & Calm

Chapter 17

"So, what do you think?" Eddin asked, stopping along the cobblestone street near an iron gate set into a stone wall.

"What do I think about what?" Vania asked, looking around.

"The house." Eddin gestured to the two-story stone building behind the gate.

"Um. It's... big?"

"Would you like to see it closer?" Without waiting for her reply, he pulled a key from his pocket and opened the gate. "Come take a look around."

"Is this... your house?" She stepped through the gate, carefully avoiding the larger puddles from the constant rain. She noted the stable and a few other out buildings off to the right of the main building. The edges of hedgerows could be spied from the sides of the house, hinting at a garden in the back. Gargoyles looked down at her from the roof as she approached the front door.

"No. It's yours." He pressed the key into her hand.

She froze, looking at the key in her hand, then up at Eddin's smiling face. "What?"

"In a'marlon tradition, after the marriage, the man moves into the woman's house. And, while I find your floor comfortable, I don't fancy needing to stoop to not hit my head on the ceiling every day." He smirked. "I assumed you wouldn't want to choose to move into Buccareth House and then be stuck living under the same roof as K'landrin until Mother finally manages to marry him off."

Vania made a look of distaste. "You're right about that." Her eyes swept over the house again, the storm clouds keeping the grounds in a dismal grey pall. "But... you're just giving me a house?"

"Yes," he said quietly. "Please, allow me to give you this house, as one of the five gifts an a'marlon groom presents to his bride." After a moment of silence, he added, "You... don't need to decide now. Maybe you'd like to see the inside, first?"

She nodded slowly. "It'd be good to at least get out of the rain."

He smiled and took her arm as they walked up the stairs to the door.

Ivy climbing up the walls and dangling from lintels and windowsills rustled softly in the wind, the leaves dropping collected rainwater on their hoods as they stepped inside.

The foyer opened up before them, the stone floor cool, and the emptiness of the room making it appear cavernous.

"Picture it furnished," Eddin whispered, voice echoing softly from the bare walls. "It looks nicer, then."

As they walked the hallways and peered into empty rooms, Vania asked, "What if I say no to this gift? What would you do?"

"Well, I'd sell the house," Eddin began. "The previous owners moved, but I don't think it'd be too difficult to find someone who'd buy it. Then, I'd have to come up with a different gift to replace it."

"Why five gifts?"

Eddin shrugged. "Tradition."

"Well, you've already given me Eluri. And a communication crystal. So, that's two. This house would make three..."

"This house would be the first," Eddin corrected. "The crystal I gave you had been A'razoru's. It would count as his gift. And you already know Eluri is from S'reld'dia; she told me, when she presented Eluri to me, that Eluri would be her bridal gift to my bride."

"But, Eddin, they're..."

"Dead. Yes, I know. But, tradition holds that each sibling must give a gift. So, in lieu of them, something must be given."

"Wait." Vania stopped and looked up at Eddin in annoyance. "When you gave Eluri to me, you said your sister told you that you would meet someone, and Eluri would be for them. And that's how you knew she was for me. You didn't say anything about bridal gifts."