Elemental Witch: Child of the Earth (Part I)

Misgivings

Cavin was happy to see his betrothed. He honestly was, he always was. The woman was a force of nature that still stopped his heart and caused his breath to hitch when she walked through the door.  Amiya's dark skin looked warm from the afternoon sunshine, her hair casually braided back from her face, wearing a well made gown that was more practical than it was the appropriate dress for the future Queen of Clairval.

He had to appreciate that  she was wearing a gown and not what she usually wore to ride in and generally spend her days. Her companion,  the woman whom he suspected was a type of body guard, had followed behind her onto the balcony. 

Reyani was in a similar style dress, her skin a dark olive brown, her hair rich mahogany. There had been the initial surprise from the visit during the formal greetings but  they were sitting out in the gardens pretending to enjoy the day. If only  he wasn't  glancing distractedly at the doors every time he thought he saw movement from that area. 

As much as he was happy to see the two women, he wasn't sure what throwing a wild Fey ambassador into the mix would do. Most women would run screaming from Lady Veranandein. Which wasn't the message he'd like to send the Feysha or his soon to be wife and for the first time he found himself wishing his betrothed had given him more warning. Or followed the plan to meet him back in the capital.

"Amiya, how was the trip?" He grinned to her, pulling his eyes back from the doorway, then glancing to Lord Shelby who was pacing along his garden walls, watching the guards patrolling the battlements.

"Don't patronize me with small talk, m'love. What is going on?" she smiled politely, but her tone was blunt, strong and unrelenting.  He supposed some men would try to break her of that inner strength, he had heard many of his fellow nobles speak about the place for a woman. But he loved it in the woman he would soon be marrying, even now when it caused him to wince internally.

"Nothing to worry about, I'm waiting for responses from my war council. I've decided to gather them before our wedding." He said softly, glancing at Shelby, who was technically his General.  It only inspired the man to glance towards them and shake his head. There would be no help or reassurance from his typically steady companion, who was more on edge than Cavin was.

Amiya blinked at him, her expression shifting to ice as she weighed the seriousness of what he had just said.  He knew that she was unlikely to dismiss such things as 'men's worries' compared to most court ladies. "Oh. Only a war council meeting before we get married. That's nothing to worry our pretty heads about, is it Lady Reyani ?"

"It sounds like something has drastically changed in the five days since we last were with our Liege. But that could explain why Lord Shelby's guards are on high alert. Or perhaps why his Master at Arms was pacing the walls when we arrived. Should I mention that the town itself seemed preoccupied with something far more intriguing than the arrival of their future Queen?" Cavin knew that Amiya's friend was sharp,  but he didn't need her wisdom right now. He wanted calm, he wanted to understand what was happening before trying to reassure Amiya.

"Cavin, just tell them." Shelby said finally, rolling his eyes. "You never could be deceitful."

The two women watched Lord Shelby for a long moment expressions akin to wolves debating their next meal. Then the two of them turned as one to face Cavin, who sighed in defeat. "We arrived yesterday and Shelby's brother had arrested a Feysha, threw her in the dungeon and may have used coercion to figure out why she had suddenly appeared the night before my arrival. There was fear of an attack or an assassination attempt."

"A what?" Amiya asked softly, her expression not softening, which Cavin did not think was a good thing. She had never truly looked at him with that expression before. 

Shelby glanced towards the garden doors as Sir Benchan walked through them unexpectedly, waving him forward when the man at arms paused. "A Feysha, fey, one of those who live in the Wild."

Sir Benchan bowed his respects to the party though remaining silent as four sets of eyes fell on him. He watched Lord Shelby, who raised a brow before motioning for him to speak. "My Lord, she has arrived. I had to track her down, as she entered through a different gate, but she's in the Smithy corner, apparently armed to to teeth but still alone. "

"Why didn't you bring her here, Benchan?" Cavin asked softly, rubbing the back of his neck, looking to the two women, who sat back in their chairs, watching the exchange with darkening expressions.

"Well, to be honest, I knew about your guest's arrival and wasn't completely sure if it would be best if I did. I'm pretty sure I know where Ver... Lady Veranandein is going to go, but I wanted to... run it by you, before I brought her up here. In case the Ladies were unprepared." Benchan said easily, glancing to the two women he didn't know.

 His expression saying that he had already relegated them into the category of useless court dandy for the time being. Cavin fought the amusement at the look of affront from Reyani, knowing Benchan would regret the underestimation in the days to come. If they all survived them, that was.

"We were just explaining to them what had transpired, Ben." Shelby said softly, looking from his man at arms to the two women. "Either they will be indisposed when she arrives, or they will want to also greet her. We can't build any form of truce between our peoples if we treat her and her people like freaks."

"Yes. By the time you return, we should be completely filled in, Sir Benchan. Thank you very much for your concern, we do look forward to becoming acquainted with Lady Veranandein." Amiya said gently, watching the man with a confident expression that had challenge written all over it.

Benchan offered her a charming grin for her courtesy, bowing once more before striding out of the gardens. His departure leaving the four of them in uncomfortable silence for a few tense moments.

Lady Reyani was the one who broke it, clearing her throat and glancing to Lord Shelby. " Your brother arrested and tortured the first representatives the faeries had sent us in a thousand years...?" 

Cavin wondered why it seemed like this was going to be completely Shelby's and his fault by the end of the conversation.